settled his parents into a bigger house but his father continued to farm the land until they’d both died about four years ago.
He walked into the house, not even hearing Jemma’s call to stop. He continued to walk until he was once against standing in front of the wall where all the pictures hung. Some of them were just of Dylan, and some were of Dylan and herself, holding Dylan as a baby or during different stages of his life.
“Tell me,” he croaked out.
Jemma looked at his face, his skin taut over the cheekbones and around his eyes and she knew what he was asking. “I got pregnant that night. I know that you took precautions, so I don’t know how it happened, but I figured it out two weeks after that night.”
He looked from one picture to the other, his mind reeling with the knowledge that he had a son. “More,” he demanded, his eyes hungrily taking in the pictures.
Jemma moved to the tiny family room, pulling a photo album off of one of the bookshelves. “Here. You can see more pictures in this.”
She sat down next to him on her well-worn sofa, telling him stories about each of the pictures, describing what Dylan was doing or where they were, why she took the picture at that time as well as what was happening in Dylan’s life.
She talked about Dylan for hours, smiling at some of the topics, groaning at some of his bad behavior and, just in general, sharing her love for her son. Their son. As much as she didn’t like that, she had to accept that Damien was here. And from the way he was absorbing the information about Dylan, he might be here more often.
She stood up, suddenly realizing that she was hungry. “Do you want something for lunch?” she asked, moving nervously into her kitchen. She was fully aware of Damien following her, watching her. “I can make a grilled cheese sandwich.”
“Jemma, why…”
“And tomato soup. Grilled cheese and tomato soup are a great combination.”
He watched her flitting nervously around the kitchen. “Sounds good,” he replied after a long pause.
Jemma’s shoulders relaxed slightly and she walked quickly to the fridge to pull out the ingredients. She sliced the cheese and buttered the bread, putting it onto the hot griddle before grabbing a can of soup out of the pantry. She knew she looked frantic, but she couldn’t help herself. She was alone with Damien and he knew about Dylan. All of her secrets were out there now. And he was still so big and so gorgeous! She loved the way his dark hair was turning slightly grey at the temples. “How old are you?” she asked finally, her need to know more about this man overwhelming her suddenly.
“I’m thirty-four,” he replied. “How old are you?”
She took a deep breath. “Almost twenty-six.”
“And you raise horses.” He said it as if he knew more than that, but raising horses really summarized her life.
She opened two cans of tomato soup and poured them into a pot to heat up. “Yes. I like horses. My father taught me to ride when I was too small to even hold the reins. He loved them as well. We always had horses around.”
“But you train them and raise thoroughbreds. You have a very good reputation in the industry.”
Jemma smiled, feeling a warm glow come over her. “Thank you,” she replied, feeling like she should say something else, but not sure what else to say. “Dylan rides as well. And he helps with the chores. He’s really very responsible,” she explained with a smile. “Unless he gets into the stall with the puppies, like this morning. Then he forgets about his chores…well, he forgets everything.”
“He was pretty cute this morning.”
Jemma nodded and flipped the grilled cheese sandwiches. “He is going to miss the little girl puppy you chose.”
Damien didn’t say anything to that, knowing that he was going to figure out how to keep Dylan, Jemma and the puppy all together. It was a plan that was slowly forming in his mind while he watched her cook, admiring her adorable derriere the whole time. His niece, Adriana was a sweet girl but she was lonely. She would love to have a cousin to play with. And Jemma seemed like a very good mother. Adriana would blossom under Jemma’s care.
“How many horses do you have?” he asked as she placed a bowl of red soup in front of him and a perfectly grilled sandwich.