Bachelor Dad: A Single Dad Romance
Roxann Delaney
She kissed him, deeply and slowly, taking his breath away and causing his heart to pound.
In one smooth movement, he turned them over and gazed down into her surprised eyes, before capturing her lips again.He hadn’t planned this.He didn’t know how far it would go.But he wasn’t going to stop now.
City attorney Garrett Miles is a man who is happy with his life. He’s effective, well liked and enjoys his moments with the gorgeous waitress Libby at the local tavern. Suddenly finding out he’s a father, and that the little girl is coming to live with him throws a bit of a spanner in the works. Turning to Libby Carter for guidance could be the ideal solution, but there are some things the single mother isn’t sharing.
Libby fled with her son to escape her abusive ex. She’s hoping the close-knit Oklahoma small town will be the place where she can finally stop running. Especially now that Garrett’s in her life. But Garrett is a lawyer, and if he discovers she violated her custody agreement and crossed state lines, he’ll have to turn her in.
After one man nearly destroyed her, can she trust another with her son’s life?
“Talk to me, Libby,” he said, looking into the depths of her amber eyes.
“What is it?” he whispered, afraid he would scare her away.
“It’s nothing,” she answered, and tried to break free, but he held her tight.
When he turned her face with one finger so he could look into her eyes again, he saw the sparkle of tears.
Cupping her cheek with one hand, he pulled her closer with his other. “Won’t you let me help?”
Her sigh seemed to come from the depths of her, but she didn’t look away. Tears mixed with raindrops as they made a path down her cheek, and then her eyes slowly drifted shut. Without thinking, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. Garrett felt her start to pull away, and then she seemed to fold herself into him.
Dear Reader,
The winter of 2010–2011 has been a tough one for those of us who live in North America. Between snowstorms and flooding, no one has escaped unusual weather. The one good thing that may have come from this is the chance to read.
Whether it’s the weather or just the overall enjoyment of books, it seems I’ve been rebitten by the reading bug, doing more reading this year than I have for a long time, and really enjoying it. I’ve also been doing a lot of writing, which has culminated in this, the sixth book set in Desperation, Oklahoma. I’m especially pleased that you’ve chosen the story of Desperation’s City Attorney, Garrett Miles, a man who’s happy with his lot in life, and single mom Libby Carter. When a “package” is delivered to Garrett, his life takes on new responsibilities as he learns firsthand some of the things Libby goes through every day. As for Libby, she has secrets that can’t be shared. But can secrets remain buried in Desperation?
In the United States, one out of four people will be victims of domestic violence. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, over 2 million people called a hotline or domestic violence crisis center in 2004. If you’re in a violent relationship or know someone who is, get help now. For more information, visit the Domestic Violence Resource Center (www.dvrc-or.org) or domesticviolence.org. Help make sure everyone has a chance at happy ever after.
Best Wishes and Happy Reading,
Roxann
Bachelor Dad
Roxann Delaney
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To the wonderful ladies of
WARA (Wichita Area Romance Authors)
for their encouragement, support, and especially
their friendship for the past fifteen years.
Chapter One
Ignoring the lunch crowd at Lou’s Place, Garrett Miles skimmed the minutes from Tuesday night’s city council meeting and jotted a note on a legal pad. The local tavern might not be the ideal place for the city attorney to be working, but his tiny office in the municipal building had become claustrophobic. Besides, he was hungry.
“Coffee, tea or …”
Smiling, he looked up and into a pair of familiar amber eyes and a devilish smile. “When did you start working the lunch shift?” he asked.
Libby Carter waited until he’d put his paperwork aside before she placed a cup of coffee in front of him. “Jeanine needed a couple of hours off, so I offered to cover for her. I didn’t know you came here for lunch.”
A strand of her blond hair had slipped from the twisted knot at the back of her head and fallen along her cheek, and he fought the urge to touch it. He’d always been attracted to Libby and liked her far more than he should.
He pushed the thought aside, smiled again and shrugged. “I had a hankering for one of Kate McPherson’s barbecue beef sandwiches and didn’t want to wait until after work.”
“I can’t blame you for that,” she answered, tucking the errant strand of hair behind her ear. “Is there anything else I can get you? Besides the sandwich, that is.”
Picking up the cup in front of him, he shook his head. “Just the sandwich,” he answered. “And keep the coffee coming.”
She looked over her shoulder when another customer called to her, and Garrett heard her sigh before she answered. “Be there in a second, Gus.” When she turned back to Garrett, she flashed him a smile. “Duty calls. I’ll have that sandwich for you right away.”
“Thanks.”
He watched her walk to the bar where several locals sat, their beer glasses and bottles in hand, their talk quiet except for an occasional burst of laughter. He didn’t stop in for lunch at Lou’s often, preferring to visit in the evenings after work, but today he’d needed the change of scenery. Seeing Libby was a perk.
Picking up the cup of coffee, he took a drink—and nearly scalded the roof of his mouth, causing him to let out a small yelp.
Libby appeared within seconds with a glass of water. “Too hot?”
He nodded and set his cup down quickly.
She picked it up and sighed. “I told Lou he was serving it too hot. Did he listen? Like he always does, meaning never. I’ll get it cooled down.” Shaking her head, she hurried to the bar and reached over the top of it.
Garrett stared, instantly forgetting about his burned mouth. He wasn’t the only one in the place who was looking. Nearly every man with decent eyesight was watching, the same as he was. It hadn’t escaped his notice or anyone else’s that Libby’s charms included more than being a good waitress with a sassy attitude. She was a very attractive woman. Especially from the back.
He’d thought more than once of asking her out, but he’d never done it. He didn’t have time, and he wasn’t interested in a relationship. Libby might be fun to flirt with at Lou’s, but he knew from talking to her that she was a single mom and as far as he was concerned, that was a red light.
“I added some ice,” Libby said, hurrying back to his table and setting the cup of cooled coffee in front of him again.
The twinkle in her eyes put him on guard. “What, besides ice, did you put in it?”
“Only ice, I swear,” she answered, placing one hand flat on the table and holding up the other. “I want to make sure it’s all right. After all, we can’t have one of our best customers, not to mention our only non-beer-drinking customer, burning his mouth.”
“It’s okay,” he answered. “I’m good.”
“So I’ve heard.”
He couldn’t keep from chuckling. Having a conversation with Libby was always a game. “Hassling the injured guy, are you?”
“Get ‘em while they’re down, I always say.” She walked away with an exaggerated swing to her hips.
Within minutes, she returned with his sandwich. “On the house,” she told him.
“There’s no need for that,” he assured her, pulling the plate closer. “I’m not going to sue.”
He’d expected a smart answer from her, but instead she said nothing. She looked tired, he thought, noticing the dark circles beneath her eyes, but she always had a smile for everyone.
She leaned forward to wipe a few water rings from the table with the corner of the dishtowel tucked into the waistband of her jeans. “Why hasn’t such a nice guy like you settled down with an equally good woman?”
He considered giving her a flippant answer, but instead he decided she deserved honesty. “I practiced family law back in Chicago for several years. You know, divorce and child custody and all that. I thought I could make a difference. Came to find out, I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep those kids from being pawns of their parents. Divorce is always messy, even when everybody starts out agreeing, but when kids are involved … Well, I guess you could say the whole experience jaded me.”
“I can understand how that could happen,” she answered, without looking directly at him.
“What about you?” he asked. “You’re divorced, right?”
She nodded as she continued to wipe at a spot on the table, but she didn’t say anything.
“What about Noah’s dad?” he continued, curious. When she straightened, a frown marring her usually sunny expression, he knew he’d stepped over the bounds. “I’m sorry, it’s none of my business.”
