Country Romance - Carolyne Aarsen Page 0,10

brother. A wedding."

Wyatt pushed the phone back across the table at her. "I was there all right, and yes, I was with Reuben, but that proves nothing."

Adele wanted to press him. He wasn't feeling well, so he probably couldn't think straight. Maybe once he thought about it for a while he would remember.

She had to believe Sally. What would she do otherwise? Go back to Whitehorse with Dean?

"Sorry to cut this conversation short, but I have work to do," he said, pushing himself to his feet. "Thanks for taking care of the girls. I'm sorry you had to stay the night. I can't thank you enough for that."

"Of course. I couldn't leave them or you in the lurch."

Wyatt nodded, then winced, his eyes slamming shut, as if fighting pain. "So, I'll gladly pay you-"

"No. Please don't." There was no way she would accept money from him.

"So what will you do now?"

And wasn't that the question. If he wouldn't acknowledge Dean as his son, she had another plan she was hoping she wouldn't have to execute. It would require Wyatt's cooperation, and from the way he looked, she doubted she would get it.

"Del? Where are you?"

Dean's sleepy voice broke into the silence that had dropped after his question.

"Over here, sweetie," Adele said, jumping out of her chair and hurrying to the little guy's side.

His face was still flushed from sleep, a faint line from the sheets marking his chubby cheek. He smiled at her, burying himself in her hug.

"Did you have a good sleep?" she asked, brushing his hair back from his face.

"I did. I was afraid when I woke up. You—you—you weren't there." His faint stutter made her smile even as it created more concerns.

"I'm sorry, buddy. I should have been. You must have been a bit afraid waking up in a strange house."

"Just a—a—a little." His wide smile showed her all was forgiven.

She stroked his cheeks and pressed a quick kiss to his head, then turned to Wyatt. He was staring at Dean as if trying to place him. His eyes were narrowed and for a moment Adele thought he would acknowledge him. But then Wyatt's gaze slipped to Adele and his mouth grew tight.

"So, this is Dean." His voice was hard as he spoke the words, and Adele heard the condemnation in them. She realized how it looked from his side of the situation. As if he had been ambushed.

Which he had been. Not for the first time she wished she'd had some way of connecting with Wyatt earlier so she could have prepared him. Wished Sally had connected with him.

And what difference would that have made? Clearly none.

However, time wasn't her friend in her current situation. She needed to get Dean settled in the next week or so.

She was supposed to meet Leah in Edmonton at the auction sale in a couple of weeks. Their plans were in place and she couldn't change them now. No matter how much she wanted things to be different, there was no room in her future apartment, or her life, for Dean.

Then Dean looked over at Wyatt, his smile growing shy. "Are—are—are you my—my daddy?"

Adele's heart fell like an icy rock into her stomach. Why, oh why, had Sally encouraged this little dream? Why had she told him?

Adele had tried to hold her friend back, but when Sally was dying, she was determined to tell Dean about his father.

And now?

She could see Wyatt's jaw clench as he looked at Dean. She saw his struggle with his emotions.

Then he turned to Adele. "Sorry, but you'll have to leave. I've got to get my girls and then go feed my cows."

He walked away from the table and then slowed, his steps uneven, wavering. He reached for a chair as he teetered, then on his way down, cracked his head against the back of the chair and crashed to the ground.

"You're lucky you didn't get a concussion."

Dr. Brent Williamson made a notation on the chart, then set it down, shoving his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, frowning at Wyatt.

"You don't get a concussion falling on the floor," Wyatt managed as he buttoned up his shirt.

"But you could by hitting a chair on your way down," Brent said. "Good thing someone was with you." His eyes slipped to Adele, who hovered in the opening of the examining room, the children clustered around her. She had dropped him off at the hospital, then gone to get more ibuprofen. Now she was back and