Prologue

      Nina Fairchild cradled her newborn son in her arms as she gazed down at him. He was so tiny and so perfect. So incredibly beautiful. Already she felt an extraordinary bond with this baby. He was the only family she had left.

       If only you could be here to see our son, Garrett. If only you could hold Dustin in your arms.

      Would it have made a difference? she wondered. Would this precious child have been able to save their marriage?

      Nina had been haunted by that question ever since Garrett had died two weeks before she’d learned she was pregnant.

      Pain twisted inside her as she stared down at her son. Because of her, Dustin would never know his father. Would he grow up to resent her for that? Would he hate her when he learned how his father had lost his life?

      It’s all your fault, Nina. Her brother-in-law’s furious words rang in her ears. Garrett is dead because of you, and somehow, some way, you’re going to pay. I’ll see to that.

      Nina shivered, remembering the darkness in Trent Fairchild’s eyes. The warning in his voice.

      The nurse leaned over Nina’s bed to take the baby from her. Nina’s arms tightened protectively around him. “Do you have to take him back so soon? I hate to let him out of my sight.”

      “You won’t feel that way once you’ve gotten a few of those 2:00 a.m. feedings under your belt.” The nurse lifted Dustin into her arms and smiled down at him. “He is a little beauty, isn’t he? Look at that dark hair, and you so fair. But your sister has dark hair, doesn’t she?”

      Nina frowned. “My sister?”

      “She was here earlier while you were in labor. She seemed real anxious about the delivery.”

      A tingle of alarm stole down Nina’s backbone. “I don’t have a sister.”

      The nurse, settling the baby in the cart to wheel him back to the nursery, glanced up, a cloud flitting across her features. “Then I must be wrong. I thought she said she was your sister, but we have two other mothers in labor and delivery tonight. The place is a madhouse, what with Dr. Bernard being detained and all.”

      “What did this woman look like?” Nina asked.

      The nurse shrugged. “Late twenties. Petite. Dark hair. She wore glasses, I think.”

      Instantly an image of Karen Smith, a young woman who had befriended Nina in a Houston park several months ago, leaped to mind. But Karen had recently reconciled with her husband and moved away. What would she be doing here?

      Nina hadn’t told anyone she planned to have her baby at a small branch hospital in Galveston rather than at the huge medical complex in Houston. There was no way Karen could have found her. No way Trent Fairchild could have tracked her down here, either.

      The nurse had to be mistaken, but the prickle of uneasiness wouldn’t go away. Why would someone pretend to be Nina’s sister? She didn’t have a sister. Except for Dustin, she had no one.

      “Is the woman still here?” she asked anxiously.

      “I can check, but I don’t think so. Visiting hours ended a long time ago. Speaking of which…” The nurse arched a stern brow. “It’s time for this little guy to get his rest, and so should you.” As if she sensed Nina’s distress, her features softened. “Look, I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. I must have gotten the name wrong, that’s all. Wouldn’t be the first time, and like I said, it’s been crazy around here all night.”

      The nurse’s soothing tone helped calm Nina’s fears. She was right, of course. It had to be a mistake. The months of worrying about Trent’s threats had made her paranoid.

      Nina got out of bed and leaned over the cart. Her long straight hair curtained her face, and she tucked it behind her ears as she stared down at her son. “I’ll see you in a little while,” she whispered.

      “It’ll come sooner than you think,” the nurse told her. “So you’d better crawl back into that bed and get some sleep.”

      Nina smothered a yawn. “I am a little tired.”

      “Well, they don’t call it labor for nothing, you know.” She patted Nina’s hand. “Now don’t you worry. I’ll bring him back in a few hours for his feeding.”

      “I can hardly wait,” Nina murmured as she bent to kiss her baby’s satiny cheek one last time.

      * * *

      Nina awakened sometime later, her heart pounding in fear. At first she thought the wails and screams she heard were echoes from the nightmare she’d been having about the car crash that had taken Garrett’s life. But then, coming more fully awake,