call collect?”
“Mom—it’s a long story.”
“Oh, Christian! Don’t you ever do that to me again!
Do you understand?” she half shouts at him.
“Yes, Mom.” He wipes her tears away with his thumb
and hugs her once more. When she composes herself, he
releases her to hug Mia, who slaps him hard on the chest.
“You had us so worried!” she blurts out, and she, too,
is in tears.
“I’m here now, for hea一ven’s sake,” Christian mutters.
As Elliot comes forward, Christian relinquishes Mia to
Carrick, who already has one arm around his wife. He
curls the other around his daughter. Elliot hugs Christian
briefly, much to Christian’s surprise, and slaps him hard on
the back.
“Great to see you.” Elliot says loudly, if a little gruffly,
trying to hide his emotion.
As the tears stream down my face, I can see it all. The
great room is bathed in it—unconditional love. He has it in
great room is bathed in it—unconditional love. He has it in
spades; he’s just never accepted it before, and even now
he’s at a total loss.
Look, Christian, all these people love you! Perhaps
now you’ll start believing it.
Kate is standing behind me—she must ha一ve left the TV
room—and she gently strokes my hair.
“He’s really here, Ana,” she murmurs comfortingly.
“I’m going to say hi to my girl now,” Christian tells his
parents. Both nod, smile, and step aside.
He moves toward me, gray eyes bright though weary
and still bemused. From somewhere deep inside, I find the
strength to stagger to my feet and bolt into his open arms.
“Christian!” I sob.
“Hush,” he says and holds me, burying his face in my
hair and inhaling deeply. I raise my tear-stained face to his,
and he kisses me far too briefly.
“Hi,” he murmurs.
“Hi,” I whisper back, the lump in the back of my throat
burning.
burning.
“Miss me?”
“A bit.”
He grins. “I can tell.” And with a gentle touch of his
hand, he wipes away the tears that refuse to stop running
down my cheeks.
“I thought . . . I thought—” I choke.
“I can see. Hush . . . I’m here. I’m sorry. Later,” he
本章未完，点击下一页继续阅读。