Miracle Baby (Harlequin American Romance) by Laura Bradford Page A

do. I have no desire to do anything else. But when I’m done with my part, it’s just a room. When someone like you is done, it’s a home.”
    She studied him for a moment, noting the intensity in his eyes as he studied his work. “I think you’re short-changing yourself. Your work is…” she looked around at the built-in benches, the molding around the bay window, the beams that graced the ceiling above her head “…beautiful. I can see why my uncle hired you to restore this old place.”
    Had she blinked, she would have missed the surprise that flashed across his face. “Surely you know that, right?”
    His face reddened ever so slightly. “If I did, it was myown ego putting it there. Hearing it from you is a million times more special.”
    â€œThen I’m glad I said it. Because it’s true.” She looked down at her hands and remembered her reasons for being there. “Look, I wanted to apologize. For breakfast yesterday.”
    He took a step in her direction. “Don’t. It was the best breakfast I’ve had in…well, ever, if I’m honest with myself.”
    She felt her cheeks flush warmer still as she met his eyes and saw the raw honesty in them. “I mean about the way breakfast ended. It’s just that I feel so guilty when time slips by and I realize I haven’t thought about…” She felt a familiar sting in her eyes.
    He stepped closer. “Just because you’re not aware of a thought doesn’t mean it’s not in your heart.”
    Her head snapped up. “You really believe that?”
    For a moment he didn’t answer, the only indication he’d heard her being the way he tilted his head. “Will you come sit with me for a moment?” He gestured toward the lumber pile that had served as their couch just twenty-four hours earlier.
    She considered objecting, but in the end simply stepped inside the room and sat down, the tingle from earlier resurfacing as he took his place beside her.
    He let go of a long deep breath before turning to face her. “Eighteen months ago I lost my twin brother, Reardon. It was fast and it was unexpected.”
    â€œDid he die in an accident, too?” she asked as she searched for, and found, the all-too-familiar pain in Rory’s eyes.
    â€œYes. But of his own doing.”
    She sucked in her breath, regretting the sound almost instantly. “I’m so sorry.”
    â€œSo am I.” Rory clasped his hands behind his head, only to drop them to his lap once again. “I knew he was struggling after he broke up with his fiancée. I saw it. With my own two eyes. But I figured he just needed a little time.”
    Without thinking, Maggie covered Rory’s hand with her own and gave it a gentle squeeze. “That certainly seems reasonable.”
    He shrugged. “But it was wrong. What he needed was someone to hold him up.”
    â€œYou couldn’t have known that.”
    â€œI should have. He was my brother. My twin brother.” With a flip of his hand, he entwined his fingers with hers. “After he did it, I thought about him constantly. Heard his laugh, imagined his face, smelled that damn cologne he always wore, you name it. That’s lessened a little in the past few months, but it doesn’t mean he’s not in my heart. He’ll always be there.”
    She closed her eyes as Rory’s words washed over her. On some level she knew he was right—knew that just because she’d enjoyed his company over breakfast didn’t mean she’d forgotten her family. But still…
    â€œHeck, he’s everywhere. My heart, my head, my everything.”
    â€œYour everything?” she asked.
    â€œYeah. Without even realizing it, I let him guide me into this field.” He waved his free hand around the room. “Not that this hasn’t always been my passion, because ithas. But until Reardon’s death,