Daddy by Surprise (16 page)

“Told ya,” Tag said, sticking out his tongue. He and Char walked up. Tag was already wearing his new shirt, although Kat could see the purple neckline of his other shirt under it.

She helped Jordie try on his new shirt, too. The size was right, age-wise, but it was still a little big. He ran his fingers across the logo, which showed a skull where the headlamp should have been on a stylized motorcycle emerging from a blazing inferno. “Wow,” he uttered, looking at Char to get her reaction.

“Cool,” she said, giving him a high five.

Jack joined them a few seconds later and both boys thanked him for the gifts without Kat’s prompting. He seemed pleased by their reactions, but he looked at Kat and said, “He’s going to meet me in half an hour at the bar where you were working when I first got to town.”

Kat was too stunned to respond until Tag nudged her, a questioning look in his eyes. Kat smiled and ruffled his hair in a way he hated. “I need to go with Jack for an hour or so. It’s business. Do you think you could hang out with Char and keep an eye on Jordie? They’re going to be serving lunch pretty soon.”

Tag looked from Kat to Jack and back. “I guess so.”

Kat cleared things with Char, then waited while Jack gave her his cell number. “We’ll be back ASAP,” he said, flashing a small insider smile Kat’s way. “I still have a long drive ahead today.”

Kat knew that. She wasn’t going to forget it. Men made big promises—to love, honor, forsaking all others as long as you both shall live—then they left women like her and her mother.

She and Jack didn’t talk the whole way to Deadwood. Kat was oddly content to lean against his broad back and hold on. She didn’t want to think about all of the pressing personal issues on her slate, so she focused on her mother, instead. She’d talked to her aunt earlier. Mom was doing better. Medication was lifting her spirits. Kat was relieved, but she still felt guilty for not getting to Spearfish to see her. She hadn’t even introduced her to Jack. And now, it was too late.

She looked up and let the wind steal her sigh. Next week. Hopefully she’d have time after the filming to take the boys for a visit. She had no idea what the job involved, but she was sure she could handle playing an extra.

She was a natural. She’d been an extra all her life.

P
ETE WAS SITTING
at the bar when they arrived. Guy was behind the bar, as usual. He acknowledged her with an understated nod. “Hey, Kat, thought you’d be at the movie-star party. Did you hear they’re going to do some filming out front?”

From what the publicist who’d cornered her first thing that morning had said, the film crew was going to be all over the Black Hills taking footage that could be edited into a final cut. “Great for business, huh?”

“Hope so. What can I get you?”

“Water would be good. Guy, have you met Jack?”

“You’re Brian’s friend, right?”

The two shook hands. “I’m Kat’s friend.”

Guy glanced at Pete, then back. “O-kay. Beer?”

Jack shook his head. “Another time. Thanks.” He looked at Pete and said, “I’ll get us a table.”

Pete scowled. Kat knew her ex hated to be bossed around. She took her glass of water and followed Jack. After some mostly indistinguishable grumbling, Pete joined them. He set his half-finished draft on the table, then flipped the chair around backward and straddled it. “So, what’s this about you being a dentist and wanting to help my kid? Seems pretty obvious you already helped yourself to my ex.”

Kat couldn’t prevent the blush, but a swift kick to his shin helped alleviate some of her embarrassment.

Pete ignored her. “You’re the same guy who was getting a tat the day I picked up Tag, aren’t you? Tag said you weren’t too friendly.”

“Would you let some kid you never met before climb on your twenty-thousand-dollar bike?”

The answer sounded more like Mad Jack than her Jack, but it apparently made sense to Pete. “He should know better. His mom lets him get away with too much.”

Kat closed her eyes and sighed. She’d known Pete would get around to assigning blame sooner or later.

“He’s a kid,” Jack said firmly. “I could have handled things better, but I haven’t been around kids much.” He shrugged. “Anyway, here’s the thing. I asked Kat to marry me.”

She jolted upright, completely not expecting that revelation. “And I said no,” she quickly inserted.

“I hope to change her mind in the near future. But the point is I plan to be around your son and Jordie for a long time to come. If the tables were reversed, I’d want to know who was hanging out with my kid.”

Pete looked at Kat and said, “You’re knocked up.”

She tried to bluff. “Didn’t you hear what I said? When he asked me to marry him, I said no.”

She could see that confused Pete. And Pete hated to be confused. He liked things nice and simple, black and white.

