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“I thought I told you to grease the wagon wheels.”
“Lee had already taken care of it. Obviously your friend didn’t bring you good news.”
“She told me I’m going to be a daddy and then she told me to get lost.”
“What?”
“Do I have a sign over my head that says Rotten Parent Material? Do I have Loser written on my forehead?” Shane began walking toward the farrier shed so quickly that Avery had to run to keep up.
“I don’t think you really want me to answer that.”
“You’re right, I don’t. Now, go away.”
It seemed that Avery couldn’t take a hint. He followed Shane inside the building and asked, “What are you going to do about your pregnant friend?”
Tossing his jacket aside, Shane slipped the strap of his leather apron over his head and tied it at his waist. “Annie Delmar wants nothing to do with me. In light of that fact, I’m going to respect her wishes.”
Moving back to Jasper’s side, Shane bent over and picked up the horse’s hind leg. “This shoe needs to be replaced, too. Hand me the clinch cutter and the pull-offs.”
Avery walked to the workbench at the back of the room and returned with the requested tools. Handing them to Shane, he said, “You can’t drop your responsibilities like a hot rock.”
“It’s not my call.”
“I beg to differ. It certainly is.”
“Not according to Annie.”
“You have the same rights that she does.”
Shane tilted his head to see his friend better. “What do you mean?”
“The law is plain on this. A father has the same rights that a mother does. Well, almost the same. You do have to prove that the child is yours.”
Jasper tried to pull his foot away and Shane let him put it down. Ordinarily the big gelding didn’t mind having his hooves worked on, but he seemed to sense Shane’s emotional turmoil. Patting the horse’s side to reassure him, Shane drew a calming breath.
He knew what it was like to be the child waiting for a father that never showed up. “The law doesn’t matter. I’m not going to fight Annie so I can force her to let me see my kid every other weekend—or less. That’s not what a family is.”
Avery said, “This doesn’t sound like you. You’ve always been Mr. Responsible.”
“I guess you don’t know me as well as you think.” Shane picked up Jasper’s hoof again and began straightening the tips of the last few nails holding the worn shoe in place.
Maybe never knowing this child would be better than loving him and then having to watch some other man step in and take him away. Only…this was his child. How could he pretend it didn’t matter? It might matter, but what choice did he have?
“When I start a family, I’ll be married and I’ll have a job that lets me come home every night. My kids are going to know who their daddy is.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Avery said, “Your plan is good except for one small detail. You’ve already started your family.”
Struggling to keep his frustration and disappointment from showing, Shane said, “Look, I’m not even sure she’s keeping the baby.”
“If she plans to give it up for adoption, she’ll need your consent or it won’t be legal now that she’s admitted it’s your kid.”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” Picking up the long-handled tool that looked like an oversize pair of curved pliers, Shane positioned the tips under the heel of the horseshoe and began carefully rocking it back and forth to pry out the nails without damaging Jasper’s hoof.
“I think you’re making a mistake, but it’s your life.”
“Thanks for noticing. Be sure and shut the door on your way out.”
He didn’t want to talk about it anymore. If he didn’t know how he felt about the situation, he sure couldn’t explain it to someone else. He needed time alone to think about what he should do, if anything. When Avery didn’t move and didn’t reply, Shane tugged the horseshoe loose, let go of the horse’s foot and straightened to face him.
“Even if I want to take some level of responsibility for this baby, Annie made it very plain that she doesn’t want that. I don’t even know where she lives or how to contact her to discuss it.”
“I don’t know where she lives, but I can tell you that she works at the Windward Hotel out on the interstate.”
Shane scowled. “How do you know that?”
“Her roommate, Miss Crystal Mally, works there with her. If I’d had a few more minutes, I would have had a phone number and a home address to go with that information. Crystal is a talkative girl, even if she isn’t exactly my type.”
“I didn’t know you had a type.”
“I don’t, really, but I do shy away from junkies.”
“Annie said she is in recovery. She mentioned having a counselor.”
“Annie may be clean, but I don’t think Crystal is there yet. Believe me, I know the signs. I hung out with a fast crowd before the Army got a hold of me.”
“Knowing where Annie works doesn’t change anything.” Shane walked over to the forge and thrust a metal bar into the coals.
“Maybe not, but at least you know how to find her when you’ve had a chance to think things over.”
He didn’t want to think things over. He wanted to rewind the morning and erase the part where a pretty woman with sad eyes had turned his life upside down.
Two days later, Shane rounded the corner of the snack-food aisle at the local Gas and Go and spied Annie paying for her purchase of a large soda. Confronted with the woman he hadn’t been able to get off his mind, he simply stared.
