“I’ll support you and the baby.”

“I don’t want you to! I don’t want to depend on you. Don’t you get that yet?”

He went still, his expression bruised. “I’m beginning to.”

She hadn’t meant to hurt him. That’s not why she came here. Now everything was worse. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just that I’m afraid of this . . .” She trailed off, indicating her belly with a swipe of her hand. “This thing.”

“Why?”

“Everything will change.”

“Nothing will change. Not between us.”

“Of course it will. Because I’ll change.”

“How will you change?”

“I don’t know!” she cried, knowing she was sounding irrational, but that she was right. “I just will.”

“Carson . . .”

“No! I’m not ready to talk about this. About us. I thought I was strong enough to handle it, but I can’t do it.”

Blake’s eyes dimmed and he lowered his head.

“I have to go.”

Blake’s arm shot out to grab her hand, stopping her.

“Carson. Don’t have an abortion.”

“Blake . . .”

“I mean it.” His dark eyes deepened.

Carson felt an instinctive rush of rage, rearing back and swiping away his firm grip. “It’s my body. I’ll decide what I’m going to do.”

“I love you, Carson. But if you do that, it’s a deal-breaker for me.”

Her breath caught in her throat. This was precisely why she hadn’t wanted to tell him. She came here hoping he’d be sensitive and understanding, the man who listened to her, helped her make decisions without judgment. But why did she think that? Blake was one of the most opinionated men she’d ever met.

Carson grabbed her purse from the chair as she made her way to the door. She opened it, but before leaving she turned and said, “Please, don’t call me for a while, okay?”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“No. Yes . . .” She gave a huge sigh. “I don’t know,” she said, and fled, closing the door behind her.

That evening, Dora lay on Devlin’s big sleigh bed, her head on his shoulder, drowsy in a post-sex daze. It had been the first time they’d made love on his king-size bed—on land, for that matter. The space seemed luxurious compared to the cramped boat.

It would feel luxurious under any circumstances, Dora thought as her gaze swept the room. His was a large house on the Breach Inlet side of Sullivan’s Island, new construction in the Southern style, with lots of porches with rockers facing the ocean. The bedroom porch doors were open wide, allowing the ocean breezes to flow in. Those who grew up on the island preferred the sultry air to air-conditioning. It was indeed an impressive house, she thought again, but she wasn’t sure she didn’t prefer the quaint cottage on the marsh.

They’d kicked off the sheets and lay exposed to the cooling breeze. Her hand caressed his bare chest, her fingers mingling with the soft curls. Devlin’s hand stroked her shoulder in a lazy swirling pattern, as he hummed to the song that was playing on his CD.

“I like this song,” Devlin said in a low voice. “Makes me think of us.” He began to join in the chorus, singing in an off-key baritone.

“I saw you last night and got that old feeling.”

“You know the words,” Dora said teasingly. “I’m impressed.”

“I live to impress you.”

Dora burrowed her head comfortably into his shoulder. Cal was not a cuddler, and of course, neither was her son. With Devlin she found she craved this gentle intimacy, almost more than the sex. The sex was wonderful, but this . . . Dora sighed. She needed to be held, to feel treasured.

Devlin began to sing again in his wobbly voice, “The spark of love is still burning.”

“Nice . . .” she murmured absently.

“Woman, didn’t you listen to the lyrics? I’m trying to say something here.”

Dora went very still, suddenly appreciating that Devlin wasn’t joking around.

“That’s how I feel about you, Dora. About us. That old feeling is back. It’s like we’re getting a second chance.”

“Honey, we’ve only just started dating. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“How long don’t matter. It’s like the song says. I saw you and got that old feeling.”

“Dev, wait,” Dora stammered, sitting up and pulling the sheet around herself.

“What’s the matter, honey?” Devlin asked, his smile falling. He moved to sit up, exposing his nakedness. Dora had to look away, still embarrassed at the sight. She’d never felt comfortable naked, not even as a young woman and never before Cal, who was, she could see in retrospect, a prude.

Devlin took the hand that clutched the sheet tight and pulled it away. As it slipped off she lurched to clutch it back, but he reached out to hold both of her hands in his. She blushed, flustered.

“You’re not wearing your wedding ring,” he said, looking down at the pale skin on her ring finger.

“No.”

He didn’t say anything; he just nodded and let his finger rub the empty space on her ring finger for a moment.

“I thought you’d be glad to know how I feel about you. How I’ve always felt about you.”

She dragged her gaze to his and was caught by the sincerity in the brilliant blue.

“You were the one for me back when we were teenagers, and you’re still the one for me now. All these years we’ve been apart, I think I’ve been lost. I know now that I never got over you. I never should have let you go.”

Dora felt the impact of those words deep in her heart. She couldn’t respond. Couldn’t move.

“Did you hear what I said?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I know you feel it, too,” he said. “I know it.”

“I do,” she replied. “When I saw you after all these years, you made me feel like I was sixteen again.”

“That’s how you always will be to me.”

“But I’m not sixteen. I’m thirty-six. With a child.”

“Hell, I know all that. What matters is that we feel the same about each other. Right here, right now.”