Her brief sense of dodging a bullet—at least temporarily—ended when Jack’s eyes narrowed and his gaze locked with hers, but instead of outing her, he said, “About your son’s teeth. I’ll tell you straight out I specialize in adult orthodontia, but even
I
can tell he’s going to need braces. And the sooner you get started, the easier it’s going to be on him.”

“And you’re volunteering to fix his teeth out of the goodness of your heart,” Pete said snidely.

Jack’s jaw muscle tightened. “I’m volunteering to absorb the cost—whether I do the work or you take him to someone else—because his mother can’t afford to have her son’s teeth fixed on the paltry amount of child support you pay her.”

“Are you saying I’m cheap?”

“Yeah, I am.”

Both men jumped to their feet and sort of scratched the ground like a couple of young bull bison trying to impress the dominant female. The thought made her laugh out loud.

They turned to look at her. “I just realized that I’m the matriarch of this tribe,” she said, “And I’ve been doing a pretty damn good job despite the lack of support from my ex-husbands.”

She pointed her finger at Pete. “We’re changing the amount of child support you pay. Tag couldn’t do Little League because I couldn’t afford all the driving. That’s plain wrong.” His scowl looked so much like her father’s she almost lost her nerve, but she made herself go on. “Which reminds me. Why am I providing round-trip taxi service to your house? From now on, we pick a halfway point to meet.”

“What are you talking about? I was at your place twice last week.”

“Oooh. You swung what? Five, six miles out of your way to take your son camping? That was really big of you, Pete.”

He had the grace to blush.

“And another thing. No more just dropping him off when you run into some problem with your wife and other kids. That hurts Tag. He may not show it, but it does. It hurt
me
when my parents treated me like a bag of produce.”

Pete looked ready to argue, but Jack stepped to her side and put a very large, solid hand on her shoulder. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Pete got the message.

“Fine. I’ll tell Michelle that as long as we don’t have to pay for his teeth out of pocket, the money can go to child support. Within reason,” he added, giving Kat a meaningful squint.

She was too riled up to be reasonable. She’d been reasonable all her life, and frankly, unreasonable was a lot more empowering. But before she could unload any of the thousand or so long-held complaints she had, Jack said, “You can start by taking Tag while Kat’s working as an extra for the TV show. She shouldn’t have to scramble to pay for child care when your wife is a stay-at-home mom and you have a pool in your backyard.”

Pete gave Kat another black look, but he muttered, “Fine.”

Kat wasn’t sure exactly what got settled, but neither man seemed inclined toward chitchat, so she and Jack promptly left. As they approached his bike, he said, “I’m sorry if I came on too strong in there. You’re more than capable of speaking for yourself, but I noticed with my sister that divorce seems to bring out the worst in people. My ex-brother-in-law got incredibly petty over the dumbest things.”

“It’s okay. Pete has control issues where women are concerned. It was the main reason behind our divorce. His current wife takes a lot more than I was willing to put up with.”

Jack handed her the extra helmet, but she didn’t put it on right away. “Just for the record, what are your plans?”

“I’m going back to Denver to start the process of moving.”

“What? You’re moving here? Seriously?”

“Would you find that easier to believe if I told you I put a down payment on a three-bedroom house in Sentinel Pass today? Well…a small one. I didn’t have my checkbook. And it’s contingent on a walk-through. I’ve only seen the place from the outside.”

Her jaw dropped. “There aren’t any hou—Oh, my God. Mrs. Smith’s place? That’s where Cooper and Shane are staying.”

“Past tense. Coop and Libby are keeping her house, and Shane is at Jenna’s. Some crew members are renting it this week. That’s why we didn’t go inside. But Mrs. Smith’s son and daughter were in town to put it on the market, and I made them an offer. They took it.”

She shook her head, trying to process this twist. “Jack, we don’t even know for sure if I’m pregnant. I haven’t taken the test yet. You can’t turn your life upside down over this. What if I’m wrong?”

His smile made her heart do a double flip. “Then we have to keep trying till we get it right.”

“Jack,” she said in her most fervent mother-knows-best tone, “that doesn’t make any sense. You barely know me. You’re not in love with me. You can’t be.”

His arm snaked out and he raked her flush against his body. “I know everything I need to know, Kat. I just need to convince you of that. And I can’t do that from Denver.” He kissed her lightly. “Maybe we could start with a date. You know—the thing two people who are interested in each other do to get to know each other better?”

His grin packed about a thousand watts of swoo, and Kat had trouble remembering what she was going to say. “But…but what about your business?”