“No, it’s all right. I started it,” she admitted with a small smile. “Noah’s dad isn’t in the picture.”
He nodded, accepting her brief answer. Before he could say anything else, his cell phone rang. Pulling it from the pocket inside his jacket, he answered. “Garrett here.”
“Garrett, were you expecting a delivery?”
He recognized the voice of Tootie Fredericks, the city administrator. “No. Why?”
“You need to get back to the office, right now.”
She sounded upset, and he knew that wasn’t a good sign. “What is it, Tootie?”
“A package came for you.”
“A package? Can’t it wait?”
“No, it can’t, and you need to get your butt here right now.”
He was accustomed to her eccentricities, chalking them up to her thirty plus years working for the city, and he chuckled softly. Tootie was a great administrator, but sometimes she got carried away. “Why? Will it explode?”
“No,” she answered briskly, “but you might. Get a move on.”
“But what—?” There was no reason to finish. He heard the empty silence and knew she’d ended the call. Sighing, he looked at the half-eaten sandwich in front of him and quickly caught Libby’s eye. “Can you get me something so I can take my sandwich with me?” he asked when she hurried over. “I’d really appreciate it. I have to get back to the office.”
“Of course. It’ll only take a second.” Libby disappeared, taking the sandwich and plate with her.
He’d just finished gathering his paperwork together and was pulling some money from his wallet, when she reappeared with a paper sack and handed it to him. “I hope everything is all right.”
“Oh, I’m sure it is. She probably thinks I’ve taken a long enough lunch today. You know what they say. A man’s work is never done.”
“I do believe it’s a woman’s work that’s never done,” she corrected him, as he moved away from the table.
“Could be.” He realized he was wishing he didn’t have to leave and knew he shouldn’t feel that way. Pressing the bills into her hand, he said, “That should take care of it, with a little extra for you.”
She shook her head, but he ignored it and left the tavern, turning toward the city building, two blocks away. It was a nice day, and he’d chosen to walk to Lou’s and enjoy the outdoors. He didn’t hurry, suspecting that Tootie simply thought it was time for him to be back at his desk.
As he reached the Chick-a-Lick Café, Morgan Rule, Desperation’s sheriff, stepped out and onto the sidewalk. “I didn’t see you inside and thought you might be working at home today,” Morgan said, joining him.
Garrett explained that he’d gone to Lou’s for a change, and they walked on to city hall together. The small building where they both worked sat on the far corner of what was considered the business part of town. Garrett stopped at the first door, while Morgan continued on to the next. Once inside, Garrett passed through the reception area and continued along a hallway.
As he walked by Tootie’s office, she stepped out and grabbed him by the arm, leading him to his office.
“What’s going on, Tootie?” he asked, tired of whatever game she was playing. “And where’s this package?”
“You’ll see,” she answered, hanging back as he walked into his office and put the paper bag on his desk. When he looked back at her, standing just outside the doorway, she nodded her head. “Go on.”
“I don’t see any—” He stopped, then shook his head, thinking he was seeing things.
A small girl sat on a nearby chair, her hands folded in her lap. His first thought was that she looked like his sister, and he couldn’t imagine how that could be. He was pretty sure she didn’t have a daughter.
So who was this child?
He turned to look at Tootie, still standing in the doorway. “Who—?”
“Shush,” she whispered, glancing behind him at the little girl. Crooking her finger at him to follow, she directed him outside the door and then pressed an envelope into his hand. “Maybe this will answer your question.”
Garrett glanced at the child again and then tore open the envelope. Unfolding the single piece of paper he found inside, he read handwriting that was eerily familiar to him, and he wasn’t eager to remember why. It wasn’t long before he knew.
Hoping Tootie wouldn’t see that his hands had begun to shake, he folded the paper and returned it to the envelope. He wasn’t sure he could speak, so he cleared his throat before he tried. “Who brought this?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t see her. Geri was up front, and she brought the girl back to me and asked me when you’d be back. I told her you were out to lunch. She said a woman had walked in and asked for you. When Geri told her you were out, she said something about you expecting the girl, handed her that envelope and hightailed it out the door.”
He didn’t doubt the girl’s mother was in and out before anyone could question her. “Did Geri see the car she came in?”
“She said it was a dark color, and it looked like there was a man behind the wheel, but it peeled away so fast, she couldn’t get a tag number. But it wasn’t an Oklahoma license.” Tootie’s eyes narrowed as she watched him. “You weren’t expecting her, were you?” When he shook his head and avoided looking at her, her sigh was deafening. “What’s going on, Garrett?”
He wasn’t sure how to say it. If what was in the short letter was true …
“Her name is Sophie,” he answered. “Sophie Miles.”
“Sophie Miles?” Tootie repeated.
He nodded, and his throat tightened around the words he needed to say. “She’s my daughter.”
LIBBY WATCH ED AS THE HEAVY wooden door of the tavern slowly swung shut behind Garrett and reminded herself that she could never get involved with any man, especially him. If he knew the truth … She gave herself a shake. He didn’t know and never would.
The old, scarred door swung open again, but it was Jeanine who breezed inside. Hurrying toward Libby, she smiled. “Thanks for filling in for me,” she said. “I’ll take over. You can go home and rest up before tonight’s shift.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Libby answered and turned to the table Garrett had vacated. “I’ll just finish clearing this table and—” Tucked next to the coffee cup Garrett had used was his cell phone. “Looks like Garrett forgot something.”
“Maybe you should take it to him,” Jeanine suggested, a twinkle in her eye.
Libby knew what her fellow waitress was thinking and decided her best course of action would be to ignore it. “I suppose I should. It will only take a couple of minutes, and then I can go home and sleep until Noah gets home from school.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jeanine said. “I’ll finish cleaning up.”
Libby hesitated. “You’re sure?”
Jeanine gave her a gentle shove. “Of course.”
“Okay, thanks.” Libby pulled the towel from her waistband as she hurried to the bar and stepped behind it. She hadn’t slept especially well the night before. Usually she had no problem, but she’d been restless and dreams that bordered on nightmares had plagued her, waking her with a pounding heart. She was sure there was no reason to be worried, and she tried not to, but something would trigger memories she thought were buried, and that’s when the dreams would start.
Grabbing her purse from under the bar, she slipped the cell phone inside, then headed toward the door, giving Jeanine a wave as she stepped outside. The early afternoon sunshine was bright, and she blinked as she crossed the gravel parking lot to her car. The car door groaned when she opened it, but she ignored it and slid inside. For a brief moment, she was afraid the car wasn’t going to start, but the engine finally took hold, and within seconds she was on her way down the street to the city building.
Within a few minutes, she’d quickly parked the car, hurried inside and pulled the phone from her purse. Expecting to give it someone at the front desk, she was surprised to find no one there. With a shrug, she moved on and discovered a hallway that she hoped would lead her to the city offices where she’d find Garrett. A few steps later, she heard him before she saw him.
“Why didn’t you call me?” he said, his voice not far away.
“I did, if you remember.”
Libby could see Garrett and silver-haired Tootie Fredericks standing just inside a small office she suspected was Garrett’s. Not wanting to interrupt or appear to be eavesdropping, she stopped and waited. But not overhearing what was being said was impossible. Although Tootie’s voice was low, the volume of Garrett’s wasn’t.
“You gave me some crazy talk about a package.” He raked his hand through his hair, leaving part of it sticking straight up. “It wasn’t as if you even gave me a clue.”
“You need to lower your voice,” Tootie said, sounding like a teacher reprimanding a student.
Garrett happened to look up at that moment, and Libby knew the moment he saw her. “Sorry to bother you,” she said, quickly approaching them and ready to get this little visit over with, “but no one was up front.”
