Not Quite Mine (Not Quite #2)(59)
Author: Catherine Bybee

They chose a table on an outside patio and suffered the warm temperatures to avoid notice.

Katie’s hands trembled as they sat and kept the talk light until they’d ordered food.

“You didn’t ask me here to talk about work, Katie. What’s up?”

Katie removed her sunglasses and Monica’s gaze opened wide. “You know something.”

Swallowing hard, Katie nodded. “Promise me this stays between us.”

“Of course—”

“No. Not of course. This is huge, Monica. And you’re the closest thing I have to a sister. My mother is God-knows-where and I wouldn’t trust her with this anyway. Promise me…pinky, blood…or whatever it is you sisters do that makes you take something to the grave if need be.”

Monica grasped her hands. “You’re worrying me.”

“Promise!”

“I promise. I’ll take this to the grave if you need me to.”

Katie paused and set her sunglasses back on her nose. “I know who the mother is.”

“Hookay…”

“I think I know who the father is.”

Monica sat perfectly still and waited.

“Patrick found a security tape of Maggie passing herself off as room service in the hotel that night.” Saying which night wasn’t necessary. They were both there.

Monica squinted, confused. “Maggie? Why does that name sound familiar?”

“She is Dean’s ex.”

Monica’s jaw dropped. “Oh, my God. So you think Dean is…”

Katie nodded. “I think he is.”

Monica dropped back in her chair as the information sank in. “Are you sure?”

“I’m not positive about anything.” Katie removed a copy of the original note left with Savannah from her purse and flattened the well-worn edges on the table.

“I’ve been going over this for weeks and now it all makes sense.” She cleared her throat and read a passage from the letter. “Savannah was conceived with love, albeit one-sided, and deserves a mother who can give her everything. Dean hasn’t come out and told me that he didn’t love Maggie, but if he did, I don’t think he would have let her just walk out on him. Jack told me a couple times that he didn’t think Maggie was the right match for Dean. Maybe she called off the wedding because he couldn’t love her.”

“Or maybe he talked about his ex…you…a little too much.”

“What guy talks about his ex to his current?”

Monica shook her head. “OK…well he had to say something. Or maybe she overheard him talking to someone else?”

“I don’t think anyone knew about us. I know Jack was clueless. Besides, there aren’t many men out there, Dean included, who have soulful talks with their buddies.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Monica said. “Dean could have said something in passing…while having a little too much to drink. You never know.”

Maybe.

“Either way, if the mother is Maggie and if Dean is Savannah’s real father…then Maggie didn’t believe Dean loved her.”

“All easy conclusions from what you know about their relationship and this letter.” Monica sipped her water and looked around them.

The closest occupied table was three away so Katie continued.

“I know things about you that I probably shouldn’t. I know how much you want a child of your own, how impossible it is for you to do so,” Katie read aloud. “Dean must have told her about me. How else would she have known I can’t have kids of my own?”

“Seems like a personal thing to share.”

“Very. I can’t think about him telling her this right now or why he did…I just need to work out these facts and deal with the why of it all later.”

“When two people get married, they talk about all kinds of things. According to Jessie anyway. She and Jack talked about their past sex lives. She even asked your brother if there was any possibility of a kid out there being his.”

“Do you think Maggie asked Dean if he could get her pregnant? God, what if she planned this?” She hadn’t thought of that.

“Women trap men with pregnancy all the time, but she called off the wedding. I don’t think Savannah was a trap. Who knows, I could be wrong, but I don’t think that tree is worth barking up, Katie.”

Katie looked back down at the letter. “Her father isn’t ready for her, but if my instincts are right, he will be one day. And when he is, the two of you will give Savannah the loving home she needs.” Katie paused after reading the passage.

“Sounds like Maggie knew the two of you would reunite if she wasn’t in the picture.”

“Dean has always wanted to be a father. He talked about having a houseful of kids one day, just like the one where he grew up. He had to have talked about these things with her. They were getting married for Christ’s sake. She had to know he wanted kids.” Anger rose inside her. How could Maggie be so ignorant?

“If he didn’t love her, she would either have to live a lie with him or raise this child in a broken home. Neither choice is easy.”

Monica was right.

“Two parents loving a child will always be better than one.”

“Oh, that’s crap.” The hair on Katie’s neck stood on end. Her father had done just fine!

“Really? Most of your life you haven’t had a mom. How’s that working for you?”

“I’m fine,” she bit out between her stiff lips.

“Bullshit. No more than I am about my dad abandoning us. Yeah, we get along…get over it. But that shit still hurts and you know it. Even Jessie with all her brave face about raising Danny alone couldn’t love him like a father can. Jack has made it better for both of them.”

Katie wanted to deny Monica’s wisdom.

She couldn’t.

Monica picked at her food. “So Maggie is the mother.”

“Looks that way.”

“And Dean is the father.”

“Looks that way.”

“Now what? You obviously haven’t told him.”

“How can I? What if I’m wrong about him…what if he does love Maggie and wants to try and work it out with her? I could lose them both.” Her stomach twisted with the thought.

“I don’t think Dean would do that to you.”

“One of the things I love about him is his loyalty. He adores Savannah. It’s like he feels a connection. Is that possible? That on some level he knows she’s his?”