“My dad used to preach about the importance of building up a practice and developing strong client relationships, but I watched those valued clients flee like rats from a sinking ship at the first hint of rumors that were patently untrue. Dentistry is my career, not my calling. And certainly not my life. I don’t think I realized that until…”

He didn’t finish. If he’d said, “until I met you,” she wouldn’t have believed him, so she didn’t press for details. Her head was spinning, and at the moment all she wanted was to get back to her sons. “We should go.”

He nodded in agreement and stepped away, reaching into his pocket for the key. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll drop you off in Sentinel Pass and keep driving. I want to make Edgemont before dark and I have a bunch of calls to make. But tell Tag I’ll be back as soon as I can. If you want to get the ball rolling with a local orthodontist, no problem. Just tell him I plan to consult on the case and send the bill to me.”

She yanked on her chin strap. She couldn’t think. Her mother liked to say, “The proof was in the pudding.” If this talk of moving panned out, fine. She’d deal with him the same way she did Pete and Drew. If he never came back…well, she’d do what she always did. Get by.

“Y
OU MEAN YOU DON’T
even know if there
is
a baby?”

Jack was already tired of this discussion and he’d just started it. He’d waited all week to invite his mother and sister to dinner so he could break the news. Rachel, who’d phoned every evening to check on him, had heard bits and pieces of what had transpired on his journey, but he’d asked her not to tell their mother until he had the majority of his plans finalized.

Fortunately their mother had been playing golf in Grand Junction with a group of retired friends, so he’d been able to conduct most of his business in private. She’d only returned that morning and hadn’t questioned his invitation to a Friday-evening barbecue.

“Why doesn’t anyone believe me?” he asked, more to himself than either of the women sitting at the table across from him. He’d overcooked the salmon. No one seemed to notice. “I don’t care if Kat is pregnant or not. And for the record, she called me on Monday and said she took a home pregnancy test and it was negative. But she still feels pregnant. She’s going to give it another week before she sees a doctor.”

“Why would this Kat woman say she was pregnant if she didn’t know for sure? That sounds terribly irresponsible, Jackson.”

“Mom, I think you’re missing the point. What Jack is saying is he loves Kat, which is short for Katherine, I believe, and wants to marry her no matter what.”

Jack smiled his appreciation. He could tell by the haunted look in his sister’s eyes that any talk of love was a painful reminder of her broken heart. Her whirlwind affair and tumultuous marriage had ended so badly she’d barely been able to get out of bed for a month.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Rachel. This is Jackson we’re talking about. He isn’t some flighty character in a romance novel. He’s deliberate and intelligent. He makes thoughtful, balanced decisions based on facts and realistic projections.”

Jack and his sister exchanged a look. “No, Mom, that’s you,” Jack said as gently as possible. “I’m more like Dad. I’ve been trying really hard most of my life not to be because we all know how badly he got burned. But I can’t fake it anymore. What happened to Dad was unfortunate. It nearly killed him and left you so jaded about people you forgot Dad’s purpose for being a dentist—to help people. Especially children.

“And whether you meant to or not, your fears affected me and my choices. But not anymore. I’m going to work on kids and at least half my practice will be offered free or at reduced prices for people who normally wouldn’t be able to afford to take their kids to an orthodontist.”

All the color drained from his mother’s still-youthful-looking face. Her reddish brown hair lacked even a hint of silver, thanks to her well-paid stylist. “Please tell me you’re joking. That’s exactly the kind of people who try to take advantage of the system. The boy who accused your father had been coached by his drug-addict parents. By the time he recanted his statement, it was too late. Both your father—and his practice—were devastated. Neither was ever the same again.”

“I know, Mom. But Dad took shortcuts when he was doing pro bono work. He didn’t keep a nurse in the room with him. I assume that was because her wages would have been out-of-pocket.”

He watched her face change. She didn’t deny the fact, which Jack had only guessed. He’d spent most of his drive home from the Hills trying to remember what little he knew about his father’s case. There had been a lot of whispers and closed-door conferences with lawyers and investigators. He’d felt his father’s shame, and even though Jack never wanted to admit it, he’d had moments of doubt. What if the reason his father didn’t have a nurse present was because he’d planned to do something unsavory all along?

But somewhere around Cheyenne another thought had hit him. His trusting father would have tried to honor his own need to help children while conceding to his banker wife’s penny-pinching thriftiness.

