a break from each other in April,” Joan said.
“Clarke was pressing me to get engaged, but I just wasn’t ready for that.”
“Did you tell any of this to Elijah?” Joan asked.
“No.” She glanced at her palm, tracing a callus likely earned keeping the ranch going. “Elijah mentioned several times that I looked upset.”
“He noticed a lot of things about you.”
When Ann looked up, her surprise was genuine.
“I saw the way Elijah stared at you. He started tutoring when he realized you did.”
“He was patient with the students,” she said. “And we got along really well.”
“And then . . .”
Ann’s brow arched. “I was feeling alone after Clarke and I broke up. I felt like I had blown up my life. The students had left the center for the day, and Elijah was waiting around while I locked up. I was laughing about a joke he had recently told, and when I turned, he was right there. We stared at each other for I don’t know how long. And then he kissed me very gently on the lips. And then I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back harder.”
“And one thing led to another.”
“Yes.” Ann pressed her fingertips to her forehead. “He walked me home and asked if he could see me again, but I told him I couldn’t. I tried to soften the blow, but I could see that he was hurt. He asked me to reconsider, and I said I would, only because I felt so bad for him. But the instant I woke up the next morning, I knew I had made a terrible mistake.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“I called him and told him I had thought about it, but I really couldn’t see him. I needed time to myself after the breakup with Clarke.”
“How did Elijah take it?” Joan asked.
“He was calm about it. Said he would be there for me, whenever I was ready.”
“That all sounds rational and mature.” And if Joan distrusted anything, it was how accepting Elijah had been.
“I was so relieved. I thought I could just put what happened in the past, and we could all move on.”
“And Elijah stuck to his promise to respect your decision?”
“Elijah was truly kind to me, and I respected him for it.”
“Kindness can be more potent than roses or chocolates.”
Ann gripped the handle of her mug and raised her coffee slowly to her lips.
“So at the time of the fire, Clarke and you were not reunited?” Joan asked.
“We slept together once after I was with Elijah.”
“Did Elijah know that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe Elijah decided if he couldn’t have you, then no one could. If you had died in the fire, Elijah would have been assured you and Clarke would never be reunited.”
“I didn’t see Elijah once in the days leading up to the fire. I received no threatening notes, calls, or anything from anyone.”
“Did you tell the police or anyone else about Elijah?”
“Not a soul. Until now.”
“And Clarke was there for you after the fire.” She was surprised to hear the bitterness in her tone.
Ann seemed to pick up on it as well. “The fire brought us together.”
And it had driven Gideon and her apart. Was that not irony? She rolled her head from side to side. “When did you find out you were pregnant?”
Ann sat straighter. “The ambulance took me to the hospital, and the emergency room doctor ran a pregnancy test as a matter of protocol. When it came back positive, I nearly fainted.”
“Did you know Elijah was Nate’s father?”
“I knew it was a possibility.” Ann shook her head. “It sounds terrible.”
“It sounds human.”
“Clarke appeared seconds after I found out about the baby. I tried to hide the news from him, but he realized something was wrong and pressed me to tell. I told him, and he was thrilled. We were married two weeks later by the justice of the peace in town.”
By then, Joan had flown back to Philadelphia. She had been sleeping on Ray’s sofa, and Gideon had been blowing up her phone with calls. “Clarke does love that kid.”
“He adores Nate.”
“Nate looks like you.”
“Clarke says the same. And he has always attributed Nate’s intelligence to me.”
“Did you always wonder if he wasn’t Clarke’s?”
“I pushed the idea out of my mind until a couple of years ago. Nate was talking about math and how fun equations are for him. It was something about the way he lifted his chin that reminded me of Elijah. I just knew.”
“Did you run a DNA