Tootie stepped out of the office and into the hallway. “I thought Geri was watching the front.”
“You can’t leave!” Garrett said as she started to walk away. There was no question in Libby’s mind that something had him in a panic. She didn’t recall ever seeing him ruffled by anything.
The frown Tootie shot him immediately softened to what might be recognized as a smile by some, and she patted the hand he now had on her arm. “You’ll be fine for a minute or two. I’ll find Geri. She’s probably upset because I lit into her earlier. I’ll be right back. Until then, Libby can keep you both company.”
“Both?” Libby repeated as Tootie left them. She turned to Garrett. “I’m sorry. I’ve obviously picked a bad time.”
“It’s not that.” He cleared his throat but said nothing else.
Attempting to ignore his obvious discomfort, she quickly handed him his cell phone. “I stopped by to give you this. You left it at Lou’s.”
He took the phone from her and shoved it inside his jacket. “Thanks.”
“Is something wrong?” she finally dared to ask.
“No,” he said, but followed that with a nod. “Okay, yes, there’s something wrong.” He glanced over his shoulder, and then quickly added, “Not wrong, just …”
Libby heard the tap of footsteps coming closer down the hall and looked back to see Tootie. Good. Now she could leave. Whatever was going on with Garrett, she didn’t feel comfortable being a part of it. Talking to him at Lou’s was one thing. Being around him outside of where she worked was something completely different.
Before she could make a move to leave, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking more closely, she saw a small girl sitting perfectly still on a straight-backed metal chair near a tall filing cabinet. The child held a battered teddy bear in her arms.
“Hi, there,” Libby said, smiling at the child, and then turned to Garrett. “Daughter of a client?”
“That’s a good question,” Tootie said, stepping inside the office. “You should answer her, Garrett.”
“Libby came to bring me my phone,” he explained, ignoring her suggestion. He headed for a coffeemaker near the filing cabinet and poured himself a cup. “I accidentally left it behind at Lou’s.”
Tootie chuckled at the information. “Saturday he left it at the post office.”
All Libby wanted to do at that point was leave. “Yes, well—”
“Would you like some?” he asked Libby, gesturing toward the coffeemaker.
“No, thank you. I really should be going.”
“Tootie? How about you? It seems we’re having some sort of get-together here.”
But Libby was watching the little girl, who slid down from the chair and walked slowly to Garrett. Holding her teddy bear in one arm with what appeared to be a fierce grip, she tugged on the sleeve of Garrett’s jacket with her free hand.
He looked down at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. “Do you want something?” he asked carefully.
She nodded and pointed to his coffee cup.
“Oh, mercy me,” Tootie exclaimed. “She’s thirsty. Don’t you dare give her coffee, Garrett Miles. It’ll stunt her growth.”
Libby had to clamp her mouth shut on the laugh that threatened. “Is there water somewhere?” she asked. “An extra glass or cup, maybe?”
“I have something even better,” Tootie said and turned to the little girl. “Do you like milk?”
The child nodded her head and almost smiled.
“We have some in the refrigerator in back for people who use it in their coffee. Why don’t you come with me and we’ll get you a glass.”
The girl took Tootie’s hand when she held it out, and they stepped out into the hall. Garrett let out a loud sigh of what was obviously relief, just as Tootie stuck her head back in the door. “Why don’t you show Libby that letter? She’s a mother. Maybe she can make some sense of it all.”
This time Garrett watched them as they walked away. When they’d disappeared around a corner, he shook his head and leaned his hip against his desk. “This is …” His hand went to his hair again, but stopped midway. He turned to Libby, saying, “I’m sorry you were dragged into this.”
Concerned that whatever was going on was not only serious but very private, she didn’t know what to say. “Since I don’t really know what’s going on, there’s no reason to be sorry. And before I do know too much, maybe I should go.”
She’d taken a step toward the doorway, when he spoke. “I’d rather you didn’t.” When she glanced back at him, he pushed away from the desk. “I could use a more unbiased yet knowledgeable person to counsel me.”
“Knowledgeable? Me?” She couldn’t imagine how she could help him. The only thing she knew about that he didn’t was how to disappear, and he might even have a clue about that. Her life prior to her arrival in Desperation eight months ago was a closed—and tightly locked—subject, not to mention something she’d rather forget.
“You’re a single parent,” he answered. “Most of the parents I know these days are couples, although back in the day, I guess I helped couples become single parents.”
He didn’t appear especially proud of that last part, and she could understand. She also understood that she had to remain silent when it came to her situation and how she managed to get to where she was now. Not only was secrecy about her escape from Phoenix with her son a necessity, but Garrett being a lawyer was a danger, not only to her but to those who had helped her.
And then she thought about what he’d just said.
“What does my being a single parent have to do with you?”
He picked up an envelope from his desk, pulled a folded paper from it and handed it to her. “This might answer your question and explain why I’m acting rather strange.”
She studied him for a moment, trying to decide if he was kidding. Unable to tell, she unfolded the letter and began skimming the handwriting. It didn’t take long before the skimming stopped and the reading began. From what she could tell, it was what people called a kiss-off letter, but it wasn’t Garrett who was getting dumped, it was the little girl. Her name was Sophie Miles, and apparently she was Garrett’s daughter.
Glancing up at him, she asked, “Were you aware of this?”
He stuffed both hands in his pockets and shook his head. “Not until Tootie gave me the letter.”
Libby looked around to make sure no one was nearby. “Are you sure you’re the father?” she asked in a whisper.
“She looks exactly like my sister at that age. Right down to the freckles across her nose.”
Libby didn’t want to make things worse for him, but even he should know that a resemblance wouldn’t stand up in court. “That’s definitely a good sign, but—”
“I intend to have a paternity test done, if that’s what you’re going to say.”
She studied him. “You really didn’t have a clue?”
“Absolutely none.”
By the set of his mouth, she knew she shouldn’t push it. Maybe he hadn’t known, but whether he had or not wasn’t the question. “I guess I should congratulate you,” she finally said, not knowing what else she could do. “It isn’t every day a man learns he’s the father of a four-year-old. And just so you know, you were lucky to miss the diaper and potty training years.”
He gripped the coffee cup tightly in his hands and stared into it. “That doesn’t convince me that this is going to be easy.”
She smiled. “It isn’t.”
He looked up with a pitiful smile of his own. “Which is why women have babies, not men.”
“You just keep thinking that,” she replied, swallowing a chuckle.
Their conversation came to a halt when Tootie returned with the little girl. “She’s hungry,” Tootie announced.
Libby looked at Garrett. “Is that the other half of your sandwich?” she asked, pointing to the sack on his desk. “You could give it to Sophie.”
“I don’t know why not. I seem to have misplaced my appetite.”
Tootie took the sack from Libby and bent down to Sophie. “The break room would be a much better place to have lunch than here in this busy office. Let’s take it in there, and I’ll get you another glass of milk. How would that be?”
The child nodded, but didn’t speak, and as Sophie followed Tootie out the door, Libby wondered why. But before giving any more thought to it, she realized how long she’d been there and that she still had the letter Garrett had given her in her hand. “I’d probably better be on my way,” she told him, giving the folded paper back to him. Turning for the door, she was almost in the hallway when she heard him speak.
“She hasn’t said anything. Not a single word.”
Libby looked back, but wasn’t sure how to answer. “She may be shy,” she tried, hoping that would ease the lines that had deepened between his gray eyes. “After all, everything here is new to her.”
He nodded, but the worry on his face remained. “Including me.”
She pressed her lips together, wondering if there was anything she could say that would cushion his shock at learning he was a father. But she didn’t feel she knew him well enough to give him advice. “You’ll both do fine,” she offered, hoping that would help at least a little.
