The Rich Man's Baby

by Leah Vale

  Fighting the flush he felt creeping up his neck, Harrison answered, "I'm getting to know her. I think I have a pretty good idea about the type of person she is and what motivates her."

  "Do you." It wasn't a question. "I happen to think I have a pretty good idea about the type of person who would choose to carry their keys on a miniature beer can key chain."

  Harrison pulled his brows down. He hadn't noticed her keys. Then the explanation dawned on him. "Those weren't her keys. She'd driven her brother's truck, so I'm certain that's his key chain."

  His father didn't look impressed. He leaned his elbows on the desk and tented his fingers. "Does this brother of hers live with Juliet and your son?"

  Harrison fought the urge to shift his weight. He knew the train of thought his dad was on, and an uncomfortable prickling started at the base of his neck because he'd ridden that train himself. "Yes, he does."

  "So your child is being reared in a beer-can-key-chain culture. Are you satisfied with this?"

  Harrison blew out another exasperated breath at his dad for hitting right on the mark and dropped his hands to his hips. "No, I'm not satisfied with Nathan's present environment, and I'm taking steps to encourage Juliet to make some changes."

  "So these steps do not include legally removing your son from that environment?"

  "I'm not going to take Nathan away from his mother."

  "Why not?"

  "Because she's a good mother," he grated. Lord, she'd given up her dreams for Nathan.

  Slowly rising to his feet, his dad fixed him with a hard look. "Are you sure?"

  Harrison crossed his arms over his chest again. "Yes, I'm sure."

  "You mean, as sure as you can be after knowing her for only a short time."

  The pride he'd felt for her today and the way she pulled at him emotionally despite his best defense made his conviction ring true. "I'm sure, Dad. Juliet is a good person and a great mother. I trust her. Once she gains some confidence in herself and allows me to help her, Nathan's environment will improve. End of discussion." Harrison turned to leave, hoping he could catch Juliet and tell her just that.

  "I hope you are right, son. Because I unequivocally believe environment determines everything."

  Harrison left the study, shaking his head at his dad's stubbornness. Stubbornness Harrison had inherited his fair share of. Obviously, there was a lot to be said for nature, too. Fortunately for Juliet and Nathan, Harrison intended to put his stubbornness to a good use.

  He opened the front door and scanned the drive for Willie's truck, but Juliet had already left. He blew out a pressure-relieving breath. He'd have to bring up the discussion of nature versus nurture with her another time-tomorrow would be soon enough-and hopefully she wouldn't still be angry at him over his inability to keep himself in check.

  Maybe his own anger at his lack of control would be enough to put an end to the problem once and for all. Unfortunately, wanting Juliet seemed to be a part of his nature, too.

  While Nathan played contentedly with his bear on the bedroom floor behind her, Juliet focused on what she could see of the river from her balcony, but found no peace. She doubted she'd ever reach that simple state of being again. Not now. Not when she knew. She'd tried to deny it. She'd tried to refuse it. She'd tried to ignore it. But she couldn't. She had to face the facts.

  She loved Harrison Rivers and it was beginning to look like he had feelings for her, too. But she could never be with him, because she would never fit into his world and he knew it.

  Life sucked.

  She'd always thought she was smarter than the rest of them. But she wasn't. She was just as stupid, making all the wrong choices.

  All the way home from the Rivers Estate she'd tried to convince herself it didn't have to be this way; she didn't have to give in to his seductive presence again. But his eyes, his gentleness, his touch made her realize she was doomed.

  She propped her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands, staring unseeingly at the weathered boards beneath her bare feet. What was Harrison thinking? He had to have seen how constipated his dad looked when Dorothy had introduced him to her and Nathan on their way out.

  Especially after Jacobson strolled in and let him know what a charming addition she thought Juliet and Nathan were to the Rivers family. He didn't look too hip on having "white trash" littering his family tree.

  She sat up straight in the chair and squared her shoulders. No way was she going to start thinking like Willie. She and Nathan were the ones who were too good. The Riverses didn't deserve them.

