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He paused, collecting his thoughts, regarding her as if she were a stranger. Then, stiffening, he said something that hurt her worse than anything he’d said so far.

“We’ve never even come close to what Catherine and I had.”

He didn’t wait for a response. Instead he walked past her, toward his suitcase. After throwing everything inside, he zipped it quickly. For a moment she thought to stop him, but his comment had left her reeling.

He stood, lifting his bag. “These,” he said, holding the letters, “are mine, and I’m taking them with me.”

Suddenly realizing what he intended to do, she asked, “Why are you leaving?”

He stared at her. “I don’t even know who you are.”

Without another word, he turned around and strode through the living room and out the door.

CHAPTER 12

Not knowing where else to go, Garrett caught a cab to the airport after leaving Theresa’s apartment. Unfortunately no flights were available, and he ended up staying in the terminal the rest of the night, still angry and unable to sleep. Pacing the terminal for hours, he wandered past shops that had long since closed up for the evening, stopping only occasionally to look through the barricades that kept nighttime travelers at bay.

The following morning he caught the first flight he could and made it home a little after eleven and then went straight to his room. As he lay in bed, however, the events of the evening before kept running through his head, keeping him awake. Trying and failing to fall asleep, he eventually gave up. He showered and dressed, then sat on his bed again. Staring at the photograph of Catherine, he eventually picked it up and carried it with him into the living room. On the coffee table he found the letters where he’d left them. In Theresa’s apartment he’d been too shocked to make sense of them, but now, with her picture in front of him, he read the letters slowly, almost reverently, sensing Catherine’s presence filling the room.

“Hey, I thought you’d forgotten about our date,” he said as he watched Catherine walking down the dock with a grocery bag.

Smiling, Catherine took his hand as she stepped on board. “I didn’t forget, I just had a little detour on the way.”

“Where?”

“Actually, I went to see the doctor”

He took the bag from her and set it off to one side. “Are you okay? I know you haven’t been feeling well—”

“I’m okay,” she said, cutting him off gently. “But I don’t think I’m up for a sail tonight.”

“Something is wrong, isn’t it?”

Catherine smiled again as she leaned over and pulled a small package out of one of the bags. Garrett watched as she began to open it.

“Close your eyes,” she said, “and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Still a little unsure, Garrett nonetheless did as she asked and heard as tissue paper was unwrapped. “Okay, you can open them now.”

Catherine was holding up baby clothes in front of her.

“What’s this?” he asked, not understanding.

Her face was buoyant. “I’m pregnant,” she said excitedly.

“Pregnant?”

“Uh-huh. I’m officially eight weeks along.”

“Eight weeks?”

She nodded. “I think I must have gotten pregnant the last time we went sailing.”

Hesitating from the shock, Garrett took the baby clothes and held them delicately in his hand, then finally leaned forward and gave Catherine a hug. “I can’t believe it….”

“It’s true.”

A broad smile crossed his lips as the realization finally began to sink in. “You’re pregnant.”

Catherine closed her eyes and whispered in his ear, “And you’re going to be a father.”

Garrett’s thoughts were interrupted by the squeaking of the door. His father peeked his head into the room.

“I saw your truck out front. I wanted to make sure everything was okay,” he said in explanation. “I didn’t expect you back here until this evening.” When Garrett didn’t respond, his father walked in and immediately spotted Catherine’s picture on the table. “You okay, son?” he asked cautiously.

They sat in the living room while Garrett explained the situation from the beginning—the dreams he’d been having over the years, the