Windy City Romance: Boxed Set: Prequel - Book III

by Barbara Lohr

  Yep, the floor was vibrating underfoot. “And?”

  “You are.” She whispered the words, but they echoed in his mind like a brass gong. “You are Bo’s father.”

  Dazed, he nodded, wondering if his hearing was going haywire. Sure, he’d considered this since his talk with Kate. But hearing it from Vanessa? Totally different.

  Vanessa kept talking, but the words didn’t register. Something about a guy named Ethan. A sinus infection. Her voice faded in and out like a bad cell phone connection.

  Good God, he was a father. Disbelief and excitement just about cracked his head wide open.

  Using her spoon, Vanessa carved inroads through what was left of the ice cream. Tears glimmered in her eyes by the time she stopped talking. “Are you angry?”

  “Stunned.” He could barely move his lips.

  “I don’t know how this happened.”

  He snorted. “Broken condoms are not considered fail-safe birth control.”

  If she’d been pale before, now she looked as white as his shirt. “What are you talking about?”

  “Vanessa, I was going to mention it, come morning. We went through at least three condoms. Damn things kept breaking. They didn’t stand a chance.”

  At the time, he’d felt almost proud. Now it was her turn to look stunned. “That bad?”

  That good. “I was going to bring it up in the morning.”

  Morning. How they’d danced around that word.

  Stay until morning.

  Gone in the morning.

  She was gnawing her lower lip.

  Something was expected, but he didn’t know quite what. Fanning his hands on the table, he tried to lay it out. “Look, I don’t mind supporting you…”

  The hiss of her breath cut through his spinning thoughts. “That’s not why I’m telling you. I don’t expect anything.”

  “What? Hold it. Cut me some slack, will you?” His great verbal skills again. In the back of his mind, Alex could hear his mother tsking.

  “I don’t want your money.”

  “Well, you wanted it in June.”

  Another smackdown. Her eyes widened, like he’d just hit her. He was blowing this. Sliding to the edge of the booth, Vanessa looked like she was going to run right out of here.

  “Wait.” When she edged back, he started again. “Please, Vanessa. Just stay here for a minute. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said softly, folding her hands together on the table.

  “The last week or so, I’ve wondered, but I wanted to hear it from you.” He handed her a glass of water. Man, she was scaring him. She looked like she might faint. “After you and Bo left the beach house that day, Kate rummaged around. Found some shots of us as kids. Bo is a dead ringer for me. But you hadn’t said anything.”

  Vanessa looked miserable. They stared at each other across the table that felt a mile wide.

  “Honestly, I didn’t know,” she whispered. “And then, how could I guess what your response would be?” Tears glimmered in the corners of her eyes, and his heart squeezed. “Even after meeting you on Eye of the Tiger, I didn’t really know who you were or what you were like. I know more now but not everything.” Her voice rose sharply. When a couple at the next table looked their way, Vanessa clamped her lips shut.

  “I hope I haven't been a total disappointment.”

  “Don’t be snide, Alex.”

  “Fine. Don’t be insulting.” The mile between them stretched to two. Somehow they both had to come out winners, for Bo. “What’s next? We have to settle this and I'd rather do it amicably.”

  Tossing her napkin onto the table, she lifted her head. “Settle what? I told you, I don't need any help.”

  Amazement ripped a laugh from his throat. “I have a son who doesn't even know he has a father.”

  Her blue eyes swam with tears. “I'm sorry, Alex, but Bo is everything to me. I can't take any chances.”

  Okay, that hurts. “Nice, Vanessa. Real nice. Bo could do a lot worse than having me for a father.”

  Red spots flared on her cheeks as she leaned toward him. “Sure, you might want to be his father this weekend. What about next weekend? A year from now? Bo can't miss what he's never had.”

  Good God. That tone. Sounded like his father, telling him he'd never amount to much.

  “You can let me try.” He eased the words through a throat suddenly thick. “Let me make myself very clear. You will let me try. Or my attorney will handle this.”

  She gasped. Perfect. Now he felt like a bully on the playground.

  Vanessa knotted her hands on the edge of the table. “What do you want, Alex?”

  “Time with my son. I want to be his father.”

