WHOSE CHILD?

by Susan Gable

  Today's participation was a record. Even some of the women John knew hadn't read a book in years were there. Probably 'cause every busybody in town wanted to catch a glimpse of their latest visitor. Gossip spread faster in Mill Creek than mange through a cattle herd. Ever since David's adventure in Doc Riley's office, people stopped John everywhere—Jo's diner, the hardware store, Al's Market … wanting to know what was going on with Lexie and the handsome out-of-towner.

  And so did he.

  More loud laughter came from the far end of the hallway, and the kids broke into applause and cheers in the library. The house was alive with people … and Lexie had made it that way.

  John sighed softly. The thought of losing her and Sarah cut deep. If they left, they'd take the spark that had made his life worth living for the last four years. Before that, he'd been biding his time in the huge empty house that once had belonged to his wife's family, a hollow shell of a home, like he'd been a hollow shell of a man.

  But Missy and the little one had changed that.

  Not normally a praying man, he offered up a silent plea as some of the children ran shrieking from the library down the hallway. Please, God, don't take them away from me. I lost one family. I know I can't stand to go through it again.

  Lexie paused in the archway. "Pap? What's up?"

  "Nothin'. Just stopped here to listen to you finish the story. I like that one."

  "The Giving Tree? Me, too." She glanced over her shoulder at some of the kids still in the room. "Do me a favor? Keep an eye on Sarah and Fallyn? I have to go check on things in the kitchen."

  "Sure."

  "I'll make you a cup of coffee. Just bring Sarah with you when you come to get it." She cocked her head to the side and studied him for a minute. "You sure you're okay?"

  "'Course," he said gruffly. "What could possibly be wrong with me?"

  She shrugged, then lifted her hand, lightly caressing his cheek. With a quick smile, she whirled and strode down the hall.

  You are such a liar, John Nonnemacher, said a voice in his head that sounded remarkably like Doris, his wife. 'Course, ever since she'd passed on, his conscience always sounded like her. Not that he listened any better now than he had when she'd been alive.

  "Missy loves it here," he muttered. "She's not going anywhere."

  Or so he hoped, anyway.

  David headed down the back staircase. Yesterday's conversation with his father still had him reeling, and even hours of tedious programming—made more tedious by the fact that he couldn't concentrate—hadn't been able to keep his mind from wandering to Sarah, fatherhood and Lexie.

  Especially Lexie.

  The well-worn treads in the middle of the steps were smooth beneath his bare feet. His mouth watered as the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls came through the gaps around the door. And it wasn't even Sunday. Maybe she'd make them again tomorrow. At this rate he was going to gain ten pounds before he went back to Erie.

  The volume of noise in the kitchen crescendoed as he opened the doorway, then abruptly died as he stepped through. At least a dozen pairs of female eyes stared at him. He hesitated, one hand on the glass knob. "Am I interrupting something?"

  "No."

  "Absolutely not."

  "Oh, not at all." The women rushed to reassure him.

  "Okay." He closed the door and crossed to the island's counter, helping himself to a cinnamon roll. Icing dripped as he picked it up, and he caught it with his finger, popping it into his mouth.

  The silence was so complete in the room he could hear the hum from the old refrigerator. Removing his finger with an audible pop, he shook it at Lexie, who stood near the table with several other young women. "Lex, if I'm interrupting your women's meeting or something, just say so. I'll take my roll and some java back upstairs."

  Sarah ran into the kitchen, followed by another, bigger girl. Behind him, the old man's low chuckle broke the silence. "Shoot, boy, you're the main attraction."

  "Huh?"

  That brought the women back to life, and they talked over one another.

  The little girl who'd followed Sarah into the kitchen propped her fists on her hips and tilted her head back, giving him a look that said she was sizing him up. "Are you really Sarah's dad?" she asked.

  The women got quiet again. Lexie's face reddened.

  "Yes, I am. Why?"

  "'Cause you don't look like her. You don't got a mark like she does. And her mom don't. So where'd it come from?"

