The Soldier's Surprise Family. Jolene Navarro

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СКАЧАТЬ hand on his upper arm. “I take it you didn’t know about the boy. No one likes being blindsided.” The sheriff patted Garrett’s tense shoulder. “Come on—we’ll get this worked out.”

      A son, no way. There had to be a mistake. Viviana, for all her faults, would have told him about a child. It had to be Ed’s, her boyfriend she kept going back to. How could they know for sure that the boy was his? He was going to be sick. Deep breaths.

      He followed Torres up the steps, not seeing anything but the folders on the low table between the chairs.

      Anjelica pushed open the screen door. The hinges needed to be oiled. She sat a tray on the small table. “I have sugar and cream. Does anyone need something else, like water?”

      Sharon smiled. “This is perfect, thank you.” She poured cream into her cup.

      Garrett stared at the swirls of the white getting lost in the black liquid.

      “Garrett?” Anjelica’s voice brought him back to the present. The warmth and smile were gone. Now he got the same glare the chicken-chasing dog earned. He was a dog.

      He shook his head. If he tried to drink or eat anything, it wouldn’t stay down.

      At the end of the porch, across from Sharon, Sheriff Torres sat on the swing and took a drink from his cup. “Sure you don’t want coffee? Maybe some water?”

      “I’ll get you some water.” Anjelica disappeared into the house.

      Sharon took a sip before she looked at him, a soft smile on her face. “So you were married to Viviana Barrera?”

      Breathe, Garrett. You have to breathe. He nodded. His throat too dry to make a coherent sound.

      “Her son’s name is Garrett River Kincaid Jr. You’re listed as the father on his birth certificate. Family members also say you’re the father.”

      “Are you sure?” What kind of man didn’t know he had a kid? Even his loser of a father stuck around for the first few years. “I didn’t know.” His jaw hurt, but he made sure to keep his face calm. A clear mind and facts, that was what he needed to sort this out.

      “This is an emergency situation. You can challenge with a DNA test if you want to, but the state uses the name on the birth certificate and acknowledges you as the legal father.”

      Garrett looked at the curve of the rocker resting on the worn boards of the porch. What had Viviana done now? He cleared his throat, the need to explain, to make them understand, burning his gut.

      He heard the creak of the screen door again and looked up. Anjelica handed him a water bottle. Fighting the urge to press the cold bottle against his neck, he rolled it between his palms. His landlady vanished inside the house again. “Why are you the one telling me this? Are they in trouble?” If CPS was involved, something had to be wrong.

      Sheriff Torres leaned his elbows on his knees and Sharon took a deep breath. He wanted to yell at them to stop messing with him, but he sat and waited. He pressed his right thumb into the center of his left palm. He could hear the chickens in the yard and music playing somewhere in the house. None of it seemed real.

      “There’s a history of domestic violence with her current boyfriend.”

      Viviana’s life was a history of domestic violence, from the time she was born. The need to save her had eaten him for years.

      “Yesterday a neighbor called to report shouting and gunshots. Two bodies were found. It looks as if he shot her, then turned the gun on himself. It’s under investigation. The officers found the boy, Garrett, his baby sister and a dog hiding in the backyard.”

      All the blood left his body. If Sharon kept talking, he didn’t hear it. Viviana was dead. Grief and regret swamped him. She was dead and she had left children behind. Not just the one boy named Garrett Kincaid, but a daughter, too. Oh, Viviana.

      He ran his hands through his hair. “More than one?” He didn’t understand. “How many children did she have? Are they Ed’s?” This couldn’t be real. “I can’t imagine he allowed her to put my name as the father. This isn’t making sense.”

      The caseworker’s brow drew closer and she gave him a questioning look. “Ed? I don’t know who that is. The current boyfriend was James Barrow. He is the father of the little girl. She’s ten months old. He was an auto mechanic and had a job in Kerrville until about a month ago. His family lives in Houston.”

      He rubbed his face. “She moved on to someone worse?” Trying to figure out Viviana’s love life wasn’t important right now. Her children were now orphaned. What a mess, a living nightmare.

      He took in one long breath, counting to seven. “Tell me what you know.” He looked Sharon in the face. If what she said was correct, the boy wasn’t an orphan. Garrett’s stomach rolled.

      No, the boy had a father, and that would be him. Maybe. Just because Viviana put his name on the birth certificate didn’t mean the boy was his, but he couldn’t just leave them, either. From the first time he met her at the age of ten, he had been desperate to rescue Viviana from her life. Taking her children would be a way to do that, since she never allowed him to help her.

      “The boy, Garrett River, just turned five. Pilar is the girl—she’s ten months old. With the birth certificate, letters from the mother and other family members’ statements, we have enough evidence to immediately place them with you if you’re willing. It doesn’t mean you’re taking permanent custody of the girl. There will be a hearing for temporary placement that needs to happen rather fast. The courts will decide on that first, then permanent in six months.”

      Custody and court dates? Garrett leaned back and closed his eyes. “I gave her an ultimatum. Viviana picked Ed. I left Houston, blocked her from my phone and filed for divorce.” He jolted from the rocking chair and paced along the edge of the porch. His muscles jumped under his skin, restless and tight.

      Oh man, what if she’d tried to call and tell him about the pregnancy? He covered his eyes with his hands, pressing the palms hard against his eye sockets. He had been so set on not allowing her to use him again. His stubbornness could mean he had left a son behind. “What do I need to do now?”

      “We need you to take immediate custody of the children.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Because you’re a state trooper, a veteran and the state-acknowledged biological father of the first child, we could place Pilar with you if you’re willing to take her. We would still have to go to court, but my hope is you agree to be the temporary solution. We still need to follow up with home inspections and parenting classes.”

      Looking at the horizon, Garrett cleared all thoughts and concentrated on breathing.

      Torres cleared his throat. “So he doesn’t need a DNA test to claim the boy? Where are they now?”

      “No, as far as we’re concerned, he’s the father. He’ll only need the DNA test if he wants to challenge the birth certificate. Right now the kids are in an emergency shelter in Kerrville. We’d like to get them out of there as soon as possible. It’s not designed for the care of infants and small children. There’s no one that’s capable of caring for the children on the mother’s side of the family, and the father’s side refuses to take them.”

      “So you want me to take both of them.”

      “We СКАЧАТЬ