Teresa Carpenter - Daddy's Little Memento

“I’m not his mother, but you are his father.” Her voice was quietly earnest, compassion lit her direct gaze. “I know this must come as a surprise.”

“Try shock.”

She was serious. This wasn’t some kind of joke. Sudden panic sent adrenaline coursing through his blood. His head went up, his shoulders went back and he stood braced to fight. He felt as if his whole life was being threatened.

Samantha reacted to his aggressive stance by taking a large step back and eyeing him with caution.

Seeing he’d frightened her, he fought for control. Determined to rule his emotions, he wiped the frown from his face and waved her into the living room.

After a brief hesitation, she led the way into the next room then perched on the edge of his black-leather couch and settled the baby on her lap. She swept an affectionate hand over downy-soft brown hair. The baby turned to grin at her then stuffed two fingers in his mouth.

Alex chose the matching chair several feet away. In the four months he’d known her, he’d found her to be intelligent, dedicated and friendly with most people, if a little distant with him. He figured her reserve came from the same belief he held that you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure.

Eyeing the little guy in the red T-shirt, miniature overalls and baby Reeboks, he didn’t know what to think.

All he saw when he looked into those baby-blue eyes was years of responsibility. As the oldest, Alex had done his baby duty and helped with his five younger brothers when he’d still been a child himself. He’d been fourteen when his parents died in an earthquake in South America, making him the man of the family. They were supposed to have been on a buying trip for the family jewelry store but they’d been on an archeological excavation instead. They’d paid the price for playing when they should have been working. But Alex and his brothers were the ones who suffered.

To this day sorrow at their loss mixed with feelings of resentment.

Thank God for Gram, she took them in, provided a home and worked overtime to hold the business together. Alex did his best to hold the family together.

Make no mistake, he loved his brothers. He also loved kids, as principal of the high school he had to, but the thought of going home to one after spending eight hours with four-hundred teenagers blew his mind.

Not that he believed for a millisecond the boy was his.

“Who’s the kid, Samantha?” he demanded. Again. Hoping for a different explanation, one that made sense.

“Gabe is eleven months old.” She licked her bottom lip, the gesture revealing an underlying uncertainty. One she tried to hide by lifting her chin and meeting his gaze straight on. “He’s my nephew.” She tensed as if bracing herself. “And he is your son.”

He pushed to his feet. He wished she’d stop saying that.

“I don’t have any children. By choice.” And by God’s will.

With a pang, he pushed the thought away.

He saw he’d startled her, but she quickly recovered. “You may not have meant to, but you did. According to my sister’s letter, you met at a Caribbean resort the summer before last.”

She named the resort on St. Thomas where he’d vacationed nearly two years ago. A quiver of dread ran down his spine. So she had the time and place right, but that didn’t mean the boy was his.

“What’s your sister’s name? Why didn’t she tell me herself?”

“Her name was Sarah Travis. We were half sisters. She died in an automobile accident six months ago.”

Sarah. He had the impression of flashing green eyes, short sassy curls and a wanton wildness in bed. She’d been just what he needed to take his mind off one of the darkest moments in his life.

“I remember your sister. I’m sorry to hear of her death. But you’re mistaken about Gabe. He’s not my son.”

“Duck.” Gabe pointed a chubby finger toward a marble statue of birds in flight. “Duck. Duck.”

“Pretty birdies.” Samantha pulled the baby’s hand to her mouth and pretended to bite his finger, then kissed the mock injury. Gabe laughed and stuck his finger in her mouth. She repeated the game then turned her attention back to Alex. Her love for the little boy showed in her tender handling of him even as she pursued the serious conversation.

“My sister was a bit of a free spirit, but she didn’t lie. In fact, she refused to reveal who you were while she was alive. It wasn’t until after she passed away that I found a letter in her safe-deposit box naming you as Gabe’s father.”

“No disrespect to the dead, but your sister was wrong.” He paced, his agitation requiring a release. “We only spent two nights together, and I used protection. I always use protection.”

Samantha lifted a darkened brow. “You’re the principal of a high school, you know as well as I do the only one-hundred-percent effective birth control is abstinence. Condoms can break or fail.” The spark in her green eyes warned Alex she wouldn’t listen to any criticism of her sister. She cleared her throat then continued. “You are Gabe’s father.”

Alex rubbed at the ache building in his left temple. He wasn’t convinced, but she obviously believed what she told him. Which brought him to his next burning question.

“You’ve been in Paradise Pines for four months. Why are you just telling me now? Come to that, why didn’t your sister tell me when she found out she was pregnant?”

Pink bloomed in her cheeks, and she busied herself with Gabe’s clothes, straightening the overall straps over the red shirt and refolding the cuffs of his socks. Gabe put up with the fussing for about twenty seconds before bucking his small body, demanding to be put down. In his struggle, his hand caught in the neck of her sweater dragging it down.

Alex’s breath hitched at the sight of cream lace cupping creamier flesh. Samantha quickly righted the garment, flashing him a self-conscious look. No need. He’d already noticed her trim little figure, and she had nothing to be embarrassed about.

She tried to calm Gabe, but he bucked harder and squealed, fighting her efforts.

For a moment, Alex’s gaze connected with the child’s blue eyes. Sullivan blue? His will and determination certainly matched that of any Sullivan.

“Let him down,” Alex urged.

Samantha sent a doubtful look around the room at the glass-and-chrome tables, a high-tech entertainment center and the book-lined floor-to-ceiling shelves. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Can he walk?”

“Not yet, but he’s getting braver every day.”

“Let him down. I’m sure we can catch him before he does damage to himself or anything in the room.” He resumed his seat, leaving the space open for the kid.

Setting Gabe on his butt in the middle of the floor, she pulled a whiffle ball from her purse for him to play with. She gathered the scattered magazines and videos on the coffee table into a stack in the middle then resumed her seat on the edge of the couch. After a moment, she slid Alex a sidelong look before finally answering his question.

“You have to understand ours isn’t the most impressive family tree,” she said with a total lack of emotion that spoke volumes. “My father died when I was four, my mother when I was nineteen. Sarah’s father left. Seven months before she was born. My mother wasn’t a woman who found it easy to be alone. Men came into our lives, but they didn’t stay.

“Sarah was twelve years old when mom died, leaving her in my care. I did the best I could, but between college and work I couldn’t give Sarah all the attention she needed. By the time she met you, Sarah desperately needed to be needed. And she’d decided a baby would fulfill that need.”

Alex didn’t know how to respond to her revealing confession, because regardless of the sad circumstances of her life—Sarah’s life—he hadn’t heard an acceptable reason for not telling him he’d fathered a child.