promise I will be here when you return,” Sam said, his eyes still leveled on his child.
Chance’s grin widened, revealing the left-sided dimple that served as another reminder of his parentage. “Can I ride in your car when I get home?”
“Most certainly.”
Andi gave Chance a nudge toward the door. “Let’s go.”
“Andrea,” Sam said from behind her. “One other thing.”
She looked back to find that Tess had taken a chair across from Sam who had seated himself once again, his hands folded before him, looking much too cozy for Andi’s comfort.
“What other thing?” she asked, although she wasn’t certain she really wanted to know.
“I will be here when you return.”
Exactly what Andi had longed for through many yesterdays, and what she greatly feared today.
Chapter Two
He had viewed the many ruins in Rome, Sacreé Coeur at Montmartre in Paris, the Acropolis in Athens. Yet those experiences had paled in comparison to gazing upon his child for the first time.
Now Sam could only sit in silence, holding fast to the wish that he could recapture the years and experience every one of his son’s milestones. But that was not possible, and not enough hours existed to make up for lost time.
“Are you okay, Sam?”
He looked up from his untouched coffee and met Tess’s compassionate, gray eyes. “As well as can be expected.”
“I guess finding out about the boy kind of shocked you.”
“I knew about him before I arrived.”
Tess’s eyes widened. “You knew?”
“Did Andrea not tell you that we spoke last night following the auction?”
“Heck no, she didn’t tell me that. She only told me that some guy paid a truckload of money for her to train his horse.”
“I was the one. A small price to pay for the opportunity to know my child.” And the opportunity to once again be in Andrea’s presence, if only for a while. Perhaps he was somehow torturing himself, knowing he could never touch her, never hold her or make love to her again. Some things had not changed with the passage of time.
“How long have you known?” Tess asked.
“I found out a few months ago, when I knew I would be returning. I had someone investigate Andrea’s whereabouts. I didn’t know for certain that he was mine until I spoke with her last evening.”
“She admitted you’re his father?”
“No, but I surmised that fact because of his age and some of what she said to me. I had no doubts after I saw him.” Sam pushed the cup aside and leaned back. “How long have you known?”
Tess propped her cheek on her palm and sighed. “I knew something was wrong with Andi after Paul’s death, something more than losing her brother. I finally nagged her enough until she told me she was pregnant. The girl tried to convince me she’d been with some boy in town, but when Chance was born, that’s when I knew for sure he was yours.”
The guilt fisted in Sam’s belly and held on tightly. “It was the night Paul died, Tess. We turned to each other for comfort. Never before Andrea had I been so careless. I know that doesn’t relieve me of the responsibility, but I want you to know that I never intended it to happen.”
“I know you didn’t. I also know that Andi had her sights set on you the minute you walked through the front door that first time. Add that to her mourning Paul’s death, it’s not surprising at all.”
“That does not excuse my behavior, my failure to protect her,” Sam said adamantly. “I should never have allowed it to happen.”
Tess leaned forward and laid a hand on his arm. “It’s too late to worry about the what-I-should-have-dones. Question is, what are you going to do now?”
Sam knew what he wanted to do. He also knew what he could not do. He couldn’t get involved with Andrea again knowing what he faced on his return home. He also could not abandon his child. “I would like to take the month I have here in the States to get to know my son.”
Tess frowned. “So you’re gonna try to cram six years into a few weeks?”
“I suppose I am. I also want to set up a trust fund to make sure that his needs are met.”
Tess glared at him. “Let’s get one thing straight, Mr. Sheikh. Andi has worked like the devil to meet that boy’s needs. After the life insurance money ran out last year, she broke horses no one else wanted to break, all at the risk of getting herself hurt, or worse, just to pay the bills and put food on the table. I’ve done my part, too, and you can bet Chance has been happy, except for the diabetes.”
Searing panic rushed through Sam. “Diabetes?”
“Yeah. Guess Andi didn’t bother to tell you that, either. The camp he’s going to is a summer program for diabetic kids. It almost killed Andi to let him go, but she decided it would do him a world of good.”
“How long has he had this diabetes?”
“He was diagnosed a little over a year ago. But he’s doing okay after having a few setbacks. He’s a regular little trooper, I tell you.”
Sam experienced an overwhelming pain for his child, the need to take that pain away, if only he could. “If I had known, I would have done more. I would have sent him to the finest doctors, the best hospitals.”
“And it wouldn’t have changed a thing, Sam. He’s stuck with this disease, and we can only hope and pray that someday they’ll find a cure. In the meantime, we plan to treat him like a normal kid. Or at least I try to do that. Andi’s pretty protective.”
That much he’d witnessed earlier. “With my money, she can have more financial freedom.”
“She won’t take your money.”
“She won’t refuse as long as she knows I have our son’s best interest at heart.”
“Maybe, but you hurt her pretty badly by just running off and not staying in touch. I’m not sure how you’re going to deal with that.”
Neither did Sam, but he had to try. “After we’ve had the opportunity to talk further, I hope we can come to an understanding.”
She stared at the cup a few more moments before looking up once again. “Okay, so you want to spend some time with Chance, and I think that’s a good idea, which means you need to be close by. So the way I see it, you’ll need to move in here with us.”
Sam secretly admitted he had thought about that, living once again in the place he had considered his true home in America, but he could only imagine Andrea’s reaction. “I doubt your niece will agree to that plan.”
“Let
