A little pale, Charlotte was awake and she reclined within Daniel’s stunned embrace, a dreamy smile on her face. Angelica wandered down the stairs, deep in thought about this latest turn of events. She didn’t belong, not here and not within the home she had grown up in. How false her entire life seemed when she had learned about her natural family, her true parents. She had only begun to feel like she was a part of this family, and now she stood again on the perimeter, watching as they built a new family together. Not that she was upset about the life her parents were building. On the contrary, she was delighted for them. They deserved their happiness. But that didn’t mean that Angelica wasn’t lonely. Lord, she was so lonely, she ached with it. She wanted something as meaningful, as fulfilling and consuming, for herself. She wanted to share her life with a man as dedicated to her as her parents were to each other. Julian? Or Bradley? Certainly Julian was older, but he wasn’t old.