  "Where'd it come from?" David fought the surge of heat igniting in his gut. Some of the women shook their heads at the kid's audacity. Was this what Sarah put up with on a regular basis? No wonder Lexie had risked being found in order to get the port-wine stain treated.

  As soon as he got back upstairs, he was getting on the Internet and finding the best plastic surgeon in Erie. And somehow he'd make sure Sarah understood it wasn't because he didn't love her the way she was, but that he wanted to spare her these kinds of remarks, wanted the best for her.

  Lexie briskly strode across the room, stopping at his side. Tension and barely controlled anger radiated from her. She pointed her index finger at the back door. "Fallyn, why don't you go outside with all the other children and—"

  "Besides, everybody knows—" the kid rolled her eyes, implying that everybody didn't include him, and he was stupid for not knowing whatever tidbit of wisdom she was about to impart "—that moms and dads who haven't seen each other in a long time always kiss a lot. And Sarah says you never kiss her mom."

  Lexie's hand curled into a fist even while her arm sagged to her side. Her mouth opened and she gaped at the girl. Then she glanced over at the women gathered around the kitchen table and the small group standing near the door to the back porch. Eager, hopeful expressions filled most of their faces, while one or two of them looked … jealous?

  When she returned her gaze to him, he could see the panic rising in the green depths of her eyes. She didn't want these people, her friends and neighbors, knowing she wasn't Sarah's mother. That was one thing she'd made him promise after the DNA swabs had been taken—that in Mill Creek, Montana, the truth of her relationship to Sarah would remain between them and Dr. Riley.

  David had given his word.

  His daughter watched as expectantly as the rest of them.

  So he set the pastry back on the counter and gripped Lexie's shoulders. Her eyes widened as she realized his intent. He smiled, pleased at catching her off guard and being presented with the perfect opportunity to do what he'd wanted to so badly ever since the other night in her room—with an excuse to salve his guilt for wanting it.

  He leaned forward, bending his neck. A fleeting brush of his lips against hers brought the faint taste of vanilla-almond coffee. A renowned java junkie, he needed to experience it—her—better, so he stroked deeper, coaxing her to respond, to open to him…

  And she did.

  Her hands fluttered to rest on his chest, then gripped the points of his shirt collar.

  Vaguely David registered a woman's voice, something about the kids going outside now. Some other chatter. But nothing mattered other than the warmth of Lexie's mouth against his.

  Until that warmth sparked life elsewhere. And he realized he was going to have to face a roomful of women with an embarrassing bulge along the fly of his jeans if he didn't pull back now.

  Shaken by his body's response—this was Lexie, for God's sake—he tore his mouth from hers, disengaged her hands from his shirt and stepped away from her.

  Her eyes flashed open, filled with a dazed, smoldering expression that did little to cool his own desire. Her hand trembled when she lifted it to smooth back a piece of her dark hair from her face.

  Smug male satisfaction coursed through him. Good, the kiss had rattled her as much as it had him.

  "I don't care, Fallyn, get outside with the other kids. It'll be winter soon enough and you'll all be stuck indoors most of the time." One of the women gently pushed Sarah and the obnoxious kid out the back d
oor.

  David retrieved his cinnamon roll, then saluted the room at large with it. "Ladies. I have work to do." He turned and swiftly retreated toward the staircase door, neglecting to get his morning coffee, but not needing a jolt of caffeine.

  No, he'd had a jolt of Lexie.

  And every nerve ending in his body jangled, wide awake, because of it.

  The old man glared at him, eyes narrow, as he opened the hidden doorway. David shrugged one shoulder and quickly headed for his computer … at least logic ruled there.

  And he needed some logic right now. 'Cause kissing Lexie…

  Hadn't been a bright move at all.

  "Earth to Lex, come in, Lexie." Nola waved her hand in front of Lexie's face.

  She flushed, realizing she was staring at David's backside as he fled up the stairs. "Huh?"

  "Jeez, girl, you've been holding out on me," Nola said in a low tone. "Not only is the man a hunk and a half, but the two of you together … it's a good thing it's not fire season around here." Her best friend grinned at her. "And in front of half the women in town, too."

  "Oh my…" Lexie couldn't bear to turn around, but she picked up smatterings of excited female voices.

