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“I’ll do each adult’s test first and then the infant in your lap,” the woman said as she opened the first. “It won’t hurt. Just a buccal swab test, where I’ll rub one of these around on the inside of your cheek, gathering samples of your DNA.”
She held up a long one-ended cotton swab along with a tube it would go in when they were finished.
“Then I will walk the tests to the lab myself to preserve the chain of evidence.”
After placing half of a double-barcode sticker on the paperwork and the other half on the tube, she pointed at Willow. “I’ll do your test first, then the next one for—” she paused to peek at the file “—Luna.”
Willow leaned forward and opened her mouth. The other woman swished the swab around a few times inside her cheek, not gently, and withdrew it. Quickly, she tucked it inside the tube and sealed it.
Strange how something that didn’t hurt at all could have the ability to destroy her life.
“You see? No big deal.” The technician opened the second test.
Easy for her to say when she had nothing hanging on those test results. Willow slid a glance to Asher, who pressed his lips into a firm line. Clearly, they’d found something else they could agree on.
“The results will show how your alleles, the variant forms of each gene the lab will study, compare to that of both infants. The results will look at probabilities, and the conclusions will say you are ‘excluded’ or ‘not excluded’ as the biological parent.”
“You mean it won’t be definitive?” Asher asked.
“Well, probabilities of up to 99.99 percent are pretty definitive.”
Willow braced herself as the woman leaned toward her daughter with a swab. Luna usually protested when the pediatrician came anywhere near her with a tongue depressor, so she surprised her mother by barely squirming. On the other hand, Harper let out a shriek and tried to push away the swab when her turn came. Good thing they hadn’t placed bets on the girls’ reactions.
“You’re fine, angel,” Asher crooned as he cradled his daughter to his chest and brushed back her hair.
For a moment, Willow picture them in another place and herself as the lucky recipient of his ministrations. If she was the woman in his life, would he touch her with that same level of care, as if she was precious to him? Would he glide his fingers through her hair and whisper that it was okay to rely on other people sometimes?
“You’re free to go whenever you’re ready,” the tech announced as she sealed the fourth tube. “We should have your results in about a week.”
“A week?”
Asher’s sharp tone startled Harper and yanked Willow away from the image that had no place in that room nor in any other part of her life.
She couldn’t be having romantic thoughts about this man at this time. Or ever. She might have lost control of her good sense for a few seconds, but that had to stop now. In just seven days, they would have the answers to their questions. And if the results came out the way she prayed they would, she could forget she’d ever met the tempting Asher Colton.
Chapter 9
After the tech left with her tubes containing genetic truths and their futures, Asher couldn’t get out of that examination room fast enough. It was too small. There wasn’t enough ventilation. Something.
He hurried from the room, glad he’d skipped the stroller and just carried Harper. Even she had reacted to his stress, crying out from a mouth swab when she’d barely made a peep after her six-month vaccines.
“It’s almost over, sweetie. Everything’s going to be just fine.”
Why did he keep promising her that? He had no idea how e
verything would turn out or if he would ever be able to make anything fine again. Strange, he’d thought he was handling the situation okay, even though he’d had to keep his personal issue from his family, particularly Marlowe and his mom. A bomb scare had seemed like enough of a Colton crisis for one day.
So, why had Willow’s mention of the unusual occurrences at her childcare center been enough to push his fragile equilibrium over the ledge? The lights, sirens and that bomb-squad vehicle from the day before should easily have eclipsed a mildly threatening note and a bogus complaint. Why did it matter so much to him?
“Hey, Asher. Wait up?”
He’d already bypassed the elevator and had descended a few steps down the stairs to the first level, but at the sound of her voice, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. Willow stood at the top of the stairs with Luna’s stroller. The diaper bag was in the seat, but she carried the child.
“What is it?” His sharp tone startled him as much as it clearly had her. “Sorry. Uh. What do you need?”
“You okay?”
“Sure. We’re good.”
