Lakeside Family. Lisa Jordan
to get moving. Hannah needed her.
The bells above the front door rattled again, startling Josie from her thoughts. A quick glance at the clock showed she was five minutes late in closing and had forgotten to turn the sign.
A man stepped through the door, closing it behind him. Dressed in a brown bomber jacket, cream cable-knit sweater and khaki cargo pants, he looked as if he had stepped from the pages of an Eddie Bauer catalog. The only thing missing was a pair of Ray-Ban aviators.
“I’m sorry, but I’m just about to close.” Josie headed for the door to flip the sign to CLOSED, but when the man turned and smiled, her footsteps stalled. “Nick. You c-came.”
He rubbed his hands together. “Hope you don’t mind a visit instead of a phone call. I have to admit seeing you at the university surprised me. It’s been a long time.”
She nodded, wishing her voice wasn’t clogged in her throat like a spoonful of peanut butter.
His long legs ate up the distance between them in a few strides. He reached for her hands, held her at arm’s length and gave her a once-over. “Wow, you look incredible.” He glanced around. “Owning a coffeehouse agrees with you. Decided against being a travel journalist, huh? Dreams can change.”
She pulled her hands away and clasped them behind her back. She couldn’t afford to let his charm soften her heart. She had a responsibility to Hannah. “Motherhood has a way of doing that.”
“You have a child? You and your husband must be very blessed. Congratulations.”
She jerked back as if she had been slapped. “Congratulations? Seriously?”
“Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry. I just assumed...”
He rubbed his earlobe and stared over her shoulder.
“You’re acting like you have no clue.” She moved to the nearest table, straightening the chairs and centering the votive candles.
Nick gripped the back of one of the chairs. “Should I have known? I haven’t been back to Ridgefield since graduation. How long ago did you leave?”
“Couldn’t shake the dust from your boots fast enough, could you?” She snatched a Family Circle magazine off the couch and dropped it in the large wicker basket next to the fireplace.
Nick leveled her with a direct look. “What’s going on here, Josie? Let’s try again. It is good to see you.”
“Is it?” She glared at him, then headed behind the counter for a cloth and bottle of sanitizer.
Nick released the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “What did I do to make you so angry?”
Josie spritzed sanitizer on the table. “You didn’t call, Nick. Not once. Not even when...not even when she was born. You weren’t there.” She scrubbed at the coffee ring embossed on the table, then threw down the rag. No use. The scar remained.
“But we had broken up.” He took a step toward her. “What did you expect?”
Josie held up a hand, and he stopped. “I expected you to be responsible.”
He held up his hands, palms to the ceiling. “Responsible for what? I’m so lost a GPS couldn’t bring me back to the starting point.”
She dropped onto the couch in front of the fireplace and massaged her forehead. “I needed you.”
Nick rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “Just tell me what you’re talking about.”
“Two years ago, my daughter, Hannah, was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.”
Nick sat on the matching chair across from her. “I’m so sorry.”
“She went into remission, but the leukemia has come back. Now her doctor is recommending a bone marrow transplant. I’ve been tested, but I’m not a match. Testing her other parent is the most logical choice right now.”
He shot her a puzzled look. “What does that have to do with me?”
Josie jumped to her feet and planted her fists on her hips. “Are you seriously this clueless, Professor? Choosing not to be a part of your daughter’s life doesn’t disqualify you from being her father.”
Chapter Two
“Her what?” His words tripped their way up his throat. His heart hammered against his rib cage. “Did you just say I’m a...father?”
She had to be joking. One look at her crossed arms and jutted chin showed she told the truth. He stood and moved away from her, needing a little distance. Grabbing on to the mantel, he stared at the black pit where logs lay cold. Fake. Not real. Imitation. Just like him.
“My daughter is nine years old, Nick. She’ll be ten in April. You’re the one with the fancy degrees. Figure it out.”
This could not be happening. There had to be some mistake. Wouldn’t he have known? Or at least been told? He faced her again. “How do you know she’s mine?”
“Because you’re the only person I’ve been with. That night after my nonna’s funeral when we...” She looked away, her words trailing off. A strand of hair slipped out of her clip and curled against her cheek.
A tucked away memory filtered through his head. After her grandmother’s funeral, he had taken her for a drive down by the lake. He held her while she cried and kissed away her tears. He had known better, but in the heat of the moment, common sense fell away as quickly as their clothes. Regret coated his throat.
And now they had a child.
Pink tinged her cheeks. “I got pregnant. Hannah is your daughter, too.”
“So you decided to wait until you needed something to tell me?”
Her head snapped up, her brown eyes the size of teacups. “Excuse me? Don’t you dare act like this is news.”
“How am I supposed to act? I’m hearing about this child for the first time.” His words, laced with self-loathing, burned his tongue.
She jumped to her feet, nearly tripping over the coffee table, and poked him in the chest. “I called your mother and begged for your address, but she said it was best that I didn’t hold you back.”
A chill washed over him. He grabbed her wrist. “Wait a second. My mom knew you were pregnant?”
She pulled her hand free and backed away from him. “Of course she did. When she refused to give me your address, she said she’d relay the message and let you decide. Actions really do speak louder than words, don’t they?”
“She never told me.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. Mom, what have you done?
“Yeah, right.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You couldn’t wait to leave Ridgefield for your big shot college and put everything behind you, including me. Now you’re blaming your mom for your lack of decency. I expected more from you, Nick. Funny how expectations end up being disappointments, too.”
Nick fisted his hands to keep from shaking her. Did she seriously think he’d have walked out on her if he had known? Especially what she knew about his childhood? “I swear I didn’t know.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you.”
“It’s the truth.”
Josie’s shoulders sagged. She dropped on the couch, cradling her head in her hands. “Why wouldn’t she tell you?”
Nick sighed and jammed his hands in his pockets. “I have no idea.”
She pointed to the cordless phone on the counter. “Give her a call now and ask.”
“I can’t.” Guilt gripped his vocal cords and twisted. He massaged his throat. Eight years. Still not long enough to forgive