  She gave a harsh laugh. Yeah, refusing to darken his ornate doorstep would really show old George Rivers. Her shoulders slumped. The only one who would suffer if she cut contact with that family was Nathan. He was as much in love with Harrison as she was.

  In frustration, Juliet bunched the skirt of her good dress in her fists.

  She would suffer no matter what choice she made, but Nathan was the only one who mattered."Hi," Nathan chirped as he came out onto the balcony with her.

  Relaxing her fists, she released her dress. "Hi, baby."

  He moved to the edge of the balcony and leaned against the railing. "Dada play-play-play," he said with a pleased smile on his precious face.

  "Yes, he did, baby," she answered, her attention focusing again on the image of Harrison's heart-melting, soft smile in her mind's eye. Out of habit she said, "Move back from the rail, bab-"

  The sound of cracking wood cut her off, and she jerked her head in time to see Nathan's little body falling backward through the separating railing.

  "Nathan!" she screamed and lunged out of her chair.

  Harrison absently whistled through his teeth as he headed for the door to his father's study, intent on borrowing the spare cell phone kept in the desk to replace the broken one in his hand. The stupid things really didn't like to be drop-kicked more than a couple of times. He was about to shove the partially open door wide when the sound of his father's voice coming from inside stopped him.

  "You said yourself the place is falling to pieces. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened."

  An uneasy chill raced up his spine. Harrison pushed the door the rest of the way open and entered the room. His father, dressed in black formal wear for the banquet he was to attend that night, stood with a hip propped against the huge desk and Harrison's grandmother paced before him wringing her hands, her normally perfect hair slightly mussed as if she'd been running her hands through it.

  The chill settled in his stomach. "What are you two talking about?"

  Grandmother turned. "Oh, Harrison, there you are. Thank heaven." She hurried toward him, her delicate hands outstretched. "I've been trying to reach you for the past hour."

  He took one of her hands with his free one and raised the busted phone he held in the other. "I went to the office to pick up some work. My cell phone's on the blink," he said. Looking down into eyes darkened by worry and the forest-green pantsuit she wore, he drew his brows together, "Why? What's wrong?"

  "Darling, there seems to have been an accident. But I have been in constant contact with the hospital, and they have assured me he's fine. It's just that Juliet was so upset when she called looking for you-"

  The chill in Harrison's gut turned to fear and exploded throughout his body. His questions came out in a rush. "Juliet? Is it Nathan? He's hurt? What happened? Where is he?"

  "Yes, it's Nathan, but they're nearly certain-"

  His father raised his hands sharply in the air. "Good grief, Mother. Don't you think you've got the boy worked up enough as it is?" George Rivers pushed off from the desk and approached them. "Harrison, for that child's sake you have to sue for custody. Apparently Nathan fell and hit his head. Juliet had him taken to Sacred Heart Hospital by ambulance to be checked out-"

  Harrison didn't hear any more. He turned and ran for his car. Fear for his son nearly blinded him and he choked on its taste.

  Oh, God. He couldn't lose N
athan. Not when he'd only just found him. And Juliet. Dear Lord, she'd be devastated.

  He raced to the hospital as fast as possible, breaking more traffic laws than he had in his whole life, and blasted into the emergency room

  waiting area. He found Juliet doubled over on an orange couch, her mother and brother on either side of her. Phyllis and Willie seemed to actually be trying to comfort her. Willie was holding Juliet's hand while Phyllis patted her back and muttered a lot of there-theres and hush-no ws.

  Willie spotted him first. Relief replaced the look of helplessness he wore instead of his usual smirk. "Finally. The cavalry's here."

  "Juliet," Harrison rasped.

  She raised her forehead off her knees. Her normally sun-kissed face was pale, but for the red splotches riding high on her cheeks from crying. And instead of seeing sanctuary in her eyes, Harrison saw a misery only a mother could feel.

  Or a father.

  He opened his arms to her. Without hesitation she launched herself at him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. He spread his hands over her back and held her against him, giving and getting comfort all in the same moment.