He shook his head. “I don’t see how we can. I don’t know the first thing about raising a child.”
“Neither do most mothers with their first,” she pointed out. “But they learn.”
“No, women are endowed with maternal instincts.”
“Endowed?” she asked, laughing.
“You know what I mean. And I’m serious. I really don’t know what to do.”
“You’ll learn, Garrett, and before you know it, you’ll be a great father.” At least she hoped he would be. All he really needed was to get off to a good start. To do that he needed—”Why don’t you have your sister take a look at Sophie? Make sure she’s in good physical shape, and then go from there.”
His worry lines eased a little, and a hopeful smile appeared. “You’re right. I’ll take her to see Paige today. Thanks, Libby.”
“You would have thought of it yourself.” Before he could deny it, she hurried on. “I’d better be getting home. I’m working the night shift, too, and Noah will be home from school soon.”
He nodded. “Thanks again.”
“Any time.” But something kept her from taking that step away. Surely she could do something else for him. She wouldn’t have to get involved, just offer a little support.
“Garrett?”
When his gaze met hers, she saw that his usually bright eyes were clouded with worry. “If you need some help—you know, a question about food or clothes or whatever—let me know.”
His eyes cleared, and then his smile slowly appeared, spreading wide. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Good grief! she thought as she hurried down the hallway toward the main door. Was she out of her mind? The less she was around Garrett Miles, the better. But, fool that she was, she’d just offered to help.
Chapter Two
Garrett had hoped the waiting room of the small medical clinic where his sister was the only physician would be empty. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be, but hope seemed to be the only thing he had left. He was worried. Sophie hadn’t spoken a word since Tootie had taken charge of her at the city building nearly four hours earlier. Even now, as she and Garrett stepped inside the waiting room of the clinic, she was silent, holding his hand with a grip a wrestler would admire while she clung to her teddy bear with her other hand.
Don Fulcom, the husband of one of the nurses, sat in a chair, thumbing through a magazine. He looked up as Garrett and Sophie crossed the room. Garrett nodded in greeting and guessed the man was probably there to pick up his wife.
“Hello, Garrett,” Cara Milton said from the other side of the receptionist’s window.
Garrett noticed she was trying hard not to stare at Sophie, and he tried just as hard to ignore her obvious curiosity. “Is my sister free?”
She turned to look into the hallway behind her before answering. “Not quite yet, I’m afraid, but she shouldn’t be too much longer.” She crooked a finger at him, and he leaned closer, hoping she wasn’t going to ask him about Sophie. Instead, she asked, “Would you like to wait in her office?”
He looked down at Sophie, so small and silent next to him, and he nodded.
Cara smiled as he crossed to the door that led from the waiting room into the hallway and on to his sister’s office. He knew full well that he and Sophie would soon be the talk of the town, especially when, before he was completely out of earshot, he heard a whisper.
“I wonder who that little girl is?” Cara was saying to Don Fulcom.
Garrett didn’t wait to hear the answer and doubted Don even had one. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he took Sophie into Paige’s office.
“Do you want to sit down?” He pointed to two chairs facing a worn desk that was stacked with medical files and journals.
Sophie hesitated, before climbing onto the chair closest to the wall.
Knowing that news spread fast in Desperation, Garrett wanted to be the one to tell his sister he was a father. Not that he had any idea of how to do it. She’d probably ask questions, and he knew so little, except that Sophie was the result of a relationship with a young woman he’d once thought he might be in love with. It had taken a few months for him to know the real Shana, and once it became clear that she wasn’t the kind of person he’d thought she was, he broke it off. A month and a half later, he moved to Cincinnati, where he lived with his sister until he was hired by the City of Desperation.
Nervous, he leaned a hip against the edge of the desk, crossed his arms, smiled at Sophie and waited. He’d learned quickly that trying to have a conversation with a four-year-old who didn’t speak—for whatever reason—was pretty much futile. Hopefully Paige could give him a clue as to what was going on, and then he would do whatever was needed to correct the problem. It was that simple.
Several silent minutes later, he heard Paige’s voice outside the small office. As the door opened, he pushed away from the desk and gave Sophie what he hoped was an encouraging smile.
“Cara told me you needed to see me?” Paige made it a question as she stepped into the room. For a brief moment, she looked only at Garrett, but when Sophie shifted in the chair, Paige looked down. “Well, hello there!” she greeted Sophie. “I didn’t see you.” Kneeling to Sophie’s level, Paige smiled and stuck out her hand. “My name is Paige. What’s yours?”
When Sophie didn’t answer, but placed her hand in Paige’s, Paige looked up at Garrett, who managed to swallow his nervousness enough to speak. “Her name is Sophie,” he answered.
The confusion in Paige’s eyes didn’t make him feel any calmer, nor did her next question for Sophie. “And who do you belong to?”
His nerves were like pins sticking him when Sophie slowly looked up at him. He had no choice but to answer.
After all, that’s why he was there to see his sister. “She belongs to me.”
Paige slowly turned her head to stare at him, her surprise bordering on disbelief.
“She’s my daughter.”
Paige’s mouth opened, as if she was going to say something, but instead, she closed it and turned back to smile at Sophie. “And how old are you, Sophie?” she asked.
To Garrett’s surprise, Sophie held up four fingers.
Standing, Paige turned to him and spoke softly. “I’ve always wanted a pretty little niece.” More quietly, she added, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Relief washed over Garrett, and he leaned against the desk again. The activities of the afternoon had definitely tested him. At the moment, he wasn’t sure he was passing.
“Are you all right?” Paige asked.
He nodded and stood straight. “I’m good.” After glancing at Sophie, he turned back to his sister. “I’d feel better if I knew Sophie is okay.”
Paige smiled at his daughter. “We can do that.” When she opened the door to step outside, Fran Simpson, the other nurse, was in the hallway. “Which examining room can we use?” Paige asked her.
“They’re all free. The last of the patients are gone.”
“Good,” Paige replied. “I’ll lock up. You and Cara and Susan can go on home. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Have a good evening,” Fran called, her voice coming from farther down the hall.
When Paige motioned for Garrett to follow her, he held out his hand to Sophie, who hesitated at first and then took it. Her tiny hand in his felt fragile as they followed Paige into the hallway, and his heart constricted at the thought of what Sophie’s life might have been like before she’d arrived at his office. He didn’t have a clue, and now that he thought about it, it scared him. If anything had happened … If anything was wrong with her …
“Right in here,” Paige said, stepping into the nearest examining room. She pointed to the padded table. “Put her up there, while I go grab a new chart.”
Sophie let go of his hand, and he lifted her onto the table. The paper runner crackled beneath her as she settled on it, and she looked up at him, her eyes wide.
“She’s my sister,” he said, moving back. “The doctor is,” he added. “Do you know what a sister is?”
Sophie shrugged her shoulders.
“So much for that,” he muttered.
Paige breezed back into the room, a manila folder in her hand. “They’ve all gone, so there won’t be any interruptions. Is there anything special I’m looking for?”
“Anything,” he answered. “Everything. I just want to know that she’s okay. Healthy.”
Placing the stethoscope at her ears, Paige glanced at him. “You have some explaining to do,” she said quietly, before putting the flat, round end of it on Sophie’s chest.
Fifteen minutes later, after what Garrett was sure was a thorough exam, Paige reached down into a basket on the floor and pulled out a children’s picture book. “Do you like to read, Sophie?” she asked. A nod was Sophie’s reply, and Paige handed her the book. “Your daddy and I are going to go out in the hall for a minute. If you need anything, all you have to do is jump down and open the door. We’ll be right on the other side of it. Okay?”
