Free Stolen Miracles by Mary Manners

so long ago, and again when you walked into my office to enroll Kimmy.”
    “You could have fooled me.”
    “I was embarrassed. I never thought you could feel—”
    “The same?”
    “Yes, the same.” She shook her head. “And then, given the circumstances, how could I expect you to feel anything but contempt, or possibly pity, for me?”
    “Knowing what I know, Becca, only makes me love you more.” He tucked a knuckle beneath her chin. “You’re the most amazing woman. I never imagined…”
    “And, Kimmy…what does she think?”
    “She thinks along the same lines as her daddy. She wants to know when you’re coming back to read her another bedtime story.”
    “What did you tell her?”
    “Tonight?”
    “I’d like that. I love reading her stories, braiding her hair, watching the plays she orchestrates for your poor, poor cat.”
    “Washing dishes together is fun, too.” Cole winked. “You look good in an apron.”
    “And you’re attractive elbow deep in soapy water.”
    “Touché.” He delved into the pocket of his suit jacket and brought out a legal-sized envelope that he handed to her. “Here’s something for you. It’s just a copy, but all the same…”
    She took the envelope. “I don’t understand.”
    “Open it.”
    She ripped and tugged and gasped at what she found inside.
    Adoption papers…five years old. Signed with a flourish of legalese.
    “Those papers can say what they want.” Cole’s eyes were round with a mixture of love and understanding. “But I know, in my heart, what the truth is, Bec. Kimmy is your daughter—”
    “And yours.” She smiled through her tears. “There’s no easy answer here, is there, Cole?”
    “Wait. I’ve been busy. There’s more. May I?” He took the silver chain from her neck and paused to sit at a bench along the riverside. Opening the locket, he drew a small photo from his pocket and pressed it into the folds of silver. Satisfied, he nodded. “It looks perfect.”
    A photo of her and Kimmy, hugging in front of the birthday cake, fit neatly into the case.
    “But, how did you know?” Rebecca’s breath caught.
    “I have my ways.” He slipped the necklace over her head once again and smoothed it back into place along the collar of her blouse. “I’m not saying I understand God’s plan in this, Bec. But I do know one thing—no heart should be empty.”
    She swallowed hard to force tears back. “Is yours…empty?”
    He shook his head. “Mine’s so full of love, I think it’s going to burst.” He leaned in, his breath warm on her cheek. “May I?”
    “Please.”
    His mouth claimed hers, and the kiss held all the promises Rebecca longed for.
    “You know, Becca, the answer we’re searching for might be closer than you think.”
    She could hardly draw a breath. She longed for him to kiss her again. “How so?”
    “God’s given me a second chance, Becca.” His fingers slipped beneath her hairline and stroked the scar hidden there. “I loved you once, a long time ago. But it wasn’t meant to be—at least not then. But now, all I can think…”
    “He’s given me a second chance, too.” Rebecca took his hand and pressed his palm to her cheek. “I never, in all the years I hoped and prayed, could have imagined how wonderful this—you—would be.”
    “Life has been a wild ride for both of us, Becca. Things have changed in ways neither one of us could have imagined. Twists and turns, a detour here and there, don’t have to be bad things. They can be whatever we make them.”
    “I understand that, now.” She leaned in. “Kiss me again, Cole.”
    He did, lingering until she was breathless.
    “I have one more thing for you—for us.” He kissed her once more as he slipped to one knee and tucked a hand into his pocket. When he withdrew it, something caught the sun’s reflection, refracting into a brilliant rainbow of light.
    It was a diamond set in a delicate gold band. A hand fisted at Rebecca’s mouth as she gasped.