LITMIR.BIZ

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admitted truthfully, but only to herself.

      She glanced down at the man in the bed. The bruises on his face had faded. Now it was easy to recognize the handsome man he’d always been. But it hadn’t been his good looks that attracted Ali to him. It had been his big heart. He’d been kind to everyone. And he’d tried to be like a big brother to her. It wasn’t his fault she’d fallen head over heels in love with him.

      Ali walked around the room. “Oh, Jake,” she whispered. “I had a crush on you since the first day Darcie brought you home. Some of my fantasies were pretty advanced for a fourteen-year-old.” She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “It wasn’t so much that you had to return my feelings. I just thought you deserved someone nicer than Darcie. Sometimes I hated the way she treated you.”

      Ali returned to the bed and sat on the edge. “I wanted to tell you that Darcie would end up hurting you, but I couldn’t. She’d nearly convinced me that she loved you, but I knew her, I read the signs. Maybe if I had told you…given you some warning…”

      Ali picked up Jake’s hand. His palms were rough. A man’s hand. A hand that had touched her, and pleasured her beyond her wildest dreams.

      “When I came after you at the cottage, I only wanted to see if you were all right. But when you kissed me…it was like a dream come true. I have never regretted what happened between us that night. I never could. That night was so special. We made a child together, Jake.” Ali smiled proudly. “Joanie’s so beautiful…and so like you.”

      Ali stared at him, hoping to see some response. “You should see your daughter. She’s got your coloring, your hair and eyes. She’s even inherited the Hawkins stubbornness. I’ve shown her your picture, but she needs more. She needs you in her life, Jake.” Ali wiped away her tears.

      “I know you’ll be angry with me for not telling you, but I’ll deal with it. Just wake up. Please. For Joanie. For me,” Ali whispered.

      She leaned toward him and placed her lips gently against his.

      Suddenly his mouth began to move slowly beneath hers.

      Panic surged through her, but she continued the kiss, and to her shock and joy, she soon realized that she hadn’t imagined his response. She couldn’t move, didn’t want to. Oh, God, it had been so long. Ali jerked back to look at his face, praying that he had opened his eyes. But he hadn’t.

      “C’mon, Jake.” She cradled his face with trembling hands. “It’s Ali. You know it’s me, don’t you? It’s okay. You’re going to be all right.” She hugged him, then went running out the door.

      Her heart racing, she somehow made it to the nurses’ station and found Margo. “Jake is waking up.”

      Chapter Two

      It was Ali. Ali’s voice. Ali’s lips on his. Jake felt as if he were drowning in the softness of her voice, her sweet scent. He was on the edge of heaven, and it was costing him all his strength just to return the kiss.

      Suddenly she was gone. He tried to move, to call her back, but it was useless. Loneliness pressed in all around him.

      For now, he’d be patient and work to wake up. Patience was something he’d never been good at, but never had there been so much at stake before.

      If only he could remember what had happened to him. Whatever it was had put him in the hospital. He struggled to sort out Ali’s words. He had a child? A baby daughter.

      A different kind of pain tore through his heart. Why didn’t you tell me, Ali? Why in God’s name didn’t anyone tell me?

      Ali stood at the window in Jake’s room the next day, rubbing her tired eyes. She had spent almost three hours talking to Jake, touching him, hoping for another reaction. But nothing happened.

      The doctor had told her not to give up. Coming completely out of a coma could be a slow process.

      Well, she wasn’t giving up, but she had to go home. She’d already worked the morning shift at the sheriff’s office. Her grandmother was expecting her, and Ali knew there would be questions. It was impossible to keep spending so much time at the hospital without telling Gran June the whole story. They lived in the same house, after all.

      Ali glanced at the subject of her thoughts. “I’m tired, Jake. You’d solve a lot of problems if you’d just wake up.” She walked from the window to his bedside. She had to tell him about Joanie again, whether he could understand or not.

      “There’s a little girl waiting to meet you. She’s just nine months old, but I’ve told her all about you.” Ali eased next to Jake, careful not to disturb his elevated leg.

      “I told her you were a quarterback on the football team and how you went to the state championship. I remember the newspaper headlines, The Hawk Leads Webster Tigers To Victory.” She smiled. “When you wake up, you can have the pleasure of telling her about your football days.”

      Ali studied his freshly shaved face, then laced her fingers through his and gently squeezed his hand. There was no reaction, but she’d noticed subtle changes in him over the past few days. His color was better. The doctor said Jake’s vital signs had improved, and his tests showed more brain activity. That afternoon, when she’d come by, she had noticed frown creases along his forehead, but when she sang to him, he seemed to relax and they faded away.

      “Oh, Jake.” She sighed. “I know you’re going to be upset because I didn’t tell you about Joanie, but I can take it. Just come back to us.”

      She reached out her other hand and stroked his arm, wondering if the kiss they’d shared had been some kind of muscle reaction. Deep inside, she knew it wasn’t. Just as she knew that somehow Jake sensed her presence.

      So she had to go with what worked. Ali leaned toward his mouth and whispered, “Okay, Jake, show me your stuff, fella.” She placed a soft kiss on his jaw in the hope of stimulating something. Anything.

      She trembled as she braced her hands on either side of his head as her mouth met his. The kiss started slow and easy. She wasn’t expecting much, but she wanted everything. Suddenly but subtly, the kiss began to change. Jake’s lips became firmer, and…yes, they were moving against hers. Frozen, Ali opened her eyes, but she didn’t pull away. She wanted Jake to continue the kiss. He did, so sweetly it brought tears to her eyes.

      Ali choked back a sob and sat back. A minute later, she laughed. “If I didn’t know better, Jake Hawkins, I’d say you were faking it. Most men can’t bring a woman to tears with a kiss when they’re awake, and you’re supposed to be out of it. No wonder I fell so hard for you.”

      The hospital-room door swung open, and Cliff Hawkins walked in. “How’s it going?”

      Startled, Ali jumped off the bed and wiped the tears from her face. “Ah…I was about to leave, and I…kissed Jake goodbye.” Her cheeks heated up. “He kissed me back again.”

      “He did? That’s great.” Cliff took off his coat and tossed it on the vinyl chair in the corner. “Was it like before?”

      Ali looked at him in confusion. “You mean…like yesterday?”

      “No. Like…the last time he was home.”

      Ali’s pulse raced. Oh, Lord! He couldn’t know, could he? No. There was no way. She met his gaze, waiting for his next move.

      “Does he know about the baby?” Cliff asked. “Is she the reason he came home?”

      Ali gasped and took a step backward, then she quickly regained her calm. “How did you…?”

      “Find out?” he finished. “Wasn’t too hard to put together. My son called out your name instead of Darcie’s. And yesterday, when I went to my doctor’s appointment, I saw you carrying your baby into the clinic. I called to you, but I guess you didn’t hear me. I did get close enough to catch a good look at your daughter.” He smiled. “The resemblance between her

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