Leigh Bale - Reunited By A Secret Child

He raked his fingers through his short, dark hair and blew out a harsh breath. “Did my folks know about Chrissy?”

“They knew I had her, but they never knew you were her father. I’ve never told anyone, except my mom and dad. But I saw your parents around town from time to time and they always doted on Chrissy. Even your father. He thought she was the cutest baby he’d ever seen, next to you.”

Reese jerked his head up. “He actually said that?”

Katie nodded.

He scoffed with disbelief. “I doubt my dad was sober enough to understand even if you had told him the truth.”

She agreed. The man was always drunk. And from the gossip she’d heard, he was a mean drunk. Living with such a man couldn’t have been easy on Reese or his mother. And yet the few times Hank Hartnett had seen Chrissy, when they were downtown in the grocery store, he’d smiled and played with the baby so sweetly. Obviously he had a good side, but maybe Reese had never seen that part of him.

“Your mom gave me a beautiful baby afghan she knitted when Chrissy was born. It’s made of soft yellow yarn. I’ve kept it safe so it wouldn’t get bedraggled. I thought Chrissy might like to have it when she’s old enough to understand who her other grandma was. I asked your mom where you had gone, but she said she didn’t know. I could see in her eyes that she was heartbroken that you’d left like that.”

He clenched his eyes shut, his mouth tight. Katie could tell that her words pained him, but he needed to hear the truth. He needed to understand what he’d left behind for all of them to cope with.

“I didn’t feel like there was anything for me here in Minoa.” His voice sounded soft and hoarse.

His words hurt so much. She’d been nothing more than a one-night stand. A fling. Certainly nothing lasting. And she’d been left to pick up the pieces without him.

“What about your mom?” Katie asked, wondering how he could just abandon the woman to his father’s drunken rages.

“I pleaded with her to go with me, but she refused. She wouldn’t leave my dad. About a year after I got settled on a fire crew, I called her a couple of times and told her where I was, but she just cried and asked me to come home. I knew that would never work, so I stopped calling.”

A long, swelling silence filled the air. His words caused a shudder to sweep down Katie’s spine. She’d asked his mother about him only a couple of times. After the first year, she’d stopped asking. She could only wonder how bad his home life must have been. But he hesitated, as if there was something else he wanted to say. Something important. But he must have changed his mind, because he shrugged it off.

“So, you named her Chrissy?” he asked.

Katie nodded, wiping her damp eyes. “Yes. Christine Joy.”

He jerked his head up. “Joy is her middle name?”

“Yes.”

A half smile curved his handsome lips. “That was my mother’s name.”

“That’s right. And Christine was my mom’s name.”

“You named our child after our two mothers.” It was a statement, not a question.

Our child.

The words left Katie trembling. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to share Chrissy with him. She’d been raising her daughter on her own for so long that she didn’t know if she wanted to include him in the mix. But now it was too late. Whether she liked it or not, she’d told Reese the truth.

“Yes. I thought it was fitting that she be named after her two grandmothers. Joy seemed appropriate, since Chrissy brought me so much happiness,” she said.

He made a small sound of approval. “Mom would have liked that.”

If the quick way he blinked his eyes was any indication, he liked it, too. And for some reason, that pleased Katie enormously.

“I just wish you had told me sooner,” he finally said, his gaze burning into hers until she felt as though he could see deep inside her tattered heart.

Katie swallowed hard. “Quite frankly, I didn’t plan to ever tell you. I figured you wouldn’t want anything to do with us. But this year Chrissy started asking questions about her daddy. Why all of her friends had a father, but she didn’t. Why her dad never visited or sent her birthday gifts. I thought perhaps I’d tell her the truth after she graduated from high school, when she was old enough to understand better. But then I saw you on the national news and I thought... I thought...” Her words trickled off on a sigh of frustration.

He finished the sentence for her. “You thought I might die and Chrissy wouldn’t get the chance to know her father, is that it?”

She nodded, unwilling to tell a lie. “You work in a very dangerous profession.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

She wondered again if this was a mistake. Her deep, abiding faith in God had brought her to speak the truth. One day, Chrissy would grow into a woman, and Katie didn’t want her to be tormented by the unknown. Always wondering who her father was and what he was like. Katie had read once that kids who lost a parent when they were young frequently deified that parent. Thought their life would be better if only their lost mom or dad were around. It was natural for a kid to wonder about a missing parent. But this situation still wasn’t easy for Katie.

“I almost can’t believe this news. It’s a bit much to take in,” Reese said. Anger and cynicism filled his expressive eyes. He locked his jaw, hard as granite.

It served him right. She tried to forget all the hurt and resentment she felt toward this man, but she couldn’t seem to let it go.

“You abandoned me. Remember?” She bit out the words, trying to contain her own anger.

“I never abandoned you,” he said with incredulity. “We were kids. We never made any promises to each other. I didn’t even know you were pregnant, Katie.”

True. And she was just as guilty over what had happened between them. She could have told him no. She could have walked away and protected herself. But she hadn’t. She’d loved him and given herself to him. Her most precious gift. She’d disappointed herself and her parents. But most of all, she’d disappointed the Lord. And now it was water under the bridge. She had to let it go and move on. But it hurt to know that Reese had never wanted her. Not then and not now.

“You deserted everyone in this town and you never looked back,” she said. “You took off without caring who you might hurt. I think you made the mistake of thinking that no one in this town cared about you, and that wasn’t true. You never came home to check on your mom. You didn’t even return for your parents’ funerals. And frankly, you have no right to be angry with me.”

He raked a hand through his hair, showing his frustration. “Wait a minute, Katie. My father never called or wrote to tell me my mom had died. By the time I found out, she was already gone. I called three weeks after her funeral. I only spoke to my dad for a few minutes. He was drunk, as usual. A few months later, I received a package and a letter from Grace Chantry, telling me that my father had died, too.”

Grace was a kind, elderly woman, one of the few people Katie had seen visiting Joy Hartnett, and likely Joy’s only real friend. Katie didn’t ask what was in the package Grace had sent to Reese. She told herself she didn’t care. After Chrissy was born, she’d stopped asking Joy if she knew where Reese was. She was too afraid that her interest might draw questions about Chrissy’s paternity. But right now, she was furious. She wanted him out of this truck. Wanted to dump him off at the cabin. To leave and never see him again.

The blood drained from his face and he sat very still. “You’re right, though. I hurt my mom. I know that now. And I can’t tell you how deeply I regret it. I wish I could have gotten my dad some help, but I was barely eighteen. I had no job or skills. No money. I didn’t know how to help him, or how to get him into a rehabilitation program. And I didn’t know that I’d hurt you, too. I never knew about Chrissy. That one night we had together, I...I thought it was just for fun. I had no idea we had created a child. I was young and thoughtless. I never considered the consequences of our actions, not even once. And all I can do now is ask for your forgiveness.”