Fortune's Secret Baby

by Christyne Butler

  “Did I mention Cooper left?”

  Jessica nodded. “Yeah, you did.”

  Kelsey dropped her hands. “I still can’t believe it.”

  “Are you sure he’s gone? I mean really gone?” Her sister moved to sit on the edge of the couch. “Maybe he just needed some time to take all this in, to deal with everything.”

  “You didn’t hear him, Jess.” Unable to stand still, Kelsey paced across the room, keeping her voice to a low whisper. “He was panicked and angry and scared. He blames himself for this, he blames me—”

  Jessica shot to her feet. “You?”

  “Maybe not me directly, but he said being with me, getting involved with me, distracted him.”

  “That’s crazy.” Her sister’s words were a hushed whisper. “It’s not like you’ve been dragging him out to nightclubs or fancy restaurants in the city. You’ve been helping him take care of his son.”

  The memories of the last few weeks rushed through Kelsey. The first time she saw Cooper in her barn, the first time she saw Anthony in his father’s arms. Her holding Anthony as he slept, being held in Cooper’s arms after making love, the moment—just a few hours ago—when she’d realized she’d fallen in love with both of them.

  The tears returned and she dropped her head, her gaze centered on her hands. “I told him to leave.”

  Jessica walked to stand in front of her. “What?”

  “When he said it would be better if he left, I told him if that was his decision, then he needed to go.” She lifted her face, brushing away the wetness from her cheeks. “I can’t go my whole life wondering when or if Cooper is going to take off. That’s not fair to me and certainly not fair to that sweet boy over there. Cooper has a great family and he has—had me, but I guess that wasn’t enough.”

  “Oh, sweetie.”

  “But now I’m wondering if I was wrong to say those things. If he left because—”

  “No, don’t even think that way,” Jess interrupted, pulling out her best “mama” voice and waving a finger in Kelsey’s face. “Cooper Fortune is a man who makes his own decisions, no matter how stupid they might be.”

  A smile came to Kelsey’s lips, but the dull ache shimmering inside of her soon erased it. She turned to look at Anthony. “What am I going to do, Jess? I know this little boy has a wonderful family, but he’s become so important to me.”

  “You’ll keep doing exactly what you’re doing now. You’ll be there for him in any way you can.”

  Kelsey’s heart throbbed as the love she felt for Anthony overflowed, but it couldn’t wash away the part of her that still belonged to one special man. “Okay, I can do that. Now what do I do about my broken heart?”

  The traffic light changed from green to red.

  It skipped over the cautionary yellow and Cooper slammed on the brakes and his truck lurched to a stop.

  “What the hell? How is that even possible?” His ragged voice echoed in the silence of his truck. He shook his head and scrubbed a hand across his eyes.

  Looking around, he realized he’d taken the wrong turn off the highway, thanks to the stinging tears that ignored his command to stop. He’d landed in a suburb right at the San Antonio city limits.

  His was the only vehicle at the four-way intersection. Hell, he was the only one on the entire road of one-and two-story homes with large, toy-strewn yards on either side of the tree-lined street.

  A warm breeze sifted through the open window of his truck as he took it all in. He clenched his fingers around the steering wheel, watching as a child-size swing attached to a low branch of a nearby oak tree swayed back and forth.

  An image formed in his mind of a family enjoying a sunny day, kids playing in the yard, a mother exiting the home to stand on the covered porch with a tray in her hands while a father pushed a toddler in that swing.

  The perfect family, living in a world that he’d believed was only possible in his dreams.

  The man turned to him and waved. Cooper lifted his hand to respond as confusion bled into bewilderment…that was his own face reflected back. The father was him.

  The child in the swing laughed with delight and the woman walked down the front steps, smiling at the group of children surrounding her, one boy—almost as tall as she was—reached for a drink off the tray, then turned. His sweet face belonged to Anthony…

  “Oh, God, what have I done?”

