leap. He was staring out the windshield now, and his intense expression was nearly as captivating as his smile. No wonder Leah had chosen Jacob to father her child.
Probably best not to bring up that little tidbit. Hard enough learning he was a father. Finding out Leah had used him merely as a sperm donor...well, it wasn’t necessary and was too risky. She didn’t want to give him a reason to abandon Cody entirely. Her conscience wouldn’t let her.
Running a background check on Jacob wasn’t something Mariana had immediately done once Leah revealed his name. Rather, she and her mother had stayed by Leah’s side as the machines kept her alive. They’d said their goodbyes, made their peace and let her hold Cody in the crook of her frail arm. Her eventual passing was poignant and gut-wrenching.
With it also came a certain amount of relief. Leah was no longer in pain. After a small but moving memorial service, Mariana became the mother figure in Cody’s life. It was a role she’d gladly fulfill indefinitely.
Depending on what Jacob wanted to do, it was also a role she might be forced to give up. Mariana had wrestled over telling him for weeks.
She and her sister had never agreed on a father’s responsibility toward his children. Leah believed as their mother did: a man was unnecessary and would ultimately break your heart. Mariana felt the complete opposite. Fathers had a moral responsibility to their children as well as a fiscal one. Her profession only reinforced that in her mind.
Shortly after the memorial service, she began accumulating information on Jacob. No way would she allow him visitation, much less share custody of her nephew, should he be unfit.
Jacob certainly had the means to support a son. He was from a wealthy family, was college educated, held a good position as senior safety manager at Baron Energies’ largest drill site—though she was surprised he wasn’t further up the food chain—owned his own home and was, by all accounts, an upstanding citizen.
He had only one fault in her opinion, and it was a doozy. Rodeoing. Besides the frequent nomadic lifestyle, there were also buckle bunnies. A man with Jacob’s good looks was bound to have a vast following, though from Mariana’s research, he didn’t avail himself.
Except, apparently, for her sister. Though by her own admission, Leah had misled him.
Mariana’s sense of right and wrong had eventually prevailed, and she decided to approach Jacob. She just hadn’t planned on it being today. Maybe she should have curbed her impulses when those signs for the rodeo appeared.
“Please don’t feel that I’m pressuring you into anything,” she said to him. “We’ll take this one step at a time at whatever speed you’re comfortable.”
“If he is my son, I’ll do the right thing.”
“Good. We’re in agreement on that.”
Mariana didn’t jump for joy. She’d heard fathers make similar statements before, then go back on their word. If that happened, she was prepared to raise Cody herself. More than prepared, she was happy to. She loved her nephew.
She turned from the road onto the freeway. It had grown dark since they left the rodeo grounds. Jacob’s face was cast in shadows. Mariana allowed herself to relax. She wouldn’t be distracted by him for the remainder of the trip home.
“What’s the first step?” he asked, the edge in his voice unmistakable. “Meeting him?”
“We start with the DNA testing. I can give you the name of a facility my firm uses. It’s downtown, not far from Baron Energies’ offices. Or we can use one of your own choosing.”
“Is there one in southwest Dallas? The farther south and west the better. I can drive over at lunch tomorrow.”
He wanted a facility near the drill site where he worked. That made sense.
“If you give me your phone number when I drop you off, I’ll research a location and text you the info tomorrow morning after I arrange for the testing. You can go in at your convenience. But if you’d be kind enough to let me know when you do, I’d appreciate it.”
“Okay.”
“It’s a very simple and quick procedure.”
“How long? For the results,” he clarified.
“Five to seven business days. You’ll be notified by email when the results are available and—”
“Okay,” he said again in a tone that clearly implied he was through discussing the testing.
Again, she cut him some slack. This was an enormous amount to process. She must be patient.
Several minutes of silence followed, after which he asked, “Then what?”
“If the results are positive, we can set up a meeting for you and Cody.”
“Who’s taking care of him now? Seeing as you’re here.”
That wasn’t a question she’d expected from him. “He’s in day care during the week when I’m at work. Today, my mother’s watching him. She lives in Austin and drives up every other weekend.”
“How does she feel about this? You telling me.”
Another unexpected question. Mariana relied on the skills she acquired as an attorney to maintain her composure and smiled. “She doesn’t know.”
“She doesn’t approve.”
Jacob was obviously more astute than she’d first thought.
“She loves Cody very much, and he’s all she has left of Leah.” The painful lump returned, forcing Mariana to wait before speaking. “I decided not to tell her until you and I had talked and the DNA results are in. Why upset the apple cart for no reason?”
Several more minutes of silence passed. Mariana was ready to spend the remainder of the ride with only her own thoughts for company when Jacob spoke softly from the darkness.
“Tell me about him. Cody. What’s he’s like?”
For the first time since she’d approached him on the rodeo midway, she began to think Jacob might have an interest in Cody.
She described her charming yet headstrong nephew until the next exit on the freeway, when Jacob’s lack of response caused her earlier doubts to return. If he turned out to be like Mariana’s father, then poor little Cody would be the one to pay the price.
The noise was constant and nearly deafening, even with earplugs. Jacob didn’t remove the small foam devices until he was far from the drill site, stuffing them into the front pocket of his work shirt. He could still hear the rig and the generators grinding in the distance. Sometimes, he thought he could hear them in his sleep.
His hard hat came off next, and he ran fingers through his perpetually damp hair. The drill site was in a constant state of sweltering, summer, winter, spring and fall. In addition to noise, the massive drill gave off enormous amounts of heat. Today, Mother
