Whispered Promises by Brenda Jackson Page A

to pack. Caitlin watched as Dex sat in the chair his brother had vacated minutes earlier. He stretched his long legs out in front of him, and leisurely crossed them at the booted ankles.
    â€œNow to answer your question, Caitlin, there’re numerous reasons why we shouldn’t get a divorce, and the foremost one should be obvious, our daughter. Staying together wouldn’t be for either one of us, it would be for Jordan. I think we owe her that. She’s too young to understand what’s going on. All she knows at the moment is that I’m here. In her mind, my appearance into her life is permanent. She doesn’t have the faintest idea what a divorce means. But we do, don’t we? Although neither of us came from broken homes, we’ve heard numerous stories about the scarring of children that do. I don’t want that for our daughter. Do you?”
    Caitlin shook her head as her hope sank dejectedly. Dex didn’t want them to continue their marriage because of any feelings he still had for her, but because of their daughter. “A child is no reason for two people to remain married if they don’t love each other, Dex.”
    Dex’s eyes narrowed. “I disagree. If both individuals want what’s best for their child, they’ll be willing to sacrifice just about anything. Even their own happiness.”
    Caitlin sighed. He was admitting that he was willing to sacrifice his happiness by remaining married to her for Jordan’s sake. “It won’t work.”
    â€œIt’ll work, if we make it work. You’ve had Jordan for three years. All I’m asking is a chance to be a part of her life. Maybe four years ago we did act hasty and rushed into things, but now the situation is different. We have a child, Caitlin, a child that, one way or another, I’m going to be a father to. I don’t want to be a part-time dad, but a full-time one, and I won’t settle for anything less.”
    Gazing directly into his eyes, Caitlin drew a deep breath and asked, “And just what are you proposing?”
    When he spoke, Dex’s voice was deeper and huskier than before. “What I propose is that starting today we put the past behind us and start over. There’s no way we can pretend that part of our life didn’t happen, but we can move on and not look back.”
    Stunned dark eyes held Dex’s gaze. “That’s impossible! You hate me.”
    A deep scowl settled over Dex’s features. “That’s not true. I don’t hate you.”
    Caitlin stood. Placing hands on her hips, she glared at him. “You may as well. You still harbor resentment for what I did. How can you expect me to give our marriage another try when I know how you feel? No matter what you say, Dex, I know the anger and hurt is still there. Those feelings couldn’t have dissolved overnight.”
    Dex sighed, rubbing his fingers to his temple. “My feelings are something I have to deal with. In time, I’ll come to terms with what happened between us.”
    â€œAnd what if you can’t? You said I’m the woman who betrayed you, remember? As far as you’re concerned, I’m the one you feel rejected you, and the one who made promises of love and commitments, then broke them all. I’m also the woman who had your child and, according to what you believe, didn’t have the decency to contact you to let you know I was pregnant. Knowing what you think of me, how can you expect me to live with you again as your wife?”
    Dex pushed himself to a standing position and faced her. “I’m not promising miracles, Caitlin. But I am willing to give our marriage another chance, if you are. I can honestly admit the blame of our breakup wasn’t entirely your fault. I’ve been too hurt and angry to realize that I, in part, was responsible for what happened between us. We had met less than two weeks before we married. There were a number of