by Cindy Kirk
Puzzlement filled his eyes. “You look so serious.”
“It’s difficult to say.” She removed her hand from his and reached down to stroke the top of Ruckus’s head. Her next words might squash David’s budding attraction, but she had to be honest with him. Hadley steeled her resolve. “I’m not even sure where to start.”
Something in her eyes must have put him on alert. He straightened, his gaze searching her face for the answer. “It’s usually best to start at the beginning.”
Where was the beginning? Was it rooted in childhood? In a father who showed love by actions, rather than pretty words? Or did it go back even further? Back to when her mother left and a little girl worried she hadn’t tried hard enough to make her mother happy?
Hadley reined in her thoughts. There was no point in going back that far. This news was like a Band-Aid that needed to be ripped off in one pull. “I’m Brynn’s birth mother.”
Startled shock, followed by disbelief, widened his eyes. “What did you say?”
Hadley repeated the words, stumbling a little over them this time.
“You can’t be.” Even as he said it, David knew it was possible. The attorney hadn’t given them the name of the woman who’d given birth to Brynn, but the age was right.
Still, she could be lying. He didn’t possess the information needed to corroborate Hadley’s claims. He and Whitney had received only the basics—age, personal and family medical history and education. Though open adoptions were common, Brynn’s birth mother—she’d barely reached the age of majority at eighteen—had preferred a closed adoption. That had suited them, as Whitney had been concerned about the demands the birth mother might place on them, worried the woman might one day show up and want her baby back.
A bolt of ice shot down David’s spine. “Start at the beginning.”
Hadley flinched at his sharp tone, her fingers tightening around the hair at Ruckus’s neck. When the animal looked up at her with pleading brown eyes, she released her hold.
David listened as she recounted the name of the Chicago attorney they’d dealt with and the particulars of Brynn’s birth at Rush-Presbyterian. “Tell me about the father.”
This was the part that had initially concerned David. According to the attorney, the birth mother insisted she’d gotten pregnant as the result of a one-night stand with a man whose name she didn’t know and had no way to contact.
As birth fathers had rights, it had been a loose thread, but one, according to the attorney, impossible to immediately tie off. They’d taken Brynn home from the hospital, and once thirty days had passed, the attorney had checked the Illinois Putative Father Registry. As the birth father hadn’t registered, his parental rights were terminated. The night they got the news, he and Whitney had opened a bottle of champagne.
Hadley tilted her head, hesitated for only a second. “I don’t…I don’t know who he was. It was a one-night thing. I never even got his name.”
Her voice may have gone up a full octave, but her gaze remained steady on his face. “I was young and stupid. Very stupid.”
Hadley covered her mouth with her hand, let out a shaky breath, then repeated, “I don’t know his name.”
She was lying. She definitely knew more than she was telling. But did he really want to go down that path? Though he’d always believed Brynn deserved information about her birth parents, this was a sticky area.
What if Hadley was in contact with Brynn’s birth father? Could that be the reason she’d decided to make this claim now?
David lifted a brow, forced casual into his tone. “Surely, he gave you his first name.”
Her gaze darted to one side then back to him. For a second, David thought she was going to tell him. Instead, she shook her head. “I think it was a fake name.”
“What made you believe it was fake?”
Irritation skittered across her pretty face. “It was a long time ago. What does it matter now?”
“He could come back.” His tone was flat and hard. “He could want to get to know his child.”
Hadley bit her lip. “You don’t have to worry about him.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“He never knew I was pregnant.” This time, she looked him straight in the eyes. “He doesn’t know Brynn exists.”
There was a certainty in the statement that he found both reassuring and puzzling. But pushing on this particular issue wasn’t going to get him anywhere. And he had much more pressing questions. “You came to Good Hope because of my daughter.”
David wasn’t certain what he expected her to say. Perhaps lie and say it was a fluke.
“I did.”
She rose. Ruckus lifted his head from his paws and, like David, watched her move to the mantel.
“Why now?”
The question hung in the air for several heartbeats. There were many others pushing against David’s lips, but with great effort, he held them back. His patience was razor thin by the time she finally spoke, her voice so soft he had to strain to hear.
“My father died. I-I felt alone in the world. I started to worry about my chi—” Hadley stopped herself, took a breath, then continued. “About Brynn. It was probably part of the grieving process, but I needed to know she was okay.”
David never took his eyes off her. “You could have asked the attorney for a status update.”
She brought a fist to her chest, her tone fierce. “I needed to see for myself.”
“How did you find us?” If Jerome had given her information, David would have the attorney’s license.
“I used my father’s life insurance money to pay a private detective.” Her fingers clasped and unclasped. “It took him a long time. I’m not certain everything he did was legal but he got results. Even after I had the information, I didn’t immediately act on it.”
“Why not?” The blood rushing through his veins burned like acid.
“I made a promise when I signed the adoption papers.”
The lost look in her blue eyes tugged at his heartstrings, but he shut off the emotion. David thought back to when Hadley first arrived. “A week, maybe two, was all it should have taken for you to determine Brynn is in a loving home. Why did you stay?”
