Reunited By A Baby Bombshell

‘I wanted to introduce myself.’ Her grey eyes were huge with an emotion that might have been overwhelming excitement or fear. ‘You see,’ she added, lifting her hands from her sides, palms facing up in a gesture that was both nervous and helpless, ‘I’m your daughter.’

CHAPTER THREE (#uca0ed753-2e52-5468-ae2f-7840479f1848)

GRIFF FELT AS if he’d been king-hit, knocked to the ground, left in a gutter, bruised and battered. He stared at the girl in appalled disbelief. Surely he hadn’t heard her correctly.

Their daughter?

Impossible.

And yet, as he slowly gathered his wits, he had to ask himself if this wasn’t also entirely possible. He’d used precautions back then, but heaven knew he’d been inexperienced and overexcited at the time. Hell. There was evidence enough in what had followed—Eva’s rapid departure and silence.

And now, twenty years later, this creature, this attractive young woman, tall and dark-haired, with clear pale skin and shiny grey eyes and an air of familiarity that had nagged at Griff from the moment he’d seen her.

Their daughter?

Emotions tumbled through him like the pounding surf. Shock. Anger. Sadness. Regret. And then another thumping wave of anger.

All this time, all these years—Eva had kept their child a secret? His first impulse now was to round on her, to demand a full explanation.

A quick glance Eva’s way, however, showed her sagged against the railing, white and trembling, possibly even more shocked than he was. Unfortunately, she wasn’t denying the girl’s claim.

‘I’m sorry,’ the girl said. ‘I know this must be a huge surprise. A shock, I expect. But I was so anxious to meet you both. That’s why I took this waitressing job as soon as I heard about the reunion. I was so excited when I saw the list of names and realised that you were both going to be here.’

Dazed, Griff rubbed at his temple. Could this girl, this unique, vibrant being, really be an amalgam of his and Eva’s genes? A life they’d created?

He still couldn’t quite believe he was a father. He didn’t want to believe he’d been a father all this time. Bloody hell.

A thousand questions demanded answers, but he wasn’t prepared to expose his total ignorance in front of the girl. At this point, there was no way of verifying her outrageous claim.

‘What’s your name?’ Eva asked in a whisper, while she kept a white-knuckled grip on the railing, as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.

‘Laine,’ the girl said. ‘That’s the name you gave me, isn’t it? Laine Elizabeth?’

Tears shone in Eva’s eyes as she gave a sad, slow nod. ‘Yes,’ she said and, with a single syllable, she answered Griff’s biggest question.

‘I’m Laine Templeton now,’ the girl said. ‘Or sometimes Lettie to my closest friends, because my initials are L.E.T. The people who adopted me—the Templetons—live in Brisbane.’

‘And they told you about me?’ Eva sent a frightened glance Griff’s way. ‘About...us?’

Laine shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t want to upset them, so I went straight to the adoption agency. I’m over eighteen, so I was perfectly entitled to find out the names of my birth parents.’ Her gaze met Griff’s. ‘I’m studying law at UQ. I was intrigued to look you up on the Internet and discover you’re a barrister.’

Griff felt as if he’d swallowed glass. He supposed he should feel some kind of fatherly connection to this girl. He wanted to feel sympathy for Eva, but he was too busy dealing with his own roiling emotions.

Eva shouldn’t have kept this from him. She shouldn’t have carried this burden alone. Damn it, she should have shared the news of her pregnancy.

Sure, they’d been young at the time, only just out of school, and both of them with big career dreams with absolutely no plans to start a family. He hadn’t been anywhere near ready for parenthood, but it cut deep to realise he’d been denied the chance to face up to this challenge, to at least be part of the decision-making.

‘Look, I know this is a bolt out of the blue,’ Laine said, and she was already taking a step backwards as she looked carefully from Griff to Eva. ‘I just wanted to introduce myself initially, but I guess you need time to...adjust.’

‘Yes, we do,’ Griff told her more sternly than he’d meant to.

She smiled shyly, awkwardly.

‘I’m sorry,’ Eva said through trembling lips. ‘I...I...’

Clearly, Eva was struggling to say anything coherent.

Laine lifted her hand then and gave a shy, shining-eyed smile and a stiff wave. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘I dare say my timing hasn’t been great.’

Griff felt torn. This was his daughter, after all. It felt totally inadequate to just greet her with Hi and ’bye. But he was too shocked to think straight. ‘Look, this really is a shock,’ he said. Maybe—’

Eva spoke up. ‘Maybe tomorrow.’

‘Yes, sure,’ said Laine. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. I...I...’

‘We can at least exchange contact details tomorrow,’ Griff suggested. That would be a start, and about all they could manage under the circumstances. Eva looked as if she was about to collapse.

‘Thanks,’ said Laine. ‘I’ll see you then.’

She backed away quickly and as she left via the glass doors Eva opened her mouth as if she wanted to say goodbye, but no sound emerged and she looked as if she was about to collapse.

Griff stepped towards Eva again, torn between wanting to tear strips off her and feeling desperately sorry for her. What must it be like for a mother to be reunited with her baby after nineteen long years?

‘Are you OK?’ he asked.

Eva shook her head. ‘Not really.’

She was still clinging to the railing as if it were a life raft. Clearly, she needed to sit down and Griff was wondering where he could take her so that they could be private.

‘Would you mind walking me back to my motel?’ Eva asked, as if her mind had been on a similar track.

It was the perfect option. ‘No, of course not.’

Griff slipped his arm around Eva’s shoulders. He felt the softness of her bare skin, sensed the supple strength of her slender frame, toned by years of dancing. But now he knew that her magnificent career had come with a huge price tag. He wasn’t sure he could forgive her.

* * *

It was a relief to lean into Griff’s massive shoulder and to have his strong arm firmly around her as they walked the short distance across the lawn to the beachfront motel where Eva was staying.

She should have been terribly self-conscious about this sudden proximity to the man she’d avoided for so many years, but now her thoughts were filled to the brim with Laine. For so long, that beautiful girl had lived in Eva’s head and heart as a tiny newborn.

Such a shock to see her baby now. Out of the blue. So astonishingly alive and grown-up and beautiful, and wanting to get to know her and Griff.

And Griff. She still hadn’t come to terms with seeing him again. In one night, the love of her life and the daughter she had given up were both suddenly back in her life. It was too much. Too unreal. Too overwhelming.

Eva couldn’t quite take it all in. She’d never felt such see-sawing emotions, teetering between joy and sorrow and guilt. Huge guilt.

‘There hasn’t been a day when I haven’t thought about her, haven’t wondered.’ She only realised she’d spoken this out loud when she felt Griff’s arm tighten around her.