Reunited By A Secret Child

Chief Sanders looked older now, with gray at his temples, but he was still big, tall and capable. He tugged up his duty belt, laden with a gun, handcuffs and a Taser. It was obvious from his fierce demeanor that he knew how to handle himself with these reporters.

“Thanks for coming, Chief Sanders. I’ve asked them all to leave, but they’ve refused,” Charlie said.

“What’s the big deal? We just want an interview,” Bruce Miller called.

Sanders turned and looked at Reese. “Are you the cause of all this ruckus?”

Reese nodded. “Yes, sir, but I don’t mean any harm.”

As the policeman sized him up, recognition flashed in his eyes, followed by a glaze of distaste. Reese couldn’t blame him. No doubt the lawman remembered every rotten act he’d committed when he was a youth. Destroying property, tagging fences with spray paint, getting drunk with his friends. In retrospect, Reese didn’t know why he’d done such things. It was as if he’d wanted to get back at his father for all the pain he caused at home.

“Do you want to give them an interview?” Sanders asked.

Reese shook his head. “No, sir. I have nothing to say to any of them.”

A thought occurred to him and he suddenly knew how they’d found him. Over an hour earlier, Milly Carver had delivered extra towels to his room before he went to lunch. No doubt the maid had blabbed that he was here and news had spread like wildfire.

Sanders faced the crowd. “You heard him, folks. You’ll have to leave now. Most of you are from out of town. I suggest you get in your cars and keep on going.”

“I’d like another room here for the night,” Bruce said.

“Sorry, but since you checked out this morning, I have no rooms available for any of you,” Charlie said.

Reese hated to be the cause of the man losing business.

“If you take the main road into Carson City, I’m sure you’ll find accommodations there, or in Reno. Or you can stay at Rigbee’s Motel down the street,” Charlie said.

“Yeah, sure,” Bruce groused.

They all grumbled but slowly drifted away, leaving Reese in peace.

“Take him inside the office.” Charlie nudged Katie, but she didn’t move, seeming frozen in place.

“Come on. Follow me.”

Reese looked down and found Chrissy holding his hand. Locking her jaw and lifting her chin with determination, she led him into the relative safety of the reception room. There was something familiar about the way she tilted her head, but he couldn’t figure it out. Nor did he understand why this child and her mother were trying to protect him. He wasn’t used to being rescued.

Inside the office, Reese breathed a sigh of relief. He could still hear the reporters outside and Chief Sanders’s booming voice as he directed them to pack up their equipment. Maybe Reese should leave town, but he hadn’t gone to the cemetery to visit his mom yet. He wanted to stay at least long enough to pay his respects to her. So, what should he do? Where could he go?

“Thanks for that,” he said to Charlie and Katie. Highly conscious that Chrissy was still gripping his hand, he politely withdrew.

“They’ll just come back. What can we do?” Katie asked her father.

Charlie shrugged. “He’ll have to leave, of course.”

“But where will he go?” she said.

Reese chuckled. “You know, I’m right here. You don’t need to talk as though I’m not listening to your conversation.”

Katie licked her bottom lip. “I’m sorry, Reese. I’m just concerned, that’s all. I don’t want trouble.”

“Neither do I,” he said.

“What do you want to do, then?” she asked.

“You’re right. I can’t stay here, that’s for sure,” he stated.

“Don’t be sad,” Chrissy said. “Mommy says that things always have a way of working themselves out. We just need to have faith.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Reese gave a stiff smile.

He couldn’t believe that this little girl was trying to comfort him. He found the child endearing, but her clinging presence also made him uncomfortable. He didn’t know why she seemed to like him so much.

“What about Cove Mountain?” Charlie asked.

Katie glanced at her father, her eyebrows drawn together in a frown. “Are you sure?”

“Of course,” Charlie said. “It’s a great place to hide out. It’s rugged and isolated enough that most reporters would get lost trying to find it. Without four-wheel drive, their cars would bottom out on the washboard roads and they’d end up with a broken axel.”

“Cove Mountain? You mean your cabin up there?” Reese said.

