him even as she pursued the serious conversation.
“My sister was a bit of a free spirit, but she didn’t lie. In fact, she refused to reveal who you were while she was alive. It wasn’t until after she passed away that I found a letter in her safe-deposit box naming you as Gabe’s father.”
“No disrespect to the dead, but your sister was wrong.” He paced, his agitation requiring a release. “We only spent two nights together, and I used protection. I always use protection.”
Samantha lifted a darkened brow. “You’re the principal of a high school, you know as well as I do the only one-hundred-percent effective birth control is abstinence. Condoms can break or fail.” The spark in her green eyes warned Alex she wouldn’t listen to any criticism of her sister. She cleared her throat then continued. “You are Gabe’s father.”
Alex rubbed at the ache building in his left temple. He wasn’t convinced, but she obviously believed what she told him. Which brought him to his next burning question.
“You’ve been in Paradise Pines for four months. Why are you just telling me now? Come to that, why didn’t your sister tell me when she found out she was pregnant?”
Pink bloomed in her cheeks, and she busied herself with Gabe’s clothes, straightening the overall straps over the red shirt and refolding the cuffs of his socks. Gabe put up with the fussing for about twenty seconds before bucking his small body, demanding to be put down. In his struggle, his hand caught in the neck of her sweater dragging it down.
Alex’s breath hitched at the sight of cream lace cupping creamier flesh. Samantha quickly righted the garment, flashing him a self-conscious look. No need. He’d already noticed her trim little figure, and she had nothing to be embarrassed about.
She tried to calm Gabe, but he bucked harder and squealed, fighting her efforts.
For a moment, Alex’s gaze connected with the child’s blue eyes. Sullivan blue? His will and determination certainly matched that of any Sullivan.
“Let him down,” Alex urged.
Samantha sent a doubtful look around the room at the glass-and-chrome tables, a high-tech entertainment center and the book-lined floor-to-ceiling shelves. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Can he walk?”
“Not yet, but he’s getting braver every day.”
“Let him down. I’m sure we can catch him before he does damage to himself or anything in the room.” He resumed his seat, leaving the space open for the kid.
Setting Gabe on his butt in the middle of the floor, she pulled a whiffle ball from her purse for him to play with. She gathered the scattered magazines and videos on the coffee table into a stack in the middle then resumed her seat on the edge of the couch. After a moment, she slid Alex a sidelong look before finally answering his question.
“You have to understand ours isn’t the most impressive family tree,” she said with a total lack of emotion that spoke volumes. “My father died when I was four, my mother when I was nineteen. Sarah’s father left. Seven months before she was born. My mother wasn’t a woman who found it easy to be alone. Men came into our lives, but they didn’t stay.
“Sarah was twelve years old when mom died, leaving her in my care. I did the best I could, but between college and work I couldn’t give Sarah all the attention she needed. By the time she met you, Sarah desperately needed to be needed. And she’d decided a baby would fulfill that need.”
Alex didn’t know how to respond to her revealing confession, because regardless of the sad circumstances of her life—Sarah’s life—he hadn’t heard an acceptable reason for not telling him he’d fathered a child.
Her expression apologetic, Samantha explained. “I’m sorry, but Sarah never intended to tell you. She went to the island with the intention of getting pregnant.” She stopped, cleared her throat. Then she set her chin as if coming to a decision. “In the letter she left she said you told her you didn’t want children, so she felt no need to tell you.”
Shock froze Alex in place. Fury pumped blood through his veins so fast rational thought became impossible. Not again. Damn it, no, not again.
He felt as if an essential part of him had been ripped out, stolen, used.
When he didn’t speak, Samantha answered the second part of his question. “Perhaps I should have told you sooner. But it took a while to get settled and for Gabe and me to develop a routine. And I needed to get to know you.”
Already angry, he resented the implied insult. He narrowed his eyes and pinned her with a cold glare. “Are you saying I had to pass some kind of test?”
She shrugged but made no apology. “From the moment I found out she was pregnant I urged Sarah to notify the baby’s father. She resisted until the end. When Gabe suddenly came into my care and the decision became mine, I felt I had to honor my first instinct to contact you.”
“But?”
“But,” her tone became defensive, “now he’s my responsibility and his welfare is my first concern.”
“Meaning?” Alex consciously relaxed his clenched jaw. How crazy was it to be angry that she hadn’t told him sooner about the child he denied was his?
“Meaning, I believe no father is better than an abusive father.”
He leaned forward in his chair. “It happens I agree with you. What bothers me is it took you four months to decide I don’t hurt little kids.”
“Of course it didn’t take four months—Gabe, no.” The baby had crawled to the coffee table, hoisted himself up and was happily slapping the glass. “He’s getting antsy. I’d better go.”
Alex watched in disbelief as she rose, picked up Gabe and headed for the door.
“Wait.” He followed hot on her heels. “Why did you come here today? What do you want?”
She stopped in the open door, her expression no longer anxious but relieved. “I came to tell you about your son. I hope you’ll want to be part of his life. What happens next is up to you.” When he had no answer to that, she turned away. “Goodbye.”
He continued to watch her walk away, stunned into speechlessness.
The boy had the last word. He looked at Alex over his aunt’s shoulder with solemn blue eyes much like Alex’s own and said, “Bye-bye.”
“Well that didn’t go as badly as I’d feared.” Samantha snuggled Gabe against her chest and kissed his dark curls as she descended the deck steps. “Disbelief and shock were expected. But he didn’t deny knowing your mom and he didn’t throw us out. That’s good.”
“Mama.” Gabe grinned and patted her cheek.
Mama. Her heart twisted every time he used the word. She felt like a fake, as if she were stealing her sister’s place in the world. Every day she did her best to keep Sarah alive for Gabe. But because it was easiest for him, Samantha answered to mama.
“I probably should have told him about you sooner, but we needed the time together, didn’t we, sweetheart.”