  "Oh, Harrison," she sobbed. Feeling her wet cheek against his, Harrison's heart twisted and fear strangled him more than her tight grip ever could.

  Though dreading the answer, he had to ask, "Nathan?"

  Willie answered for her. "He's fine. The doc said he just got his little bell rung, but she won't believe him. Making them do every test known to man on the kid." Exasperation tinged his words. "She was putting up such a stink they made her wait out here."

  Relief surged through Harrison. Despite Willie's often callous behavior, Harrison believed Willie loved his nephew, and if there were any cause for concern, he'd say so.

  "That's right," Phyllis added. "The head doctor-"

  Willie barked out a laugh and cut her off. "Meaning the neuro-whatever."

  "That's what I said, the head doctor."

  Willie slumped back against the couch and rolled his eyes. "It sounds like you mean the one in charge."

  Juliet gulped in a breath, bringing Harrison's attention back to her. "He fell, Harrison. He fell so hard. And it was all my fault. I was only halfway paying attention and he fell. It scared him so bad. He cried and cried and cried." Juliet's whole body shook with the force of her own tears.

  He tightened his hold on her. He could smell her fresh, summertime scent despite the hospital's antiseptic aroma. "It's all right for you to be scared, too, sweetheart. But you've talked to the doctor, right?"

  She nodded against his cheek.

  "And the doctor said Nathan's okay, right?"

  Again she nodded.

  He loosened his hold enough to run a soothing hand up and down her trembling back. "Shh. The doctor wouldn't lie to you, Juliet. I'll talk to him, too. Okay?"

  He set her away from him and looked down into her face. The pain and regret he saw made the back of his eyes burn. He wanted to wrap her in his arms again and kiss her misery away.

  But first he had to hear for himself what the neurologist had to say.

  Harrison settled Juliet back on the couch between her mother and

  brother, then went to the emergency room check-in desk.

  "Hello," he greeted the hospital-uniformed woman seated behind the high desk. "My name is Harrison Rivers and I-"

  "Oh, yes, the father of the little boy who fell." She pulled a piece of paper from a slot in a stacked organizer on her desk.

  Harrison blinked and struggled to hide his surprise. He hadn't expected Juliet to name him as Nathan's father on the hospital documentation. But then a voice inside his head-one that sounded suspiciously like his father's-said she'd probably only signed his name on the "party responsible for payment" line. Harrison mentally responded that he didn't give a damn. He was responsible for Nathan, and he liked being acknowledged as such.

  "Yes, that's right," he said. "I'd like to speak to the doctor treating Nathan, if I may."

  "Most certainly." She started to get up, but stopped when a tall, thin man in green scrubs emerged through the swinging doors at the opposite end of the waiting room. "There's Menton now."

  Harrison greeted the doctor and introduced himself. Behind Menton, a nurse came through the doors carrying Nathan on her hip. Aside from obvious traces of tears, Nathan looked no different from when Harrison had last seen him earlier in the day.

  "Dada!" Nathan hailed him with his usual enthusiasm.

  Harrison eagerly reached to take his son from the nurse, but Juliet appeared between them and gathered her baby into her arms. Harrison had no choice but to let Nathan go, though there was no mistaking the reluctance he felt. He'd suspected he wouldn't be able to control his emotions where Nathan was concerned, and he'd been right.

  With an accepting sigh, he returned his attention to the doctor and grilled the man about the exam and the tests they had run.

  "The CAT scan confirmed what I told the boy's mother. He has a bump on his head. That's all," Menton said. "We've given him acetaminophen for the headache he undoubtedly has, and that should also help reduce the swelling at the sight of the contusion."

  The doctor gestured at Nathan. "These little ones are amazing. They can take quite a tumble, like yours did, and not be any worse for wear. It's truly a blessing they're as tough as they are. Of course, the circumstances of the fall greatly influences the outcome, and from thesound of it, the fact that Nathan landed on soft, loose dirt contributed to the positive outcome of this incident."

  Harrison turned a questioning look on Juliet.

  "The flower bed I dug out front," she explained.

