by Jane Toombs
Got a small problem here, he told her, and described his morning so far.
“The testing sounds like a good idea to me,” Jade said when he finished. “It’ll solve the problem once and for all, right?”
Trust Jade to go to the heart of the matter. “No sympathy for a falsely accused brother?” he asked plaintively.
“I know you wouldn’t do anything so rotten,” she replied. “Maybe you ought to consult your lawyer, though.”
“I’d rather keep this in the family. Once the test results are in it’s a cinch she won’t take it to court, so I won’t need a lawyer.”
“Whatever,” Jade said. “Still, she does sound like a nutcase. Maybe I ought to go along for the appointment.”
“Two bossy women? Forget it”
“Call me after you get the results, then. And good luck.”
“Good luck? What do I need luck for?”
“The Paiutes say there’s a trickster out there who specializes in messing you up just for fun. So we all need luck, don’t we?”
“Jade, I’m not a Paiute. And neither are you.”
“True, brother mine. But that doesn’t mean the trickster doesn’t exist and that you shouldn’t watch out for him.”
He hung up smiling. He and Jade had always faced the world together. Even their fights as kids hadn’t broken their bond. He thought they were probably closer than most siblings, maybe because they’d been raised by their maternal grandparents who, though loving, hadn’t really understood either of them. With his grandparents gone now, it was literally Jade and Zed against the world.
Jade was a volunteer in a program that provided role models for disadvantaged children, but instead of being a big sister to a girl, she’d wound up with a thirteen-year-old Paiute boy whom she was training to work on a drilling rig, which Zed was sure was against the rules. But then, rules meant zip to his sister. The boy, meanwhile, was teaching Jade Native American lore.
So his sister thought Karen Henderson was a nut case. He wasn’t so sure. For some reason he was beginning to believe that Karen really did think he was Danny’s father. But if her belief was based on nothing more tangible than that photo, she was grasping at straws. He hadn’t gotten around to finding out more about the P.I., but after the test was over, that wouldn’t be necessary.
Karen wasn’t as striking as the redhead in the picture, her cousin Erin. From what he had seen of it under that red hat, Karen’s hair seemed to be sort of a strawberry blond rather than a brilliant red. He could only wonder what her blue eyes might be like when they weren’t shooting fire. Her wool shorts suit had shown off a good figure, neither top-heavy nor lacking, a build a man could appreciate. Furious as he’d been at her, he’d, still noticed how cute she looked in those kneesocks. The truth was, if they hadn’t been at loggerheads, he’d have been attracted to Karen.
Zed Adams was exactly how she’d imagined he’d be, Karen thought as she settled Danny into his crib at their Carson City motel. An arrogant, lying chauvinist. Erin, in her usual vague fashion, hadn’t really told her anything about him, not even his name. “Gorgeously exotic,” she’d said, dreamy eyed, as she dropped several photos into Karen’s lap. “A fantastic lover.”
Since Erin changed lovers as often as she changed the color of her nails, Karen hadn’t thought to question her about the current one. Later, before Erin had taken off on a three-month cruise, Karen had asked if “he” was accompanying her. “Gone,” Erin had said with a shrug. Either she hadn’t yet realized she was pregnant or she’d chosen not to tell anyone.
Karen had never had another chance to ask her cousin about the man, Zed Adams.
Granted, he was good to look at, with a lethal combination of dark hair and eyes and well-delineated features. But “gorgeously exotic”? Not in those scruffy sweatpants that hung so dangerously low on his hips that she’d been distracted every time he moved, expecting disaster at any moment. Or was the right word anticipating? Hoping for?
She grimaced, disgusted with herself. Okay, so the creep was sexy. So what? She, for one, had no intention of sampling anything he had to offer.
Glancing at Danny, asleep on his stomach with his butt in the air, she made a silent vow. We’ll get him, kid. He’ll pay for his despicable callousness.
