Ladd Haven (7 page)

Glancing in the direction of parked
cars, she murmured, “He left.”

Annie followed her gaze. “Is everything
okay? He didn’t look too happy.”

“
Casey told him the baby was
mine,” Jimmy informed her.

“
What
?”

Casey closed her eyes. She
hugged her arms to her body.
Way to
go
, Jimmy. Bring my mom into it. Great way
to make everything worse.

Annie began to unravel. “I thought we
discussed this, I thought we agreed it was best to tell him sooner
rather than later! Telling him a lie is only going to make it worse
when he learns the truth. It’s not fair to let him believe
something like that, not to Jimmy either.”

Casey opened her eyes, “Ask him why he
told Troy he was my boyfriend.”

Jimmy remained mute, avoided her
mother’s questioning gaze.

Ashley Fulmer strolled up, a rhinestone
flag emblem on her T-shirt glittering in the sunlight, competing
with dangling firecracker earrings. “Darlin’?” she asked, turning
to Casey’s mom as though the answers could be found with her.
“Everything all right?”

“
She told Troy the baby was
Jimmy’s.”

“
Do you think that was
wise?” Ashley peered at Casey, blue eyes echoing the sentiment of
her mother. Obviously they didn’t approve. Looking between the
women, Casey gave herself a quick shot of self-preservation,
ejecting their concern.

What was she supposed to
do
? Tell him it was his so he could ditch
her again? This was her decision. She decided when and if he knew
the truth. “Troy doesn’t need to know,” Casey insisted. “He’ll just
leave again so it’s better he doesn’t know in the first
place.”

Annie and Ashley stilled.
They exchanged a look, then glanced to Jimmy, to her, then back to
one another. Neither said a word, probably afraid she might do
something stupid, like take drugs because she couldn’t handle a
difficult situation. Casey glanced in the direction of Troy’s
departure. But she wouldn’t. Longing filled her as she recalled the
tortured look in his eyes. This had hurt him. More than believing
she and Jimmy were dating, this had been the final blow. It was a
bad situation but they were wrong about one thing. Casey would
never harm her child.
Their
child. This baby meant more than anything in the
world.

Retreating to the solitude of the front
porch, Casey deposited herself into a rocking chair. Staring out
over the lawn, she located the spot where she’d seen Troy’s truck
earlier and parked her gaze there. No one had claimed the empty
space. Probably because no one expected anyone to leave this early.
No one in their right mind left Ashley’s party before sundown. Then
again, Troy wasn’t in his right mind. He was in a poor state of
mind, a false state of mind. Encircling her pregnant belly, Casey
cursed herself for telling him the lie. It was stupid. Her mother
and Miss Ashley were right. It was dumb, the dumbest thing she ever
did. Of course he would find out the baby was his. It was a small
town. Small towns talked. Some folks might think it was Jimmy’s,
seeing as how the two of them spent so much time together, but not
anyone who knew her personally. Anyone who knew her knew the
truth.

Pushing a toe to the porch floor, she
rocked the chair back and forth, back and forth, running idle hands
up and over her stomach. Was she wrong? If she told Troy the truth
and he left her, what would that do to her baby? Wouldn’t it make
her feel like a loser knowing her daddy had abandoned her? Casey
grew up without a father and even though her mom said it was a
mutual decision, she always sensed it wasn’t. She always harbored a
feeling of abandonment. Turned out she was right. Worse, turned out
her father should have stayed gone. Then she wouldn’t have had to
learn what a loser he really was, up close and personal. Narrowing
her gaze on the vacant spot of grass, she tried to wall her mind
from the party sounds, from thoughts of Jeremiah Ladd’s face. His
ugly face. His mean face. But she could see it as clear as if the
man were standing before her.

