Drive carefully.”
Jake made a stop at the barn to talk to Mike, to check if there were any problems he couldn’t handle. There weren’t. The machines were out of the fields and the cotton was stored in modules waiting to be taken to the gin. Wags jumped into the truck.
“Sorry, boy, you can’t go,” Jake said, pulling him out by the collar.
Wags whined in protest.
“You can ride with Mike and I’ll be home tonight.”
With Wags barking loudly, Jake climbed into his truck and within minutes he was on the highway to Houston.
He didn’t know what he’d find when he arrived, but as he’d told Beau, he was preparing for the worst. Ms. Woods hadn’t said Ben was mentally challenged. He was just slow. Did that mean the same thing? He wasn’t sure and it didn’t matter. Ben was his son and he’d love him no matter what.
Sherry crossed his mind and Jake wondered again how she could have abandoned her own son. He grunted. What was he thinking? Women abandoned children all the time—children who didn’t have anything wrong with them—like his mother had abandoned him. He still felt a queasiness in his belly from just seeing her. Beau had said there were two sides to every story, but he was wrong. His father had been a hardworking man who loved his family, and his mother had had an affair and become pregnant. She had destroyed a home and a family and Jake couldn’t see any other side than that.
Gently rolling hills, dense woods, farms and ranches flashed by as he drove through Hearne to College Station to Navasota and hit Highway 290 into Houston. The highway merged with Loop 610 South, and as he negotiated heavy traffic, that sense of excitement returned. He couldn’t stop thinking how much more thrilled he’d be if Elise was with him, but she wasn’t.
He wondered how she was. He’d purposefully tried not to think about her, which was impossible because she was always there at the back of his mind. Had she seen an attorney yet? Probably, he decided. What they’d shared was something basic to her. To him, it had developed into something much more.
He had been so shocked when she’d called and asked him out. He didn’t date women like Elise Weber—beautiful, educated and with an air of being untouchable. He preferred women who were soft and natural. Not that Elise wasn’t those things. She just seemed way out of his reach. That was his first impression, but then he got to know her and she was a completely different person. He responded to her warmth and vitality. They seemed to be able to talk forever. He wasn’t a guy who liked to talk, but with her it came easy.
He shifted uncomfortably as he realized Elise had been in control from the start. She knew what she wanted and she didn’t have any problem getting him. Hell, after that first date, he wanted her like crazy. Elise had been a big surprise in the bedroom. Her cool professorial facade disappeared into a warm, inviting woman, and that sensuality blinded him to the problems in their marriage. Her dead husband’s picture on the nightstand was a big example. So many times he’d resisted the urge to knock the damn thing to the floor, but he respected her enough not to do that. He kept waiting for her to remove it. That never happened. And it hurt. His feelings didn’t matter to her.
He didn’t have to worry about Elise, though. She’d be fine because her emotions weren’t involved—not the ones that counted, anyway. It bothered him that he’d hurt her, and it would be a while before he’d lose the feelings he had for her…if ever. She loved someone else and she’d told him that up front. That didn’t keep him from falling for her. But it kept him locked in a pain of his own choosing.
IT WAS TEN AFTER THREE by the time Jake found the office. This office was basically the same as the other, only much larger and there were people in the waiting area. He told the woman at the desk who he was and took a seat. In a few minutes Ms. Woods came out and he followed her into an inner office where an older, gray-haired woman sat at a desk. She stood and shook Jake’s hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. McCain,” she said. “I’m Gail Turner and I worked with Carmen on Ben’s case when his mother left him at the hospital.”
“Then you know Ben very well?” he asked, taking a chair by the desk.
Mrs. Turner resumed her seat and Jake had a feeling he was in for some cold, hard truths.
“Yes. After Mrs. Carr was granted custody, we checked on Ben for several months and saw that she was very capable of caring for him. We didn’t become involved again until Mrs. Carr called us two months ago. She knew she was dying and she asked us to locate Ben’s father.” She paused. “We weren’t aware until this morning that the Fosters want to adopt Ben. They knew we were searching for the father and they never gave us any indication that adoption was a possibility. But in all fairness I have to admit that they know Ben and his routine and they care for him deeply.”
Jake frowned. “Are you saying the Fosters would be better for Ben than me?”
“A judge will make that decision,” she replied coolly.
Same old line. “On your recommendation.”
“Well, yes, our recommendation will weigh heavily in the decision.”
Jake chose his words carefully. “So, Mrs. Turner, what you’re trying to tell me in not-so-subtle terms is that Ben would be better off living with the Fosters.”
Mrs. Turner clasped her hands on the desk. “Dr. Howard Ruskin, Ben’s doctor, a developmental pediatrician, feels very strongly that it would be detrimental for Ben to be moved out of his familiar surroundings at this time. After several visits with Ben, I have to agree with him. Ben’s taken a step backward because of Mrs. Carr’s death. I’m not sure how much he understands. All he knows is that his grandmother’s gone and he’s retreated into himself. The Fosters are working with him and I’m hoping to see some signs of improvement.”
“But you haven’t?”
“No. He was walking everywhere. Now he stumbles and falls. Mrs. Carr had him talking, but now he won’t say a word.”
“What does Dr. Ruskin say about Ben’s falling and refusal to talk?”
“That he’s grieving and needs some time.”
Jake’s stomach curled into a knot. “You mentioned you didn’t know how much Ben understood. What I’m asking is whether he’s mentally challenged.”
“At first the doctors thought so, but Mrs. Carr refused to believe that. The doctors also thought Ben would be a vegetable and Mrs. Carr proved them wrong. Ben was working on his ABCs and numbers and he was able to repeat them. Mrs. Carr felt he had the ability to learn. He just has to try harder, and I must admit I agree with her. The bottom line, Mr. McCain, is that we want Ben’s progress to continue.”
“I do, too.”
“That’s good.”
Something in her voice alerted Jake. His eyes narrowed.
“You’re not going to try to keep me from seeing Ben, are you?”
“Of course not,” she said. “You’re his father. You have every right to see him, and our goal, whenever possible, is to unite child and parent. But Ben’s case is very different.”
That
