She sat frozen with the phone held up to her ear. She didn’t move when Blake took the phone from her and disconnected the call without saying anything to Sally. He turned the phone off so that she couldn’t call back and disturb them.
As his daughter stared, he crouched in front of her chair and met her gaze. “Honey, your mother told me a week ago that I might not be your biological father.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “But I don’t care what any damned tests say. I am your father. I love you more than anything in this world.”
“That’s why my blood was taken today?” she whispered. “To prove that you’re not my real dad?”
“I am your real dad.” Blake’s fury at Sally was hard to contain as he tried to reassure Demi. “No matter what, I love you and you are my daughter.”
“Then why did you make me take the blood tests?” She looked as if she’d been betrayed.
“Your mother got a court order for both of us.” He tried to keep his voice calm. “I had no choice.”
Demi’s lower lip trembled and tears started rolling down her cheeks. She shoved her chair back, got to her feet, and bolted out of the kitchen.
“Demi!” Blake went after her, heading for the front door.
She was ahead of him, running as fast as she could for the barn.
He followed her. Just as he reached the barn, Dandy tore out with Demi riding her bareback, her face streaked with tears.
“No, Demi,” he shouted. “You know you’re not allowed to ride bareback. It’s too dangerous.”
But she didn’t heed him and probably couldn’t hear him, as fast as she was riding.
“Damn.” Blake ran into the barn and brought out Tango, his fastest mare. He threw a saddle on the horse and cinched it securely before he mounted and went after Demi.
She was nowhere in sight. The pain inside him for what Sally had just done to Demi mixed with fear for his daughter. She shouldn’t be riding bareback, especially not in the emotional state she was in.
He headed Tango in the direction Demi had gone, the horse’s hooves flying over the ground. They went over a small hill. Just as they crested it, he saw Demi’s horse in the distance. The horse was riderless. As he got closer he saw a still form on the ground beside Dandy.
Blake’s heart thundered and his entire body felt like ice. The fear in him was so great he felt like a knife had slashed his gut. What if what had happened to Cat had happened to his daughter?
When he reached Demi, her horse was nudging her as if to wake her up, but Demi didn’t move.
He dismounted in a rush and went to Demi’s side. She was so damned still. He placed his trembling fingers at her neck and found that her pulse was beating strong and sure.
Demi blinked and looked at Blake from where she lay on the ground, her expression confused. “What happened?”
“You took a spill off of Dandy.” Blake stroked her hair. “Does anything hurt? Can you move your legs and arms?”
She shifted and pushed herself to a sitting position and rubbed the back of her head. “I have a lump but I think I’m okay.” She frowned. “My hair feels sticky.”
Blake looked at the ground and saw that a rock was where Demi’s head had been and it was covered in blood. The fear that had never left him rose into his throat and he gently examined the back of her head. Her blonde hair was dark and matted with blood.
“Ow.” She flinched.
“Don’t move.” He had to work to control his voice as he pulled a bandana out of his back pocket. He folded it and wrapped it around her head. “I’m going to get you to the ER.”
“I’m okay.” She winced as she spoke. “I just hurt my head, that’s all.”
“You were knocked out so you probably have a concussion,” he said. “The doctors need to make sure there’s no other damage or fractures.” He stood with her as she got to her feet. “Do you think you can ride?”
She swayed a little and favored one leg as she grasped Tango’s saddle. “I’ll be okay,” she said after a moment.
He helped her mount Tango and she gripped the pommel. He walked between the two horses, holding Tango by the bridle and resting his hand on Dandy’s neck. As they headed toward the ranch, he kept a close eye on Demi to make sure she wasn’t going to fall.
While they walked, Demi was silent. She looked like a heavy weight was on her mind. She looked down at him. “Mom said you might not be my father.”
“I am your father, honey,” Blake said.
She was silent again.
When they got to the barn, he helped Demi dismount then quickly unsaddled Tango and put both horses in their stalls.
Demi limped a little as they started walking. “Ouch,” she mumbled and Blake’s stomach twisted.
The drive to the hospital took too damned long as far as he was concerned. Once they were in the ER, while the nurse started taking Demi’s vitals, Blake stepped away and called Sally.
“We need to talk,” he said when Sally answered. “That was no way to tell a girl that her father might not be hers, even if it might be true. You had no right to do that.”
“I can tell her any damned way I please,” Sally said.
“Well, thanks to that stunt, Demi got upset and took off bareback on her horse.” He clenched his jaw. “She fell off the horse.”
Sally’s voice grew shrill. “Is she all right?”
“She probably has a concussion and she might have broken something,” Blake said. “Other than that, she’s fine.”
“I’m on my way,” Sally said. “A girl should have her mother.”
She should have considered that years ago, Blake thought as Sally disconnected the call.
After talking with his ex-wife, Blake talked with Cat to fill her in. She’d been upset and had offered to come to the ER to be with them, but with Sally coming it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
Because Sally currently lived in an apartment in town, she arrived within fifteen minutes.
