Chapter 2 - The Initials on the Bear
The gate agent stepped forward, confused.
“Sir, I need you to move away from the door.”
Ryker released it only after Marco quietly showed her his credentials and asked her to keep the jet bridge open.
Then Ryker returned to the twins.
He lowered himself onto one knee.
Up close, the signs were worse.
Owen’s lips were dry. Lily’s ponytail had begun coming loose. Both children wore clean clothing, but their sleeves were wrinkled and their faces looked exhausted.
Ryker softened his voice.
“Is anyone coming back for you?”
Lily looked toward the jet bridge.
Then she barely shook her head.
Owen tightened his arms around the teddy bear.
Its fur was worn flat around one ear. A small leather patch had been sewn into its paw.
Ryker saw two faded initials stamped into it.
D.C.
His breathing stopped.
Years earlier, Ryker had ordered that bear from a tiny shop in Vermont. He had given it to his best friend, Daniel Cole, at the hospital on the day Daniel’s son was born.
Daniel had laughed at him.
“You bought my newborn a bear wearing a bow tie?”
“He’ll grow into it.”
That had been five years ago.
Ryker looked carefully at Owen.
The blond curls.
The gray-blue eyes.
The tiny scar near his eyebrow.
A scar Daniel had once described during a late-night phone call after Owen fell against a coffee table.
Ryker turned to Lily.
She had Daniel’s chin.
The realization struck so hard that Ryker’s hand tightened against his knee.
These were Daniel’s children.
The children Ryker had been told were living safely with relatives in Colorado after Daniel’s death.
Vanessa stepped out of the jet bridge and dragged her suitcase behind her.
“They’re not my responsibility,” she snapped.
Ryker slowly stood.
Lily immediately pulled Owen behind the edge of his coat.
Ryker never took his eyes off Vanessa.
“What did you say?”
Vanessa swallowed.
May you like
For the first time, her confidence flickered.
👉 Ryker had mourned Daniel for eleven months—but Vanessa was about to reveal that nearly everything he had been told after the funeral was a lie.
