One Week in Your Arms

by Patricia Preston

  His heart splintered into a dozen pieces as he looked at Marla. “I don’t understand.”

  Silence stretched out between them. He clutched the photo album. The last time he remembered being hurt this deeply was the day his father had suddenly died. He swallowed down the lump in his throat.

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I don’t know what else to say.”

  Bitterness and anger started overcoming the hurt inside him. “You were never going to tell me about her, were you? She was going to grow up thinking Ben was her father, and I was never going to know she existed.”

  Marla nodded. “You know now.”

  “Yeah, I know now,” he threw back. “Five years late. And if I hadn’t sent you that letter and we hadn’t come here, I still wouldn’t know, would I?”

  “No,” she admitted frankly. “I did what I thought was right.”

  “How could you possibly think that?”

  “I was intimidated.” She rubbed her arms. “I was intimidated by the gates. Maybe I shouldn’t have been, but I was. The gates separated who I was from who you were. From then on, I was scared of you. I was scared for my baby.”

  “Scared for your baby? What kind of monster do you think I am?”

  “I was just someone you slept with, and the pregnancy was my fault.”

  Outrage surged through him. “She was my baby. I should have known about her.”

  “I didn’t think you would want to be saddled with the responsibility.”

  Carson paced over to the glass sliders where he stared at the oceanfront view. It was a view only a few people could afford. He had so much. But, now, he felt like he had nothing.

  He rubbed his throbbing forehead and spoke over his shoulder. “Have you told Ben she isn’t his kid?”

  “He knew she wasn’t his baby when we got married. But that never made any difference. He’s always loved her as if she were his.”

  Saint Ben. Stepping up to the plate.

  “When I asked you about meeting me at Royal Oaks in two weeks, I had planned to introduce you to Sophie. I still want to do that if you’ll meet us there.”

  “No.” He wheeled around, furious. “You think five years isn’t long enough? You think I’m going to wait two more weeks? Hell, no. I’m going to pack, and then I’m going after my daughter.”

  “Carson,” Marla began.

  “I don’t want to hear it,” he cut her off. The pit of his stomach rolled and a sickening feeling almost overwhelmed him before he reached the hallway leading to his bedroom. He halted for a moment and turned to give her a stare of pure loathing.

  “Marla, there is nothing you can ever do or say that will make this right.”

  Chapter 23

  On the chartered jet, Marla sat in the cabin’s sophisticated white-and-black lounge that contained a plush sofa, a dining area, and a small galley complete with wet bar. She supposed this was how rock stars traveled. A movie she wasn’t watching played on a large screen.

  She glanced toward the rear of the cabin. In a separate area of the jet, four executive-style leather chairs were secured around a conference table. Carson’s open briefcase was on top of the table, along with a cup of coffee. He had reclined the back of his chair and was busy making notes on his computer tablet.

  Since they had left Kauai, he had kept his distance, and he only spoke to her when necessary. He could be a brutally cold man.

  His bitter reaction hadn’t surprised her. Would she not have done the same if the situation were reversed? Yet she was annoyed with him. He had singled her out as the villain, and he hadn’t even tried to understand her point of view. If she’d had the slightest inkling that he had feelings for her that might have made all the difference in the world.

  Nevertheless, you can’t go back when it comes to life and mistakes can’t be undone. Your only choice is to move forward.

  She reached for her smartphone that lay beside her on the sofa. She had been talking to Kayla for a while and they had decided the best place for Carson to meet Sophie was at Royal Oaks, the place where it all began. Kayla, who was Aunt Kayla to Sophie, had it all figured out. She would take Sophie out to breakfast, go by the Little Theater where Sophie needed to be measured for a new costume, and to Little Divas clothing store. Then they would go to Royal Oaks. They would be waiting there for Marla and Carson.

  “Don’t worry about a thing,” Kayla had reassured her. “I got this.”

  When Marla stood, she stretched her aching back. This was the longest flight ever. They had flown from Lihue to Los Angeles where the jet made a stop. Carson said he needed to go to his office before they left for Nashville.