He recalled that the Ashmores had a log cabin in the lovely mountains surrounding the town. Reese had been there a few times with his Boy Scout troop, before he’d become too wild to enjoy fishing and hiking. The times he’d been there had been idyllic. That was when he’d decided that he wanted to fight wildfires. About twenty miles outside town, the three-room cabin was tucked back in a forest surrounded by tall Douglas fir and pine trees.

“Yes, our cabin. You’ll go to Cove Mountain,” Charlie said with finality.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Reese asked, conscious of little Chrissy listening intently to every word.

“I am,” Charlie said. “If we’re careful, no one will discover you. Katie can take you in the back way. There’s no cell phone service, but Martha Murdoch lives near the cabin and she has a landline you can use in an emergency. She’ll notice smoke coming from the chimney, but she’ll think it’s us. Even if she finds out you’re staying there, she hates gossip and won’t bother you.”

“That sounds fine. I’ll pay you rent,” Reese said.

Charlie shook his head. “That’s not necessary. It’s too rustic for us to charge a fee.”

“Why are you helping me?” Reese asked. He could hardly believe this generosity. After all, he’d done nothing to deserve it.

“Because you’re a Minoa boy, and we take care of our own,” Charlie said.

Once again, Reese was touched by this family’s kindness toward him. He had no idea how he could ever make it up to them.

“Thank you,” he said.

Speaking those words felt good. Mainly because it’d been a very long time since he’d said them to anyone.

“You’re welcome.” Charlie reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a set of keys, which he handed to Reese. “Katie will drive you up there. It’s a pretty deserted road.”

“Come on, let’s get going,” Katie said, her frown still firmly in place.

“I want to go, too,” Chrissy said.

“Not this time, bug. I need you to stay here and help me watch the front desk.” Charlie reached down and tickled the girl’s ribs.

Chrissy giggled and swatted playfully at her grandpa’s hand. “You don’t need me, Papa. I want to go with Mommy and Reese.”

“Not this time, sweetie,” he insisted firmly.

Katie met her father’s gaze. A flash of doubt filled her eyes and she looked away with a slight huff. Reese couldn’t be sure, but he sensed that Charlie had purposefully set Katie up so that she could be alone with him during the ride to the cabin. Nah! Surely he imagined that. What possible reason would Charlie have for them to be alone?

Turning, Reese followed Katie out the back door, watching her closely. The years had been kind to her and he couldn’t get over how gorgeous she was.

“Let me grab my things,” he said.

She nodded and he peeked outside the office. No media in sight. Chief Sanders had done his job.

Reese took the opportunity to quickly race to his room, snatch up his duffel bag and return to the office. He laid his room key on the counter.

Charlie smiled. “See you later.”

“Yeah, later,” Reese said.

Katie led him out the door to the alleyway. She looked back and forth, to ensure no one was there to watch them slip inside the garage. As she climbed into the driver’s seat of her father’s old truck and started up the engine, Reese felt suddenly light of heart. He was glad to get away from the crush of media. For some insane reason, he felt safe with this woman and her family. But if the stern set of Katie’s shoulders and the deep frown curving her lips were any indication, Reese didn’t think she returned the sentiment. She disapproved of him, just as he disapproved of himself.

Chapter Three

“You sure pack light,” Katie said.

She shifted the truck into gear and eyed Reese’s duffel bag, which sat between them on the seat. Pulling out of the garage, she looked both ways, hoping to avoid being seen. She headed out on the old dirt road that would lead them to the outskirts of town and up toward Cove Mountain.

“I don’t need much.” Reese spoke in a subdued tone.

She took a deep inhalation and caught his spicy scent. The truck bounced against the rutted road. They drove in silence for some time, passing a green meadow of new grass and blue lupines. Tall willow trees swayed gently in the breeze.

“I’m surprised you stayed here in Minoa all these years. I thought you were planning to go to college,” Reese said.

“I was.” She couldn’t look at him. Sudden tears burned her eyes and she blinked fast to clear them away. A gloomy, lost sensation enveloped her. She thought she’d gotten over feeling sorry for herself. So why the unexpected emotion?

“You must have had Chrissy pretty young. Is she why you stayed?” he asked.

“Um, yeah,” Katie said.

