Betting On Santa. Debra Salonen
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aunt looks like she’s ready to call it a day, too.” He looked at Tessa before holding out his arms to her nephew. “Um…not that you aren’t beautiful. Just tired,” he stammered. “I’ll shut up now. My sister, Annie, says I only open my mouth to switch feet.”
Tessa laughed. “It’s okay. I’m not offended. Joey, sweetheart, can this nice man carry you?”
He shook his head and plastered his body to her leg. Tessa leaned down and picked him up. Joey shyly buried his face in the crook of her neck, refusing to even acknowledge Cole.
“No problem. I’ll open the door for you.” He started away, then stopped and reversed direction. He held out his hand. “I’m Cole Lawry, by the way.”
She couldn’t quite manage to shake his hand, but she wiggled her fingers. “Tessa Jamison. This is my nephew, Joey Barnes. His mother—my sister—is Sunny Barnes.”
He repeated the name, his expression thoughtful. “Why does that sound famil—” His eyes widened. “Do you mean the same Sunny who used to work at BJM Realty?”
Tessa nodded.
“Are you kidding? I haven’t seen her in a couple of years. And you said she’s in the hospital? What happened? Is she going to be okay?”
Too many questions to answer while holding twenty-five pounds of dead weight. “Can we talk in the car?”
“Oh, of course,” he answered. “I’m sorry. You just took me by surprise.” As he hurried ahead of her, she noticed a slight hitch to his gait. A few seconds later, he was helping her into the four-wheel-drive vehicle.
“Can you hop up on the seat with him in your arms? How ’bout if I hold your purse?”
She shifted Joey to the right so she could extend her left arm. The relief was tangible as he slid the strap from her shoulder. “Thanks.”
“No problem. What do you have in here? Gold bars?” he asked, jiggling the bag with exaggerated effort.
“Spoken like a true nonparent. I was the same until Joey came along. Now, I have a standing appointment with a chiropractor every two weeks.”
He wedged the bag on the floor behind the seat. “Good to know. I’m going to be an uncle in a few months. My sister is expecting her first child.”
“Will this be your mom’s first grandchild?”
He nodded. “She’s over the moon.”
“That was my mother on the phone a minute ago. She and Joey are really close. She’s with Sunny at the hospital.”
He moved in to steady her as she settled into the passenger seat. She could smell peppermint on his breath. From the candy canes he’d been giving out, she guessed.
“Thanks,” she said, pulling up her legs. The interior of the truck appeared much cleaner than she’d expected.
He grabbed the door but didn’t close it. His sandy brows came together in a pensive frown. “Just out of curiosity, how’d you happen to wind up in River Bluff tonight?” Before she could answer, he said, “Oh wait, you’re probably headed to the commune. That’s where Sunny was living when I met her. What’s the name of her friend? Andrea… Emily…”
“Amelia,” Tessa supplied.
“Right. It’s only a few miles south of here. I could draw you a map.”
Tessa looked at him. She was too tired to get into this, but putting things off had never worked for her in the past, so she took a deep breath and said, “I do want to see Amelia to tell her about Sunny, but that’s not the reason I’m here. I came to River Bluff looking for you.”
“Me. Really? Why?”
“Because I need to know if you’re Joey’s father.”
CHAPTER TWO
COLE STRUGGLED TO make sense of what she was saying. Me? A father? To Sunny’s kid? But in order for that to be true, he and Sunny would have had to make love. Which they never did. Right?
He shivered as a thought occurred to him. There was that one night when he and Sunny had bumped into each other at the bar. A low point in his life when he’d tried to drown his troubles. He’d been too drunk to drive home. Sunny had been a friend, she’d put him up for the night. But nothing happened. He was sure of it. Almost positive.
“You think this little boy is mine?” he asked, staring at the profile of the child asleep on his aunt’s shoulder. “That’s a serious charge. Do you have some kind of proof?”
She let out a long sigh and shook her head. “None, but I have a DNA kit in my purse. And, just to be clear, I’m not accusing you of anything. Sunny came back to Texas to confront Joey’s father, but before she could talk to him—or tell me the man’s name, she rolled her car. She’s in the hospital in San Antonio in a coma. Her prognosis is… guarded.”
He didn’t like the flat, defeated way she said the word. “I don’t know what to say. Your sister was so bright and bubbly. The hospital…a coma….” He shook his head. “Wait. If she didn’t tell you about me, then how did you get my name?”
“Her diary. I brought it along and I’d be happy to show the passage that put you on the top of my list. Later. After I get Joey in bed, maybe?”
Cole hesitated. He wanted this cleared up as soon as possible and was curious as hell about what Sunny had written, but he hadn’t been kidding when he said she looked exhausted.
She took a deep breath and let it out then said, “If I’ve made a mistake, we’ll leave in the morning. No hassle, I promise. I’m not trying to pin Joey’s paternity on anybody. I only want to do the right thing for my nephew. I know what it’s like to grow up without a father.”
Grow up without a father. Same as Cole. Something he wouldn’t wish on anybody. “Where’d you say you were staying?”
“The Trail’s End Motel. We haven’t checked in, but they should be holding a room. I paid for it online with my credit card.”
“You should be okay. Things are slow this time of year and I know the desk clerk, Barney. How ’bout if I drive you there, then go after your car?”
He closed the door without waiting for an answer. By the time he started the engine, she had her eyes closed. Her chin brushed the top of her nephew’s head when they hit a pothole.
Even driving slowly, it only took a few minutes to reach the small, cottage-style motel across the street from the Medina River. He pulled up to the office and parked.
Tessa lifted her head.
“Wait here,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll get you registered.” He opened the door and got out but returned a second later. “I’m sorry, Tessa. I forgot your last name.”
“Jamison.”
“Got it. I’ll be right back.”
He dashed into the overly heated reception anteroom. As expected, the man behind the counter was hunched over his computer and barely glanced up—until it hit him that the person resting his elbows on the counter wasn’t a tourist.
“Cole. What the heck are you doing here?” Barney asked. “You know we don’t rent rooms by the hour.”
“You’re quite the joker, man, but no, that’s not why I’m here.”
“Are you gonna invite me to the poker game? You could have called. You didn’t need to stop by.”
Cole glanced out the window at the woman who was watching them. “You’re holding a room for a friend. Tessa Jamison. She said she put it on her credit card. If you give me the right price, then I’ll guarantee you a spot at the table.”
Barney returned to his computer. “I was wondering what happened