  She had insisted on staying at the airport. She had puttered around the shops, buying some T-shirts and other souvenirs for the staff at the clinic and her family. She picked up a few surprises for Sophie and ate dinner.

  She had called the clinic.

  “Mrs. Crawford wired us a million dollars! It went straight into the bank account,” Nolana cried. “It’s there. I looked online like a dozen times because I couldn’t believe it, but it’s there.”

  “Great way to end the week, right?” Marla kept her voice cheery. It was a relief to know the clinic had operating money now because she wasn’t sure if Carson would change his mind about the grant or not. She hoped he would continue the foundation grant as he had said he would, but that was before everything fell apart.

  “Honey, this is what you call hog heaven!” Nolana went on. “Christy turned a cartwheel and Doctor Hughes almost passed out. He said we’re going to have a big celebration party when you get back and from now on, we’ll just call you Doctor Awesome.”

  “Tell Doctor Hughes I said I got all my awesomeness from him.”

  “I’m just overwhelmed. We have operating money and we can make some investments that will bring in more money. I can’t wait to hug your neck!”

  “I’ll see you Wednesday.” Marla had ended the conversation with the hope that she would be back at work on Wednesday and not in an attorney’s office. She figured she would be seeing the inside of law firms and courtrooms for a long time to come.

  She walked toward the rear of the cabin. They were a couple of hours away from landing in Nashville. It would be late and she had suggested they stay in Nashville until morning. She didn’t want to drive home in the middle of the night, suffering from exhaustion and jet lag. Amazingly enough, he had agreed.

  Carson was kicked back in one of the generous brown leather chairs, using a computer tablet. She only used computers for work and research, despite everyone at the clinic trying to get her to join them on social media.

  “I want to talk to you about Sophie.”

  Carson glanced up from the tablet screen. “Save it for court,” he remarked in a clipped voice.

  She let out a weary sigh. “I’m too tired to put up with you being a prick right now.”

  “Then I suggest you go back up front and leave me alone.”

  Instead, she settled herself in the soft, well-padded seat across the table from him.

  He brushed her off with a dismissive glance and returned to his tablet. He gave the screen his complete attention, totally disregarding her.

  “There are a couple of things you need to know.” She kept her voice level, almost professional, despite the wide range of emotions she felt as she looked at him. Love. Anger. Lust. Sadness. Despair.

  He remained focused on the tablet screen as if she weren’t present.

  She continued. “Sophie is allergic to penicillin and penicillin derivatives. A dose of penicillin will cause a reaction called anaphylaxis, which could kill her.”

  That got his attention. He put the tablet aside as if it no longer mattered. “I know about penicillin allergies. I’m allergic to it.”

  “Oh.” Now she knew how her daughter had come by that allergy. “It’s important that any doctor she sees knows about that allergy. She has a beaded bracelet with a medical alert charm that she wears when we travel. J
ust in case of a car wreck or something.”

  He nodded. “I’ll need a copy of her medical records.”

  “All right.” Marla agreed, thinking she needed to get his family medical history while he was in Lafayette Falls. “Have you ever had a heart murmur?”

  “No.”

  “Sophie has a Still’s murmur.”

  He sat up straight, his eyes fearful. “She has something wrong with her heart?”

  Marla had seen the same expression on the faces of mothers and fathers when she told them she’d heard a murmur while listening to their child’s heart.

  “A Still’s murmur is a low-pitch, resonating heart sound and it occurs in young children,” she explained. “It’s an innocent murmur, meaning it isn’t caused by a heart defect. She was two when it started, and murmurs can be caused by heart defects so I took her to Vanderbilt to see the pediatric cardiology group. I just wanted to make sure everything was all right. They ran a cardiac workup on her and all her tests came back normal.”

  He let out a relieved breath, and she said, “The reason I’m telling you about the murmur is because if you ever take her to a doctor, that will be the first thing they are going to tell you after they listen to her heart. Sometimes, parents panic.”

