by Pamela Bauer
When she tried to get Luke to return to his own chair, he refused, keeping his head tucked close to her chest, his lower lip pushed out in a pout. He continued to stare at Joe. So did Emma and Alex, who watched him attempt to clean up his trousers.
“You look like you wet your pants,” Alex said with obvious amusement.
“Alex!” Frannie chastised him, mortified.
“You know what, Alex? I think you’re right,” Joe said as he continued to wipe at the milk. “What I need is one of those towels the football players have dangling from their waistbands. That would cover it, don’t you think?” he said with a wink.
“You could carry a jacket and then no one would see it,” Emma suggested. “If you want, I can let you use mine.”
Joe bestowed a grateful smile on her. “That’s all right, Emma. It’s not a big deal.” As if to prove his point, he got up and went over to the beverage counter to get Luke another glass of chocolate milk. This one he only filled halfway.
Frannie tried to get Luke off her lap and back into his own chair, but again he refused to budge. When Joe returned, he set the glass in front of Frannie.
“There you go, Luke. This one’s a little easier to handle.” Then he tousled the boy’s hair affectionately.
“Thank you, Joe,” Frannie said. Then she reached for the glass and held it up for Luke, who placed his fingers next to hers and took a long swallow.
“Now I know you’re not my dad,” Emma remarked, as Joe sat back down. “He always yelled at us if we got anything on his pants. Remember, Alex? He never wanted us to sit on his lap because he was worried we’d get dirt on him. Sometimes he even spanked us if he had on his good pants.”
Alex didn’t say a word, but continued to eat his pancakes, his eyes downcast. Joe, on the other hand, looked at Frannie, his eyes filled with empathy.
“Emma, finish eating,” she instructed, not wanting the topic of conversation to be her ex-husband. “We’re going to have to leave pretty soon so I won’t be late for my appointment.”
Alex finally lifted his head. “How long is it going to take?” It was evident he wasn’t enthusiastic about having to go with his mother.
“Not long,” Frannie answered. “Mr. Peterson said there’s a park right across the street from his house where you, Emma and Luke can play.” She avoided Joe’s eyes because she didn’t want him asking again if she wanted his help.
Not that she needed to worry about it. He said nothing about his plans for the rest of the day and appeared to be content to say goodbye to all of them as they left the cafeteria. She wondered if the chocolate milk fiasco had caused him to have a change of heart.
When she returned to her room she discovered she was wrong. She’d just walked in the door when he phoned.
“Hi. I know you’re getting ready to leave for your appointment, but I needed to call and tell you one more thing.”
Just hearing his voice was enough to make her feel short of breath. “And what’s that?” she asked, trying not to let him know the effect it had on her.
“That I would never hurt any of your children, Frannie.”
She had to swallow back the lump of emotion that threatened to block her throat. “I know that,” she said, because she believed it to be true. Her instincts told her that he was a good man and that she had nothing to fear from him.
“And I also want to tell you that I want to see you again.”
“That’s two things,” she told him, smiling to herself.
“I could add quite a few more, but I guess I’d better let you get to work. You just need to answer one question. Will I see you again?”
Frannie knew this was her opportunity to tell him she was worried about how fast everything was happening. She could easily put an end to their relationship before it went any further. If she said no, she’d never hear from him again. He was that kind of man.
Saying no would be the sensible thing to do. After all, he was a single man taking care of his father in Grand Marais, and she was a single mom taking care of three kids in Minneapolis. She knew better than to expect anything to develop between them.
“Frannie, are you still there?”
“Yes.”
“Will I see you again?”
“It’s not going to be easy. Grand Marais is a long way from Minneapolis.
“Let me worry about that, okay?”
“Okay. What about next week…after we get the lab results.”
“Great. We’ll celebrate.”
“Celebrate?”
“That I’m not Alex’s father. I’m not a deadbeat, Frannie.”
“I know.” And as she hung up the phone, she knew that what he said was true.
FRANNIE DECIDED not to mention her evening with Joe to her sister. She knew she would have to tell Lois when and if something developed. Right now, Frannie didn’t want to talk about feelings that were so new and unfamiliar. She should have realized, however, that her children regarded her life as an open book to be shared with the world.
“All right, out with it,” Lois commanded the following evening when she stopped by on her way home from work and plopped herself down next to Frannie on the back stoop.
“Out with what?” Frannie asked, keeping an eye on Luke who was making tunnels and roads in the sandbox.
“Alex told me about the wine.”
“The wine?” Frannie feigned ignorance.
“At the hotel in Duluth. You’re either becoming a lush or you had someone to help you drink it. Which was it?”
Frannie knew she’d been caught. “When did Alex tell you that?”
“That’s not important,” Lois said with a wave of her hand. “Two glasses, two dirty plates…sounds to me like you had a guest. Now, let me guess. You picked up a strange man in the bar?” She held up her hand before Frannie could deny anything and said, “No, wait! I bet you met a guy while you were swimming with the kids at the pool.”
“Since you already know the answer, why don’t you just come out and tell me what happened?” Frannie asked dryly.
