Where the Heart Lies Read Free Page B

her pace.
    “Was I right?” she pressed. “She does look like you, doesn’t she?”
    “Hard to say. She looks a lot like Jordan.”
    “But the eyes .”
    “Yes, the eyes could be mine,” he acknowledged.
    Sheryl continued talking as she snatched up a handful of the cheese and began sprinkling it across the top of her nearly completed lasagna. “What was your gut feeling, Clay? Do you think she’s your daughter or not?”
    He released a long breath. “God help me, I do. It was the look in Jordan’s eyes, more than anything, that convinced me. As soon as Molly walked in, she got completely flustered. I suppose I’ll have to find a way to talk to Jordan alone, though I can’t imagine what I’ll say.”
    He’d known exactly what he was going to say when he marched into the bookstore, determined not to leave without the truth—but the moment he saw Jordan behind the counter his resolve vanished along with his focus. Instantly swept back in time, he could barely remember why he’d come, and everything he’d been thinking and feeling became hopelessly muddled. She was as lovely as he remembered, her honey-blonde hair draped in thick waves to her shoulders. When her gaze flickered up to meet his, he was caught for a moment by the startled green eyes—the same eyes that years before had regarded him with a deep tenderness he had expected to enjoy for a lifetime.
    Luckily, it had taken him only a moment to recover his senses and remind himself why he was there. If Sheryl was right, Jordan had lied to him, betraying him in the worst way imaginable. He couldn’t let memories of those sensuous lips pressed against his diminish the gravity of her deception. Still, it hadn’t been the right time to confront her—not with Molly likely to walk in on the conversation.
    Sheryl faced him again, one fist thrust against her hip. “What if she denies it? Are you going to demand a paternity test?”
    “I don’t know yet,” Clay told her brusquely, irritated that his overbearing older sister was the one person he could confide in about this. “It just doesn’t make sense that she wouldn’t have told me.”
    “If she had told you, you would’ve stayed with her and passed up the opportunity to go on that dig in Peru. She knew how much that meant to you. Maybe she thought you’d resent her for it,” Sheryl speculated. “It’s the only explanation I can think of.”
    Clay frowned; his sister’s theory was similar to the one he’d been formulating. Time and again he’d gone over that day in his head—the last time he saw Jordan after their breakup, when he’d returned from Peru after completing only six weeks of his two-year contract. She hadn’t known he was coming, and when she opened the door to him her expression first registered unabashed joy, then clouded over; he hadn’t expected her to welcome him with open arms, of course, after leaving her as he had, with no contact since. But when he drew her against him, she clung to him fiercely before releasing him and questioning what he was doing there.
    “I came back,” he told her clumsily, unsure where to begin. “I’m back to stay.”
    Closing the door, Jordan grasped his arm and pulled him into the living room. She still lived at her parents’ house, but thankfully they were out that afternoon.
    “What are you talking about, Clay?” she said, the fretful tone of her voice taking him by surprise.
    Clay plunged on with his rehearsed speech: “It was a mistake to leave. I’ve been in Peru for six weeks and I can’t stop thinking about you, Jordan. I’m back, and I want to get married. I won’t leave you ever again.”
    She looked like she was about to burst into tears; Clay hoped it was from happiness, but rather than vault into his arms as he’d expected, she asked, “Why now?”
    His surprise caused him to respond with exasperation: “What do you mean, why now? This is what you wanted. You wanted me to stay here with you and that’s what I’m