“So whoever she was, she knew you’d had Amber and knew it was from a night with Thunder,” Harper said.
“Seemed that way.”
“I can’t say for sure,” Harper said, “but my guess is that Thunder Morgan had nothing to do with any of this. If he didn’t make the threat personally, it’s possible he doesn’t even know you made that call.”
“But she knew about the baby.”
“You put his name on Amber’s birth certificate. That’s easy enough to track.”
“Why did you put his name on the certificate, Mama?”
“’Cause he’s your daddy. You deserved to know where you came from.”
“But you never talked about him. Never mentioned him to me.”
“I was scared to! I thought you might go out and try to find him and end up dead.”
Amber reached out and touched her mother’s forearm, offering her comfort the way Angie had offered it to her. Odd, but she wanted to comfort her mother. “I’ve met him. He didn’t make that threat. I’m almost sure of it.”
Harper smiled. “I can vouch for him too, ma’am. In fact, I could call him up and get him out here if you want. I think he’d be right glad to know Amber’s his.”
“I don’t want him to see this mess,” Karen said.
“Harper, no,” Amber agreed. “I want to get to know him, truly I do, but not until this other…er…stuff is taken care of.”
No way was she telling Karen about the photos.
“I understand,” Harper said. “At any rate, Ms. Hedstrom, I’m sure we can clear this all up with Thunder Morgan.”
“Well, he owes me eighteen years of back child support.”
“Sixteen. You kicked me out, remember?”
“I’m afraid he doesn’t owe you anything, ma’am. Unless a court ordered him to pay support and he didn’t, which is not what happened. In all likelihood he didn’t even know Amber existed. If you want to get anything out of him, you’ll have to take him to court and get an order for back support. Are you sure he’s the father? Because the judge will order a DNA test at this point.”
“Harper’s a lawyer, Mama.”
“Oh, perfect. A lawyer.” Karen twirled a piece of her hair between her fingers. “He’s the father. I may look like I slept around, but I really didn’t. So again, I get nothin’. Story of my life.”
“You can take him to court,” Harper said.
“With what? My good looks? Look at this place. You think I got a dime in my pocket, much less what you lawyers charge?”
“Mama, we’ll figure this stuff out about Thunder Morgan, I promise. But not now. I have other things I need to do first.”
She had to keep her heart out of it.
“Ms. Hedstrom”—Harper stood—“thank you for your time. Will you be okay here for the night?”
“Of course.”
“Good. I’m taking Amber to a hotel.”
“Harper—”
“No argument. You need a decent night’s sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”
What a wonderful man! If only he could be hers. Remember, he’s not doing any of this for you. He’s doing it for Angie. She nodded. “Okay.”