Kathryn Shay - Be My Babies

Simon took her hand. “You know, don’t you, that you could never do anything that would make me send you away?”

Her eyes twinkled. “Even if I dated that motorcycle guy who just moved here from the city?”

“What motorcycle…” He stopped. “You’re teasing.”

“Yep. You’re an easy mark, Dad. You need a life.”

They both stood, and from behind he got her in a headlock. Kissed her hair. “You, little girl, can be a brat.”

“I love you, Daddy. Now come on, let’s eat.”

The meal was satisfying, and Simon enjoyed his daughter’s company. Even if she didn’t know all his foibles, what his life had really been like before Marian died. He wondered briefly if she’d ever be old enough to handle those details?

LILY’S GRANDFATHER looked over at her when she came to the doorway of the kitchen. He was stirring something at the stove and it smelled heavenly. “Did you rest?” he asked.

“Yes, I fell asleep right away, but I’ve been up for a bit. I went through a few of the boxes you left on the dresser.” She couldn’t resist a glance into her mother’s past.

“Ah.” He adjusted the heat on the burner. “Ready for some supper?”

He seemed more uncomfortable than he’d been before she went upstairs. Nervous. Maybe he had had too much time to think about the history between them.

Dropping down into a kitchen chair, she watched him. “Do you mind talking about those boxes for a minute?”

“No. Of course not.” He leaned against the counter.

“I found a christening gown in the one marked baby things.” It had smelled musty, but it was beautifully preserved.

“Your great-grandmother made it. You can have it for one of your twins, if you want.”

“Maybe. Whose handwriting was in the baby book?”

“My wife, Alice’s. Your grandmother.”

Well, at least there had been some good times. Loving comments had been recorded about Cameron’s early development. As if he read her thoughts, Gil said aloud, “Those were happy years for us all.”

There was a second carton, marked Cameron’s School Days. It included pictures, drawings, some done with finger paint. A few notes from teachers. Report cards. Lily’s mother had been smart and well liked by her fifth grade class. Somebody had saved all that, too.

Lily held up a diary. “This was in the last box from my mother’s high school years. Along with a faded corsage, pictures with a few girls, things like that.”

Gil pushed off from the counter and got plates out of the cupboard. “Alice read it, looking for a clue to where Cami might have gone when she never showed up at the Sisters of Mercy home.”

“There’s not much in here.”

He retrieved silverware and set everything on the table. She sniffed when he set a bowl on the table. “Spaghetti?”

“Mmm. Jenna made it yesterday for me.” Gil sat at the table. “What were you looking for in the diary, Lily?”

“Information about my father.”

“I’m afraid we never knew who he was. Cami refused to tell us. That pregnancy capped off several bad years. Did you ever ask your mother about him?”

“Yes, but she didn’t tell me much.”

He was a boy I met in a bar outside of town, where I used a fake ID. He wasn’t interested in either you or me after I got pregnant and he left the area. I never heard from him again.

I’m sorry, Lily, but you should know the truth. Men— they’re not reliable. I hope you have better luck than I had, but there it is.

“I’m sorry,” Gil said. “I wish I could tell you more.”

Maybe that was for the best. Discussion of a father who didn’t want her made Lily realize she was depending on a man who’d left his own child fatherless.

Placing the diary on the oak table, Lily shook her head. “Guess we’ll never know who he was.”

“Does it matter now?”

She stared at him for a long time. “Fathers always matter.”

It was too bad that Gil Gardner hadn’t learned that sooner.

A SMALL READING LAMP illuminated the darkness as Simon sat at the desk in his den refiguring his finances. He’d awakened at 4:00 a.m. after a vivid nightmare. He’d dreamed that Lily Wakefield had taken ownership of the Sentinel and kicked him and Jenna out on the street. Not that he’d ever be destitute. Despite the fact that he was slowly buying up the paper’s shares and now owned a whopping thirty percent, he’d made sure he and Jenna had their nest egg. If he did lose the paper, he’d only have lost his dream and not his ability to take care of his daughter.

Still, here he was before dawn, adding up the numbers again. He shook his head. There was no way he could expedite this process. He’d just worked himself out of debt from Marian’s accident and Jenna’s medical bills. He tried to tell himself that was okay, that Gil had assured him there was no hurry. After his heart attack, Gil had even put it in his will that Simon had the option to buy the remaining stock if anything happened to him. He’d wanted to leave the paper outright to Simon and Jenna, but Simon had balked. As it was, Gil’s plan would guarantee that no one else could take over the Sentinel, especially a larger chain such as the Heard Corporation, which had already approached them about a buyout.

Now, the appearance of Lily Wakefield put a whole new spin on Simon taking ownership. Finally, he admitted that to himself. Though he was mostly worried about Gil, this possibility had been buzzing around in his subconscious since he’d met Lily yesterday.

He leaned back and sipped his coffee. Damn it, wasn’t even a single part of his life going to go easily?

Think about your priorities.

Jenna. She meant everything to him. Guilt, dark and ugly, reared its head. His daughter had been the most important person in the world to him since the day she’d been born, but he still hadn’t managed to protect her completely. Instead, when Marian had wrapped her car around that pole and hurt Jenna in the process, Simon had blamed himself. It was one of the reasons Simon understood Gil and his situation with Cameron so well.

But this time, when Simon had the chance to protect someone he loved, he was going to make damn sure he did it. And if Lily Wakefield got caught in the cross fire, so be it.

LILY LAY BACK against the pillows and watched the morning sun stream in through her bedroom windows. The birds had awakened her at dawn, but she’d dozed off again. She couldn’t believe she was sleeping so much, or that she’d been so lazy all week since she’d arrived in Fairview. At home, in Westchester, having Derek to tend to, and, worse, his parents’ constant visits had kept her on edge and unable to relax or sleep well. She hadn’t realized how the anxiety of her life had affected her physically until she’d begun to feel better here, in the cocoon of her grandfather’s house.

There was a knock on her door, a light tapping, in case she was still asleep. This had become a morning routine— one she was beginning to cherish.

“I’m awake, Gil.”

Entering with a tray, he smiled. “Good morning. You look rested.”

“Completely.” She looked askance at what he carried. “I wish you wouldn’t do this.”

“You gave me a week to pamper you, and I’m thoroughly enjoying myself.”

At times like these, Lily couldn’t imagine Gil allowing her mother to leave his house and certainly never kicking her out. It just didn’t make sense. But yesterday he’d come clean with the fact that he had, indeed, let Alice send Cameron to the home for unwed mothers. He took full blame for it, which had eased somewhat her resentment of what he’d done. As did his confession that his daughter’s disappearance had caused him long-standing guilt and grief. He’d also tried to undo it, but ultimately he couldn’t find her. Though Lily would never understand what he’d done, she was coming to terms with his actions.