  The pain inside his head, inside his heart exploded and the image shattered into a thousand pieces. A wrenching cry tore from his mouth in an agonized breath that seared his lungs, as if it’d been held too long.

  The light flashed green and he swung his truck into the closest driveway, checked to make sure the road was still clear and whipped out again, heading back in the direction he’d come. The clock on the radio told him it was almost five.

  How long had he been gone? Was it too late?

  No, it couldn’t be.

  He didn’t have any idea how he’d found his way back to the hospital, but he parked and ran for the elevator, his lips moving in a silent prayer.

  Don’t let me be too late. Please…

  He exited back onto the sixth floor and headed for the waiting room. She had to be there. Kelsey had to be—

  Shock froze him in the doorway as he took in the number of people filling the space.

  His brother, Ross, stood near the window, speaking on his cell phone, his wife, Julie, is his arms. Frannie and Roberto occupied one of the couches while JR and Isabella sat together opposite them, their hands locked together over her emerging stomach, round with their first child. His cousins Nick and Darr Fortune—JR’s brothers, stood in a tight huddle of hushed conversation near the fish tank.

  “Cooper?” Ross called his name. Everyone turned to look at him. “Is everything okay?”

  “Ah, what—what are you all doing here?”

  With his cell phone still at his ear, Ross crossed to the room to stand in front of him. “Jeremy called me, I called JR and it just snowballed from there. We’re your family, Anthony’s family. Where else would we be?”

  Cooper didn’t know what to say. It had never occurred to him to contact anyone, but here they were, Fortunes standing strong to support him. The notion humbled him beyond belief.

  “Jeremy came by about fifteen minutes ago and told us that Anthony’s stable,” Ross continued. “He had an emergency with one of his patients and had to leave, but he said a great team of doctors is working on finding out what’s wrong with the baby. He was also looking for you.”

  Stable. Anthony was stable.

  Relief washed over him, but along with that feeling came more questions. Were the doctors finally able to figure out what had caused his son’s erratic breathing? Was Anthony hooked up to even more machines?

  “Cooper?”

  He jerked his head, realizing he’d missed something and found his brother waving a cell phone in front of his face.

  “I know you have to get back to Anthony,” Ross said, “but Flint’s on the line. He wants to know if you need him to come home?”

  Cooper grabbed the phone and put it to his ear. “Hey, bro…ah, everyone—well, not every Fortune, but there’s a crowd here so I don’t think—” He paused, swallowing hard at his brother’s words. “Yeah, I know for a while there you thought he might be yours…okay, uncle, if you can make it…yes, I want you here.”

  He pressed a button to end the call and handed Ross back his phone. “He’s at the Denver airport already. His flight leaves in less than an hour.”

  Ross grinned. “Sounds like Flint.”

  Looking around the room, Cooper acknowledged the rest of his family with a nod of his head, but what he was really doing was looking for one special person. “Has anyone seen Kelsey?”

  A murmur of negative responses and shaking of heads caused the crack in his heart to splinter completely, one half plummeting to his feet.

  She’d left? She’d dashed out of the waiting room after telling him to leave, but he n
ever dreamed she’d actually leave the hospital.

  He couldn’t believe it. Didn’t want to believe it. Of course, he hadn’t bothered to look for her when he ran, but he was back and dammit—he’d actually expected her to be here.

  And he had no one to blame for that but himself.

  He clenched his teeth until his jaw ached as the memory of what he’d said to her flowed through him. Kelsey was gone, but she couldn’t have gone far, even if she’d managed to get a ride back to Red Rock. He said a quick prayer that it wasn’t too late—that he hadn’t completely damaged any hope for the future, but right now his son’s health had to be his number-one priority.

  He took a step backward. “I need to go.”

  Ross nodded. “Of course, get back to your son. Just let us know once they’ve given him the all-clear.”

