Her lips felt slightly chapped by the persistent wind. “Silly question. I’m just feeling whimsical, I guess.”
“It’s not silly at all. I imagine we would have built forts and had snowball wars.”
She chewed her lip before adding, “Boys against the girls, naturally.”
“I bet you girls would have won. Especially with my sister Breanna on your side.”
“That’s the first time I’ve heard you mention her.” The loss must have been monumental. She felt for him. She understood loss well.
“That seems wrong somehow, that I don’t talk about her more. She should be remembered.” His voice sounded honest and raw. She knew sharing this must be hard for him, but he’d said he wanted to be friends. He wanted more. Could she be there for him?
“Do you want to tell me something about her?” When her grandmother was alive, she’d often talked about people in her life who had already passed on. She’d tell stories of their lives, and in doing so, had preserved a part of them. That was a small gift Glenna could offer Broderick.
“She was full of spirit and one helluva leader in the making.”
Glenna snorted. “Naomi is spirited.”
He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Naomi is a rebel. Breanna was more focused, always charging forward, so I figured I better keep up. She made me stronger.”
“Losing someone you love is so hard. There’s no set way for how to deal with it. We’re all different. Losing your mother at the same time is just horrible.” All losses hurt. To death, to divorce, to time.
And therein lay the core of why this offer to start something serious with him gave her such pause. She needed to make him understand that committing to a relationship, even without being in love, wasn’t something to be taken lightly, no matter how much it streamlined their practical concerns.
“We were all changed because of it.” Broderick stopped walking for a moment to stare at her. “I’m so very sorry about your husband’s death. This has to be hell for you, waiting for the paternity results.”
She swallowed, pushing her feelings to the pit of her stomach. “I’m sure it’s difficult for you, as well, not knowing if Fleur is yours.”
“It’s different for me. I understand that.” He squeezed Glenna’s hand.
“Are you trying to ask me if I really think she could be his?” She found it impossible to keep a neutral tone.
“There’s no need for me to ask. The test will speak for itself.” His evasive answer did nothing to soothe her.
“But you want to know if I believe my husband would cheat on me.” That was the question he wasn’t asking.
“It’s not my place to ask. But I do care if he hurt you or betrayed your trust.” Broderick looked at her.
She inhaled deeply, smelling the pine, letting the crisp air steady her. In a small voice, she answered him. Gave him a secret few people knew. “He had an affair three years ago. We worked through the problem with a counselor. It wasn’t easy, but we put our marriage back together.”
“Damn, I am so sorry.” He turned to face her, concern etched in the lines on his brow and at the corners of his mouth.
“He’s dead.” She could barely choke out the words. “I’m sorry most of all about that.”
“Of course,” he said gently.
“I told him if he cheated again, that would be a deal breaker. But I can’t help thinking that if he had cheated again, he wouldn’t have risked telling me because he knew I would walk.”
“And?” Broderick’s head tilted.
“What do you mean? Isn’t that enough?”
He stared intensely at her. “There’s more on your face.”
“If Fleur is his child…it means he betrayed me again. And yet I don’t know how I can let go of her. She’s the last piece of him. I know that sounds all tangled up—that I would have left him for being unfaithful, but thinking of her being his child makes me ache. We had trouble conceiving. I have endometriosis and lost an ovary during an ectopic pregnancy.” She drew a deep breath. Then another. All the pain of the last few years rushed through her.
Broderick reached to stroke her hair.
She leaned into his touch for an instant before pulling away. “I don’t want sympathy. I just want answers.” She cleared her throat. “What are your plans if the test shows you’re her biological father?”
He looked down at Fleur, whose eyes had shut. Her breath was deep as she slept. He smiled at the baby. “I’ll be her father. She’s already suffered enough rejection from her mother.”