Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Leighton
It’s been three weeks since I read Kayla’s letter. My boss told me to take as much time as I need. Carl made reservations for me at the hotel in Lake Renegade. Davis is happily babbling in the backseat as I start the seven-hour drive. The whole time, all I can think about is having to meet this Valentino. What if he’s a horrible person? I know Kayla said he didn’t know. But somehow that doesn’t make me less annoyed at him.
I decided to break up the drive into two days. I have to stop often to get Davis out, change him and we need to eat. When we get to a roadside motel, I finally relax a little. Looking at Davis, I see Kayla in him and I’m so sad that he won’t remember her. I talk to him about her every night so he’ll always know how awesome his mom was. I miss her so much.
I call Carl before I head out on the road again. I have three hours left till we get to Lake Renegade. After I check in to the hotel there, I’ll need to find the bakery. Carl said to go there and ask for Caitríona Bastianini. The information he found pointed to him being part of their family. So that’s my plan when I get to town. I’m really nervous. I don’t like him already, so my anxiety is high.
Doing this for Davis has me thinking of my parents. I haven’t spoken to them since I moved out at nineteen. Five years. My dad was a mean drunk and my mom just turned a blind eye to how he treated me and my siblings. My twin sister, Lynton, and I got the brunt of his rage. Between the two of us, we tried our best to shield our younger brother, Levi, from most of it. As soon as Levi turned eighteen, the three of us left and haven’t been back. Levi enlisted in the Marines and is stationed in Japan. He came back when we lost Kayla and was allowed to stay for a few weeks. But now he’s back with his unit. We make sure to talk at least once a week. Lynton is a third grade teacher and she loves it. She lives just thirty minutes from me. As for me, right now I work as a secretary at a law firm. They’re a great firm to work for, they always give me time off when I need it. Especially if it’s for Davis.
Lake Renegade is gorgeous. There’s all kinds of businesses and as I drive through the town, I see the bakery. Precious Risings, such a cute name and it’s right across from the hotel. I get us checked in and relax a bit. I’m nervous about heading over to the bakery. But I need to just get up and do it. The faster I do? The faster I can go home.
I give Davis a bath and get us both dressed.
“Okay little man, are you ready?” I smile at him and kiss his face.
Davis laughs and hugs me. I love him so much.
“Time to go and get this over with,” I say to him as I grab his bag and head out.
I take my time getting to the bakery, even though it’s right across the street from the hotel. I walk slowly, looking around at the town. I stop in front of the bakery and take a deep breath. Even from out here, the bakery smells delicious. I walk inside and a gorgeous woman comes up to the register, smiling.
“Hi! Would you like to sample anything?” she asks.
“Thank you, everything looks so good.” I smile. “But no, I’m looking for Caitríona Bastianini.”
“Sure, can I ask who you are and what you need her for?” a man asks coming to stand beside the woman at the register. He’s huge and kind of scary.
“M-My name is Leighton Anderson and I was told to ask for her. She knows someone that I need to talk to,” I say to him.
He nods at me. “Wait right here, I’ll get her for you.”
“Thank you,” I say as I watch him go into the back. I turn to the woman at the register. “Could I get an old-fashioned doughnut please?”
“Of course.” She smiles as she reaches for one. I pay her and take a seat at one of the tables. I feed Davis pieces of it while we wait for Caitríona.
A few minutes later, another beautiful woman comes out with the big guy that was talking to me.
“I’m Caitríona Bastianini. I don’t think I know you,” she says with an Irish accent as she sits down at the table.
“I should probably start at the beginning. This is Davis. His mom is Kayla Moss and she was my best friend.” I take a deep breath and hold back tears. “Kayla died in a car crash almost two months ago. She left me a letter telling me who Davis’ father was and everything she knew about him. Our lawyer found your name and said you might know him.”
Caitríona has tears in her eyes as she listens to me. She reaches out and takes my hands in hers.
“His name is Valentino Marconi. Kayla met him when she came here on a business trip and they had one night of fun. Well, that fun resulted in Davis.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. Are you sure Davis is Valentino’s? I will say he looks somewhat similar, he has his eyes and that smile. But he’s going to need a paternity test, of course.”
I nod at her. “I understand. I wouldn’t expect him not to. What’s he like? I’m not here to hand Davis over to him. I’m just doing what Kayla asked of me. And that was to make sure he knew about Davis. At first, she told me he knew and didn’t want anything to do with him. But in her letter, she admitted that he didn’t know.”
“Valentino would never abandon his child. But he would also never take him from you. I think he will want to be a part of his life. But I don’t want to speak for him, so let me call him and get him down here. Then you two can talk things through.”
“Thank you so much,” I say as she smiles and heads to the back again.
Fifteen to twenty minutes pass. A huge man walks in and smiles at me. If this is Valentino? I’m fucked. I need to hate him…
Valentino
I get a call from Mam—Caitríona told me that I could call her that a year into living with them. She said there was a situation that I needed to handle.
