Dory, standing off to Brianna’s right, got a curious look on her face. She stepped closer to the desk. “Come again, Your Honor? Did you say Romanik, Stanley Romanik?”
The judge glanced up. “That’s right.”
Dory pressed her hands to her waist. “That report doesn’t, by any chance, give the Christian name of Stanley Romanik’s father, does it?”
Claymore pushed his glasses up his nose and leafed through the paperwork. After several seconds, his scowl lessened. “Esa Romanik. His wife’s name is Hester.”
For an instant, Dory looked as if she might faint. Her son Esa stepped to her side to loop an arm around her shoulders. “Ma, are you all right?”
Dory leaned against him, nodding as she focused a tear-filled gaze on Daphne. “Right as rain. Esa Romanick is my brother-in-law. Hester is my sister. I haven’t seen them in years. They journeyed from Boston to visit me once in San Francisco when Stanley was about five. He was spoiled rotten, a holy terror, and I—” Dory broke off and swallowed, her attention still fixed on Daphne. “I guess my sister and her husband never saw the error of their ways with him. Stanley’s behavior apparently never improved.”
Brianna felt lightheaded. Moira’s rapist, Stanley Romanik, was Dory Paxton’s nephew? And David, the love of her life, was related to him? Closely related, first cousins, by her calculation. She wasn’t certain how she felt about that.
“I remember that visit,” Ace said. “Aunt Hester let that little brat get away with murder. So did Uncle Esa. The kid could do anything, and he was never punished.”
“Are you certain the name isn’t merely a coincidence?” Brianna asked.
David inserted, “I saw the name Romanik, but I never made the connection. Ma’s maiden name is Jesperson, and—” He broke off and shook his head. “I haven’t seen Aunt Hester and Uncle Esa since I was young, and then only once. I don’t recall if I was ever told their last name.”
Dory met Brianna’s gaze. “It isn’t a common surname. I named one of my sons after Esa Romanik because I admired him so. There can’t possibly be two men with that name in Boston married to a woman named Hester. Stanley is my sister’s son.”
Brianna fanned her face. Everyone in the room, with the exception of the judge and her sisters-in-law, was related to a man who’d been instrumental in killing her identical twin. How was a bride—especially a pregnant one—supposed to take that in without feeling as if she needed to sit down and ask for a glass of water?
“I know what you must be thinking,” Dory said softly. “I’d be thinking it myself, Brianna. But I assure you this isn’t a case of bad blood. My sister, Hester, is one of the most wonderful, loving individuals you’ll ever meet. And Esa is as well. They were just deplorable parents. God forgive me for saying it, but it’s a blessing that Hester could have no more children. They didn’t get a chance to ruin another one.”
Joseph spoke up. “I remember Stanley. The little shit stuffed Eden’s cat in the hot oven. Ace rescued him, and we doctored his paws for days.”
Dory straightened away from her youngest son. “Your cousin was, without question, a cruel, out-of-control child, and he obviously grew up the same.” She looked straight at Brianna. “But he is no reflection on me or the children I raised. My sons are good men, and my daughter is beyond compare.”
Brianna recovered her composure and searched the faces of David’s brothers. They were honorable men, wonderful men. How could she ask for better brothers-in-law? Then her wandering gaze found David’s. She felt as if she could drown in the depths of his blue eyes. They pulled and drew her in. The next instant, his strong arms locked around her, and Brianna knew she was precisely where she belonged—deeply loved and forever linked to him, heart to heart, flesh to flesh.
Daphne tugged on her skirt. “Mama, does this mean you and Papa can’t adopt me?”
Brianna drew away from David and crouched to cup her daughter’s face in her hands. There were some things Daphne didn’t need to understand until she was much older. “No, absolutely not! We will proceed as planned. It only means that the adoption is merely a formality, dear heart. You’re truly a Paxton by blood.”
“I am?” Daphne beamed a huge grin. “That’s wonderful, right?”
Brianna smiled up at Dory. “It’s the most wonderful thing ever! You truly do have your grandma Dory’s dimple.”
Daphne scampered away to grab Dory’s hands. “Grandma, did you hear that? I’ve truly got your dimple!”
Dory hugged the child close. “Yes, you certainly do! And my birthmark as well.”
With a great deal of happy chatter pealing out around them, David and Brianna signed the paperwork to make Daphne legally their daughter. The judge stamped the documents with a loud bang as if to make sure the sound rang clear to heaven. Then he stood, looking regal in his black robe, and thrust out his hand to Daphne.
“Miss Paxton, I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Daphne, ever outgoing, stepped forward to shake his hand. “And I am pleased to meet you, Your Honor.”
With the formalities finished, the family was free to leave. A celebration was planned at Ace and Caitlin’s. Brianna knew it would be an unforgettable evening, with delicious food, music and dance, and love abounding. And later, she would lie in David’s arms while their daughter slept, secure in the knowledge that she belonged with him, and only with him.
As they exited the building, Brianna thought once again that it really was funny how things could turn out. Against all odds, Daphne was actually related to David. From the start, he’d kept saying, “I know a Paxton when I see one.” And he’d been absolutely right. Either that penny truly was lucky, or God had reached down and shuffled the chess pieces on the board, lining them up so the outcome would be perfect, giving Daphne what Brianna and Moira had never had.
A real family.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Epilogue
Catherine Anderson, Lucky Penny
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends