The Doctor's Baby (12 page)

But it wasn’t all about the sex. It wasn’t just July’s body he wanted, it was her heart.

He loved her.

David didn’t just want her for one day or one night or even one year…but for a lifetime. And Adam, well it didn’t matter if the baby was his or not, he already loved the child like a son.

Now all he had to do was find out if July felt the same.

The ringing of his cell phone split the air. Muttering a curse, he slid out of bed and hurried across the room to the dresser.

Thankfully July hadn’t stirred. He slid the phone open without looking at the readout. “Dr. Wahl.”

“David, this is Gary. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

David glanced at the clock on the bedside stand and
widened his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept until nine. “No. I was awake.”

“Good.”

David could hear the relief mixed with a healthy dose of nervousness in the man’s voice. He wondered if he’d been too hard on the guy. Sure, Gary had been a demanding boss, but he’d given Celeste a lot of opportunities. Even if the hours were long and that last year she was on the road more than she was home, Celeste had loved her job.

“—next week. Would that work?”

“Hold on a second, Gary.” David grabbed a robe from a hook in his closet, tossed it on then quietly stepped out of the room. “What were you saying about next week?”

“I’m going to be in Jackson on Friday. I wondered if we could meet for a few minutes. Grab a cup of coffee somewhere?”

For some reason, getting together seemed very important to the guy. Gary had attended Celeste’s funeral—had come all the way from L.A. for the service—but they’d only spoken briefly. David remembered how distraught Gary had been, almost as if he was blaming himself for Celeste’s death. Though David blamed Gary—and still did at times—in his logical moments he accepted that the accident could just as easily have happened on his wife’s way to the store. The fact that she was on her way to the airport for a business meeting wasn’t relevant. David had wanted to tell the man that the day of the funeral but there had been too
many people, too many friends wanting to express their condolences. By the time the crowd thinned, Gary was gone.

No, the least David could do was give the guy a half hour of his time. “Barring any big emergencies, I should be out of the hospital by four,” David said. “Will that time work for you?”

“I’ll make it work,” Gary said.

After finalizing plans to meet at a little bistro on the edge of Jackson, David hung up. Something in his gut told him that meeting with Gary would give him closure on that part of his life. Then he’d be free to open a new chapter…with July and Adam.

“I
like having Uncle David with us.” Connor looked up from his spaghetti and focused his attention on his mom. “Can he eat here every night?”

“I like Unca David, too,” two-year-old Logan said loudly, his face covered in sauce.

Mary Karen smiled at her brother. “Your uncle is welcome to eat with us anytime.”

“Are you coming tomorrow night?” Caleb asked.

“’Fraid not, buckeroo.” David looked up from feeding Adam his bottle. “I have a staff meeting at the hospital.”

“What’s a staff meeting?” Conner asked.

“Lots of talking. Not much getting done.” David chuckled and his gaze met July’s. The promise in his
eyes sent a rush of warmth throughout her body. “But I’ll definitely be over afterward.”

Ever since last Friday night, they’d spent all their free time together. David would come over in the evening and they’d eat dinner together. Then they’d take the boys to a nearby park, giving Mary Karen some alone time.

July and David had re-connected not only sexually but emotionally. And with each passing day she found herself falling more and more in love with him.

And now, just seeing her tiny son in his arms made her heart swell with emotion.
You have to tell him.

Soon, she vowed. Soon.

“Hey,” David whispered. “You okay?”

“Just a little tired.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “It was a long day.”

“Tomorrow night you’ll be able to take it easy.” He winked. “I won’t be here to bug you.”

She leaned over and brushed a kiss across his cheek. “I like having you around.”

“July kissed Uncle David,” Connor called out.

Caleb wrinkled his nose. “Yuck.”

July just laughed. Anytime David held her hand or put his arm around her shoulders, the boys had the same response. “Did you tell your uncle where we’re going tomorrow?”

“To the movies,” the twins yelled.

David smiled but concern filled his eyes. His gaze shifted to his sister. “Tell me you’re going, too.”

Mary Karen shook her head. “I’m helping Granny
write her speech for Sunday. She and her friends are dredging up old memories over dinner tonight. Tomorrow we’re going to put them in some semblance of order.”

He focused back on July. “What time is the movie? I’ll be done by six-thirty—”

“We’re going at five.” She placed a hand on his sleeve, warmed by his concern. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”

“You know you can call me,” he said in a low tone meant for her ears only. “Anytime.”

Of that July had no doubt. The man sitting beside her was someone she could trust. Someone she could count on. Someone who deserved the truth.

She swallowed a sigh. David hadn’t brought up the matter of the paternity test in a long time, but she was sure it wasn’t ever far from his thoughts.

