She had believed him.
Then he had not been careful with her.
Rowan shifted Ellis against his shoulder the way Megan showed him. “I’m going to find her.”
Megan’s eyes glistened. “Don’t promise that.”
“Why?”
“Because I believed too many promises once.”
He nodded slowly. “Then I’ll say this instead. I will not stop looking.”
That, somehow, she accepted.
By late afternoon, Megan and the boys were moved to the cottage.
It stood at the end of a narrow lane beneath old trees, its white porch shaded by climbing roses. A small pond glittered beyond the back fence. Inside, there were clean linens, stocked cupboards, a crib already assembled, and a rocking chair near a window where sunlight pooled like honey on the wooden floor.
Megan stood just inside the doorway, Noah asleep against her and Ellis tucked into a carrier.
For a moment, she did not move.
