The Baby Claim

by Catherine Mann

  She blinked back tears. “I can’t bear the thought of causing you hurt.”

  “Jeannie, love. Being with you makes me happy.” His words rang with certainty. “The thought of my life without you by my side is unbearable.”

  “And you are sure?” She had to ask again. Or maybe she just wanted to hear it, the truth that made her heart sing and gave her such joy and hope.

  “Absolutely.”

  “Okay then.” She blinked back the tears, nodding, peace rushing through her for the first time since she’d walked away from that pool. “We’re getting married.”

  “On schedule.” His tone left no room for misunderstanding.

  “Yes.” She laughed at her stubborn man, but then she was stubborn, too, just subtler about it. Luckily, they wanted the same thing. “On schedule. As soon as possible, I want to be your wife, wearing your ring and sharing our lives.”

  He sealed their promise with a kiss, one that mingled all the textures of their feelings for each other. Friendship. Passion. Constancy. And before she finished her thought, he eased his mouth away.

  He rested his forehead against hers. “Our children will come around and we will help them through the tough times life brings. Like now. We just need to be here to listen, support them, help if the opening arises. Jeannie, they will come around,” he repeated.

  “I think so, too.”

  And in that beautiful truth, she realized that even though they hadn’t borne children together, they would celebrate and enjoy grandchildren together. In fact, they’d already welcomed their first. A precious, innocent life that had helped bring them all together.

  Their beautiful future stretched out before her, a future full of family and love.

  * * *

  Fleur wasn’t his daughter.

  Glenna was walking away again.

  Considering flying back to the cabin to lick his wounds, Broderick leaned on the dock railing at the Steele family compound, his coat zipped up tight and his Stetson holding firm in spite of the wind whipping off the water. Chunky bits of ice floated in the private bay, leaving spiky shards in their wake, much like the emotions inside him.

  Once the doctor had called Glenna, making it clear she was the one with legal rights to Fleur, Broderick hadn’t been able to stand around idle with his world crashing down on him. He’d pushed back the roaring denial and passed the baby over to Shana.

  Then he’d made a hasty as hell retreat out of there.

  He should be relieved to resume his old life before things had gone haywire. Before his reunion with Glenna. Before a certain infant had wriggled her way into his heart. But he wasn’t relieved. Somewhere along the way, he’d grown to enjoy—deeply—that pattern at the cabin.

  What he’d found with Glenna and Fleur had become about more than settling family drama. He wanted Glenna and Fleur in his life. Because damn it all, he couldn’t deny the truth. They were firmly lodged in his heart.

  And he didn’t have a clue what to do next. Because he’d heard the pain and betrayal in Glenna’s voice when she’d said, “Gage is Fleur’s father.”

  He’d seen just as clearly in her eyes that she was crushed over this new infidelity from her now deceased husband, even though she loved the baby. There was no way Glenna would have faith in a man after the way that bastard had abused her trust.

  So Broderick had left, giving her the space she would need to process her grief, with the support of her sister-in-law.

  He gripped the dock railing until splinters pushed through his gloves. Normally, a dose of the outside world was a remedy for him. But as the cold wind pushed against his face, he felt an answering coldness rise deep within his chest.

  A sharp inhalation burst through his lungs. Breath had become hard. He’d hated the look of utter betrayal on Glenna’s normally composed face. He couldn’t protect her from the truth any more than he could make Fleur his biological daughter.

  He tried to stabilize his world. Another gust of wind pushed on his chest, threatening to take his Stetson on a journey toward the bobbing seaplane in the nearby bay. Hands flying fast to his head, he pushed the hat back down. Took another breath and then let it go toward the tall, sturdy mountains in the distance.

  Everything had changed in the span of one sentence. His shoulders sagged under the weight of it all. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. He knew without turning.

  Glenna.

  Somehow, she’d already come to him, only a couple hours after he’d left the doctor’s office. Her hand slid away and she stepped beside him, leaning on the railing. Her purple parka was zipped up tight, the hood on her head. Hints of hair blew from the side.

  His throat raw from the wind and emotion, he asked, “Where’s Fleur?”

  She gestured toward the mansion on the hilltop. “Your family is watching her, and Kota, too.”

  “Good, that’s good.” He nodded tightly. “Why are you here?”

  “I wanted to check on you. You left so quickly we didn’t have a chance to speak.”

  “What more is there to say? You can’t tell me you aren’t in full retreat mode. So why are you here?”

  Was it his imagination or did she flinch, her eyes dimming.

  “It’s...difficult. I’m reeling. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”

  Care? A wimpy damn word. Of course, he hadn’t offered her much better. “I’m relieved to know her father isn’t a stranger. That’s good news for Fleur’s security.”

  Glenna rested a gloved hand over his. “Broderick, I’m sorry you’re hurting over Fleur not being yours.”

  “How do you know I’m not relieved?” he asked with a tight bravado he was far from feeling.

  “Because...” She angled sideways, her cheeks and the tip of her nose pink from the cold air. “I could see it in your face, then and now. You’re attached to her.”

  The baby wasn’t the only one who’d become important to him. Seeing Glenna now, remembering what they’d shared, hurt like hell. Because he knew it was over.