He deserved to know that the baby who lay cuddled against his chest was his son. And she needed to be the one to tell him…not some impersonal test.

Yet now there was an added fear holding her back. Would he want anything to do with her once he learned she’d withheld the truth? How could she bear it if he walked away from her?

Instead of taking A.J.’s midnight phone call in her room, July grabbed a blanket and made her way to the front porch and the old-fashioned swing. After several nights in the thirties, the forty-four degree temperature seemed practically balmy.

The stars hung low in the clear sky and the light from
the moon cast interesting shadows on the lawn. A breeze ruffled her hair and July wrapped the blanket more closely around her.

She listened as A.J. talked about all the parties he’d attended since he’d gotten his new gig. Parties held by artists she recognized and admired. But for her, that crazy lifestyle no longer held any appeal. The life she was living now was the one she’d longed for since she’d been a child.

A home. A family. A circle of friends. How could anyone want for more? David was her Prince Charming and Jackson Hole her fantasyland.

“How’s it going between you and the doctor?” A.J. asked.

“I love him, A.J.” July sighed into the phone. “Truly, madly, deeply.”

“Have you told him Adam is his son?”

A.J. always had been a get-to-the-point kind of guy.

“Not yet,” July retorted. “Have you told Selena you love her?”

“Touché,” A.J. shot back. “Actually I confessed my love to a stuffed bear this week, so I think I’m ready to move to the next level.”

“Seriously? That’s gre—”

“I’m just screwing with you.” He laughed. “I’ll say it to her but not over the phone. We have a break next week and I’m flying to Chicago. I’ll take care of business then.”

“You’re waiting for the right time,” July murmured, nodding her head. “Just like me.”

“I’m waiting to say it in person,” A.J. said pointedly. “There’s a difference.”

“I know.” July tightened her fingers around the phone. “It’s just that things are going so well between us that I don’t want to mess it up.”

Silence sat between them for a heartbeat.

“Think about it,” A.J. said. “Can you really have a great relationship with that kind of lie between you?”

That same question had tormented July. She leaned back in the swing and gazed up into the heavens. “I’m just so scared.”

“What’s the worst that could happen if you tell him?”

July thought for a moment. As she’d gotten better acquainted with David, she’d realized that, unlike her mother, David was incapable of physical abuse. “Screaming. Yelling. Telling me what a horrible, weak person I am. Saying he never wants to see me again.”

Merely creating the vision escalated her fear. Her heart pounded and her breath grew ragged.

“What’s the worst that could happen if you didn’t?”

It wasn’t a question she’d expected. As she contemplated the possibility, a familiar tightness filled her chest. “The secret will ruin our relationship.”

“Sounds like you don’t really have a choice. You have to come clean.” A.J.’s voice softened. “I know it’s going to be hard. But remember, no matter what happens I’m here for you.”

Something in her friend’s tone said he wasn’t hopeful of a positive outcome. A fresh wave of despair washed over her. “This is going to end badly, isn’t it?”

“Quit thinking the worst,” A.J. chided. “It could go great. He might say ‘no big deal’ and you two can ride off into the sunset together…or whatever people do in Wyoming.”

It
could.
He
might.
Although July still held out hope, she’d had enough dreams go south to know never to bank on
could
and
might.
Those words were long shots…and she’d never been the lucky sort.

Still, hope was all she had. Hope that David would forgive her. Hope that there
could
be,
might
be, a happily-ever-after in their future. But most of all, hope that she could forgive herself for ruining both their lives if he ended up walking away.

The sun had already started to set when July drove into Jackson the next afternoon. It had been a long day made even longer by the fact that she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.

After her talk with A.J., she’d tossed and turned until almost two. All she could do was think of David and how she didn’t want to lose him.

Thankfully driving to Yellowstone and spending the day looking for grizzlies and their cubs had kept her mind occupied. She’d gotten some good buffalo and moose shots but it wasn’t until she was hiking back to the Jeep that she’d seen the bear and her two babies. July had been far enough away to be safe, but close enough to get some fabulous pictures. The lighting had been perfect. Since she’d been upwind, the animals hadn’t even known she was there.

Time had flown by. Though she’d gotten out of Yellowstone far later than she’d planned, July felt good about what she’d accomplished. The photos would finish up this assignment on a high note.

On her way out of the park, she tried to call Mary Karen to tell her she’d be late for supper, but the call wouldn’t go through. It didn’t surprise her. Cell reception in Yellowstone was notoriously unpredictable.

She finally reached Mary Karen when she passed through the south gate. Only when she heard Caleb in the background did she remember her promise to the twins. Mary Karen told her not to worry but July knew the boys had to be disappointed.

She thought about stopping to get them some candy to try to make up for missing the movie but by the time she pulled into Jackson it was Adam’s feeding time.

