REBECCA’S LAST CLASS, she darted into the ladies’ room and combed her hair and powdered her nose. It was going to be hard enough to face Jeff without knowing her nose was shining. When she’d done all she could to improve her appearance, she reluctantly gathered her books and walked the two blocks to her job.
As she entered the office, she immediately said to Harriet, “I need to speak to Jeff as soon as I can.”
“Really? Well, he wants to talk to you, too. Just a minute.” She picked up the phone and said, “Jeff, Rebecca is here and would like to meet with you as soon as possible.”
After she hung up the phone, she said, “Go right in, Rebecca.”
Rebecca had expected questions from Harriet, and she hadn’t been sure how she would answer them. But there were no questions. Oh, well, she would face questions when she talked to Jeff.
He stood and came across the room to greet her. “Come in, Becca.” He reached for her, as if he were about to hug her again.
Rebecca drew back. She couldn’t bear such close contact with what she had to tell him. “I—I need to talk to you.”
Jeff frowned. “Of course, I want to talk to you, too.”
Without waiting to be asked, Rebecca sat down in one of the big leather chairs in front of his desk. She didn’t think her legs would continue to hold her up.
To her surprise, Jeff sat down in the other chair, close to her. “Aren’t—aren’t you going to sit in your chair behind the desk?”
He laughed. “This isn’t a legal matter, is it? We’re just friends talking, aren’t we?”
Rebecca didn’t smile. And she couldn’t answer his question. Looking away from him, she said, “Look, Jeff. I’m sure you have many questions for me, but I need to tell you the truth about why my parents disowned me.”
“Okay, but whatever it was that you did, I doubt that I’ll agree with their decision. That’s not how parents should behave.”
“It’s not something I did,” she protested indignantly. “It’s something we did.”
He stared at her.
Without waiting for him to ask a question, she stumbled on, hoping their conversation would soon be over. “After you left, I discovered I was pregnant.”
Jeff continued to stare at her, horror dawning in his eyes. “That’s why your parents—damn! I’m sorry. I should have been there for you. I guess you had no choice about what to do. Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because it was obvious your aunt and uncle considered me unsuitable. If my own parents thought me white trash, I figured your relatives would, too.”
“Surely you didn’t think I would think you below me?”
“I don’t know. I was in shock. I had a little savings, and my mother slipped me some money. It was difficult at first.”
He reached over to take her hand, but she wouldn’t let him touch her.
“I’m sorry, Becca. I wish I’d known and we wouldn’t have lost our baby.”
She stared at him. “You think I had an abortion? You think I killed our baby?” Her voice rose in horror.
“I understand. You were all alone. You didn’t have many options.”
“I came to tell you that my son will be four on October 2. I don’t know if you have any interest in him at all, only learning about him now. That’s fine. I thought I owed it to you to tell you that you are a father.” She got up out of her chair and headed for the door.
He grabbed her arm, stopping her. “I have a son? You’re telling me you had the baby and all this time you neglected to tell me that I had a son?”
Chapter Two
“Yes,” Rebecca said succinctly, a mixture of guilt and irritation affecting her.
“And you think I might not care? Do you think I’ve changed that much, Rebecca? Do you not know me at all? Do you think I don’t miss having family, someone of my own blood? Yes, I want a part in my son’s life.
“In fact, I think you owe me the next four years, since you managed to take the first four years without me.”
“Have you finished ranting?” she asked coldly.
“No, I haven’t!” he snapped back. “I have four years’ worth of ranting stored up. How dare you not tell me that I had a child! You know me better than to think I wouldn’t care!”
“I knew you five years ago, Jeff. I don’t know you at all now. Your fiancée may not be prepared to be a stepmom, even if you want to be involved in Joey’s life. You need to take that into consideration.”
“Hell! I haven’t had time to consider anything. And that’s your fault!” He was almost shouting now.
The office door opened. “Jeff, is everything all right?” Harriet asked hesitantly.
“No, Harriet, it’s not. Come in here.”
“Jeff, I don’t think—” Rebecca began.
“Do you think I’m going to keep my son a secret, Rebecca? That I’m ashamed of him? Well, I’m not. And I’m going to be involved in his life, so Harriet might as well know.”
“And do you need to yell when you tell Harriet?” Rebecca asked, her features cold.
“I can yell if I want to. It’s my office!”
“Jeff, I’ve never seen you like this. What’s wrong?” Harriet demanded, giving him a motherly look.
“Rebecca gave birth to my son nearly four years ago and she’s just getting around to telling me.”
Harriet looked shocked.
Rebecca wanted to walk out of the office and never see either of them again. Jeff wasn’t even trying to understand. Okay, he had a right to be angry, but he was throwing a temper tantrum in Rebecca’s opinion.
“And she gave him up for adoption?” Harriet asked, obviously following her own line of thought.
“No, she didn’t do that.”
Harriet turned to Rebecca. “You kept your baby and raised him by yourself? That must’ve been hard.”
Unwanted tears filled Rebecca’s eyes at Harriet’s sympathy. She quickly looked down so no one would see such weakness. “Yes, it was, Harriet. Thank you for saying that.”
“Is the boy here in Dallas with you now? Vivian didn’t mention him to me. Does he look like Jeff?” Harriet moved closer to Rebecca.
“I’m not sure. Do you want to see a picture of him?” Rebecca only made the offer to Harriet, but when she opened her billfold to show Harriet,
