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Lexi glanced down at the birth certificate she still held. “I wish that was my only worry.”
“You know Jeff and I will help.” When Lexi made no move to get out of the car, Freddie gave her an exasperated look. “What’s gotten into you, Lexi? You couldn’t wait to get away from the clinic. Now you act like you don’t want to go inside the house.”
Sliding the parchment back into the envelope, Lexi slowly got out of the car. She’d fully prepared herself to shoulder the responsibility of being a single mother, had completely accepted how things had to be.
But the rules of the game had changed radically with Ty’s unexpected reappearance in her life. By listing himself as the baby’s father, did he expect to help her raise their son? Would he try to obtain custody of Matthew?
The thought sent a chill all the way to her soul. She needed someone to confide in. Someone who would listen and at least try to understand.
Lexi stared at Freddie for several seconds as Grandma Hatfield’s sage words whispered through her mind. “A burden is sometimes easier to carry if you share it with someone you trust.”
She had a burden, all right, and it weighed a ton.
Taking the handle of the baby carrier in her right hand, she hooked her left arm through Freddie’s. When she spoke, her voice sounded surprisingly steady, considering her insides quivered like a bowl of gelatin in an off-the-scale earthquake. “Let’s go inside, Freddie. There’s something I need to tell you.”
It wasn’t as difficult as Lexi had thought it would be, and by the time they walked into the living room, Freddie was gaping at her.
“He’s what?”
“You heard me,” Lexi said calmly. “Tyler Braden is Matthew’s father.”
Freddie collapsed on the couch, her eyes wide. “But when did you two—I mean, where—”
Lexi placed the baby in the antique cradle that had held four generations of Hatfield infants. “When? Nine months, two weeks, and four days ago. Where? Chicago.” She turned to give her sister-in-law a sardonic smile. “And before you ask how—the usual way.”
Her sister-in-law shook her head as if to clear it. “You mean to tell me he’s a doctor and he didn’t recognize the symptoms of pregnancy?”
“We…” Lexi hesitated. No matter how she said it, it was going to sound bad. “We only spent one night together.” She tiredly lowered herself into the rocking chair beside the cradle. She felt as if the weight of the world rested squarely on her shoulders. “It was the night before I left to come back home.”
“But what about birth control?” Freddie asked. “I mean, him bein’ a doctor and all, you’d think—”
“We did use something,” Lexi interrupted. She shrugged helplessly. “But there isn’t any method that’s one hundred percent effective.”
“Except abstinence,” Freddie corrected. “And if you’d picked that method—”
“We wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Lexi finished.
Freddie rose from the couch and began to pace the length of the room. “Does he realize Matthew is his?”
“Yes.”
When Freddie whirled around, her long, blonde ponytail slapped the side of her face. “I thought you told me he didn’t know about the pregnancy.” Her eyes narrowed and she propped her fists on her hips. “That woodpecker knew and waited all this time—”
“No,” Lexi interrupted. “I haven’t said anything to Ty.”
“Then, how are you sure he knows?”
Lexi handed Freddie the birth certificate. “He must have figured it out, because he listed himself as the baby’s father and Matthew’s last name as Braden.”
Freddie scanned the document, an incredulous expression crossing her delicate features. “Granny’s garters! What do you think he’ll do now?”
“I wish I knew.” Lexi closed her eyes and rested her head against the high back of the rocking chair. “But that’s not all.”
“There’s more?” Freddie looked at Lexi as if she’d sprouted horns and a tail.
Lexi nodded. Any other time, they’d find humor in Ty’s assumption about her marital status. But at the moment, Lexi couldn’t find anything even remotely funny about the situation.
When Lexi remained silent, Freddie frowned. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Probably not.” Lexi grimaced as she struggled for the courage to meet Freddie’s suspicious gaze. “He thinks I’m married to you.”
Freddie looked as if she’d been pinched. “Grandpa’s long johns! Where did he get a goofy idea like that?”
“Ty heard Martha and me talking about you,” Lexi explained. “I guess he assumed by the name that ‘Freddie’ was a man and my husband.”
“And you didn’t set him straight.” It was more an accusation than a question.
Lexi shook her head and stared down at her tightly laced fingers. “No.”
Clearly confused, Freddie plopped back down on the couch. “Why not?”
Biting her lower lip, Lexi tried to keep a sob from escaping. When she finally gained control of her emotions, her voice quavered. “I guess I was trying to buy some time…until I could figure out what to do.” Tears filled her eyes as she met her sister-in-law’s disbelieving gaze. “Oh, Freddie, how could I have made such a mess of things? And why couldn’t he have stayed in Chicago where he belongs?”
Freddie left the couch, knelt beside the rocking chair and put her arms around Lexi. “Do you love him?” she asked gently.
“To tell the truth, I’d have to say I don’t even know him,” Lexi sobbed.
“Oh, holy cow! This just gets more and more bizarre every time you open your mouth.”
Tears spilled down Lexi’s cheeks, and she tried to swipe them away with the back of her hand. “Ty and I were neighbors. He lived down the hall and we rarely ever saw each other. We’d pass in the hall and speak, or say ‘hello’ as we got on or off the elevator. But that was it. Until…the night I quit the radio station.”
“What made that night different?” Freddie asked.
Lexi took a deep breath. She’d started explaining things. She might as well finish. Besides, keeping secrets was precisely what got her into this mess to begin with.
“After a meeting with the corporate wonder boy in charge of restructuring the radio station, I decided there was no way I’d move my show to L.A. I didn’t want to move that far from home, so I turned in my resignation—effective immediately—and cleared out my office. Everything I’d worked to build in the last five years had just disintegrated in less than thirty minutes, and I doubt I could have felt any lower.” She sniffed back a sob. “When I went back to my apartment to pack, Ty had just gotten off duty at the hospital. He looked even worse than I felt.”
