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was a family photo. Clayton with his arm wrapped around Linda, Stephanie on his hip and Charlotte in Linda’s arms, perhaps only a few months old.
    She couldn’t help but want to touch it.
    “ I didn’t know if you liked cream.” His voice carried through the room, but there was deep sadness in it.
    She turned to see him in the doorway watching her. “Is this Linda?”
    He tucked his lips between his teeth as he walked toward her. Handing her the mug of coffee, he nodded.
    A faint smile formed on his lips. “Yeah, that’s her. Beautiful, isn’t she?”
    Vivian swallowed hard and looked at the woman with the firm, athletic build. Blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders and her smile was bright.
    “ She is. You have a beautiful family.”
    He nodded still looking at the picture. “Charlotte might have been three months old. We were hiking in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. What a view.”
    Still, his voice hadn’t returned to normal. Now it actually shook when he talked. It was at that moment she realized there was a reason Linda hadn’t been there for dinner.
    Noting the sadness that filled his eyes and his voice, Vivian raised her hand to his arm, just as he’d done to her the night before.
    “ Where is she?”
    “ Seattle,” he said flatly as he continued to stare at the photo, but now his eyes grew moist.
    It really wasn’t what she thought he’d say.
    “ Seattle? Why didn’t she move with you?”
    Finally, he turned, his eyes brimming with tears. “She’s buried in Seattle.”
    Her heart exploded in her chest and she felt her own tears burning in her throat and then her eyes. It didn’t take but a breath and a sorrowful look from Clayton to have them spilling down her cheeks.
    “ Oh, Clayton.” She wanted to brush away her tears, but she couldn’t remove her hand from his arm. She wanted to touch him.
    “ C’mon, now.” He cleared his throat. “We’re in the same boat here. I can’t let you get all emotional about my loss.”
    She looked around the room and saw the small coffee table behind her. She set her mug down and turned back to him. Then she moved to him and pulled him in. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she stood on her toes and held on. Her head rested on his shoulder, but he was stiff beneath her. But she wasn’t going to let go.
    A moment later she could feel his body quiver beneath hers and his arms came around her, one hand still holding a cup of coffee.
    He was crying against her hair and she was sobbing into his shoulder.
    They were both broken and they held each other tighter. They were both wounded and they each cried a little harder.
    “ Daddy.” A soft, faint voice said behind them.
    Vivian slowly pulled back and Clayton wiped frantically at his eyes.
    “ Hey, baby.”
    “ Why you cry?” Charlotte asked and it broke through Vivian’s hard exterior and she had to turn from the little girl to wipe away her tears.
    “ Just missing mommy.”
    Vivian turned to see the girl simply nod her head. This was an obviously normal reaction to her seeing him cry. Yet the young girl didn’t cry.
    “ Frozen .”
    Clayton chuckled. “I’ll put it on TV. Go get the girls and you can all watch out here. Vivian and I will go talk in the kitchen.”
    Charlotte nodded and ran to the bedroom.
    “ I’ll take our coffee in there,” Vivian offered and with a nod he handed her his mug.
    She walked back to the kitchen where she stopped, noticing the sink full of dishes. That wouldn’t do for this man. He needed some help.
    Vivian set the mugs down on the small table in the corner and moved toward the sink where she began to arrange the dishes onto the counter.
    Logically she looked under the sink for the dish soap, where she found it, and filled the sink with suds.
    “ You’re going to do my dishes because I made you cry?”
    She turned to look at him. He was leaned against the doorway watching her. So relaxed. So sexy. She could simply eat him but, but he was broken too. That she