She remembered the day he
came over to the table where she and Troy had been sitting together
at Fran’s, his face beaten and bruised. He was looking for his
girlfriend, wanted to know where she was. Fresh resentment swathed
Casey’s heart. He was asking Troy, because Troy had been flirting
with her, something he claimed to be doing on
her
behalf. Visions of the sleazy
blonde woman and Troy pushed in but Casey shoved them aside. Then
there was the brown-skinned developer woman who tried to cozy up to
Troy at Whiskey Joe’s. The same woman who tried to buy Casey’s half
of Ladd Springs so she could destroy it. Casey’s eyes glazed over
on the patch of green. There was no room for memories of other
women.

Mired in thoughts of the past, of her
father, of how Jeremiah and Troy had sparred, two macho egos
fighting for control, Casey recalled how her father left without
saying a word to her. No “How are you?” “Are you supposed to be my
kid?” Not so much as a hello. Jeremiah Ladd totally ignored
her—other than staring at her like she was some kind of science
experiment turned mutation. He’d totally dissed her.

Suddenly realizing she was clenching
her dress, Casey let go Jeremiah Ladd. He wasn’t worth her time or
thought. Hauling her eyes away from the vacated parking spot she
looked in the opposite direction. Trees in the distance, the
layered green mountain range, were so familiar, tears filled her
lids. But hatred coiled around her heart, her legs, squeezed her
arms her shoulders, threatened to choke the very life from her.
Casey hated that man. Hated Jeremiah Ladd with every cell in her
body.

“
Casey?”

The gentle voice cut like a
knife. Casey turned to see Felicity Wilkins standing three feet
away. Like everyone else at the party, her attire consisted of red,
white and blue. In her case it was a red and white striped
sleeveless top and blue denim skirt. Strawberry blonde hair was
braided in twin ponytails and hung past her shoulders. Green eyes
were soaked in pity.
How long had she been
there
?

Shifting in her seat, Casey
acknowledged her. “Hey.”

“
Want company?”

Not really, but to say no
would only make Felicity run tell the others what a sad state of
affairs her cousin was in and then
everyone
would be out here.
“Sure.”

Felicity walked around her outstretched
legs and took a seat in the opposite rocker. She crossed booted
legs and settled in.

Casey pushed back and forth, like she
was just hanging out, relaxing. “Too noisy out back,” she
replied.

Felicity nodded but Casey knew she
didn’t believe a word of it. “How’d it go with Troy?”

Right to the point. Did she expect any
less? Casey heaved a sigh, the moisture of her breath warm against
the skin at her breast. Even sitting in the shade and wearing a
flimsy cotton dress the day was still hot. “Not good.”

“
I hear you told him the
baby is Jimmy’s.”

“
I did.”

“
How come?”

No complaint, no blame, no disapproval,
Felicity merely asked the question. Casey appreciated the lack of
criticism. It was nice to have someone simply let things be for a
change. “I don’t want him to think it’s his because he’s only going
to leave again and then what?”

Felicity nodded. “I hear ya.” No
attempt to persuade or defend, she simply let it go.

Casey was glad for Felicity’s
friendship. Over the last six months, the two had grown closer and
it made the pregnancy easier to deal with, knowing she could share
it with someone who cared about both parties. Delaney had
encouraged their relationship, actually insisted they were family
and family should be close. It wasn’t like they didn’t know each
other from school, but now that paternity had been proven and she
owned half of Ladd Springs, Casey felt a whole new appreciation for
Felicity. After the initial awkwardness, the two had come to talk
like friends, discussing whatever was on their minds without
worrying what the other would think. Felicity never mentioned Troy,
didn’t harp on college like she had over Thanksgiving. She seemed
content to let Casey be who she was.

Maybe it had something to do with the
fact that Casey was taking a few classes at the community college,
but she believed it was due to changes in Felicity. She wasn’t
nearly as innocent and naïve as she used to be but instead felt
more open, objective. It was like her professors had peeled back
the layers of home, exposing Felicity to the real world. Casey’s
mom said Felicity was maturing, expanding her horizons, coming into
her own. Maybe. Sliding her hands in a wide arc over her belly,
Casey thought it ran deeper, as if her cousin was taking a new look
at her life now that she’d seen it from afar.