“I want my daughter to have a mother and father who love her.” Hadley’s gaze turned to the window, where rain splashed against the glass. “My mother left when I was young. My dad did his best, but I missed not having a mom. I wanted more for my child.”
There it was again, David thought, that quick pinch of guilt when he thought of the pain the divorce had brought to Brynn’s life. “When you moved here, Whitney and I were still together.”
Abruptly, Hadley returned to the sofa and sat. “You and Whitney might have lived under the same roof, but you weren’t together. She’d already checked out of the marriage.”
David started to deny it, but couldn’t. “I’ve done everything I can to give Brynn a happy, secure childhood. I will always be here for her.”
“I believe you.”
Frankly, he didn’t care what she believed. It was her on the hot seat, not him. Unable to sit, even for one second longer, David sprang up and began to pace.
“I-I told myself seeing her from a distance would be enough.” Hadley’s gaze dropped to the tightly clenched fingers in her lap before rising back to his face. “I remember the first time you came into the bakery. I was able to talk with her. That was more than I ever dreamed. That should have been enough.”
“Obviously, it wasn’t.” Despite the fear, David managed to keep his tone even.
“When Whitney left, it tore a hole in Brynn’s heart. I saw it. Though they occasionally communicate via text, your ex-wife is as lost to Brynn as my mother was to me.” When Hadley pinned cool blue eyes on him, David felt the slap of her disapproval. “And if Whitney gets sick from this ‘genetic condition’ and dies, Brynn will grieve her loss all over again. Why? Because you and Whitney lied.”
“I told you I didn’t real
ize Whitney had—"
“But she did lie. You found out about it and did nothing, which makes you complicit.” Hadley was as fierce and protective as a mother bear. “That’s the past. Let’s talk about now. Brynn needs a mother to be there for her during all the ups and downs she’ll face as she grows. She needs me in her life.”
“I didn’t realize Whitney had omitted part of her family’s medical history from the application until the adoption was a done deal. For that, I apologize.” David’s tone remained cool. “But Brynn is my daughter. If what you say is true, you gave up your rights to her when you signed the adoption papers. Why now?”
She blinked. “I-I don’t understand the question.”
“Why are you telling me all this now?”
She swallowed convulsively, then cleared her throat. “Unless I misread the signs, we were on the verge of making love. I couldn’t allow our relationship to go any further without telling you the truth.”
“A relationship that has a web of lies as its foundation is no relationship at all.” Bile climbed up his throat, burning with each step. “You used me to get close to her.”
She shook her head vigorously, and her hands rose, palms out.
“I didn’t use you, David. You came to me, asked me if I wanted a job. Our relationship felt real, was real. I genuinely care for you. In fact, I’ve fallen in love with you.”
He waved the admission away. Right now, he wasn’t sure where the truth ended and fiction began.
“You’ve laid a lot on me.” He chose his words carefully, feeling as if he was negotiating a minefield while the world spun around him. “I need to think about what you’ve said, what you want, and decide where we go from here.”
Hadley gave a jerky nod. “Okay. Fine.”
“You’ll give me a DNA sample. You won’t say anything about this to Brynn. Not yet.” His gaze searched her face. “If, when, we do tell her, it will be after careful thought.”
“I’ll be happy to provide a DNA sample, but why would I lie about a fact that can be so easily proven?”
A valid point, David acknowledged as he rose and gestured to the door, signaling the conversation was over. Then he remembered she lived here.
Damn it all to hell.
“If you prefer, I can get a room at the motel in town”—Hadley pushed to her feet—“while you consider how you want to handle this.”
David raked a hand through his hair. All he knew was he wanted her gone. Out the door. Out of his sight. But what would Brynn think when she came home in the morning and Hadley wasn’t here?
Still, he needed to strategize, and he couldn’t think with those blue eyes watching him. “I believe that would be bes—”
The unexpected ringing of his cell had him jerking. He pulled it from his pocket, prepared to silence it when he saw it was Lia’s dad.
Taking a steadying breath, he answered. “Hey, Jim. Everything okay with the girls?”
“Brynn is complaining her stomach hurts. Andrea took her temperature, and it’s 100.7. Not high, but—”
“I’ll be right there.”
“That’s probably best. When you don’t feel well, there’s nothing like your own bed.”
“I’m leaving now.” David disconnected the call and met Hadley’s worried gaze. “Brynn isn’t feeling well. It sounds like she caught what you had. I’m picking her up, bringing her home.”
Grabbing his keys from the side table, he headed for the door without another word. He hoped Hadley would be gone when he returned.
He’d worry later about what to tell Brynn.
David thought he’d made it very clear that Hadley should be gone when he returned. But twenty minutes later, she opened the door when he approached with Brynn in his arms.
Once they were inside, she stepped close, smelling of vanilla and sweetness.
“I’ve got your bed ready.” Hadley brushed a tendril of hair back from Brynn’s pale face. “Unless you’d prefer to sit up in the chair for a little bit?”
“I don’t want to go to bed. I want to be here with you and Daddy.”
