“I have a terrific nanny. I’ve made it a rule for myself to never be gone more than three nights in a row, even if that means I have to fly home from France and then back to England the next day.”

“You’re kidding, dear.” Lila looked shocked. “Why don’t you take the boys with you?”

“I try to make their lives as normal as possible. I didn’t go to school all the time as a child. It’s important they have a routine and stability. When they’re a little older, I’ll show them the world. Right now, I want them focused on school.”

“Why didn’t you go to school as a child? Were you sick?” Lila’s eyes held a mother’s concern and Sarah appreciated the heartfelt sentiment.

“When I was in foster care, I attended kindergarten to third grade. But when my uncle took me, he needed me to work on his horse ranch. I was sixteen when I escaped him.” She’d survived him and his treacherous betrayal. “My father came into my life and he hired a tutor, who I worked with for almost two years to catch up. I worked very hard to get my high school diploma. Then, with a little help from him getting in, I went to MIT, where I graduated top of my class.”

Margaret spoke for the first time since she’d learned about having another grandchild. “You’ve had a difficult and extraordinary life.”

“The people I thought would love and take care of me either failed me or used me, or couldn’t be what I needed them to be.”

Luke’s hand settled over hers on the table again. “Not anymore, sweetheart.”

Lila’s words came back to her. When the men in this family love, they love deeply.

She saw it in the way James looked at Lila, Jason supported Michelle, and Luke opened his heart to her.

Here she sat with her sons, the man she loved, surrounded by Luke’s family and Margaret, a woman she never thought would ever accept her, but now did, and she felt for the first time like she was part of the family. Loved. Cared about. Important.

She met Luke’s steady gaze.

Needed in the right way.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Luke stood by the sink, looking out the window at the garden beyond. God. Sarah. She wasn’t like any woman he’d ever known. It barely registered with her that he was heir to the Thompson legal firm and what that meant. Other women he knew would calculate his net worth and have high expectations for what they wanted from him. Many of them seemed to quickly forget that he needed something from them, too.

A real partner. Family. Love and respect.

Sarah never asked him for anything. She found time for him, and time was something very precious in her life. And the time they spent together meant something to her because she used it to get to know him, to connect with him, and make really great memories.