opinion about him. She brushed her fingers over her eyes again and took a deep breath before she spoke. “You’re very doubtful this is your baby. I can understand that but—”
“You’re certain that Madeline gave you the straight story?” he interrupted to ask her. “I mean, if I am the father, she had almost two years to tell me about the baby.”
“I encouraged her to, but in the beginning, she worried that you might try to take Hattie from her. When her music career was beginning to take off she expected to leave Texas and move to New York or California or maybe Nashville, and she figured you’d never cross paths again.”
And if that had come to pass, he’d never have known about Hattie. If she was indeed his.
Talia must have read his thoughts because she said, “You get your DNA test and we’ll talk.” As she stood, he came to his feet immediately. “Unless you have some questions, I think we’re finished for now.”
“You don’t have a doubt, do you?” he asked and looked into her big blue eyes that made him draw a deep breath again and almost forget his question.
“No, I don’t. I do want you to know the truth and the DNA should convince you. That and Hattie’s looks.”
Startled, he stopped thinking about Talia’s blue eyes and stared at her. “You think Hattie looks like me?”
“You can decide when you see her,” she said, smiling faintly.
Her smile couldn’t hide the hurt that he saw in her eyes. She didn’t want to give up the baby she’d come to love. He could see that. He also saw the toll this meeting was taking on her. It was time to end it.
“I’ll get the DNA test and we’ll get back together,” he said as he led her out of the study. “I just can’t fully accept this until I have some proof. I’m glad you understand that.”
“Yes, I do.” She stopped at the front door and turned to him. “You have my name, address and phone number in that envelope. I’ll expect to hear from you.”
There was authority in her tone that reminded him of his grandmother and he almost felt he should promptly answer, “Yes, ma’am.” Instead, as he caught the scent of her perfume and looked into the depths of her eyes, he wanted to ask her out. The idea surprised him, and as fast as it came, he dismissed it. This woman had already complicated his life, and whatever happened, he needed to keep his wits about him and not get emotionally—or physically—involved with her. He wasn’t going to consider dealing with Talia if Hattie turned out not to be his baby, either. Too bad, really. He suspected she was as strong-willed as he was, and under other circumstances he would have liked to get to know her.
Talia reached for the doorknob the instant he did, and instead of the cold metal handle, his hand touched the warm softness of her wrist. Instantly, his heartbeat sped up and he was aware that mere inches separated them. Her skin was smooth and flawless; her rosy mouth was as captivating as her gorgeous blue eyes. When he couldn’t get his breath, the reaction she caused in him astonished him. Seconds after he’d lectured himself to resist her appeal, he reacted to it.
His eyes left her lips and traveled to her eyes when her voice broke the silence. “Nick,” she said, “I may not have the right to ask you but...” He saw her throat tighten as she swallowed back tears. “If she is your baby and you don’t want her, please don’t abandon her and let her become a ward of the state. Surely there’s room in your life and your heart for a child you’ve fathered.”
“If this is my child, I’ll take responsibility,” Nick said. He couldn’t help wondering if he was making a colossal mistake in committing himself, yet he wouldn’t abandon a baby that was his own.
“I’ll count on that. You won’t regret it. She is an adorable, happy baby,” she said, and he heard the wistful note in her voice.
Something hurt deep inside him as he once again thought of his own little boy, who came into his life and then went out too fast. Even though it was approaching three years since he last held Artie, he still hurt badly. “I’ll get the DNA and contact you whatever the answer.”
She nodded. “I’ll be waiting and we can go from there. Thank you for telling me that Hattie can rely on you.”
He opened the door and Talia stepped away, but he saw tears in her eyes again. “I’ll wait to hear from you.”
He watched her walk to her car, her hips swaying slightly with a poised, purposeful walk. She was one good-looking woman, but she had come into his life with potential news that would change it forever. So why the physical reaction to her? Maybe he was coming back to life and would have that reaction with any other attractive woman.
As fast as that thought came, he rejected it. He saw attractive women almost daily and had no such reaction. Not only attractive women, but friends, women who should stir the kind of response that this one had, but they didn’t.
He headed to his kitchen to get a cold beer and get Talia Barton’s big blue eyes and million-dollar legs out of his thoughts.
He opened his refrigerator and looked at all the casseroles, desserts and salads the local bachelorettes had brought. He wasn’t aware he even knew this many women. With a sigh he retrieved a beer, sat at the table and opened the envelope Talia had given him. He read the notes she’d jotted in her neat teacher’s handwriting. Then he called to make an appointment for tomorrow with the DNA people.
He took a long pull on his beer and stared into space, thinking about Regina and little Arthur. He wondered if he would ever stop hurting, ever stop missing them. How was he going to love a little girl he didn’t know when longing for Artie and Regina filled his heart?
Artie had been so tiny. Nick had rocked him, talked to him, sang to him, bathed and dressed him and carried him around when he cried. Occasionally, he gave him a bottle, but he hadn’t been fully responsible for his son’s care, and he never worried about what to do because if he had a question, Regina was there to answer it.
A fourteen-month-old baby girl would be another matter. She needed a mother who would shower her with love. The thought worried him until he shrugged it away. There was no reason to worry until he knew without any doubt that this little child was his.
And if Hattie was his child—how much would that bring Talia into his life?
Talia Barton drove away from Nick Duncan’s ranch house. She could barely see for her tears, so she pulled over and tried to get a grip on her emotions. She loved Hattie and felt as if she was a second mother to the little girl. It had hurt terribly to try to get Nick to realize he had a responsibility to take Hattie. She had lived with a chilling panic since people from the state agency had stepped in and said Hattie should be a ward of the state because there was nothing official to indicate the mother had wanted Talia to raise Hattie.
Madeline’s life had been filled with joy, excitement and the promise of a glittering future in the music world. She had talked about seeing an attorney and getting papers drawn up to make Talia Hattie’s guardian, but hadn’t gotten around to it. Madeline had been so busy with her career, so filled with a love of life and her baby, that she hadn’t considered anything happening to take that life away. It hadn’t occurred to Talia to worry about the possibility, either. The accident had been a painful,
