Jamie Denton - The Secret Child

“If that‘s where it begins, then go for it.” Rebecca‘s voice was soft and coaxing. She leaned back in the chair again and waited for Marni to speak.

“He was a football hero. Captain of the wrestling team. You name it, Cole did it. A rich kid with everything going for him. Good looks, charm, a hot car and Elizabeth Wakefield on his arm. After he graduated from high school, he attended the university in Lawrence. Life was pretty lonely after he left town.”

“But he had a girlfriend? I don‘t understand.”

“I had a such a crush on Cole, it wouldn‘t have mattered if he‘d had ten girls shackled to his leg! He never noticed me until he returned to Elk Falls two years later. He came back to see his sister, Janelle, graduate. I finally got up the nerve to talk to him and the next day he called and asked me out.” Marni sat on the edge of her desk. “God, I was in heaven. Cole Ballinger asked me out on a date.”

She glanced at Rebecca. “I worked that summer in a law office as a receptionist, trying to save up enough money for college so I could get my paralegal certificate. My mother‘s health was getting worse and we couldn‘t afford much. It was up to me to pay my own way. I worked all day, but my evenings were spent with Cole. We did everything together. I was young and foolish, and I believed it when he told me he loved me.”

Rebecca chuckled. “A man will tell you anything when he‘s got a hard...”

“I know, I know.” Marni grimaced.

“What happened to this Wakefield woman?”

Marni shrugged. “Cole said they‘d split up.”

Rebecca shook her head. “So you made love to the guy, came here, then found out you were pregnant.”

“I called, but I spoke to his father. Carson told me his son was on his honeymoon.”

Rebecca lifted a brow at Marni‘s barely controlled sarcasm. “With Wakefield?”

Marni nodded, a stab of pain wrenching her heart. Pain at what she‘d lost, at what she could never have. “Cole told me today Elizabeth claimed to be pregnant, but she really wasn‘t.”

“So he slept with Elizabeth right after you left. What a jerk!”

Marni detected the heat in Rebecca‘s words, and despite the gravity of the situation, she found herself defending Cole. “It wasn‘t like that. If it were, this wouldn‘t be so difficult.”

“I don‘t understand.”

“Cole‘s father never liked me. My mother was a waitress, my father skipped out when I was two. I wasn‘t socially connected. All the usual stereotype clichés about a poor kid from the wrong side of town fit, and Carson Ballinger didn‘t think I was good enough for his son. Carson offered to pay for my education and take care of my mom‘s medical expenses if I stopped seeing Cole. He played on my insecurities and used my mom‘s diabetes as ammunition. I‘d never fit into Cole‘s crowd. I had no education, no breeding, as he put it. He convinced me Cole would eventually tire of making excuses for my lack of social connections and my ignorance of his way of life. He made me believe I‘d only become an embarrassment to Cole.”

A hard glint came into Rebecca‘s eyes. “And you accepted that?”

“Oh, yeah. I even took him up on his offer and told Cole the next day it was over between us. Mom and I came to L.A., and I applied to USC.”

Rebecca sniffed in derision. “Did Sonny Boy lie to you when he said Wakefield was out of the picture?”

“No, he didn‘t. When he didn‘t hear from me again, he was angry. He passed out drunk at a party one night, and when he woke up, Elizabeth was in bed with him. She told Cole when they divorced she hadn‘t really been pregnant at all.”

“What a witch!”

Marni ignored her friend‘s outburst. “Today, when he explained what happened, he told me Elizabeth got pregnant two years later. She aborted it and he divorced her. I asked him what he would have done if Elizabeth had had the baby. He was so angry, Rebecca. Really angry.”

“Can‘t say I blame him.”

Marni closed her eyes, remembering his harsh expression when he told her what Elizabeth had done. She opened her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her. “He said he would have sued her for custody–maybe even full custody.”

“Ah, I‘m beginning to understand. Still, you‘re not married to him. Why the worry? You‘re the one with all the rights here, kiddo. You can sue him for support. Thirteen years’ worth of it. A nice little nest egg if you ask me.”

“You don‘t understand. Cole‘s whole point is that Elizabeth didn‘t give him a choice. She robbed him of the opportunity to be a father.”

“Marni, I think you‘re worrying for nothing. Besides, Roe v. Wade is about a woman‘s choice, not a man‘s, and has absolutely nothing to do with your situation.”

“You didn‘t see his face.”

“Still, what his ex-wife did has nothing to do with you and Jenna.”

Marni couldn‘t accept Rebecca‘s logic. “I think it does. Don‘t you see? I didn‘t give him a choice, either. I even took money from his father.”

“Well, Cole didn‘t give you much of a choice from what I‘ve heard. He married someone else while you carried his child!”

“But I didn‘t tell him.”

“That‘s beside the point. The money part–that‘s between Cole and Daddy. It‘s not a legal problem for you. I don‘t think Sonny Boy‘ll have a leg to stand on if he does attempt to sue you for custody. You‘re a great mother, Marni. He‘ll have to petition for paternity first, then you can get him for child support. We can tie that little process up in the system for a long time.” Rebecca smiled, a slow, catlike grin. “But without proving paternity first, he doesn‘t stand a chance of gaining so much as visitation rights, so that little scenario will never have to be played out.”

“Rebecca, Cole is named as Jenna‘s father on her birth certificate.” Marni spoke softly, dreading the lawyer‘s response.

“Tell me you‘re kidding.” The incredulity in Rebecca‘s voice only increased Marni‘s trepidation.

Marni shook her head silently.

“Oh, Marni.” Rebecca looked as if she‘d just lost her best friend.

“I never thought I‘d see him again,” she reasoned, “but I still wanted Jenna to know who her father was. She is a Ballinger whether or not she lives with her father.”

Rebecca gave Marni a hard stare. “Does Jenna have his name?”

Marni couldn‘t answer.

“Is Jenna‘s name Ballinger?” she repeated.

Marni looked at her hands, clenched in her lap. She‘d fully understood the implications of her actions when she put Cole‘s name on Jenna‘s birth certificate. Now she wished she hadn‘t been so hopeful and foolhardy. “Yes.” The word came out in a choked whisper.

Marni couldn‘t bear to face Rebecca. The thought of seeing the look on her friend‘s face was simply too much for her to take right now. Marni knew she‘d been a fool; she didn‘t need to see it mirrored in Rebecca‘s eyes.

The phone on Peg‘s desk rang, but Marni knew her secretary wouldn‘t be interrupting them; the red light on Peg‘s phone indicated Marni was not to be disturbed. The air-conditioning system hummed, then sputtered, then resumed its low purr. The clock on the wall ticked, reminding her of a bomb in an old B-movie.

After an eternity, Rebecca finally spoke. “Marni, I hate to tell you this, but I think you should tell him about Jenna.”

Marni sprang from the desk, as if shot from a cannon. “No.”

“Listen to me,” Rebecca pleaded.

“No.” Marni paced the confines of the office like a caged tiger. The sensation of being trapped frightened her almost as much as Cole‘s learning the truth. “It‘s out of the question. I won‘t let him take Jenna away from me.”