Carly's Gift by Georgia Bockoven Page B

most people would even notice.”
    Since he could give her so little else, he gave her this. “I’ll try harder from now on,” he said.
    Several long, agonizing seconds passed before she spoke again. “I looked London up online today—it’s as big as New York. I can’t imagine living someplace where there’s seven million other people living right next to you.”
    â€œYou get used to it. After my time in New York, London was easy. If you’re open to it, the kind of intensity you find living in a big city is almost addictive. But I don’t stay in London all the time. I have a house in the country, too.”
    â€œA lot of my friends’ parents have cabins, but I’ve never known anyone with more than one real house before. I suppose the one in the country is really big?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat about your house in London? Is it big, too?”
    â€œIt’s comfortable.”
    She hesitated. “Did you . . .” She stopped to clear her throat. “Did you love my mother?”
    He’d expected her to ask something along that order. Still it hit like a blow to his midsection. “Yes,” he answered simply. To tell Andrea how much he had loved Carly would only add to her confusion.
    â€œThen why—” She caught herself. “Never mind,” she said. “It’s not important.”
    He was out of his element. He had no idea what to say or do to ease her pain. Telling her that he wasn’t her father would destroy any faith and trust she had left in the people she loved. Ethan could not be taken away from her without giving her someone to take his place. She needed to believe the man responsible for her birth was good and loving and kind, despite the fact that he had abandoned her and her mother.
    â€œI’m sorry,” was all he could think to say.
    â€œI’ve known there was something wrong for a long time now,” she said, abruptly dropping her defenses. “My dad doesn’t like me.”
    â€œThat’s not true,” David said, hoping his words sounded more convincing to her than they did to him. “I happen to know that he loves you very much. We had a long talk about you this afternoon and the reason he seems to hold back at times is he’s been afraid that I would come back some day and take you from him.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œReally.”
    â€œWhat made him think you would do that?”
    â€œBecause he knows how a father feels about his children.”
    â€œIs that how you feel about me?”
    He’d fallen into a trap of his own making. “I’m sure that’s the way I would have felt if I’d known you existed,” he said, reluctant to add to the lies already told. “If you haven’t talked to anyone about this, then you probably don’t know that I found out about you the same time you found out about me.”
    â€œWe look a lot alike,” she said.
    In reality, except for the color of her hair and the shade of blue of her eyes, Andrea was the spitting image of her mother. Ethan was so caught up in believing what he wanted to believe, he’d blinded himself to any other possibility. Or maybe it was knowing the truth that kept David from seeing what Ethan saw. “Actually, I think you look more like your mother than—”
    â€œDo you like me?” she rushed on, making no effort to hide her need for his approval.
    He could crush her with a word. “I like you very much,” he said.
    Her head dipped in an almost imperceptible nod, as if she were privately confirming something she’d already decided. “Then it’s okay if I come to live with you?”

Seven

    Carly slid the tray back into the dishwasher, closed the door, and wiped her hands on a dish towel. Seeking a way to escape the doubts and questions that had haunted her about what had happened that day, she’d spent the past hour