So now I’m headed to the bakery and wondering what the fuck is going on. The drive to the bakery takes fifteen minutes from the property. I take a deep breath as I park and head inside.
As I walk into the bakery, I see a gorgeous woman sitting at a table with a baby. I smile at her as I head into the kitchen to find my mam. I see her and go over to give her a hug.
“Oh no. I know that look. What did I do?” I say to her.
She laughs. “Well, it looks like you did the one thing we’ve told all of you not to do.”
“Ooookay. That’s vague.” I laugh.
“That pretty girl out there with the baby? Come with me.”
Oh fuck. Wait. I’ve never had sex with anyone unprotected. I’m not an idiot. That’s one of the things my parents made sure we promised. No babies unless we were sure that was the woman we wanted to be with. Also, looking at this woman? I don’t remember her at all and I’m absolutely positive I would.
“Leighton, this is Valentino. Valentino, this is Leighton and Davis. You two have some things to discuss. You can sit here or go to the office. Whatever makes you more comfortable.”
“I’m okay with talking here if you want,” Leighton says.
“Sure, we can talk here.”
“Let me take Davis so you can talk. He looks like he’s ready for a nap. We have a playpen in the office,” Caitríona says to us.
As I watch Leighton give Davis to Caitríona, he smiles at her and yawns. He’s really cute.
“Forgive me, I don’t remember if we’ve met before. My mam said that I did something, I’m guessing it has to do with Davis.”
Leighton stares at me and takes a deep breath. “We’ve never met, but yes, I’m here because of Davis. It’s a long story, so if you’ll hear me out, I would appreciate it.”
I nod and wait for her to continue. There’s a ball of dread forming in my stomach.
“My best friend was Kayla Moss, she died two months ago.”
Fuck. I spent one night with a Kayla last year.
“She said she met you last year while she was in Chicago for a few days. You met at a club and spent the night together. Nine months later, Davis was born. Now I know what you’re thinking, am I sure he’s yours? I know Kayla and she doesn’t sleep with just anyone. Could there be a chance Davis isn’t yours? Sure. But before Kayla died, she wrote me a letter telling me who you were. Before then, I thought you were a deadbeat. She had said you knew and didn’t want anything to do with Davis. Which doesn’t mean that couldn’t still be true. Just because you find out you have a son, I don’t expect you to want to be in his life. And you won’t take him from me. He’s all I have left of Kayla.”
I sit and stare at her as she’s talking. I’m trying to soak in everything she’s telling me. Davis might be my son. Fuck.
“I would never be a deadbeat dad. Never. I would like to get a DNA test done if that’s okay with you. And if Davis is my son, I do want to be in his life. Where do you live?”
“We live in St. Cloud, Minnesota.”
“Do you live alone? Do you have any help?”
“My twin sister lives thirty minutes away and helps me as much as she can. I have a brother too. But he’s stationed in Japan and will be there for a while.”
“If Davis is my son, would you consider moving closer to Lake Renegade? You could even live here. I would help you with finances if that’s a problem.”
She’s staring at me like I’m a lunatic. Okay, maybe immediately asking her to move to Lake Renegade is a bit extreme. But if Davis is mine? I want him close and I don’t think she’ll leave him with me. So I want her to stay close too. When I look at her, I feel like I know her and I want her to stay. Fuck it. Even if Davis isn’t mine? I want them to stay.
“I can’t just pick up and move. Why can’t you move near us? I have a job. My sister. I can’t just leave.”
“Maybe your sister would be willing to move here? I wish I could move near you. But I can’t. There are things here that prevent that from happening.”
“So you want me to move here? To a place where I don’t know anyone? Fuck that. You’re an ass.”
Leighton frowns and stands up.
“Please. I didn’t mean to upset you. Maybe we should take this one step at a time. Let’s get the DNA test done and then we can discuss what the next step will be.”
“If you think you can take Davis from me? You have another thing coming. I’ll fight you with every last penny I have.”
I stare at her. I don’t want to fight with her. But I also won’t let her leave with my son…if he is my son.
“I understand that you have a life in St. Cloud. But if Davis is mine, I have rights too and Davis deserves to know me, just as much as I deserve to know him.”
“Then you can make the drive to see him. You can’t demand that we move here so it’s easier for you.”
“Whoa. I didn’t demand anything. I suggested. There has to be some way that will work for both of us. Let’s take Davis to the hospital and get the test done first.”
Leighton frowns at me but follows me when I go to tell my mam our plans. She volunteers to come with us. The test takes less than ten minutes, Mam makes sure the results are top priority. We should get them tomorrow. Mam offers to take Leighton and Davis to dinner. But she declines. So we agree to meet at the bakery tomorrow at lunchtime so that we can head over to the hospital and get the results.