She checked her watch, noted it was after eight and picked up the phone book. Time to call around to find out where she could make an appointment for Zed to be tested. She hoped the technician who drew Zed’s blood would use the dullest needle in creation. At least the DNA sampling wouldn’t hurt Danny, or so she’d been told.
Before noon, pleased with her success, she left a message on Zed’s answering machine, notifying him of the time and place of testing on the following day and telling him she d meet him at the Reno clinic.” And you’d better show!” she warned before hanging up.
Rolling down his sleeve after the lab technician finished with him, Zed winced at the heartrending sobs seeping through the closed door of the next room. Damn it, that poor baby shouldn’t have to go through this—and all for nothing. Zed wasn’t the kid’s father, as the tests would prove.
Karen had left the photo on his kitchen table. Jade had stopped by the ranch late yesterday afternoon and examined the picture carefully. “Hey, it’s you, brother mine,” she’d announced, “even to the cleft chin. No wonder this gal fingered you.”
“But he’s not me.” A tinge of testiness had crept into his voice and Jade had caught it.
“You know I’m on your side. If you say you never met this redhead, I believe you.” She’d taken another look at the photo. “Taken in San Diego, wasn’t it? When were you last down there?”
“Let’s see—I brought the sailboat up to Seattle two years ago and then to Tahoe the next year, where she still is. I haven’t been to San Diego for at least two years, give or take a month or so.”
“You say the baby’s about six or seven months old?”
“I guess so. He can sit up by himself, anyway.”
“Nine plus seven is sixteen months,” she said. “So you couldn’t have been in San Diego at the crucial moment when he was conceived. Of course, the fateful connection might not have taken place there.”
“A lot of help you are.”
“You don’t need my help,” she’d said, preparing to leave. “It wasn’t you, as the blood tests will prove.” At the door “she’d paused and tossed a final remark over her shoulder. “Always providing the trickster’s looking the other way.”
“Trickster be damned,” Zed muttered, not realizing he’d spoken aloud until he saw the lab technician eyeing him oddly. He shrugged and made his way back toward the waiting area.
Since they’d driven in separate cars, there was no reason to wait for Karen but he lingered, somehow reluctant to leave before she appeared with Danny. She’d dressed more casually this morning—a denim skirt with a shirt to match. He couldn’t help but notice how the color set off her blue eyes, eyes that were wary today rather than angry. Jade had insisted Danny was too young to be taught to say “Da” on cue, so he realized his suspicion—about Karen being responsible for what had sounded like an accusation yesterday—was unfounded. According to his sister, all babies said da and ma and ba without necessarily attaching any meaning to the sounds. Couldn’t prove it by him, since—by choice—Danny was the first baby he’d been around for any length of time.
Which time had been too long. Remembering how he’d been forced to deal with the dirty diaper, Zed shook his head. Why the hell was he standing here waiting for the two of them when what he really wanted was for them to get out of his life as quickly as possible?
Karen emerged from the room where they’d drawn Danny’s blood feeling as traumatized as he’d been. He’d stopped crying as soon as the technician finished, but he clung to her tenaciously, his head buried against her shoulder, an occasional whimper escaping.
“Poor baby,” she murmured. “I’m sorry, but we had to do it to prove to that weasling—” She broke o
ff as she noticed Zed’s tall figure in the waiting room. Denying the sudden leap of her pulse, she frowned, asking herself why he was still here. Not out of the goodness of his heart, that was for sure.
“Is he okay?” Zed asked when she neared him.
Hearing his voice, Danny raised his head to look at Zed and offered him a tentative smile.
“Hello, Tiger,” Zed said to him, surprising her with the warmth in his voice. “It was touch and go for a while there but I guess we both survived.”
“Da,” Danny said.
Zed looked at her. “That’s yes in Russian, you know. Smart kid.”
She didn’t want to smile at him, but her lips curved up despite herself. “Yes, he is smart,” she said.
“Hungry?” he asked as he opened the outer door for her.
She was, but she refused to admit it and shook her head.
