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After a slightly early arrival, exacerbated by a postnatal infection, Ruby had spent the first feeeks of her life in an incubator, crying for the mother she would never be able to meet Catherine had shared with Alexis her theory that the pitiful cries, piled on top of his own grief, had been too hter, leaving her care to his iver ever since

Transplanting her to her father’s house and into the care of so Raoul to acknowledge and interact with his daughter would be the hardest—and the most necessary

They needed each other, Alexis was certain of that Even though she could do nothing else for Bree, she’d make sure that Raoul stepped up to his responsibilities to his late wife’s memory and to the child she’d borne him

She was here He’d known that one day she’d co her had cracked open the bubble of isolation he’d built for hi raw and exposed He was unaccusto to share this place with anyone but Bree—or, for the past year, Bree’s memory

Two years ago, returning with Bree after their e to his roots here in Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula of New Zealand’s South Island, had felt natural and right He’d bought out his father’s boutique vineyard operation, allowing his parents to finally fulfill their lifelong drea districts of Europe and South A hie in his career

At the tione as far as he could go as Nate Hunter-Jackson’s second in charge at Jackson Importers up in Auckland While he’d loved everyin the wine purveyance and distribution network built up over two generations, his heart had always been locked in at the source of the wine

After settling in following the wedding, Raoul had dedicated hied the building of their new ho details even as Ruby’s anticipated arrival had drawn near

At the start of hishis boutique wines, had been an adventure, alame His work had been filled with the sae

Losing Bree had shaken the ground under his feet, and his work had gone from a pastime to an obsession Life was filled with twists and turns that were beyond his abilities to predict, but thisthis was so with known quantities, ines that had been rapes grown on vines that snaked down the hillsides to the harbor—terroir that had beco Work was stable, steadying And when he’d finished for the day and returned to the house, he could sink back into hisHe’d never shared this hohost

Alexis’s arrival changed all that She was so vibrantly alive and in thein the past ih to make him feel self-consciously alert, keenly aware of the disheveled appearance he usually couldn’t be bothered to notice

And aware of her in a way that filled him with shame He hadn’t been the husband Bree had deserved, not entirely, not when—even though he’d kept it fully under wraps—he’d desired her best friend Was it infidelity when a person only thought about another? He’d loved Bree, there’d been no doubt about that Adored her, idolized her Cherished her But deep down inside, there’d been a primitive part of him that had craved Alexis Fabrini on a level so base he’d had to jam it down deep inside

He’d been relieved when he’d heard Alexis had headed overseas—how, after her last contract as a nanny had neared co herself into fashion design So in Bree’s closet Bree had been so excited for her, albeit a little hurt and puzzled when Alexis let contact drop between them

Living with Alexis would be hell He gave a hu was hell Each day a torture Each day a re his wife safe Of ensuring her needs were put before his own

He’d never e family—and because he’d been so outspoken, so determined in his plans for the future she’d felt the need to keep a secret that would have e his mind Given a choice between a family and Bree, he’d have chosen Bree every time Yet she’d hidden the news about the aneurys the baby’s life ahead of her own