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He let his smile come, even though he sensed she wouldn’t like it. He liked her spunk. “One busybody I met in the general store even put forth the theory that you visited a sperm bank and were artificially inseminated.”
“Oh, for the love of—”
He covered one of her hands with his own. “Please tell me the truth, Maya. Did I father this child you’re carrying?”
Staring down at his hand on top of hers, she said, “Yes.” Then, lifting her head slowly, “Now you tell me the truth about something. For once.”
He frowned, wondering what the hell that implied. But he said only, “Okay.”
“Why did you come back here?”
Ouch. That was not one he wanted to answer. But he’d promised her the truth, and she was damned well going to hear it. “I received a photograph of you taken just a couple of days ago. On the back there was one word. ‘Congratulations.’”
She only stared at him steadily. No expression on her face. As if she was waiting for him to finish the story, or to deliver the punchline or something. But when he said nothing, she lifted her brows. “But…who? How…?” Then she drew a breath, and her eyes widened even further. “You thoughtIsent it, didn’t you?”
He sighed deeply. “Hell, I didn’t know what to think. But yeah, it did enter my mind that you might have sent it.”
“Well. I guess we know where we stand, then, don’t we?”
“No, frankly, I don’t have a clue where we stand, Maya.”
“Caleb, if I’d had any idea how to find you to tell you I was pregnant, I would have called or shown up in person. I wouldn’t have sent some cryptic photo with a note on the back. God, what would be the point?”
Good question, he thought. What was the point?
“Listen…it doesn’t matter who sent the photo—”
“Oh, it matters. Believe me, it matters. And I have my theories on that. But the point is, I didn’t know how to find you. I tried, but there was no such person as Caleb Cain in Tulsa.”
He licked his lips. “I…move around a lot.”
“You lie a lot.”
“Regardless, I’m here now.”
“So what?”
He licked his lips. “Well, hell, Maya, I don’t know. You’re going to be the mother of my child. I guess I’d like to get to know you a little bit. And if you think I’m the kind of man who’s going to let you take full responsibility for this all alone, you’d better think again. I’m going to take an equal share of the financial responsibility for this baby.”
She leaned a bit forward—not a lot, because there wasn’t room between her belly and the table for a lot—and she said, “In exchange for what? Partial custody? Or the whole enchilada? What do youwant, Caleb?”
He held up both hands. “Hey, hey, hold on now. Is that why you’re so hostile? You think I came out here to try to take your baby away from you? To fight you for custody or something?”
She blinked rapidly. “You’d have to kill me to do that, Caleb. Just so you know in advance. You’d have to kill me. And I don’t care who your father is, or how many millions you have.” Tears pooled in her eyes.
He was stunned into silence for a long moment. And then he drew a breath, sighed deeply. “So you do know who I am.”
She nodded. “I found out yesterday, when I saw your picture in the paper.”
Twenty-four hours before that photo arrived on my doorstep, he thought.
He shook himself. A tear managed to escape her glittering eye, and it rolled down her cheek. And all of the sudden, not only did he doubt she would try to blackmail him—he didn’t care. Moreover, if she did, he wouldn’t blame her. “Dammit, I didn’t come out here to upset you.” Reaching across the table, he covered both her hands with his. “Please don’t cry.”
Too late. The tears were streaming. She snatched up a napkin and wiped angrily at them, even as the waitress came back to take their orders. He hoped to God this entire discussion hadn’t ruined Maya’s appetite.
Slamming the napkin down on the table, Maya sniffled and said, “I want the T-bone. The big one. Rare.”
“Mashed or fries?” the waitress asked.