  “Who wouldn’t?” he admitted, thinking back to the way the baby giggled. To all the innocence and trust in her alert eyes. “You’re an incredibly capable woman. I believe you have this covered. You can handle parenthood without me.” Though his words were dull and hollow, he attempted to smile at her encouragingly.

  One of her eyebrows shot to the sky. Then he saw her features school themselves into boardroom neutrality.

  Her chin trembled, before it tipped with strength. “I’m overwhelmed at the reality of being her mother. I can’t deny that. And I have to admit that I’m tempted to ask for all the help I can get.”

  She was actually still considering coparenting with him? “But you don’t trust me. Your husband hurt you. He betrayed you again. It doesn’t matter what I feel. If you can’t trust me, then there’s no way a relationship between us will work.”

  Her forehead furrowed. “Don’t put this all on me. You’re the one who had the practical, no-emotions proposition. And now that I’ve accepted, you’re ready to run. Or fly away. I can see it.” She gestured to the plane.

  “You’re suddenly a mind reader?” Well, she was in a way, but realizing she read him so well only made him even more frustrated.

  “Broderick, I don’t know what you want from me.” Her voice sounded weary, defeated.

  As much as he wanted to take her up on the offer of seeing what they could be to each other, to help in a future with Fleur, he realized now that if he couldn’t have it all with Glenna, it wouldn’t be enough. He didn’t want just an affair or a partnership for the baby, or for her to move in with him. He wanted her love.

  But she loved a man who’d betrayed her, who’d damaged her heart quite possibly beyond repair. Broderick knew what it was like to live with the pain of loss and how it could damn near cripple a person’s emotions.

&n
bsp; They’d both suffered enough.

  “Glenna, we’re just torturing each other, dragging things out. This conversation is leading nowhere good.”

  The world pushed too hard on Broderick today. Fulfilling Glenna’s prophecy, he practically ran to the plane. Slamming the door behind him, he took to the skies. Didn’t care where he was headed.

  So long as it wasn’t here.

  * * *

  Glenna’s thinly constructed scaffolding of emotional coping mechanisms began to give way as she watched the seaplane fade from view.

  Broderick had left her.

  Left her.

  The realization tore at her already frayed nerves, slowed her heartbeat. How could he leave her without a real explanation?

  Already, today had been too much. Her world had tilted when the receptionist called her name. The truth of her late husband’s infidelities had crashed into her.

  Somehow, she’d foolishly held out a sliver of hope that when she walked out on the dock to talk to Broderick, things would be okay. She’d make peace with him, at least for the moment. Doing that had been hard as hell on the heels of realizing Gage’s betrayal, but she’d tried. And Broderick had literally run away from her. God, it hurt.

  Too much.

  Her heart ached, and she felt the melancholy in her bones.

  “Come fishing with me,” a rusty masculine voice demanded.

  Jack Steele?

  She turned to find that, sure enough, Broderick’s father stood a few steps away. She hadn’t even heard him walk across the planks of the dock.

  His request more than stunned her. She spun on her heel. Jack stood in a heavy flannel shirt with two fishing poles. She blinked, taking him in, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over. “Excuse me, sir? You want me to do what?”

  “Girls can go fishing, too. My daughters learned early and I expect you to bait your own hook.” He extended a sleek blue fishing rod in her direction.

  “I’m not arguing. I’m just surprised that this is how you would choose to, um, bond.” She chewed the inside of her lip and cast a nervous glance toward where the seaplane had been only a few minutes ago.

  “That goes to show you don’t know me or my family. I hope we can change that, for your sake and for my son’s.” He thrust the fishing pole at her along with a tackle box. “Let’s walk farther down the shore, where my son hasn’t scared away all the good fish with his takeoff. Give a little here, okay? Let’s get to know each other.”

  Their boots clinked in time as they walked side by side on the dock. The midday sun sparkled along the cresting ripples of the water.

  She laughed drily, attempting to go with the flow in this bizarre outing. “With all due respect, sir, it’s not like we have a choice. You’re marrying my mother, so we’re going to see each other.”

  They made their way off the main dock, turning a corner. Their boots crunched on stray snow as they made their way out onto a fishing platform.

  Glenna grabbed the bait bucket, then stuck her hand in the chilled water, searching for the right fish. Satisfied with the one she came up with, she backhooked and cast her rod. They both heard the sound of the reel releasing the line far out into the bay.

  Jack whistled softly. “Color me surprised. You’re really good at that.”

  “My father taught me. In the early days of the business, all the extra cash went back into the company. We fished and hunted to save money on groceries. We ate well. Didn’t Mom tell you?” Glenna spun the reel, comforted by the clicking sound.

  “Hmm, not in so many words,” he said. “Looks like we’ll all be eating well. You’ll be stocking the freezer.” He cast his own line.

  “This is better fresh. These days when I fish, we split it up among the staff.”

  Scanning the horizon, he said, “That’s thoughtful.”

  “Our family is so large now, I may need to stay out here longer.” Her breath caught for an instant over the word family connected to the Steeles and Mikkelsons. Her gaze drifted off to the empty horizon where Broderick had flown away. “Our family. I’m still getting used to the sound of that.”

