11. Chapter 11
Chapter eleven
“I think I need a lawyer.”
Abe was trying to motivate himself to get off the couch and go do some work on Maggie’s car when someone knocked on the door.
When he went to open it, Abe didn’t recognize the older man standing on the other side of his door.
But the slumped shoulders and weary eyes suggested the man was either not well or had given up on life.
“Can I help you?”
“Are you Abraham Buchanan?”
“Yes. Who are you?”
The man sighed with a slight wheeze, then turned his head and coughed into his elbow. He wiped at his mouth when he turned back to Abe. “I’m David Montgomery.”
The name meant nothing to Abe. “Do I know you?”
David studied Abe for a moment. “You knew my daughter, Elizabeth.” When the name didn’t register with Abe, David sighed again, then scowled. “You don’t remember her?”
“Sorry. I don’t.”
David turned and headed for the old car he had arrived in.
“Um…sir?”
David held up a hand. “Hold on.” He went to the backseat, opened the door, and after a moment turned around with a toddler in his arms and a blue plaid bag slung over his shoulder.
He returned to Abe. “You may not remember my daughter, but she certainly remembers you.” He looked at the child. “This is your son.”
Abe took a step back. “Sorry, that’s not possible.”
“I assure you, it’s very possible.”
“I don’t have a child. I would know. And I don’t know who Elizabeth Mont—” He took another step back. “Lizzie?” David nodded, and Abe mumbled, “Shit.”
“So, you do remember her.”
“I um…” Abe stuck his hands in his pockets. “Yes, but we… We didn’t…” He shook his head. “I’m always careful. I always do what I need to ensure this…” He looked at the little boy with curly blond hair and bright blue eyes. “I don’t know what Lizzie told you, but that’s not my son.”
“My daughter died six months ago, and on her deathbed, she told me about you. She told me to bring Kai to you.” He shook his head.
“I couldn’t bring myself to do it, but now…
” He sighed, wheezed, and coughed again.
“Now I don’t have a choice. The boy has no other family.
It was you or foster care, and believe me, I thought about it. ”
Abe looked at the child again. “How old is he?”
“Two.”
Abe recalled his whirlwind relationship with Lizzie. Neither of them was looking for anything serious or long-term. She was a wonderful free-spirited woman with long, wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
He’d run into her at the grocery store, then spent two hours talking to her in the parking lot.
The following morning, they’d taken off on a week-long hike along the river.
There were long days in the sun, made bearable by dips in the always cold Smith River.
The nights were spent around a fire with frogs providing a backdrop of croaked love songs.
They roasted hot dogs, drank beer, and slept under the stars.
Lizzie loved life, and now she was dead. His chest tightened at the thought.
David kissed Kai on the cheek, then held him out to Abe, who took another step back. “Are you really going to deny this child?”
“I ah…” Kai looked at him and smiled, releasing a small trail of drool that hung from his chin for a moment before dropping onto his shirt. “Um...” The boy held out his arms, and Abe scowled, then took Kai from David.
David set the bag down. “I’m dying, son. I’ve got maybe six months left. I don’t know what legal documents you need from me, but my contact information is in the bag. Just do whatever you’re going to do sooner rather than later.”
Kai was surprisingly heavy in his arms, and Abe adjusted his hold to relieve the pain in his shoulder, then looked at David. “Are you sure about this?”
“I’m sure, but do a paternity test if you need definitive proof.”
“Shouldn’t we do that before you hand him over to me?”
“I have all the proof I need. Between my daughter’s word and the fact that he looks like you, despite his fair hair and skin, I don’t need further verification. But you do what you feel is best.”
“What’s best is not to leave this kid with a complete stranger.” Abe tried to hand the child back to David.
David put a hand on Kai’s cheek, then backed up a few steps. “I’m trusting you to do the right thing for him.” He turned and headed for his car.
Kai mumbled, “Papa,” then looked at Abe. “Papa, go?”
Abe rubbed Kai’s back. “Sorry, kid.” David removed the car seat and set it on the lawn, then, without looking back, he drove away. Abe looked at Kai. “I’ll fix this. You won’t be stuck with me.” He pulled his phone from his back pocket and dialed Justin.
“Sheriff’s office.”
Abe meant to dial Justin directly. “Sorry, Sarah, I was calling for Justin. Is he in?”
“I’ll transfer you.”
“Sheriff Buchanan.”
“Hey, this is Abe.”
“Abe, who?”
Abe shook his head. “Not the time, brother.”
“Sorry, what’s going on? How are you doing after last night?”
“Are you busy?”
“Not currently.”
“Can you come to my house?”
“Now?”
Abe glanced at Kai. “Yeah. Right now.”
“Are you okay?”
“Hmm, not really.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen.”
