Worth the Drive (17 page)

He’d checked the tee times before he’d left the clubhouse. He had until one-forty the next
day to try to come to terms with Katie.

It could be a very long breakfast.

He turned to leave, then stopped and turned back to Katie. “Katie, I feel
I must be honest with you. I’
ll look over these papers, but know this. If this is my child
–
and that will have to be proven to me by more than just your say-so
–
I will not be giving up any rights
to it
. And I will expect this child to bear my name. And if that means marriage, then so be it.”

He turned again to leave, but not before he saw a look of shock and dismay cross Katie’s radiant face.

He brought Binky with him to breakfast. Moral support, Katie figured. That was okay, she liked Binky. She even thought she might get him on her side.

Her side
? Had this really come down to sides? She was still in shock that
Darío
had mentioned marriage. Of course it was unthinkable, they barely knew each other. She had a small job in a small town. He traveled internationally and was a professional athlete. The only thing they had in common was this baby growing inside of her.

The pleasantries, such as they were, were over quickly. Breakfast ordered and eaten in near silence. Binky, the only one who spoke, kept up a running monologue of what
Darío
needed to look for in the round later today. Katie could see
Darío
was only pretending to listen.

He was wearing the same coral Lacoste shirt he had worn the first day she’d met him in Texas.
Two
months of hot sun
made the
wh
ite laugh lines around his eyes
more pronounced. He held himself
straight and tall
, as he barely touched his food. He looked tired. Katie wondered if he’d gotten as little sleep as she had last night.

Their dishes cleared away,
Darío
sipped on his coffee and Katie struggled with finishing her huge glass of milk. “I’m assuming you’ve brought Binky up to speed with my situation?” she asked.

As Binky nodded,
Darío
added, “
Our
situation.”

Katie nodded her understanding. “Right. Our situation.” She took another gulp of milk, then leveled her shoulders, hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst. “And, after looking over the papers, are you ready to sign them?” She held her breath, waiting for his answer.

He placed his coffee cup down on the saucer. His rough hands smoothed the already smooth paper placemat. “I will not sign your papers. No child of mine will be raised without a father.”

She felt
she knew what he was thinking. H
e was a traditionalist, and he would
feel that
the child would need a strong father figure. Plus he came from a very male-oriented culture. She wanted to explain to him that his child would be surrounded by strong male influences.

“I understand that the role of a father is probably very important
to you because you didn’t know yours.
” She waited for
Darío
to break in. When he didn’t, she continued on, not sure if she was helping or hurting her case
.
“
But
I have four brothers, all of them married and with kids of their own.
This child will be surroun
ded by uncles and a grandfather, and
have tons of cousins to play with.” She waited. He said nothing. His steely look had left, but his jaw was still taut, filled with determination. Fine, so was Katie. “This child will be loved by a large family,
Darío
, there is no need for concern.”

His eyes returned to the soft, chocolate-brown she’d been so drawn to in Texas. They seemed to be full of hurt. He let out a loud sigh. Katie wasn’t sure what nerve she’d hit, but she knew she’d
trampled on
one.

“
Don’t
be concerned? Do you think I’
m
the type of
man that by
just
knowing my child has
uncles around him to teach him to play baseball I
won’t
be concerned?”

Katie knew she’d made a huge mistake. She’d taken the position of letting
Darío
off the hook for any responsibility, assuring him that their child would be loved and guided by father figures. It would be enough for any man who was looking for a loophole, but
Darío
wasn’
t that kind of man. He played a game of honor, and tried to live his life as such. Shirking a
duty was not the way he operated.

But Katie suspected that it was even more than that. Could it be that this was something
Darío
didn’t
want to shirk?

“I will say this once more only,” his voice was soft, but firm. “If this is indeed my child, we will be married. My baby will not be born a bastard.” He got up before Katie could argue the paternity once again and left the
table
.

“A bastard. He called my baby a bastard,” Katie said.

“Well, luv, it is his baby, too,” Binky quietly added.

Katie was grateful Binky sounded so sure of that fact. Surer than
Darío
had. “Yes, but, the stigma of being born outside of wedlock is not what it used to be. With divorces and no marriages, more kids are being raised by one parent now than are by two. I mean, who even uses the word bastard anymore?” she said incredulously.

There was a small glimmer of compassion in the caddy’s eyes. “He does. Because he is one,” Binky said, turning to follow
Darío
as Katie stared after them.

Darío
drove to Katie’s motel later that evening. He would have put up a fight about her staying in such a rough area, but knew he didn’t really want her staying in his room with him. Well, he did want her in his
bed, that much
hadn’
t changed, damn it.
How could he be so furious with her, and still want to
sleep with
her?
Bah!

When he pulled the courtesy car in front of her room he saw her peek out the window and he could imagine her, standing at the door, not knowing if she should let him in or not.