Parking the Jeep in the driveway, July grabbed her equipment and hurried inside. The minute she opened the door she heard Adam. His loud “I’m hungry” cry echoed throughout the house.

After quickly unloading her equipment on the foyer’s side table, July turned toward the kitchen and her hungry son. She’d only taken a couple of steps when Caleb appeared. The smile that normally lit the little boy’s face was nowhere to be found.

“You promised to take us to the movies,” he said, his blue eyes flashing.

For a second July was struck speechless. She’d assumed Mary Karen had told the boys why she was
delayed. From the belligerent look on Caleb’s face that obviously hadn’t happened.

“I got stuck in the park taking pictures of a momma bear and her cubs.” July gestured to her camera. “Later, after I feed Adam, I can show you the photos of—”

“I don’t want to see your stupid pictures.” Caleb lifted his chin and took a step forward. “You promised to take us to the movies.”

The venom in his voice took her by surprise. July stumbled back as if she’d been struck.

He took another step. “You lied.”

Was it only her imagination or was the boy growing larger and more menacing with each step?

Tell him you’re sorry.

July opened her mouth. For a second nothing came out. But somehow the words made their way past her dry throat and she was able to shove them past her lips. “I’m sorry, Caleb. I promised and I should have been here.”

Her triumph at being able to apologize was short-lived.

“I hate you.” Caleb leaned forward, his hands now clenched into fists at his side. “I thought you were my friend but you’re just a big fat liar. I—”

“Enough.” David clamped a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

July stared in surprise. She hadn’t realized David was even in the house.

“But she—” Caleb protested.

“Not one more word.” David clenched his jaw and
held on to his temper with two hands. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so disappointed in one of his nephews.

He’d been in the kitchen with Mary Karen, trying to soothe a very fussy Adam when he’d heard the front door open. He’d handed the baby to his sister and hurried from the kitchen to greet July. He’d only caught the last part of her conversation with Caleb. But he’d definitely heard enough.

While he understood the boy’s frustration—after all this had been the second time in less than a week that a movie had been promised but not delivered—there was no excuse for the way the boy had spoken to July.

David shot July a reassuring smile before turning his attention to Caleb. “Son, you need to apologize.”

“I won’t.” The boy squirmed beneath his firm hold. “Me an’ Connor wanted to go to the movies real bad. She cared more about her stupid bears than she did about us.”

A couple of tears slipped down July’s cheeks and David cursed the insensitivity of four-year-old boys. From the other room, the baby wailed. July’s anxious gaze slid in the direction of the kitchen.

“Why don’t you go feed Adam?” he said in a soft voice. “Caleb and I, well, we have a couple things to discuss.”

July didn’t argue. With a look of relief on her face, she rushed past him.

Once she was gone, David scooped his nephew up in his arms and took him into the living room where he
placed him on his knee. “You and I need to have a talk, man-to-man.”

“What about?” the boy mumbled, his gaze focused on his shoes, his lip jutting out.

“Look at me, Caleb.” David waited until the boy’s eyes met his before continuing. “The way you talked to July was totally unacceptable. I know you’re upset, but she apologized. Would you like it if you said you were sorry and I talked to you that way?”

Caleb paused for a long moment then shook his head.

“Would you like it if I told you I hated you?”

“But she—”

“Would you like it if I said that to you?” David asked again, this time in a firm tone.

“No.”

“How do you think it made her feel?”

Caleb shrugged.

“I can tell it made her feel pretty bad. It’d make me feel awful if you said it to me.”

“But she—”

“There is
no
excuse for that kind of behavior,” David said.

“But—”

“
No
excuse,” David repeated. “Do we understand each other?”

Caleb hung his head and nodded.

David gave his nephew a hug. “You’re a good boy, Caleb. You have a very loving heart. I know you can do better.”

Unexpectedly, Caleb flung his arms around David’s neck and laid his head against his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not me you need to apologize to,” he said softly.

Caleb shook his head and buried his face against David’s chest. “Can’t.”

David stroked his nephew’s hair. “A man does what needs to be done.”

He turned the boy around and put him on the floor then smiled encouragingly. “You can do it. I have faith in you.”

David followed Caleb to the kitchen where July sat at the table burping Adam.

Mary Karen opened her mouth but David shook his head in warning.

Like a prisoner approaching a guillotine, Caleb took a few steps toward July, stopping several feet from her. Pride rushed through David when the boy lifted his gaze and looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry I said those things. And I don’t hate you.”

For a second David feared July wasn’t going to respond to the boy’s overture. But then her lips lifted in a wobbly smile. “I forgive you, Caleb. Will you forgive me for forgetting about our movie date?”

David held his breath.

“I guess,” Caleb said finally. He looked back at his uncle. “Can I go now?”