My Lost Daughter by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg Page A

the best thing to do was to end it now. But she couldn’t end it. She loved him too much. She loved waking up beside him every morning, feeling the warmth of his body, knowing she would see him at work and go home with him that night. She was a pessimist, though, and he was an optimist. It worked wonderfully for her, but she sometimes worried about him.
    As a Catholic, Lily knew exactly where she was going when she died. And she knew Hell existed because she’d been there. All she could hope for was to somehow escape Hell and sneak into purgatory. Then after ten thousand years, she might make her way to Heaven. She certainly wasn’t helping herself by enjoining Chris in her nightmare. It was bad enough that she had to look over her shoulder, never knowing if someone would crawl out of the woodwork and turn her life upside down. If she really loved Chris, and she did, how could she put him in such a position? From what she knew, he had lived a pristine life. In addition, he’d already suffered through the loss of his wife and daughter. He might have given thought to killing the truck driver who’d caused the accident, but he hadn’t followed through. “Are you sure you want to do the whole marriage thing? We could live together and be mad, passionate lovers.”
    â€œOf course I want to marry you,” he told her. “When you love someone, that’s what you do. I want to take care of you for the rest of your life, grow old with you, die with you, and share everything I have with you. It’s a commitment issue, knowing that someone has made a vow before God.”
    Her eyes filled with tears. She turned back around so he wouldn’t notice. If she could just keep him a little while longer, bask in the love and happiness he gave her. “I’m not sure when I’ll be ready,” she told him, a slight tremor in her voice. “Shana needs me right now, Chris. She has to be my first priority. And I want her to be here if we getmarried. Since things didn’t work out with Bryce, it’s important that we come together as a family. Shana needs that, you know, particularly since she lost her father.”
    He grabbed her and spun her around. “I don’t mind waiting, Lily. I want to help you with Shana any way I can. And we will be a family, I promise. All you have to do is trust me, give things a chance. I’m looking forward to being a stepfather to Shana. I’m certain we’ll get along famously.”
    She glanced through the open door to the coffee table where Chris had placed pictures of his wife and daughter. It was almost like a shrine, a shrine to another life. Although she didn’t want to tell him, it was too soon for him to remarry. She saw him sitting there every evening and staring at the faces of his wife and daughter. When she’d first started seeing him, his daughter’s clothes and toys were scattered all over his bedroom as if he were waiting for her to walk back into the room. “I love you, Chris, but do we really need to be legally entangled? Marriage and divorce have become almost synonymous to me. Don’t you think you should give it more thought? Why would you want to marry a two-time loser?”
    His handsome face spread in a confident smile. “It’s not your fault you didn’t meet me sooner.” He tugged on her hand. “Let’s go to bed. If you don’t want to make love, we can just cuddle.”
    Her dark mood lifted. How could she be depressed with a wonderful man like this at her side? Lily slipped her hands inside his robe, feeling his muscular chest. “You owe me for that quickie yesterday. I want the full treatment tonight.”
    He got behind her and playfully pushed her through the balcony door and down the hall to the bedroom, kicking the door shut with his foot. Lily started to break away to make certain the balcony door was locked, but convinced herself that there was nothing