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By Root 724 0

added. "I wanted to help Caroline raise the baby. I didn't want to let her go, but my father convinced Caroline that it wouldn't work. Maybe if Jeremy hadn't just died, maybe if the race had been over and we'd been home, I would have been able to make him see that we couldn't give Caroline's baby away. She was part of our family. But that wasn't how it was, and when Caroline came back to the hotel room alone, we didn't know where the baby had gone or who had adopted her. The decision had been made, and we would have to live with it."

"Exactly. So what happened three weeks ago, Caroline?" Tyler demanded. "What made you decide to try and take your baby back now?"

"I didn't decide to take her back. I just wanted to know if she was all right. That's all. I swear."

"Your attorney said differently."

"My attorney is a friend of a friend. I don't know what he told you or what he did, but all I asked him to do was to see if he could find out if my baby was okay. A few weeks ago, I came to terms with the fact that I have a drinking problem. I went to AA and listened to all the talk about taking responsibility for your actions and saying you're sorry and all that. That's when I decided that I needed to know that the baby was all right." Caroline looked at Tyler with her heart in her eyes. "Is she all right, Tyler?"

Tyler hesitated, knowing he was about to take a step his brother would not want him to take, but he was leaning toward believing Caroline's story. She had no reason to lie to him now. She could just have easily told him that she thought her baby had been taken illegally, and she wanted to get her back. But Caroline seemed genuine in her concern and remorse. "Yes," he said finally. "Amelia is fine. She's a happy and healthy little girl. But she did suffer a huge tragedy a month ago when her mother was killed in a car accident."

Caroline put a hand to her mouth in horror. "Oh, no."

"My brother, Mark, was badly injured, but Amelia was fine. A few scratches, that's it. I'm only telling you this, because I believe you when you say you don't want to hurt Amelia. She doesn't know she's adopted. She doesn't know anything about you. She loves her father, and she misses her mother, and the last thing she needs is to find out is that she's adopted. Not right now, anyway. Not while her world is so shaky."

"I understand," Caroline said. "What is she like? Is she pretty?"

Tyler smiled. "Yeah, she's pretty." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Would you like to see a picture?"

"Would I ever."

Tyler took a photograph from the wallet and handed it to Caroline. "That's last year's school picture."

"Oh, my God!" Caroline whispered. "Is that really her?"

"She's you, Caroline," Kate murmured.

"Only the best parts of me, I hope." Caroline traced Amelia's sweet face with her finger. "She's real, isn't she? Sometimes I lie in bed at night and think I imagined the whole thing. But then I remember how it used to feel when she'd kick me, first a little flutter, then I could actually feel her toes or her fist. She was my greatest achievement and yet my worst failure."

"No," Tyler said. "You didn't fail. She already means so much to a lot of people. She's bright, loving, kind, smart. You would be very proud of her."

"Because of your brother," Caroline said. "I wish I could thank him."

"Why didn't your brother come himself?" Kate asked.

"He's still rehabilitating from the accident," Tyler answered. "And he didn't want to leave Amelia at home or bring her here."

Kate nodded, a gleam of understanding in her eyes. "In case one of us recognized her. Just out of curiosity, why was your brother so worried? I mean, he adopted her legally and all."

Damn Kate for being so smart, so perceptive. "It was legal, wasn't it?" she continued.

"Close enough."

"I don't think so, or you wouldn't have come here," she said. "I'm not surprised things were done in an underhanded way. After all, my father was involved."

"Look, Mark might have