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Lexi’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Time was slipping away. Fast.
If Freddie didn’t show up soon to take her and the baby home, Ty would be back from his house calls. Her whole plan hinged on being gone before that happened.
When Martha walked into the room carrying an armload of fresh linens, Lexi tried to keep the anxiety from her voice as she asked, “Is Freddie out in the reception area?”
Setting the sheets on the bedside table, the older woman shook her head and began stripping the bed.
“Ain’t seen hide nor hair of Freddie. And unless I miss my guess, we won’t either.”
Martha was right.
The smell of antiseptic and Freddie’s delicate stomach were a dangerous combination. It would take a matter of life or death before Freddie Hatfield risked coming anywhere near the inside of the clinic.
Lexi walked over to the window on the far side of the room and parted the calico curtains. The sight of Freddie pacing uncertainly between the car and the clinic door made Lexi smile with relief. “I wonder how long Freddie’s been out there.”
Martha came over to peer out the window. “No tellin’.” She laughed when Freddie stopped, glanced at the clinic door, then shook her head and started pacing again. “Goin’ back and forth like that, Freddie’s gonna wear a trench in the pavement.”
As they watched Freddie’s obvious dilemma, a shiny, red four-wheel-drive pulled into the parking lot. When the driver got out, pulled a black bag from the back seat and walked over to where Freddie stood looking helpless and forlorn, Lexi’s blood turned as cold as ice.
Ty had returned and it appeared he was going to exchange polite conversation with her “husband,” Freddie.
“Is something wrong?” Ty asked the obviously nervous woman.
“No,” the blonde answered. A rosy glow tinged her cheeks when Ty’s expression turned skeptical. “Well…sort of.” She pointed a shaky finger at the clinic door. “I need to go in there…but I can’t.”
“Why not?” Ty asked, confused. “The clinic is open to everyone.”
Her blush deepened as she struggled to explain. “It’s…well, you see…I have this problem.”
“What is it?” he gently coaxed. “I’m Dr. Braden. Maybe I can help.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, her ponytail swaying from side to side as she vigorously shook her head. “I’ve tried to get over it. Really, I have.” Her eyes pleaded for his understanding. “But there isn’t anything I can do about it. It’s a curse.”
“What makes you think you’re cursed?” Ty asked. He made a mental note to check the list of psychiatrists in Chattanooga. He just might be sending one of them a referral.
The woman closed her eyes, took a deep breath and blurted, “Aw, hell, Doc. The place makes me sick.”
Ty wasn’t sure what explanation he’d expected, but this wasn’t it. “Excuse me?”
“It’s the smell of antiseptic,” she explained, clearly embarrassed. Her anxiety increasing, she twisted her hands into a tight knot. “Just one whiff of that stuff and I’ll hurl in all directions.”
Ty coughed to keep from laughing at her impassioned description. “I can see where that would present a problem,” he agreed. “But I can’t examine you out here in the parking lot.”
“Oh, I’m not here to see you,” the woman said hastily. “When I need a doctor, I go see Granny Applegate up on Piney Knob.”
Ty frowned. Every time he heard the old woman’s name or thought about her approach to medicine, he envisioned black cats and a steaming caldron of witch’s brew. How could a young, seemingly intelligent woman place herself in the care of a quack like that?
“If you’re not here to see me, then—”
“I’m here to take my sister-in-law and her new baby home,” the woman interrupted. She gave the building a nervous glance. “But I can’t let her know I’m here unless I go inside. And if I do that—”
“You’ll get sick,” Ty finished for her.
She seemed pleased he understood. “If you could just tell Lexi I’m here, I’d really appreciate it.”
“Sure,” Ty said, heading for the clinic entrance.
His disgust for Alexis’s husband grew by leaps and bounds as he thought of the pretty blonde’s dilemma. Evidently queasiness plagued the whole Hatfield family. Good old Fred had to have known the kind of anxiety his sister would suffer.
But did the man care how much hell he put the women in his life through? No. The ever-concerned Fred was a complete washout in the sensitivity department. How could any woman be attracted to a jerk like that?
Ty shook his head as he entered the clinic. There were some things about women he guessed he’d just never understand. He was beginning to think he didn’t even want to.
Lexi turned away from the window, walked over to the bassinet and picked up the baby. In a few minutes Ty would be in to confront her with what he’d learned about her “husband.” From there, it would be easy for him to figure out the rest of what she’d tried so hard to keep hidden.
