Instant Daddy

She bent over the mesh fence to set him down, pain stabbing her hip and making her catch her breath. “There you go.”

“There you goes,” he mimicked, scurrying to his low train table.

Will chuckled. “He’s talking more every day.” Setting his empty plate near the sink, he leaned against the counter. “How’d you hurt your leg?”

Jessie frowned. “My leg is fine.”

Will took a sip of coffee and wisely decided to change the subject. “You outdid yourself with that raspberry-rhubarb pie. I think it’s my new favorite.” He gave her a little grin.

She attempted a smile, then gave it up as she hurried to the fireproof safe where she kept her important papers. Grasping her ring of keys from her purse, she knelt and unlocked the box. She clasped the folder marked “Jake,” struggled to her feet and handed it to Will.

He looked at the identifying tab, then at Jessie. “Jake?”

“Clarissa hired a lawyer she knew in New York to handle the legal work for the private adoption. I’m sure everything is as it should be, but will you look at it to make sure?”

“Any reason for your sudden interest?”

She squinted. “It seems I met Jake’s father today. He made the scholarship presentation at graduation. He says Clarissa didn’t tell him about Jake.” Her words sounded clipped, almost matter-of-fact, but the breathless panic ringing in her ears told the real story.

Will set his cup beside his pie plate, bent his head and thumbed through the contents of the folder.

Hanging on to a calm she didn’t feel, Jessie tried to read Will’s face as he studied Jake’s birth certificate and papers documenting the adoption. “We dotted every i and crossed every t, didn’t we?”

Will looked up. “The documents that are here look perfect.”

She wanted to heave a sigh of relief, but his serious tone warned her there was more.

“In Wisconsin, a single mother doesn’t need to identify the father on the baby’s birth certificate, but if Clarissa didn’t tell him she was pregnant, and his DNA proves he’s the father, he has a legitimate claim.”

Jessie stared in horror. “How much of a claim?”

“He’d need a court order, but if he has the means to care for Jake, a judge could very well award him at least partial custody.”

“No,” she heard herself moan, pain wrenching deep inside.

“I’m really sorry, Jess. Why didn’t Clarissa tell him?”

“She said he was completely uninterested in being a father. I had no idea she hadn’t told him. She wouldn’t even tell me who the father was.” A thought nudged Jessie’s mind. Had her sister wanted to give Jessie her dream of being a mother so much that she’d convinced herself the father wouldn’t care? If Dr. Sheridan hadn’t come to Noah’s Crossing to present the scholarship, Jake’s father’s would still be a mystery.

“Look—even if he proves to be Jake’s father, are you sure he wants custody?” Will asked.

Jessie thought about the look on Dr. Sheridan’s face when he’d reached out to touch Jake. About the intensity in his tone when he’d insisted Clarissa had no right to give Jake away. She swiped at tears clouding her vision. “I don’t know. But he can’t have Jake. You have to help me. I’ll do whatever I need to do.”

“Are you convinced the guy is Jake’s dad?”

She’d give anything to be able to say no. Promise anything if God would just make the man go away like none of this was happening. But she knew things didn’t work that way. “Yes. I believe he is Jake’s father.”

“Then try to find a compromise to keep him from taking you to court.”

“Compromise?” She shook her head. “I’ll never compromise where Jake is concerned.”

“Wouldn’t a compromise be better than losing him?”

She drew a sharp breath.

“It could happen, Jess.”

“Doesn’t it matter that Jake’s mother didn’t want the father to know? That she wanted me to raise him?”

“It’s a factor in your favor. So are the adoption papers. But…I know Jake means the world to you. I don’t advise you to risk it.” Will handed the file folder to her. “Is the guy married?”

“I don’t think so. He doesn’t wear a ring anyway.”

“Does he know anything about raising kids?”

“I don’t know that, either.” She put the folder back in the safe, fumbled to lock it, then dropped her keys in her purse.

Will rubbed the back of his neck. “The thought of being a single dad would scare me to death. Watching all you do with Jake, I can see I wouldn’t know the first thing about how to take care of a kid.”

Her mind seized on Will’s words. If Dr. Sheridan was single…did he know what being a single father would involve? If he knew, would he be afraid of taking it on like Will was?

“Jess.” Lisa held the curtain divider aside. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but a tall, good-looking guy in a suit insists on seeing you. And he’s not a patient man.”

Chapter Three

Feeling more in charge of things, Peter brushed rain off his shoulders, the succulent aroma of roasting meat and mouth-watering sweets in Jessie’s Main Street Diner reminding him he hadn’t eaten lunch. He ignored the din of diners eating at the busy counter and gave a curt nod to the tall, unfriendly looking guy emerging through the colorful curtain, cup of coffee in hand. A relative? A boyfriend? Was Jessie circling the wagons already?

Well, gentle and vulnerable or not, let her try to stop him from seeing his son and he’d straighten her out in a hurry. He’d called his attorney, who had assured him that he did, indeed, have responsibilities and rights if he was the boy’s father, and his rights could even trump hers in a court of law if Peter decided to take it that far.

Strange. He was too absorbed in his research to think he’d ever get married, let alone have a kid. Finding out he had one was shocking, amazing and overwhelming. But he had to admit, the idea was beginning to grow on him.

Deep inside, he was convinced the boy was his. But that hadn’t stopped him from picking up DNA kits at the local drugstore. A few quick cheek swabs would prevent future questions…his or anybody else’s.

Clutching the drugstore bag, he ducked into the back room. His glance took in stoves, refrigerators and a huge sink. A long counter held baking paraphernalia, and shelves stacked with boxes lined one wall.

Jessie stood in the middle of the room, her blue eyes snapping with challenge, her slender body tense and skittish as a filly about to bolt.

He had the unmistakable urge to gentle her. A pretty outrageous thought from a guy who’d never had time for a serious relationship.

“Pedo.”

Peter grinned, amazed the little fella remembered his name. His gaze swept to the boy standing at a low table in a fenced-off corner filled with toys. The toddler was dwarfed by a mural on the wall above him of a blue train with an impish smile. “How’s it going, Jacob?”

The little guy pointed to himself. “Jake.”

“Jake? Then Jake it is.”

“Tomut.” The boy held up a small toy for Peter to admire.

Peter took a step closer.

Jessie shot between them, eyes flashing. “What do you want?” She stared at the bag in his hand.

He raked his hand through his thick, short hair and decided to lay it on the line. “I need a cheek swab from each of you for DNA testing.”

“DNA testing?”

“You and Clarissa were identical twins, so you have the same DNA. A sample from you will strengthen the DNA test probabilities.”

She shook her head. “I need to talk to my lawyer before I agree to that.”

He frowned. “I think we both know a DNA test is just a formality. But it will clear up lingering doubts. I’d like to take samples back to Madison with me. Will you call your lawyer? I need to get on the road soon.”

She chewed her pretty bottom lip.

“I phoned my attorney,” he said. “He told me I have a legal right to my son.”

She shot him a scowl. “Do you know anything about kids?”

Absolutely nothing. But… “I’m a quick study.”

“I’ll take that to mean you don’t know about kids or the practicalities of having a toddler in your life.”

He rubbed his forehead, which had begun to throb. “Jessie…I’m still getting used to the fact that my son exists. Practicalities might take me a little while.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Is sarcasm the best you can do, Dr. Sheridan?”

“Sorry. I’ve been caught a little off guard here.”

“And I haven’t?” She blew out an impatient breath.

“Pedo.” Jake held up the toy again.

Jessie turned to the little guy. “Mommy’s talking to Peter right now, sweetheart.”

“No.” Jake shook his head. “Pedo. Tomut.”

Giving Peter a warning look, she stepped aside.

Peter strode over and squatted to peer at the blue engine Jake held in his chubby fist. “Nice train.” He pointed at the mural. “Just like the picture.”

“Tomut.”

Peter looked up to Jessie. “I think we need an interpreter.”

She swallowed as if forcing down a bitter pill. “He’s saying Thomas—the name of his favorite engine.”

“Thank you.” He tried to smile. No doubt coming face to face with Jake’s dad had to be a shock for her. Maybe as much of a shock as Peter finding out he had a son.

Jake reached out and fingered the colorful tie hanging loosely around Peter’s neck. “Putty?”

“Putty,” Peter agreed, whatever it meant.

“He thinks your tie is pretty,” Jessie offered.

“Oh…pretty.” Peter glanced over his shoulder at her. “Thank you.”

