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“He’s so like Dad.” Daisy was still talking to Leanne. “So stubborn!”
Being compared to his father was the last thing Adam needed to hear at this point. He couldn’t stop staring at Lizzie, drinking in the sight of her beautiful face, and the soft curls of her flyaway hair. She was a lot tougher than she looked. He should remember that.
The trouble was—he was still conflicted over what she’d told him. Until he got the chance to sort out what Louisa had supposedly told her, he wasn’t in a good place to fix anything between them. But she wasn’t going to talk to him about Louisa again. He knew that in his soul. Now that he’d calmed down, he also couldn’t believe Lizzie had lied to him.
His heart plummeted to his boots. Maybe she was right, and there was no solution, and this was the end.
His whole being rebelled at the thought of never seeing her again, never being with her, never holding her . . . so what could he do? Adam frantically searched his memory. Would the medical center still have Louisa’s records? Would they even release them to him? Somehow he doubted it. Or could he simply do what Lizzie had asked him, and take her words as truth?
Leanne nudged him. “Adam, as I’m leaving tomorrow, do you think you could take me up to see Ines and Carlos before I go?”
Adam stared at his mother as if she was a genius. If anyone knew the state of Louisa’s mind, it had to be her parents. “Sure. I’ll take you right after we finish lunch.”
He stood up and followed Daisy and Leanne to the door, thanking Angelo as they passed him. He paused to hold the door for some guy to come into the café and did a double take. There was something terribly familiar about his black, curly hair and smile.
Adam stayed where he was as the man walked confidently up to the counter where Lizzie was staring at him as if she’d seen a ghost. If Adam wasn’t mistaken, she almost had. He took an instinctive step toward Lizzie and then another one. Why the hell was Ray Smith back in town, and what exactly did he want with Lizzie?
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Lizzie!” Ray Smith held out his hand. “How are you doing?”
She instinctively shook his hand, mesmerized by the evenness of his tan, and the startling whiteness of his teeth. He looked just like he did on TV and totally out of place in a small-town café. The occupants were starting to murmur as if they were aware that there was a celebrity in their midst. As Ray hosted the local sports news broadcast, they were all probably familiar with his handsome face.
She became aware that Adam was striding purposefully toward her and fixed her gaze on Ray.
“As you can see, I’m working right now. If you don’t want to eat or drink, maybe you could come back later?”
Ray checked his very fancy gold watch. “What time’s your lunch?”
Angelo nudged Lizzie, his enthralled gaze fixed on Ray. “Take as long as you like. I can manage. Becka’s here in five.”
Ignoring Adam, Lizzie motioned for Ray to follow her out to the kitchen, and shut the door firmly behind him. Yvonne had taken the two kitchen helpers up to Morgan Ranch to set up an evening dinner celebration so the place was empty. Ray looked around the large industrial kitchen and whistled.
“Wow, this isn’t what I was expecting. Looks almost professional.”
“It is professional, and I’m the manager.” Lizzie stated. “Now, how can I help you?”
He gestured at one of the tables. “Can we sit down?”
“Sure.”
After all the torment with Adam, Lizzie found looking at Ray relatively straightforward, which was something of a pleasant surprise.
“Okay.” Ray folded his hands together on the table. “I just got off the phone with my mother, and she said that your son was also my son.”
“Correct.” Lizzie nodded.
“It was a bit of a shock when she suggested I do the DNA thing after all these years. She told me back in the day you’d stopped bothering her, and she just assumed you’d found the real dad.”
“And you believed her.” Lizzie didn’t make it a question.
He grimaced. “I was . . . just about to start my new career, and I was selfish enough to want her to be right.”
