“How did you find out?” Josh says.
“Her mother called me in hysterics from the hospital. Jade had told her at the last minute who the father was.”
I was at work about to end my shift when Valerie called me. It had taken her ten whole minutes to explain who she was and for me to remember Jade. I’d driven straight to the hospital to meet a newborn daughter I hadn’t known existed.
“How do you know she was telling the truth?” Stan says.
“We did a paternity test. Morris and Valerie, Jade’s parents, insisted on it.”
“How horrible for them,” my mother says. She looks likes she’s going to be sick. I don’t blame her. I’ve dumped a lot on them.
A puzzled look comes over her features. “How old is Emma?”
I swallow hard. “Three months.”
“Three months!” everyone choruses.
“You didn’t think to tell us in all that time?” my father says, looking at me as if I’ve suddenly become a stranger. “None of this sounds like you, Logan. Stan maybe, but you…”
“Dad!” Stan says.
My father shoots him an apologetic stare but he’s right. Stan is the one who has always had a string of girlfriends. Josh and I were the stable ones, and everyone knew that I’d end up marrying Lisa.
Until I learned that she had been seeing other guys behind my back. There’s no word to describe the feeling of finding out that the girl you would have trusted with your life betrayed you over and over again. We’d met in high school and her excuse was that we were too young to commit ourselves without getting a chance to see what else was on offer out there. It hurt like hell but it had been a good lesson and I learned it well. No woman was ever going to trample on my heart again.
An image of Vanessa pops into my brain, confusing me. I’ve only met her once and true, she has a killer figure but so what? I’ve dated models and a beauty queen. There is nothing particularly special about Vanessa. I toss her from my mind.
“Who is taking care of her now?” my mom asks.
“Jade’s parents. They took her home after the hospital.”
My mother shakes her head. “And you never said a word.”
My chest constricts at the look of disappointment on her face. I disappointed myself too for not stepping up to my responsibilities, starting by telling my family about Emma.
“What plans have you made with her grandparents?” my father asks. “Are they going to raise your daughter for you?”
Chapter 5
Vanessa
“How’s that?” Ace says as we both survey the crib he has just reassembled. He shifts his glance to Ivy, who is perched on my hip. He makes a funny face. “What do you think, sweetheart? Think this will do for your beauty sleep?”
Ivy lets out a tired giggle. She finds her Uncle Ace hilarious even if she doesn’t understand anything he says. But she loves that he makes silly faces every time he speaks to her.
“It’s perfect,” I tell him surveying Ivy’s small cozy room. It’s perfect for a child, with splashes of color in the carpet and the bedding. On the floor is a playpen with all her favorite toys. “Thanks so much. Tell Lexi thank you for sparing you.”
“You’re welcome and if you need me to do anything, just holler. I’m not worried about you and Ivy though. Logan’s awesome. He’ll look out for you,” my brother-in-law says.
“I don’t need looking out for. We’ll be just fine,” I tell him.
He stares at me with a look of amusement. “Yeah, Lexi warned me you’d say that, but you know what I mean. You’re my little sister and I want to know that you and Ivy are safe.”
“We’ll be fine, and I don’t want you asking Logan to look out for us. I can take care of myself and my child.”
Ace raises his hands in mock surrender. “Fine, I won’t. Speaking of the man, I’ll say a quick hello before I leave.”
Ivy’s bedroom looks out to Logan’s back door, and I watch Ace as he crosses the neat lawn and goes to knock on Logan’s back door. I shouldn’t do this, but I can’t make myself move from the window. A few seconds later, Logan opens the door, and the two men’s voices carry to my cottage before Ace enters and Logan closes the door.
I warm Ivy’s milk and we settle in the living room and cuddle as she takes her bottle. She’s tired from the excitement of the move and she falls asleep before she finishes her bottle.
I carry her to the newly assembled crib, tuck her in and tiptoe out. Not that there’s a chance of waking her up with the exhaustion she’s feeling. There’s a lot of unpacking to do and I busy myself with that for the next hour.