“Nana? Weesa?”

Peter squinted, unable to decipher who or what Nana and Weesa were.

“Nana is his gramma and Lisa is the woman behind the counter out front,” Jessie explained. “He’s asking where they are.”

Jake looked from Jessie back to Peter and broke into a big grin.

Peter laughed, the sound unfamiliar to his ears. “You know we’re talking about you, don’t you?”

Giggling, Jake whirled, toddled over to the low table and began pushing his engine around the track, chattering away in a dialect that had no resemblance to language as Peter knew it.

It appeared the boy’s curiosity about Peter had been satisfied. Peter stood and turned to Jessie. “He’s an alert, intelligent little boy. Obviously, you’re doing an amazing job with him.”

“Thank you.” She frowned as if unsure she could trust his sincerity. “I don’t want him to hear us.” She walked across the room.

Peter followed her.

She stopped and turned to him. “Clarissa said Jake’s father was unavailable and had no interest in being a father.”

A little too close to the truth?

“Are you married?” she asked.

He almost laughed. When would he have time to get married? “Clarissa and I spent one night together. I’m too dedicated to my research to have time for relationships. Clarissa knew that. Maybe that’s what she meant.”

“Too dedicated to be a father? That’s the way she felt about being a mother.” Jessie’s sad eyes told him she’d never understand her sister’s decision.

“So she left the baby with you and your parents to raise and went back to New York as if he didn’t exist?”

Jessie shook her head. “She never pretended he didn’t exist. You’re not being fair.”

“I’m not being fair? Clarissa wasn’t fair to any of us.”

“Not fair?” Jessie’s blue eyes narrowed. “She gave me the most precious gift she could have given me.”

Peter opened his mouth to remind her Clarissa had no right to give the baby away. But Jessie’s vulnerable admission struck an empathetic chord inside him, and he swallowed his words.

Jessie let out a breath. “Do you have family?”

“Family? Why?”

“What’s going on here?” The woman in the graduation audience he’d identified as Mrs. Chandler hustled into the room.

“Nana!” Jake squealed, pointing with delight.

She strode over to the boy, bent and gave him a hug, then turned to Jessie. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Jessie answered curtly.

Peter blinked. Jessie wasn’t even fooling him that she was all right. Did she think she could fool her mother?

Apparently not. Like a mother bear protecting her young, Mrs. Chandler focused distrusting blue eyes on Peter. “Why are you here?”

Even with disapproval written on the older woman’s face, there was no question where her daughters had gotten their Nordic beauty. “I’m sorry to upset you, Mrs. Chandler. I came to Noah’s Crossing to honor Clarissa and to express my deep sympathy to you and your family.”

“Thank you.” Mrs. Chandler’s hand fluttered to her throat, but her direct gaze didn’t falter. “Are you his father?”

“Yes, I believe I am.”

Shaking her head as if she had trouble believing him, Mrs. Chandler turned and walked to the stove. She jerked open the oven door and set a big pan on the counter with a thud. “Where were you when Clarissa needed you?”

Might just as well be blunt. “She didn’t tell me she was pregnant.”

“What?” Mrs. Chandler’s head shot up.

“I didn’t know.”

She glared at him as if she could see straight through him. “Dear Father in heaven…” Her lips continuing to move, she bent her head over her work, lifted a huge hunk of meat from the pan to a cutting board, slid a knife from a large holder on the counter and began slicing.

Peter had never seen anybody wield a knife so fast. In light of her obvious distrust, he was relieved she was carving the meat and not him.

The thunk of the knife pausing, Mrs. Chandler nailed him with her gaze. “Why would she not tell you she was pregnant?”

He wouldn’t allow his gaze to shift away. “Well…she knew I’m dedicated to my work.”

Mrs. Chandler heaved a heavy sigh. “Sounds familiar.” Her tone one of resignation, she began slicing meat at the speed of sound again, as if the practical task helped her make sense of things. “You two must have made quite a couple.”

“We weren’t a couple,” he clarified.

Both women’s questioning gazes flew to his face.

“What I mean is…we…were together only once. I…don’t have time for anything but my work.” Face hot, he shut his eyes. And his mouth. There was no way out of the hole he’d dug himself into. He sounded like he’d used and abandoned the daughter and sister these women loved. Only he and Clarissa knew what happened, and no way was he going to try to explain the situation to her mother and sister.