He didn’t blame her. He took great pride in his ability to control his emotions.
He was a Basque
, from the northern part of Spain,
and they
were especially known for passion ruling over reason. He never let himself fall into the stereotype of Latin hothead, governed by emotions. He could put a steely shield in place in seconds.

It had helped him win tournaments.

It had helped him survive childhood.

He had come very close to losing that control this morning in th
e restaurant. That was why he’
d left. He’d been able to put his shield in place on the course this afternoon, though, and had shot a respectable three under par. Unfortunately, several players shot much lower and he had dropped down to tenth place going into the final round tomorrow.

He was surprised to see Katie in his gallery. She’d followed his entire round, though she stood well away from the greens when he was on them. He was mad with himself that he noticed and cared when he saw her reapply sunscreen to her lips and her skin several times throughout the day. He was happy to see she went through several bottles of water in the sweltering heat as well.

Regardless of who the father was, he would want any woman to have a healthy child. Even Katie.

Especially Katie.

He sat in the car debating
what to say, when Katie opened the
door
. He got out of the car
and made his way into her room. She shut the door behind him. She looked tired. It was the first flaw, slight as it was, that
Darío
had ever seen in her beautiful face. He cursed himself to know he was the one who’d put it there. Concern that maybe she hadn’t gotten enough sleep, which he assumed was important for pregnant women, made him feel like an even bigger heel.

She started to speak but he held up a hand to stop her. He motioned
for
her to si
t on the bed, noticing
her open suitcase, obviously being packed. He sat on a chair, turning it to face her on the bed.

“Katie, please. First I apologize fo
r my behavior this morning. It’
s not my nature to become so emotional. I’m sorry for, as you say over here, ‘losing it’.”

Her eyes widened, and
Darío
could now definitely see the circles underneath.

“That was you losing it?” She chuckled, though
Darío
could see nothing funny in his apology. The chuckle turned into a full blown laugh. “Oh
Darío
, if that’s your idea of losing it, I’d love to see you at one of my family dinners. By that barometer, people are losing it all night long at one of
the Maki
gatherings.” She stopped laughing, but a smile still played on her face. “I thought you Basques were fiery people.”

“You know I am
Basque?” he asked. He felt an unexplainable pleasure to know she’d found out that much about him. Then a niggling thought crept in. What else had she learned, and why? And more importantly, when? Before she’d come to Texas? Had she done research on him, found out what it would take to seduce him?

Surprisi
ngly little, as it turned out. J
ust telling him he had the sexiest forearms she’d ever seen was all it took.

“Yes, I know you’re a Basque, though you surely don’t seem like what I’ve read of them.” She hesitated. “I take that back. They’re known as a very proud people, and you are certainly that.”

“Why have you learned so much about Basques? About me?” He couldn’t help the small thread of suspicion that escaped and hoped Katie would not catch it.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought it important to learn about traits that my baby may have.”

Of course, the baby.
Darío
was a fool to think that her interest in his heritage had anything to do with him.

She waved a hand, as if to erase their current line of topic. “Anyway, no apology necessary for
this morning
. I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I came here, but you’ve totally surprised me. It never occurred to me that you would feel so strongly about this baby.”

She didn’t know what a statement like that could do to him. She couldn’t have
,
or she would never have thrown such a dagger at his heart. He was not the kind of man his father was. He would not turn away from
his child
. If this was his child – and
Darío
was not totally convinced of that – then he would never
abandon
it, would never allow his role to be played by uncles or a grandfather. The fact that Katie thought he could ripped him apart.

That she lumped him in with the son-of-a-bitch who had fathered him made him furious.

Determined to stay in control this time, he r
ose from the chair. “I see you’
re planning on leaving tonight?” he asked. She nodded, and opened her mouth to speak, but
Darío
cut her off. “Have a safe trip back to Michigan, Katie. Please take care of yourself and the baby.”

She
must have sensed
his
slipping
control, his barely masked rage
. She
unconsciously placed her hand across her abdomen as if to protect the baby from him. The thought made him even angrier.

“But if you think that you will keep me away from a child of mine
, you are sadly mistaken. You’
ll be hearing from my lawyers.”

He left the room, turning his back on her gasp.

“
Mamá
, what’s a bastard?” four-year-old
Darío
asked his mother.

She dropped the pot
she’d taken from the tiny stove in the cramped kitchen, paella spilling everywhere, but she didn’t seem to notice. That in itself worried
Darío
. His mother was always so tidy in the kitchen, for her to not even seem to notice that their dinner was now all over her spotless floor…something was definitely wrong.

She stepped through the rice, gobs of it sticking to her shoes – another sign that this was serious stuff –
Mamá
loved shoes, and she only owned two pair. She knelt down and pulled
Darío
to her, clutching his skinny arms in her warm hands. “
Darío
, where did you hear
such a word?” she asked.