MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Page 17
"Quick rainstorm," Laura observed.
Dean nodded. "That's typical for Bermuda. It'll be nice now for the rest of the day."
"Dean, what happened to you?" Laura asked when she noticed the scabbed-over cut on his forehead, the contusion on the side of his jaw.
"Ran into a little drama on the high seas. Threw me off schedule – I only made it in a couple of hours ago. The Lorelei's gonna need a little work, but it could have been a lot worse."
"I heard about those storms," she said, lightly touching his bruised jaw. "I was so upset when we got here and didn't see your boat."
"She was," Janey concurred. "She twied to act all cool, but she didn't fool me."
"I'm sorry you were worried." Dean captured her hand in his and kissed it. "Laura, honey…" He stroked her hair, her face, as if he still couldn't believe she was standing in front of him. "What are you doing here?"
Before Laura could phrase a response, Janey piped up with, "We came to ask you to mawwy us!"
"Janey!" Laura laughingly scolded as heat rose up her throat.
"Really?" Dean buried his hands in Laura's hair, searching her eyes. "Seriously? You … you want to…"
"I love you, Dean," Laura said quietly. "I do. I always have. I'm sorry I … couldn't say it before. I didn't have enough faith in you."
"I haven't done much to earn it."
"Yes, you have." She rested a hand on his cheek, raspy with a couple of days' worth of stubble. "I just wasn't paying enough attention."
"Well, you're making up for it now," he said. "Holy cow, did you actually fly here? You must have."
"She was vewy bwave," Janey said.
"I'll bet she was," Dean said, touching his lips to hers. "I love you, too, honey. I'm so glad you're here. I couldn't believe it when I saw you. I thought I must have hurt my head worse than I thought."
"Mommy says I don't have to call you Mr. Kettle-wing anymore," Janey said. "She says I can call you Daddy, 'cause you really are my daddy – if it's okay with you."
Dean looked from Janey to Laura and back again, his eyes gleaming. "Oh, sweetie." Dropping to his knees, he folded Janey in his arms, squeezing his eyes shut. "It's a lot more than okay with me. It's…" When he opened his eyes, tears spilled from them. Meeting Laura's gaze, he mouthed, "Thank you."
Regaining his feet, he took Laura in his arms again and kissed her with heartbreaking tenderness.
"You guys," Janey said. "The wain has stopped."
So it had. Droplets still plopped onto the wet pavement from the roof above them, but there was nothing more coming out of the sky, and the few remaining clouds were retreating just as quickly as they'd appeared. King's Square was as warm again with tourists, as if the fleeting cloudburst had never happened.
"Look at that," Laura marveled as they stepped out from under the portico into brilliant sunshine. "Just moments ago, it was rainy and dark and miserable, and now it's…"
"Perfect," Dean said, taking her hand and Janey's in his. "Absolutely perfect."
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