He wanted to counter her…but he couldn’t.
He didn’t.
He left the café with his ring and drove to a resort town in the San Bernardino Mountains. He parked his motorcycle and found the nearest bar. Jack and Mike found him and helped him drink to forget. Then they helped him sober up and kicked his ass back to work.
In the days and weeks that followed, he was thankful Maggie had called it all off.
She was right. He wasn’t ready to marry her…he didn’t love her.
But God damn it, he didn’t know she was pregnant with his child. He would never have let her walk away had he known. He took care of his responsibilities and Savannah now topped the list.
Anger started to build in his blood. If he confronted Maggie now, who knows what he’d do.
With his truck still running, he pulled out of the parking space and decided to go home first. He needed a level head before this conversation.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The doctors extubated her mother before the three of them arrived at the hospital the next day. A new nurse walked them into her room and explained that she was groggy but coherent.
“Has she asked about us?” Jack asked.
“She asked about what happened. She doesn’t remember the accident. Which is probably a blessing.”
“Which means she hasn’t asked about us.” Katie paused outside of the nurse’s station. Jack and her father stopped along with her.
“You don’t have to go in there,” her father said.
“No. I’m not a child.”
Less medical equipment filled the room and instead of looking half-dead, Annette looked like she was sleeping.
“Annie?” the nurse called as they all breached the doorway.
Her mother responded by slowly opening her eyes. It took a few blinks before she focused on the three of them.
“Your family is here.”
“Hello, Annette,” Gaylord said.
The monitor above the bed beeped a little faster. Katie had watched the monitor for hours the day before and knew her mother’s heart rate was speeding up with their presence.
The nurse pressed a button and glanced at them. “This will have to be a short visit. Annie needs to rest.”
“We won’t be long,” Jack told her.
“Th-they told me you were here,” Annette’s scratchy voice stuttered her words.
“The hospital called the night of the accident. They said you were asking for the kids.”
Katie and Jack stood back and let their father do the talking. It seemed the two of them were paralyzed.
“I thought I was dying, Gaylord.” Even with her hoarse words, Katie could tell her mother had little to say to her father.
“The doctors say you’re doing better,” Katie found her voice.
Annette moved her gaze to Katie. “I heard. Guess this life isn’t done with me.”
No, Katie wouldn’t need that black dress quite yet.
“Why did you call for us, Mom?” Jack asked with thinly veiled anger in his voice. Now that they all knew she wasn’t dying, it was easier to return to the emotion they’d all identified with the woman in the bed.
Annette turned her head away from them, stared out the window. “If I had died, I didn’t want you to think I’ve never thought of you.” Her delivery of why she called was as cold as the woman on the bed.
“Do you think of us?” Jack asked, his jaw tight.
“I do.”
“You waited until now to tell us?”
Katie placed a hand on her brother’s arm, hoping to calm him.
“When your life flashes in front of you, like clips from a movie, you pick out things. I’m a terrible mother. I was an even worse wife.” Annette lifted her eyes to their father.
None of them corrected her.
“That’s not an excuse,” Jack said.
“I’m not making excuses, Jack. I know you think I walked away and never looked back, but that isn’t completely true. I knew your father was the better parent. That I was a failure. You both were better off with him than me. We both knew that.”
“So you gave us up,” Katie mumbled. She thought of Savannah. A poor innocent child who may have a biological mother just like Annette.
“I thought about coming back. To get to know you both. I figured that time had passed. I didn’t deserve a second chance.”
Annette blinked a few times; the medication she was on could be seen in her face. She looked worn out and used. Katie couldn’t tell if her cool demeanor was a defense or the real her.
Some of the anger burned off. Her dad’s words from their trip sounded in her head. Her being here…all of them being here was so that they didn’t have regrets. So she could say good-bye.
“Tina stopped by yesterday.”
Annette glanced up. “That’s nice.”
Katie took a deep breath. “She told me you weren’t an awful person. And I know Daddy isn’t a bad judge of character so there has to be someone in there that I might want to know someday.”
Her mother blinked several times as if deciphering Katie’s words.
She stepped closer to the bed and tilted her head. “You closed the door on being our mother a long time ago. I don’t know if that door will ever be opened again. But for some reason you thought of us, you called for us. When you’re better, if you want to pick up that phone, I’ll answer it. I’m sure we’ll fight. I’m positive I’ll call you all kinds of names for leaving me.” Tears collected behind her eyes as she ripped her heart out of her chest. “Maybe on the other side of all that, we can be friends. Or maybe we can’t. The only way you’re going to know is if you try. If you don’t want to, that’s fine with me. But, Annie…if the very next time you call me is to say you’re on your deathbed, I won’t come. I’m too old for mind games and I won’t be used.”
Her mother nodded slowly.
Katie felt her brother’s arm move around her shoulders as he led her out of the room.
Their father stayed behind a minute longer.
“Damn, sis, remind me never to get on your bad side,” Jack teased.
“Was I awful?” Did I go too far?
