Free Moving on With Brock: A Passionate Second Chance Romance by Sandra Ross Page A

from hiding at home that night watching sad movies so she would have an excuse to sit in the dark and cry all night. 
    “Come over here and see your presents!” Carrie exclaimed as she took hold of Portia’s arm and led her across the room. 
    Portia’s dining table had been set up as a depository for birthday gifts, and it was absolutely loaded with gaily wrapped presents of all shapes and sizes. That’s when it hit Portia that her friends had really missed her and that she had been unfair to them by not allowing them back into her life, especially at a time when she had needed them the most. Even though, after a while, Carrie had started to drag Portia out to dinner and movies, to her credit, she had never once tried to set her up with anyone. Carrie knew that would be taking things too far. 
    Now, though, surrounded by caring friends, music, laughter and all those presents, Portia started to feel a glimmer of hope that she may be able to move ahead and leave the past behind her. She would never forget what happened, but she just might be able to get over it. For once, she even wanted the ability to do that. 
    Portia glanced down at her left hand, and her engagement and wedding rings sparkled back up at her. 
    They were customized with small diamond chips and amethysts. She and Gideon had designed them and had them made. While she knew she would never give them up, it might just be time to at least move them to her right hand or even get a chain to wear them around her neck. 
    Food and drinks flowed freely and everyone was having a wonderful time; even Portia. When it came time for her to open presents, everyone gathered at the table to watch. She was surprised and relieved that there were no sentimental gifts. People had tried to do that for her following Gideon’s death. She probably had nearly every Chicken Soup for the Soul book ever written in that time frame. Inspirational gifts were not what she needed and she was grateful that, so far, there had been none.
    These were fun gifts, and the books that she did receive were new ones by her favorite writers. She was really starting to get into the swing of things when she picked up a gift bag that was shiny black and stuffed with silver tissue paper. 
    It was small and lightweight. Still smiling from the other presents she had opened, she reached into the bag and started pulling out the silver tissue paper. 
    Then, she withdrew the gift.
    The bag contained a soft blue baby blanket with pictures of little blue bears all over it. 
    The room immediately went silent. 
    The mutterings started quickly enough, though. Echoes of “Oh my god!” and “Who would do such a thing?” were floating throughout the room. Carrie was at her side instantly holding her up. She snatched the bag and blanket from Portia’s hands and started digging through the rest of the tissue paper clearly looking for a card. But there was no card included. 
    “Did anyone see who brought this in?” Carrie demanded of the people. 
    There were lots of denials, plus with the shocked looks on their faces, it didn’t seem that any of the attendants could have possibly brought in the gift. Even though only half of the presents were opened, the crowd started to disperse pretty quickly. 
    It was safe to say that the party had effectively come to an end. 

Chapter Three
    CARRIE led Portia over to the sofa and sat her down while she went back and dealt with the guests. 
    Within a few minutes, she was back at Portia’s side handing her a glass of red wine. Portia accepted it silently and started to sip it. She still hadn’t said a word. 
    “I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Carrie said, her voice full of guilt and worry. “I can’t imagine anyone doing something like this but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t any of the people here tonight.” 
    Portia took another sip of her wine and finally looked at Carrie. There was anger in her eyes.
    “No, it wasn’t anyone here tonight. But you know