When Sophie had nodded and opened her book, Garrett followed his sister into the hall, still reeling at someone using the word daddy when referring to him. “Well?”
“She appears to be healthy. Her vitals are good. Heartbeat is strong, lungs are clear, no cold or anything else going on. Of course I can’t be completely sure without lab tests, but at this point in time, I don’t see a reason for them, unless you want them done.”
He shook his head. As soon as he could track down Shana, he’d know more. Lifting his gaze to his sister’s, he brought up the one thing that had been bothering him the most. “She hasn’t spoken.”
Paige shrugged. “My best guess is that it isn’t physical. Her hearing seems normal, as does everything else. She said ‘Ah’ when I asked her to, so it’s nothing with her vocal cords. It may be that she just isn’t ready to talk. Any clue why that would be?”
Knowing she was expecting an explanation, he told her what had happened, starting with the call from Tootie while he was having lunch. “If I’d known …”
“Apparently her mother didn’t want you to know. Her loss. She doesn’t sound very stable.”
“She isn’t.” But that’s all he would say. There wasn’t any reason to tell his sister about a relationship that had ended five years before. Not unless there was something wrong with Sophie, and apparently there wasn’t. Not physically, anyway.
Paige put her hand on his arm. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”
Garrett hoped what he was going to say next wouldn’t come out sounding wrong, but he didn’t have a choice. “I’d like to have a paternity test done.”
Paige nodded, her expression serious. “I can arrange that for you.”
“Good,” he answered. “I’d appreciate it. Just let me know when and where.”
“Do you have someone to watch her during the day?” she asked.
“That’s next on my list of things to do.”
“I’ll be happy to help when I can, but all I have free is evenings and weekends. That won’t help you during the day.”
“I’ll find someone.” At least he hoped he would. He didn’t know what types of day care were available in Desperation. He’d never needed to know.
“One more thing,” Paige said. “As soon as you can, have Jules talk to her. This whole thing sounds terribly traumatic. I’m not all that surprised that she isn’t talking.”
“I will.”
She gave him a quick hug. “You may not think so, but everything will work out. Give it time.”
He thanked her, and then he retrieved Sophie and headed for home. They were a block away when he realized there might not be anything in his house for dinner. Too often he didn’t think ahead and simply grabbed something at the café or at Lou’s. He was going to have to learn to do some real shopping. Cooking, too. Not that he didn’t know how, but cooking for one had never excited him, so he didn’t do a lot of it.
He slowed to a stop when Vern Isley stepped out between two parked cars to cross the street. Even when the eighty-something gentleman was all the way to the other side of the street, Garrett remained stopped. He chuckled to himself. Where there’s Vern, there’s Esther.
Sure enough, Esther Watson stepped out between the same two cars and hurried across the street, several yards behind Vern. “One of these days …” Garrett said, the car now in motion again.
Glancing in his rearview mirror, he tried for a cheery voice. “You’re in for a real treat, Sophie,” he said, while making a U-turn at the end of the block. “I’m going to take you to the Chick-a-Lick Café for dinner. You can’t ask for much better than that.”
From the used booster seat that Tootie had managed to find and was now attached in the backseat, Sophie watched him. The sky was darkening as dusk began to settle in, but he could see his daughter’s solemn expression. He hoped that would soon change. She’d come to him with a small suitcase, a battered teddy bear and a lot of questions that might or might not be answered. He had a lot of work to do, but he didn’t have a clue where to begin.
LIBBY PULLED INTO AN EMPTY parking spot at the sports park and shut off her engine. The view from her car made her smile. A dozen or so nine- and ten-year-olds, dressed in football pads and helmets, were gathered in a huddle in the middle of an unmarked, grassy field. She watched as they stacked their hands in a pile, then shouted, before breaking up the huddle and taking their places in the lineup.
It wasn’t difficult to find her nine-year-old in the midst of the others. He was the one making encouraging signals to the others. It was only a practice, but Noah didn’t let anything stop him from trying to inspire his fellow players with the will to win.
Leaning her head back against the seat, she closed her eyes. Life hadn’t been a bed of roses since she and Noah had left Phoenix in the middle of the night barely eight months ago. Even so, it was better than it had promised to be if they’d stayed. Living in a small town in Oklahoma had never been a part of her plans, but nothing she had planned had worked out well. And she liked Desperation. Noah did, too. So she prayed they wouldn’t have to leave, but neither did she count on staying.
A knock on her window jerked her out of her reverie, and she opened her eyes, then sat up with a smile.
“Hey, Mom,” Noah said, peering into the car with his own smile.
She rolled down her window. “Is practice over?”
“Yeah, we’re quitting early today.” He looked around at the other boys, who were drifting away in twos and threes or climbing into cars with a parent or two. “I didn’t expect you to be here, and I told Kirby we could hang out until you got here.”
Libby hated disappointing her son more than anything, but it couldn’t be helped. “I’m afraid not, honey,” she told him. “I came to pick you up because I thought maybe we could stop at the Chick-a-Lick for dinner before I go to work.”
His eyes lit up, then quickly dimmed, before he ducked his head. Without looking up at her, he asked, “I guess he can’t come to the café with us?”
She couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She’d thought he would be excited to have the chance to eat at the café. They so seldom were able to enjoy even the small things. But she’d worked the extra hours and had a few extra tips, so they could afford—
She stopped herself, suddenly realizing that she was having a pity party for herself, and her selfishness surprised her. How much could a nine-year-old boy eat, anyway? She knew the answer was that they could often be a bottomless pit, but it shouldn’t matter.
“Sure, Kirby can come along, too,” she said. She’d make up for the little extra somewhere along the way. Giving Noah the chance to spend time with his friend was worth it.
She heard a shout, and Noah turned to look. She looked, too. A fancy sports car had pulled up, and Kirby was headed for it, waving at Noah as he walked toward it.
“It’s okay,” Noah said. “Looks like Mac got here early, too.” He turned to his mom. “So we’re going to the Chick-a-Lick?” he asked, without a hint of disappointment.
Libby looked at her watch. They had less than two hours before she had to be at work. Just enough time, if they hurried, to enjoy dinner at the café. “I worked a few extra hours this morning,” she explained. “Get in. You can order anything you want.”
“Cool.”
She laughed as he circled the car and opened the back door to get in. How did she get so lucky to have such a good kid?
When Noah was settled in the backseat, she drove the two blocks to the café, thinking about how things might have been. Before she’d divorced Noah’s father, there’d been enough money to take an entire boys’ football team to a fancy restaurant—after every practice. In fact, Noah’s third birthday party had been held at Chase Field. More than one hundred guests had attended, most of them friends and business associates of her ex-husband and his family. She often wondered if Noah remembered it, but she’d never asked. It no longer mattered. They weren’t the same people they were then.
Those were the times Libby didn’t want to think about, so she concentrated on parking only a few spaces down from the café. Luckily the dinner crowd hadn’t yet arrived. “Any idea what you’re going to order?” she asked, as they stepped up onto the sidewalk.
“That depends,” he answered.
“Really? On what?” She reached for the door to the café to open it, but Noah beat her to it. Surprised, she thanked him with a smile as she passed inside.
“You know.”
She did, and it hurt her heart and her pride. Noah rarely complained when there wasn’t enough money left over at the end of the month to do something special. It was the price they paid for safety. She’d done her best to explain it to him when they left Phoenix, and he must have understood at least part of it.
She leaned down and spoke in a quiet voice. “You can have anything on the menu.”
He looked up at her as she straightened, a sparkle in his dark brown eyes. “Anything?”
The café was more than half full, and she nodded to answer him while they made their way to one of the smaller booths in the back. She’d just slid into the booth when Darla appeared to take their order.