  “He hardly knows you.” Her voice was breathless. “I can’t have you spending time with him alone.”

  “The three of us could do things together.” He searched his mind. “Plenty of things for kids to do in Chicago.”

  Vanessa closed her eyes. “Fine.”

  Alex exhaled. If she thought this was hard to stomach, she was going to flip out over his next demand. He closed his mouth tight so the words couldn’t just blurt out the way they sometimes did.

  He was saving them for later.

  Chapter 16

  Bo’s brown eyes studied the gray stonework of the Chicago Field Museum.

  “You’re going to have a great day,” Vanessa assured him, wishing she felt as confident as she sounded.

  Beside her, Alex carried the stroller.

  “You're going to see the dinosaurs and—and all kinds of exciting things.”

  When she was young, Grandpa Joe had brought her to the Field Museum with Jillian. So far she hadn’t had time to take Bo. Now Alex had insisted. She almost felt guilty.

  “Three years old and he hasn't visited the Field Museum?” Alex had asked with disbelief. Was he implying she’d been negligent? The two of them were barely speaking.

  “Big.” Bo’s eyes were still glued to the pillars. “Mom, is this like Jack and the Beanstalk?”

  “Exciting,” Alex chimed in. “It’s going to be exciting. Just like Jack and the Beanstalk.”

  When he came up with the idea of taking Bo to the Field Museum, she couldn't say no. Still, her guard was up. A man who wasn’t used to children could get tired of parenting fast. She wanted him to see that while they established some parameters for his parenting.

  As they approached the front entrance, Alex stared at the stroller in his hands. “Are you sure he needs this thing?”

  “Trust me, a three-year-old can get heavy fast. This place is huge.” She set Bo on his feet. Taking the stroller from Alex, she had it set up and ready to go in fifteen seconds. Together, the three of them wheeled through the doors of the Chicago Field Museum.

  This felt way beyond strange.

  After the showdown dinner with Alex, Vanessa decided to tell Jillian that Alex was Bo's father. Jillian wasn't surprised at all. “Sure, at first I assumed it was Ethan and felt terrible when he abandoned you. But once I saw you with Alex Compton, I knew.”

  That obvious? “Ethan wouldn’t have been dad material,” Vanessa had agreed. “But at this point, I don't know if Alex is either.”

  “Vanessa, your call, but I think you owe Alex that chance,” Jillian had prodded her gently.

  “You're right, but what if he’s like Dad?”

  “No one could be that bad.” Jillian’s voice echoed with disappointments.

  “Had to keep reminding us that the only reason he’d married Mom…”

  “Was because she was pregnant…with me.” Jillian had fixed Vanessa with sad blue eyes. “Let’s not rehash history. You’ll do the right thing.”

  “Yeah, but another woman called when I was with him the night he sent pizza for dinner.”

  Jillian just rolled her eyes. “What did he say about that? I imagine women call him all the time. The question is, does he call them back?”

  She could only stare at her sister. “When did you get so smart?” />
  Jillian tilted her head.

  “All right. You always were.” Vanessa hugged her.

  So she had to ask Alex some questions, if he wanted to hear them.

  But today they were with Bo, and Alex was all business as he bought their tickets. Seconds later, they were in the huge concourse, excited children’s voices ricocheting against marble, while parents consulted maps.

  “Dinosaur.” Bo pointed to an enormous skeleton looming over the marble floor.

  “Dinosaurs are a big hit with Bo,” she told Alex.

  “Yeah, I saw his puzzle.” Alex chuckled. “From what I read, they’re a big hit with every three-year-old.”

  The man had actually been studying up on children's preferences? A little piece of her heart melted.

  Alex shrugged under the sand-colored linen sport coat. “The Internet.”

  As they pushed toward the dinosaur display, he handled the stroller like a pro. But with every step, Bo shrank back. Was he too young to be subjected to the gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex?

  “Alex.” Vanessa plucked at his sleeve.

  “Want to get out?” Alex squatted until he was eye level with Bo. Wide eyes traveling from Tyrannosaurus Rex to Alex, Bo solemnly shook his head.

  “Alex?”

