Chapter 9 #2
“How can I help you?” Decker asked the woman, though his gaze rested on the little girl. It was more than the hair color that caught his attention. It was the mouth. All the McKennas had that same dip in the upper lip.
Before she could answer, his dad rocked up to them. By all accounts, Gunnar McKenna was an intimidating man. Big, muscular, he rode a Harley and was covered in tattoos. He was scary as fuck, but he was the most generous man in the world.
“I, uh…” The pregnant woman glanced down at the child. “Do you think I could talk to Decker alone?”
“We’re family,” his dad said. “There are no secrets here.”
“I don’t…I don’t feel well.” She blinked back tears. “I think my water broke.”
“Are you okay?” Willa stepped in front of both men. “Do you need us to take you to the hospital? What do you need right now?”
“I don’t know.” She looked down at the dry ground. “It’s my first baby.”
“Come inside,” Decker said. “I’ll grab you a water.”
“Are you hungry? Want me to make you a plate?” Willa asked as they headed for the house.
When his dad started to follow them, Decker stopped him. “Go make your toasts. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Well, hang on.” He knew his dad was torn. He wanted to make sure Decker wasn’t being played but also didn’t want to miss his oldest son’s reception.
“I’ve got it, Dad.”
His dad held his gaze for a long moment before giving him a curt nod. “You know where to find me.”
“I do.” When they’d first moved into the bike club, his dad had worked impossible hours to get on his feet financially, so he hadn’t been all that present for his sons. But he’d more than made up for it. He was a great dad.
The storm had knocked out power, and with his dad’s house located so far out of town, it’d be one of the last areas on the grid to get restored, so the kitchen was eerily quiet. No refrigerator hum or buzz of under-cabinet lighting.
There was just a woman standing next to a kitchen chair and Willa coming out of the pantry with a bottle of water and one of his nephew’s juice boxes.
And a little girl who gazed up at him. “You got matterwelon?”
Decker had no idea what she was talking about, so he looked to the woman.
She pointed to the counter. “Watermelon.”
“Oh. You want some?” he asked the girl.
She nodded, and he didn’t know what to do. Cut her a slice or get down to business.
Fortunately, Willa distracted the girl by offering drinks. “I couldn’t find grape, but we do have apple. Is that okay?”
The girl scrunched her nose and shook her head. “Apple tastes stinky. Like feet.”
Willa laughed. “I hadn’t thought about that before, but now, that’s all I’m going to think about. Here, let me get you something else.”
“She’s very picky,” the pregnant woman said.
Willa poured some of the water into a sippy cup. It wasn’t even her house—or her situation—and she was handling it all like she’d always been there. “Here you go.”
“Okay, let’s cut to the chase.” Decker sat at the table. “What’s going on?”
“You got tweasures?” the little girl asked.
Willa smiled. “I’m sure we do. How about you and I go look for them?” She looked at the woman, who smiled gratefully before leading the toddler into the living room.
The stranger twisted off the cap and tipped the bottle to her mouth, taking a quick sip. “I’m Cady Thomas-Smith. I was best friends with Zoe back when you knew her.”
“I don’t know a Zoe.” His voice sounded hard, but he was missing his brother’s reception for this bullshit.
That’s not my child.
The niggle of doubt at the back of his mind was only because of the girl’s eyes.
“It was four years ago, after the Arizona Sentinels game. We met you and your teammates at The Red Zone. Do you remember?”
He’d partied a lot back then. No one bar stood out. “No.” He could hear Willa showing the girl his dad’s rock collection, but he kept his focus on the pregnant woman.
“Well, you guys hooked up that night. Just so you know, Zoe didn’t normally do that. She’d been with her boyfriend a long time, and she’d never messed around on him. But I saw you leave with her…” Her gaze dropped to the bottle. “To the bathroom.”
Once in high school, he’d been in a car crash.
He was in the passenger seat, so he’d had no control over the brakes or the steering wheel.
He’d been leaving a party late at night.
Everything had happened so fast, he couldn’t make sense of it.
The headlights bounced and wavered as trees came rushing up to the windshield.
The car slammed into them. Airbags deployed.
The crunch and shriek of metal had lived in his mind for months afterward.
That was what this moment felt like. The violent slam of his body into the dashboard and then back against the seat. “I always use protection.” He drew in a breath. “Where is she? Why isn’t Zoe here?”
“She died a few months ago.” She let out a shaky breath.
“We lost touch after I moved away. I got a new job, got married, pregnant… We just drifted apart. But I got a call from her new boyfriend.” She placed her hands on her swollen belly.
“She was a single mom, so she had a will. I’m listed as the guardian—and I’ll do it.
Of course, I will. But I’m pretty sure she’s yours, and I had to let you know. ”
“Did Zoe say she was mine?”
“No, but her boyfriend at the time asked for a paternity test, and when he found out the baby wasn’t his, they broke up. I swear she was loyal to him. She loved him.”
“Loved him so much she hooked up with a random guy at a bar?” He knew he was being hard, but this woman was making some wild assumptions.
Maybe she couldn’t afford two kids and was looking for money. Given his reputation, she might think he’d rather pay her to raise his kid than take on that responsibility.
She didn’t know him at all.
“You were her hall pass. She’d had a crush on you since college.” She pressed a hand to her belly and shifted uncomfortably.
“You all right? Do you need anything?”
“I don’t know. I just… Look, I know showing up like this wasn’t the best way to do it, but I tried your agent and your manager.
I know you’re from Calamity, so I came out here and asked around.
” Her features pinched in discomfort. “But I’m thirty-five weeks pregnant.
This was my last chance to fly before I had the baby. If Birdie’s yours, then I—”
“Birdie? Her name’s Birdie?”
“Yes. Zoe named her after the song that was playing when you two hooked up.”
He cocked his head, unable to come up with a song that had the name Birdie in it.
“‘Free Bird,’ the Lynyrd Skynyrd song?” she asked. “Does that ring any bells?”
Fucking in the hallway to a country rock song? “No.” But it was possible. He’d been a lot freer with his dick back then. “I don’t remember her, but I’ll take a paternity test to eliminate the possibility.”
“Thank you. I know this is an awful situation, but when her boyfriend said he’d put her in the system if I didn’t come get her, I jumped on a plane. If she’s not yours, I’ll file for custody. But I just…” She sucked in a breath. “I know she’s yours.”
“No, you don’t know that. But we’re going to settle it.”