“It’s good to see you two,” Darla greeted them. “Would you like menus?”
“Please,” Libby asked, winking at Noah.
Darla handed them each a menu. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes with your water and to take your orders.”
After Darla walked away, Libby noticed that Noah was propping his menu on the table and apparently studying it closely. “Everything looks good, doesn’t it?” she asked, looking at her own.
“Yeah.”
Darla returned within minutes and took their orders. “Was that okay?” he asked when she was gone.
“Perfectly okay.” Libby glanced at her watch, making certain they still had plenty of time before she had to take Noah to his day care provider and get herself to work.
She asked about school and listened as Noah gave her a rundown of his day. Getting him to talk about school had always been easy. All he needed was a nudge, and he was ready to share. He was explaining something that had happened in gym class when Darla arrived with their order.
“It looks great,” Noah said, looking up at Darla with a grin.
“Then we’ll hope it tastes as good as it looks, won’t we?” she asked, winking at his mom.
“Oh, I know it will.”
Darla laughed and patted his shoulder. “He’s a keeper.”
They were well into enjoying their meal when Libby looked up to see Garrett entering the café with Sophie, who still held tight to her teddy bear. She smiled when he looked her way and was surprised when dad and daughter headed toward them.
Garrett stopped at their booth, with Sophie beside him. “If I’d known you were going to be here, we could have planned to have dinner together,” he said.
Libby noticed that the panic hadn’t completely left his eyes. “Last-minute plans,” she explained.
He glanced around the room, and then shifted from one foot to the other. “Well, we’d better let you both finish eating.”
Before he could move away, she touched his arm. “I don’t think you’ve met my son. Noah, this is Garrett Miles.”
“Hi,” Noah greeted him with a small smile.
“And that’s his daughter, Sophie,” she added.
“Hi, Sophie.”
Sophie grinned at Noah, but said nothing.
“She’s … uh … a little shy,” Garrett said, with a glance at Libby. “We stopped to see Paige.”
Libby hoped his sister had found the girl in good physical condition. “How did that go?”
“Good,” he said, although it sounded forced. When she didn’t reply, he blew out a short breath. “She said to give it some time. And to talk to Jules.”
“But everything else is okay, right?”
He nodded, and his smile was more relaxed. “Everything is okay. But we should let you finish your dinner,” he added, taking a step back.
She looked at her watch and then at her son. “We should probably be on our way. I still have a full shift to work tonight.”
Garrett moved away from the booth as Libby gathered her things. “I’m glad we ran into you,” he said. “And, Noah, the next time we see each other, I want to hear a little about that football team you play on.”
Noah, who was scooting out of his seat, looked up, a wide smile on his face. “You bet!”
Libby was surprised he had remembered about her son’s football team. She’d only mentioned it once, so it was especially nice of him to say something. “Enjoy your meal,” she told them, as she turned toward the cash register.
“Bye, Mr. Miles,” Noah said, following her. “Bye, Sophie.”
Garrett waved, and so did Sophie, and Libby imagined the hard time he was probably having. She wished him well. Being a single parent wasn’t easy. Being a parent of a child who might have undergone some kind of trauma was even harder. He definitely had his work cut out for him.
After paying for their dinner, Libby and Noah stepped outside and walked to their car. Driving toward Noah’s day care provider’s house, she rolled down her window and inhaled deeply, breathing in the warm, early September evening.
“I like it a lot here, don’t you, Mom?” Noah asked from the backseat.
“It’s a nice town, yes.”
“Mr. Miles is a nice man.”
Libby glanced in her rearview mirror, wondering what Noah might be up to. But the sun had already set and shadows kept her from seeing his face. “Yes, he’s nice. He comes into Lou’s two or three times a week.”
“Are you good friends with him?”
She nearly laughed. “No, not good friends,” she answered, as honestly as she could. She wasn’t quite sure what to call her odd relationship with Garrett. “Just friends, I guess.”
Silence settled over the car, and she thought about how well they were doing in Desperation. Noah liked school and had made several new friends. She didn’t mind her job at the tavern. It didn’t pay badly, and the tips were often more than satisfying. They did all right.
But she knew it might not be a forever thing. Anything could happen, and she had to be careful. Thanks to an underground group, she’d managed to get Noah and herself out of Phoenix without being followed by her ex-husband. They had new names, new identities, new everything, and she hoped it would all continue to work out well. But in the back of her mind, there were always the memories of the abuse she’d endured from her ex-husband and the fear she’d had that he might do the same to their son. And maybe, just maybe he had.
GARRETT UNLOCKED THE FRONT DOOR, nudged it open with his shoulder and stepped inside to flip on the light switch. “Did you like your dinner?” he asked, as Sophie followed closely behind him. He looked back to see her nodding, a small, shy smile turning up the corners of her mouth.
He walked to the TV and turned it on, remembering that there were a few channels that broadcast nothing but cartoons all day and night. Maybe that would keep Sophie entertained until he could get his head together and figure out what he needed to do next.
“How’s this?” he asked, as a big gray cat chased a little mouse under a table on the screen. She nodded, and he pointed to the sofa, while grabbing a small pillow for her. “You can sit there, if you want to.”
She took the pillow he handed her, then climbed onto the sofa and curled up in the corner, her attention glued on the cat-and-mouse chase on TV. Before he had a chance to wonder what he needed to do next, the phone rang.
“I should have invited you over for supper,” Paige said with an accompanying sigh, when he answered it. “Is everything going okay?”
“I realized I didn’t really have anything here for us to eat, so we went to the café. I think she enjoyed it.” He could see her from his spot near the kitchen doorway. “She’s watching TV right now.”
“She’s probably exhausted,” Paige answered, “considering everything that she’s gone through today. Maybe she’d like to go to bed?”
Garrett hadn’t even thought about how everything might look from Sophie’s point of view. What kind of father was he? “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll get her into bed, and then make a list of the things I need to do tomorrow.”
“Maybe a warm bath would help.”
His first thought was to answer that she knew he preferred showers, but then he realized she was referring to a bath for Sophie. “Yeah, good idea.”
“Give her a kiss for me,” Paige said, before wishing him luck and saying goodbye.
After hanging up the phone, he walked to the living room, where Sophie was still focused on the antics of the cat and the mouse that wouldn’t be caught. “Sophie?”
She turned her attention to him slowly.
“Would you like to take a bath?”
It was several seconds before she nodded, and she didn’t move from the corner of the sofa.
“I’ll go fill the tub for you, okay?” When she nodded again, this time without hesitation, he felt better. “Okay, you can watch the cartoon while I do that, and I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”
After receiving another nod, he started for the bathroom, but changed course and walked across the hall to retrieve the one suitcase she’d brought with her. He placed it on the bed and quickly went through the few things that were in it, finally pulling out a pair of well-worn pajamas. It definitely appeared that in addition to needing to do some grocery shopping, he also needed to do some clothes shopping. She’d come with so very little, and he didn’t even know where to start. He’d never given any thought to being a father or to how difficult it might be.
Pushing the pity thoughts away, he moved on to the bathroom, where he ran a warm bath, then went into the living room to let her know it was ready. “Sophie?” he said, taking care to speak softly so he wouldn’t scare her. She looked up at him, and he smiled. “Your bath is ready.”
He followed her down the hall to the bathroom, where she went inside and shut the door, leaving him standing outside. He wished he’d had some bubble bath to add, but Paige must have taken any she had with her when she moved out a few months earlier. One more item to add to his list of things to get.
Leaning against the wall, he waited, and it wasn’t as long as he’d thought it would be before Sophie emerged from the bathroom, dressed in the pajamas he’d left for her.
