Always Enough (Meet Me in Montana #2) - Kelly Elliott Page 0,89
shock. “But Ty, I thought you—”
“No,” he said as he shook his head, stopping my words with a look of determination. “The only place I want to be is on the ranch, with you. Now, let’s go across the hall.”
A heaviness settled in the pit of my stomach. I knew I had gotten through to Ty earlier. He was willing to try a relationship with me, even though he had fears and doubts and the crazy notion he wasn’t good enough for me. Now, he very well could have a child. I knew this was going to take us back a few steps. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if he was simply trying to appease me for the time being.
Placing his hand on the small of my back, Ty guided us to an empty room. Food was on a table, and it appeared people had been in earlier to eat.
Once Katy had walked into the room, Ty shut the door. Then an awkward-as-hell silence filled the air. I watched Ty as he took in the little girl, then looked at Katy.
“She’s not mine.”
I gasped. “Ty!”
He snapped his head to look at me. “She’s not mine. I have never had sex without a condom.” Facing Katy, he looked at her with an expression I couldn’t read.
“I’m not here to ask you to be a part of her life, Ty. I need your help, and when I saw you on TV, I had to come. You were in Billings, and . . . I just need your help.”
“Money?”
“Ty—” I started before Katy cut me off.
“She’s sick. It’s leukemia. I need to find out if you’re her father. If you are, you might be able to donate stem cells.”
Ty looked shocked. “Wait, back up a second. So, you believe I am her father?”
Katy looked at me, then back to Ty. “I don’t know if you remember that night.”
“You were in the wedding. I remember.”
Okay, that hurt more than it should have. How many of his random hookups did he remember, or was it only certain women? I needed to stop thinking so hard about all of this.
“I only remember because you have the same name as my cousin.”
Katy smiled. “That’s right. You told me that.”
Ty seemed like he was getting impatient.
After clearing her throat, Katy went on. “I’m not the type of woman to have random one-night stands. There are only two men who could possibly be her biological father. You, and my ex-boyfriend, who unfortunately died in a car accident shortly after you and I hooked up. His family is angry with me, for a few reasons, and they refuse to do DNA testing.”
He folded his arms over his chest.
“Katy is married, Ty. She’s only looking for a donor match. If you’re Olivia’s dad—”
“I’m not.”
I sighed.
Katy went on. “If you are her father, your HLA could be a match.”
“HLA?” Ty asked.
“Human leukocyte antigens.”
“There haven’t been any matches in your family?” I asked.
“Ideally, the doctors want to match at least eight to ten HLA markers. I’m only a five. No one else in my family is more, and Olivia doesn’t have any siblings yet.”
“How do we do this?” Ty asked. I could see it in his face: his heart was breaking for this child, who very well could have been his own flesh and blood.
Katy seemed to relax slightly. “We could do a DNA test first, to see if you’re her father. That would only take two to three days. The HLA typing takes about a week or two.”
Ty rubbed the back of his neck, then glanced over to me. I gave him a reassuring smile.
He looked back at Katy, then down to Olivia. “I’d like to know.”
My stomach lurched, though I knew he’d want to know if he had a child.
Katy nodded. “Okay. I’ve already alerted Olivia’s doctor that I’ve possibly found her biological father. Her father—or, um, her stepfather—has already done the HLA testing and isn’t a close-enough match.”
“Katy, would you mind if I spoke to Kaylee alone for a few minutes?” Ty suddenly said.
She smiled. “Of course not.”
The moment she shut the door, Ty faced me. “I’m so fucking sorry. This is exactly why—”
I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him, then lifted my hands and pulled his mouth to mine. I kissed him, and it only took him a moment to wrap his arms around me and deepen the kiss.
When he pulled back, he leaned his forehead against mine. “I thought I had problems before.”