“
Are you ever going to tell
him?”

There was no reproach in her voice,
only sincere interest. “Do you think I should?” Casey
asked.

Felicity shrugged. “I don’t know. I
hear what you’re saying about him leaving.”

“
He’s done if before, why
wouldn’t he do it again, right?”

“
Right. I mean, Troy’s a
great guy and I love him to death but he’s made
mistakes.”

“
Yes,” Casey agreed, staring
at Felicity, struck by the sadness in her voice.

“
Good guys make mistakes but
can they recover?” Felicity asked. “That’s the
question.”

Casey nodded, a funny sensation
slipping in.

“
Maybe Troy would stay and
do right by you if he knew how important it was to you and the
baby.”

“
Maybe.”

“
But the fact is”—Felicity
turned away—“some dads don’t.”

Gripped by an urgent curiosity, Casey
asked, “Did you miss your daddy when you were growing up?” Startled
by the question spurting from her lips, she was suddenly intrigued
to hear the answer. Had Felicity ever thought of her father? Did
she care that he didn’t call, wasn’t present? Casey had met him
once. She was sitting at Fran’s Diner with Delaney and he showed
up, asking questions about Felicity. He seemed normal enough, came
from a decent family. Technically he was her uncle, now that her
mom was married to Cal Foster. What did Felicity think of
him?

Glancing sideways, Felicity’s eyes
became fluid with emotion, as though her entire childhood was
swimming in her vision. “Yes. I did. A lot at first but then I got
over it.”

It was a simple answer to a complicated
situation. Delaney’s mom divorced him and never looked back.
According to her mom, the two never should have gotten married.
Jack Foster was wild and crazy and Delaney was not. She was brazen
and tough but not rowdy the way Jack had always been. After the
divorce, Felicity’s dad moved to Nashville. For years he was gone
until he showed up recently over Thanksgiving. It must have been
strange for Felicity. Casting her gaze back out over the mass of
cars and trucks, Casey wondered which was worse—knowing and having
contact with a father who was a jerk or living with the knowledge
he might be an okay guy who didn’t want you?

Lowering her gaze to the stretch of
fabric over her stomach, Casey realized it was a question she was
going to have to ask on behalf of her own daughter.

Chapter Six

Seated at the lunch counter at Fran’s
Diner, elbows propped on the counter, Felicity read from a
paperback novel. Three thirty, there was hardly anyone around, the
bulk of the lunch crowd cleared out and the early bird diners not
expected until four. It suited her fine. Fran Jones welcomed her to
hang out, served up a plate of burger and fries too. Dining alone
gave Felicity quiet time to read while she waited for Travis to
finish with his dad. They were fixing the screen around the patio
of their home, a job she wasn’t invited to help with nor did she
care. She was content to read.

Her current book was a book about a
family in crisis. The father was an over-achiever, the mother an
alcoholic; a young son lived in their shadow with his own set of
problems at school. Written in three points of view, it was one of
those stories that wrenched your heart from the inside out. It made
Felicity feel like no one was right, no one was wrong, but everyone
was lost in a confusing mess. Slapping the open-faced book down,
she reached for her coke and sucked in a mouthful of sweet
carbonated soda. It was ridiculous the dysfunction that went on in
a family. Why couldn’t people work together? Help each other out
like a team?

“
Looks like some pretty
heavy reading.”

“
Oh!” Felicity spit liquid
onto her hand. Turning, she wiped the soda away as she came
face-to-face with her father, Jack Foster. His dark gaze shot to
her book and a smile crossed his lips. She flashed a glance to the
obvious title.
When Families
Hurt
. “I’m reading it for school,” she
blurted. “It’s a psychology class.”

“
They make you read over
summer break?”

“
Yeah.” She tried to shrug
it off. “Go figure.” Flipping the book closed with one hand, she
set it cover-side down. “I guess professors don’t believe in taking
breaks.”