The little girl returned his gaze solemnly. She was dressed in a ragged gown of dark blue that matched her eyes, and he knew without hesitation that she was his.

She gulped and he caught panic in her gaze. “Where is my mother?”

Robert found his voice. “She will be along soon, but we must hurry.”

Rowena nodded. “You must be my father, then.”

Robert caught his breath. “How . . . why do you say that?”

“Mother said that if we ever needed you, you would come.” Large blue eyes looked directly into his, so honest they almost pained him. “What took you so long?”

Robert’s heart tightened and he said in a choked voice, “Many problems, but I have come. And I will save you, no matter what.”

In that instant Robert faced a powerful truth: she was his daughter, and he never wanted to be without her again.

He lifted her from the trunk and set her on her feet. Rowena slipped her small hand into his. “Are we going home now?”

We. She accepts me without question. Robert’s eyes stung with tears, and he had to clear his throat. “Yes. We will be going home today.”

“With my mother?”

“Yes.” After he’d stomped George Aniston into dust for what he’d done to his child.

Robert stooped down so that he was on a level with his daughter. “We have to make a run for it and it could get difficult. There might be some fighting.”

“I can fight, too. Will we be fighting the bad man who’s mean to Mama?”

“We might.”

She sent him such a ferocious look that he wanted to swoop her into a hug.

“I feel the same way about him. We must go now, and I need you to stay behind me. Can you do that?”

Rowena nodded. “I’ll need my shoes.” She pointed to her boots that lay discarded in a corner.

He fetched them and then helped her put them on.

And that was how Moira found them when she slipped into the room a few moments later.

Robert was down on one knee in front of Rowena. Their heads were very close together, and her throat tightened at seeing how much alike they looked. To see Rowena so trustingly close to Robert, both of them engaged deeply in conversation, made Moira’s heart ache in a new way.

Robert had claimed that by not informing him of Rowena’s existence, she had stolen something from him. Seeing them together, a dawning look of delight on Rowena’s small face, Moira realized he was right.

Robert solemnly held out his hand. Her big eyes fixed upon him, Rowena spat into her hand and then slapped it into Robert’s.

He chuckled, released her hand to spit into his own, and reclasped her hand. “It’s a bargain,” he said.

Moira started forward, and they both turned toward her.

“Mama!” The word broke Moira’s heart, and she sank to her knees to catch her daughter to her. With a sob, she buried her face in the girl’s silken hair. “Oh Rowena, I’m so happy to see you. Are you well?” Moira held her daughter from her to examine her dear face.