Mrs. Chandler tore a piece of tinfoil off a roll and began wrapping meat in it. “Just what do you want, Dr. Sheridan? What are you doing here?”

“He wants DNA samples from Jake and me,” Jessie explained.

Mrs. Chandler narrowed her eyes. “If you’re so sure you’re his father, why do you need a DNA test? For legal reasons?”

“DNA confirmation will clear up any questions.”

“Don’t let him have samples, Jess. Not without talking to a lawyer first.”

“I won’t. Did you drop Dad off at home?”

“Yes.” Mrs. Chandler exchanged a look with Jessie.

Unfortunately, Peter couldn’t read it.

“I parked the van right out front,” Mrs. Chandler said.

Jessie walked over and lifted Jake out of his play area as if she had a plan. “Let’s take your musical car with us, okay?”

“Yay.” Jake clapped his hands.

“Are you planning to talk to a lawyer?” Peter asked.

“Yes.”

“Great. I’ll follow you. It will save time so I can get on the road sooner.”

“Leave Jake with me.” Mrs. Chandler gave Peter a worried look, clearly wanting to keep him as far away from his son as she could.

“Mom, you and Lisa will have your hands full with the after-graduation crowd. Uncle Harold and Aunt Lou aren’t coming in until later to help with the supper rush.”

The diner sounded like a family affair. Jessie must have a whole army of relatives. After this run-in with her mother, he sure wasn’t eager to meet her extended family.

Jessie strode past Peter. “You can ride with us.”

He’d feel more in control if he drove. “We can take my car.”

“No. Jake’s car seat is in the van,” Jessie said.

Car seat? He’d heard women in the lab discussing which kind was safest. He’d have to do some research before he bought one for his own car. Whoa, aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself, Sheridan?

Mrs. Chandler handed a small package of foil-wrapped meat to Jessie. “Take this home with you.”

Home? Had Peter missed something? He needed to get things straight. “After we stop at the lawyer’s, you will bring me back to pick up my car before you go home, right?”

“We’re not stopping at the lawyer’s.” She gave him a sober look. “I’m taking you home to meet my dad.”

Was she kidding? Why would he want to meet her dad? “Some other time, maybe. It’s important I get the cheek swabs ASAP and start the drive back. I have work waiting for me at the lab.”

Jessie narrowed her eyes. “While you talk to my dad, I will call my lawyer.”

Peter saw flint in her beautiful, crystal-blue gaze. Clearly, she was giving him an ultimatum with no room for compromise. He reached to massage his stiff neck.

“While you’re home, Jess, put your feet up for a while,” her mother directed.

“I won’t have time, Mother,” Jessie answered tensely. “I’ll be back by five. Please call if you need me before then.” Frowning, she disappeared through the curtain dividing the room from the customer area.

Peter stared after her. Why couldn’t she call her lawyer from the diner? And why did she insist he talk to her father?

“You’d better catch her if you want a chance at that DNA sample, Dr. Sheridan,” her mother prodded.

Jessie climbed into the van out of the rain, started the motor and pulled away from the curb, back stiff, white-knuckle grip on the wheel. The windshield wipers clacking back and forth irritated her frayed nerves. But they didn’t hold a candle to the passenger beside her. At least his subtly spicy aftershave wasn’t as overpowering in the intimate space as the man himself was.

The idea of taking him home for a talk with Dad had come to her straight out of the blue. If anybody could make Dr. Sheridan think twice before he leapt into un-charted waters, Dad could. Hadn’t he saved her from making bad decisions more than once?

She’d much rather let Dr. Sheridan follow her in the nifty little sports car he’d pointed out to Jake when they got in the van. But insisting he ride with them was the only way to find out all she could about him and his support system. Because if she, indeed, did have to find a way to compromise as Will advised, she wanted to know just how much.

Looking every bit as uncomfortable as Jessie felt, Dr. Sheridan shifted to peer at Jake in his car seat in the back.

“Car,” Jake squealed.

Dr. Sheridan laughed awkwardly. “I hear it, loud and clear.”

Jessie glanced in the rearview mirror at Jake holding his musical car out to be admired, then turned her attention to her passenger. “I suppose your parents will be glad to hear they have a grandson.” Her voice sounded shrill when she’d only meant to raise it to allow him to hear her over the tinny tune of Jake’s car.

