“Um, well, I guess maybe…he didn’t come with me to Florida.”
“Well, he’s not here. If you see him, let him know that I’m holding off the hounds, but he might want to make an appearance tomorrow or Friday at the latest.”
“I’ll do that.”
What the hell is going on? Everything sounded normal on the phone.
Right now she had wine chilling in the refrigerator so that at dinner tonight she could tell him about his daddy status.
Katie turned to leave the office and noticed the blinking light on the message player. She hit it twice accidentally and the player started to play old messages before finding the new one.
There was a message from her early in her trip. One from Jo at the office. Must have come through before he asked for phone silence.
A voice she didn’t recognized made her drop back into the chair. I found Maggie’s aunt living in the Valley. Like you said. Looks like Maggie was living with her before she had the baby. I have a new address. Call me.
“He knows.” Katie looked around the room. “He knows.”
The next message that played was a hang up. Then the in-box was empty.
As empty as everything inside of her felt in that moment.
There was no doubt in her mind that Dean was with Maggie right then. Talking to her, confiding in her…the mother of his child.
“Oh, God.”
Katie left the office and walked into the living room. She paced, thinking. Worrying.
They’d been engaged. What if he wanted to make that work now that he knew the truth? Did he know that Katie had kept the information from him…was he upset with her for not telling him?
Minutes ticked slowly past and turned into an hour. She tried his cell phone again but didn’t leave a message.
Savannah woke early from her nap and fussed more than normal. Or maybe Katie’s stress didn’t tolerate it. What could she do if Dean wanted Savannah? That one part of the entire equation that neither of them had considered was: What if a daddy showed up? There was no showing up necessary. Savannah already lived with her father.
Katie was the expendable link.
Several hours ticked by, each one more painful than the last. Could she force herself to walk away if Dean asked her to? Everything had been going well…moving in the right direction.
Why this? Why now?
The sound of the garage door reached her and her palms started to itch.
Dean walked through the garage door, dropped his keys on the counter, and entered his house in a daze.
He wanted a quiet moment. One without his mind running, reaching for impossible solutions. As soon as he revealed to Katelyn who Savannah’s mother was…or more importantly, who the daddy was, things could change.
Dean moved into the den, poured that stiff drink, and collected his thoughts. Today should have been a homecoming. He hadn’t seen Katie in three days…three nights. He missed her.
“I tried calling you.” Katie’s wavering voice brought his thoughts into focus.
He swiveled and saw her standing in the doorway, holding Savannah.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been—” He lowered his gaze, sipped his drink.
“With Maggie,” Katie uttered.
His gaze collided with hers. “How did you know?”
“There was a message on your machine.”
He’d forgotten about Nathan’s phone call. Dean poured more whiskey down his throat and tried to burn the image of Maggie from his mind. “Maggie is…Savannah’s mother.”
Katie winced, as if the words hurt. “I know,” she whispered.
“What?”
“And you’re her father.” It was Katie looking away now.
Dean gripped his glass. “You knew? How long did you know?”
She moved into the room, placed Savannah in her swing, and buckled her in. “I spoke to Patrick right before I left for Florida…wait, that’s not entirely true. A couple days before.”
Guilt started a quick fuse to anger. “You knew?”
Katie tuned on the swing and gave it a gentle push. “He found video images of Maggie in the hotel…that night. I guessed about who the daddy was.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I would have.”
“When?” he raised his voice, darted a look at Savannah, and lowered it again. “How long would you have kept this from me, Katelyn?”
“I thought about it when I was in Florida. Wanted to say something to you then…but I couldn’t do it on the phone. I couldn’t stand the thought of you going to her when I wasn’t here. But you did anyway. I’ve been here all day thinking you’re with her. The mother of your child.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Where do I fit into that?”
“Dammit, Katie.”
“Dammit, what? Savannah is your daughter. I’m a substitute for the real mother.”
“You’re not a substitute.”
“I am. Now that you know Savannah belongs to you more than she can ever belong to me, what do I have? You’ve been with Maggie, were ready to marry her. You have a child with her. I can’t compete with that.”
He’d never seen Katie so vulnerable and scared. As torn as he was about Maggie’s decision to keep Savannah from him…for leaving his child on Katie’s doorstep, he wasn’t at all torn with who he wanted to live his life with. Dean set his glass down, crossed the room, and tried to put his arms around her.