The road climbed steadily in elevation, the terrain becoming rocky, the piñons and junipers giving way to tall evergreens.

“Why couldn’t you take her with you?”

When she didn’t answer, he looked at her. A flush of anger heated her skin. She didn’t owe this man any explanations. Not without blurting the entire story of how he’d left her pregnant at the tender age of seventeen, and she’d been completely dependent upon her parents for financial and emotional support. Barely out of high school. No job. No way to support herself and her unborn child.

She had to tell him. Her faith in God had sustained her through the long, lonely years, but she wasn’t feeling too generous toward Reese at the moment. She doubted this wound would ever heal.

“I noticed your mom’s not around anymore. Did something happen to her?” Reese asked in a kind tone.

A deep sadness swept over her. “Cancer. She died early last year.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. She was a nice lady.”

She glanced at Reese, his comment taking her off guard. She wasn’t used to this gentle side of him and wondered if he really meant it. His profile looked strong and handsome, yet forlorn in a remote sort of way. His beautiful green eyes no longer sparkled with a zest for life, but his words seemed genuine enough.

“I’ll bet she loved Chrissy,” he said.

Katie tightened her hands around the steering wheel. “Yes, she did.”

“She’s a nice kid. Really cute,” he said.

Tell him. Tell him now.

“She should be. She’s yours.” Katie blurted the words before she could take them back. She wondered if she’d regret it, but then she felt a modicum of peace.

Finally. Finally, she’d told him the truth and unloaded the burden from her heart. For good or bad, the secret was out now, and the prospects both relieved and terrified her.

He jerked his head toward her, his eyebrows drawn together in a quizzical frown. “What did you say?”

Katie’s heart pounded and she breathed fast through her mouth as she pulled up in front of the log cabin. Charlie had built it with his own hands before Katie was even born. It wasn’t large, just three rooms, but it was tidy and comfortable. A sparkling creek ran parallel to the property. The lake was three miles farther down the road. Her family had frequently spent weekends up here, fishing, hiking, sharing sweet memories. But lately, Chrissy kept mentioning that she wished her dad would go fishing with her.

Katie pulled into the graveled driveway and shut off the engine. Clenching her hands together in her lap, she stared straight ahead. “You heard me correctly. You are Chrissy’s father.”

“When? How?” he asked, his razor-sharp gaze narrowed on her face.

“You know when. You know how,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t accuse her of lying. She’d never been with anyone else. Since the night they’d graduated from high school, she’d gone out on a couple dates, but no one was interested in getting tied up with her excess baggage—an adorable little girl named Chrissy.

“How...how old is your daughter?” he asked.

Your daughter.

Funny how he refused to claim Chrissy as his own. That could be good or bad, depending on what happened next. A wave of fear washed over Katie. What if he tried to take Chrissy away from her? Or what if he wanted nothing to do with the child, just like he’d wanted nothing to do with her? She would never let Reese hurt Chrissy. Not if she could help it.

“She’s just over six years old. You do the math.” Katie tried desperately to speak in an even tone.

“What’s her birthday?” he asked.

“March 4. I delivered a week late, which is normal for a first-time mother,” she responded without hesitation.

She could almost see his mental calculations clicking away. They’d graduated from high school on June 6. According to Reese’s mother, he’d left town on June 7. Chrissy was born almost exactly nine months later.

“I’m her father?” He blinked, as though he couldn’t believe it.

“Yes. Your name is on her birth certificate.”

Katie could imagine how he was feeling. Shocked. Confused. The same way she’d felt when she’d found out she was pregnant out of wedlock. In a larger community, no one would care. But in sleepy Minoa, many people didn’t approve. She told herself that she didn’t care what Reese or anyone else thought. Her child was all that mattered. And yet Katie knew that wasn’t true. She’d cared deeply about Reese all those years ago. Her heart had wrenched when she’d thought about him being killed two weeks earlier, in the wildfire that had engulfed his hotshot crew. But that didn’t mean she still loved him. She was just concerned for his welfare, nothing more.

He paused for a few moments, as if he were thinking this through. “Why didn’t you tell me I had a daughter?”

