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“Or maybe it’s because I’m a stubborn fool.” He draped his arm possessively over her shoulder and guided her out of the kitchen. “Let’s go check on Emily.”
“In a minute.... You go look in on her, I’ll be there shortly.” She moved out of his embrace and pushed him down the hall. “I’ve got to make a phone call.”
Noah looked at his wristwatch. “Now? To whom?”
She was ready for his question. “I think I’d better call Jeff.”
“You’re ex-husband?” Noah was incredulous. “Why?”
“He has the right to know about the accident,” Sheila attempted to explain. Before she could get any further, Noah cut her off and his mouth pulled into a contemptuous scowl. A thousand angry questions came to his mind.
“Do you think he would even care?”
“Noah, he’s Emily’s father. Of course he’ll care.”
“From what you’ve told me about him, he hasn’t shown much fatherly concern for his daughter!”
“Keep your voice down!” Sheila warned in a harsh whisper. “Jeff has to know.”
Noah’s face contorted with disgust. The skin stretched tightly over the angled planes of his features. “Are you sure the accident isn’t some handy excuse?”
Sheila’s gray eyes snapped. “I don’t need an excuse.
He has to know and I can’t have him hear it through the grapevine.”
“Why not?”
“How would you feel if it were Sean?”
“That’s different. I care about my son. I would have done anything to have him with me. It was a little different with your husband, I’d venture to guess.”
“He’s still her legal father. This is a rural community, but word travels quickly. I either have to call Jeff or his mother, and I’d prefer not to worry Marian. If I call her now, she’ll be over here within a half hour.”
“And what about Coleridge? Is that what he’ll do—come racing over here to check on his daughter and his ex-wife. Is that what you’re hoping for?”
“You’re impossible!” Sheila accused. “But you’re right about one thing, I would be thrilled to pieces if Jeff came over here.”
“I thought so,” he commented dryly as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, looking as if he were both judge and jury. She, of course, was the unconvincing defendant.
“But not for the reasons you think,” she continued, trying to stem her boiling anger. “Jeff is Emily’s father,’ for God’s sake. She’s just been through a very traumatic experience, and I think she could use a little support from Daddy.”
“A little is all she’d get, at the very best,” Noah pointed out in a calm voice. His blue eyes looked deadly. “Jeff Coleridge is no more Emily’s father than Marilyn is Sean’s mother! I can’t believe that you’re still hanging onto ideals that were shot down years ago when he walked out on you and your kid. Sheila. You don’t have to paint the picture any rosier than it really is. It’s not good for you, and it’s not good for Emily.”
“So look who’s handing out free advice—Father of the year!” The minute her words were out, she wanted to call them back. She hadn’t meant to be cruel.
Noah’s hands clenched and then relaxed against his rib cage. “Once again, the sharp tongue cuts like a whip, Miss Lindstrom. I’m not trying to hurt you, I’m only attempting to suggest that genetics has nothing to do with being a parent. Oh, sure, Coleridgesiredyour child, but where was he when the chips were down? Or have you conveniently forgotten that he walked out on you and took up with another woman? A man like that doesn’t deserve to know that his child was hurt. Face it, Sheila, he just doesn’t give a damn.”
Sheila’s nerves were strung as tightly as a piano string, her voice emotionless. “Each summer Emily spends a few weeks with Jeff. He’s expecting her by the end of next week.”
“Does she want to see him?”
Sheila wavered. “She’s confused about it.”
Noah’s lips twisted wryly. “What you’re saying is that she knows he doesn’t want her, and you’re hoping that when he learns of the accident, he’ll rush to her side and reestablish himself as a paragon of virtue in her eyes. Don’t delude yourself, Sheila, and for Emily’s sake, don’t try to make your ex-husband something he’s not. Let her make up her own mind.”
“She will,” Sheila said softly, “whether I call him or not. But I am going to call, you know. It’s his right as a father.”
“He has no rights—he gave them up about four years ago, wouldn’t you say?”
