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“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.
