“So I’ll go get your order,” Darla muttered before quickly rushing away to leave the two of them alone.
Naomi sat on the very edge of the chair across from him. “Hi,” she said softly. “Thanks for meeting me.”
The formal ring to her words threw him off. On Saturday night, she’d let down her guard and he’d seen the raw emotions that hid behind her walls. But now it seemed that wall was back up. Maybe even stronger than before.
Good thing he wasn’t one to hide behind anything. “I’d meet you anytime,” he said, nice and direct. Didn’t want to risk her missing his meaning. She’d finally stopped walking away, turning away, avoiding him like she was afraid he’d burn her. And he wasn’t about to let her go back.
“Naomi…I’ve been waiting for six months for a chance to just talk to you. To just have you sitting across the table from me.” And he didn’t want to wait anymore. He didn’t want to waste time. “I’m—”
“Hi, you two!” Darla called, approaching the table with a serving tray. “Here’s your Armagh Shiraz 2008 Red wine from Australia paired with my signature dark chocolate raspberry, orange, and blackberry truffles.”
“The Armagh?” Naomi echoed. She gaped at Lucas. “That’s one of the most expensive bottles in the restaurant.”
He shrugged. “Yeah. So?” Seemed to him, she deserved to be spoiled. And he was up to the task.
“It’s one of the best you’ll ever taste,” Darla insisted, pouring them each a glass and leaving the open bottle between them. “Enjoy,” she murmured, raising her eyebrows at Naomi in some female code he couldn’t fathom.
“So you drink the wine, then eat the chocolate?” he asked, lifting his glass.
“Um. Yes.” Naomi’s hands fisted on the table as though she was trying to stop them from shaking.
He hated seeing that. Hated seeing her nervous and unsure. This was him. And her. They’d spent so much time together. She used to know him better than anyone. “Cheers, then.” He waited for her to lift her glass. As they clinked the glasses together, a small smile played with her full lips.
He could still taste those lips. When he finally got to kiss her again he’d savor them. He wouldn’t let her push him away.
They both took a long silent sip.
The wine was good—not that he was picky. He wasn’t much of a drinker.
He set down his glass. “I’m glad we could do this.”
“Me too.” Naomi smiled, but then her head turned and she stared out the window.
He definitely wasn’t an expert at reading women, but she didn’t seem so sure about that. “Listen…I know things have been awkward, but—”
“Oh my God,” she gasped. “Oh my God!” Her gaze was fixed on something outside.
“You okay?” He turned to the window, trying to figure out what had made her face so pale.
“This is not happening.” She jumped out of her chair and sprinted for the doors. Lucas scrambled after her, nearly getting nailed by the door as she bolted outside. “Wait,” he called, but she didn’t seem to hear.
Scanning the street, he saw what seemed to have consumed Naomi’s attention. A man. Standing on the opposite side of the road in front of the Blue Jewel Hotel. He squinted—the guy was familiar. Big, stocky build, short clipped hair. It took him longer than it should’ve to place him.
Mark.
What the fuck was he doing in Topaz Falls?
“Why are you here?” Naomi darted into the street without looking first. A Buick slammed on its brakes and laid on the horn, but she didn’t seem to notice.
Lucas sprinted across while the car was stopped. “Hey.” He slipped his arm around her waist, but she tore away from him and flew toward Mark.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she shouted, stopping the people who’d been walking by on the street.
“Easy, Naomi.” Mark’s arms went up. “You hung up on me, so I thought I’d come and see you. In person. That’s the best way to deal with this.”
“The best way?” she practically shrieked.
Lucas laid a hand on her shoulder. He’d never seen her so riled about anything. All around them people gathered, some looking the other way as though pretending they weren’t eavesdropping. He recognized Charlie from the General Store and good old town Mayor Hank Green, who was also an old rival of his father’s.