  “You all don’t have to stay—”

  “We’ll be here.” Ross, JR, Nick and Darr all spoke the same words, their voices a collective show of family unity.

  Cooper could only nod in response and headed down the hall. Stopping first to identify himself to the staff at the nursing station, he took a few minutes to wash his hands before hurrying to Anthony’s room. He paused to pull in a fortifying breath and reached for the door.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” A feminine hand pressed against his chest, stopping him in his tracks.

  Cooper looked down, shocked to see a pair of familiar brown eyes staring back at him. “To see my son.”

  Those eyes narrowed in anger. “And my sister.”

  A loud buzzing exploded in his head, a sound he hadn’t heard since his rodeo days at the end of a kick-ass, eight-second ride. The intensity of it nearly stole his ability to speak. “Kels…Kelsey’s here?”

  “Where else would she be?” Jessica stepped closer until there was barely an inch of air between them. “She loves that little boy, almost as much as she lov—”

  She cut off her own words. Cooper bit down hard on his inner cheek to stop himself from demanding she finish her sentence. The buzzing in his head morphed into a whisper, a promise for a different life. A better life than the one he’d been living until the moment he’d found out about his son.

  Until he’d met Kelsey.

  “What? No comeback?” Their eyes locked and Jessica dropped her hand. “You know, not everyone gets the opportunity to right a wrong they’ve done. The fact that you’re here when my sister thinks you’re halfway to Wyoming…I hope that means you finally get it.”

  He did.

  Kelsey’s sister didn’t have to explain what “it” was. He knew. Nothing was more important to Cooper than the two people on the other side of this door. He’d prayed the whole way back to the hospital that he wasn’t too late to convince Kelsey of that. It had never occurred to him he might have to convince her family, too, but if that’s what it took, that’s what he’d do.

  “I want a second chance,” he said, looking into Jessica’s eyes somehow knowing Kelsey had told her everything that had happened between them tonight. “I need a second chance.”

  She moved out of his way. “If you screw this up, if you ever make my sister cry again—”

  “I won’t. I promise.”

  He stepped inside and found the room dark except for the soft light directing his gaze to his son who was smiling and awake in the bed. Four quick strides had him by Anthony’s side, reaching for the tiny fist the baby waved at him.

  “Hey there, little guy.” His heart lurched when Anthony’s fingers wrapped around his index finger and held on tight.

  Looking over his son from his head to his feet, he noted the ease with which his chest rose and fell, even with the electrodes that hooked him up to a heart monitor and the IV that provided a steady drip of fluids.

  Cooper leaned over the bed, one hand caressing Anthony’s baby-fine hair. He curled his fingers around the baby’s hand, drawing it up gently to his lips for a kiss. He lowered his head and found his son looking at him with a solemn expression on his face. The love and trust he saw in those brown eyes caused Cooper to lock his shaky knees. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Snapping it closed again, he swallowed hard and then let the first thought in his head fall from his lips.

  “Please forgive me,” he rasped, “for walking away. I never should’ve left you…I never will again. You can count on that. I’m going to be here to love and take care of you. Forever.”

  Anthony responded by smiling and trying to roll toward him.

  “Hey there, none of that.” Cooper pressed gently to the baby’s shoulder. “You need to lie still, little guy.”

  “Easier said than done.” The soft words came from the far side of Anthony’s bed. “But that’s true for most things, I guess.”

  Cooper jerked upright at the sound of her voice.

  Kelsey.

  She stood less than two feet away, but with her arms folded tightly over her chest and the pain of what he’d done reflected in her eyes, she was further away from him than when they first met.

  “He’s been pretty lively for the last ten minutes or so since the nurse was in here putting in a new bag of fluid for the IV,” she continued, putting her focus on Anthony.

  The baby reacted to her voice, turning his head to look at her. She reached out to still his movements, but at the last moment, curled her fingers into a fist and pulled back.