  “I get that.” He nodded, but the look of concern didn’t leave his face. “Is she okay otherwise?”

  “Yes,” Marla answered. “She’s small. Rather petite in stature for her age. I don’t know if that will ever change or not. She wants to be as tall as Anna Grace.” Marla tapped the icon on her phone where her photos of Sophie were stored. She found a photo of Sophie, the elfin brunette, and Anna Grace, who had long curly blonde hair and stood a head taller than Sophie. She slid the phone across the table to Carson.

  As he looked at the photograph, Marla said, “We live on a cul-de-sac, and there are several kids in the neighborhood. When they are all together, it is chaos. It’s like an episode of the Little Rascals or something.”

  Marla reached over and swiped the screen to move the photograph. She grinned at the photo of Sophie dressed in a frilly red-and-white costume with a sailor collar. A white sailor’s hat perched on top of Sophie’s dark curls. “She is a member of the children’s little theater group and she sang ‘On the Good Ship Lollipop’ during their spring production. She’s such a ham. She never meets a stranger.”

  She continued to show Carson recent photographs of their daughter. Sophie in her Easter dress. Playing on a water slide. Sophie and Anna Grace riding bikes. Sophie and Nana baking a cake. Sophie in an angel costume.

  He smiled and Marla’s heart went all mushy. She knew she’d never be someone special to him again, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to see him smile. She wanted to believe that someday he’d forgive her, and she’d no longer see bitterness in his eyes when he looked at her.

  “Oh, here’s a good one.” She beamed with pride. “Sophie entered the Lafayette Fall’s Art Guild’s Children Contest. Her painting won first place in her age group.”

  The photograph had been taken at the awards ceremony. Sophie was wearing a dressy outfit. A navy pleated dress with a lace collar. Standing beside one of the judges, she held a large certificate bearing her name in bold print and an embossed blue ribbon for first place.

  Marla grinned. “She insisted we hang that certificate in the living room so everyone who came over could see it. She’s not the least bit modest.”

  Marla thought Carson would make some sort of comment about that.

  Instead, he stared at the photograph for a long while before he handed her the phone. Then he said, “I’m going to have her last name changed.”

  “What?” Marla’s smile vanished.

  “She’s my child. She’s a Blackwell and I intend for her to have her rightful name.”

  “You’re not barging into her life and changing her name.” Marla clutched the phone tightly. “When Sophie is older, she can make that decision for herself. Right now, she’s only five. You need to remember that.”

  “And you need to remember who’s at fault here,” he said in a vindictive voice. “It’s not her and it’s not me.”

  “Well, if I could only be flawless like you,” Marla remarked hotly as she stood. “You’ve seen Sophie’s pictures. You’ve seen she’s a happy child, and as a parent, that should be the most important thing to you,” she pointed out. “Her happiness should come before anything else. Especially your ego.”

  He leaned back against the thick chair cushions, his face an implacable mask. “Do not lecture me on how to be a father to my own daughter.”

  “I’m not lecturing you on how to be a father. I know you want to be a good father and I think you will be. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have told you about her. But I won’t step aside and let you decide what happens in Sophie’s life. She’s my daughter. She is Ben and Kelly’s daughter. She has family and friends who love her,” Marla said. “She’s a package deal, whether you like it or not.”

  He leaned back in the chair, silent and brooding. Dark lines etched around his tired eyes and his lips clamped together in a forbidding line.

  She let out a sigh of resignation. “Carson, don’t make me regret bringing you into Sophie’s life.”

  * * *

  The next morning Carson continued his silence. He didn’t want to talk. He would let his lawyers do all the talking. She’d have regrets then. Damn straight. She’d regret doing this to him. She’d regret breaking his heart like this. That shit he’d gone through with Angela was nothing compared to this.

  He checked his seat belt as they zipped through the streets of Nashville. Marla was behind the wheel of her SUV, all perky and driving like a bat-out-of-hell. He hoped he would make it to Lafayette Falls in one piece.