“Too bad. John Ascuaga’s Nugget has clam chowder to die for. I always stop by the Nugget’s oyster bar when I’m in Reno. You get your choice of either white or red. Or both. Sure you don’t want to change your mind?”
“We call those New England or Manhattan back East,” she said, perfectly aware he must know this. “And no, I haven’t changed my mind.” She happened to love clam chowder but she wasn’t about to tell him so, because she certainly wasn’t going anywhere with him.
He slanted her a testy glance and drawled, “That’s right, you did tell me you were a teacher. I sure hope I can remember which color belongs to which back East area.”
Ignoring his understated sarcasm, she got right to the point. “I’ve asked them to send the test results to me. When I get them—”
“Wasn’t that a tad high-handed?” he demanded. “Why not duplicate copies?”
She held on to her patience. “At this point we only need one report. When I have the results, I’ll call you immediately.”
“No way. No calls. I want to see the report in black and white. No fax or copies, either. On the original paper.”
She tightened her lips. “All right, then, I’ll bring them to your ranch. Then later, if you want your lawyer to have additional copies of—”
He held up a hand. “Stop right there. I won’t need a lawyer because the test results will prove how mistaken you are. I don’t know how this P.I. you hired ran me down, but he didn’t find the right man, and neither did you. As I keep telling you, you’re wasting your time. And your money.”
“I think you have quite a surprise in store,” she said, deliberately smiling because it seemed to annoy him.
“I agree that one of us will be surprised, all right, but it won’t be me. How many times do I have to tell you I never met this cousin of yours? Furthermore, I’ve never donated sperm, so there is no possible way I can be Danny’s father. Absolutely none.”
“Da,” Danny said, reaching a hand toward Zed, who was obviously taken aback.
Karen tried to stifle her laughter but failed. “I don’t think he’s speaking Russian this time,” she said.
Chapter Two
Two days later Karen picked up the results of the blood tests at the Reno clinic.
The receptionist reminded her that the DNA test, which had to be sent away, would not be back for a week or so, adding, “At the earliest. We can’t guarantee exactly when we’ll receive it, so, since you don’t live in. Nevada, perhaps it’d be best if we asked them to send the DNA report to your California address.”
Karen agreed. Checking over the blood test results, she smiled. The DNA test would be the clincher, but she couldn’t help thinking that, actually, a DNA match would be the frosting on the cake.
While she was driving back to Carson City, rain began to spatter against her windshield, and when she reached Washoe Valley she found the wind had picked up. A sign that had been blank when she drove to Reno now was lit with a high-wind warning, prohibiting campers and trailers from traveling on U.S.. 395 through the valley.
“Maybe I should have rented a midgrade car at the Frisco airport instead of this subcompact,” she told Danny as she struggled against the gusts to keep the car in the lane.
Recalling that Mark Twain, during his stint in Virginia City, had labeled this wind “the Washoe zephyr,” she smiled wryly. It was difficult to appreciate his sense of humor when the “zephyr” was doing its best to force her off the road.
The wind let up somewhat after she crested the hill and dropped down into Carson City, but by then the rain ran in rivulets across the hood of the car. Should she hole up in the motel or drive on into Carson Valley to Zed’s ranch? Glancing at Danny, she saw he’d fallen asleep in his car seat. Darn. No matter where she stopped, he’d wake up. If she drove to the ranch he’d have a longer nap and might not be so cranky when he woke.
Besides, she was dying to shove the report under Zed’s nose.
The rain thrumming against his windows prevented Zed from hearing the car pull up next to the house. Alerted by the slam of a car door, he strode into the living room, looked out and saw Karen, Danny in her arms, dashing through the rain. He opened the front door before she got there.
“I thought it never rained in Nevada,” she complained as she entered.
He shrugged. “You’re tuned in to the Nevada-is-a- wasteland-with-nothing-but-casinos syndrome like everyone else who doesn’t live here.”
“I am not! I happen to think this area is beautiful. It’s just that I didn’t expect rain, so I’m not prepared.”