Abe was sitting in a chair on the small front porch with Kai on his lap when Justin pulled up in his Jeep. As he got out of the vehicle, Abe stood with Kai in his arms, and Justin stopped walking.
“Why do you have a baby?” Justin continued to the porch. “Abe? Whose baby is that?”
“Um…apparently… Well, possibly…mine.”
Justin went up the steps. “What?”
“His grandfather just dropped him off.”
“Who’s his grandfather?”
“David Montgomery.”
Justin shook his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“I think he’s from Boise.”
Justin stepped closer and smiled at Kai, then looked at Abe. “What makes you think he’s yours?”
Abe took off his ball cap and set it backward on the baby’s head.
“Damn.”
“Right?” Abe removed the hat and set it aside.
“He does kind of look like you.”
“What am I supposed to do about this?”
“Sit down and tell me what happened.”
Abe sat again, and Kai leaned against his chest, causing a flutter in Abe’s stomach. “I can’t have a kid. I don’t know what to do with a kid.”
“What did David say?”
“Do you remember Lizzie?”
Justin took a moment. There had been a lot of women in and out of Abe’s life. “Long blonde hair. Kind of a hippy?”
“Yeah.”
“You dated for like two weeks, and that’s using dated in the broadest of terms.”
“It was almost a month. She was here to hike the river with friends.”
“And you two…”
“Yeah, but we…” He closed his eyes and laid his head back on the chair. “There was one time. Dammit. Son of a bitch.”
“So then…”
Abe shook his head and mimicked Lizzie’s voice. “Let’s go for a swim in the river. Let’s be spontaneous. Son of a...”
“You should probably still do a paternity test.”
“David said he’s dying. I could see it. The man isn’t long for this world. He was Kai’s only relative on Lizzie’s side of the family. Apparently, I’m all he has.”
Justin leaned forward in his seat. “You may be his father. You probably are. But you’re not all he has. You have the Buchanans. You have Elias and Seraphina. You have a hell of a support system. You won’t be doing this alone.”
“I don’t want to do it at all.”
Kai reached for the tattoo on Abe’s upper arm and tried to grasp it.
Abe looked at Justin. “How the hell am I supposed to do this?”
Justin took out his phone. “I’ll call Mom.”
“No. I’m not ready for that. Can you call Lucia?” Kai continued trying to pick up his tattoo. “And you better call Marti, too. I think I need a lawyer.”
Lucia and Marti arrived together, and Lucia headed directly for the porch. “Who is this beautiful baby boy?” She looked at Justin, then at Abe. “What’s going on?”
Abe sighed. “There’s a good chance that he’s mine.”
Marti came up beside Lucia. “Now I see why you need a lawyer. How did he get here?”
“His grandfather dropped him off. He says he’s unable to care for him any longer.”
Lucia held out her arms. “Can I hold him?”
“Yes, please.” Abe handed Kai to her, then dropped into the chair and rubbed his shoulder. “This is a damn nightmare.”
“Aw. How can you say that about this precious thing?”
“Precious or not, I’m not cut out to be a father. I don’t want to be a father. I…” He leaned back with a sigh.
Marti went into lawyer mode. “First thing you need to do is get a paternity test. I can set that up for you.”
“How long does it take?”
“You’ll want to take two. An at-home one will give you fast results and give you an answer within a few days.”
“And the second?”
“We’ll need a judge to order one so it’s on record. That one takes longer.”
Justin watched Lucia with the baby. “What do we do in the meantime?”
“Try not to get too attached.”
Abe squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Out of curiosity, what happens to him if he isn’t my kid?”
“If his grandfather really can’t care for him, he’ll go into the system.”
“I don’t know what’s worse. Having me for a father, or going into foster care.”
Marti held Abe’s hand. “Trust me, you are definitely the lesser of two evils in this scenario.”
“Um…thanks.”
She smiled. “You’re not evil or incapable. You can do this.”
“How do I work? How do I do anything?”
Justin held up a hand. “I work. Gentry works. You figure it out.”
“You both have wives.” He looked at Marti and Lucia. “I know you do more than care for the kids.”
Kai fussed, and Lucia bounced him on her hip. “You have a very big support system. You need to take advantage of that.”
“You mean Mom? I can’t lay this on her.”
Kai was on the verge of crying, and Justin took him from Lucia. The baby looked at him for a moment, then became fascinated by Justin’s badge.
“Mom will be glad to help. This is her grandchild.”
Lucia held up a hand. “I’ll help, too.”
Marti nodded. “I’m not sure how physically helpful I can be. But moral support, I’ve got you.”
Justin laughed. “You took on three kids.”
“Exactly, and I love them. But the key word there is kids.” She looked at Kai. “Babies are foreign to me.”
Abe raised a hand. “I get that.” He wrinkled his nose at the damp spot on Justin’s uniform. “Do they always leak like that?”
Justin took out his phone. “Time to call Mom.”