She wore a pair of faded jeans with butterflies embroidered in pink-and-white thread at her ankles. An equally faded jean jacket with threadbare cuffs covered a dark pink blouse. Her long braid hung down to the center of her back and swayed softly when she moved. Her silhouette showed only the slightest fullness at her midriff. A casual observer wouldn’t know she was pregnant, but he knew. She was carrying his child.
What he should do about it—if anything—had kept him awake most of the last couple nights.
She was searching in the depths of her purse for money to pay for her drink and she hadn’t seen him. Should he stay out of sight until she was gone or walk up to the counter as though it didn’t matter? It wasn’t in him to take the coward’s way out. He closed the distance between them in a few steps.
“I’ll pay for the lady’s drink,” he said to the teenage boy manning the cash register.
Annie’s eyes flew open wide as she stared at him in shock. Her surprised look vanished as a frown deepened the furrow between her brows. To Shane she looked tired, as well as mad.
Before she could speak, he said, “I didn’t think cola was good for pregnant women.”
“It’s lemon-lime—not that it’s any of your business what I drink. What are you doing here?” she demanded.
He felt a tug of admiration for the way she stood up to him. “Picking up a quart of oil for my car and getting a burrito. Not that it’s any of your business. How much?” He directed his question to the clerk.
The boy rattled off the price and Shane pulled a ten from his wallet. Annie seemed to be having trouble finding a comeback. After a full five seconds of silence, she said, “I can pay for my own drink.”
“Too late.” Shane took his change, dropped the coins in the front pocket of his jeans and tucked the bills into his wallet.
Annie pulled herself up to her full height, which wasn’t much over five feet. “I thought I made it plain that I didn’t intend to see you anymore.”
“You did, but Junction City isn’t a big town. We may run into each other again.” He nodded his thanks to the clerk and picked up the white plastic sack with his purchases.
“I was serious when I said I didn’t want or need anything from you,” she insisted.
“I know you were.” He walked to the door and pushed it open. The bell overhead jangled and the sounds of the street traffic grew louder. “The trouble is, Annie, you forgot to ask me what I want to do about our little problem. I do have a say in this, no matter what you think.”
“What is it you want to do?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I’ll let you know when I reach a decision.” He walked out the door and let it swing shut behind him. He glanced back as he stepped into his car. Annie watched him from inside the doorway. She was biting her lower lip.
Shane felt the stirrings of sympathy for her. He didn’t want to add to the worries she carried. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but he knew he couldn’t let Annie Delmar just walk out of his life.
Early Monday morning Annie and Crystal sped into the Windward’s parking lot. Pulling around to the area reserved for staff, they both bolted out of the car and rushed in the side door of the building. For once it wasn’t Crystal and Annie’s poor excuse for a car that had made them late. This time it had been Annie’s fault. The sudden onset of morning sickness had stopped her cold just as they were leaving the house.
Inside the building, the women dashed to the locker room, where they quickly changed into gray pin-striped smocks and gray pants. Annie tossed her own clothes and purse into her locker and shut the door. Running a hand over her hair to tame the flyaways, she took a deep breath and followed Crystal into the windowless, drab room that served as a cafeteria and meeting room for the hotel staff. Four other housekeepers sat at one of the tables. Their supervisor was standing at the front of the room.
Mr. Decker looked at the clock on the wall. The hands pointed to two minutes after eight. “I’m glad you ladies could join us.” His sour tone made Annie wince.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Decker,” she said. “It won’t happen again.”
She needed to make sure of that because she really needed this job. She would have a baby to take care of soon.
The thought hit her out of the blue: she was keeping this baby.
Sometime between tossing and turning half the night trying to make a decision and now, the answer had been found. This was her baby. She would love it and raise it and give thanks for the blessing every day for the rest of her life.
“All right, let’s get started.” Mr. Decker was short and as thin as a toothpick. His unnaturally black hair was combed carefully over his bald crown, but his gray pin-striped suit was meticulously pressed with a carefully folded white handkerchief peeking out of his breast pocket. He picked up a clipboard from the table and scanned it quickly.
“We have thirty-two guests checking out this morning. Crystal and Annie, you will take the ground floor of the west wing.”
Annie relaxed as he finished giving the other maids their assignments in English or in fluent Spanish for the women who needed it. The west wing was longer and therefore had more rooms, but she knew Crystal would help her if she fell behind. After only a month on the job, Annie still wasn’t as speedy as Crystal. Crystal had been a maid at this hotel for over a year.