  “Both of our families have been through a lot of pain, a lot of loss.” Jack’s dark eyes searched her face.

  Glenna swallowed a lump in her throat. All she could do was nod.

  His rod bent, went taut, then slack. Something had nibbled and gotten away. “I just have one more question.”

  “What would that be?” Glenna asked, reeling her line in. She sent it back out, and it landed with a resounding plop. Minor in comparison to the splash of a whale tail in the distance.

  Broderick was out there somewhere on the horizon, hurting, aching from another loss. She couldn’t help but worry about him and what he was feeling.

  And she couldn’t deny she still wanted him. She wanted to comfort him. Wasn’t that why she’d come out on the dock in the first place, instead of rushing back to her own family home?

  Heaven help her, she didn’t want to let Broderick go.

  Jack angled his head her way, mustache curving with his smile. “Why do you keep calling me sir?”

  His question surprised her. “I’m, uh, just trying to keep from calling you Mr. Steele or, um, boss man?”

  “At least you’re not calling me that hard-nosed something or other, or worse.” He pulled his line back in. Then gave another cast.

  They laughed. The family feud seemed so distant, for this moment at least. “I’m just not sure what to call you.”

  “I prefer Jack, but that’s up to you.” His rod bowed deeply, and he fought with the line for a moment. Soon, he’d reeled in a fat, wriggling trout. “But we’ll all have time, because there’s no dodging each other. We are family. And family is everything.”

  Broderick was her family.

  That fact truly dawned on her, causing her to reevaluate the last few hours. He was family in the most important way. He’d never turned his back on her. She’d been the one pushing him away, even as far back as college. In spite of the pain of his losses, he’d still been willing to risk it all to commit to her.

  He was a man of honor. A man of deep feelings. She knew that in her heart. Her mind had just been too stubborn to listen.

  But not any longer. She turned to Jack. “Is there anyone here with a pilot’s license who can fly me to Broderick?”

  * * *

  The cabin had been colonized with so much meaning over the last week.

  Sure, he had memories of the cabin from childhood. However, the memories that attacked him now were of Glenna and baby Fleur.

  He sat on the deck, trying to shove the past week out of his mind. But the hot tub undid any and all progress he’d made.

  He looked skyward at the sound of an airplane engine, realizing what approached wasn’t a seaplane, but a twin propeller plane with wheels.

  The plane touched down beautifully on the lawn, settling in a surprisingly small area. Which meant it could be piloted only by his brother Marshall. He was one hell of an aviator, though these days Delaney was giving him a run for his money.

  Marshall hopped out of the plane, with no hat, his curly hair in serious need of a cut as the wind tore at him. Family support. That had been something Broderick could always count on. He drew in a breath, ready to shout. Then he saw strawberry-blond hair and a slender frame. His breath caught as Glenna darted down the steps of the plane, clutching a simple overnight bag.

  A feeling like hope kicked around in his gut. No. More than that.

  A rush of love so strong it threatened to take him down faster than an Arctic wave.

  Marshall stopped at the bottom of the deck and cupped his hands around his mouth to shout, “Brother, are you good with me leaving?”

  Looking down the steps at Glenna, Broderick saw the hope glimmering in her blue eyes. He should never h
ave walked away from her. Should have stayed and worked things out back on the Steele family dock. But maybe he was getting a second chance. A way to put the past behind them.

  He shifted his attention back to his brother and nodded. “We’re good, Marshall. Thank you.”

  Broderick walked down the steps as Glenna walked up. He reached for her overnight bag and resisted the urge to touch her. To haul her into his arms and hold her until they both froze to the spot.

  They needed to talk. He wouldn’t rush her. She was here, for him. Right now, that was everything.

  Walking toward the cabin steps, he asked, “Where’s Fleur? And Kota?”

  “We have a family full of very qualified babysitters and puppy sitters who lined up to help.”

  “Fair enough.” They walked into the house. A fire crackled in the hearth, casting an orange glow into the room. She shimmied out of her thick coat. Damn. Glenna was elegant even in dark wash jeans and a tan cashmere sweater. It didn’t matter what she wore. She always took his breath away. He couldn’t imagine ever seeing her and not wanting her.

  Gesturing to the leather sofa, he asked the question searing his brain. “What are you doing here?”

  She eyed him warily, half reaching for him, then pulling her hand back. “I came for you. For us. If you still want to talk.” She sat on the sofa, cross-legged. “Really talk. You ran off before we even had a chance to let the news about Fleur settle in.” She looked at her hands. “Before I had a chance to process what Gage had done.”

  God, that had to have hurt her. Broderick took her hand in his. “I’m sorry. Genuinely sorry. I know you loved him.”

  Her eyes met his, no tears. Just full of regret. “I’m finally learning to accept the marriage for what it was. Flawed, and likely destined to fail.” Her mouth half tipped in a bittersweet smile. “You may have noticed, I don’t deal well with failure.”

  Dealing with failure? That’s something he understood well. Yet, he’d never shared the greatest failure of his life, and it wasn’t a story that would come out easily.