Judy Duarte - Daddy On Call

Leilani, who’d not only grabbed her purse, but had changed her clothes and put on some lipstick, sat beside him as sober and quiet as a cloistered nun.

The seconds stretched between them like a rubber band that had seen better days, and he waited for the snap. The sting. But apparently they were both hesitant to broach the subject they needed to discuss, the questions he wanted answered.

Did you bear my child?

Why didn’t you tell me?

Where do we go from here?

He wanted to press her, yet needed time to assimilate the possibility, the ramifications, the future.

But it was the past that came to mind, the memory of the first and only time they’d made love. The night they’d conceived a child.

It had happened at the beach one moonlit evening in July, when their kisses had gotten too hot to ignore, their passion too strong to deny. She’d wanted it nearly as badly as he did, and he’d been nervous and afraid. He’d feared that he would hurt her somehow and worried that she’d regret it afterward.

Leilani had been a virgin, and although Luke had already slept with several girls, he’d come to realize there was a big difference between sex and making love.

He’d never experienced anything as sweet as running his hands along her body and claiming her as his own. He’d taken his time and tried to make it special for her. Special for both of them, he realized, because he hadn’t been blessed with anything as innocent or as emotionally moving since and doubted he ever would.

She’d cried afterward, which had torn him apart, but she’d sworn everything was okay, that she was just overwhelmed by it all. While removing the condom, he suspected it might have sprung a slight leak, but hadn’t wanted to frighten her or cause her any more tears. So he’d kept his mouth shut.

More than ever, he’d been filled with the need to protect her forever. But forever hadn’t been in their cards. And days later, when her brother died, he’d realized how lousy he was at looking after anyone other than himself.

After pulling into a parking space at the side of the restaurant and shutting off the ignition, he couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Is Danny my son?”

She glanced down in her lap and fiddled with the garnet ring, then caught his gaze. “Yes.”

The simple answer bombarded him with shock, hurt and anger, but he fought the urge to respond. He was afraid of what he might say or offer.

Leilani had enough to hold against him. A misguided comment now might open a Pandora’s box of emotion, so he merely nodded, then climbed from the vehicle, realizing his life was becoming complicated in ways he couldn’t quite grasp.

Before he could open the door for her, she exited and headed for the entrance of the small restaurant that had become a favorite of locals.

Once inside, he asked to be seated on the patio and away from the other diners. The hostess obliged, escorting them to an outdoor table, where he caught the heady scent of a sea breeze and could see and hear the waves crash upon the shore. It was cool tonight, but portable heaters stood ready to keep them comfortable.

He was neither hot nor cold, yet his nerves were raw and he was as skittish as a stray cat in a rock-filled gunnysack being hurled off the dock.

Since Leilani wasn’t quick to offer any explanations or a confession, he brought up the subject himself. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She didn’t respond right away, nor did she need to.

The whole Kami thing elbowed into the forefront, settled over them and provided the answers to all his questions.

She’d been too angry with him at first, too devastated by her loss. But he also suspected it had something to do with the grandparents who’d raised her, a conservative minister and his wife who lived on a small Hawaiian island.

“I know we didn’t part on good terms,” he said, “but that’s not the point. You shouldn’t have had to go through a pregnancy alone.”

“I didn’t. My grandmother was with me. And she was very supportive.”

“That’s not the same.” Luke had a ton of experience in obstetrics now. Back then he would have been scared spitless, but he would have done right by her. “You should have called me.”

“It crossed my mind,” she admitted. “But I decided it would be easier not to.”

“Easier for who?”

“Me. My family.” The wind whipped a strand of hair across her face, and she tucked it behind her ear. “And for Danny.”

“Why?”

“You were prone to trouble back then. And you gave me no reason to believe you would be responsible or that you would be good daddy material.”

She had a point. And he wasn’t sure that he was daddy material now. But that didn’t mean he wanted to leave a kid of his to fend for himself, without any paternal influence or guidance. And like it or not, he had fathered a child. A son who’d spent the first eleven years of his life with a single mother.

“Besides,” she added, “you didn’t want to be a father.”

He didn’t. But hell, that was before knowing he actually had a son.

What kind of loser did she think he was? One who was every bit as irresponsible as his own old man?

A myriad of emotions buzzed around in his head—surprise and anger, to name a couple.

“All right, I’ll admit this is a bit mind-boggling. And I’m going to need some time to think about the logistics of it all.” He’d have to make some adjustments in his life if Danny was going to become a part of it. And whether Leilani—or her aunt—liked it or not, he was going to be a father to the boy.

At least as much as he was able.

“I could use some time to get used to all of this, too,” she said. “And to figure out what I’m going to tell Danny.”

“What’s so hard about telling him he has a father who is willing to support him and be there for him?”

She bit her lip and glanced down at the table, finding her hand and fingering the heirloom ring. Then she glanced up, her expression solemn.

“Because Danny thinks you’re dead.”

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