“Paying staff to fix the teeth of a child who would probably wind up doing drugs or rotting in jail like his father seemed a waste of good money,” his mother admitted. “I didn’t know how low some people would sink to take advantage of a kind soul. I just didn’t know.”

Jack wondered how much his mother’s sense of guilt had shaped his later decisions, like specializing in adult orthodontics and never dating women with children.

“Mom,” Jack said, touching her arm. “Nobody’s blaming you. Those were bad people. Dad didn’t deserve what happened, but there’s no changing the past and I’m tired of letting fear rule my life.”

“Jackson, please don’t—”

“I’m moving to an area that can’t support my tiny window of specialization, Mom. I need to get back into mainstream dentistry, and that means working with children.”

“How’d you do it?” Rachel asked. “How’d you overcome your fear?”

Jack looked at her. He heard something deeply personal in her question. He answered honestly, knowing full well neither Rachel nor Mom would understand. “I simply asked myself, ‘What would Mad Jack do?’”

Rachel smiled as though she did get it.

His mother let out a low moan. “But what about your beautiful house? The market is soft right now, Jackson. You’ll never get what it’s worth.”

“I’ll make money on it no matter what, Mom. And I’m keeping the office building. My colleagues are delighted to continue with our present arrangement. Actually they were thrilled because my not being there means one more piece of the client pie.”

He got up and walked around the table. “Mom, Sentinel Pass isn’t that far from Denver. I was talking to Kat’s friend Libby the other day. Her brother, Mac, makes the drive here about once a month for parts for his mining operation.”

Rachel perked up. “Sentinel Pass? Isn’t that where the new television show is being filmed? Wow. That’s cool. Could you introduce me to a movie star?”

He rolled his eyes. “The only one I met is married to Kat’s best friend, but who knows? You can visit me anytime. I’m thinking about building a guest cottage on the property once I finish remodeling the main house and put in a pool.”

His mother moaned again. He knew she was thinking about the cost, but what she didn’t understand was he’d spend every cent he had to win the heart of the woman he loved.

K
AT HELD ON
to the counter of Libby’s bathroom vanity with her free hand. Her knees felt as if they might give out. Probably because her heart was barely beating and she was breathing too fast and shallowly.

How could this be? she asked herself for the hundredth time, staring at the little plastic wand of the home pregnancy test.

A knock sounded on the door. “Well?” Libby hollered. “What’s the verdict? Yea or nay?”

She’d used her mother as an excuse to leave Cooper’s big party early on Sunday to drive to Spearfish. A quick stop at the grocery store for
ice cream
had allowed her to pick up a testing kit. And later that night after visiting Mom, who brightened considerably seeing her grandsons, Kat had followed the directions to the letter.

The result had left her baffled. Was there such a thing as a false negative? Could her kit have been old or defective? Maybe she’d tried too soon.

She’d fretted about whether to call Jack, since she still felt pregnant, regardless of what the test said. When she’d finally called him, his reaction had only added to her confusion. How could anybody be that calm and understanding about something so life-altering? He had to be faking all that sweet concern for her state of mind.

But why would he? She didn’t get it. Nothing about Jack made sense. Mad Jack she got. He was like all the other men in her life—take what you want and move on. But her Jack? He might be gone, but he rarely left her mind.

And that had scared her more than she wanted to admit. If she wasn’t pregnant, then any connection she had with Jack would be lost.

So what?
A voice in her head had cried. But the answer wasn’t simple. It had grown in strength all week. And by the time Libby had shown up on the set an hour earlier, Kat had been sitting on the curb like a mindless zombie.

Libby had managed to pry out the truth in a matter of seconds. Then, in a bossy but loving way, had insisted on purchasing a second test for Kat to take while the crew was on break. “You have to find out, Kat. It’s not fair to you or Jack to drag this out.”

Kat opened the bathroom door. “It’s negative, too,” she said simply.

Libby checked the plastic wand for herself, then nodded. “You’re right. It is. I guess that means you’re not pregnant. These things are pretty accurate, you know.”

“But what about my symptoms? I never miss a period. Never. And my breasts are tender. And I’m queasy all the time—not just in the morning. How do you explain that?”

Libby put her hand on Kat’s arm and gently pulled her into the hall. “Let’s have a glass of iced tea and talk.”

Kat shook her head. “Shane wanted all the extras back on the set in half an hour.”

“I’ll give you a written excuse,” Libby said dryly. “Besides, half an hour in Shane time could mean three hours on the clock.”