  At least, physically, he felt better. No headache, back pain, or fatigue. He had literally fallen onto the bed at the airport hotel and passed out. The much-needed rest had reinvigorated him.

  When he had been putting the luggage in the vehicle, he had noticed a plastic bin that held a pink ballet costume. There was a child’s booster seat strapped to the rear bucket seat. A doll lay across the booster seat. He had touched the doll that belonged to his daughter, and reality suddenly became tangible once he saw Sophie’s things.

  He couldn’t wait to meet her, and he wished he had some legal rights to her. After all, he was her rightful father. He had met with his attorney during the stopover in Los Angeles. Legally, he couldn’t take her to an ice cream shop without parental permission; much less bring her back to LA with him. His attorney had assured him that eventually he could obtain shared custody. Of course, that was going to involve judges and courtroom battles. He wasn’t looking forward to that, but he would fight for his child.

  He glanced at Marla. So will she.

  He had every right to hate her, and that was what he’d told Olivia when she had called him this morning to ask about Truman. While they were on the phone, he told Olivia about Sophie.

  Olivia had always been like an older sister to him and he needed his family now. He had ranted like a madman, and she had listened patiently. Then she doled out the big sister advice, none of which pleased him.

  “Carson, you have to get over it.”

  “Get over it?” He couldn’t believe she’d said that. “Are you kidding? How do you think I’m going to get over this? I’m not getting over this.”

  “You have to let go of the shock and outrage you feel,” she said. “You have other considerations now. You have a child to think about.”

  “I damn well know that. Five years too late.”

  Olivia disagreed. “It’s not too late. You need to be reasonable. Maybe what Marla did was wrong.”

  “You think?”

  “I don’t think she did it with malice in her heart. I don’t think she did it with the intention of hurting you. Not from what you’ve told me,” Olivia said. “It says something about her that she didn’t slap you with a huge paternity suit when she found out she was pregnant
. She could have.”

  “I wish she had. Instead, Saint Ben is my child’s lawful father.”

  “Saint Ben?”

  “Forget it.”

  “Listen, the best thing you can do for yourself is to find it in your heart to forgive her and work on a compromise that works for everyone, especially your little girl. You can’t just go in there and wreck her life.”

  “You sound just like Marla. Damn. I’m not going to ruin my kid’s life, okay?”

  “Then you’ll have to make peace with her mother.”

  Olivia’s words resonated through him as Marla drove the SUV south on the interstate. Two days ago, all he had wanted was a future with Marla. Now, he understood the apprehension he had often seen in her eyes and felt in her presence. He knew why the conversation about the prenup disturbed her, why she’d bought the plane ticket, and why she wanted him to delete her number.

  Sophie.

  Life can throw you a curve ball when you least expect it.

  His phone vibrated and he reached in his pocket for it. “Hey, Rick,” he spoke to Truman’s son. “How’s the old man?”

  “He’s good. Fussing about his new diet.”

  Carson chuckled when he heard Truman in the background.

  “We’re going to be here a couple more days and then we’re going home,” Rick said. He explained they were taking Truman to a heart center in Dallas. “I’ll let you speak to Dad.”

  “Glad to hear you’re doing better,” Carson said when Truman came on the line.

  “I’m too ornery to die,” Truman said. “Rick said you and Marla had gone home.”

  “Yeah. Something came up.”

  “Well, you just be sure you don’t let her get away. She’s a keeper.”

  No comment on that. “I’ll tell her you said hello.”

  As he ended the call, Marla spoke for the first time since they’d left the hotel. “Was that Truman?”

  “He’s doing well,” Carson replied, his voice short and she nodded.

  She drove the SUV down the exit ramp and onto the state highway that led to Lafayette Falls. The highway curved through farmland and hills where the people lived pastoral lives that reminded Carson of growing up on his grandfather’s ranch. Once his mother had taken him on a picnic where they had viewed the waterfall that had been discovered over two hundred years ago by a French-Indian trader named Justin Lafayette.