Easier? Jodie barked a harsh laugh and crumpled the page in her hand. Maybe she should have told him about the child she carried… their child. A child with the man she loved, isn’t that how she had described it, her pride coming before the almighty tumble into the deep. If DNA proved what her gut told her was true, she was carrying her own grandson.

It was almost funny.

The next few days passed in a blur. She didn’t hear from Flynn, had no idea where he was living, her messages to him, read but unanswered.

When the DNA kit came, she sent the enclosed test tube off to his old address and sent him a message to say it was on its way so he could pick it up. It was a simple test, just requiring a sample of his saliva and the enclosed instructions were self-explanatory. She was tempted to write a note to go with it but she didn’t. She wouldn’t have known where to start and wouldn’t have been able to stop writing the stupid things, the I love you that still came naturally. Words that were so heart-achingly unnatural faced with what they guessed to be the truth.

A day later, she arrived home to find an envelope with the test tube sitting on her door mat. He had enclosed a note. Three words that made her weep. I miss you.

She didn’t crumple this one, instead she folded it and put it into the back pocket of her jeans and later that evening, she took it out and read it again. He missed her, she’d missed him for so many years. A bizarre circle that scrambled her brain. She folded the note again carefully, opened the baby-shoe box and tucked it under the tissue paper.

The DNA test went off the next morning. She paid a little more for the express service which guaranteed results within two days. She’d told Flynn it would take a week… it would give her time to adjust before she had to tell him. Either way, she knew she would need it.

She also needed time to decide what to do about the baby. It was early in the pregnancy; if the DNA results confirmed the worst, she had options. Or did she? The thought of getting rid of this child… one conceived in love… was unthinkable. It was her second chance and she wanted it.

Two twelve-hour shifts back-to-back filled her days and made her too weary to think. She was grateful for the temporary escape and arrived home after the second day dreading the four days before she would work again. Exhaustion helped her sleep, but worry woke her early next morning, hours before there was any chance of the post arriving.