Then who was the father? The thought of her with another man, having another man’s child, did something to him. “What, then?” he snapped.
She took a deep breath. She looked around. Every person on the lot was looking at them. “Is there somewhere we can talk? In private? Please.”
He looked at her a long moment. He would have denied her in an instant, if it wasn’t for that last word she’d whispered.
She watched him, sure he was going to refuse. She could see the struggle on his face. He wanted to send her away. He wanted to, badly.
He took a deep breath, and looked back at the others. Then he held out his hand. “Give me the keys.”
She looked at him curiously, and then slowly held the car keys out to him.
He shut the rear door, and opened the driver’s door, and climbed in.
She stood staring at him.
“You coming?”
She snapped out of it, and walked around, and got in the passenger side. He pulled out of the lot, and down the side street. He never looked at her, but she noticed he glanced several times in the rearview mirror, looking at TJ.
He drove a few blocks, and pulled into the parking lot of a boarded up grocery store. He put it in park, and turned the engine off. He sat quietly for a few moments, and then finally looked over at her. “You wanted to talk?”
She took a deep breath. She’d rehearsed this a hundred times on the flight out here. Now that she was here, looking at him, she was having a hard time finding the words to start.
“Darlin’, if ya got something to say, say it.”
She nodded. “Okay. Look, as you used to say, I’m going to give this to you straight. No sugar coating. It’s a long story, but I’ll try to make it as brief as possible. Please don’t stop me until I’m done. Okay?”
He studied her, a frown forming on his face. She really had him puzzled now. Just what the hell was she about to tell him? “Okay.”
“Nine months after I left here, I gave birth to twins. TJ and a girl, named Melissa.” She paused to take a breath.
His left hand had been resting on top of the steering wheel, his thumb tapping against it unconsciously, but his hand stilled in an instant. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at her, his brain trying to process it all. For some reason, it stalled on the girl’s name she’d chosen. Melissa. He still thought of Angel every time he heard that song.
“When Melissa was about a year and a half, I noticed a lump on the back of her neck. She has…” She looked down, and swallowed, finding it hard to say the dreaded word. “She has Leukemia. She’s been through chemotherapy, radiation, more horrible stuff than any child should ever have to endure.” Once she’d started, the words poured out. Her voice was a little shaky, and she tried to get it all out before she broke down completely.
He sat frozen, taking in her every word.
“She needs a bone marrow transplant. It’s her only hope of beating this. The donor has to be a strong match for this to be successful. “I’m not one. Either is TJ.”
“You need a donor? That’s why you’re here?” he asked, stunned, turning to look out the windshield.
“There’s a fifty-fifty chance you’re her father.” She watched him turn, and look at her. “Or her father may be lying out in a ravine somewhere, decomposing.”
“Shit.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.
“Please don’t’ smoke around him,” she asked.
He paused, glancing back at the child, then turned, and yanked on the door handle and practically vaulted out of the car. Angel opened her door, and walked around to him. He shook a cigarette out of the pack, and bent his head to light it. He tilted his head back, and blew out a stream of smoke.
Angel stood watching him. She knew this was a lot to dump on someone all at once.
Cole glanced over at her, his eyes traveling over her again. “You look like you’re doing okay. I hardly recognize you.” He changed the subject. He wasn’t ready to talk about the fact that he may be a father. He needed a minute to process that.
She crossed her arms, and looked away. “Why? Because I’m not that scared, little twenty year old anymore. Dressed in cutoffs and-”