“Debra?”

I blinked myself out of my stupor and stared at the woman who stood before me. Now that I saw her again, I remembered her—snippets of her being there, giving me a shower, fixing me a snack. Had anyone seen us together, they would have never guessed we were related as we were as different as day and night.

She was a stunning woman in her early forties but looked no more than her early thirties. Her platinum-blond hair was cut in an A-line bob about her small face. She had high cheekbones and startling blue eyes that commanded the attention of the person looking at her. She was tall and slender.

“Ye-yes, I-I’m Debra,” I stammered. She wasn’t at all what I had expected. She was like a hot older sister, not somebody’s wife or mother.

“Please, come on in,” she invited, stepping aside.

I turned to wave to Lucas to let him know everything was fine. I loved him so much. He was thoughtful enough to sit around and wait to ensure I was comfortable staying before leaving. If he only wanted this baby, everything would be perfect and he would be a keeper.

Tentatively, I walked into the house which was even grander than the outside. I was greeted by a multi-level, spiral staircase and beautiful wooden crown moldings. The floors were tiles and walnut-stained hardwoods.

“I was so pleased when you called me,” Claire said, leading me into a lovely sitting area with plantation-style shutters revealed by drawn drapes. She gestured for me to sit on a couch and took the one opposite me.

“I forgot what you looked like,” I murmured so softly I wasn’t sure she even heard me.

“That’s my fault,” she admitted, gripping her hands in her lap. “I should never have left you. Would you like something to drink?”

“A bottle of water would be fine,” I responded, not necessarily needing a drink but wanting a few minutes to compose myself.

She stood and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want anything stronger? Champagne?”

“Just water is fine.” I hardly drank before, and now I was pregnant, I wouldn’t take the risk ingesting alcohol.

When she was gone, my stiff body slumped. I glanced around me, noting the posh furniture, the chandelier, and the grand piano in one corner. Did she even play or was it for a show? And where was the husband she had left me for? Was she satisfied with all the wealth she had while having little contact with her only child? I was her only child, wasn’t I? I was nowhere closer to being calm when she returned bearing a tray with a bottle of water, an empty glass, and another glass of champagne.

“Thank you,” I responded, ignoring the glass and drinking straight from the bottle.

“So tell me about you,” she said, eagerly.

“Why don’t we start with why you would abandon your four-year-old daughter for a man? A man I don’t even see evidence of around here.”

My tone came out a little sharper than I wanted, but I couldn’t help it and I wouldn’t apologize for it, either. I was bitter toward her for her abandonment, and it hurt to know she had put a man before her child.

“It’s a lot more complicated than it seems,” she answered. “None of it makes what I did right, and I’ll say upfront that I know I was wrong, Debra.”

“Then why did you do it?’

“It’s not just a matter of leaving you for a man,” she explained. “Your father and I started a family too young. I was only twenty-one and he twenty-five. At the time, it seemed a good idea because we were both in love but it stopped being fun.”

“Nobody expects parenting to be fun.”

“I know, but it was hard—harder than I’d thought and harder still because your father worked so hard to provide for us and I was left doing everything. We got pulled apart. My life was being taken over by a child, and I had no time for myself. Your father and I had sex less and less and before we knew it, we drifted. It’s not that I didn’t love him, but it wasn’t the life I’d envisioned for myself.

“When I met my second ex-husband, you were four and I was able to work part-time as you were at pre-school. He was a land developer, looking for prospects in Pagosa Springs, and everything was different about him. He was…he was what I thought I wanted. He paid me compliments your father never did.”

“Go on,” I encouraged her although I couldn’t empathize with her. How could I when I had ended up the victim?

“I became infatuated and thought I was in love. I cheated on your father and he was livid when he found out. We had a heated argument that almost broke into a physical fight and I knew I had to leave. So I left with Greg when he asked me to marry him.”

“And how did that work out for you?” I asked tightly. “It seems like you’re able to live better now than you did with my dad, so I guess you got what you wanted.”

“Except I didn’t have you,” she said sadly. “I wanted to take you with me, Debra. I did but I felt guilty. I knew how much your father loved me and I left him, and he doted on you so much. You were the only thing that could make him smile when he came home dog-tired. Even when he was too tired to spend time with me, he was never too tired to play with you and I knew I couldn’t take you away from him. That would have been cruel.”

