HER SECRET 7

‘Sierra, I felt it.’

‘Felt what? You have to say it.’

‘The magic. This would never have happened if I didn’t love you.’

‘I know. But I’m glad you said it.’

‘Sierra?’

‘Hmm?’

‘Thank you.’

She nestled against his chest, and he held her to him, sinking one hand in her tresses. His heart swelled in a way it never had before. She had indeed given him something no one could ever take away. And for the first time in his life he

wanted to believe that if something was good enough and pure enough, it would indeed last forever . . .

With a start. Matt awoke, blinking in the darkness and confused to find himself sprawled across a narrow bed in a room with plastic trucks and teddy bears lining the shelves. Blue curtains billowed over the partially opened window like a pair of icy ghosts.

Clasping a hand to his forehead, he remembered that he was in his nephew’s room. Tossing the quilt back, he swung his long legs over the side of the bed, setting bare feet on the wooden floor. In nothing but a pai