Yeah, he was pretty sure whatever was going on here, the whole town didn’t need to know about it. “Why don’t we go talk somewhere else?” Lucas suggested. This was likely going to consume the front page of tomorrow’s gossip column.
“We’re not talking!” Naomi yelled. “God damnit, Mark. I told you to leave us alone.”
“I’ve lost ten years of her life,” Mark said, and Lucas couldn’t believe how calm he sounded. Almost like he was trying to soothe her. “Please. I want to sit down with you. I’ve changed, Naomi. Everything’s changed and I want a place in my daughter’s life.”
The crowd on the fringes grew. People were whispering, ducking their heads together.
So this asshole was trying to get to Gracie after he’d left them both behind? Lucas fisted his hands. If Naomi gave him the word, he’d tackle him right through the window of that hotel.
“She might not be your daughter,” Naomi said.
That seemed to stop everything—the murmuring, the people who were trying, and failing, to walk by without staring…
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mark demanded, the first hint of irritation in his voice. “Who else’s would she be?”
Naomi whirled until she faced Lucas. Tears ran down her face. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
His stomach clenched. She couldn’t mean what he thought she meant. She couldn’t mean she’d wanted to talk to him about being Gracie’s father…
“We were together right before you got arrested,” she reminded him. As if he ever could’ve forgotten the last time he’d made love to her. He’d taken her up to the lake and put a mattress in the back of the pickup…
But no. Gracie couldn’t be his daughter. Surely Naomi would’ve told him before now. All these years later…
Mark stepped closer to her. “You’re just saying that because you don’t want me to see her.”
And now they really had an audience. People circled them, but Lucas couldn’t see any faces. He couldn’t see anything. Everything was too hazy to focus.
“No. I’m not,” Naomi said quietly. “I always wondered but I never found out for sure. And it never mattered because you left us. God, Mark. You walked out. You didn’t look back. You’ve never sent us a dime!”
Lucas knew he should do something. Stop this spectacle. If only the world would quit spinning around him.
Gracie might be his daughter?
His?
“You have no idea how much I regret all of it,” Mark said, approaching Naomi. “I’m so sorry. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it up to you.” He laid a hand on her arm, and that tore Lucas out of the fog.
“Don’t touch her,” Lucas growled. “Get your fucking hands off of her.”
Murmurs started up in the crowd again, people on both sides of them debating whether they should call the sheriff.
Naomi turned to him and gripped his forearms tightly. “Go back to Darla’s,” she said, her tone fully in control.
“What?” She was sending him away? After she’d just dropped that on him? She was telling him to leave her alone with Mark?
“Now. Please.” She let go of him. “Go back to Darla’s. I’ll be there in a minute.”
A plea in her eyes begged him not to argue. So he bumped his way through the crowd, blinded by the fast pound of blood in his head. Somehow he found his way to their table and sat, his gaze still directed out the window where he watched the crowd disperse as Naomi pulled Mark aside and the two of them seemed to talk quietly.
“Um, I thought maybe you could use something stronger than the Shiraz,” Darla said. He had no idea
when she’d come over. She set down a glass of whiskey in front of him. “You remember what I said. This is a defining moment for you and Naomi.”
He blinked at her. “Jesus. You knew what she was planning to tell me tonight.” Who the hell else knew that he might be a father before he had?
“I only just found out,” Darla snapped. “And you have no right to be pissed off. You got that? Naomi’s been dealt some shitty hands in her life, and she’s always done the best she can. She did right by her daughter.” The woman slashed a pointer finger in front of his face. “No matter what happens, you’d best remember that. Don’t screw this up, Lucas.”
Screw what up? What the hell was happening? He kneaded his forehead, trying to force his brain to think straight. Gracie might be his daughter. He might have a daughter with the only woman he’d ever loved.
Darla marched away as though wanting to make a point.
He turned back to the window in time to see Naomi hustling across the street, head down and arms pumping like she was on a mission. She walked briskly to the table and sat across from him, drawing in a long, measured breath as though steadying herself.
