Miracle Baby (Harlequin American Romance) Read Online Free PDF

see that. It’s—”
    Delilah stopped beside their table and smiled at Maggie. “I swear I’m losing my mind. I forgot to get your drink order, hon.”
    â€œUm, a glass of milk sounds good, I guess.”
    â€œMilk it is.”
    Rory reached out and grabbed hold of her arm. “Delilah, wait. I want you to meet Maggie. Maggie Monroe. She’s staying at the inn.”
    Delilah’s brows furrowed. “I thought Doug had closed for business during the renovation work.”
    â€œHe did. But Maggie is his niece.”
    A smile lit the woman’s eyes as she leaned in for a closer look. “Maggie? Little Maggie Rigsby?”
    She couldn’t help but laugh. “I—I guess. Though no one has called me that in a while.”
    Delilah clapped her hands together. “I remember when you were no higher than my knee.” The woman met Rory’s eyes and pointed to Maggie. “This little one was the shyest thing I’d ever seen. Hardly said boo. Her uncle would have to practically peel her off his leg on the rare occasion they came in for dinner.”
    Maggie remembered it well. Even though it was a lifetime ago.
    â€œYou don’t remember Delilah?” Rory asked. “Or this diner?”
    â€œI only remember bits and pieces of that time.”
    â€œYou remember the fires that kept you warm.”
    â€œBecause that was one of the only things that tookaway the chill.” She shifted and smiled up at Delilah. “Actually, instead of the milk…could I have a hot chocolate?”
    â€œComing right up.” The woman took one last look at her before heading off to fill the order.
    â€œWow. It’s not often I see Delilah like that.”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œSurprised.” Rory leaned forward. “Delilah knows this town inside out and backward.”
    Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
    He laughed. “So tell me…what made the inn so magical to a shy little girl?”
    Tracing the lines of the Formica table, she considered Rory’s question and found the answer suddenly crystal clear. “It was safe. And it was warm. And it was happy.”
    His left eyebrow rose. “Safe?”
    â€œMy parents were killed when I was five. One day I was a normal kindergartner with a mommy and a daddy, and the next I was living with an aunt who had six kids of her own.”
    For a moment he simply studied her, his expression morphing into one she knew all too well. But for once, the pity didn’t translate into the same anticlimactic apology she’d heard all her life. “Wow. That had to be rough.”
    â€œIt was. At times. My mom’s sister tried, though, she really did. It wasn’t her fault I slipped between the cracks. That probably happens in most large families anyway. But I’d gone from being an only child who adored herparents to being one of seven in a family that wasn’t really mine.”
    â€œI didn’t realize your uncle was married. Or that he had kids.”
    She shook her head. “He didn’t. Uncle Doug is my dad’s brother. I got to visit him once a year. Most of the visits were to the inn during the summer, when the tourist season was in full swing. He’d turn the reins over to his office manager and spend the entire week with me. We’d set off in his boat early in the morning and not come back until dusk, his bucket filled with fish and my face aching from all the laughter. One time, maybe twice, I got to visit in the winter. And as much as I loved our time on the lake in the summer, I loved having the inn all to ourselves in the winter. Because then it was just us.”
    â€œAnd lots of fires in the fireplace?”
    â€œAnd lots of fires in the fireplace,” she echoed. “It was during my visits here that I finally found me. A me that had more courage and strength than I realized at the time.”
    He leaned back as