  “Kels…”

  “The nurse wouldn’t tell me anything, of course, but she did say that the doctors would be here in a few moments to talk to you.” She looked at him again. “Looks like you got back just in time.”

  Cooper headed around the end of the bed. “Kels, please—”

  She sidestepped him, grabbing her purse from a nearby chair and heading for the door. “Well, I’ll be leaving since I’m not needed here anymore.”

  His hands itched to reach for her, to touch her, to stop her. Is that how she’d felt when he walked out? He had to do something, say something, to keep her here. “You’re wrong. I need you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cooper’s soft words tore at Kelsey’s heart. Deep down she knew they weren’t true. “Don’t worry about me having a ride. My sister’s here—”

  “I know. I just talked to her.”

  Kelsey stopped and turned to him. “You did? Where?”

  “Out in the hall.”

  She closed her eyes for a long moment, before opening them to look directly at him. “What did she say to you?”

  “Not much.” He walked slowly toward her.

  She knew she should back away, not let him get any closer, but the intensity in his dark eyes held her rooted to the spot.

  “But she did make it pretty clear that if I ever hurt you again like I did today, she’d skin me alive, cut my hide into tiny pieces and make sure no one could find the leftovers.”

  “She did not!” Kelsey gasped.

  “Damn straight I did,” came the muffled reply through the crack in the door.

  Kelsey spun around and yanked open the heavy wooden door. Her sister stumbled into the room, then righted herself quickly, a blameless gleam in her eyes.

  “Jessica! Are you crazy?”

  Her sister jabbed a finger in Cooper’s direction. “No crazier than this cowboy who can’t seem to figure out which direction he’s heading.”

  “I know exactly where I’m heading…now.”

  Cooper’s hands settled on Kelsey’s shoulders. She jumped at his heated touch, not realizing he’d moved in behind her.

  He gave her a gentle squeeze, then loosened his grip, but kept his hands firmly in place. “And if you’d give me a chance, Kelsey, I’ll keep that promise.”

  His words had Kelsey looking back at him over her shoulder. “What promise?”

  Jessica slipped back out of the room and Kelsey allowed Cooper to turn her to face him. He slowly trailed his hands down her arms from her shoulders to her wrists. His gentle stroke took her back to Sunday night at his cottage when he’d touc
hed her the same way, right before he gave her the option of walking away. Was he going to do the same thing now?

  Was he trying to let her down easy? Was that his promise?

  Like that was even possible.

  She couldn’t deal with it again. Especially while his impassioned speech to Anthony for forgiveness still rang in her ears. He loved his son, and she was grateful he’d realized that and returned to the hospital, but that had nothing to do with her.

  Cooper started to lace her fingers with his; the tingling sensation of his touch was too much to bear. She scooted away, not getting very far, however, when her backside bumped against the closed door.

  “Kelsey—”

  She held up her hand, as if to physically stop him from speaking. “I don’t know what you said to my sister—”

  “I told her what I’m trying to tell you,” Cooper spoke over her, a hint of exasperation in his tone. “I was wrong, Kelsey. Wrong about everything that happened back in that waiting room. I never should’ve walked out on Anthony…on you.”

  He paused, as if he expected her to reply. Her shock at his words had her opening her mouth, but her inability to speak had her snapping it closed again.

  “I said some stupid things to you, terrible things,” he continued, softer and filled with regret. “I panicked and almost threw away the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

  Almost?

  Joy gushed to life deep inside her, but she quickly snuffed it out. “You don’t mean that.”

  “Yes, I do. Thanks to the asinine way I acted, you have every right to think that—to say that—” He took a step toward her, then stopped, his hands dropping to his sides. “And this all must sound crazy compared to how I ranted at you before, but I had a…a moment…I can’t really explain it. I know now that finding out about Anthony, finding you, saved me from a life that was all wrong, a life I never even realized I didn’t want—until you and Anthony showed me what was possible, with a little healing and a lot of love.”