She snorted and whirled on him. “How could I? By the time I found out I was pregnant, you were long gone. No one knew where you went. Not even your mom.”

He raked his fingers through his short, dark hair and blew out a harsh breath. “Did my folks know about Chrissy?”

“They knew I had her, but they never knew you were her father. I’ve never told anyone, except my mom and dad. But I saw your parents around town from time to time and they always doted on Chrissy. Even your father. He thought she was the cutest baby he’d ever seen, next to you.”

Reese jerked his head up. “He actually said that?”

Katie nodded.

He scoffed with disbelief. “I doubt my dad was sober enough to understand even if you had told him the truth.”

She agreed. The man was always drunk. And from the gossip she’d heard, he was a mean drunk. Living with such a man couldn’t have been easy on Reese or his mother. And yet the few times Hank Hartnett had seen Chrissy, when they were downtown in the grocery store, he’d smiled and played with the baby so sweetly. Obviously he had a good side, but maybe Reese had never seen that part of him.

“Your mom gave me a beautiful baby afghan she knitted when Chrissy was born. It’s made of soft yellow yarn. I’ve kept it safe so it wouldn’t get bedraggled. I thought Chrissy might like to have it when she’s old enough to understand who her other grandma was. I asked your mom where you had gone, but she said she didn’t know. I could see in her eyes that she was heartbroken that you’d left like that.”

He clenched his eyes shut, his mouth tight. Katie could tell that her words pained him, but he needed to hear the truth. He needed to understand what he’d left behind for all of them to cope with.

“I didn’t feel like there was anything for me here in Minoa.” His voice sounded soft and hoarse.

His words hurt so much. She’d been nothing more than a one-night stand. A fling. Certainly nothing lasting. And she’d been left to pick up the pieces without him.

“What about your mom?” Katie asked, wondering how he could just abandon the woman to his father’s drunken rages.

“I pleaded with her to go with me, but she refused. She wouldn’t leave my dad. About a year after I got settled on a fire crew, I called her a couple of times and told her where I was, but she just cried and asked me to come home. I knew that would never work, so I stopped calling.”

A long, swelling silence filled the air. His words caused a shudder to sweep down Katie’s spine. She’d asked his mother about him only a couple of times. After the first year, she’d stopped asking. She could only wonder how bad his home life must have been. But he hesitated, as if there was something else he wanted to say. Something important. But he must have changed his mind, because he shrugged it off.

“So, you named her Chrissy?” he asked.

Katie nodded, wiping her damp eyes. “Yes. Christine Joy.”

He jerked his head up. “Joy is her middle name?”

“Yes.”

A half smile curved his handsome lips. “That was my mother’s name.”

“That’s right. And Christine was my mom’s name.”

“You named our child after our two mothers.” It was a statement, not a question.

Our child.

The words left Katie trembling. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to share Chrissy with him. She’d been raising her daughter on her own for so long that she didn’t know if she wanted to include him in the mix. But now it was too late. Whether she liked it or not, she’d told Reese the truth.

“Yes. I thought it was fitting that she be named after her two grandmothers. Joy seemed appropriate, since Chrissy brought me so much happiness,” she said.

He made a small sound of approval. “Mom would have liked that.”

If the quick way he blinked his eyes was any indication, he liked it, too. And for some reason, that pleased Katie enormously.

“I just wish you had told me sooner,” he finally said, his gaze burning into hers until she felt as though he could see deep inside her tattered heart.

Katie swallowed hard. “Quite frankly, I didn’t plan to ever tell you. I figured you wouldn’t want anything to do with us. But this year Chrissy started asking questions about her daddy. Why all of her friends had a father, but she didn’t. Why her dad never visited or sent her birthday gifts. I thought perhaps I’d tell her the truth after she graduated from high school, when she was old enough to understand better. But then I saw you on the national news and I thought... I thought...” Her words trickled off on a sigh of frustration.

He finished the sentence for her. “You thought I might die and Chrissy wouldn’t get the chance to know her father, is that it?”

