Patricia Johns - His Unexpected Family

“I don’t believe you.” She felt a smile tickle the corners of her mouth.

“All right, truth be told, I want a burger. But since you’re here, it could save me some time.”

“That’s more like it.” She chuckled, picking up Cora’s car seat.

“Let me carry this for you.” He picked up her tray.

Leading the way to a booth by a window, Emily looked back over her shoulder. “So what is this good professional excuse of yours?”

“Just some unanswered questions, mostly, Miss Shaw.”

Greg waited until Emily had Cora settled on the bench beside her before he eased into the seat opposite her.

He nodded his thanks to the teen who put down an identical tray to Emily’s in front of him. “About Jessica—does anyone know why she was coming to Haggerston?”

Emily shook her head. “I don’t know, but I guess I’d assumed she’d been on her way here. Her dad was here, after all. I did ask people at the funeral, but no one was really sure.”

He unwrapped the burger and peeked inside, his expression unreadable. “What is this?”

Emily laughed. “You did ask for what I was having.... It’s a burger with extra pickles, mayo and secret sauce. It’s delicious. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”

Greg took a cautious bite, then smiled. “Good.” He wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “I normally do extra bacon and tomato.”

Emily raised her eyebrows as an idea struck her. “I should start putting some bacon on this. That would be perfect.”

Greg shot her an amused look and then sobered. “So no one knew Jessica was coming?”

Emily shook her head. “Everyone was saying the same thing—we had no idea she was pregnant, let alone already a mother. We hadn’t heard from her in a long time.”

Greg nodded slowly. “Did she have drug problems? What would isolate her from her family like that?”

“Well...” Emily opened a ketchup package and made a little mound to dip her fries into. “Her parents were good Christian people, and Jessica was the black sheep of the family. She was the one who went out partying as a teenager and defied her parents at every turn.” She shrugged. “When she moved out of her parents’ house and went off to the city, she came back a couple of times for family events, but things were pretty strained between her and her parents.”

“But no substance-abuse problems?”

Emily shook her head, opening another packet of ketchup as she talked. “I think their biggest problem was that she was sleeping around, and they didn’t like it. She drank a little at parties, but I don’t think she was ever involved in drugs.”

“Why not?”

“She put herself through a fine-arts degree,” Emily said, raising her gaze to meet his. “She painted and drew. She was quite the artist. She worked too hard to get that degree on her own. She couldn’t have done it high.”

“So more of a free spirit.”

Emily nodded. “Don’t you remember her from Steve?”

“No.” He shook his head and popped a fry into his mouth. “I didn’t know Steve terribly well, not well enough to know his sister.”

“Why does any of this matter?” she asked, turning her attention to the food in front of her. She took a bite of her burger, the mixture of meat and condiments hitting her brain right in the pleasure center. Greg looked at her thoughtfully for a long moment, as if weighing his words. Finally, he shrugged.

“Maybe it doesn’t,” he admitted. “I just don’t feel quite right about all of this. There’s something missing. It might be nothing, but...” He shrugged again.

Emily licked a dab of ketchup off her finger, regarding Greg thoughtfully. Tiny lines were starting to appear around his eyes, and she could see that he shouldered a great deal of stress. He had the rugged features of a man accustomed to hiding his thoughts, but she could see something behind his eyes that she recognized—kindness.

“I suppose I should tell you,” Emily said quietly, “that Steve is contesting my custody of the baby.”

Greg winced, then nodded. “Yeah, I could see that coming.”

Emily shot him a quizzical look, and he put his hands up. “Not because you aren’t an excellent choice to raise the baby, but because these things do tend to happen.”

Emily sighed. “Well, regardless, I have a big decision to make.”

“What decision is that?”

“Whether to fight this in court or not.”

“That is a big decision.” He gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled sadly. “I just don’t know what the best thing is for Cora. A big legal battle hardly seems in her best interest, but then, Jessica chose me, and I’d like to think that was for a reason.”

Greg sighed. “So how are you holding up?”

“I have good friends, but the family is already choosing sides. My mom will always be behind me, but I was close to my uncle Hank, too—that’s Jessica’s dad. He’ll want his son to raise Cora, no doubt...”

“It’s getting complicated,” he said softly.

“Very.”

“What do you want?” he asked.

“To raise this baby.” She looked over at Cora sleeping peacefully in the car seat. “I can’t have children of my own.”

“Oh, I see.” He nodded and took a bite of his burger.

Stupid, she thought to herself. It was a personal thing to blurt out, and she wished she could take the words back. What did Greg want to know about her fertility? Seriously, Emily, she chastised herself.

“So what are you going to do?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” She took a long, creamy sip of her milk shake. “It’s just so complicated.”

“I can see that.” His blue eyes met hers, and she was relieved to see compassion in them.

“I wish I knew why Jessica chose me instead of her brother. If I knew that, I’d know if I should be fighting for this or not. I need to know what she wanted, really wanted.”

He nodded slowly and leaned back in his chair. The comfortable quiet stretched out between them as they each finished their burgers.

“Greg?”

He raised his eyebrows in response.

“Are you going to be investigating my cousin’s death?”

“I’ll be looking into it,” he said. “I don’t have any reason to suspect foul play, but I’d like to get a few questions answered to put my own mind at ease.”

“While you’re doing that, would you mind keeping an eye open for something that might explain why she chose me?” Emily asked.

“Like what?”

“I wish I knew. I just need a few answers, too, about now, and I don’t know how to get them.”

Greg was silent for a moment, his gaze moving slowly over her face. His blue eyes seemed to be filled with conflicting emotions, something he wasn’t hiding very well. Finally, he took a deep breath. “Sure.”

“Really?” Emily laughed nervously. “I didn’t think you’d agree.”

Greg smiled at that. “I think you could use a favor about now.”

“Thank you. This means a lot to me.”

Just then, Cora began to cry, a thin, hiccup-y wail coming from the car seat, and Emily rummaged through the baby bag for a bottle.

“I’m prepared.” She gave him a wink and gently picked up the wriggling Cora in her arms.

* * *

Emily tried to give Cora the bottle, but the baby scrunched her eyes shut and wailed all the louder, turning her face away from the milk. Emily patted her and shushed her, but to no avail. She peeked in the diaper and felt her little face for fever. At first, Greg’s thoughts were focused on the crying, wondering when it would stop, but then he saw Emily’s face and he felt a sudden surge of sympathy. She looked ready to cry, too.

“What’s the matter?” Greg asked.