“I know you’re probably shocked,” she said, searching his face.
Shocked didn’t even touch it. He couldn’t find the words…
“Mark emailed me a few times. Then he called me this morning.” She paused as though wanting him to digest that. “That’s why I have to find out if he’s really Gracie’s father. He might not have a case, but we won’t know unless we get a DNA sample from you.”
“Hold on,” he choked out. That was all he could manage. Once, in prison, he’d made the mistake of trying to break up a fight between two other guys. That’s all it had taken for them to both turn on him, shoving him to the ground and kicking him repeatedly in the stomach. This hurt worse. “If Mark hadn’t gotten in touch with you…if he’d never come back into the picture, would you have told me? Would you have ever wanted to find out the truth?”
The rigid pull in her jaw answered his question. Answered a lot of questions. He may be the lesser of two evils in this case, but she was only telling him because she had to. Not because she wanted to.
“I tried to tell you a long time ago,” she said, her bottom lip quivering. The anger in her eyes bore into him with an accusation. “I wrote you a letter. I wrote you eight letters. And you didn’t bother to open even one of them.”
The weight of pain in her features crushed his shoulders. He closed his eyes to shut out the sight. He couldn’t stand to see her in pain. Pain he’d caused. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. He’d done more than hurt her. He’d scarred her. He’d thought he was doing what was best for her. He’d wanted that more than anything. But every decision he’d made back then was now crashing down on him—the decision to cover for Levi, the decision to force Naomi to move on…
God, he could’ve had a family with her. Ten years of beautiful moments, and he’d missed every single one of them. It was the worst punishment he could imagine. Guilt knifed through him as he stared at her across the table. “I can’t change the past.” He could regret it forever, but that wouldn’t change anything for them now. “Why didn’t you tell me right away? Last fall when I came back? Why did you avoid me instead of telling me the truth?” They could’ve already worked through this. They could’ve already found out the truth…
“You’re planning to leave again,” she said evenly, as though she’d detached herself already. She seemed to have regained control over her emotions. But he hadn’t. He didn’t know if he ever would.
It was too much. All of it. He thought about all the times in the last six months he’d run into her and Gracie at the ranch. Every time she’d seen him, Naomi had known that Gracie might be his daughter. She’d never said anything. God, she’d never said one damn word. Because she was ashamed of him. What mother would want an ex-con to be her daughter’s father? The truth hit him hard, forcing tears into his eyes. Even if the test revealed he was Gracie’s father, Naomi wouldn’t want him to be a part of their lives; she’d made that clear with six months of silence.
Suddenly he couldn’t sit there anymore. He couldn’t even look at her. “I have to go.” He swiped his hat off the table and stood.
“Wait.” She grabbed his arm. “You have no right to be angry.”
“I’m not. Not at all.” But a grief that he’d never experienced—even when his mom left—was swallowing him and he couldn’t fight it.
He dug out his wallet and threw money on the table. When he glanced at Naomi, he could tell she was about to cry. He could tell, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it.
“I’ll do whatever test you need me to do,” he told her roughly. “But right now, I have to go.”
Chapter Seven
Naomi sprinted after Lucas, dodging tables, knocking her chair over in the process. Once again, she’d drawn the attention of spectators. The few patrons who sat at Darla’s bar had all turned around at the loud crash.
She didn’t care who saw anymore. She had to catch Lucas. God, that pain in his eyes had torn into her. He’d looked at her like one of Jessa’s wounded animals.
She ripped open the door, ready to sprint down the street, but Darla hooked her shoulder.
“Let him go,” she said, pulling her back inside.
Naomi wriggled free. “But I have to make him understand why I didn’t tell him…”
Darla slipped in front of her. “Do you even understand why you didn’t tell him?”