“Are you all right, baby?” Sally rushed to Demi’s bedside when the nurses directed her to Demi’s room. She looked the girl over. “Where are you hurt?”
Blake said nothing, just folded his arms and watched as Sally made a fuss over Demi. He wondered how much of it was real and how much was for show. He dragged his hand down his face. Maybe he wasn’t being fair. Sally genuinely cared for Demi, at least in her own selfish way.
“I’m okay,” Demi was saying. “I just have a headache and my right leg hurts a little.”
Sally whirled on Blake. “This is your fault. If she were with me this never would have happened.”
Blake didn’t repeat that what had happened to Demi wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for the way she’d broken the news to Demi. It wouldn’t help anything right now.
Sally turned back to Demi. “You’re going to come live with me soon.”
Demi’s brows furrowed and she looked at Blake.
Before Sally could say anything else and before Demi could answer, he took Sally by the arm and led her out to the hall outside of the room.
“At least wait until Demi’s out of the hospital before you start fighting over her,” he said in a tight, low and angry tone. “She doesn’t need this right now.” Sally started to speak but he raised his finger. “As a matter of fact, don’t fight in front of her at all. We’ll work this out without turning her against either one of us.”
“You have no say.” Sally glared at him. “You’re not her real father.”
“I am her father,” he said. “I’ve raised her as my own for fourteen years and my name is on the birth certificate.”
“It won’t be for long,” she said in a cold voice.
The fury burning inside Blake threatened to burst out of his control. He fought down his anger.
“If you upset her while she’s in the hospital it’s only going to make things harder on her.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s make a truce while we’re around her. No talking about who is and who isn’t her father and no t
alking about ripping her away from her home. There’s time enough to discuss any of that later.”
Sally glared at him then faced Demi’s hospital room. He saw her plaster a fake smile on her face before she strode through the doorway to Demi’s side. He followed her and stood back as he watched Sally sit beside the bed and start talking with their daughter.
After the CAT scan and x-rays, the doctor gave his diagnosis. Demi did have a concussion and a fracture in her right leg. She was going to be in a cast for six weeks.
“No.” Demi shook her head and pushed herself up in the bed when the doctor mentioned the cast. “The first rodeo of the season is this coming Saturday. I can’t compete with a cast.”
“You’re not going to be riding for a while, I’m afraid,” the doctor said.
“No,” Demi repeated, looking horrified. Her gaze went to Blake. “Dad, don’t let them put a cast on me.”
The concussion was obviously making it difficult for Demi to absorb the news and realize that Blake couldn’t just tell the doctor to not put a cast on her.
“I’m sorry, honey.” Blake went to her side and took her hand. “It will only be for six weeks. You can compete after that.”
He wasn’t sure whether he was making a promise he couldn’t keep. If Sally was awarded custody and took Demi to Tennessee, would she let her continue to work with horses, stay in 4-H, and compete in rodeos?
Tears rolled down Demi’s cheeks and he felt her pain as if it were his own.
Chapter 19
Blake’s gut churned as he walked from the mailbox at the end of the driveway, back to the house, carrying an envelope. It had been nearly two weeks since the paternity test and Demi’s other blood tests, and there was no doubt in his mind what was in that envelope.
He didn’t want to open it, afraid of what the papers would say.
When he reached the house, he sat on the top porch step. He pulled out his pocketknife and slit the envelope open before closing the knife and sliding it back into his pocket.
Cat came out of the house and quietly sat beside him. Demi wasn’t home from school yet and Cat had come over to help him get together some records that the IRS auditor had requested.
He opened the paper, saw the results, and closed his eyes. It was there in black and white. Demi wasn’t his biological daughter. He hung his head as Cat took the papers from him.
In his heart, Demi was his. But this would make it easier for Sally to try and take his daughter away from him.
“I’m so sorry,” Cat whispered and put her head on his shoulder and held his arm, offering him comfort and he leaned into her.
He’d known this was coming. As sure as Sally had sounded and from her statement that she’d known she was pregnant before she met him. Also, the callous way she had chosen him to be the father of another man’s child was something he could easily believe.
But Blake had to thank God that Sally had picked him out to be Demi’s father or he would never have had her in his life. He was beyond angry that Sally could have the opportunity to take Demi away.
“Demi is mine,” Blake said, for a moment not realizing he’d said it out loud.
Cat nodded, her head sliding over his arm. “In every single way that’s important, she is your daughter.” She raised her head and handed him the papers.
He got to his feet as he saw the bus in the distance, coming down the road. He folded the paternity test results and put them into his back pocket.
Cat stood. “I’ll be in the house.”
It was the Friday before the last week of school and then summer vacation started. He walked to the end of the driveway and waited for the bus, like he had every day since Demi had fractured her leg.
When the bus pulled up, Blake went to the door and greeted the bus driver.
Demi stood and handed him her crutches. “Hi, Dad.”
He took the crutches along with her backpack. “Hi, honey.”
