Free The Collector's Edition Volume 1 by Emma Darcy Page B

carried Baby in to draw her attention. ‘Hebe is not so different to what you’re used to, is it, sweetheart? Do you like Hebe?’
    She blew him a raspberry.
    Jayne laughed. Her eyes actually twinkled at him. ‘I think that puts paid to Hebe.’
    Dan was sharply reminded of days of love and laughter. He wanted them back. He wanted…He expelled a long breath. Jayne wasn’t about to fall in with what he wanted this time around. He forced himself to relax.
    ‘All right. I give up. You name her,’ he invited.
    Jayne darted an uncertain glance at him.
    ‘I mean it,’ he assured her. ‘I readily confess I’m a man. I’ll go with your feminine leanings and intuition. Besides, if Baby ends up hating her new name, the blame is all yours, Jayne.’
    Still she hesitated. ‘Have you legally adopted her, Dan?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘What’s on her papers?’
    ‘Baby Lassiter Drayton.’
    She frowned. ‘I guess that can be construed as not having been christened before then. Has she been baptised?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Then you can put her proper names on her baptismal certificate. That will make up for any feeling of having the matter neglected before.’
    Neglected ? Dan thought that was a harsh reflection on his inclination to simply use Baby. Or was it a reflection of Jayne’s feelings? He recollected her saying that her childhood wasn’t worth remembering and always refused to be drawn on it. He filed that away under questions to be answered.
    ‘Names?’ he queried, noting her use of the plural.
    ‘Yes. She should have two.’
    ‘Have you decided?’
    ‘Anya Micaela. Anya was Nina’s real name. Micaela so she knows she’s very much part of her father, as well. It will give her a senseof…well, family heritage. I think that’s important.’
    ‘Why?’
    She threw him a startled look. ‘I think most people want to belong to someone.’
    ‘Why shouldn’t she feel she belongs to me?’
    A flush stained her pale cheeks. ‘I only meant that adopted children want a connection to their natural parents. That’s not belittling your role in her life, Dan.’
    Jayne had more than belittled his role in her own life, he thought sourly. He wondered how she would react to regular incursions from him in her precious new life.
    ‘So now we’ve got to get Baby baptised,’ he said agreeably. ‘After we’ve finished this project, I’ll come back to Australia with you and have it done there. I think you should be godmother, Jayne. Nina would have liked that. Anya Micaela will, too. Gives her another person to belong to.’
    He watched Jayne’s fingers tighten around the driving wheel. The atmosphere in the cabin of the truck thickened with tension. He could feel her brain racing through the permutations, how much of a tie it would be to him, how many contacts it might entail in the future, the responsibilities she would be taking on as godmother.
    Dan patiently waited for her reply, not pressing, not elaborating on the theme, allowing Jayne’s caring for Nina’s daughter do all the workfor him. They passed through two sets of traffic lights before she came to a decision.
    ‘I agree,’ she said slowly. ‘If anything happens to you, Anya will have me to come to. She can count on me always being there for her when and if she needs me.’
    All Anya. No expectation that he might come along with her. He wondered why. ‘That’s a big commitment, Jayne,’ he observed.
    She grimaced. ‘I know what it’s like to be cut adrift. I wouldn’t want Anya Micaela to ever think she had no one to go to.’
    ‘You cut yourself adrift, Jayne,’ he said harshly, unable to repress the swift rise of anger stirred by her words.
    She bit her lips as hot colour burned into her cheeks again. Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to regain composure. ‘I was referring to…to something else, Dan.’
    ‘Fine! Then let me understand,’ he urged tersely. ‘Unlock the closets and roll out the skeletons. They might shed some light on why you