“All right. What is going on with you and this Joe Smith?”
“Nothing is going on,” she replied. “We had some wine and we talked, that’s all.” She wondered if her nose grew with that statement.
“Alex said you had breakfast with him, too.”
Frannie sighed impatiently. “For Pete’s sake. We ran into him in the cafeteria. It wasn’t arranged.”
“So he stayed over in Duluth because you were there?” She could feel her sister scrutinizing every facial gesture she made.
“Will you stop? I feel as if I’m in the witness box.”
“I’m not interrogating you, I’m just curious, that’s all. You’re my little sister, and I wouldn’t be a good big sister if I didn’t look out for you.”
“You think I can’t take care of myself when it comes to men? Lois, I’m thirty years old.”
“Yes, and most of the teenagers I see are more worldly about men than you are.”
“Gee, thanks.” Again sarcasm was her only defense.
“It’s true. You’ve had one lousy boyfriend your entire life, and he turned out to be one lousy husband. You’re a babe in the woods when it comes to men.”
“Believe me, I learned everything I need to know about men when I divorced Dennis,” she assured her.
“That’s what has me concerned. Are you sure you’re not attracted to this Joe Smith because he looks like Dennis?”
“We’ve been through this before. Joe doesn’t look like Dennis. I mean he does, but he doesn’t.” Frannie realized how strange that must sound to her sister. “Haven’t you ever noticed how people’s appearances change once you get to know them? When you first see Joe you can’t help but notice he looks like Dennis, but then once you talk to him and discover what kind of guy he is, you realize he’s nothing at all like Dennis.”
Her sister didn’t look convinced, and Frannie added, “You’ll see what I’m talking about when you meet him
.”
Her sister’s brows lifted. “I’m going to get to meet him?”
“If things work out, yeah,” she said, although the thought of her sister meeting Joe did make her a bit nervous.
“Then, you’re definitely interested in this guy?”
She knew there was no point lying. “I like him. He’s different from most men.”
“Different how?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, he just is. Look, if you don’t mind, I’d really rather not talk about this. I mean, something could develop between us, then again maybe it won’t.”
“What about Alex’s feelings?”
“That’s what has me being cautious. Alex’s attitude makes it very awkward for all of us. I’ll be relieved to get the DNA test results so I can show him that he’s wrong about Joe being his father.”
“Please don’t get upset with me for asking this, but are you one hundred percent sure he’s not Dennis?”
Frannie chuckled. “Of course. You think I wouldn’t know if I were kissing my ex-husband?”
Lois gasped. “You said talked! Now you say you kissed?”
“Just shush. Here comes Emma.” Frannie was grateful that her daughter came bouncing into the backyard. She’d said far too much already. Sooner or later she’d tell Lois just how fast she’d fallen for the man. But not yet.
FRANNIE WAS WITH HER EDITOR going over the shots she’d taken in Duluth when one of her co-workers stuck her head inside the office and said, “There’s someone out front to see you.”
“Can you ask who it is?”
“I already did. Says his name is Joe Smith.”
Joe was here? Frannie was almost giddy at the thought.
What she was feeling must have shown on her face, for her boss said, “You want to finish this after lunch?”
“You don’t mind?” Frannie asked, then on feet that felt more like wings, went down to the lobby to find Joe.
He stood in the reception area, examining framed copies of the newspaper that hung on the wall, his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants. To Frannie, he had never looked more attractive, and her heart did a little flip-flop.
“Hi, Joe.”
He turned, and her heart rolled right over in her chest as he gave her the most tantalizing smile. It said, “I’m happy to see you,” and had her grinning right back at him.
“I couldn’t wait a week,” he said, looking at her as if she were the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. Apparently it didn’t matter to him that she wore an old pair of jeans and a faded tunic top. “I thought I’d take you to lunch—that is, if you’re free.”
“You drove all the way down here to take me to lunch?” If he wanted to sweep her off her feet, he’d accomplished his goal.
“Actually, I flew. There are advantages to having your own plane.”
She chuckled. “I guess there are.”
“So what do you say? Will you have lunch with me?”
“Yes, I’d love to,” she said, seeing no point in playing any games. She wanted to be with him and would have done whatever was necessary to arrange her schedule to fit his. She looked down at her clothes and said, “I’m not exactly dressed for anyplace fancy, though.”
“That’s good because I hadn’t planned on going to anyplace fancy,” he told her with another grin.
The place he had planned to take her was a park within walking distance of the newspaper’s headquarters, one with bike paths and hiking trails that followed a stretch of the Mississippi. It was a popular place during the lunch hour, as workers often escaped from their offices to walk along one of the paved paths or sit on one of the benches to soak up the summer sun.
Joe managed to find a quiet, secluded spot near the water’s edge, far away from the inline skaters and joggers. He spread a blue-and-green plaid blanket on the ground, where they ate sandwiches he’d bought at a deli and drank iced tea from cans. Even though Joe made no attempt to kiss her, it was the most romantic lunch Frannie had ever had.