Freddie nodded. “But how did you two get together?”
“He said he’d had a really bad day in the E.R. and I told him about losing my job.” Lexi gave her sister-in-law a watery smile. “Ty suggested that we share dinner and a bottle of wine, since we’d both had a rotten day. I should have refused, but I didn’t feel like being alone. So I accepted.”
“Who ended up where? Was the deed done at your place or his?”
“Freddie!”
“Sorry, Lex, but this is just like a soap opera.”
Lexi shrugged. “My apartment had a gas fireplace and we picnicked in front of the hearth. He brought two bottles of wine and I supplied the cheese. We talked about being disillusioned with life and I told him about the peace I’d always found in these mountains and how I intended to come back here. Somehow, one thing led to another, and before either of us knew what happened, we were gathering our clothes and saying an awkward goodbye.”
Sitting back on her heels, Freddie shook her head. “Geez, when I have a bad day, I feel lucky if Jeff plays a Garth Brooks CD and pops a pizza in the microwave so I don’t have to cook supper.”
They remained silent for several minutes as the gravity of the situation sank in.
“I wonder what he’ll do now,” Freddie finally said.
“I’d like it if he just left me and the baby alone.” Lexi wiped at a tear as it slid down her cheek. “Forty-eight hours ago all I had to worry about was having a baby. Then, in less than a split second, my whole world is turned inside out.”
Freddie nodded sympathetically. “I can imagine it was a real shock to find out the daddy of your baby was gonna be the one to do the deliverin’.”
“You have no idea.” Lexi hiccuped. “There I was, ready to give birth, when Ty walked in. What was I going to say? Oh, by the way, you just happen to be the father of the baby you’re about to deliver. A child—” her voice caught “—you never wanted.”
“Now hold it.” Freddie’s pixielike features mirrored her confusion. “How do you know he never wanted kids?”
“He told me that night.” Lexi closed her eyes to hold back the threatening tears. “Ty didn’t say why, but I’m sure it had something to do with what he sees every day in the E.R.”
Suddenly overwhelmed, Lexi finally gave into the wave of emotion she’d held back since seeing Ty again. She cried for the circumstances surrounding their son’s birth and the uncertainty of what Ty intended next.
Freddie held her while she sobbed, then handed her a tissue once the tears finally subsided. “Maybe you’re wrong about him not wantin’ a baby.”
“I don’t think so,” Lexi said, wiping her cheeks.
“Jeff is never gonna believe this.”
“No!” Her voice desperate, Lexi pleaded, “Please don’t tell anyone. And especially not Jeff. At least not until I have a chance to work this out with Ty.”
Her sister-in-law’s hazel eyes filled with understanding. “That would probably be best. Knowin’ your brother, he’d go after the man with his double-barrel shotgun—”
“And all hell would break loose,” Lexi finished for her.
They sat in silence for a time before Freddie asked, “What’s he doin’ in Dixie Ridge, anyway?”
Lexi shook her head. “I wondered that myself.”
Freddie rose to her feet. “When do you think he’ll let you know what his intentions are?”
“I don’t know.” Lexi rubbed at the pounding in her temples. “But I don’t think I’ll have too long to wait. I think what he did with the birth certificate is proof enough that Ty isn’t the type of man to bide his time once he’s decided on a plan of action.”
Ty started counting mailboxes when he spotted the old wagon wheel leaning against a rail fence. In the city, he’d used building numbers, street names and well-known landmarks to find his way around. But here in the mountains, addresses weren’t always that easy. He found himself looking for stumps and wagon wheels, counting mailboxes and relying on a tremendous amount of luck to find where he needed to go.
He turned onto the steep lane past the sixth box, a self-deprecating smile curving the corners of his mouth. When Martha informed him that he’d have to make house calls in order to treat a few of his older, less mobile patients, he’d thought the practice inefficient and outdated.
He’d been wrong.
The more he drove the winding roads snaking their way up the side of Piney Knob, the more Ty appreciated the morning ritual, felt a little more tension drain away. For the first time in more years than he cared to count, he was taking life at a slower pace, paying attention to things he’d never had time to notice before. He was beginning to like the difference in the way it made him feel, too. He liked being able to gear down and lower his guard. Not only was he getting to know the people on Piney Knob, he was beginning to know himself.
Ty gazed out the windshield at the panoramic view. Making house calls gave him the chance to enjoy the earthy tones of autumn painting the mountains with their rich hues, to see the ancient peaks and valleys shrouded with the smoky mists the area had been named for. He found he liked the frosty bite of the morning air, the clean smell of pine, instead of the sulfuric smog of the city. And this morning the practice provided another bonus.
Glancing at the packages in the passenger seat, his smile widened. Every patient on this morning’s list of house calls had heard about the baby and asked if he would mind taking their gifts to Lexi. In doing so, they’d inadvertently handed him the perfect excuse to check on his son.
“Not that I need one,” he muttered.
As far as he was concerned, being Matthew’s father was reason enough for him to stop by the Hatfield place any time he damn well pleased.
He steered the truck around a sharp bend in the road, pulled to a stop in front of a small rustic cabin and looked around.
The place was nothing like he’d thought it would be.
In Chicago, Alexis’s apartment had been highly fashionable, ultra modern and very expensive. But Lexi’s house was humble and unassuming. The place looked like it had been constructed of giant Lincoln logs and might possibly have a little shed out back with a crescent moon carved in the door.
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