Silence really could be deafening, David realized.

He sat with his mother and two siblings in the parlor of the family home. David and Clay had each confiscated a chair, while his sister and mother sat on the pretty floral sofa.

David told them the whole story. He expected a barrage of questions. He hadn’t expected them to simply stare in disbelief.

His mother cleared her throat. Wearing a silky blue dress with pearls, she appeared overdressed for what was supposed to be a simple family dinner. Her hair, worn for years in the same stylish bob that suited the shape of her face, sported fresh blond highlights.

When she’d greeted him at the door with a broad smile, he’d been hopeful. There was nothing his mother liked more than having her entire family under the same roof. With his revelation, the bright smile wavered, then disappeared.

“Does she plan to fight you for custody?” Lynn’s voice held a steel edge.

“What?” Hadn’t she listened to anything he’d said? “No. Of course not.”

“I don’t understand why you sound shocked.” His mother’s blue eyes were ice. “She admitted she came here with a specific purpose. Over the past three years, she’s wheedled—”

“Stop right there.” David didn’t care if he sounded harsh. His mother’s tendency toward knee-jerk reactions was the primary reason he’d insisted on telling his family without Hadley present. “Hadley did not wheedle her way into anything.”

“I think Mom is concerned Hadley may have a hidden agenda.” Greer, a younger version of their mother, kept her voice soft and conciliatory. “She loves Brynn. We all do. We don’t want to see you—or her—hurt.”

“Hadley loves Brynn, too.” David leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, searching for a way to convince his family there was absolutely no reason to worry. “She wants to be a part of her daughter’s life. I want that, too.”

“And your life?” Greer smiled. “I’ve seen the looks between the two of you. Definitely not PG-rated.”

Despite the lightness of his sister’s tone, David saw concern in Greer’s eyes. He hadn’t planned on getting into his plans for the future with Hadley, but right now it didn’t feel as if he had a choice.

“I care very much for Hadley,” he began. “She’s a wonderful—"

“Are you sleeping with her?”

David didn’t know who was the most shocked by his mother’s question, him or his siblings.

“Mom.” Clay shook his head in warning. “I hardly think that’s our business.”

“It most certainly is our business.” Lynn’s voice went shrill. “Your brother is a wealthy man. And a lonely one. A smart woman knows how to take advantage of—”

“Enough.” David’s voice cracked like a whip. “My relationship with Hadley is not open for dissection. You need to accept that, as Brynn’s birth mother, she’s now part of our family.”

Lynn’s blue eyes flashed. “Or what, David?”

Only under extreme duress did the normally implacable Lynn Chapin snap. David had seen it after his father died when she’d lashed out at the funeral director who’d messed up the memorial service. She’d done it another time when Whitney had forgotten to pick up Brynn from kindergarten.

The forgetting part his mother might have forgiven, but not the way Whitney had acted afterward, as if leaving a five-year-old waiting alone for nearly an hour was no big deal.

David had underestimated how the news of Hadley’s tie to Brynn would affect his mother. Forgotten how fiercely protective she was of her only grandchild, and yes, of him, too.

Forget the ultimatums.

“Mom.” He kept his tone low and fixed his gaze on her face. “Hadley loves Brynn. And Brynn loves Hadley.”

David held up his hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “As far as Hadley and me, well, I realize we haven’t been together long. While I can’t explain it, she and I share a special bond, too.”

“I’ve seen the connection, Mom,” Clay admitted.

David was grateful for his brother’s support. There were already too many adversaries in the room. David needed an ally.

“Hadley and I are taking this slow.” David reached over and took his mother’s hand, his gaze never leaving her face. “You have my word that Brynn will remain my number-one focus and her happiness my number-one priority.”

“I’m happy you aren’t rushing into a commitment.” There was a hint of apology in his mother’s tone. “I only want the best for you and Brynn.”

Greer slipped an arm around her mother’s shoulders in support. “David is too sensible to rush into anything permanent.”

“It seems my brother has this situation under control.” Clay pushed to his feet. “Now, what time are we eating? I’m starved.”

* * *

“Steve asked me to marry him.” Lynn cast a loving look at the lanky man at her side. “I said yes.”

Hadley added her own voice to the cheers coming from the family surrounding her. Beside her, Brynn jumped up and down.

Hadley liked Steve Bloom. From everything she’d witnessed in the past three years, the man was a stellar father. According to Ami and her sisters, he’d also been a wonderful husband, caring for his cancer-stricken wife until her death.

Now, he’d been given an opportunity for happiness once again, with Lynn.

David’s hand captured Hadley’s. He brought it to his lips. The obvious show of affection made her blush, but she didn’t pull away. She loved this man and liked it when he touched her. Liked it very much.

On their way to personally congratulate the happy couple, David was waylaid by Cade, who had a couple of questions about the blueprints David had drawn up for him and Marigold. Hadley waited, but after a minute, then two, passed, she reminded herself she and David weren’t joined at the hip.

Everyone attending the party this evening now knew she was Brynn’s birth mom. Not much had been said, though Hadley had caught Lynn studying her thoughtfully several times during the meal.

Earlier, when dinner had concluded and they’d been feasting on the cherry pies she and Brynn had made, Hadley thought Lynn might say something. But she’d only complimented her and Brynn on their baking skills.

When she reached the smiling couple near the doors to the terrace, Hadley extended her hand. “Congratulations. I know you’ll be very happy together.”

“Thank you, Hadley.” Steve’s hazel eyes sparkled behind silver wire-rimmed glasses. He pressed her hand between his and gave it a squeeze. “I was glad to hear you’ve been reunited with your daughter. I can attest there’s nothing like a daughter.”