“I think they’ll be happy the Sheridan genes will survive another generation,” he said dryly.

She gave him a serious frown. “You don’t sound as if you know them very well.”

The drugstore bag crackled in his long fingers, his silence answering her.

She pulled to a stop at the intersection and returned waves from people walking home from graduation, umbrellas raised against the rain. She turned to Dr. Sheridan. “Why don’t you know your parents?”

He gave her a sideways glance. “They’re archeologists. They spend most of their time on digs in remote parts of the world.”

“Interesting.” And a relief. It didn’t sound like he’d get much help or support from them, did it? She accelerated.

He stretched his long legs out in front of him until he ran out of room.

She jerked her gaze back to the road in front of them.

“Any chance Jake’s car has a volume control?” he asked. “Those nonsensical rhymes just began a painful third rotation.”

Were the good doctor’s nerves a tad on the frazzled side, too? And unused to children’s toys? “I don’t want him to hear the tension in our voices.”

“I didn’t think of that.”

“You would have if you knew anything about kids.”

His lips quirked. “No doubt.”

She drew in a momentary breath of victory. But it was too soon to gloat. She still didn’t know much about his situation or who he depended on for support. “Did you travel with your parents when you were young?”

“No.”

Her little fishing expedition would take forever if all she got from him were one-syllable answers. Drawing herself a little taller, she took a left and fired off another question. “Who did you stay with?”

“I lived in boarding schools,” he said matter-of-factly.

She looked at him sharply. Boarding schools? The poor man. “You grew up in boarding schools?” She couldn’t keep the shock out of her voice.

He stared out the windshield. “The best boarding schools in the country.”

As if that made it easier for him to be away from his family? “Did your parents sometimes take you with them?”

He glanced her way. “Why the third degree?”

She recognized avoidance when she heard it. “Did they?”

He dragged in a breath and let it out. “There’s not much for a kid to do in the middle of the Sahara desert for months on end. And they wanted me educated by the best schools available to better prepare me to contribute to mankind.”

His parents sacrificed him to science? How could they do that? “You must have been lonely growing up with strangers.”

He shrugged as if loneliness was no big deal. “My studies were challenging. There was plenty to do. Swimming, tennis, golf, horses, you name it. I didn’t have time to be lonely.”

He expected her to believe that? “Did you go home often?”

He frowned at her.

“Did you?” She sat straighter. “Go home often?”

“When holidays didn’t conflict with digs.” His tone was flat, uninterested.

Jessie swallowed, unable to comprehend the lonely, disconnected childhood he must have lived. “What about when you were very little? Before boarding school?”

“I had nannies.”

Jessie shook her head. How did a child function and grow without his parents and relatives to guide him? How did he learn to love himself or others if he didn’t have people who loved him show him how? How would he love Jake? “I have a hard time imagining growing up like that. I’m related to half of Noah’s Crossing.”

“Lucky you.”

She glanced at his serious face and somehow wanted to make him feel better. “I’m sure you’ve made your parents proud.”

“Yes,” he said quietly.

Too quietly. He’d had such a lonely, awful childhood, Jessie’s heart ached for him. But was his childhood the reason he wanted his son? Even if he had no time for him?

He didn’t have a wife. No girlfriend either if he’d been honest about not having time for relationships. But he must have somebody besides his absent parents. Somebody he was counting on for help. “You said you don’t have time for relationships, but you must have somebody.”

He raised a well-shaped eyebrow. “Why are you so interested?”

“Because of Jake, of course.”

“You need somebody to vouch that I won’t be a bad influence on the boy? Is that it?”

“Do you have anybody who would do that?”

Jaw clenching, he settled back in his seat and focused out the windshield again. “Scott and Karen Kenyon.”

“Friends?”

“He was my college professor and has been my friend and mentor ever since. Is that a long enough relationship for you?” He sounded a tad irritated.

Maybe she was finally getting somewhere. “Have you called to tell them about Jake?”

“Not yet.”

“Do they have children?”

“They’d make great parents, but kids aren’t in the cards for them,” he said sadly.

She couldn’t help empathizing with them. But a jolt of fear chased away her empathy. Did he want his friends to raise Jake? “They can’t have children?”