Without saying a word, she walked to the bedroom that had been Paige’s and peeked inside. “It’s yours,” he told her. “I know it doesn’t look anything like a little girl’s room, but we’ll fix that real soon. It was my sister’s room when she lived here.”
Sophie’s hazel eyes were wide and unreadable, but she nodded slowly. Her head turned toward the big bed, and then back again.
It was his turn to nod. “Go ahead, climb into bed and I’ll tuck you in.” He suddenly smiled at the memory of his mother saying the same to him. Feeling a little easier, not to mention nostalgic, he waited until she’d crawled onto the bed and scooted under the covers before approaching. “Up to your chin?” he asked, taking the top edge of the blanket in his fingers.
But Sophie wasn’t paying attention. Her gaze darted around the room, as if she were looking for something. At first, he wasn’t sure what it might be, and he suspected Sophie wouldn’t suddenly speak up and tell him what the problem was, so he looked around, too. And then it dawned on him.
“Your teddy bear?” When she nodded, he felt a knot in his chest ease. “You left it on the sofa. I’ll get it and will be right back.” He barely waited for her nod before he turned for the door and hurried to the living room, where he scooped up the tattered teddy bear and returned to her room.
She hadn’t moved an inch. The big bed seemed to swallow her, and he made another mental note, along with the others, to find a smaller bed for her. When he handed her the teddy bear, he noticed that the relief on her face turned to joy. Apparently something was right. Finally.
After making sure she was comfortable, he brushed his lips lightly on her cheek. He felt her still, and when he moved away, she was watching him closely. He wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“I’ll be down the hall in my office,” he told her, switching on a small bedside lamp. “If you need anything, just come get me, okay?”
She nodded, her face solemn. Unsure if he should leave her alone, he finally moved toward the door. “Good night, Sophie.”
He hadn’t been in his office for five minutes when he thought he heard crying. Stepping carefully out into the hall, he listened closely. His heart ached at the sound of whimpers and soft sobs coming from her room, but he wasn’t sure what to do. Should he go in and assure her that everything would be all right? It might be a promise he couldn’t keep.
Instead of going in to try to soothe her—something he was certain he would fail at—he returned to his office and put away his things. A few minutes later, he listened at her door. The crying had stopped, and he suspected she might have fallen asleep. Opening the door as quietly as possible, he looked inside.
The soft glow of the lamp lit her small features, and he was again immediately reminded of his sister. Was it wishful thinking? Did he really want to do this? Did he want to be a father?
The thought of raising a small child terrified him. He’d seen what parents could do to their children. He’d chosen long ago not to father a child. And yet it had happened.
He’d have the paternity test done. He needed proof that she was his. Not only for himself, but for the future and whatever it might bring.
But most of all, he wondered if he was going to screw this up. The thought chased everything else from his mind. He searched, but he couldn’t find an answer.
Chapter Three
Libby drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, wondering if she’d ever find a place to park. The last thing she wanted or needed was to be late for Noah’s football game, but she hadn’t expected there to be so many people attending Desperation’s Fall Festival. She’d forgotten how people in town turned out for all of the town’s celebrations, but then she’d only been in town for about eight months. It all had her wondering what Christmas would be like.
Finally finding a spot that was so far away she could’ve saved herself the trouble and walked from home, she parked and stepped out of the car. “I should be used to it,” she muttered under her breath as she began walking toward the sound of the music in the distance. “After all, I’m on my feet all night.”
As she approached the carnival that had been set up around the baseball field, the music grew louder, and she could see the top of a Ferris wheel. The closer she got, the more people of all ages and sizes she saw milling around the area. To her surprise, she recognized more than she thought she would have. Maybe she wasn’t such a stranger in Desperation, after all.
But maybe that wasn’t such a good idea, she thought, making her way through the crowd. She couldn’t really get close to anyone. Not for a while, at least. Not until she felt comfortable being who she’d become. Who she’d had to become.
“Libby?”
Pulled from going down a memory path she really shouldn’t, she turned to see the secretary from the grade school. “Hi, Sadie.”
“I’ve been keeping a lookout for you,” Sadie said, joining her. “I was afraid you might miss Noah’s game.”
Libby shook her head and smiled. “I’ll miss the fireworks tonight, but not his game this morning.”
“That’s the important thing.”
“I was beginning to wonder if he was going to tell me he didn’t want me to be here,” Libby admitted with a soft laugh. “He forbade me to come to practices.”
Sadie laughed, too. “They can get strange at this age. I went through the same thing with Kevin’s two older brothers, so I guess I’m used to it.”
Libby appreciated Sadie’s friendship. They weren’t close friends, but Sadie had been a big help with enrolling Noah in school, which had been well into the second semester. It might have been a nightmare, but Sadie had made it painless.
“I didn’t realize this Fall Festival thing was so popular,” Libby admitted.
“Any excuse to get out and have a good time. Maybe it’s to make up for the name of our town,” Sadie suggested. “Whatever, we do know how to throw a party.”
Libby definitely agreed.
Now in the midst of the carnival, she looked around to see the smiling faces of her neighbors and people she’d only seen once or twice. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the perfect fall day. Everyone except Letha Adkins, who was glaring at her, as usual.
“Don’t let her bother you,” Sadie said, leaning closer. “I’ve never seen the woman without a frown. Unless she was needling someone.”
Libby simply nodded. She knew she wasn’t popular among at least a few people in town. After all, she did work at Lou’s. For some that meant she didn’t measure up. It didn’t bother her much. She wasn’t in Desperation to win a popularity contest. She only wanted a place to live where she hoped to keep her son and herself safe. Besides, most of the rest of the people she’d met were nice.
They left the carnival behind and approached the football field, where two small sets of bleachers held several parents and friends of the young players. As they drew nearer, she spied Garrett among them. His daughter was at his side, and Libby wondered who they’d come to watch play.
Sadie introduced Libby to her husband, who was sitting on the row just below Garrett. When Sadie invited her to join them, she did hesitate for a brief moment, but she didn’t want to sit alone, so she accepted.
As she settled next to Sadie, she turned to say hello to Garrett. “I wasn’t aware you were a peewee football fan.”
“Baseball is more my game,” he answered, “but Noah mentioned he had a game today, so I thought I’d come. Hope that’s all right.”
She was surprised. “He did? Of course it’s okay,” she hurried to assure him. There was no reason why he couldn’t be there, too, but Noah hadn’t mentioned it.
Refusing to let something so simple bother her, she smiled at his daughter. “Hi, Sophie.”
When the little girl returned the smile but said nothing, Libby glanced at Garrett, who shrugged and shook his head. “So how much do you know about football?” he asked.
Libby nearly answered that she had a much older brother, but stopped herself. “Not nearly as much as I need to, considering my son is playing.”
Sophie, who’d been watching them closely, patted the bench beside her. It was clear to Libby that it was an invitation to sit next to her. With Sadie busy talking to her husband, Libby didn’t think it would matter if she moved up to sit with the little girl. Even though spending time with Garrett might not be a good idea, she didn’t want to disappoint his daughter.
“I think it’s about to start,” Libby said, as the teams began to line up on the field for the kickoff and she settled next to Sophie.
“That’s Kirby MacGregor, Mac and Nikki’s boy, who’s doing the kicking,” Garrett explained.
“He’s one of Noah’s friends,” she said, without taking her eyes off the field. “He didn’t mention they weren’t on the same team.”
Garrett chuckled softly. “Friendly adversaries for the duration of the game?”
“That’s probably it,” Libby answered, hoping she could relax a little.
“There are teams in some of the other towns around here, so it isn’t as if they don’t have the chance to play teams with players they don’t know. But I heard there were enough boys interested to make up two teams. That makes it nice. More of them actually get a chance to play.”