Her body stilled. No. She didn’t. All these months he’d been right in front of her. Now, after having sat with him through Gracie’s play, after having kissed him out in the parking lot, she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why she’d been so afraid. “I should’ve told him last fall. He shouldn’t have found out on the street in front of everyone.” Naomi sank into the chair nearest to the door.
“Okay, everyone! We’re closing.” Darla traipsed to the counter and started to shoo people out.
“But I’m not done with my wine,” one woman argued.
“And we haven’t paid the bill,” a man said.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s on the house.” Her friend herded the few customers to the door. “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give you a big discount.” One by one, she waved them away. “Bye now. Thanks for coming. You can always head over to the Tumble Inn for a nightcap. They’ve got some killer cocktails. Great drafts on tap,” she babbled, not giving anyone a chance to argue. “Out you go now.” She all but shoved them out the door. “See you tomorrow,” she called cheerfully as she waved. Then she locked the deadbolt and rushed over to the table Naomi had just shared with Lucas. In a haste, Darla snatched the nearly full bottle of expensive Shiraz. She plunked a glass in front of Naomi and filled it, then poured one for herself.
“You didn’t have to close early,” Naomi said, though the words held no conviction. After the scene she’d made on the street she was relieved to be alone. Maybe she shouldn’t have gone after Mark like that. Now the whole town would know. God, they’d have a heyday at The Farm tomorrow morning.
“What’d you tell Mark?” Darla asked, all business. Always pragmatic, the woman was probably already formulating a plan for damage control.
Naomi took a sip of the wine, but it felt so wrong drinking it without Lucas.
Sighing, she set down the wineglass. “I told him he wasn’t going to see her until we’ve sorted this out. And even then I don’t know.” She’d reminded him how he’d said this could be on her terms, and then told him she’d have the test done to determine paternity as soon as possible.
“How’d he take it?”
“I think he was shocked. As shocked as Lucas was.” A heavy weight pressed into her chest. “But he agreed to wait until we have the test results back before contacting me again.” Which gave her roughly two weeks to try and find a way to tell Gracie about this mess. Either way, her daughter’s fat
her was coming back into the picture and she had no idea how to prepare her. “What am I going to tell Gracie, Darla? How am I supposed to explain this to her?”
Her friend gave her one of her specialty it’s no big deal looks.
But this was a huge deal. It would change everything.
“You don’t have to worry about it now,” Darla insisted.
If only that were true. Naomi glanced out to the street. “The whole town will know by tomorrow afternoon.” Once news hit The Farm, that was all anyone would be talking about.
“That may be true, but no one’ll say anything to Gracie. These people aren’t that heartless.” Darla shoved a plate of truffles across the table. “Besides, this is all a good thing, girl. It’s time for you to figure out the truth. Time for Gracie to learn the truth. And time for you to decide what you want.”
That sounded so simple. “I have no idea what I want,” Naomi admitted. For the last ten years everything had been about what Gracie had wanted or needed. The bed and breakfast had been her first step in trying to plan for their future…
“In case you hadn’t noticed, Lucas loves the hell out of you.” Darla popped a chocolate into her mouth. “He’s always loved you. These few months, he’s been more patient than any man I’ve ever met, but that’s not gonna last forever, honey. Especially not now.”
“He’s leaving.” Again. “He’s going back to Pueblo and I can’t. This is my home. As small as this town as, this is the community that embraced Gracie and me, the one that took care of us.” After Mark left her, the local quilters club had thrown her a baby shower and made sure she had a year’s supply of diapers. And for the longest time after Gracie was born, random baskets of food and formula and little toys would show up on the doorstep of their run-down apartment.
And the Cortez family…They were her support system. Jessa and Lance and Luis…
Even though she was planning to move off their property, she’d still go to their Sunday night family dinners. She’d still spend holidays with them. This town was so much a part of her past and her future. “I’m buying the old Porter place,” she blurted. “And I’m opening a bed and breakfast. My business loan went through today.”
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