Love At Last by Irene Brand

Author:Irene Brand
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2002-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Lorene ignored the ringing phone at first, but, when it continued to ring, she reached for it.

“Lorene,” her mother said. “We’re ready to leave town now. We’ll telephone again in a few days.”

“Just a minute. I want to talk to Dad before you go.”

“This isn’t a good time to talk to him.”

“I want to talk to him.”

“Yes?” her father said gruffly when Celeste handed him the phone.

“How did you know Perry lived in Woodston?” Lorene demanded.

“I picked up a Heritage Week brochure in the motel lobby, and I saw his name listed on the commission board. It certainly made me feel proud of my daughter to find out you were still running after the man who ruined your life. When did you take up with him again?”

“I didn’t know Perry lived here until I arrived in Woodston. And I don’t appreciate you bawling him out about what happened a long time ago. I told you over and over that I was as much to blame as Perry.”

“Makes no difference. I’d been wanting to tell him off for years.”

“Then why didn’t you take the opportunity to do it when he called repeatedly and tried to find me twenty years ago? If you’d told him I was pregnant, he’d have come to me right away. Why did you destroy the letters he wrote me and convince me that he didn’t want me any longer? Why did you make me give up my son when Perry and I could have married and raised the child ourselves?”

Lorene broke the connection and left the receiver off the cradle. She didn’t want her parents to call again. She’d already said more than she should have. A nasty attitude toward her parents wouldn’t change what had happened in the past.

But she was suddenly overwhelmed by the torment that had wrenched her heart for years. She shuddered and collapsed on the couch, giving way to the anguish of her loss. She’d not only lost her child, but now she’d lost Perry as well, and she was absolutely without hope. It had been a long time since she’d given way to a crying jag, but an hour passed and she was still crying. Her body was so taut that even the sound of the air conditioner grated on her nerves. What was she going to do?

The loss of her child had been the worst thing that had ever happened to her. She remembered, as if it were yesterday, holding that tiny baby in her arms for a moment before her parents came to take him away. She begged to keep the child, but arrangements for the adoption had been made months ago, and she’d signed the paper when the child was nothing more than an unwanted intrusion into her life. But during her pregnancy and the wretched twelve hours she’d been in labor, she’d bonded with the baby, and she didn’t want to lose him. But her parents refused her pleas.

She didn’t blame Perry for being angry, for she’d never forgiven herself for the action she’d considered an unpardonable sin.

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