  "Did you get a load of those shoulders?"

  "Forget the shoulders, that man has a butt to die for."

  A heavy sigh was followed by, "I had no idea a man's bare feet could be so sexy."

  "Yeah, and did you see how big they are? You know what they say about men and the size of their feet, right? Holy moly." The women dissolved into a fit of laughter.

  "Shoot me now," Lexie whispered to Nola. "Just shoot me now and put me out of my misery."

  Nola giggled. "Come on, it's not that bad. The gossip will die down … oh, sometime next spring. Probably."

  "Thanks for the reassurance." Lexie fought to calm the pounding of her heart. David had kissed her. Not an on-the-forehead-good-night-little-girl kiss, heck, no. This was an open-mouth-let-me-introduce-you-to-my-tongue kiss.

  Her legs trembled as she recalled every mind-blowing stroke that tongue had provided. She'd waited years for him to kiss her like that. And he'd tasted as sweet as she'd always suspected. Of course, the icing from the cinnamon rolls had contributed to that.

  What had possessed him? A challenge from a seven-year-old didn't seem enough. Had he seen her fear that the women would suspect something wasn't completely on the up-and-up?

  Chairs scraped the floor as the women rose from the table. Lexie pasted a smile on her face and turned to offer goodbyes, bracing herself for the comments. "Thanks, Lexie," Martha said. Then she leaned closer and whispered, "That one's a keeper, dear."

  "If you do decide to toss him back, I'll take him." Sue Ellen offered her a wink. "Looks like a good kisser. Wooieee." She fanned herself with her hand and grinned.

  Lexie sighed, bidding everyone goodbye, smiling through their comments about David, until only she and Nola were left in the kitchen. Then she sank into a chair at the table and covered her face with her hands, groaning. "I am going to be the talk of the town for the next century."

  Nola patted her shoulder. "We all get our turns. I'd much rather be the talk of the town 'cause a handsome hunk kissed me in front of half the women's auxiliary than because my rat-fink husband up and left without a word."

  Lexie laid her hands on the table and looked over at her friend, whose wry smile did little to hide the fact that Duncan's betrayal still hurt. "Nola, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

  "'S okay. It's nice to have someone else in the hot seat." Nola lived next door, and three years ago, without warning, her husband had left a terse "Dear Nola" note and basically vanished. She and her seven-year-old, Connor, still struggled with it. "Judging from the heat you two generated, I'm thinking you'll soon not be needing the one birthday present I gave you this year, and needing the others instead." She laughed.

  Lexie's cheeks warmed again. "Nola! I don't need either at the moment, thank you very much." The purple vibrator hadn't been her style. Her crazy friend had known that but the gag gift had been a blatant attempt to encourage Lexie to seek out a "real" man. The box had also been filled with a wide assortment of condoms in all colors, flavors, textures and shapes—in case Lexie ever found that man.

  David Mitchell was not that man. Although he'd fed her fantasies on more than one occasion.

  "That's the first time he's kissed you since he's come to town, isn't it?"

  "Yeah, first time." First time ever. But Lexie wasn't admitting that, not even to Nola.

  Just like she wasn't admitting how much the experience had shaken her.

  Later that afternoon, Lexie hesitated outside Sarah's bedroom door, pausing to listen to the voices from within.

  "Here's another piece," David said. "Where do you think that one goes?"

  There was a long silence. Then Connor piped up. "I'll give it to her. Here, Sarah."

  Lexie peeked around the corner. David sat cross-legged on the rug on the floor beside Sarah's bed. Connor practically leaned against him. Lexie knew the poor kid was starved for a man's attention. Sarah sat well away from both of them, leaning over a chunky-pieced jigsaw puzzle. David extended another section toward his daughter.

  She eyed him warily, as if he was trying to sabotage her efforts. "Momma says look for outsides first."

  "She does, huh? Well, I usually match the colors and shapes, instead."

  "No, not there." Sarah grabbed it from David's hand. "Over here, see?"

  David chuckled. "Yeah, I see."

