Dark Legacy by Jen Talty (reading books for 4 year olds .txt) 📗

conjure the sound. She’d never held her child, but she had heard her tiny voice fill her ears, and it broke her heart that she hadn’t felt her daughter in her arms.

That she had no idea what her child smelled like or even looked like on the day she was born.

“Yes,” Annette said with authority. “You did.”

“So, you don’t think I should try to find her?”

Annette pulled back and let out a big old Texas laugh. “Oh, honey,” she said in her best Southern drawl. “Don’t you go putting words in my mouth. But if you are asking for my opinion on the matter, if you want to know, then I say go find her. She’d be nineteen now. An adult. It would be her decision if she wanted to see and have any kind of relationship with you.”

“That’s what scares me. If she wanted to know me, she could have searched me out. But she hasn’t.”

Annette shook her head. “Don’t assume anything, sugar.”

“It was a closed, private adoption. If she wanted to find me, the agency would have contacted me, which hasn’t happened. I don’t want to insert myself into her life. I just want to know that she had a good one.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to meet her?”

“I don’t even want to see pictures of her. I just want Jackson to find her and tell me she’s okay.”

Annette tilted her chin. “If you’re going to take the time to find her, you should at least meet her. If she wants.” She held up her hand. “I’m not going to talk you out of your plans. Only you can make this decision. Either way, I’m right behind you, but I won’t ever stop speaking my mind.” She leaned forward. “Isn’t that why you keep me around?”

Shannon smiled. “One of the many reasons.” Annette understood. Really understood, and that meant something. It wasn’t loyalty that kept this relationship alive; it was kindness. Compassion. And unconditional love. Something that had been missing from Shannon’s childhood.

And Shannon knew she needed that more than anything.

“Thank you,” Shannon said, glancing at her watch. Her pulse increased at the thought of having a drink with Jackson, but at the same time, his reaction still disturbed her, and she wanted a better explanation.

She believed she deserved one.

“You and I, we’ve been through a lot together.” Annette took her hand. “Ever since your father died, I’ve watched you grow into this beautiful, talented woman. You amaze me every day. But this part of your past prevents you from completely embracing your future. I want you to have everything. And I mean that.”

“I know.” Shannon swallowed the emotional sob that threatened to escape.

“Go home and talk with Jackson. Do this one final thing so you can have all the happiness you deserve.”

Shannon knew Annette was right. Finding her daughter was the final link to her healing.

Chapter Three

Shannon sank into the plastic chair in front of the fire pit between her place and Jackson’s, where she could see the road and the lake—though she could do without that damned sailboat taunting her, reminding her of one of the biggest reasons why she’d opted not to keep her baby girl.

The moon and the stars danced in the near-black sky, casting wonderful streaks of light in the matching dark lake below. The sail lines of the Tartan rattled against the tall mast. So many memories flooded her as the sound pricked her ears. Sailing hadn’t always been a horrible experience. At times, she’d be out there, feeling the cool wind on her face as the bow cut through the three-foot whitecaps, that it had been as exhilarating as free falling during a bungee jump at the local amusement park.

Until her father and his crew forever changed her perception of sailing.

She took in a deep breath and focused on the present and her future.

Annette was right. She’d done everything in her power over the last nineteen years to make a better life and put the pains of her childhood behind her—except for one thing. And it was time to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and mend her broken heart.

An engine’s growl grew closer. She fought the desire not to look over her shoulder, but her heart won out.

Not Jackson this time.

She had to make Jackson understand and take her case. She couldn’t trust this to a complete stranger. It was the one thing from her past that still sat in the pit of her stomach like a boulder that couldn’t be moved.

The roar of a diesel followed by headlights beaming through the trees sent her pulse racing. With a shaky hand, she lifted her glass of wine and gulped. Not once, but twice. She needed every ounce of courage she could muster.

He parked his truck next to her two-door coupe. “Hey,” he said as he sauntered up the walkway between the two cottages. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You’ve been sending me mixed messages, so I wasn’t sure if you were going to show or not.” She pointed to a glass on the small plastic end table that matched her plastic Adirondack chair. “Help yourself. It’s a really nice Merlot.”

“Don’t mind if I do, but I’m afraid I’ll break your plastic chairs,” he said as he effortlessly lifted one off the ground. “You really need to get rid of these things and get some real wooden ones like I have.” He pointed across the shared patio as he lowered himself, adjusting the chair in the grass as if it were about to crack and break at any second. Stretching out his long legs, he showed off his tan Timberland boots and his worn jeans. A button-down flannel hid his toned torso that she looked forward to seeing as summer took over spring.

“Yeah, I know. I keep saying I will, but I never get around to it.”

He looked out toward the lake, raised the glass to his lips, then lowered it just a tad and said, “I owe you