A Child Under His Tree Page 14

  Kelly opened her mouth to decline but never had a chance.

  “We’ll be here,” Caleb said.

  She could hear the inflexibility in his tone and hoped his cousin didn’t, as well. Rather than argue with him about it, Kelly pulled open the rear door of the car. “In you go, Tyler. It’s late.”

  “I wanna see the kittens again.”

  “You can see them another day.”

  “I wanna see them now.”

  Kelly’s hand clenched over the top of the car door. “You’re not going to see anything now. It’s late. Get in the car.”

  “No!”

  It wasn’t Tyler’s first willful display, and it certainly wouldn’t be his last. But she wished to heaven and back again that this one could have happened without witnesses.

  Particularly Caleb.

  She gave her son a steady look. “Would you like a time-out?”

  “No! I wanna see the kittens!”

  “Tyler.” Caleb’s voice was firm.

  Her son’s head jerked up as he looked at Caleb.

  “Listen to your mother.”

  Tyler’s shoulders sank. He ducked his head a little and clambered into the car, wriggling onto his booster seat.

  Her eyes stung. Sure. A few stern words and Caleb could accomplish miracles.

  Knowing it was a childish thought didn’t prevent her from having it. Once Tyler was strapped in, she closed the car door with a little more force than was necessary. She only had to take three steps and she could slide behind the wheel of her car, but they were enough to allow gravel to poke sharply into the soles of her stocking feet.

  “Good night, Leandra. Thanks again for taking care of Tyler.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Then Kelly looked in Caleb’s direction. “Good night, Caleb. We’ll talk later.” As an attempt to keep him at a distance, it was pretty weak. His cousin might be there watching all of this, but Kelly knew that meant nothing. A determined Caleb was not going to be held at bay. And he’d already made it quite clear that—where Tyler was concerned—he was very determined.

  Wouldn’t you be?

  She ignored the voice and yanked the door closed, quickly starting the engine. Already, there was a thin coat of snowflakes on her windshield, and she flipped on the wipers before driving away.

  She didn’t relax until she was once again passing the old Perry place. So far, there hadn’t been any headlights following her.

  It was a reprieve.

  The only question was, how long would that reprieve last?

  Knowing Caleb, not long.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

  Kelly looked across the desk at Tom Hook, the attorney handling her mom’s estate. Her lips twisted a little as she glanced at Tyler. He was sitting in the chair next to her, coloring in his robot book. She’d told Caleb the truth less than twenty-four hours earlier. And she hadn’t heard from him since she’d driven away from Leandra’s home the night before.

  Maybe he’d given her a reprieve, but it was feeling more like a sentence.

  She looked back at Tom. She’d come in to his office to give him the paperwork from the auction house. “Of course you do,” she said with dark humor. Why would her luck change now?

  “Your mother took out a mortgage on the house. We discovered it during the title search.”

  “A mortgage,” Kelly parroted. It took a moment for the man’s words to penetrate. Then she sat up straighter. “A mortgage! What on earth for?” The house—and the land on which it sat—had been in her mom’s family for three generations now. It had been paid for long, long ago.

  “I would assume for the money,” the attorney said, somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

  She didn’t take offense. It hadn’t been one of her more intelligent questions.

  He shuffled some papers on his desk, found one and handed it across to her. “Signed several years ago.”

  She studied the sheet of paper. It was a lot of mumbo jumbo to her. But one thing looked simple. There was, indeed, a mortgage on the house.

  A staggering one.

  She set the paper on the desk and smoothed it needlessly with her fingers. “Is the house worth that much?”

  “I wouldn’t think so.” His sun-weathered face had a matter-of-fact expression that matched his tone. “Selling the land for a good price will help offset the mortgage. If the personal property—contents of the house, farm equipment and such—brings enough at auction, there should be enough to move things into the black. The good news in all of this is that it reduces the overall value of your mother’s estate considerably. Which means I can try for a summary probate. If she’d left a will, it would have helped, but I’m afraid you’re going to see even less of an inheritance than I’d initially thought.”

  “I never cared about an inheritance,” she murmured. “Not for me.” For Tyler, perhaps. It would have been nice to sock away a little extra for his education. “Is there at least going to be enough to pay your bill once all is said and done?”

  His face creased in a faint smile. “Burial costs and administrative fees are paid out of the estate. I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. But estates are often tricky business. Your mother made hers more so simply by not being forthright with me. We have to wonder if there are other surprises out there.”

  “She wasn’t forthright with anyone,” Kelly said. “I wouldn’t take it personally if I were you.” She looped her purse strap over her shoulder and stood. “I don’t want to take up any more of your afternoon, Mr. Hook. I appreciate everything you’ve been doing.” She made a face. “I’m still not entirely sure why it’s worth your time, but I’m grateful all the same.” She nudged Tyler, opening her purse so he could dump his stuff inside. “Come on, buddy.”

  The attorney got up and came around his desk. His scuffed boots and jeans were more suited to the small ranch he also ran than the legal profession. “Well, Georgette and I went way back. I’m glad to help.”

