Ex’s and Oh’s Read online

It was Caroline’s turn to sniffle. “I’m Caroline Moore. And this is Anna. I have a law degree and a closet full of beautiful shoes, a few precarious friendships, and before I moved here, I’d never been in love at all.”

  She couldn’t stop looking at his face. It was completely different without the beard. He had an angular jaw and a wide mouth. A poet’s mouth. She couldn’t decide if he looked older or younger. She liked him exactly as he was.

  Remembering the package, she shook it lightly. Nothing rattled. “Shall I open it?”

  He carried the baby, she the package, into the kitchen where she took a knife from the drawer and sliced through the packaging tape. She lifted the lid easily enough, but had to remove several layers of packaging foam in order to reach what was inside.

  She drew in a loud breath, her mouth forming a large O.

  “Aren’t they a little big for Anna?” Shane asked.

  Caroline lifted a beautiful pair of baby shoes from the box. She turned them over, looking at them from every angle. “They’re made by hand in a little village on the coast of Italy.”

  “Who’re they from?” Shane rummaged through the rest of the packaging foam.

  Caroline wasn’t surprised he didn’t find a card. She knew who they were from. “They’re from Tori.”

  “Why would she go to so much trouble?”

  “Remember when I asked her if she was giving us her permission? I believe she’s given us something better. She’s giving us her blessing.”

  Even baby Anna responded to the wonder in Caroline’s voice.

  “That’s nice,” Shane said quietly. “Does this mean you will?”

  “Will?” Once again, Caroline found herself looking at the stranger before her. “Oh, you mean will I marry you?”

  “That is the question on the table.”

  She rolled her eyes, but in the end she smiled. “Yes.”

  “Yes?”

  “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  He leaned down and kissed her mouth gently, Anna between them. When it ended, Caroline found herself looking at his hands.

  They were big hands, working hands, capable hands, nurturing hands. They held her daughter, who barely weighed five pounds. If necessary, she knew he would carry the weight of the world for them both.

  Bringing the tip of her finger to her throat, Caroline traced the charm that had been her mother’s. She thought about her mother, and how much she’d missed. She thought about her grandmother, Anna, too, and how much she’d been loved.

  It was mind-boggling, really, the way things had turned out. History didn’t repeat itself, exactly, but similar situations had a way of circling around, generation by generation. It had begun right here in Harbor Woods more than sixty years ago when two boys had climbed a water tower, and later had fallen in love with the same girl.

  And here Caroline was, gazing lovingly at her own precious baby girl, the seed planted by one man, to be raised by another. Caroline would pass along all the stories to little Anna, so she would know her ancestors.

  She and Shane had many decisions to make. The house in Lake Forest was on the market, as was Karl’s house on Prospect Street. She and Shane would have to decide where they would live. Karl had left the lighthouse property to Shane. Perhaps they would live there. She wanted Andy to be a part of that decision. They had a wedding to plan. It would be Caroline’s first. She hadn’t yet worn the silk dress she’d purchased the day she’d met Tori. Suddenly, Caroline knew the perfect occasion for it . Shane would probably ask Andy to be his best man. Caroline would need a witness, too. She had a candidate in mind.

  Tomorrow she would thank Tori for the baby shoes. Soon, they would be more than unlikely friends. Caroline would be Shane’s wife and Andy’s stepmother. That would make Caroline and Tori practically family. She could hardly wait to hear what Tori had to say about that.

  EX’S AND OH’S

  copyright © 2006 Sandra E. Steffen

  ISBN: 978-1-4603-0319-1

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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