“I don’t know that those two always go hand in hand, but I hope for your sake we can work something out. Let me dig over here on my end; see what I can't find out about the mother. Just write down all the information you’ve got on them.”
“And my parents?” I asked.
“What you tell them is none of my concern. As far as I can tell, this is a personal matter and not mine to share. All of you Wheeler boys have good heads on your shoulders. I know you’ll get this figured out.”
“Thanks, I wish that I had your confidence.”
I left his office feeling as disheartened as before. Part of me had hoped for an easy way to get Stacy to work with me. A simple document to ease her mind that I couldn’t take Harrison away from her would have done it. Instead, I was left with even more questions. Was there a possibility I didn’t have any rights over my own flesh and blood?
Taking a few deep breaths to collect myself, I climbed into my truck and checked my phone. There were a dozen missed calls from my mother in the past hour. Thompson and Jackson must have told her there was no news and high tailed it out of there. Not that I could blame them, I’d done the same to cover for them in their time of need. We couldn’t lie, but we could run like hell.
The gallery was on the other end of town. With nothing to hurry me along, I took every street that I knew would be packed. Why was I stalling? How could I make things any worse than they already were? Yet my self-doubt seeped in the closer I got to Stacy’s store. My heart raced at the sight of her truck parked on the road. She was there.
It only took me a second to pull into a spot a few blocks down. The busy afternoon streets felt familiar and safe. I’d always been a sucker for the city, even if my home and soul were planted firmly in the country soil. Her eyes met mine before I even set foot in the shop. I saw the same girl from before scooping up Harrison as Stacy stormed out front to meet me on the sidewalk.
Beneath her fiery anger was a fear that she hid well. It broke my heart to know it was there because of me. I started to question my resolve, wondering if she and Harrison would be better off without me.
“What the hell are you doing here? Did I not make myself clear yesterday? I don’t want anything from you.”
“Please, Stacy,” I interjected. “Just give me a chance to talk! I didn’t handle things very well yesterday, I’m sorry about that.”
“Fine, whatever, apology accepted. Now, will you please go away before people start to wonder why Walker Wheeler is standing outside my gallery?”
“What’s so wrong with me standing here talking to you? Is there something you don’t want people to know?”
“Oh, please,” she snapped. “The only reason I don’t want you hanging around here is because people like to ask questions. Anyone with half a brain can see the resemblance between you and Harrison.”
“Really? Because you’ve been in this town a long time, and this is the first I’ve heard of a connection.”
“That’s because I’ve avoided your entire family like the plague. I slipped up when I invited Hailey to the gallery opening.”
I groaned. “No, you didn’t! You should have told me about Harrison, though! All these secrets and sneaking around. Why didn’t you want me to be a part of his life?”
“Jesus, Walker! It wasn’t you, okay? It’s your family. It’s everything that they stand for. I don’t want my son raised that way. He deserves to pick his future, not have it handed down to him with the reins of an empire.”
Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I tried to remember that she was scared. Her temper licked at me. Couldn’t she feel the connection that burned between us? Her gaze darted back inside to where Harrison struggled to free himself from the young woman. The poor boy desperately wanted to be outside with his mother. My heart softened when I saw the look Stacy gave him. It was pure love.
“I’m sorry about yesterday, but I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to be a part of his life.”