Kathryn Springer - For Her Son's Love

“Dinner is served.” Leah Cavanaugh swept into the room like a tawny-haired sunbeam, holding a beautifully carved tray crowded with delicate china and garnished with a single red rose.

Andrew watched her set it down on the coffee table next to Rachel and his thoughts drifted back to Miranda. For the second or third…or hundredth…time that day.

He had enough secrets of his own to be able to recognize them in someone else’s eyes. It made him curious. What was her story? Why was she cautious around men?

Maybe she isn’t cautious around men. Maybe she’s just cautious around you….

He didn’t have time to dwell on that thought because Leah took command of the room. Rachel had insisted everyone eat with her instead of in the formal dining room so, in no time, Leah had everyone sitting down, enjoying the meal she’d prepared.

The doorbell rang and Olivia, the unofficial greeter, danced away to answer it. She returned, arm-in-arm, with Jonah Fraser, one of Ben’s employees. The little girl carefully matched her steps to Jonah’s, who still walked with a slight limp due to an injury during a tour of duty in Iraq.

“Jonah?” Ben strode forward and met him halfway. “What’s up?”

“I’m sorry to bother you here, Ben, but—” Jonah looked uncomfortable with the attention his unexpected visit was receiving. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

“Did you run into problems at the Harcourt mansion today?” Ben asked, a frown of concern creasing in forehead.

“You could say that.” Jonah exhaled slowly. It was the only sound in the room because everyone had stopped eating.

“You two can use the library,” Rachel offered, her worried gaze moving between the two men.

Leah took Ben’s hand, giving him a reassuring smile. He took a step toward Jonah and then paused.

“Jonah, if this has something to do with you, we’ll go into the library. If it has something to do with me, you might as well just spill it or I’ll get stuck repeating it again. And again. And again.”

His attempt at humor fell flat. Everyone could see the tension in Jonah’s broad shoulders. He gave Ben a curt nod. “All right. I ripped out a wall at the mansion while I was working in Samantha Harcourt’s suite of rooms this afternoon and I found a folder filled with…documents.”

Ben’s jaw tightened. “What kind of documents?”

“From Tiny Blessings. There’s a stack of them at least an inch thick. And…I saw your name.”

Ben flinched as if the words had physically struck him. “Documents? From Tiny Blessings? Are you telling me you may have found copies of my adoption records?”

“I’m not sure.” Jonah’s fists clenched at his sides, the only visible sign of his frustration. “I think they might be your original adoption records, Ben.”

Leah sucked in a breath and Ben looked dazed.

“I wanted to tell you first because I know what this could mean. There are a lot of records there. Who knows which ones are legit and which ones are fakes? Either way, they’re going to blow another hole in Ross and Kelly’s life—and the Harcourts’. Not to mention other families who adopted through the agency and assumed everything was on the up and up. Or—” Jonah hesitated “—people who paid Harcourt to cover their tracks.”

Andrew saw the truth of his words begin to sink in on everyone’s faces. He’d been living in Rhode Island when the first batch of falsified adoption records had been discovered a few years back. Rachel had confided in him at the time, not only because the Noble Foundation supported Tiny Blessings but because Kelly Young Van Zandt, the director, was one of Rachel’s friends.

“Do you… Did you…notice anything else on the papers? The ones that had my name on them?” Ben asked.

Jonah understood the significance of the question and he nodded. “Your mother… Her name was there.”

Leah closed her eyes and Ben instinctively drew her and Olivia into the shelter of his arms.

“It’s Millicent. Millicent Cunningham.”

“Cunningham.” Ben repeated the name, trying to keep his emotions under control.

“What do you want me to do?” Jonah asked simply.

Ben was silent. It was Leah who stepped into the gap.

“First we’re going to pray,” she said. “And then we’re going to call Ross.”

“Pleeease, Miranda. You’re the only person I know who doesn’t have plans on a Friday night.” Darcy clasped her hands together and probably would have dropped to her knees if she hadn’t been wearing her favorite pair of white jeans.

She’d trapped Miranda in the small break room off the kitchen when she’d stopped at the diner to pick up her paycheck.

Miranda wasn’t sure what amused her more—the truth in the desperate plea or that Darcy could draw out a simple, one-syllable word like please for ten excruciating seconds.

“Just for the record, I do have a date. With a very handsome young man. We’re going to play Chutes and Ladders, drink root beer and eat popcorn.”

“Sounds boring… Oh, you’re talking about Daniel.” Darcy looked relieved. “I only need you to cover the last hour of my shift so Greg and I can catch the nine o’clock movie. One hour. That’s it. I promise. This could be the night when he falls madly in love with me. My entire future rests in your hands.” She nibbled on the tips of her artificial nails and waited while Miranda decided her fate.

“I thought you were waiting for Andrew Noble to fall madly in love with you.” Miranda couldn’t resist teasing her a little.

“You were right. Andrew might be Mr. Gorgeous and Available to three or four women on this planet, but he’s Mr. Gorgeous and Out of My League to Darcy Gibson. Greg drives a brand new Saturn and doesn’t live with his mother. I’d say that makes him a pretty good catch, wouldn’t you?” She snapped her gum to underscore the point.

“I’ll work for you.” It was the safest thing Miranda could say at the moment.

Darcy squealed and hugged her. “Thanks, Miranda. I owe you. If you ever have a real date and need someone to keep an eye on Dan the Little Man, let me know. He’s into science, right? I remember some cool experiments from chem class.”

Miranda made a mental note never to ask Darcy to babysit. Ever. Not that she’d be going out on a date anytime soon. The one serious relationship she’d had in her life, with Hal Stevens, had shaken her to the core. She no longer trusted her own judgment when it came to men.

She had met Hal at the bank where she’d worked as a loans officer and immediately she’d been drawn to him. Good-looking and successful, Hal was a junior partner in a local law firm. His confident, take-charge personality seemed to be just what she’d needed at that time in her life. Reeling from the loss of her beloved older sister and trying to figure out how to parent an active toddler, Miranda had been overwhelmed. Hal’d swept into her life like the proverbial knight on a white horse.

Within months, however, the “take-charge” man who’d lovingly encouraged her to lean on him slowly took over her life. He’d openly criticized her friends until they eventually stopped calling. He’d accused her of flirting with the male customers who came into the bank. He’d dropped in during business hours to check up on her. Somewhere along the way, his attentive courtship had morphed into a jealous obsession. Gradually his tirades weren’t only limited to the men Miranda had come into contact with at the bank—they’d started to cast a dark shadow on her relationship with Daniel. Hal had begun to complain about the amount of attention she gave to her son.

Miranda had found herself living in a nightmare. And it got worse. One evening, she’d told Hal she couldn’t go to a concert with him because Daniel had a fever. Hal had screamed that Daniel wasn’t even her biological son so it wasn’t fair he had to compete with the boy. And then he’d pushed her against the wall. It was the first time his attacks had crossed the line from verbal to physical. Daniel had witnessed the scuffle and had burst into tears. It had given Miranda the courage to do what she had to do. She’d broken up with him.