Danny began to whimper.
“I’ll get a towel so you can dry him off,” Zed said.
“No need. Only his jacket is damp—he’s dry enough underneath.” Without being invited, she walked into the kitchen and, taking the same chair she’d used before, began to peel a layer of clothes off the boy. He struggled and fussed.
“Is there something wrong with him?” Zed asked.
“Not really. He was sleeping in the car on the way back from Reno and, when he naps, he tends to be cranky when he first wakes up.”
“You can hardly blame him for that. So you’ve been to Reno.” It wasn’t a question. He knew she wouldn’t be here unless she’d gotten the reports.
Karen glanced up at him. “Do sit down. You make me nervous hovering.”
He was damned if he was going to ask her if she wanted anything. She’d refuse anyway. Sliding into a chair, he said, “Okay, I’m ready.”
She pulled a cookie from a box labeled Arrowroot Biscuits. This was a biscuit, not a cookie? Could have fooled him. She shoved the cookie into Danny’s hand—the left this time, he noted—flashed that false smile and said, “The DNA match won’t be available for another week or so, but I did pick up the blood reports.”
If he was reading her right, the blood match had turned out to be equivocal. Damn, he’d hoped to have this over without waiting for the DNA test. Saying nothing, he held out his hand.
Karen plunged her hand into her shoulder bag, pulled out an envelope and dropped it on the table in front of him. Extracting papers from the envelope, he saw that one was a report on Danny Henderson’s blood and another on his. He looked at his first. Besides showing the type and Rh factor, there was an entire list of components he’d never heard of. He saw he was B negative, which he already knew, but what all the other letters and numbers meant was over his head.
He pulled Danny’s report next to his. B negative. Even though her behavior had led him to suspect there might be a partial match, he was somewhat surprised that the boy also had this relatively rare blood type. He began going down the list of the other components, his eyes widening as he continued. No, he thought, I don’t believe this. She’s pulling a scam.
“The technician told me you have one very unusual blood component,” Karen said. “Apparently it’s quite rare. As you’ll note, Danny has this same component. The two of you are, as she put it, a perfect match.”
Which was completely impossible. Zed picked up Danny’s report and waved it at her. “You faked this,” he accused.
She glared
at him. “How can you be so despicable? I might have known you’d try to weasel your way out of this. Isn’t it bad enough that you deserted my pregnant cousin? Must you also deny the child you fathered?”
“I can’t accept this report,” he growled, ignoring her scathing remarks. “It’s impossible!”
Karen took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Go ahead—call the clinic if you don’t believe me.”
“You can be damn sure I will. I’m not the kid’s father, and you’re not going to pull a fast one.”
“I’m not faking anything!” she cried. “I resent your accusation. But what else can I expect from a creep like you?”
“I’m not a creep!” he roared.
Danny burst into tears, burying his face in Karen’s shoulder. “See what you’ve done?” she snapped. “Your shouting scared him.”
“My shouting? What about yours?” Even as he spoke, Zed, wincing inwardly at the baby’s sobbing, tried to grasp the ragged ends of his temper and bring it under control.
“Here,” Karen said, thrusting the crying baby at him, a move that astonished him. “I need to get his things from the car and I refuse to take him out in the rain again.”
Before he could come up with an alternative, Zed found himself holding Danny. Instinctively he cuddled the boy against him, patting his back. “It’s all right, Tiger,” he murmured. “Nobody’s mad at you.”
As he tried to soothe Danny, Zed was suddenly struck by what should have been clear from the beginning. The . poor kid was not only fatherless, he was motherless. Erin was dead and God only knew who’d fathered him. It then occurred to Zed to wonder if Erin, who by Karen’s account changed lovers often, had actually known who Danny’s father was.
Unless the whole setup was a scam. He had only Karen’s word that there was an Erin. But if it was a scam, why choose him? Money? The ranch was profitable but he was no millionaire, that was for sure. Danny gave a heaving sob and twisted in his arms to look at him, ending his speculation.