Julia flipped her curly hair over her shoulder, leaned down, and took a sip of her soda through the straw. When she glanced up, her eyes were distant. “I don’t need a mother.”

Kate nodded. And so much for being polite.

“I’m only here because my dad and my uncle asked me to come. If you’d have asked, I’d have said no.”

Well, this was going well. Kate pursed her lips. “I see.”

“No, I don’t think you do. I don’t care what those stupid test results say. You’re not my mother. My mother died five years ago.”

“I realize this is hard for you, Julia. It’s hard for all of us. But I assure you, I am your mother.”

“That’s just biology.” Julia folded her arms across her chest. “Lots of women have kids. That doesn’t make them mothers. Mothers stick around. They care about their kids. They don’t…” She swallowed. Tears glinted in her eyes. “They don’t disappear and then come back not remembering anything.”

Kate’s heart broke for the girl. “If I could change it, Julia, I would. I would in an instant.”

Julia looked away. “Doesn’t matter. It still doesn’t change the fact that I don’t need you or want you around. And neither does my dad.”

The words felt like a slap in the face. Kate recognized the girl was striking out, but it still stung.

“He loved my mother, a lot,” Julia went on. “And seeing you has been hard on him, but he’s not in love with you. He knows that now. He’s only being nice to you because of those tests, because of your…boy.” She pushed her soda away in disgust.

“Julia.” Kate tried to keep her voice calm and soothing. She was the adult. She had to remember that. Although, at the moment, she really wanted to run screaming out of the restaurant and indulge herself in a good long cry. “I’m not trying to get in the way of you and your father. I wouldn’t do that. I just want to spend some time with you, get to know you a little. Your dad wants to do the same with Reed.”

Julia bit her lip. “They said you already got remarried.”

Kate’s chest tightened. “They did? Your dad told you that?”

“Not exactly.” Julia looked down at the worn table. “I heard him talking to Uncle Mitch about it. Did you?” When she shot a nervous glance up, Kate saw the questions swirling in her green eyes.

This wasn’t the way she wanted the conversation to go. But she couldn’t change the subject. Not when it was so important. Figuring honesty was the best route to take, Kate nodded. “I thought so. I don’t really know how to explain the situation because I don’t quite understand it myself. But I thought I was married. If I had known about you and your dad, though, things would have been different.”

“He died, right? That’s why you came looking for us.”

“Yes, he died. That’s how I found out about you.”

“What was his name?” Julia glanced back down again. Kate could see this was hard on her but that she was curious, so she let the topic continue, for now.

“Jake. He was a doctor.”

“Do you miss him?”

Kate let out a breath. “I don’t know what I feel right now, Julia. Things are pretty messed up at the moment.”

“But you weren’t really married to him, right? ‘Cause legally, you’re still married to my dad.”

Oh, man. There was a thought. And a reality. “No, I guess I wasn’t. Your dad and I haven’t even talked about that yet, though.”

Julia twirled the soda glass between her hands. “You will. And you can fix it. People get divorced all the time. My dad will go for it.”

Another slap. Kate didn’t quite know why it hurt so much.

“He’s over you, you know,” Julia went on. “He dates lots of women, has since just after you left. I think he stays with them when he goes on trips. One time, I called his hotel, and a girl answered.”

Heat crept up Kate’s face.

“I’m more grown up than I look,” Julia said. “I know a lot about what adults do.”

Kate ran a hand over her forehead. This definitely wasn’t what she’d wanted to talk about today. She needed to get the conversation back on neutral ground.

“Julia, let’s try to focus on you and me. We’re here because we need to get to know each other. Your dad and I will work things out on our own. I don’t know what will happen, but I’m going to be around, for you and for Reed. I promise you that. I’m not leaving.”

“You said that once before.” She glanced away. “Whatever. Can we go back now? I want to see my dad.”

This was going to be a lot harder than Kate had originally thought. All those nifty ideas about being one big happy—albeit dysfunctional—family dissipated into thin air.

Kate paid the bill, and they drove back to the park in silence. Julia refused to talk to her in the car. She’d closed down already, exhausted her conversation base, put up those walls her dad was so good at building.