  That information brought Kelly up short. The attorney hadn’t even lived in Weaver six years ago when she’d left, yet they went “way back”?

  “How’d you know my mother?”

  “We met at summer church camp in Montana when we were teenagers,” he said, looking reminiscent.

  “Church camp!” Kelly tried to imagine. “I can count on one hand the number of times my mom stepped foot in a church.”

  He smiled slightly. “Well, at the time we were all more interested in fishing and swimming than saying our prayers. Georgette was quite something, though. You resemble her a lot.”

  “Not sure that’s a good thing,” Kelly murmured. “Was she happy then? When you knew her?” It suddenly seemed important to know.

  His smile widened. “She always seemed to be. Your mother was very full of life.” Then he opened the door for her and Tyler, escorting them into the room of his house that doubled as a waiting area. “I’ll be in touch after the auction. You’re still planning to return to Idaho Falls immediately afterward?”

  That had been the plan.

  Until last night, when she tossed everything into a bingo cage to be spun around and around and around.

  “I am not sure,” she admitted. “But you have my cell number regardless.” She donned a smile she was far from feeling and grabbed Tyler’s hand before he could go off exploring. “Though it works a lot better in Idaho Falls than it does in Weaver. Thanks again for your time.” She nodded briefly at the woman sitting in one of the nail-studded leather chairs as they left.

  Outside, the ground was dry with no sign left of last night’s brief snowfall, but the wind felt icy. It was a needless reminder that she still had Caleb’s jacket.

  She tied the belt of her wool coat more firmly aroun
d her waist. “Zip up your coat, buddy.”

  Tyler did as he was told. “What’re we gonna do now?”

  She honestly didn’t know.

  But he wasn’t talking about their lives.

  Simply the afternoon.

  “What would you like to do?” His attitude of the night before had dissipated under the weight of a good night’s sleep, and he was his usual chipper self again. “Gunnar’s probably home from kindergarten by now. Do you want to call and talk to him again?”

  He shook his head. “I wanna visit Dr. C and Bingo.”

  Of course he did.

  She managed to keep her smile in place. “Dr. C is at his office seeing patients this afternoon.”

  “With Bingo?”

  “I doubt it, bud.”

  “Can we go see him?”

  “Bingo?” She shook her head. “Not while Dr. C is at work.”

  “Then can we go see Dr. C?”

  They’d reached the car, and she pulled open the rear door for him to climb inside. “You like him a lot, don’t you.”

  Tyler nodded. He was sticking out his tongue slightly as he concentrated on fastening his safety belt.

  A wave of love plowed through her, and she brushed her fingers lightly through his dark brown hair. She couldn’t survive if she ever lost him. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “’Cause he’s nice. Can we have ice cream?”

  “Sure.”

  He goggled. “Really?”

  “Yes, really. We passed a new ice cream shop on our way here. We can stop in and have some there. But after ice cream, you have to finish some of your worksheets from your teacher.”

  He started to push out his lower lip but stopped. “Are you gonna marry Dr. C?”

  She gaped. “What? Why would you think that?” The only opportunity Caleb would have had to say something to Tyler was the night before when he’d gone inside Leandra’s house to get him. “What did he say to you?”

  “Who?”

  “Dr. C!”

  “He didn’t say nothing.”

  “Then why would you ask me that?”

  This time, he did thrust his lip out. “Lucas said if you got married, then we could live in Weaver.”

  Kelly’s outrage whooshed from her like a pinpricked balloon, and she leaned against the open car door for support. “Lucas.”

  “He says then I could go to school with him.”

  “Wouldn’t you miss Gunnar?”

  Tyler frowned as if it were a new consideration. “Gunnar could come and live with us.”

  “Gunnar has a family in Idaho. I think his mommy would miss him a lot.” Her chest suddenly felt tight and she kissed his face. “Same way I would miss you a lot if you weren’t with me.”

  He scrunched his nose. “Why do I gotta do worksheets?”

  From marriage to homework. She wished she could switch her thoughts so easily. “So that when we get back home, you’ve done all the work that Gunnar and your other classmates have been doing while we’ve been here.”

  “If I went to school with Lucas, I bet I wouldn’t have worksheets.”

  She wasn’t going to get into that debate with him. “What kind of ice cream do you want?” It was a deliberate distraction on her part, but she wasn’t going to feel guilty over it.

  “Strawberry,” he said immediately. “With sprinkles on top.”

  “Strawberry with sprinkles it is.” She checked the buckle on Tyler’s seat belt, got behind the wheel and set off.

  They were just sitting down in a booth at the Udder Huddle when her cell phone rang. Her nerves tightened as she looked at the display. A local number, but not the one Caleb had used the day before. She thumbed the phone and answered.

  “Is this Kelly Rasmussen?” The voice was unfamiliar. Male.

  She leaned over to tuck a napkin in Tyler’s shirt collar. “Yes.”

  “Dan Yarnell here.”

  She sat up straighter, surprised. “Dr. Yarnell. Hello.”

  “I got your number from one of the nurses here at the hospital. I apologize for disturbing your afternoon.”