She nodded, unwilling to tell a lie. “You work in a very dangerous profession.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

She wondered again if this was a mistake. Her deep, abiding faith in God had brought her to speak the truth. One day, Chrissy would grow into a woman, and Katie didn’t want her to be tormented by the unknown. Always wondering who her father was and what he was like. Katie had read once that kids who lost a parent when they were young frequently deified that parent. Thought their life would be better if only their lost mom or dad were around. It was natural for a kid to wonder about a missing parent. But this situation still wasn’t easy for Katie.

“I almost can’t believe this news. It’s a bit much to take in,” Reese said. Anger and cynicism filled his expressive eyes. He locked his jaw, hard as granite.

It served him right. She tried to forget all the hurt and resentment she felt toward this man, but she couldn’t seem to let it go.

“You abandoned me. Remember?” She bit out the words, trying to contain her own anger.

“I never abandoned you,” he said with incredulity. “We were kids. We never made any promises to each other. I didn’t even know you were pregnant, Katie.”

True. And she was just as guilty over what had happened between them. She could have told him no. She could have walked away and protected herself. But she hadn’t. She’d loved him and given herself to him. Her most precious gift. She’d disappointed herself and her parents. But most of all, she’d disappointed the Lord. And now it was water under the bridge. She had to let it go and move on. But it hurt to know that Reese had never wanted her. Not then and not now.

“You deserted everyone in this town and you never looked back,” she said. “You took off without caring who you might hurt. I think you made the mistake of thinking that no one in this town cared about you, and that wasn’t true. You never came home to check on your mom. You didn’t even return for your parents’ funerals. And frankly, you have no right to be angry with me.”

He raked a hand through his hair, showing his frustration. “Wait a minute, Katie. My father never called or wrote to tell me my mom had died. By the time I found out, she was already gone. I called three weeks after her funeral. I only spoke to my dad for a few minutes. He was drunk, as usual. A few months later, I received a package and a letter from Grace Chantry, telling me that my father had died, too.”

Grace was a kind, elderly woman, one of the few people Katie had seen visiting Joy Hartnett, and likely Joy’s only real friend. Katie didn’t ask what was in the package Grace had sent to Reese. She told herself she didn’t care. After Chrissy was born, she’d stopped asking Joy if she knew where Reese was. She was too afraid that her interest might draw questions about Chrissy’s paternity. But right now, she was furious. She wanted him out of this truck. Wanted to dump him off at the cabin. To leave and never see him again.

The blood drained from his face and he sat very still. “You’re right, though. I hurt my mom. I know that now. And I can’t tell you how deeply I regret it. I wish I could have gotten my dad some help, but I was barely eighteen. I had no job or skills. No money. I didn’t know how to help him, or how to get him into a rehabilitation program. And I didn’t know that I’d hurt you, too. I never knew about Chrissy. That one night we had together, I...I thought it was just for fun. I had no idea we had created a child. I was young and thoughtless. I never considered the consequences of our actions, not even once. And all I can do now is ask for your forgiveness.”

Whoa! She wasn’t expecting this. Was his apology genuine? Katie narrowed her eyes, studying him, wondering if his look of contrition was real or fake. She didn’t believe him. Except for her father, she didn’t trust any man, especially Reese. She remembered the anxiety of finding herself pregnant, wondering what to do. Her panic had mingled with the joy of feeling her baby growing inside her, and then giving birth to Chrissy.

Alone.

Now something hardened inside Katie. Something cold and unforgiving. Reese had been the one to leave, not her. And she didn’t love him anymore. Which was probably for the best. If he had stayed, she would have told him that she was pregnant. For the sake of their child, he might have asked her to marry him. And Katie was so in love with him back in those days that she would have done it. But it never would have worked. She didn’t want to be trapped in a loveless marriage. Unwanted. A millstone around Reese’s neck. They would have probably ended up divorced. And what kind of life would that have been for them and their child? They would have all been miserable.

“It’s in the past now,” she said.

“Not for me,” he stated. “It’s like it barely happened. I just found out that I’m a father. That I have a six-year-old daughter. I’m afraid it’ll take a bit of time for me to adjust to the news.”

Katie almost groaned out loud. She didn’t want him to adjust to the idea, and yet she did. Right now, she didn’t know what the future held for any of them. She didn’t want trouble with this man, but now that seemed unavoidable.

* * *