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‘My e, and hter around her and so clenched in his heart She looked so lost, so vulnerable and noas adding to her pain because of all that had happened in his past

He wanted to go to her, to hold her, to ht How could he when he was in the same dark place, haunted by the rejection of his father?

‘At least he cae of the bed, physically close to her but so far away ‘At least he wanted to know you, see you grow up’

The green of her eyes flared so bright with anger as she looked instantly up at him that he leaned back away fro ill because of what they were talking about or because of the pregnancy Thoughts of hishis little sister, Angelina Very ill

With a huff of angry irritation he pushed that thought away and marched back to theHistory wouldn’t repeat itself Would it? He couldn’t take losing another person he was close to That hy he kept hielina as he could A tyrant of a brother, she’d called hi the last-minute details of her party What would she say to hiht to be a father when he was such a cold, hard brother? And wasn’t that the truth? He had no right

‘So you would rather your father had never coh and feral as he pushed back all his past demons, determined to lock them away It was Christmas Day after all and this wasn’t what he’d planned it to be

‘You have no idea how much’

He turned to look at her How could she look so vulnerable and hurt, yet so angry at the sareen as she fought back tears he knew exactly why she wanted to walk away fro a father ‘And that’s why you don’t want iven ?’

The fury in Max’s voice cut through Lisa’s heart, iven everything away She’d practically told him why she didn’t want hiive her and the baby total commitment

She looked up at him, unable to respond as she processed all they’d shared over the last hour She’d never been able to talk to anyone about such things Most woood relationships with their mothers, were able to talk, but that had never been an option with her mother Not when she was the unwanted child that had stopped all her partying and fun

‘It’s Christether a sentence ‘We shouldn’t be talking about this now’

He walked back toward the bed, sat down and looked straight into her eyes After what they’d shared last night she wanted hi to be all right, that the past didn’tand he’d be there for her and the baby

‘We should and ill’ The firmness of his voice flattened any hope of that kind of syht I blamed myself but, worse than that, I couldn’t help ain’

‘Oh, Max’ She reached out, the wrap slipping from her shoulder as she touched the side of his face with her palm ‘You weren’t to blame You were just a child’

‘I felt even more of a failure when she ht the life back to my mother’s eyes’ Lisa could hear the hurt in his voice and her heart went out to hiht-year-old boy he’d been

‘That was love that did that, Max Your stepfather’s love, but it would have been your love that kept her going, kept her strong’

He sprang back from her, from her touch, his eyes so dark and so very hard She was confused What had she said that was so wrong?

‘Love?’ The word snarled out into the rooain paced to theand she wished he could just sit and talk Only then would she be able to break through the wall of pain he was barricaded behind ‘Not my love’

‘Of course it did,’ she implored as she joined hio back to where they’d been when she’d first opened her eyes thisTo the moment before their pasts had collided with the first Christ other than upset and tears