Gift of the Black Virgin Read Online Free PDF Page A

her walking tour. And busy getting
her brains screwed out—by Luc, a man she didn’t even know. The man
she did know, James, who’d just proposed marriage to her,
flew to France to give her the bad news and take her home for the
funeral. Her father was the dearest person in the world to her, and
his death was an absolute tragedy.
    “And were you able to think of anyone or
anything else but yourself and your loss?”
    She couldn’t, she remembered now. She shook
her head against the soft cotton of his shirt.
    “Those feelings prevented you from thinking
about me, at the time. And what you’d promised me. Didn’t they? You
couldn’t even leave me a note.”
    Horrible as it sounded now, what he said was
true. She’d promised to extend her vacation and run off with him
like the star-struck fool that she was. Run off to an uncertain
destination and an even more uncertain future. It was what they
both wanted, at the time. Instead, she’d allowed James to take her
home.
    “But…,” she said in a tiny voice.
    He wouldn’t let her finish. “That’s how you
explained yourself to me in Vancouver. You said you left without a
thought of me as soon as you heard your father had died. Isn’t that
true?”
    She felt heat rise to her face. “Not exactly ,” she said. “There were some other
circumstances.”
    Like being drugged by the man who said he
loved and wanted to marry me. And tricked. Manipulated…
    “But you suffered such a shock that you
couldn’t think straight. That’s what you told me. And that’s why I
forgave you. You see, I understand what grief can do.”
    He pulled back so he could look into her eyes
again. Through her tears she saw darkness there. “I understood, and
I forgave you. Didn’t I?”
    She nodded, somberly.
    “Now you need to do the same for me,
Joanna.”
    Ashamed, she buried her face in the side of
his neck. “Of course I understand! But I’m so afraid! I can’t bear
the feeling that I’ve come all this way—I’ve thrown over my entire
life—and you’re not here for me. I feel abandoned. Lost. Maybe
you’ll never be available to me again.” She burst into messy sobs,
her entire body trembling.
    “I am here for you, my love. You’re not abandoned. I’m here,” he said as he kissed her hair.
“What we’re going through is only temporary. Surely you know that.
You won’t lose me, I promise you.”
    Staring at the delicate stones in her
engagement ring, she exhaled the breath she didn’t know she’d been
holding, then pulled her face up to his level and kissed his mouth
with a fierce hope. She kissed his face, his thick hair, the strong
hands that were stroking her own hair.
    “You promise?” she paused to ask.
    “Yes, I do. Daniel will recover and soon you
can meet him. Then we’ll be a family together. Don’t worry, ma
biche. Don’t worry.”
    “But what if he doesn’t want me? I don’t know
how to be a step mother.” The truth of her words hit her hard as
she spoke them. “When I first thought about it, a blended family,
in the abstract, didn’t seem a huge obstacle. But now, everything
looks different.”
    “Shh. Shh. Don’t worry,” Luc said with
another kiss to her face. “Of course Daniel’s always going to be a
priority in my life. But so will you. And don’t think you won’t
make a good step mother. It will take time—for both of you. Daniel
is a very loving boy, and you are a very loving woman. I know he
loves his family, and when we have children of our own he will love
his brothers or sisters.” He kissed her lips softly. “And he will
love you. As I do.”
    Jo drew back to stare at him, her eyes
growing large. They hadn’t yet spoken about having children of
their own. She’d been afraid to broach the subject during their
week in Vancouver, agreeing to marry him whatever the future would
hold.
    “Oh, Luc. I love you so much,” she said with
a catch in her throat. “You always know the right thing to say.”
She held his face in