Chapter 18 #2
“Fyfe …” I approached man and child, and he looked at me as he wiped the corner of the baby’s mouth.
His eyes gleamed with anguish. “A woman I … I had a fling with left Millie on my doorstep two days ago. Left a note with Millie telling me she was mine and that she couldn’t take care of her anymore.”
Oh my fecking gawd.
A slight curl curved his mouth. “Aye, that look on your face is pretty much what I looked like two days ago.”
My gaze flew to the wee thing. She was beautiful. “How … how could she leave her?”
“I don’t know,” he whispered hoarsely.
Aching for him, I reached out to squeeze his arm. I knew this had to be bringing up his own feelings of abandonment.
Fyfe looked at my hand as if he was shocked I’d touched him.
I withdrew my hand and asked gently, “Are you sure she’s yours?”
“No. I did one of those at-home paternity tests yesterday and mailed it out right away. It can take up to two weeks to get the results.”
Mind whirring, I glanced around the room again. “You bought all this in two days?”
“I didn’t have much choice. Drove to Inverness the day I got Millie, paid extra to have them deliver it next day.”
Of course he did. Fyfe thought he wasn’t capable of caring about people, but when called upon to do it, he threw all of himself into it. Turning to Millie who was staring at me, I smiled and brushed my fingertips over her soft, rounded cheek. “Aren’t you beautiful, wee yin?”
Fyfe sucked in a breath.
“What?”
“That’s just … that’s what I’ve been calling her. Wee yin.”
I smiled at Millie. “Wee yin. But you have such a pretty name, Millie Billie. Don’t you?” I raised my arms toward her and asked, “May I?”
“Sure.”
“How old is she?” I asked as I lifted her from the high chair and into my arms.
“She has to be around nine months, I reckon.”
“This … woman—” I tried not to feel anything at the thought of Fyfe being with someone else and that resulting in him being tied to her forever through their child. “She didn’t leave a birth certificate?”
“Nothing but a note that Millie is mine and that she couldn’t look after her anymore.”
Sympathy scored through me at the anger in his words.
“Oh, Millie.” I smoothed a soothing hand over her warm back as she reached for one of my curls.
“Everything is going to be all right, my darling. Look how well you’re being looked after.
Just like the wee princess you are.” I grinned at her and her eyes flashed to my smile.
“Aren’t you the most beautiful baby girl? Oh my goodness, I could eat you up.”
She let out a little giggle and my heart swelled. Turning to grin at Fyfe, my lips halted mid curve at the abject longing on his face.
Overanalyzing his expression was asking to have my head messed with again, so I turned away and began walking with Millie through the living space. “Look at this teddy.” I picked up the gorgeous white polar bear. “Do you like it? Isn’t he pretty?”
Millie grabbed the polar bear in both hands and stuffed his nose into her mouth.
“What shall we call him? Hmm? Mr. Polar?”
She wrinkled her nose.
“No, not very imaginative, is it? What about Snowy?”
She tilted her head as if she was considering it and I laughed. Noting a floor mat on the other side of the sofa, I turned back to Fyfe. “Is she crawling?”
He leaned against the island, arms crossed over his chest, expression neutral again. “Aye. The internet suggested she might, so I ordered a play mat and sure enough, she’s been crawling all over the bloody place. I can’t take my eyes off her for a second.”
Millie dropped the polar bear and reached for my face, making incoherent noises as she touched me inquisitively.
“Have you told anyone?” He certainly hadn’t told Lewis!
“No,” Fyfe replied. “I wanted to wait to see if she was mine before introducing everyone into her life.”
“You need support right now, Fyfe.”
“It’s fine. I don’t deserve … never mind.”
“Call your friends.”
“It’s fine,” he repeated stubbornly. “Why are you here?”
The reason for my visit trembled on the tip of my tongue.
However, I stopped myself.
Fyfe had enough on his plate right now.
I could ask Callie’s dad, Walker, to look into the camera situation. He was head of security on the estate and he had contacts that might be able to trace the culprit through the cameras.
“It doesn’t matter. What can I do to help?”
“Eilidh—”
“Fyfe, what can I do to help?”
He sighed wearily, running a hand through his hair. “Could you just watch her while I have a quick shower?”
“Of course.”
As soon as he left the room and I thought he was out of earshot, I turned back to Millie who was surprisingly docile in my arms considering all she’d been through in the last few days.
She had to be missing her mummy. The thought made me ache all over again.
“Come on, Millie. Let’s get Fyfe some help, hmm? ”
I settled her down on the mat in front of me with a toy that sang to her every time she pressed a different button, pulled my phone out of my back pocket, and called Lewis.