Page 59 of Substitute Bride

A woman he was in love with. A woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. A woman both he and his daughters could never live without.

Rose might not be in love with him now, but that didn’t mean she never would. She obviously liked him and was attracted to him. There was no denying the chemistry they had together. And they cared for each other and understood each other and took care of each other.

She didn’t have to be exactly where he was emotionally for there to be a chance. Everything didn’t always come in neat little packages—slots with the boundaries clearly marked out.

He could work at it. He could woo her. He could show her how much potential there was between them.

Maybe she could grow to love him, and then maybe the girls’ clear-eyed vision of a future for their family wasn’t as off the wall as it might seem.

He could at least try.

His despair was swallowed in a wave of joy and hope, and it spurred him to ease Jill aside slightly so he could climb off the bed.

“Where are you going, Daddy?”

“I was going to find Rose and talk to her.”

The girls’ faces burst into happiness, and they scrambled off the bed after him.

“Let’s go find Rose,” Jill said, running over to her closet and yanking out a pair of leggings, which she pulled on under her nightgown.

Julie ran over to find a pair of leggings too, copying her sister. “Let’s go now!”

“Just a minute,” James said, suddenly worried that they’d all bombard Rose with their love and excitement and pressure her into something she might not want. “I’m not sure we should all⁠—”

“We have to come too! We have to tell her we want her to be our mommy!” Jill insisted, sliding on a pair of flip-flops. “We love her too!”

“We love her!” Julie echoed.

James sighed. He couldn’t leave them at home, obviously, since there was no one here to watch them. They’d have to come. Maybe he could arrange for them to stay in a room with Kelly while he talked to Rose.

He pictured Kelly futilely trying to hold the excited girls back from getting to Rose.

He sighed again. It didn’t matter. He had to go find Rose now. He had to talk to her now.

So the girls were going to have to come with him.

A half hour later he was knocking on the thick, historic Beaufort front door, with Jill and Julie at his side, so excited they were wriggling and holding their hands over their mouths so they wouldn’t be too loud.

After a few minutes Kelly opened the door, staring in shock when she saw who it was.

“What do you want?” she asked, frowning at him.

“Sorry to turn up unexpectedly. Is Rosie here?” he asked.

“We’re here to see Rosie!” Jill confirmed.

“Rosie!” Julie echoed.

“Yes, she’s here,” Kelly said, her sober green eyes moving from one to another. “She’s in her room.”

“Can we come in?” James asked, starting to get impatient now that Rose was almost within reach.

“She’s pretty upset,” Kelly said, holding his gaze with an expression that seemed a lot older than she was. “I’d rather not let you in if you’re just going to upset her even more.”

Irrationally he felt a leap of excitement at the news that Rose was so unhappy. Kelly had implied it was over him.

If she was that torn up about leaving them, maybe she’d be open to eventually coming back.