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“I’m Trevor Vaughn, what can I do for you, ma’am?”
The woman swallowed nervously, glanced at the three men standing next to her, and then opened her mouth to speak, but closed it quickly. She glanced at the men again.
“Hey, guys, can you give us some space here, please?” I asked them and then thought maybe it might be better to take her someplace private. “On second thought, why don’t we go into the conference room?”
The wall of men parted as she nodded and looked instantly relieved. With one hand on the stroller in front of her and the other arm wrapped around the infant, she started to push the stroller toward the door we had just come out of. There was an umbrella hanging off the arm of the stroller, leaving a trail of droplets in its wake. The stroller suddenly slammed into the doorframe and the woman jumped slightly.
“Here, let me get that,” I told her, and she peered at me nervously before nodding and stepping around it into the room. I directed the stroller into the conference room, put it against the wall, and then closed the door.
A wild flash of lightning lit the room, and then thunder immediately followed it loudly. Damn, that was close. I glanced back at the woman to see her staring at the window, her eyes wide.
“You said your name was Davina Daniels? I’m sorry, but do I know you?”
She shook her head quickly as she gave me her attention. “No, we’ve never met, but I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for over a week.”
I was instantly thankful that we hadn’t met because as I stared into her large whiskey-colored eyes and flushed face, I found myself rather intrigued. If I had somehow met her previously and then forgotten about her, I might have been very frustrated with myself. She was about a foot shorter than me, and as she bounced the baby in her arms, she looked overly frazzled, something that normally didn’t catch my eye. In fact, I preferred women who were more put together, professional even. She was far from a fashion plate in her torn jeans, sneakers, oversized sweater, and messy hair. My eyes strayed to her left hand and found no ring around her finger.
“Okay, well, you have me here now. What can I do for you, Ms. Daniels?”
She worried her lower lip for a moment. “Do you remember Carol Cassata?”
The name sounded familiar, and then a face came to mind as I smiled. “Yeah, of course, I remember Carol.”
“You were seeing her for a little while.”
“Well, I’m not sure I’d say we saw each other. We were together for a long weekend once.” That tended to be my normal dating style. Meet a woman, go on a couple of dates, spend a weekend with them, and then move along before they got too attached.
“Yeah, that’s right. Then you disappeared after that weekend.”
I cocked my head. “I’m not sure what you are here for, Ms. Daniels. I haven’t seen or spoken to Carol in about a year.”
“Nine months to be exact—more or less a couple of days,” she murmured, and thunder rumbled again lowly.
Nine months. The time frame bounced around in my skull, and my gaze dropped to the baby in her arms. No. Fucking. Way. Unconsciously, I took a step back as if someone had just told me they’d found an IED in the center of the room.
She shifted the baby in her arms and held him out. “This is Devon, your son.”
Nope. There was no way. I shook my head. “I think you have me confused with someone else.”
“Oh, no. I don’t.” Her hair whipped wildly around her head as she shook it, and some of her frizzy hair fell from her clip.
“Look, if that baby is mine, why the hell isn’t Carol here?”
She began to blink rapidly as she curled the baby back to her chest again. Her gaze slipped around the room and then landed on mine. In them, I saw pain and sadness.
“Carol died giving birth to Devon.”
“What?”
“Carol had a bad heart, and her doctors didn’t even want her to have the baby, but she was determined. Unfortunately, she didn’t live through the delivery.”
My gaze dropped back to the child; his little hand had come out from beneath the blanket and was flailing to the side as if trying to reach for something.
Davina took a few steps toward me. “I know you’re surprised, Mr. Vaughn, and I get that this is a lot to have to deal with, but you need to take your son.”
She held the baby out to me, and for the first time, I stared down into his little face. Was it possible? Could this little boy be mine?
“I don’t know what to do with a baby,” I said hoarsely.