She used the railing to climb down the stairs. He helped her situate herself with the crutches and then they started down the driveway toward the house. She was moving around well with the crutches these days.
“You got the letter today, didn’t you,” Demi said, stating it as if she knew it was fact.
“You can read me pretty well.” Blake nodded. “Yeah, got it a little bit ago.”
She looked at the ground as they moved. “It’s not good news.” Again, a statement.
“Does it make you feel any different about me being your father?” he asked.
She met his gaze and frowned. “No.”
“That’s how I feel.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “You are my daughter. You will always be my daughter. Nothing has changed. Nothing. It’s only a piece of paper.”
She nodded as she reached out and gave him the tightest hug he had ever felt from her. “Agreed.”
He thought about how Sally had broken the news and anger rose up inside of him. The anger wouldn’t help. Even though Demi had found out in a really bad way, she’d become accustomed to the fact that there was a good chance he wasn’t her bio dad and had handled that fact well just now.
“Cat’s here,” Demi said as she gave a nod toward Cat’s truck. “Isn’t she usually at work this time of day?”
“We had some accounting to take care of.” Blake pushed his free hand through his hair. “I’ll be glad when this audit is finished.”
They reached the house and he helped Demi up the stairs and in through the front doorway and then headed into the kitchen.
“Hi, Cat.” Demi made her way to a chair at the kitchen table, hopped as her dad took her crutches, then sat.
“How’s your leg feeling today, Demi?” Cat brought a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge.
Demi put her elbow on the table, her chin in her hand. “My leg is okay. I want to ride so badly. I guess I know how you felt when you couldn’t ride for three years.”
“Only four more weeks.” Cat reached into the cabinet for some glasses. “Want some lemonade, you two?”
“I’d love some,” Demi said.
“Sounds good.” Blake reached into the pantry. “So do Oreos.”
Demi and Cat agreed.
“Can Amy come over tonight?” Demi asked. “It’s not a school night.”
“Sure.” Blake nodded.
“Cool.” Demi pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket and called her friend. Usually Blake didn’t allow her to make calls at the table but he was a little more lax about that now that she couldn’t get around as easily.
After their afternoon snack, Demi braced her palms on the table and pushed herself to her feet. “I’m going to my room.” She hopped to her crutches that were up against the wall. “I want to surf the ’net before Amy gets here.”
Blake grabbed her backpack and carried it as he followed her down the hall. When they reached her room, she put her crutches nearby and sat at the writing desk where she kept her laptop most of the time.
He set her backpack beside the desk. “Will you and Amy be okay here while Cat and I go out? There’s leftover pizza in the fridge.”
“I’m getting around pretty good now and I’ll have Amy to help.” She nodded. “Where are you going?”
“To the Italian restaurant downtown,” he said. “I’ll bring home an order of ziti to heat up for tomorrow.”
Demi smiled. “Yum.”
He tugged on her braid. “See you later, kiddo.”
“Daaaaad,” she said.
“I know.” He grinned. “Don’t call you that.”
Chapter 20
“Why don’t we eat in tonight?” Cat tilted her head to meet Blake’s eyes as he opened the front door to her home. “We can pick up dinner and have it here.”
“Good idea.” He let them into her house and closed the door behind them.
The house was quiet save for the sound of Sam running in his wheel. Her home still smelled of spring flowers from the scented candle she’d burned last night.
She call
ed in an order to the Italian restaurant downtown, including an extra order of ziti to put in the fridge for Blake to take to Demi when he headed home.
While he was picking up the order, Cat opened windows and let in the sweet-smelling evening spring air. It smelled of the neighbor’s fresh-cut grass and the roses beneath her windowsill. She turned on the stereo and soft music played as she lit several candles.
She looked at Sam’s habitat and saw sparkly things in his nest. The little monster had escaped again and stuffed his cheeks with goodies, and had returned before she got in. He looked at her disapprovingly as she opened the lid to the habitat and picked out an earring back and two sparkly black sequins that must have fallen off of an evening dress in her closet, along with a white pearl sweater button she’d been missing for some time now. She’d wondered if it would turn up.
After Blake returned, they ate at the kitchen table. She served the Italian takeout on china plates and he lit a slender candle at the center of the table. She’d brought out a bottle of Merlot and two crystal wine stems and they drank the entire bottle while eating ziti, garlic bread, and a tossed salad she had put together while he was gone. They had also ordered tiramisu to eat later.
Blake smiled as they talked, but there was something in his eyes that told of the sadness and concern in his heart. She felt his pain as if it were her own.
When they were finished eating and everything was cleaned up, she told him, “You need a massage.” She took him by the hand and led him to her bedroom where she turned on a small bedside lamp. “Strip so that I can take care of you.”
“You just want to get me naked,” he said with a grin.
“There’s that, too.” She smiled and watched as he tugged his T-shirt over his head, toed off his boots, and took off his jeans and boxer briefs.
He was such a magnificent specimen of a man, every muscle well defined, not to mention being extremely well endowed.
Roping Your Heart Page 13