Daddy for Keeps

Natalie had wondered all along if Marcus hadn’t told his family. That would explain why they’d left her alone. Until her dad’s death, she hadn’t cared, really, hadn’t needed help or money.

She should have waited, thought this through, not acted on impulse. Of course, impulse was what brought Robby into her life.

Robby slurped the last of his milk. “I’m finished,” he announced, pushing away the plate. In a moment, he was out of the chair, into the living room and back in the kitchen wearing Pop Pop’s cowboy hat. Too big, it had the habit of falling in Robby’s eyes, and he whipped it off and let out a whoop. Since yesterday, he’d continually ridden a broom around the house. Even worse, he’d gotten really good at pretending to fall off.

He hit the ground, pure rodeo landing, and she flinched.

Pop Pop would have had the video camera out.

What had Natalie been thinking?

She hadn’t!

The loss of her father and the muddle of his finances must have rendered her temporarily insane. It was the only explanation for her behavior.

Robby galloped back into the room. “Mommy, go park?”

Natalie nodded. “We’ll go to the bank, and then to the park.”

That was good enough for Robby. He dismounted, carefully guided his broom horse to lean against the oven and ran to get his favorite train. After she’d cleared up the dishes and zipped Robby into his jacket, they were out the door and heading toward town.

Selena had one bank. Its claim to fame wasn’t beauty. It was as rectangular as a cracker box and too small for the town. But change came slowly to Selena and not even the town’s most forward-thinking seemed inclined to fix what wasn’t really broken.

Mondays were busy, which explained why Natalie managed to get past the tellers without chitchat.

Unfortunately, Robby wasn’t about to miss an opportunity.

“Hi, Allie,” Robby chirped.

Allison Needham grinned at him, still counting money without missing a beat.

“Morning, Allison,” Natalie said. On top of everything else, Natalie always worried that maybe Allison knew a bit too much. After all, she’d been Tisha’s friend back when Tisha came to Selena to spend summers. Then, later, when Allison decided to give rodeoing a shot, she’d followed after Tisha, who was giving rodeoing a different kind of shot.

Just as Natalie walked toward the bank president’s office, Walter Hughes came out of it. Seven years ago, it had been his office. Now, it was his son’s. He stopped when he saw Natalie, handed Robby a peppermint from his pocket and said, “You need anything, little girl?”

“I’m hoping your son has a few minutes to give me.”

Timothy Hughes, who’d sat across from Natalie in almost every class in grade school, and who’d been her first high school crush, came to the door. “Natalie? Come on in.”

Walter looked at his son and Timothy nodded. “You mind if I sit in?” Walter asked.

Her eyes started pooling. Walt had thinning gray hair, like Dad. He wore the same kind of casual clothes. He still opened doors for women, and he made her miss her father all over again.

“No, not a bit.”

“Let me pull Allison away from the front,” Timothy said. “She can watch Robby for a few minutes.”

Robby willingly took Allison’s hand, and Allison headed out the front door and down the sidewalk. Robby loved to walk. He could walk up and down the street for hours, seeing the same sights, saying “hi” to the same people, and never get bored.

It took a few minutes for Timothy to gather the files and punch up her information on the computer. Walter chewed his bottom lip and perused a copy of her father’s will. Yesterday, while Robby napped, she’d spent two hours itemizing what she had, what she didn’t have and what she was unsure about. She’d gone over the will in detail and listed her tangible property. Now, she had very specific questions. Timothy couldn’t answer her concern about the life insurance, but he could show how a good deal of money had gone into a new roof, new air-conditioning and taxes. After playing with the numbers, what she had and what she could earn, he agreed with her assessment. She could make it about three months.

Walter was the one with questions. “I think I know all of your dad’s tangible personal property, and I’m as surprised as you are that he used the business as collateral for a loan, but, Natalie, were there deeds to any other properties?”

“None, and I would have known.”

“And insurance?”

“The only one I found paid for his funeral.”

Timothy’s face finally changed expression. “Are you sure there’s not something in your dad’s safe-deposit box? Could you have missed seeing the policy?”

Natalie gripped the arms of the chair. She’d been so careful with the paperwork, with what was in the house. “I didn’t even know he had a safe-deposit box. I certainly don’t have the key.”

Hope, Natalie started feeling a dim hope. It made her sit taller, but only for a moment, because the feeling of hope was just as quickly followed by fear. Why hadn’t she known about the box? What if it was empty? Or what if it just held some of her mother’s jewelry—worth a little but not a lot.

Still, hope flared a bit. What if the missing funds were somehow accounted for inside the safe-deposit box?

