And I can’t tell her the truth.
It isn’t fair to her.
The baby shifts in my arms, fist curling, and I picture the little girl who will arrive in a couple of months. Will she have Lilith’s dark hair and Sebastian’s stubborn jaw? Will her father make it home in time?
He has to.
Lilith is due in the thick of it, right around the time of the auction.
Sebastian can’t miss the birth of his daughter.
I tuck away that familiar envious ache, though it’s nowhere near as strong as it used to be.
Grief has a way of changing perspectives, especially when the universe grants an impossible miracle.
When the time comes, Sebastian and I will be there for Lilith.
I pass the baby back to Elise, tucking the blanket around his tiny body. She looks utterly spent, but pure contentment glows in her eyes.
“You’re leaving?” she murmurs, voice raspy from screaming.
“Yeah, you need your rest.” I smooth a hand over the blanket. “You did good, Elise.”
Landon walks me out into the empty hallway. Hugo never did return with that coffee.
“Listen,” Landon says, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I have some news about Jerome.” Scanning the corridor, he lowers his voice. “We got him.”
I blink, and a wave of shock rushes over me, followed by a reluctant surge of relief. “So Oliver came through.”
“He did. Authorities arrested the bastard last night for tax fraud.” He shuffles his feet. “I haven’t told Elise yet. She’s had enough to deal with in the last twenty-four hours, but I thought you should know.”
“I’m glad she’s finally getting some justice.”
Even if the world will never know what Jerome did to her, or that he’s the biological father of her child, at least it’s something.
“What you did for her, with Oliver,” he says. “I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”
The way he looks at me makes my chest ache, but it still doesn’t erase the decisions he made. The ones he forced upon me.
“I didn’t have much choice.”
“No, but I want you to know how grateful I am. It wasn’t in vain, Novalee.”
“Don’t tell Elise,” I say quickly. “About Oliver, I mean. She’ll never forgive herself if she knows.”
A grim understanding tightens his expression. “I wasn’t planning to.”
I look at Landon, who will love that boy as his own, who protected Elise when no one else could.
And I know I’ll love Sebastian’s child, no matter who gives birth to it.
I only hope he’ll be as accepting of the deal I had to make.
13
Cold seeps through my coat the moment the hospital doors slide open. Snow flurries drift in the halo of a streetlamp, powdering the pavement in front of the entrance. I find Hugo standing just under the awning, bundled in his jacket, shivering despite his clothing shielding him from the harsh winter.
“Hugo?”