  “Let’s get a closer look so you can see that this isn't a live dinosaur, Bo.”

  Was he freaking kidding her? Vanessa grabbed the handles of the stroller. “Alex!”

  His hands closed over hers. “Let him see that it's safe.”

  “But he's afraid,” she whispered, still holding tight.

  “And we can take care of that, Vanessa.” With a placating smile that made her crazy, he nudged them forward.

  “I just meant that we should take our time.” Vanessa crouched in front of her son. “Want to hear the story of the dinosaur, Bo?”

  Chin resting on his hands, Bo studied the skeleton. At least his silence wasn’t a no. A plaque was posted at the foot of the display. Standing, she edged closer and began to read.

  At first, Alex listened politely. Then he began to shuffle. “This is about as exciting as watching paint dry. My parents taught me history like this. Speeches. Maps.”

  She counted to three. “What do you suggest?”

  When Alex scrunched his face up, he looked so much like Bo. “Let me try something else.” He squatted next to Bo like he did this every day, muscled thighs straining in his khaki slacks. Would Bo be this strong, this powerful one day? The thought floored her. Of course Bo gave him his immediate attention. “Once upon a time, this big guy was a baby, kind of like you were. He was curled up in a little egg, bigger than a chicken’s egg, of course.”

  “Just like me?” Bo’s eyes brightened. “Like me in Mommy’s tummy?”

  Alex looked dumbstruck, his gaze flicking up to Vanessa. Bo was referring to a time Alex had no way of remembering. “Right. Just like that.” Picking up his story, Alex launched into an account of life as a baby dinosaur.

  Didn’t take long before Bo was giggling. Alex could spin a pretty good tale. Her shoulders relaxed.

  “He ate waffles for breakfast with quail eggs and snakes for dinner, especially the nasty snakes.”

  When Alex screwed up his face, Bo mimicked his expression perfectly. “Didn’t the bad snakes hurt the baby?”

  Alex shook his head. “Nothing hurts a dinosaur. They’re way too tough. You had to be really good around a baby dinosaur, or he might take a bite out of you.” When Alex wiggled his eyebrows, Bo lost it. The two of them chortled like old pals. Although at first Bo had been reserved, he began to let his guard down.

  Her stomach swished with a sickening lurch. What if today became a treasured memory, one Bo expected to repeat? Would Alex be there for him next month, next year? Or would he be like her father, on to the next woman, the next family?

  Alex was forcing her hand. She wasn’t ready.

  But Bo was. Her eyes blurred watching their antics together, like two playmates. Bo had never known a father, and Alex apparently never had a chance to be a child.

  Even though Alex’s account of life as a baby dinosaur was highly entertaining, Bo had an attention span of five seconds. Before long, he was trying to climb out of the stroller. “I want to pat the dinosaur!”

  “Whoa, buddy. One thing at a time,” Alex cautioned him, lifting him from the stroller while she hovered.

  In his navy shorts and bright yellow polo shirt, Bo slowly approached the exhibit. The rubber soles of his new sandals caught on the marble floor. In a heartbeat, Alex had him.

  Ignoring the outstretched hand, Bo clutched Alex’s perfectly pressed khaki pants. This was a man who always looked as if he'd stepped out of a GQ ad. Now he didn’t mind a toddler's hand making pinwheel wrinkles in his slacks? Truly amazing.

  As Vanessa trailed behind them, the knot in her stomach eased. Sharing the responsibility, even for one hour, felt pretty good, but caution made her take baby steps. She was so afraid to raise Bo's expectations. Had her mother felt the same reservations as her husband opted out of many parenting responsibilities?

  Vanessa didn’t want to get Bo’s hopes up.

  “How about moving on to one of the other exhibits?” she asked.

  “Good idea.” Alex glanced in her direction, but Bo was the main attraction today. She didn't miss what sure looked like tenderness as he turned his attention back to her little boy.

  Snapping open the map he’d picked up in the ticket booth, Alex led them into another area with Indian artifacts and lifelike stuffed animals. By that time, Bo was trudging along next to Alex. Once in a while, Alex checked back and caught her eye, as if he were looking for approval.