“You were perfect. She knows where you stand, and you’re giving her a chance. At the same time, you’re not going to let her lie or use you. Wish I thought to say all that.”
Katie leaned her head against her brother’s shoulder and sighed. She was done with hiding parents, lies, and secrets.
Their dad met them in the lobby. He walked a little taller when he approached. Katie hugged her dad, thankful again she had him. “I’ll never make you come again,” he told her.
“Do you think she’ll call?” Jack asked their dad.
“I don’t think she knows what she’ll do. Are you going to be OK if she doesn’t?”
Katie dug deep inside to find his answers. “I’m going to be fine.”
Her dad winked at her.
They climbed into the back of the limousine they’d traveled in from the hotel to the hospital.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she noticed a text from Dean.
A new picture of Savannah greeted her and the cold brought on by her mother melted into a puddle of warm love.
“Must be good,” her brother commented.
“The best,” she said.
I’m done with the lies.
She handed the phone to her brother and confusion marred his brow. “Hi, Mommy?” he read the text aloud.
Jack handed the phone to her dad.
“Who’s Mommy?”
“I am. That’s my daughter.”
Jack’s and Gaylord’s mouths dropped.
Dean swallowed his guilt as he pressed Send on the picture of Savannah.
He intended to confront Maggie today, now that his thoughts were in some semblance of order. Seeing Maggie without Katie knowing about it felt wrong. Yet he couldn’t exactly tell Katie what he’d learned…not over the phone. Besides, she had a full day of drama ah
ead and didn’t needed more piled on.
After retracing his steps to Maggie’s condo, Dean knocked on the door and waited.
A woman in her sixties answered the door. “I’m looking for Maggie Reynolds,” he told her.
The woman offered a kind smile. “There’s no Maggie here. I moved in six months ago.”
“Oh, sorry to bother you.” Dean left the complex and switched on his phone. He’d deleted her number from his phone and sadly couldn’t bring it up in his memory.
He sat in his car for a while flipping around the Internet with his smartphone. He came across an old e-mail out of a sent file and found her cell number.
He dialed it and was met with a No longer in service message.
“Well, damn.” Guess she didn’t want to be found.
Dean called up the investigator he’d hired to find Savannah’s mother and brought him up to date on the facts.
“I need to know where she is and I need to know yesterday. Katelyn should be back tomorrow and I want to have this conversation with Maggie finished.”
“I’m on it, Mr. Prescott.”
Unable to go home to wait, Dean drove around town to see if any of Maggie’s friends knew where she’d gone.
It was midweek and early in the day so the nightclubs they’d gone to a couple of times either weren’t open or didn’t have a familiar face in the room.
Maggie’s parents had both passed away when she was very young. He remembered her aunt lived north of LA, but he didn’t know the exact address. A phone number was out of the question. Hopefully Nathan, his PI, would find the information. And find it soon.
The day ran on with a silent phone. When it did ring, Katie was on the other end, her voice tight with emotion.
“It was awful, but I’m done. It’s up to her now,” Katie told him after she relayed everything about her conversation with her mom.
“I’m proud of you, darlin’. That couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t. But you know something? This whole ordeal reminded me how lucky I am to have my brother and my dad on my side. They’ve been great.”
“I’ve always thought of your dad as a linebacker that would tackle anyone who even tried to hurt you.”
Katie giggled. “Yeah…he would. Listen, I—I, ah, told them…about Savannah.”
“You what?” His grip tightened on the phone.
“I couldn’t keep lying to them. All this drama with my own mother made me realize that there are women out there that can’t be a mom. Emotionally. Maybe Savannah’s mom couldn’t handle it.”
Dean thought of Maggie and couldn’t rule that reason out. They’d talked about kids, having them someday, but nothing stood out as a sign that Maggie wasn’t mother material. Come to think of it, she always brushed off the kid conversation. He’d told her about Katie. About their child. Those conversations were short, however. Dean thought their limited conversations on the subject were because they included Katie. Talking with his fiancée about his ex had been met with hostility. He didn’t blame Maggie for that.
Now that Maggie was part of his past, Dean could see that he’d always loved Katie. Maggie must have sensed that.
“Dean? You there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. How did they take the news?” The last thing Dean needed was the Morrison men digging too deep in Savannah’s parentage…not yet. Not yet.
“They were shocked. My dad thinks someone is gunning for money.”
Dean hadn’t ruled that out either. If Maggie wanted money, why hadn’t she gone to him? Sure, his pockets didn’t run as deep as Gaylord’s but he wasn’t without means. Millions of them.
“What about Jack?”
“Jack got stuck on the fact that I can’t have kids. I didn’t know my brother was such a softy. He was excited about Savannah though, and can’t wait to tell Jessie.”
“Do you think your dad will launch his own investigation?”
“I—I told him to wait. I…I…” Her voice trailed off. “I can’t wait to get home.”
“Me, too.” He glanced at his watch.
“We were going to leave tonight, but there’s a tropical storm cutting down air traffic. The pilot said we could leave in the morning so long as the bulk of the storm passes overnight without a ton of damage.”
