Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (46 page)

“No, but the way he
float
ed
into the office
this morning, I had a feeling
that’s how
it went down
.
From his description, it sounds
like
Danni
was made to have babies.”

Angela
glanced at
him, one side of her mouth arc
ing upward.
“Most women are,
Joe
l
.”

“You know what I mean. She had it so easily. Not everyone does.”

“True. It’s clear she’s head ov
er heels in
love
with that baby,
which is
as
it should be.”

“
Do you know
who the father is?”

She looked at
him
, her tone a warning
.
“
Joe
l
.”

“I know, but from what Ben said,
I thought you might know
.”

“
That information’s in the chart
.
I’m betting
she thinks
Ben
has
assumed that role.”

Joel
poured more wine. “Do you think that’s wise? He
finishes
his
extern
ship in three months and
head
s back to Pullman. H
e’s said nothing to me about that plan changing
.”

“I don’t know.
Danni
has her mother to help her
now
. She and Ben
will
have to work
it
out. P
lease p
ass the
aspar
ag
us.”

When Joel stopped talking
about newborns, two- and four-legged,
Angela
changed the subject to her
plan
to
take
advanced training
and where she might find a
locum tenens
,
a temporary replacement,
to cover her practice
in her absence
.

“T
ime for another change of drawers
, Jimmy
,” Ben
croone
d
.
“
How you get
so wet in so little time, I do no
t know.”

The
two-week old
star
ed
at him
solemnly
, his blue eyes
tracking
Ben’s
head motions
. Then, as the diaper came off, he began to
wail
.

“Now, now. I know you don’t like the cold air on your
privates
. Just give me a minute and I’ll get you all wrapped up again.
S
hh
.
You’ll wake up your mom. She needs her sleep. You kept her up half the night.”

The baby stopped fussing and stared again at Ben’s face, then
opened his mouth
before
turning his head
to the side and puckering his lips
.

“Hungry again?
You just got done.
Okay
.
I’ll take you back.
”

T
he baby, now on his shoulder
,
snuggled close and started
sucking on his neck. 

“Hey, that tickles
,” Ben chuckled
.
“
And you won’t get any milk from
me
.
”
This kid wa
s so much fun. He couldn’t imagine his heart being any fuller than when he was with the little guy.
But h
ow long would he be able to enjoy him? He had to go back to school
soon
. Only three
more
months.
I’ve got to talk to her—convince her to come with me.

Danni
rolled over sleepily. She reached for the baby. “He needs to nurse again? He must be having an appetite spurt. The
book
said something about that at two weeks or so.
Do you suppose he
read
i
t, too?
”
She
smiled at Ben. “What time is it?”

“Time for me to g
o
to work.
Joe
l
and I are going to see Mr.
Simpson at Woolley Acres today
to
get him to
let
us
do all the vaccinati
ons
this year.”

“Good luck. I know you’ve been working hard to convince him.” She yawned and snuggled back under the covers.

“
Today
, I’m supposed
to let my advisor know.”
Danni
looked over at
three-week-old
Jimmy, sleeping peacefully in his cradle. “Oh, but
,
I
really
don’t want to leave you.” She stared back at the course catalog. “I know your grandma said she’d watch you, but how can I
just walk out the door
?”

The baby stirred, his mouth making sucking motions. A small fist waved in the air and then settled back onto the top of the rainbow quilt.
Danni
looked away
for a moment
.

“I
just
can’t do it,” she
told
Jimmy,
and let her tears come. “E
ver
yone expects me to
go back to school. Mom and Dad—
wherever
he is—
and Ben. Will he think I’m a quitter
if I don’t go back right away
, like I’d planned
?”

She stood up and looked outsid
e. The days were getting longer
and the nights warmer.
Jimmy stirred and whimpered. She picked him up and held him on her lap. He opened his eyes and looked at
her, his face at first serious.
Then he smiled, his whole body w
r
iggling.

“Y
ou are so precious.
How can I leave you?”
She put the baby to her breast. When he
finished
nursing
,
she
changed
his
diaper and
had just
tucked him into the cradle for
a
nap
when
a
knock sounded
at the door
.

She
opened it
to
her father, who staggered in
side
and fell against the table
in
the kitchen
, knocking
over
a chair
in the process
.
She backed
away from him
, her pulse starting to race, dismayed at the way he looked
, his hair uncombed,
his cheeks unshaven, his clothes mussed and looking
like he’d slept in them
.
But he had come to see her. That had to be a good sign.

She took a step forward.
“Dad
, hi.
Let me help you.”

But h
e pushed her hand away. “I hear you had the little bastard,” he growled.  “Where is he?”

She
held her ground, standing
between her father and the baby, who
se
little noises told her he was stirring.
“His name’
s James, Dad.
I named him
after you.”

“What’d you
do
that for? I though
t you were going to give him up.
” He belched loudly and got to his f
eet, swaying.
The odor of unwashed skin and
beer
waft
ed
in
Danni
’s direction
.
Her heart picked up speed
again
, unsure what her father
was going to do
next
.

“
Have
you been home
to see Mom
?”

“No,
your mother
won’t let me
in
until I take you ba
ck. T
hat won’t happen
till
the
kid’
s
gone,
out of your life.
Get rid of him
,
Dannilynn
. When
you do that, you can come home, or we
re you planning to
stay
in this shack with that good-for-nothing
vet
?” He
tried to
look
past
her
toward
the baby, who was now crying l
usti
ly.

“Ben’s not good-for-nothing
.
He
helped me
when the baby was coming.
” S
he picked up
Jimmy
and clutched him close
.
“Do you want to see him?” She turned the baby
to face
her father.
M
aybe if he
sees
his namesake
…

But
now her father and her son were each yelling
, a stereophonic complaint in decibels almost too loud to
bear
,
shredd
ing her heart
.
“
Tell
the little
bastard
to shut up! Hi
s yowling—it hurts
my ears.” H
er father
waved
his arms
.

Dann
i
backed away from
him
, the baby
hugged
to her chest
.
Trying to stay calm, she said,
tears welling
in spite of herself
,
“Dad, I think you’d better go.”

“
Did
you hear me? It
’s me or the kid—your choice!” h
e yelled at her.

“Dad, p
lease. You’re
scar
ing Jimmy.”
The baby’s cries got higher and louder, and
her
pulse
rac
ed
.

As the baby’s
high-pitched
cries
escalate
d
, the man turned
and
tripped over the crad
le, breaking one of
its
rockers.
He
picked himself up and
fell
to one knee as he
slipped
on
the stairs of the porch.

Danni
shut and locked the door behind him and watched
through the window
as
he staggered toward the road.
She rocked and soothed the baby
.
When he
finally
quieted,
she
picked up the phone.
Her heart ached that her father was still so hatef
ul
toward her,
toward
Jimmy
.
When will this end? How could he be so nasty?
She pressed her nose into the baby’s silky hair, inhaling his unique baby scent. Whatever happened, she
c
ould never give up Jimmy
.

Anna
was
at the cottage
within
minutes
of Danni’s call
.
“I’ll see about getting the cradle fixed
.”

“
No
, Mom.
Ben can
probably
repair it.” She
looked
at her mother. “I’ve never seen Dad like that.
He smelled like he’d been drinking
, and he
looked
terrible. Where’
s he staying?”