What could she do? That was the real question. And the real answer was, not much.
If she went to the law, the people who would suffer most were Roarke and Susanna, and they were innocent victims of what had happened.
Still, she couldn’t let the doctor walk off thinking he’d gotten away free. He needed to wake up every morning and worry about what was going to happen, and go to sleep with the same fear every night.
“Jennifer? What will you do?”
Jennifer’s eyes fastened on his. “You’ll find out when I do it.”
His mouth trembled. “Yes, but—”
“I have everything I need to go to the authorities. Or to confront the man who—who is raising my daughter.”
“You can’t! You signed the papers. It’s all legal.”
She swung on her heel and walked away from him.
“Jennifer! I’m begging you…”
She walked faster.
And faster.
Perhaps now—perhaps now, she could start healing.
* * *
She had the next two days off and for the first time since she’d returned from Isla de la Pantera, she didn’t spend them moping around her apartment.
She went to the park instead, her face turned up to the summer sunshine—until a tall man with dark hair came trotting strolling toward her with a child perched on his shoulders.
Tears flooded her eyes and she rose from the bench where she’d been sitting and began a mindless walk that finally ended at her apartment.
When would she forget? she wondered, but she knew the answer.
She would never forget, not as long as she drew breath.
* * *
Life had to go on.
She drove to the next town, to the campus of one of the state colleges. The next semester would be starting soon. She’d always dreamed of teaching.
It was time to stop dreaming and start doing.
She brought the course catalogue home and spent days thumbing through it, taking notes as she read.
Some of the classes sounded wonderful.
For the first time since she’d left Isla de la Pantera, she felt a little hum of excitement.
Still, the nights were difficult.
She dreamed. Of her daughter.
Of Roarke.
Sometimes, the days were difficult too.