  Lexie's throat tightened, and she rapped on the edge of the door, feeling like an intruder on Sarah's life for the very first time. I guess I'll have to get used to that feeling. "Hey. What's going on in here?"

  David looked up at her, that infectious grin activating his dimples. "We're doing a puzzle."

  "That's 'cause he—" the venom in the word made it clear Sarah didn't mean Connor "—didn't want to play Barbies." She scowled and jumped up, rushing over to wrap her arms around Lexie's legs.

  "I don't know how to play Barbies. Puzzles I know how to do."

  Absentmindedly, Lexie stroked Sarah's hair. "You'll have to show him how to play Barbies, baby. I don't think David ever played with dolls. Although I think I recall one time…"

  He shifted uneasily on the rug, his mouth turning down. "No, I'm sure you don't."

  "Yes, that one time with Marc and Kenny," she said. "Remember? They stole my Cabbage Patch Kid and tied it to the tree in the backyard?"

  Sarah whirled around, propping her fists on her hips. "That's mean!"

  "Hey, I didn't do it." David held up his hands in mock surrender. "Her brothers did."

  "Yes, it was mean," Lexie said. "But I also recall someone pretending to be James Bond and rescuing her. He cut her loose when my brothers weren't looking, and gave that doll back to me."

  "I do remember that. Marc and Kenny ganged up on me afterward. Wrestled me to the ground and sat on me for an hour." David laughed.

  The rich sound warmed her like mulled cider on a frosty autumn evening. Their eyes locked. His dimples slowly faded and his expression became serious, searching.

  A quivering sensation spread from the pit of her stomach. How could he make her feel so unstable just by looking at her? "I hope it was worth it," she said. "I loved that doll."

  "Where is she now, Momma?"

  "I'm not sure what happened to her." The doll's image—curly black hair and a purple dress—brought back too many memories of home, of her parents and brothers… She missed them all so much, even more now that she'd spoken to them on the phone several times. Kenny's wife was expecting their first baby any moment. She blinked hard to chase away the moisture fogging her vision.

  David climbed to his feet. "Hey, you know what I was thinking? Let's go out to dinner. My treat."

  "To Jo's?" Sarah asked.

  "Actually, I was thinking about driving to Missoula. I passed this place the other day called Danny Dino's Pizza PlayPlace. Looked like fun."<
br />
  "Oh, yeah! That place is great," Connor said. "I went to a birthday party there once. It has games you play and win prizes, and it has rides and this cool ball pit you can crawl around in."

  Sarah's eyebrows drew together and she looked skeptical. "I like Jo's."

  Connor leaped up, carefully picking his way around the puzzle, coming to stand beside Sarah. "It's really fun, Sarah. Would I lie to you?"

  Lexie struggled to control the chuckle, clearing her throat. Connor was great with Sarah. The pair had a mutual-admiration society.

  Sarah shook her head solemnly.

  "So, you should go. You'll have fun, I promise." He patted her on the shoulder.

  "Can Connor come, too?" Sarah looked up at Lexie.

  "I'm not the one you need to ask, baby."

  Sarah turned to David, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't wanna go without Connor."

  "Fine by me," David said. "As long as it's okay with his parents."

  "I only have a mom now," Connor murmured. Then he smiled. "She'll say I can go."

  David rumpled the boy's hair. "Okay, you go ask her, and we'll wait for you."

  "Waa-hooo!" Connor charged out the doorway, tossing "Be right back" over his shoulder.

  "We're not going to the doctor's, right?" Sarah asked Lexie.

  "No, honey. No treatments today."

  "Okay. I'll go."

  A half hour later they'd put Sarah's booster seat into the Blazer and buckled everybody in. Connor yammered nonstop once he discovered that he and David shared a passion for computer and video games.

  The noise level at the Pizza PlayPlace was just a few decibels short of deafening. Kids shrieked, games buzzed and pinged and music blasted from speakers Lexie suspected were placed every two feet around the entire place. Sarah's small hand tightened around hers, and the child pressed herself against Lexie's leg.

  David winced. "Don't they have to be careful with kids' sensitive, developing ears?"

  "What? I can't hear you."