Ruth Herne - Her Secret Daughter

“Hi!” Addie jumped up on the sculpted concrete edge of a raised garden and waved. “You came to find us!”

Addie looked excited to see Josie. Jacob Weatherly’s expression was more guarded. “Did you just walk through a hard hat area without permission?”

“I needed to see you.” She held his gaze, almost daring him to read more into the situation. “You said you had ideas on my relocation. I’d like to hear more about them, and I’m right up the beach, as you know.” She glanced north to emphasize the proximity. “But the beach is blocked off and the only way into this complex right now is by the road.”

“And permission.” He assessed her with a thoughtful look. “You had my number.”

She held up her phone. “I was just about to call you.”

“I see.” He breathed deeply, as if thinking, then took Addie’s hand. “I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes, so I can’t discuss this now, but if you’d like, I can come by tomorrow morning. How does nine o’clock sound?”

“Like breakfast time, and I make a marvelous French toast with fresh fruit and whipped cream.” She smiled down at Addie when she said it, and should have felt ashamed for enticing the girl, but she didn’t. Not even a little bit. Seeing Addie well and healthy after fighting cancer gave Josie a lift to her spirits, but deepened her concerns.

Had the O’Neills lied in their adoption application? What happened to Adam? Her preliminary internet search turned up nothing, so wherever he was, and whatever he was doing, it wasn’t out there for public viewing.

“We can have breakfast before we come over.” The project manager lifted his watch to show his diminishing time frame.

“But I love strawberries and French toast so much, Dad.” Addie tipped back her head and implored him with a beseeching look while thick copper curls spilled across the shoulders of her long-sleeved T-shirt. “And I’ll be so good!”

“There is a reason why my restaurant was voted number one in Southern fare and barbecue for two years running,” Josie noted. “And I’ve got a few supplies I need to use up before the move.” She left the offer sensible. If she pushed too hard, he might get suspicious. Clearly he had no idea about her relationship to the child clutching his hand. For now, she’d keep it that way.

“She does love French toast.”

Addie wrung his hand, grinning.

“All right, nine o’clock for breakfast. Although...” He turned her way again with a questioning expression. “I’m surprised, Miss Gallagher. And surprises raise questions in my head. I’m sure you can understand that, especially when your relationship with my employer has been adversarial.” He held her gaze, and Josie refused to blink or quiver. “But let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

“Perfect.” She turned to go, and he caught her hand.

Instant panic set in.

Her heart rate soared. Her hands went cold and her feet refused to move.

He didn’t seem to notice as he directed her to the small parking area alongside the finished portion of the hotel. “Let me drive you to your car so the outdoor crew doesn’t go ballistic on you. They’d catch the boss’s fury if he thought you were walking in dangerous areas without proper gear. You might not like too much about Carrington Hotels right now, but there’s a reason they’ve been voted one of the top ten construction companies in the country, and that’s because they care about quality and safety. That’s part of the reason I’ve been with them for a dozen years,” he added. He released her hand to open both doors on the passenger side. “Quality and safety are top on my radar, too.”

She shelved the bits of information he was giving her. She’d give them to Drew when he came by, but as she climbed into the front seat of Jacob Weatherly’s car, their hands touched again, briefly.

This touch spurred no panic. Was that because she read the gentleness in his gaze? The humor he slanted back, toward Addie, as she made a big show about getting her seat belt buckled? Or was it the honesty she discerned in his face?

You’ve been fooled before. Don’t let it happen again.

She took the mental warning to heart because she’d made a grievous mistake once. She’d fallen for the winning smile and trusted the wrong man.

Right now, with Addie living there in her neighborhood, she couldn’t afford to make a mistake again. She’d entrusted two people with her most precious possession, her newborn child. What happened after that was anyone’s guess, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it, because Addie deserved what Josie had promised her: a nice, normal life, unblemished by scandal. Josie had every intention of making sure her daughter got exactly that.

* * *

Strong, yet scared. Or maybe scarred was a better word, Jacob mused as he pulled up next to Josie’s aging SUV a few moments later. He’d noticed the two catering trucks in her side parking lot, brilliantly bright and absolutely clean. Her restaurant had a similar appearance, while rugged enough to be a classic dive. She’d captured the retro look outside. Tomorrow morning would give him a look inside the Bayou Barbecue. The legal battle had kept him from stopping by before now. Carrington lawyers didn’t want anything muddying the waters of eminent domain. Now he’d get to see the internal workings of the east shore go-to spot for great food.

Josie swung her door open and got out of the car quickly. “Thanks for the ride.” The look she gave him was pleasant but probably insincere. Understandable after his company had seized her land.

Then she looked toward Addie, and it was nothing but pure warmth and joy. “I’m going to go get the berries right now, so we’re all ready for tomorrow morning. Okay?”

Addie clasped her hands together. “Okay!”

She stepped back and shut the door. Jacob pulled away and headed for the work trailer offices behind the chain-link fencing. He glanced back, through the rearview mirror.

Josie had gotten into her car and was backing out of the space. He found that reassuring for some reason. Her surprise arrival concerned him. She’d shown up, out of the blue. She’d crossed a construction zone. She—he paused and his thoughts took a different route, a more personal one.

She was downright beautiful, and clearly worried. Who wouldn’t be in her situation?

As he pulled up to the double-wide work trailer, Addie leaped out of her seat and waved toward the road.

Josie Gallagher was driving by. She spotted the girl and gave a quick wave back, nothing over the top, but it seemed to make Addie happy. “I like her, Daddy!”

She clutched his hand and skipped alongside as he approached the work trailer. “You do?”

“Mmm-hmm.” She bobbed her head and her curls bounced. “She has really pretty hair.”

He couldn’t fault her six-year-old reasoning because he’d noticed Josie’s hair, too. Dark brown, with copper-red highlights, but not enough to be called auburn. And those smoke-toned eyes with a hint of green. He’d noticed their odd shade as she turned the corner of the concrete walk and their eyes met.

“I would love a dolly with hair like that,” Addie confessed. “All of my dolls have hair like mine.” She sighed as if hair made a difference. It didn’t, of course. “I might be really, really tired of yellow hair.”

“Strawberry blond,” he reminded her and laid a hand over her head. “Really pretty strawberry blond hair, and I think you’re exactly the way God wanted you to be, Addie-cakes.”

“Well, I don’t think he’d mind if I had a brown-haired dolly.” The logic of her reasoning wasn’t lost on him. “I think he’d be okay with that, actually.”

He’d never really noticed that her dolls were all light-haired. A couple were from her early years, and several were more recent gifts, but she was right. Every one of them was pale and blond- or copper-haired. Clearly he and his parents thought alike, but that was shortsighted. Her playthings should have diversity, shouldn’t they? To reflect the real world?