  When they got to the water park for children, Alex snatched a bright blue raincoat from a hook and bundled Bo into it like he did this every day. A mother with twin girls beamed with approval as Alex showed Bo how to operate the nozzles. “Ready, aim, fire!” he called out, pointing one of the water guns at Bo.

  Her horrified protest lodged in her throat, but Bo laughed with delight as the water bounced off his raincoat and splattered his face. Vanessa took some shots with her phone. The family resemblance was undeniable. Not just the eyes but the generous lips and cowlicks at the left front of their broad foreheads.

  Alex hadn't needed a DNA test. She was the one who’d been blind.

  “Aren't you lucky to have your daddy with you?” the other mother said to Bo.

  Vanessa’s heart clutched. For a second, Bo looked confused, his brow wrinkling under bangs that needed trimming.

  But Alex handled it. “What are your daughters’ names? They look like they're having fun.”

  Soon Alex and Vanessa were chatting with the woman, who mentioned she always bought a one-year pass.

  “We may have to consider that,” Alex said.

  We? The woman’s comment made it clear—they had to clarify Alex’s relationship and soon.

  Leaving the water play area behind, they took turns pushing the empty stroller. Maybe they hadn’t needed it after all, but with her, Bo often whined, wanting to be picked up every two minutes. Suddenly, he’d developed a swagger just like his father's. Fascinating. Was this role model what Bo had been missing?

  “Hungry?” Alex asked.

  Bo gave a little hitch of one shoulder. Had he learned that today too?

  “He's not a very good eater,” she offered in an undertone. Bo's finicky appetite had always worried her. As a baby, he’d had colic. Nothing stayed down. Heartbreaking how he’d cried constantly. Finally she’d discovered a lactose free formula that he could handle. Finger food? He wanted no part of it.

  They’d reached the cafeteria, and the tantalizing aroma of food curled into the hallway. Leaving the stroller under the sign at the door, Alex led the way inside. “How about some pizza?”

  Bo nodded.

  Really?

  Vanessa swallowed her protests. Let Alex learn for himself. They grabbed trays and Alex hoisted Bo into his arms so he could s
ee. As they passed through the line, Vanessa scooped up potato chips while Alex and Bo chose slices of pizza.

  “No soda,” she insisted when they came to the refrigerated beverages. “Milk or apple juice.”

  “Apple juice,” Bo piped up, eyes bright. Her heart turned over. He was having such a good time.

  “Think I'll have one of those too.” Alex grabbed one for himself.

  This felt like a movie. The idyllic life you see on the big screen. When the lights came on, they'd have to leave. And then what? Would Bo pester Vanessa about the dinosaurs, just like he badgered her now about the beach?

  Her neck ached from being on hyper alert all day.

  After they sat down at one of the tables, Bo climbed up on the chair next to Alex. Okay, kind of insulting, but she zipped her lip and moved the booster seat. Grabbing utensils, she began to cut Bo’s pizza into bite-size chunks. Picking up his huge slab of pizza, Alex tore into it. Before she knew it, Bo yanked the tidy triangle from under her knife and fork and sank his teeth in.

  Vanessa sat back. For a second, Alex stopped eating, pizza bulging in one cheek as he took it in. Catching her gaze, he winked. She had to smile. Alex was trying so hard and, if she were honest, doing a good job.

  While they devoured the pizza, Alex plied Bo with questions. “Do you watch TV?”

  “Sesame Street and Dora,” Bo managed between bites.

  Alex exchanged a glance with Vanessa.

  “Very popular. Animated TV shows,” she supplied.

  “Yep. TV.” Nodding, Bo kept right on eating pizza like he did this every day.

  But Alex was frowning. “What about school? Don’t little kids go to school?”

  Bo’s eyes grew round. “School?”

  “He’s too young.” Vanessa stabbed the straw into her apple juice box. “He won’t be ready for kindergarten for two years.” Her baby…going off to school?

  “But don’t kids get ready for kindergarten with playschool? Just asking.” Alex’s forehead wrinkled. If this was an act, he was doing a great job of pretending to be a concerned parent.

  Bo wasn’t in playschool for a lot of reasons. Time, availability, and money topped the list. “Maybe we can talk about this later?”