Gates of Paradise (Casteel 4)

it at that, even though we parted and determined we

could never see each other again. She returned that

night. God forgive me, I hoped and prayed she would.

I even left my door open.

"She came and we had one last loving night

together, a special, precious night, Annie, for there is

no doubt in my mind as I look upon you now that

your birth was a direct result of that stolen night of

love."

My tears were streaming down my face

throughout his tale, but when he said those final lines,

my heart paused and Luke squeezed my hand as

though he had been abruptly woken from a deep

sleep.

"What . . . what are you saying?"

"I'm saying you are my daughter, Annie; my

daughter, not Logan's. I'm saying you and Luke are

not blood related. Fanny and Heaven were not sisters

and Logan was not your father, although I'm sure he

loved you as much as any father could love a daughter, even though deep in his heart he might have

known.

"Believe me, I agonized over telling you all

this, for I feared you would think less of your mother

because of it, but I finally concluded Heaven would

have wanted me to tell you so that you and Luke

would not lose one another as she and I did. "If there is truly a curse on the Tattertons, it is

born out of our refusal to be honest with our hearts,

and I will not let that happen to you.

"Lift the dark shadows from Farthy; shine a

light of life over it, Annie. Understand and forgive