Chapter 176: Roll the Dice

She just stared at the open door, her mouth open, eyes wide. The little boy had not meant to cause her pain, she knew. He just wanted to see the water. What four-year-old doesn't want to see water? She should have had the drapes drawn. She watched as Morgan went after his son after first glancing at her and noticing her anguish. Closing her mouth, she swallowed the scream she wanted to let out. He had seen her pain…again.

Her father was watching her, the concern in his eyes obvious. "He didn't know."

She gave him a slow nod, her chest a knot of anxiety that was close to squeezing the last vestiges of control from her grasp. Forcing herself to take slow, deep breaths, she stepped toward the French doors. Life is for the living, not the dead. Her father's words repeated over and over in her head, a mantra that allowed her to take each step in the direction of Morgan and his son.

Reaching the threshold of the door, she stopped and took a deep breath. The breeze blew over her patio, caress