She drew in a shuddering breath as she lowered herself into the rocking chair and, holding Matthew close, set the chair in motion.
It wasn’t that she wanted to keep Ty in the dark forever about his son. She’d never wanted that. But fear had kept her silent through the long months of her pregnancy, and now she needed time to come to grips with all that had happened. How was she supposed to tell a man who never intended to have a child that he’d fathered one?
“Lexi, do you feel all right?” Martha asked, concerned. “You look like you’ve seen a saint.”
She wished what she’d just witnessed had been an apparition. At the moment, seeing a ghost sounded far more appealing than facing Ty.
“I’m fine,” she answered, her voice far more calm than she felt. “I just want to take Matthew and go home.”
“Can’t say I blame you. Everybody rests better in their own bed.” Martha finished tucking the corners of the sheet. “I’ll get the birth certificate and a discharge paper for you to sign. Then you and that little angel can be on your way.”
“I’ve taken care of it, Martha,” Ty said, walking into the room.
Martha propped her hands on her ample hips. “If you keep doin’ my job for me, we’re gonna be havin’ another long talk.” Her menacing glare never wavered as she breezed past him.
“Great,” Ty muttered, drawing Lexi’s attention. “Another lecture.”
Lexi’s breath lodged in her throat at the sight of Ty, her fears and anxiety fading as she watched him cross the room.
Ty was, and probably always would be, the sexiest man Lexi had ever seen. In a suit and tie he was sexy. But in jeans and a T-shirt, the man was downright sinful. The knit fabric, stretched across his wide shoulders and upper arms, drew attention to his well-formed chest muscles and bulging biceps. The royal blue color highlighted his deep, azure eyes.
The faded denim of his jeans hugged his long, muscular legs and emphasized his narrow hips. But from her seated position, it put certain other outlined areas on eye level as well.
Lexi swallowed hard when her pulse took off at an alarming rate. She had to have some kind of record-breaking hormonal imbalance. After the ordeal of giving birth not forty-eight hours ago, she shouldn’t want a man within a hundred miles of her—and especially not Tyler Braden.
“I need you to sign this release form before you go,” Ty said, handing her a paper and pen.
He reached down to take the baby and Lexi watched him cradle her son—their son—in the crook of his arm. Ty smiled when he put his index finger close to the baby’s hand and Matthew wrapped his own tiny fingers around it. The sight was so poignant, Lexi had to look away.
Tears filled her eyes as she signed the release form Ty had given her. She wanted to tell him Matthew was his son, wanted Ty to be as happy about the baby as she was. But he’d told her once that he never wanted a child. And he’d been quite adamant about it.
When she’d asked him why he felt that way, his eyes had taken on a fierce gleam and he’d mumbled something about not being good with children. But watching him with Matthew now, Lexi knew for certain that wasn’t the case.
“Your sister-in-law is waiting for you in the parking lot,” Ty said.
Prepared to face the music, Lexi took a deep breath, rose from the rocking chair and handed him the paper. The moment of truth had arrived. She’d known a showdown with Ty was inevitable once he learned Freddie wasn’t her husband. But she’d hoped for more time, hoped to put things in perspective before they discussed their son’s birth and the bizarre circumstances of meeting again.
“Freddie has a real problem with the clinic—”
“I know,” Ty interrupted, his disgust evident. “Doesn’t he realize his sister suffers from a weak stomach, too?”
Shocked, Lexi barely managed to keep her mouth from dropping open. Evidently, Freddie hadn’t introduced herself.
Lexi knew she was opting for the coward’s way out, but at the moment, a hasty exit was far more appealing than a confrontation she wasn’t prepared to deal with.
“I’m, uh, pretty sure Freddie knows the effect the clinic has on her.” Lexi tried to keep her voice even as she reached for her son. “We’d better not keep your aunt waiting, Matthew.”
When Ty continued to hold the baby, their eyes locked for a long, tense moment before he finally said, “You have to wait for a wheelchair.”
“I don’t need—”
“It’s standard policy, Alexis.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” Lexi protested. She waited for Ty to place Matthew in her arms, but when he just stood there glaring at her, she waved her hand to encompass the room. “Look around, Ty. You’re in the Dixie Ridge Health Clinic. This place is a million miles away from the protocol that dictates a big city hospital. Besides, I’m perfectly capable of walking out of here.”
“That may be, but for insurance purposes we have to follow procedure,” he argued.