Neither wanted their time together to end. As he walked her back to her office, he offered to check into a hotel and stay the night so that they could have dinner. Frannie was tempted to say yes, knowing that if he had a hotel room there was a good chance they’d share more than kisses.
She also knew that until the business with Alex had been settled, she couldn’t take that step. So once again they agreed to wait until after the test results came before making any more plans.
The rest of the afternoon she found it difficult to concentrate on work, wondering just when she’d see him again.
Normally time flew by, but the rest of the week seemed endless to Frannie, who eagerly picked up the mail hoping to find the test results. It didn’t help that every day Alex asked, “Has it come yet?” adding to her own anxiety.
Except for the daily enquiry, Alex had been unusually quiet. Frannie suspected that he was finally beginning to accept that Joe wasn’t his father. She regarded the entire situation as a no-win deal for her son. As much as he professed to hate his father, she’d seen the look of hope that came into his eyes whenever the mail carrier came down the street.
But the test results didn’t come by regular mail. Nor did they come within a week. They came on the eighth day, early in the morning by special delivery. Alex, who normally would have been home, had already left to spend the day at Valleyfair Amusement Park with his little league team.
Frannie knew before she opened the envelope what the contents would say. It didn’t take DNA to confirm what she already knew. Joe Smith was not Dennis Harper.
That’s why when she tore open the seal and read the notarized document inside, she gasped. According to the very official-looking legal report, the conclusion drawn by the DNA test was that Joe Smith was the biological father of Alex Harper.
FRANNIE’S MOUTH went dry, her heart raced in her chest. She stood staring at the paper, her hands trembling so much that the print on the document blurred. Joe Smith was Dennis Harper. It had to be a mistake, but then she read the letter that said paternity could be determined to a ninety-nine percent accuracy.
Feeling sick, she clutched her stomach. Images flashed in her mind. Being in his arms, kissing him, touching him, him touching her. Lies! All lies! How could she have been such a fool!
I feel as if we’ve known each other a long time. His words echoed in her head. They had known each other a long time! He was Dennis Harper, only instead of simply being a lousy husband and father, he was now pretending to be another man. He’d played yet another game with her and she’d been foolish enough to fall into the trap.
She shuddered at the thought of how she’d fantasized about making love with him. That certainly would have made his little game worthwhile. Disgust consumed her, distorting all rational thinking.
She grabbed her head with her hands, trying to think of what she should do. None of it made any sense.
She reached for the phone and dialed her sister’s office number. “Hi, it’s Frannie. Can I speak to Lois?”
“I’m sorry but she’s in court all day. I don’t expect her back until late this afternoon,” the receptionist told her. “Shall I have her call you?”
“Yes…er no, it’s all right. I’ll catch up with her later,” Frannie said, slamming down the receiver. In court all day. It could be hours before she spoke to her sister.
Frannie was beside herself. She needed to do something and to do it now. She couldn’t let the man get away with this!
Again she reached for the phone. This time she dialed her neighbor. “Lisa, it’s Frannie. Is there any chance the kids could stay with you today? I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t really important.”
“MISTAKE, IT HAS TO BE a mistake.” Frannie wasn’t sure how many times she repeated those words to herself as she drove to Grand Marais. Probably about the same number of times she told herself “DNA doesn’t lie.”
This trip to Grand Marais was nearly as torturous on her emotions as the last one had been.
While searching for Alex she’d been overwhelmed with worry, fearing for his safety, panicked by the unknown.
This time she was filled with anger. It was a powerful emotion. She could think of nothing but confronting Dennis face to face.
If she could find him.
Maybe he’d agreed they wouldn’t see each other again until after the test results came because he knew he’d be gone. Maybe he had already moved his father far away from the small Minnesota town. It wouldn’t surprise her. He never stayed in one place long.
The thought that she could be on a wild-goose chase caused her heart to pound in her throat. Was she making this trip for nothing?
At the next exit she stopped at a pay phone and dialed Joe Smith’s number. It rang and rang and rang. Her heart rate increased. Had he already made his escape? Was she behaving irrationally, coming all this way without considering the consequences?
Of course she was. When it came to Dennis, there had never been any rational behavior. Instead of thinking clearly, she acted quickly. It had always been that way. It was the reason she’d married him. It was the reason she was in her car and driving to Grand Marais instead of waiting for Lois to help her sort through the mess.
If she were rational, she’d turn back. Only, she couldn’t. She needed to know why he’d lied. What he thought he’d accomplish by pretending to be another man. How he could be so cruel to his own children. How he could break her heart.
As she pulled into the long drive leading to his home, she no longer mumbled to herself but talked out loud as if she had an audience. “If he’s not here, I go straight to the police,” she stated firmly.
But he was there—at least, both of his cars were. She parked behind them and climbed out. Up to the door she marched.
With her fist she pounded on the screen door. “I know you’re in there,” she called out, but there was no response. Boldly, she stepped inside. The kitchen, the living room and the breakfast nook were all vacant. A peek into each bedroom revealed nothing.
Then she saw them. The suitcases. They were next to the rear door. So he was getting ready to make his escape!