“But why did it have to be one or the other? Why couldn’t I have had a relationship with you both?”

“I convinced myself you were better off with him. At least that’s what I thought even after the marriage to Greg dissolved a year after. Later, I tried to remedy it, but your father was furious. I knew I had no claim to you after abandoning you. He made me feel so guilty that I decided to leave again, this time for good.”

“And he kept it from me.”

“How did you find out?” she wanted to know.

I leaned back into the sofa and tried to relax against the ache in my lower back.

“He confessed a couple weeks ago when he came to Denver.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Michael came to Denver?”

Despite the gravity of the situation, I laughed. “Yes, he came.”

“Michael was so stubborn, tied to that small town. He never wanted to go out and do new things, to explore. How is he?”

“What do you care?” I fired at her. I felt fiercely protective of him. I never thought he’d fully got over my mom and I could see why. She was gorgeous.

She flushed at my harsh tone. “I simply wondered if he ever got married again, found the woman whom he deserves, a woman who loved him enough.”

“I won’t discuss my father with you,” I told her. “If you want to find out about him, then you know where he lives. I came here to get answers and I believe you’ve answered them.”

I got to my feet, even though I had a lot of time to spare before Lucas was due back.

“Debra, please don’t go just yet,” she said, standing “There’s so much I still don’t know about you. I want to know. I’ve done you wrong and I accept the repercussions of that, but if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I want to have a relationship with you, starting now. I have something to show you. Will you follow me upstairs?”

I nodded then clarified in case she misunderstood. “I’ll see what you want to show me.”

I followed her up the spiral staircase and to the second floor. We passed by another less lavish sitting area and she led me to a closed door. She pushed it open and preceded me inside. I walked in and gasped, looking at the bedroom designed for a little girl. Pink and lavender color gave the room a princess feel. One wall was designed with a mural of Disney princesses. The bedspread was of the same pink and lavender and mirrored the Disney theme. A bookshelf was mounted on one wall with children’s storybooks.

Everything was perfect and I could appreciate now what my dad had been afraid of. Seeing all this, a child would find it hard to resist wanting this instead of a dull bedroom. But what mattered was he had stayed and she had left.

“I had this designed with the hopes you would at least be able to spend some time with me even if you preferred living with your dad,” she explained.

“I think we should go back downstairs now,” I said in a voice choked-up with tears. They had both been so wrong. She for leaving and him for not letting me grow up with a mother when she’d tried making amends.

Without a word, we went back to the sitting room, and although I didn’t mention how I would find it in me to forgive her for what she had done, I indulged her in knowing more about me. As I relaxed, we talked about my schooling and I was very proud I could mention my achievements. I brought her up to date with everything I could think of but the baby. I hadn’t even mentioned it to my father, and he deserved to know before she did. I wouldn’t talk to her about it.

Listening to what she had to say to me, though, I knew I could never do what she had done to my own child. I wouldn’t abandon this child for a man. Not even a man I loved.

The ringing of the doorbell startled me, so intent were we in the discussion.

“I’m not expecting anyone,” she mused aloud.

I glanced at my watch and gasped at the time. It was already noon.

“It’s my boyfriend, picking me up,” I announced, getting to my feet,

She looked at me with interest. “You have a boyfriend? You never mentioned him all this time we were talking.”

“Umm, it’s a bit complicated,” I responded, walking ahead of her to the door.

“Can I at least say hello?” she asked eagerly. “Something tells me you have better taste in men than I do,” she teased.

“Umm, okay.”

I pulled the door open and smiled at Lucas.

“You okay?” he asked in concern.

“Yes, I’d like you to meet my mother,” I told him and stepped aside so they could make each other out. “Cla-Mother, this is my boyfriend, Lucas.”

I heard my mother’s gasp and I looked from her to Lucas. They both stared at each other, Lucas frowning and my mother looking shocked.

“Lucas Caine?” she gasped. “Gregory Caine’s son?”

“Do I know you?” Lucas asked, puzzle. “You seem somewhat familiar.”

“I was your stepmother!” she announced. “I suppose you were too young to remember. I was married to your father when you were about six.”

My mouth fell open and I stared from one to the other, my heart sinking. Oh, my God, my mother had left me for Lucas’ father? The magnitude of the moment hit and I fainted, and the last thing I heard was Lucas calling out “Debra!” as darkness shrouded me.