Libby nodded and straightened as the football on the little stand connected with Kirby’s foot and went sailing through the air. Boys of all sizes scattered on the field, and before long, she’d become so engrossed in the game, she forgot about Garrett.
“You must know more about football than you let on,” he said, jerking her attention from the game.
“I attended a few football games when I was young.” She hoped her answer wasn’t so vague that he’d start asking questions, and she shouted, “Go, blue,” as one of the players on Noah’s team ran down the length of the field. Not only was she excited when the boy scored a touchdown, but she was relieved that the attention was taken off what school she’d attended. The less she had to make up, the better.
Within minutes, the game ended and the bleachers were spilling over with excited fans and players. “I guess your first game was about as good as it can get,” Garrett remarked to Noah when the boy joined them.
“No kidding!” Noah replied, laughing. He looked at Libby, his expression hopeful. “Would it be okay if I stay and ride some of the rides? I have enough money for a couple.”
“Maybe I can give you a little more,” she answered, “but I’ll have to pick you up before I go to work.”
Garrett put his hand on Noah’s shoulder, but spoke to Libby. “I’ll take care of his tickets, if he’ll ride a couple of rides with Sophie. She dragged me to the Ferris wheel earlier, but I told her we needed to wait until after Noah’s game.”
Libby looked at Noah, who glanced at Kirby before answering. “Yeah, sure,” he said with a shrug.
“What time do you have to be at work?” Garrett asked.
“In about four hours.”
“Why don’t you stick around for a while?” Garrett suggested. “Unless you have something you need to do, that is. It’s almost noon. We can grab a bite at one of the food booths.”
Not sure that spending more time with Garrett than she had already was a good idea, Libby glanced at Sophie. The silent begging in the girl’s eyes was enough to make her give Garrett’s suggestion another chance. When she looked quickly at Noah to see what he might think, he nodded. There wouldn’t be any begging off.
“Sure,” she answered, unable to say no to all of them. “I have some time, and we all need to eat, right?”
“Right,” Garrett answered, smiling. “Let’s hit the rides first.”
Libby nodded, though her heart skipped a beat. All it took was looking up into Garrett’s soft gray eyes, and she knew she was heading for trouble. And she’d already had enough of that for a lifetime.
“NO, REALLY, I DON’t want to ride,” Libby protested.
But Garrett didn’t like the idea of leaving her out of the fun. “You can go with Noah and I’ll go with Sophie. Or you can go with both of them, and I’ll wait here.”
She took a step back, away from the line at the Ferris wheel, her chin at a defiant angle. “Absolutely not.”
He didn’t want to pressure her any more. He’d railroaded her into coming with him and Sophie, and he felt bad about it. But it wasn’t for him. It was for his daughter. Considering that even after almost a week he still felt completely at a loss at what to do or say, he needed someone to just be around. Noah and Libby were the perfect ones.
“Okay, you don’t have to ride,” he said. “Noah, come with me. Let’s get you a ride bracelet.” He turned to Libby. “Do you mind watching Sophie for a minute?”
Her face softened and she looked down at Sophie with a smile. “Of course not, but you don’t need to—”
Garrett stopped listening as he put his arm around Noah’s shoulders and led him to the ticket booth. He wasn’t willing to argue with Libby or make up excuses as to why he should pay for Noah’s rides. He had the money, she didn’t. And she was helping him by just spending time with them.
“Mom’s not comfortable when people do things for her,” Noah said, while Garrett handed over the money to the woman in the booth.
“Then she’ll just have to not be comfortable,” Garrett replied. “Put your hand up there so the lady can put the bracelet on you.”
When they were finished, they started back toward the Ferris wheel. Noah held up his arm. “I’ll pay you back for this.”
Garrett stopped dead in his tracks. “You’re just like your mom, aren’t you?”
At first, it appeared that Noah was going to argue. Instead, he ducked his head, shuffled the toe of one shoe in the grass and then looked up with an embarrassed grin. “Like mother, like son.”
“Do me a favor, will you?” Garrett asked. Noah nodded. “Forget about it. I’m doing this for Sophie, not for you or your mom. And you can tell your mom that later, if you think it will help.”
Noah nodded. “It might.”
Feeling a little better, but still determined not to let these two people think he was helping, he started for the Ferris wheel. He liked Libby. He wasn’t going to deny that. But with a four-year-old daughter now in his life, he sure didn’t need to even think about having a woman in it, too. He had enough to handle.
“Everything okay?” he asked Libby when he and Noah joined her and Sophie.
“Just fine,” Libby answered. “You got the bracelet?” she asked Noah. When he nodded, she looked up at Garrett, stubborn determination in the set of her jaw.
“Forget it, Libby,” he said, before she could utter a sound. “Please.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Noah said quickly. “I already told him I’d pay him back.”
Libby visibly relaxed. “All right, then.”
Garrett bit his lower lip to keep from smiling. “Okay, so let’s get this ride thing organized. Are the three of us going to fit okay?”
Noah looked at Sophie, and then at Garrett. “I think so, but … Mom?”
“You’ll all fit. Looks like it’s your turn on the next stop.”
The four of them watched as the wheel rotated down toward them, slowing to a halt. Two high school girls climbed out of the seat, and Garrett turned to take Sophie’s hand. The three of them climbed into the roomy seat, Sophie in the middle, between them.
When the safety bar clicked, Libby waved and announced, “I think I’ll go scout out some lunch possibilities.”
The operator stepped away and pulled a lever. The wheel began to move. Beside him, Garrett felt Sophie stiffen. “It’s okay,” he told her. Her eyes were as big as dinner plates, and he took her small hand in his. “We’ll stop going backward when we get up to the top. See the ball field where Noah was playing earlier?”
“Don’t be scared,” Noah said. “Take a deep breath and close your eyes, if you are. When you get used to it, then you can open them.”
Garrett watched as she did as Noah instructed. After they stopped several times to let off old riders and take on new ones, and then made two complete circles, she’d relaxed. When she finally opened her eyes, there was a slight smile playing on her lips.
“Better?” he asked.
She looked up at him with a real smile and nodded.
For the rest of the ride, he and Noah pointed out different things to her, and by the time the ride was over, she was giggling. Garrett couldn’t remember hearing anything so beautiful.
When their ride was over and they were on solid ground again, Garrett looked around, but didn’t see Libby. “Do you see your mom?” he asked Noah.
Noah looked around, too. “No. Should I go look for her?”
Before Garrett could answer, he felt someone touch his arm. When he turned around, he saw Hettie Lambert, the great-granddaughter of the town’s founder, and her friend Aggie Clayborne.
“I heard you have a little girl,” Hettie said, smiling down at Sophie. “What a cutie!”
Having received the results of the paternity test the day before, there was no doubt left in Garrett’s mind that Sophie was his. He felt proud. He felt scared. News had traveled quickly in Desperation, as he had expected it would, and most folks knew that he was now a single father. He wasn’t surprised that Hettie had come to be introduced to Sophie, nor was he going to disappoint her.
“Thank you,” he answered. “This is my daughter, Sophie.”
“She looks just like your sister,” Aggie said. “Definitely a family resemblance.”
“And she’s just adorable,” Hettie added. Bending down, she touched Sophie’s cheek. “Welcome to Desperation, Sophie. I hope you like it here. Are you having a good time today?”
Garrett knew there’d be no verbal response from his daughter. “She’s a little shy, Hettie.”
Hettie straightened. “Oh, that’s all right. Don’t you worry about it, Sophie. Aggie and I are just two old ladies with nothing better to do than watch people having a good time at this carnival.” She turned to Garrett. “I’d like to talk to you about the new zoning, if you have a couple of minutes.”
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