Free The Man From Her Past by Anna Adams

shoulders. Cassie looked at Van, sharing her relief—her sheer joy—in Beth’s welcome for her child.
    “She gives me hope,” Cassie said. Van’s grin was affectionate, proud of his sister.
    “I can see why.” Beth straightened.
    “I meant you,” Cassie said.
    “Oh.” She looked startled. “I’d be proud to have such a little girl. My brother’s been telling me about you, Hope.”
    “Who’s your brother?”
    “Mr. Van,” Cassie said. “And Beth has a son named Eli.”
    “Can I play with him?” Hope asked.
    “He’s a big boy so he’s at school, but he might drop by after, if I’m still here,” Beth said. “Do you mind if you and I hang out today?”
    “I dunno.” Hope scuffed the lined foot of her sleeper. “Are you a nice lady, Miss Beth?”
    Again, Cassie glanced at Van as Beth laughed, totally engrossed in Hope. He was smiling, his eyes softer on her little girl.
    “The nicest,” Beth said. “Do you have favorite books? I love to read, and later we could take a walk.”
    “Walk,” Hope said. “Walk, Mom?”
    Her first thought was no. Someone might see Hope and get curious enough to ask a neighborly but blunt question of Beth.
    Who knew how long they’d have to stay in Honesty? She couldn’t sequester a four-year-old child inside the prison walls of a house in the name of protecting her.
    “A walk is a great idea. Thanks, Beth—” But Hope had already started hauling her new friend upstairs for a sweater.
    “Hope, you have to finish your breakfast.”
    “Don’t worry. I’ll sort it out,” Beth said. “Take your time. We’ll be fine, and Van knows my cell number if you need to call.”
    Cassie ran to the bottom of the stairs. “Hope, I need to talk to you.”
    “Don’t worry.” Beth read her mind. “If anyone asks questions, I’ll put them off. I’m good at that.”
    “She is,” Van said behind Cassie as Beth and Hope disappeared. “No interrogation too tough for her.”
    Cassie dropped her hands onto the banister. Without the others, the foyer felt too small. “Thanks for asking her to look after Hope.”
    “She was glad to.”
    “I owe you a lot.”
    “You owe me nothing.”
    She turned at last to face him. His face was rigid, but he dragged his hand across his mouth, and the lines around it eased.
    “I care about you,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I’m not even sure what it means.”
    “I can’t think about going back to the way we were. I’m just relieved because I’ve been afraid to come home, and it’s not as bad as I expected.”
    “The rape happened a long time ago, and no one ever blamed you.”
    “Let’s not start this again.”
    “Once more,” he said. “So you know where I stand. I think I’ve been in shock, trying to do what you wanted all these years.” He stuck out his chin—at just the right angle for punching if she felt like it. “I was married to you, and I didn’t want the divorce. I lost you because I couldn’t stop seeing that animal hurting you.”
    “And now you see that when you look at Hope.” He shook his head, but Cassie knew better. “Did you tell Beth the truth about her?”
    “I had to when she thought Hope was mine and you kept her away from me.”
    “I understand you don’t want people thinking she’s yours, but that’s not the worst thing they could think about me. No one will look at her with anything except sympathy if they think you’re her father.”
    “You think they’d look at her differently if they knew the truth?”
    “Don’t sound so incredulous.” She opened the closet door and yanked out her coat. “My own OB thought I must have lost my mind.”
    “People are going to ask.”
    “And if they do, I plan to make sure they know Hope is none of their business.”
    She tried to get her arms into her sleeves, but they refused to go. When Van reached out to assist, she jerked away. She couldn’t stop herself. She started down the porch stairs as if she hadn’t seen his