Free LOST AND FOUND HUSBAND by Sheri Whitefeather Page B

thing. We used to make Native American crafts and sell them at powwows, too.”
    “We?”
    “Corrine, Kaley and me.”
    “Was Corrine Native, too?”
    “No. She was Anglo, like you. Blonde, blue-eyed.”
    “Has that always been your type?”
    He roamed his gaze over her, and she got tingly, her skin going warm, her attraction to him as strong as ever.
    “I never really considered myself as having a type,” he said. “But apparently I do.”
    Sexual tension. This was definitely an inopportune moment for it. Neither of them seemed to know what to say while it was happening.
    When the eye contact got too uncomfortable, too quietly awkward, Dana glanced around again.
    Amid the strained silence, she noticed that the fireplace mantel held a grouping of framed photographs. She wasn’t close enough to see who was in them, and now didn’t seem like the time to wander over there.
    Instead, she handed Eric the gift bag. “I have something for you.”
    He peered inside and removed the baby’s picture. He studied it carefully, gauging it from every angle, the way an expectant father should. He even traced the image behind the glass.
    Finally he said, “It looks more like a kidney bean than a peapod.”
    “I know. That’s what I thought, too. But I’m not calling it Sweet Bean.”
    He cocked a half smile. “I like Sweet Bean.”
    “No way.” She stifled a laugh, just as she’d done when she’d first seen the baby on the sonogram monitor. “It will never live that down. Besides, Sweet Pea was its original name.”
    “In the old Native way, names are easily changed. And Sweet Bean isn’t something to live down. It’s who he or she is right now. Later, it will become something else.” He followed the outline of the fetus again. “It won’t always be a bean.”
    How could she argue with his gentle enthusiasm? Supporting his decision, she said, “Sweet Bean it is. Until it becomes something else.”
    He carried the picture over to the fireplace mantel and placed it among the photos that were already there.
    She followed him, pleased that he was giving their baby what appeared to be a place of honor. She was also curious to see the other pictures since she’d already wondered about them.
    Most of them were of Kaley throughout the years, starting in childhood and up to what she looked like now. She was an adorable kid and a lovely adult.
    The only picture of Eric was from his wedding, on the beach with his bride in his arms. He was young and dashing and looked madly happy, the way Dana would have imagined him. Corrine appeared just as happy. She was lithe and tanned, draped in satin and lace, with her veil billowing joyfully in the breeze.
    “You were a beautiful couple,” she said.
    “Thank you. It was one of the best days of my life. Along with the day we adopted Kaley.”
    And here he was, all these years later, having a baby with someone he barely knew. But Dana couldn’t alter what was. She couldn’t bring Corrine back or arrange it so that Sweet Bean had never been conceived. All she could do was move forward and try to make a go of things.
    “Eric?”
    “Yes?”
    She turned away from his wedding photo, not wanting to look at it when she said this. “I made a decision.”
    He turned away from it, too. “About my proposal?”
    “I’m going to accept, if the offer is still on the table.”
    He didn’t respond right away, and she wondered if he was going to ask her to reconsider, to take more time to be absolutely certain. But then he softly said, “Of course it’s still on the table.” He finished his statement by adding, “I’m glad you’re going to marry me. And I meant what I said about doing whatever I can to make it work. I’m going to try to be the best husband I can be to you and the best father I can be to our baby.”
    “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
    He reached forward, and they embraced. She put her head on his shoulder and clutched his shirt.
    Holding on for dear