A Baby by Christmas. Linda Warren

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СКАЧАТЬ did, she would’ve tried to be supportive about the possibility of his having a son. Instead she was blaming him for an indiscretion he wasn’t even aware he’d committed. A son? He could have a son. The realization threatened to overwhelm him, but he couldn’t dwell on it or the what-ifs. First, he had to have the truth.

      He heard a noise and saw Wags, his dog, coming through the doggy door. Wags rested his head on Jake’s thigh and Jake rubbed his ears. Wags was a medium-size, yellowish-brown Labrador retriever mix. Mike, his foreman, had gotten him as a puppy and given him to Jake. Wags wagged his tail constantly, as he was doing now, hence his name.

      “Where you been, boy?” Jake asked, continuing to stroke him. “Out chasing rabbits?”

      Wags growled.

      “What are you gonna do if you ever catch one?” Jake laughed.

      Wags barked.

      He got up and opened a can of dog food and spooned it into his dish. Wags gobbled up the food, his tail working overtime. “Life is pretty simple for you, isn’t it, boy? No responsibility, no worries, or guilty conscience. Just basic primal needs.”

      Jake returned to the table; Wags followed and curled up beside his chair. His thoughts turned to Sherry. She’d been friendly, helpful and outgoing, and he was attracted to her energetic personality. His room at the hotel had a water leak in the bathroom and she’d quickly arranged a move to a suite, even though the hotel was crowded. To make up for his inconvenience, she offered to buy his dinner. He assumed she’d meant the hotel would pay for his dinner, but when he went down, she was sitting at his table. He didn’t mind. She was pretty and good company. Being away from home, he found it pleasant to have someone to talk to.

      When they returned to his room, she began to rip off his clothes and he knew she wasn’t the woman he’d thought she was. But he didn’t do much resisting. Later in the week, he found her in the bathroom doing cocaine. He didn’t want anything else to do with her and told her so. She called him a few names and that was the last he’d seen of her. Could she have already been pregnant? They’d used a condom and she’d said she was on the pill, so there was no way she could have gotten pregnant. No way. The little boy had brown eyes and hair and Jake’s name was on his birth certificate. Those facts kept torturing him.

      He sighed tiredly. No, he wouldn’t do this to himself. Tomorrow he’d take the blood test and wait. The results would determine the rest of his life—a life with or without Elise.

      CHAPTER TWO

      THE NEXT MORNING JAKE WOKE up to the smell of bacon frying and knew he was home. Wags was asleep on his mat in Jake’s room. When Jake rolled out of bed, Wags trotted into the kitchen, enticed by the smell of food. Jake hurriedly dressed, trying not to think about Elise and how it felt to wake up with his arms around her.

      Aunt Lavina stood at the stove—a short, thin woman with permed gray hair and blue eyes. She was his father’s sister and Jake had always called her Aunt Vin; everyone did. She’d never married or had children and when Althea left, she came to help raise Jake and she’d been at the farm ever since. She’d worked as a secretary for years, but now she was retired.

      “Morning, Aunt Vin.” Jake kissed her cheek.

      She raised an eyebrow at him. “The honeymoon over?”

      He was well aware she was referring to the fact that he’d slept in his own bed last night and he avoided the question.

      “Mmm, that smells good.”

      Aunt Vin gave Wags a piece of bacon, then set a plate of eggs, bacon and homemade biscuits in front of Jake. “I knew this was going to happen. Any woman who isn’t interested enough to even come here and see the beautiful work you’ve done to this house is not good enough for you. I’m glad you’ve finally realized that. The only interest you had in her was making the bedsprings sag.”

      Sex had been a big part of their relationship. Hell, it was the only relationship they had. They hadn’t built any type of foundation to sustain the news they’d received yesterday.

      Ignoring her words, Jake bit into a biscuit. At Elise’s, they usually had muffins and fruit in the mornings, and now the big breakfast seemed too much.

      “I’ve got bingo tonight, so you’ll have to fix your own supper. I’m not missing bingo.” She put the frying pan in the sink. “Some woman’s been calling. Did she get you?”

      Jake put down his fork. “Yeah, I talked to her.”

      “I just hope Mattie isn’t there tonight. She always manages to win. I believe she’s cheating and I wish I could catch her.”

      Aunt Vin was on another channel as usual—at times it was hard to keep up with her.

      “So what did the woman want?” she asked abruptly.

      Jake wondered how much to tell her, but then made the decision. Aunt Vin was like a mother to him and he had to share this with someone. He told her about Ms. Woods and Ben. Aunt Vin just stared at him.

      “A son? You could have a son?”

      “Yes. I have to take a DNA test and then we’ll know.”

      She clapped her hands. “Oh my, there hasn’t been a child in this house for years.” She looked down at Wags, who was begging for more bacon. “Isn’t that great, Wags?”

      Wags growled.

      “Aunt Vin, you’re not listening to me. I said might. I have to take a test, so don’t start planning anything.”

      “Okay, okay, don’t get riled up,” she said, giving Wags another piece of bacon.

      “I just want you to be aware of what’s going on.”

      Aunt Vin smiled. “Oh, now I see. That’s why the fancy lady kicked you out. She’s not happy with this development.”

      “Please don’t call her that,” Jake said, hating that Aunt Vin didn’t like Elise. But Elise hadn’t made any effort to get to know her, either. Still, Jake found himself defending his wife. “And no, she’s not happy. No woman would be.”

      “Well, well, well,” Aunt Vin murmured, pouring him more coffee. “This should be interesting, but you can count on me. I raised you and I can raise another boy.”

      Jake stood and hugged her. “I know, and thanks, but like I said, please don’t start making plans. We have to wait before we do anything. Now I have to find Mike and then go to the lab.”

      “Will you be sleeping here tonight?”

      He turned at the door. “I’m not sure.”

      “You’ll be sleeping here,” she muttered under her breath as he walked out the door, Wags right behind him.

      Wags missed him at nights, but there was no way he could take a dog to Elise’s. Elise didn’t even know he had a dog. So whenever he was at home Wags followed him everywhere he went.

      JAKE TALKED TO HIS FOREMAN, Mike, to go over which cotton fields were scheduled to be harvested today. It was late September, one of the busiest times of the year, and СКАЧАТЬ