After morning assignments were finished, Annie loaded her cart with fresh towels and linens and replenished her bottle of glass cleaner. At the first room on the west wing, she knocked briskly. There was no answer. She swiped her key card and pushed open the door as she announced herself. Stepping over the threshold, she stared in dismay at the mess awaiting her.
Trash overflowed from the wastebasket and dirty clothes were scattered around the room. The bedding was piled on the floor below the foot of the mattress. A large pizza box lay open on the table. It was empty, but one upside-down slice had made it to the floor, where the cheese and tomato sauce were still soaking into the carpet.
This wasn’t going to be a quick turndown and wipe. She checked the dresser top. Of course the occupants hadn’t bothered to leave a tip for the poor soul who had to clean up after them. With a sigh, she began picking up articles of clothing. Her day may have started out badly, but she wasn’t going to let it get her down. She was having a baby!
It took her almost thirty minutes to finish the room, but when she’d pulled up the clean spread and tucked it beneath the freshly fluffed pillows, she straightened and looked around with pride. She wasn’t the fastest maid, but she always did a good job. There was something satisfying about creating order out of disorder. If only it were as easy to straighten out her life.
By four o’clock she was exhausted and she had earned only a single five-dollar tip. It would be enough to put a few gallons of gas into her car, but she wouldn’t be able to get her flat spare tire fixed or put any money aside. The list of things the baby would need almost made her cringe.
In the locker room she sat on the bench and rubbed her aching feet. Closing her eyes, she whispered softly, “The Lord will provide.”
She was learning that faith was a tricky thing. Just when she thought she had a firm grasp on it, something happened that made her doubts come back. Things like a day with lousy tips.
Being a Christian isn’t about material stuff.
Annie tried hard to keep that in mind. It was about eternal life and about His love. She couldn’t know His plan for her, but was it wrong to hope that it might include enough money to get a new pair of shoes?
She glanced at the clock as she waited for Crystal to join her. When her roommate rushed in ten minutes later, her face was flushed and she looked as nervous as a cat in a dog pound. Opening her locker, she grabbed her purse, then tossed her coat and her clothes over her arm. Glancing over her shoulder, Crystal said, “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
“Aren’t you going to change? You know Mr. Decker doesn’t like us taking our uniforms home.”
“He’s gone for the day. He’ll never know. What are you waiting for?” Crystal pulled open the door to the hallway, checked both ways, then hurried to the exit.
Annie followed her, puzzled by her odd behavior. “Crystal, what’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing, I want to get home, that’s all. I’m meeting Willie in half an hour.”
“Who is Willie?”
“I met him last night at Kelly’s Diner and I think he’s the one. He’s so cool. I told him I could give him a lift home after his shift is over in the evenings. That is—” she paused and looked back “—if I can borrow your car? You don’t mind, do you?”
“Oh, Crystal.” Annie didn’t try to hide her disappointment.
“What? This guy could be the one. You don’t know him.”
“And neither do you.”
“Don’t be that way. He makes me feel special.” Crystal pushed open the outside door but stopped dead in her tracks with a sharp gasp. Just as quickly she relaxed and said, “Oh, it’s you.”
When Annie came out the door, she saw Shane standing beside her car. Her breath caught in her throat. Dressed in jeans and a dark blue sweater that accented the color of his eyes, he looked far too handsome and exactly like the man she had fallen for that night three months ago.
Calling on all her willpower, she hardened her heart against a sudden and frightening desire to step into his embrace and rest her head on his shoulder.
He nodded at Crystal but walked past her to stand in front of Annie. “We need to talk.”
Chapter Three
Shane was prepared for a verbal battle, but to his surprise, Annie didn’t tell him to take a hike. She edged away from him, toward her car. He had the distinct impression that she was afraid of him. That was the last thing he wanted.
She licked her lips quickly, then said, “We don’t have anything to discuss. How did you find me?”
He smiled, trying to put her at ease. “Let me buy you a cup of coffee and I’ll tell you.”
“I don’t drink coffee.”
“Then make it a cup of tea or a lemon-lime soda—anything you want. Annie, I’m not going to go away until we’ve had a rational discussion about our baby.”
He had come here intending to do just that, but now he found himself wanting something different. His motives had been hidden even from himself until he’d seen her face today. She looked tired, sad, vulnerable. That vulnerability was what he remembered most about her. It was why he had looked for her after their night together. It was why he couldn’t get her out of his mind.
Now that he had found her again, he wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to get to know her better. He needed to find out if their one bittersweet meeting might have been the beginning of something special.