  Harrison nodded, having noticed her efforts to improve the store's appearance. The pride he'd felt for her earlier flooded his every pore. It was all he could do not to kiss her.

  Menton slapped a hand on the top of Harrison's shoulder. "All said

  and done, you guys dodged a bullet this time. Children are pretty active at this age, and you really have to keep an eye on them." He gently chucked Nathan under the chin. "Just to be safe, rouse him every four hours or so tonight, and if you can't wake him, bring him back here. Though I'm sure he's fine. Good luck." With that Menton went back through the swinging doors.

  Harrison moved next to Juliet and ran a hand up and down Nathan's littleback. Juliet would only meet his eyes for a moment, but Harrison saw the misery that had consumed her before it dropped away, replaced by...something else. What, he wasn't sure.

  Dismissing Juliet's expression, he sighed with relief that they both seemed to have recovered from the initial scare. If Juliet became this worked up over Nathan falling down and bonking his head, he hated to think how she would handle their son really getting hurt. God willing, that would never happen.

  "It's getting late," Harrison said. "How about if I give you two a ride home."

  Willie answered from the couch. "That'd be cool, man." He stood and stretched. "The only rig we've got here is my truck. It'd be a real pisser trying to fit us all in the cab, with Booger's car seat and all."

  "Willie," Juliet warned in a low voice.

  "Oh, sorry, sorry. Make that, with Nathan's car seat and all."

  "What do you think?" Harrison asked Juliet, who was still glaring at her brother. "Is that okay?"

  "I guess. Sure. Thanks."

  Harrison noticed her brevity, but considering her upset of before, he found it understandable. He escorted them to his car while Willie ran to get the car seat out of his truck.

  "I'll see you back at home, Julie," Phyllis said and followed after Willie.

  Juliet had barely finished strapping Nathan into his car seat before he fell sound asleep.

  Harrison watched her get settled into the front passenger seat next to him and said, "It's been a rough day for our little man."

  "That's the understatement of the millennium," she mumbled.

  He waited for her to say more, but when she didn't, he leaned toward her and ran a hand over her silk
y hair. "You shouldn't beat yourself up so much over this, sweetheart. Accidents happen."

  He pulled a lopsided grin and touched his fingertips to the thin ridge

  of scar tissue gracing the underside of his chin. Though the fine, ridged line wasn't much, it was a bear to shave around. "Heck, I managed to tumble down the main staircase of our house with no less than my parents, two grandparents, a nanny and the butler looking on. Kids are hard on themselves."

  She didn't respond, so he headed them out of town in silence.

  They were nearly to her home when Harrison decided he wasn't ready to part with her just yet. He needed to know she was going to be okay. His chest still ached from seeing her so upset. Spying a turnout on the river's side of the road, he pulled off and shut down the engine.

  Juliet looked at him questioningly so he said, "We should let Nathan sleep a little longer before we have to disturb him by getting him out of his car seat."

  She glanced back at their baby, then considered Harrison for a moment before she nodded in agreement.

  The sun had already set, but enough light lingered for him to see the puffiness and redness from crying that marred her beautiful eyes.

  He leaned toward her and ran the back of his knuckles down her satin-smooth cheek. The feel of her skin made his blood start to percolate. "How are you doing?"

  She closed her eyes and tentatively nuzzled his hand. "I'm okay. Now."

  He cupped her cheek with his palm, his guts twisting with the want and need she generated in him. "Good. It tore me up to see you like that." With the gentlest touch he was capable of, Harrison ran the pad of his thumb over her luscious lips. All the blood that had been bubbling in his head raced straight to his lap. Halfway in an attempt to remind his out-of-control body what was at stake here, he vowed, "Juliet, I don't ever want to cause you that kind of pain."

  "I think it's unavoidable, Harrison," she whispered against his thumb.

  "Ah, Juliet," he groaned, half because of her words, half because of the tremors rampaging from his thumb to the rest of his body. Heaven help him, he wanted to taste her lips and feel her body wrapped around him again. She drew him to her in so many ways, on so many levels, it was impossible to deny his yearning for her.