The sincerity in his words brought tears to Hadley’s eyes.

“We’re both happy you’re here,” Lynn echoed.

While his fiancée looked cool and chic in blue silk and pearls, Steve was comfortably rumpled in khakis and a madras shirt.

“Speaking of daughters.” Hadley glanced around the room. “Have either of you seen Brynn?”

Lynn’s brows pulled together. “The last time I saw her, she was headed to the backyard to play with Callum and Connor.”

“Hanging with a bunch of grown-ups tends to be tedious for children that age.” Steve smiled indulgently.

Connor burst through the French doors with a clatter.

The older man’s gaze sharpened.

“Brynn’s in the pool.” The boy’s freckles shone bright against his skin’s pallor. “We were playing, and she hit her head. We tried to—”

Hadley went cold all over. Brushing by the boy, she raced for the door. She reached the terrace, scanning the deck of the kidney-shaped pool. She spotted Brynn facedown in the water. Her heart gave a solid thump.

“Call for an ambulance.” Without breaking stride, she scooped up a kickboard and dived in. She reached the unconscious girl in seconds.

With quick moves, Hadley placed the kickboard between them and tilted Brynn’s head back, effectively keeping her mouth and nose out of the water. By the time she approached the edge, David had joined her in the water and began mouth-to-mouth.

Numerous hands—she wasn’t sure who they all belonged to—pulled Brynn from the water to the deck.

“See if she’s breathing,” Hadley ordered.

Kneeling beside the child, Cade opened her airway, then placed his ear close to listen for breathing. Hadley went lightheaded when he pinched Brynn’s nose shut and placed his mouth over hers and blew.

She prayed as she watched Brynn’s chest rise. The sheriff’s fingers went to her pulse, then he repeated the breath. “We’ve got a pulse.”

When Brynn began to gag, Cade turned her to one side. She vomited up water, then opened her eyes and began to cry.

It was the sweetest sound Hadley had ever heard. She started to rush to Brynn’s side, but sirens sounded and Cade ordered everyone back.

“I’ll let them in.” Clay, his face an unearthly white, bolted toward the front of the house.

“Tell me what happened.” Max’s voice, dangerously calm, landed on his twin sons now huddled against their mother. “Make it quick. We need to tell the EMTs how Brynn ended up in the pool.”

Callum and Connor looked at each other.

“Now.” Max, normally one of the most easygoing guys Hadley had ever met, barked the command.

“We were playing tag,” Callum began.

“We were splashing each other first,” Connor reminded his brother. “There was water around the edge of the pool. It was kind of slippery.”

“We were playing tag,” Callum repeated. “She was chasing me and Connor.”

“Get to the point.” Max’s eyes softened as he saw his son’s distress, but his tone was firm.

“She slipped and fell into the water.” Connor glanced at his brother as he spoke. “She hit her head on the side. We thought she was playing, pranking us, when she first started floating.”

“We came to get you.” Callum’s blue eyes were wide, freckles standing out against pale skin like newly minted pennies. “Is she gonna die?”

“No,” Hadley heard herself say, her voice sounding as if it came from far away. “She’ll be fine. You did the right thing in coming for help. Your quick action likely saved her life.”

Connor’s gaze dropped to his feet. “We shouldn’t have been running by the pool.”

“No,” she said. “Next time, you won’t.”

The crowd parted like the Red Sea for the EMTs and their gurney. Cade gave them a quick report as they did their assessment. After sliding a backboard under Brynn and stabilizing her neck, they loaded her on the gurney.

“I want my daddy.” Brynn’s voice rose then broke.

Hadley heard the attendants tell David he could ride with his daughter to the hospital. She didn’t move, couldn’t move. Instead, she stood there, alone, dress soaked, shoes still somewhere in the pool.

She waited for David to turn, to ask her to ride with them.

He climbed into the ambulance without a backwards glance.

“Hadley.”

She turned at the gentle voice and saw Lynn, her beautiful face streaked with tears.

“Thank you for saving my granddaughter.”

Before she could protest that it had been Cade who’d resuscitated Brynn, Lynn’s arms were around her, holding her close.

“You’re going to ruin your dress.” Hadley attempted to pull away.

“Thank you,” Lynn repeated, tightening her hold.

“I couldn’t do anything but try to save her.” A sob caught in Hadley’s throat as the enormity of what had happened hit her. She began to shake. “I love her so much. If anything happens to—”

“Shhh.” Lynn stroked Hadley’s wet hair as if she was a small child. “It will be okay. She’ll be fine.”

Hadley let herself be comforted, wondering if this was what it was like to have a mother. Someone to soothe, someone you could count on to be there for you.

Greer touched her shoulder. “I’ve got clothes in my old room that should fit you.”

When David’s mother released her hold, Hadley realized she felt steadier.

“I can drive. I just need to find my purse.” Lynn gaze darted all around, as if expecting to find her bag at the edge of the pool.

“It’s okay.” Steve’s arm slid around her shoulders. “I’ll drive.”

When Lynn opened her mouth, prepared to protest, her fiancé shook his head. “If I drive, you can call David and concentrate on what he has to tell you.”

Before heading to Greer’s bedroom, Hadley walked over to Cade and gave the sheriff a fierce hug. “Thanks for saving my girl.”

“We all had a part in that rescue.” Cade gave her arm a squeeze. “Now get going. Your daughter will want you there.”

Your daughter.

Hadley hurried to the stairs, praying with each step that Brynn would be okay.