Martha wheeled the chair into the room, her expression revealing how she felt on the subject. “For what it’s worth, Lexi, I think it’s pretty silly myself.” She gave Ty a withering glare. “Doc Fletcher never got bent out of shape when I let a patient walk out of here on their own steam.”
“I’m not Dr. Fletcher,” Ty stated flatly. He turned back to Lexi. “Now, if you’ll have a seat, I’ll take you and Matthew out to the car.”
Desperation clawed at Lexi’s insides. She didn’t want to run the risk of Ty talking to Freddie again. With each meeting, the odds increased that he’d learn the truth. And although she fully intended to tell him everything, she didn’t want or need the added complication of explaining in front of her sister-in-law.
“Alexis?”
“I told you my name is Lexi.”
“All right, Lexi,” Ty said, emphasizing her name. “Sit down.”
Lexi glared at him. “And if I refuse?”
A gleam of determination lit his dark blue eyes. “I’ll pick you up and carry you out.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.” His smooth baritone carried just enough edge to it that Lexi had no doubt he meant exactly what he said.
Several tense seconds stretched between them before she reluctantly gave in and lowered herself into the chair. “Now are you satisfied?”
He placed the baby in her waiting arms and didn’t even try to hide his smug smile. She felt like punching him.
When Ty moved to take hold of the rubber grips on the back of the chair, Martha shook her head. “I’ll take care of getting Lexi and the baby out to the car, Doc. It’s my job. You’re needed in exam room two, anyway. A thump rod on one of Carl Morgan’s barrels popped loose and he’s gonna need a couple of stitches to close a cut on his hand.”
Ty looked bewildered. “Thump rod?”
Martha winked and Lexi smiled in spite of herself. “You can tell he’s a city boy, can’t you, Martha?”
Laughing, Martha nodded. “Stands out like Harv Jenkins’s big toe when his gout’s actin’ up.”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Ty said stubbornly.
Relieved Ty wouldn’t be taking her and the baby out to Freddie’s car, Lexi managed to grin. “A thump rod is a part on Carl’s…boiler.”
“It’s a technical term used by people in Carl’s line of work,” Martha added, her eyes twinkling merrily.
Ty frowned. “What line of work is Carl in?”
Lexi glanced at Martha, but the woman just shrugged. How much should they tell Ty? After all, he wasn’t from the mountains and he certainly wasn’t accustomed to mountain ways.
“He raises pigs,” she said, finally settling on a half-truth.
“Then why would he need a boiler?”
“He uses it to cook up pig feed, Doc,” Martha answered. Her air of innocence almost made Lexi laugh out loud.
When Ty didn’t make a motion to leave, Lexi asked, “Was there something else?”
He suddenly flashed a smile that sent a warm, fluttery feeling all the way to the pit of her stomach, then handed her an oversize envelope. “Here’s Matthew’s birth certificate.”
The warmth remained with her all the way out to the base of Piney Knob Mountain. Freddie turned the car off the main highway and announced, “Mary Ann Simmons was right. That doctor is a real hunk.”
“I suppose,” Lexi said, trying to sound completely indifferent. Her attempt failed, but fortunately Freddie didn’t seem to notice.
“He’s real understandin’, too.” Freddie glanced in the rearview mirror at Lexi, where she sat next to the baby’s car seat. “He didn’t even bat an eye when I told him how I couldn’t go inside the clinic because of the place makin’ me sick.”
“That’s nice,” Lexi said absently. Listening to Freddie extol Ty’s many virtues was the last thing she wanted or needed to hear. To distract herself from her sister-in-law’s chatter, Lexi removed the decorative parchment from the large envelope Ty had given her earlier.
Scanning the document, she felt her heart lurch to a stop, then take off at an erratic gallop. It wasn’t the official birth record. That would be filed at the county clerk’s office. But the complimentary certificate did reflect Ty’s intentions.
And they couldn’t have been more clear.
Matthew’s surname had been recorded as Braden. And Ty had listed himself as the baby’s father.
Three
Fall had always been Lexi’s favorite time of year, but as she stared out of the car window, she saw none of the fall colors painting the mountain. One question kept swirling through her mind, screaming for an answer, blinding her with its implications.
What did Ty intend to do next?
By listing himself as Matthew’s father on the birth certificate, he’d let her know—in no uncertain terms—he had something in mind. But what?
He thought she was married. Didn’t he care about the problems his actions could cause if she really did have a husband?