For the first time since he’d returned with Brynn, Hadley looked directly at him. She gestured with one hand toward the overstuffed chair that had been her resting spot when she’d been ill.
With great care, David set his daughter down and kept a tight leash on his emotions.
He’d expected Hadley to be gone. Packed up and moved out. Okay, not entirely accurate. Because he knew the depth of her feelings for Brynn, he’d worried she’d still be here.
“Daddy said you might be gone when we got home. That you might be visiting a friend.” Brynn’s bottom lip trembled, and her eyes swam with tears. “I wanted him to call you to tell you to come home because I needed you.”
“Oh, baby,” Hadley kissed Brynn’s cheek, slanted him a glance. “I’m right here. Don’t you worry, I’m not going anywhere.”
David slammed the box of chicken noodle soup—Brynn’s favorite—into the cart. Though his daughter had insisted she didn’t want anything to eat but soda crackers, Hadley had mentioned that perhaps later she might want some soup.
When Brynn agreed, he decided a quick trip to the grocery store was in order.
He was letting Hadley stay for Brynn’s sake, he told himself. Just for a few days, until his daughter was better. Brynn had sobbed on the drive home when he’d mentioned Hadley might not be there. He couldn’t ask Hadley to leave now.
On the way to the store, David had left a message for the attorney who’d handled the adoption. Before he discussed anything with Hadley, he needed a clear understanding of his rights. It seemed to him she wouldn’t have any legal claim to Brynn, but this was too important not to be one hundred percent certain.
That was also why he’d ordered a DNA test kit before he stepped out of his car.
A sense of betrayal hung like a sodden coat around his shoulders. He liked Hadley. She was smart and funny and kind. She’d said she was falling in love with him, but how could he believe anything she said now?
He glanced at the list she’d given him. Papayas. The bananas, David could understand. His mother swore by them. Mother.
David whipped the cart around the corner with vicious speed, and metal struck metal.
“Whoa, cowboy.” Dan’s smile widened when he saw it was David on the other side of the cart. “I’d say you were definitely driving over the limit.”
“Sorry ‘bout that.” David forced a smile. “Brynn’s not feeling well, and Hadley sent me to the store—”
He stopped himself. Hadley hadn’t sent him anywhere. He’d chosen to come to the grocery store and pick up a few essentials. She didn’t tell him what to do. He was the one with the power, and she best not forget it.
“I’m sorry to hear Brynn is ill.” Dan moved his cart to the side, though David wasn’t sure why. Other than a couple clerks at the registers, he swore he and Dan were the only ones in the store. “Is it the stomach virus?”
David nodded.
“I’ll keep her in my prayers.”
“Thank you.” Now that they’d exhausted the small talk, David was eager to move on and be alone with his thoughts.
“I didn’t realize rain was in the forecast for today.”
The weather. His world had imploded and the minister wanted to discuss barometric pressure fluctuations?
David tamped down the irritation. How he was feeling had nothing to do with the pastor. Besides, it wasn’t as if he wanted to discuss the bombshell Hadley had laid on him today. “I like rain.”
“When I’m inside and dry, I like it just fine, too.” Dan studied him. “I do some of my best thinking when it’s storming outside.”
That was the difference between him and Dan. Right now, David couldn’t seem to marshal his thoughts into a logical pattern. At least he’d had enough sense to call the attorney. Order the DNA kit.
“Is that what you were doing when I rammed my cart into yours?” David kept his tone light. “Thinking?�
�
Dan waved aside the question. “I can see something is troubling you. Is there anything I can do to help?”
The minister had asked him the same question last year when Whitney had told him she wanted a divorce. David had been stunned by his wife’s request, though he shouldn’t have been surprised.
Their last year together, Whitney had been gone more than she’d been home. The demons driving her wouldn’t let her rest. Not for long. He’d mistakenly assumed that was all that her frequent trips meant.
“It’s something I have to work out for myself.” Once the words left his mouth, David realized it was nearly word for word the response he’d given last year.
Just like then, Dan smiled, though concern clouded his eyes. “If you need to talk, I’m here for you. Day or night.”
Rumor was the day-or-night availability had been what had pulled Dan and his fiancée apart. Lindsay hadn’t been able to handle that a minister’s time wasn’t his own.
David assumed there had been more going on behind the scenes. It had been that way with Whitney. Most people in town believed her to be a spoiled, selfish woman interested only in her own pleasures. Though David no longer loved her, he cared about her. More important, he understood what drove her.
The silence lengthened.
“I appreciate the offer.” David pulled his cart back and to the side, giving Dan room to pass. “And the prayers for Brynn.”
Dan studied him for a long moment. “Speak with someone you trust about what’s on your mind. Often, when thoughts get jumbled in our head, all it takes to achieve clarity is voicing them to a friend.”
Chapter 17
David strolled into the YMCA the next morning. He wasn’t here to have some heart-to-heart with his brother. No matter what the preacher said, that wasn’t how he and Clay rolled. He simply needed to work off the stress of having Hadley still under his roof.
That was where she was right now, baking in his kitchen while his daughter slept. Regardless of how he felt about Hadley, he could count on her to take good care of Brynn.