The Baby Surprise Read Free Page B

Afghanistan and found the letter she’d left for me.”
    â€œOlivia died five-and-a-half months ago,” Paige told him, with an ache in her heart that was more for the child who would never know her mother than for the premature end of her friend’s life.
    A shadow—grief? regret?—momentarily clouded those stunning blue eyes, but then it passed and he nodded. “I found that out when I went to your law firm to find her. The receptionist told me about the accident.”
    â€œNo one knows why she was in New Jersey,” Paige admitted.
    He sipped his coffee, then set the mug down again. “I live in Trenton,” he told her. “Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that I have an apartment about five minutes from the base, which is where I sleep when I’m in town.”
    â€œShe went…to see you?”
    He nodded, confirming another fact that seemed to give credence to his claim of paternity. Of course, Paige wasn’t going to take his word for it, nor was she simply going to hand over a child on the basis of his say-so.
    â€œMy landlord told me a young woman stopped by looking for me early in the new year. When he told her I was overseas, she left a letter for me.”
    â€œDo you have the letter?”
    He took it out of the inside pocket of his jacket and passed it across the table to her.
    Apprehension whispered through her as she picked up the envelope. Her fingers trembled as she lifted the flap and pulled out the single page.
    Zach,
    I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re hearing from me now, after so much time has passed, especially since I was the one who asked you not to contact me, so I’ll get straight to the point. You have a daughter…

Chapter Two
    P aige sucked in a breath, startled to see the words clearly written there, supporting this stranger’s claim to the little girl in her care. She wanted to crumple the letter in her fist, to stuff the paper back in the envelope and tell Zach to take it away, to tell him to go away—far away from Emma. But she forced herself to read on.
    When she was done, she refolded the letter and tucked it in the envelope again, then slid it across the table to him. She picked up her half-empty coffee cup then set it down without drinking, her stomach churning.
    â€œWith all due respect, I have no intention of giving up custody of Emma just because you showed up on my doorstep with a letter that claims you’re her father.”
    â€œA letter written by her mother,” he pointed out.
    She couldn’t be one-hundred-percent sure that Olivia had actually written the letter. In an age of computers and e-mail and text messaging, she honestly didn’t recognize thehandwriting as her friend’s. However, why would this man be here now if he didn’t believe it was true?
    â€œEven so, Olivia never identified you as the father on Emma’s birth certificate,” she reminded him.
    â€œDid she name anyone else?”
    She ignored his question. “I was Olivia’s birthing coach—I went to prenatal classes with her and I was in the delivery room when Emma was born. And through it all, Olivia never once mentioned your name. And, contrary to what is in that letter, she claimed that Emma’s father knew of the pregnancy but wanted no part of his child.”
    â€œThat was the lie,” he said again.
    And the contents of the letter he carried certainly bore that out. But she wasn’t ready to give up, she wasn’t ready to have her heart torn out of her chest, and she knew that was what would happen if he took Emma away.
    â€œStill, I think the best course of action right now would be to have a paternity test.”
    He frowned into his empty mug, then pushed back his chair to refill it. “Fine,” he said. “How soon can we get that done?”
    â€œI can make some calls tomorrow,” she told him. “But probably not until sometime