He didn’t confirm or deny the statement.
“Roy, don’t. Please reconsider,” Corrie whispered with an urgency that gave him pause.
He clutched the car keys so tightly they dug into his hands. “That young man has a right to know about his baby.”
Corrie closed her eyes and he knew she was thinking back to the time she’d found herself pregnant and alone. The same memory had haunted him from the moment their daughter came to tell them she was pregnant and the father was out of her life.
“This is the first time Gloria has ever come to us with a problem,” Corrie argued. “It’s been a breakthrough in our relationship. If you say anything to Chad, it could destroy her trust. It could destroy everything. I’m begging you, Roy, don’t do this.”
Roy’s eyes bored into hers and he stood his ground. They so rarely disagreed that it made this standoff even more difficult. Still, Roy was determined. “The young man has a right to know,” he repeated.
Corrie gave him a sad smile. “What you’re saying is that you had a right to know and I didn’t tell you.”
“Yes!” he all but shouted. When he’d discovered he had a daughter he would never meet, it had nearly broken his spirit. He loved Corrie and had asked her to be his wife, and yet she’d kept this secret for months. The anger and anguish had nearly consumed him. What she’d done had the power to tear them apart. Roy hadn’t let that happen; instead, he’d buried his feelings. But he understood now that this unresolved matter could still undermine their marriage, their relationship.
“I’ve never begged you for anything,” his wife said. “Don’t do this. Please, Roy, don’t do this.”
Unsure now, he walked over to his recliner and sagged into it. His car keys dangled from his hand as he leaned forward, gripped by indecision. He believed that contacting Chad Timmons was the right thing to do for Gloria and her baby. Yet everything Corrie said was true. Their daughter, the very one he’d thought forever lost, was back in their lives. Corrie feared, as he did, that going against her will would destroy their fragile bond.
Corrie remained where she stood.
“I need to think,” he murmured.
“Okay,” she agreed after a prolonged moment.
He heard the reluctance in her voice.
“Think of Gloria—this is what she wants,” Corrie said. “Right or wrong, these are her wishes.”
Feeling the full weight of his years, Roy wiped a hand down his face. “Have you ever wondered what would’ve happened if I’d found out you were pregnant?” he asked.
Corrie didn’t answer him.
“You’ll never know because you made the decision not to tell me.” He tried hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
“You were seeing someone else.” Her words rang with painful accusation. “What did you expect me to do?”
“I expected you to tell me,” he barked. Corrie had taken the choice away from him. He’d been young and stupid, and even now he couldn’t be completely sure how he would’ve handled the situation. He liked to think he would have stepped up and been a man, but again that was something he’d never know.
“Let me give it more thought,” he said when he’d regained control of his emotions. What had happened had happened; they couldn’t go back and undo the past. Reviving these dead emotions could only hurt them.
Corrie sat down on the sofa and pressed her hands between her knees. When she spoke she lowered her head, her words barely audible. “I know what Gloria feels.”
“Tell me,” he urged, wanting to understand how she’d rationalized her silence all those years ago.
“She’s afraid.”
“Of what?” he challenged.
Corrie glanced up. “Rejection. Blame.”
“Blame?” Roy stared at her. “Why would I blame you? The responsibility for birth control should be shared.”
“It was more than that.”
“Explain it to me.”
“I…had an important decision to make and I wanted to make it myself, without pressure from you.”
Her reasoning irritated him. “Don’t you think that was rather selfish?”
“No.” Corrie would not back down. “I was young and immature,” she said. “I had all I could deal with already. I couldn’t handle you being in the center of the situation. Gloria feels the same way. Chad is out of her life. He, too, is involved with someone else. Gloria feels as I did—that she’d rather deal with this on her own.”
Hearing her so coldly cut out Chad, just as Corrie had eliminated him from the equation, made the decision easy for Roy. He came to his feet and stalked out of the house.
“Roy!” his wife called after him. “Don’t do this. Please…don’t do this,” she wailed.
Roy ignored her, climbed into his car and drove off. He couldn’t say he looked forward to meeting Chad Timmons. The task of informing the other man that he was about to become a father wouldn’t be pleasant.
He drove into Tacoma and parked at the hospital. His visit was brief. He left a message for Chad with the receptionist, asking the doctor to meet him at a tavern close to the hospital. Whether or not Chad decided to show up was his choice. If he didn’t arrive within half an hour of the end of his shift—which the receptionist had told him was 4:00 p.m.—Roy would take that to mean Chad wasn’t interested in talking to him. In that case, he wouldn’t pursue the issue. Corrie and Gloria would get their wish. But, by the same token, Roy would feel he’d done what he had to do.
He sat at a table in the darkened room and ordered a beer. He wasn’t much of a drinking man. Never had been, but there were occasions that seemed to call for it. This was one of them.
He’d drunk about half his beer when the door opened and Dr. Chad Timmons entered. They’d met briefly at the opening of the medical clinic, and Roy recognized him immediately. The younger man paused near the entrance and looked around.
Roy raised his chin just enough for Timmons to spot him.
Chad walked the length of the room and stood in front of him. “You wanted to speak to me?” he asked defensively.
Roy gestured toward the chair.
Chad ignored the silent invitation to join him. “What’s this about?”