Read And Then Came You for Free Online Page A

thought desperately.
I’m your mother
.
    Pain knifed through Sam, leaving her breathless in its wake. Throat tight, lungs labored, Sam couldn’t stop watching the child—as if half-afraid the little girl might vanish. She drank in the sight of her daughter and thought she might drown in the joy of it. Dismissing Jeff as though he weren’t even there, Sam committed this first sight of her child to memory, etching it into her brain so that not even time would be able to erase it.
    Sam struggled for air. Fought for it as a dying man battles to stay alive just one more minute. Her heartbeat raced, thundering in her chest. Her stomach spun wildly as though she were on one of those weird carnival rides that turned you every which way but loose. She slapped one hand to the doorjamb to keep herself steady even while trying to find her voice.
    “I’m Sam,” she finally said, ignoring the child’s father as he moved into an openly protective stance just behind the girl. “Who’re you?”
    “I’m Emma Hendricks and—” She stopped and looked back at Jeff for one more heart-stopping moment. “This is my daddy and Sam’s a funny name for a girl.”
    “I guess it is,” she said, and silently congratulated herself on managing to get another sentence past the horrible, tight knot in her throat.
Emma
. Her daughter’s name was
Emma
. A pretty name. One she mighthave chosen herself if she’d had the chance. Sam’s eyes filled for missed chances and empty years and she blinked frantically to keep them at bay. Not that she worried about crying in front of Jeff, but she didn’t want her vision to be blurred. Not now. Not when she finally had the opportunity to actually
see
the child she’d once held briefly in the crook of her arm.
    Oh God, the child she’d wondered about and prayed for, for eight long years, was standing in front of her, smiling at her—and seeing a stranger.
    Emma wore pink shorts, a white short-sleeved T-shirt with pink ribbon around the neck, and bright blue Barbie sneakers with white ankle socks. She had a Band-Aid on her right knee, and freckles across her nose.
    And Sam thought she’d never seen anything more beautiful.
    “Are you here to see my daddy?”
    Daddy
.
    Strange how much power one little word contained. The joy within receded under a tide of anger that slowly rose inside her. “Yes,” Sam said, aiming one more brief look at Jeff. He was stonefaced—no expression of apology or shame to be seen. And dammit, he should be ashamed. He hadn’t wanted Emma. Hadn’t wanted
Sam
. He’d thrown away what they’d had and then, like a rat-bastard-lying-weasel-dog, he’d slipped under Sam’s radar and stolen their child without bothering to tell her.
He’d
been able to love their daughter freely.
He
hadn’t been haunted by decisions made by a scared eighteen-year-old.
He
hadn’t spent every birthday, every Christmas, every Easter, wondering where she was and if she was safe. No, Jeffhad been there, with their daughter, watching her grow and change.
    God, she wanted to scream. She wanted to kick something. Break something.
    But mostly, she wanted some answers.
    Now.
    “Yes, I’m here to see your
daddy
,” Sam said tightly, wondering if he could hear the ice in her voice. If he could see the fury in her eyes. If he cared.
    “Go to your room, honey,” Jeff said.
    Emma’s little face screwed up in a tiny mask of disappointment/pouting/temper. “Daddy, you said we could get ice cream.”
    “We will,” he said, stroking one hand over the back of her head. “Later. First, Sam and I have a few things to talk about.”
    A vise clamped around Sam’s heart and squeezed as she watched father and daughter together. Their easiness with each other was touching and, oh, so hard to look at. If things had been different . . .
    Oh yeah, they had to talk, she thought. That’s for damn sure. They had plenty to talk about and it would be much better for everyone if Emma were nowhere around when