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Phoebe blinked and stuhted herself That hat all of this was about? Soht he’d betrayed Joshua
He ust and turned away His shoulders were tense She wanted to reach out and touch hi If she did, she feared he’d reject her forever She had to reason with hi into her pocket, she pulled out Joshua’s letter Maybe with Joshua’s help she could
“Ryan, Joshua is dead”
He jerked slightly
“We’re alive” She kept her voice low “He doesn’t stand between us He’s gone You did nothing wrong In fact, it was very right Here, I think you should read this” She stepped around hi to leave you to read it”
Walking to the bedroo Maybe the baby was just pressing against soo or would it only s worse? She hoped with all her heart it made him see the truth
Ryan opened the cru to read? He scanned the page and saw JT’s name at the end Guilt churned in his stoainst his chest wall and his hands shaking, he let his focus e
Phoebe—
I know I’ve not alritten like I should For that I’ood about it I kno that eso much time apart For that I’s had changed between us We have spent tooseparate lives to the point where our relationship has slipped into one of friendship instead of one that we both wish it could be I have done you an injustice You have such a large capacity to love that it was never fair of me to deny you that
I wish for you a happy life If you ever need anything and don’t knohere to turn I want you to find my friend, Ryan Matthews He will help you We are buddies from his army days I trust him with my life and you can with yours He lives in Melbourne He will take care of you Believe in him, he won’t let you down I think you will like him I hope you do
Take care, Phoebe Have a good life
Joshua
JT had sent Phoebe to him As if he’d known they would needed each other Had it been JT’s way of giving his blessing to their relationship? He looked at the letter How long had Phoebe had this? Why hadn’t she said so sooner?
Ryan went into his room Phoebe must have purposely taken her ti toward hi in a corner She must have missed it on her way to the bathroo it
It was his finest piece of work to date He didn’t know if he would ever do better It was as if his heart and soul had been eh front and sides that wrapped around slightly It looked like one that would be handed down in a wealthy family It was as much like one he’d seen in a history museum back home as he could make it
Going over to the cradle, Phoebe ran her hand along the smooth lip of one side She pushed it and watched the slow movement back and forth
“It’s for the baby” The emotion in his voice made it come out as a croak
She glanced at hi I’ve ever seen”
He raised his hand with Joshua’s letter in it “This is why you caht”
She nodded
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“At first because you acted all cold and unwelcoht about you”
His lips forht line “I wasn’t at my best I’m sorry So why not later?”
She shrugged “I started to trust you You agreed to deliver the baby I wanted you to and the letter didn’t matter anymore I had started to care about you I had hoped you cared about ht you did until I saw you on Thursday”
“I’ so but I didn’t kno else to handle it The night we made love was the ht of Joshua, of hoas not the best man for you I knee couldn’t continue” He looked at the letter “But after reading his letter, I wonder …”
“If it was Joshua’s way of telling us both to move on? That ould need each other? I don’t know if he thought this …” she pointed to him and then herself “… would happen, but I think he knee could help each other We were the two people he knew best in the world I don’t think what’s between us is wrong I think we honor hi well I love you, Ryan, and want you in my and this baby’s life By the way, you could have talked tonow”
His chest tightened He’d rather die than not be the person Phoebe needed hiive what you and the baby should have”
Her look met his “I don’t think either one of us knows that for sure Yes, there’re risks but that’s what love is all about Think with your heart, not your head I know you care” She touched her chest “I feel it here That was part of the reason I ca you do proves you care For example …” she touched the cradle “… you s You care There’s no doubt that you do, you’re just scared of doing so
“I’ve been waiting most of my life to have soht it was Joshua but I soon learned we didn’t want the sa the sunset and he wanted to always be going off so was i me any closer to my dreams
“I love you, Ryan I don’t want you doing anything for ation to Joshua any more I want you to care about me for me”
Could he be a part of that? He wasn’t sure But he had been for the last six weeks He’d never been happier Had he found the place he belonged? The place where all the ugliness in life disappeared? When had the last tiht of the war? He’d already realized that talking to Phoebe had eased the past Now, could he grasp what she was offering and hang on to it?
There was a silence between them The air between them was heavy with tension
“I guess I should be going”
She sounded defeated