  “Not at all.” She tucked the phone against her shoulder. “How are Maria and her baby?”

  “Physically, they’re doing well. That’s why I called. I wondered if you’d be willing to visit Maria. I know it’s an imposition when I hear you’re in town only briefly, but—”

  “It’s okay.” After having grown up in Weaver, she didn’t know why she still felt surprised that virtual strangers seemed to know her business. “I’d be happy to visit Maria. Are you releasing her soon?”

  “Ordinarily, I would tomorrow. But she doesn’t have any family, and given the circumstances of losing her husband, I hope to delay it a few more days. I think she’ll benefit from the support.”

  “I’ll go by today,” Kelly promised. She couldn’t say she knew exactly how Maria felt, but she did know what it was like becoming a brand-new mother.

  He thanked her and rang off.

  “Who was that?”

  “Dr. Yarnell. I met him yesterday at the hospital when I helped that nice lady I told you about have her baby.” She leaned over the table yet again and plucked a trio of rainbow-colored sprinkles out of Tyler’s hair. “How do you manage to get your food everywhere?”

  He shrugged and kept licking his sprinkle-dipped ice cream cone. “Are we gonna go visit her?”

  Kelly wasn’t sure of the wisdom of taking him with her to the hospital, but the alternative wasn’t any better. “After you finish your ice cream. You’re going to have to behave yourself there just like you did at Mr. Hook’s. Okay?”

  “If I do, then can I go see Dr. C?”

  She brushed another sprinkle out of Tyler’s hair. “We’ll see.”

  She had no doubt that Caleb intended to see them, whether she liked it or not.

  It was simply a matter of when.

  * * *

  Like most everything Kelly was dreading, when came sooner than she expected.

  She’d stopped at the hospital nursery after visiting Maria to peek at the baby through the viewing window.

  But it was the sight of Caleb’s broad shoulders wedged into one of the rocking chairs with a baby cradled against his chest that had her catching her breath. She’d never given him the opportunity to hold Tyler like that. And in that moment, it felt like an unforgivable sin.

  “There’s Dr. C,” Tyler was saying excitedly. Even though she tried to forestall it, he knocked on the window and waved his cast to get Caleb’s attention.

  Caleb looked up and smiled faintly at Tyler, but his gaze collided with Kelly’s, and for a long moment, it felt like the world slowed.

  He handed off the blanket-swaddled infant to one of the nurses and all too quickly appeared in the corridor where Kelly’s feet still felt rooted in cement.

  “Hey, Dr. C!” Tyler was bouncing on his toes. “Can I come and play with Bingo again?”

  “Calm down, buddy. We’re in a hospital, remember?”

  He crouched down a little as he bounced, as if that helped. “Can I come and play with Bingo again,” he repeated in a loud whisper.

  Despite herself, Kelly couldn’t help smiling a little.

  “You can play with Bingo whenever you want,” Caleb assured him. “It’ll be easy once you and your mom move here.”

  Tyler’s jaw dropped.

  Kelly’s jaw went rigid, her spurt of amusement disappearing like smoke. “Dr. C is being premature,” she said through her teeth.

  Her son looked from her to Caleb and back again, an astonished expression on his face. “What’s premature?”

  She took Tyler’s hand in hers. “It means too early.” She glared at Caleb. “Way, way too early. We’re not m
oving here.”

  In response, Caleb’s expression was set.

  “But, Mom. I could go to school with Lucas.”

  “You already have a school,” she reminded him. “Come on. We need to go.”

  “But, Mom—”

  “Now!” She tugged his hand slightly and turned her back on Caleb.

  Caleb’s voice followed her. “You’re not going to walk away from this, Kelly.”

  She inhaled an angry hiss. She couldn’t remember the last time she was so abruptly, hotly furious. For that matter, she couldn’t remember if she’d ever been so furious. She pointed at a chair in the hallway, which thankfully remained empty. “Tyler, please sit there while I talk to Dr. C.”

  He looked alarmed. “Am I having time-out?”

  “No.” She tamped down her ire. “I just need to have an adult talk for a minute. Here.” She took his coloring book and the baggie of markers out of her purse. “A few minutes. Please?”

  He still looked suspicious, but he grabbed his stuff and went over to the chair.

  She watched him flip through his coloring book while she counted to ten.

  She made it to five before her temper had her returning to Caleb. “What do you think you’re doing?” Tyler’s proximity was the only reason she was able to keep her voice low.

  “Stating a fact.”

  She very nearly stomped her foot. “I’m not going to be manipulated into moving back to Weaver.”

  “Then you’ll be in Idaho Falls on your own.” His voice was flat. “I told you already, you are not taking him to Idaho.”

  “And how exactly do you intend to stop me?” Her face was so hot, she thought flames might shoot out her ears. “You think you have any legal rights at this point in time? Your name’s not even on his birth certificate.” Even when she’d wanted to list his name, she couldn’t. Not without his knowledge. His consent.

  “And whose fault is that? You know I have moral rights or you would never have said a damn word! But you really want to take me on in court? Say the word, Kelly. I’ll get a DNA test and—”