Walking back toward the Conservatory, they spotted Reed and Ryan sitting on the bottom steps, sharing an ice-cream cone. Julia went running up to them, dropped into her father’s arms, and sank onto the steps at his feet. The transformation in her mood was incredible. One minute, she’d been grumpy and depressed. Then as soon as she’d seen her father, she’d shifted to happy and elated.

Kate stopped and took in the scene from a distance. They seemed to fit—all three of them. Ryan and Reed had obviously gotten along just fine. Reed was smiling and laughing and trying to climb on Ryan’s back. That didn’t surprise her, though. Her son was a happy boy. He liked people, and he’d been enthralled by Ryan from the start.

And Julia even seemed to be warming up to Reed. She shot him a quick smile when she thought no one was watching.

Kate was the only one who didn’t fit. She was the one causing all the confusion and hurt. She was the one who didn’t know how to make this whole damn thing work.

Her eyes slid shut, and she turned before the tears could fall. This day had been so much harder for her than she’d ever imagined. Not just her conversation with Julia but all of it. Seeing the kids, watching them with Ryan, sensing how at ease he was with them and realizing how uncomfortable she felt about everything.

She headed back down the path to catch her breath, to check her emotions and regain composure. Breaking down in front of them wasn’t an option. Just a few minutes, that’s all she needed.

* * *

Ryan watched Annie disappear back down the path. He glanced down at Julia, then over at Reed. They looked happy. But Annie definitely didn’t.

Shit.

“Julia, keep an eye on Reed.”

“Ah, Dad, do I have to?” Julia whined.

He shot her a warning look. “Yes, you have to. You guys stay here and don’t wander. I’ll be right back.”

Following the path, he spotted Annie on a bench about fifty yards away, nestled between the trees. Her head was resting in her hands, and while he couldn’t make out her expression, he didn’t need to see her face to know what she was feeling. He’d seen her beaming with joy, so angry she could spit fire, and in the throes of bitter tears. And every time, he’d known what to say or do to make things better. This time, he didn’t.

He eased down onto the bench next to her. The scent of lilacs wafted in the air around him. He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. After five years, she still wore the same perfume. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?

“Was she that bad?”

She shook her head but didn’t look up. “No. Just honest.”

He glanced through the trees toward the Conservatory where the kids were chasing each other up and down the steps. “That means bad.”

“No, Ryan, she was fine. Don’t get upset with her.”

When she lifted her head, he couldn’t help but see the tears in her eyes. And his heart clenched at the sight. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do to make this better.”

She wiped at the tears with trembling hands. “It’s okay. It’s me. I’m the one making things so difficult.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yeah, I am. This is just…” She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. “It’s just more real than I thought it was going to be.”

Instinct overcame reason. He reached out to her before he thought better of it, slid an arm around her shoulder, pulled her close to his side. Her body stiffened in defense, then relaxed when he didn’t let go. His body heated as she sank into him. Warm. Solid. So very real. And when her face turned into his chest, his heart squeezed even tighter.

How could he have forgotten what she felt like? Memories flashed in his mind, ones he’d pushed down over the years to keep from feeling that mind-numbing pain. Her lying in his arms in their bed, her skin sliding over his, her lips pressing against his neck, her mouth whispering what she planned to do to him.

With her body close to his like this, every minute of their life together flashed in front of his eyes. She felt so good, so right. He didn’t want to let go.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered. “Dammit, don’t cry. I never could take it. You’re supposed to be the tough one.”

She gulped in steadying breaths. Her breasts pressed against his side. As her hand moved across his chest, his skin tingled beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. The casual touch sent a jolt of electricity through his entire body, spurring all kinds of thoughts, a host of memories. He wanted her hands on his skin, her lips pressed against his, her body below, above, against his any way she wanted. As many times as she wanted.

She eased back enough to look up at him. And when she did, those deep green eyes tugged at something in his soul no one before or since had ever been able to touch. So soulful and expressive, those eyes had haunted his dreams since the day she’d disappeared.