Katie wanted to deny Monica’s wisdom.
She couldn’t.
Monica picked at her food. “So Maggie is the mother.”
“Looks that way.”
“And Dean is the father.”
“Looks that way.”
“Now what? You obviously haven’t told him.”
“How can I? What if I’m wrong about him…what if he does love Maggie and wants to try and work it out with her? I could lose them both.” Her stomach twisted with the thought.
“I don’t think Dean would do that to you.”
“One of the things I love about him is his loyalty. He adores Savannah. It’s like he feels a connection. Is that possible? That on some level he knows she’s his?”
Monica rolled her eyes. “Now you’re talking nonsense. If Dean loves kids the way you say he does, then he’s enamored with Savannah…nothing more than that.”
“This insecure feeling under my skin is itchy, Monica. I don’t like it.” She hated it.
“Is that insecurity or the guilt you feel from keeping the truth from Dean?”
“I don’t know. God, I hate this!”
Monica reached across the table and covered her hand. “I know you do. Just remember who this is really about. Savannah is the innocent one in all of this. You’d never be able to keep this from Dean forever.”
“I wouldn’t want to.”
“I know you wouldn’t. And no matter how much you might think he’ll react, you’ll never know until he does. The longer you keep this from him, the harder it’s going to be for the both of you. Trust is important in any relationship.”
Katie looked beyond the patio to cars passing along the street. Everyone going about their day without stress, without worry. “I love him, Monica. I don’t want to lose him again.”
Not again.
“Where’s Katie?” Jack’s voice screamed into Dean’s cell phone and made it over the noise of the cement truck that was pouring concrete into the foundation molds of the parking structure.
“What?” Dean plugged his other ear and ducked away from the noise to try and understand what Jack was yelling about.
“I…and…can’t find…” The reception kept cutting out.
“Hold up, Jack. I can’t hear you over the noise.” Dean hustled away from the heavy equipment and tried again. “OK, what’s this about Katelyn?”
“Where is she? I can’t find her anywhere. She’s not at the hotel. Not at Monica’s. I called the office and she’s not there. Damn it, Dean, I asked you to keep an eye on her.”
Oh, boy. He knew this was coming. “She’s fine.”
“I can’t find her. Our dad’s frantic. It’s never good when Gaylord gets his cowboy boots on too tight.”
“She’s fine, Jack. You’ll have to trust me on this. Did you try her cell phone?”
“She’s not answering. I need to talk to her. Do you know where she is?” Jack’s voice had lost some of his edge, but he still sounded off to Dean.
Dean felt the web of lies starting all over again. He did this before and he damn well wasn’t doing it again. “She’s probably at home.” Katie’s gonna kill me.
“Are you not listening to me? She’s not at the hotel. I called and they said she’s only been there once this week.”
Dean started to pace. “I didn’t say she was at the hotel. I said she’s at home. My home.”
“W-what? Your house?”
“Yeah, Jack. She moved in with me last week. We wanted to see how things worked out before we announced the move to anyone.” OK, that was a lie. They hadn’t told anyone to avoid any unexpected visitors. His bachelor pad had been converted into a romper room with all the baby stuff an infant needs.
“She’s living with you? Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, holy shit. I didn’t see that coming.”
“Not sure why not. I told you I was serious about her.”
“I’ll kick your ass if you eloped. Don’t tell me you—”
“We’re not married.” Dean laughed.
“Well, hell. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse. My dad’s not going to like it.”
“We weren’t asking his permission.”
“Which will piss him off.”
“Good thing he’s in Texas.” Dean laughed.
“Yeah, well, he’s gonna be there later tonight to pick her up. Fair warning.”
Dean stopped pacing. “What? Pick her up?” No, no, no, no…Gaylord sticking his nose in was a very bad idea.
“That’s why I’m looking for her, Dean. There’s been an accident.”
The worry about Gaylord finding out about Savannah quickly vanished with Jack’s words. “An accident, who? Is Jessie OK? Danny?”
“We’re all fine. It’s our mom. It doesn’t look good, Dean.”
Katie’s relationship with her mother was almost nil, but he knew she still cared about the woman. “Is your mom gonna make it? What happened?”
“Long story. And we don’t know. My dad and I are flying in at six tonight to pick Katie up and then we’re headed to South Florida.”
“Florida? I thought your mom was in Italy.”
“We all thought that. Listen, I’ve got to go. Tell Katie we’ll pick her up—”