They’d already discussed at length the crazy way a television production operated. Despite Shane’s passion for schedules, the actual filming seemed dependent on any one of a dozen variables—lighting, wind, the right electrical cords, hair and makeup. Kat wasn’t entirely convinced anything got done.

Not that the result mattered to her. Getting paid to do nothing wasn’t such a bad thing. She’d managed to find an out-of-the-way corner to work on the last paper she had to turn in for her independent-study class. She’d chosen to write about frontier women in support roles that truly helped to settle the West. Women like Mad Jack’s schoolmarm in her dream.

“Kat?”

Kat startled, realizing she’d missed whatever Libby had been saying. “See? Look how ditzy I am. This is me pregnant, Lib. Seriously. Pete used to get so mad at me when he was talking to me and I’d space out.”

Libby sat on the rocking chair she always chose when they had book club at her house. Kat perched on the edge of the sofa, restless and a little dazed. She wasn’t sure what this meant or what she should do next. Carry on with her life, she supposed. But what about Jack, who was supposedly moving to Sentinel Pass because he thought she was pregnant? She’d messed everything up. Worse than usual.

“Pete has control issues. Forget Pete. Thanks to Jack, he’s finally living up to some of his parenting obligations, instead of blaming you every time Tag does something remotely wrong.”

In the five days that Jack had been gone, Tag had spent the majority of the time at Pete’s house. There was a certain amount of complaining on both parties’ part, but Kat was beginning to think Jack—who claimed to know nothing about kids—was more intuitive than she.

“So? Do you want to talk about this false pregnancy?”

“Not really. I feel stupid. And a little betrayed. I mean, I know my body. I can’t understand how I got this wrong. Maybe I should see a doctor. There might be something really wrong with me. My mom has cancer, you know.”

Libby made a face. “Whoa. No quantum leaps allowed. You’re young and healthy. Your mother’s throat cancer was the result of a lifetime of bad habits. I think if you’d step back and take stock of your life at the moment, you’d see that any change in your body could be attributed to stress.”

“When is my life not stressful, Lib?”

“Good point. But it got more so when Jack showed up.”

“Because of his swoo?”

“Because you care for him. Actually I think you love him, but you won’t let yourself admit how you feel.”

Kat shook her head. She fought the impulse to spring to her feet and start pacing. “I can’t love him, Libby. It wouldn’t be good for him. I’ve screwed up every romantic relationship I’ve ever been in. Jack just had his heart broken. He deserves someone more stable.” Like the schoolmarm in her dream.

“Oh, I see. You’re not the person he could or should love, so at a deeply subconscious level your body convinces you you’re pregnant so he’ll marry you?”

Kat stopped fidgeting. In a way, that made sense. But then she remembered. “I turned him down when he asked.”

“But maybe a part of you is hoping he won’t take no for an answer. Maybe the part that still feels pregnant. Because you don’t believe anybody could love you and want to marry you without an ulterior motive.”

“Like the threat of my dad’s shotgun.” Kat’s stomach turned over.

Libby sat forward and pounded her fist on her knee. “We all have to deal with baggage from our past, Kat, but I’d wring your father’s neck if I had the chance. You’ve got to start believing that you’re not your mother. Or your father. You’re you, Kat. One of the nicest, most loving decent people in the world, and I’m sick of you being less than kind to yourself.”

Kat couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s passionate outburst.

Libby sighed heavily but smiled, too. “Kat. Why wouldn’t Jack love you? He’s smart, and he knows you’re exactly what he needs. Why can’t you see that?”

Kat pictured herself huddled in the backseat of her mother’s car—fingers pushed deep in her ears to block the hurtful words of her parents’ shouting matches. How could two people who claimed to be so much in love they didn’t even stop to think about birth control wind up hating each other—and the child they made—so much?

She stood. “I need to talk to my dad.”

She would have preferred to pose her question to her mother, but her last visit had confirmed Kat’s suspicion that her sweet but nosy aunt didn’t take a hint well. There was no such thing as privacy with Roberta around.

“What about the boys?”

Kat slapped her brow with the heel of her hand. “Another brain fart, as Jordie would say. Michelle was supposed to drop Tag off at the Y today to hang out with Jordie after his summer art program. I’ll pick them both up on my way to the ranch.”

“I could watch them if you want to talk to your dad alone.” Libby smiled that loving, happy smile she always got on her face when thinking about her husband. “Cooper loves playing daddy. He won’t admit it, but I think he really, really wants a boy.” She put her hand on her rounded belly.