Then she’d have involved the Welch family for nothing.

“Think you can find the key?” Timothy interrupted her scrambled thoughts.

“I—”

“We’re not messing with that,” Walter said. “I’ll make a call. We’ll drill it open in no time.”

“Dad, that costs almost a hundred—”

“Exactly what we should pay for not notifying Natalie about the safe-deposit box sooner.”

An hour later, Natalie knew that approaching Lucky Welch for money was, indeed, the last thing she should have done. Her dad had kept his promise in the form of bank bonds, lots of bank bonds. Barring a catastrophe, they had enough to stay afloat for two to three years, not even counting Natalie’s income.

It did raise a few questions while still leaving others unanswered. Natalie still didn’t know why her father had cleaned out the checking account or borrowed against his half of the business.

“Mommy, we go park now?” Robby was at the office door, Allison behind him.

“It’s like having Jasmin come visit me at work,” Allison said. Her daughter was only a little older than Robby. “She loves to walk, too.”

“Thanks, Allison,” Walter said. “Natalie, I’m thinking you need some cash now. Would you like to turn in a few bonds and then maybe meet with your dad’s financial advisor about what to do with the rest?”

Natalie could only nod.

Her money troubles were over for now, but she had new troubles and they were by no means over and may never be.

“Mommy, we go now?”

Natalie was more than ready to go now. And the park was the best destination. Home was too empty.

Twenty minutes later, feelings raw, she watched Robby at play. He had changed her whole life.

Amazingly so.

And all because she’d been home alone on a Friday night, studying for a math test.

She hadn’t even known Tisha was pregnant, let alone that she’d given birth. That Friday night, after her initial shock, she’d thought she was saying yes to helping out, watching a tiny, two-week-old Robby for a night. Truthfully, she’d loved sitting in her little apartment a mile away from New Mexico State University and watching the little guy sleep. She’d unfortunately figured out by the next evening that the phone number Tisha left was wrong, that formula and diapers were expensive and that nobody—including Tisha’s parents—knew where Tisha was.

She skipped the next two days of school and her dad had driven to Las Cruces. He’d stayed a week. With his help, she’d found a sitter for the remaining month of school, and by the time the semester ended, she’d realized what it felt like to be separated from Robby, like she could still feel the warmth of his little body in the crook of her left arm. It had taken her from the hallways of higher academia and back home to walking the hallways with a little personality who liked to touch her cheek and who smiled—yes, smiled—at the whole world.

Soon, her dad felt the same way, and they’d stopped looking for Tisha.

When the whole town assumed Natalie was Robby’s mama, Natalie and her dad had gone along. At the time, it was easier than explaining, and Natalie didn’t want Robby to ever see the kind of look that passed between judgmental adults whenever Tisha’s name was mentioned.

Natalie had been an only child and had always wanted brothers and sisters. Her cousin Tisha had been the closest thing to a sibling, and Natalie loved her—flaws and all—even if she didn’t always like Tisha or the choices she made.

Tisha at first claimed she didn’t know who Robby’s father was. A year later, when Tisha borrowed some money from Natalie, she’d mentioned Marcus.

She’d also mentioned Marcus’s dad and how strict he was, how he always got what he wanted.

Natalie swallowed. Here she sat on her nice, safe bench while Robby played. Maybe the park was the only safe place. At home, there was the newspaper article featuring Lucky. She’d have to deal with her mistake. Figure out the right thing to do. What was right for Robby.

Maybe Lucky would saddle up and ride away. Yeah, right. Truth was, if what Natalie knew about Lucky was true, soon he’d probably be out on the playground, climbing the jungle gym, and teaching Robby how to do something dangerous like jump.

That’s what her dad would have had done. It’s what he’d done for Natalie. After her mother died, he’d swallowed his sorrow and stepped right into the role of both parents. He cooked dinner, went on field trips and even sat through ballet lessons. Of course, she only took the lessons after he convinced her that the grace of a ballet dancer would benefit a barrel racer.

Her dad had always taken care of her.

He’d taught her to jump, and he’d made sure she always had a soft place to fall.

Natalie swallowed. Robby, brown hair tussled by the wind and an unguarded grin on his face—was jumping just fine. He climbed the slide, slid down, got to the bottom, stood up and jumped. Then, he tried to climb up the slide instead of the steps. He fell, skidded and hit the ground. Natalie started to get up, wanting to cushion his fall, but Robby didn’t need help. He managed on his own. Standing, climbing, falling and laughing the whole time. He was all boy.

Thanks to her father, she could take care of herself and Robby.

It was her own fault she had to deal with the Welches.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.