“That’s probably better anyway…in case something changes with your mom.”
“They moved her out of the ICU shortly after we left. I think she’ll physically be fine. I insisted that we stop in Texas tomorrow and drop off my brother and dad. They both wanted to come and see Savannah, talk to you.”
Dean laughed despite the nerves fraying the edge of his psyche. “I didn’t think your family would let me off with a We’ll talk about this later warning.”
“Just leave them to me. After I told my mom off, the two of them aren’t so quick to jump on me.”
“It’s not you they’ll be jumping on.” Not that he was worried. His intentions when it came to Katie had always been honorable.
Only now he had a new dilemma…he had the mother of his child to deal with.
He gave up on his search for Maggie and drove home. After relieving Mrs. Hoyt and making sure she could return the next day, Dean spent a little time in his office before Savannah woke from her late nap.
A message greeted him from Nathan. “I found Maggie’s aunt living in the Valley. Like you said. Looks like Maggie was living with her before she had the baby. I have a new address. Call me.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dean approached the door to the bungalow style home and hesitated before he knocked.
He rapped three times and stood back. Maggie’s car was in the drive but the house was quiet. He hoped she was home. He didn’t want to have to come back later.
He knocked again and heard footsteps.
Maggie opened the door with a rush, the smile on her face quickly faded when she recognized him. Her hair was swept up into a ponytail, her face free of any makeup. She looked younger than he remembered. He’d forgotten that she was six years younger than him. Just out of college when they’d met.
“Hi, Maggie,” he said. Trying his level best to keep his voice even.
“Dean.”
She looked beyond him, searching for Savannah maybe…or Katie?
“I’m here alone,” he told her. “Savannah’s with a sitter.”
Her attention shot to his and her shoulders sagged. Without words, she opened the door farther, walked into the house, away from him.
He followed her inside and closed the door behind him. His heart beat so rapidly he found himself breathing hard.
She stood with her back to him, her hands poised on the edge of the kitchen sink while she looked out a window.
Dean waited for her to say something. He didn’t trust himself and had learned long ago that silence often worked better than words when trying to get someone to open up.
“So…you and Katelyn are back together.” Was that hurt in her voice?
Instead of answering her question, he asked his own. “Why, Maggie?”
She took a deep breath and still had yet to turn around. “Do you know how much you talked about her when you were with me?” she asked.
Dean flinched.
“You tried to hide your feelings for her. I convinced myself that it was natural for you to slip once in a while and call me her name.”
“Twice. That happened twice.” And they’d only been dating a few weeks when he slipped. Maggie had laughed it off and told him it wasn’t a big deal.
She twisted around, met his eyes. “You talk in your sleep, Dean. I told myself that you weren’t responsible for your dreams. Reminded myself that it was me wearing your ring. But it wasn’t me you loved. It was her.”
Dean’s teeth clenched together. He couldn’t deny his feelings and didn’t see a need to shelter Maggie from the truth now.
“I cared about you.”
“But you loved her.”
“You had my baby.”<
br />
She blinked a few times.
“I would have stuck by you,” he said softly. He wasn’t raised to walk away from his responsibilities.
“And I would have hated you for it. Having a child isn’t a reason to get married.”
“I’d already asked you to marry me.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
“To what end, Dean? You may have been ready to get married, but you weren’t ready to be a father.”
“The hell I wasn’t!” he yelled.
“Not a single father. Do you remember the night you told me about Katie’s miscarriage?”
He’d been drinking. Trying to move on with his life. He thought if he’d told someone about Katie he could do that. Since he was engaged to Maggie, he felt it was right to let her know about his past.
“You were heartbroken. I told myself it was because of the baby, but it wasn’t. It was because Katie walked out of your life. You told me then that a child isn’t as important as being with the right woman.” Maggie crossed her arms over her chest. “I lied to myself for months about us. The wedding was coming up fast. I couldn’t do it.”
He remembered the empty feeling when she’d returned his ring. His ego was so friggin’ bruised he couldn’t see straight. A bigger part of him was relieved.
“When did you find out about the pregnancy?” he asked.
“A few weeks before we broke up.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want your pity. I wanted your love but you couldn’t give that to me.”
“So you dumped our daughter.”
“I did not dump Savannah. I placed her in the care of someone who wanted her more than I did. This may come as a shock to you, Dean, but I didn’t want kids. Not yet anyway.”
Dean thought of Katie, of the ongoing drama with her mother. Not everyone was cut out to be a mother. How fair was it that Katie wanted kids and couldn’t have them and Maggie didn’t want them and could.
“You never told me that.”
“It wasn’t until I was pregnant that I realized I wasn’t ready. You never attempted to contact me after we broke off the engagement…didn’t try and get me back. I knew why. I wanted to hate you. I couldn’t.” There were tears in Maggie’s eyes. “So instead of terminating my pregnancy I decided to have Savannah and give her to the one person that would love her unconditionally and without regret.”
Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series) Page 25