Heart Echoes (30 page)

The crooked mouth curved into a big grin. “Whatever works.”

Will clasped Lacey's hand and squeezed. He gazed at her but spoke to the lawyer. “This works, Teal. This works just fine.”

Chapter 50

Disneyland was crazy packed the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Crowds everywhere, long lines for every ride and exhibit.

River staggered alongside Maiya and Will, the three of them part of the noisy throng exiting Thunder Mountain. His legs wobbled from the roller coaster ride.

Maiya punched his arm. “You're not getting too old for the rides, are you?”

“Nah. Never.”

Will laughed with them. “This one was my favorite so far. Definitely worth the hour wait. Where to next?”

It was a toss-up who had been most excited about the visit to the theme park—Will, Lacey, or Maiya. Their enthusiasm had convinced River to take the day off and play like a kid with them.

Maiya glanced at her cell phone. “It's 1:10. Ice cream is next. Can I meet you there? I want to go back to that one shop and get the Tinker Bell coffee mug for Aunt Lacey.”

“Aren't we going that way?”

“No. You're meeting Mom and Aunt Lace at the Mark Twain, yawn, Riverboat ride.”

“Is that what we decided?” His brain was addled from the jerky ride. Or maybe it was the general state of happy chaos that came from hanging out with fifty thousand other people in the magical kingdom. “Okay. See you in thirty minutes?”

She batted her eyelashes and held out her hands, palms up. “Riv, we're talking
shopping
. I need an hour.”

“All right. An hour at the ice cream parlor on Main Street.”

“'Kay.” She excused her way through the group in front of them and melded into the crowds.

River looked at Will. “Is that what we decided?”

“You got me. This place is a wild ride.” He grinned. “Wilder than Mr. Toad's ride.” The guy was like a big kid.

“It's a special place for us. We came here for our first official outing as a family.” He remembered the day vividly. It was Thanksgiving time then, too, soon after their wedding day. Last week he and Teal celebrated their fourth anniversary, a low-key midweek dinner out. “It would have been about four years ago. I think that was the day Maiya and I really connected.” He glanced at Will as they strolled along a wide walkway. Teal had told Lacey, who had told Will that Bio Dad was his brother. “It seems like I should explain these things now that we know about Cody.”

“Talk about a crazy ride. I'm not sure where to file that information yet.” Will shook his head. “It's obvious you're a great dad to Maiya. She's a wonderful girl.”

“She's my daughter in every other way. How do you think he'll react?”

“Let me ask first: how are you reacting?”

River let out a breath. “Honestly, I kind of wish he'd ridden off into the sunset never to be heard from again. It's not that I think I'll lose where I stand with Maiya. And she needs to know him. But it's a wrinkle in our life. A complication.” He shrugged. “So, what about him? He's not going to pull a Dutch on us, is he? Or swing the other way and sue for custody?” The groundless fears he had not voiced to Teal poured out. He stopped himself short of asking Will if his brother had ever been in love with Teal.

Will said, “He's nothing like Dutch, and I can't imagine him wanting another child. It's not like he and Teal ever had anything going between them.”

That answered that question.

He continued. “Cody has a sweetheart of a wife and three good kids, a job that moves him all over the world. My best guess is he'll take it in stride. He might feel some responsibility and be glad that you're in the picture. He's not the punk he used to be.” He slapped River's shoulder. “I'd say no worries, man.”

River felt a sense of relief. It was hard to imagine someone stepping in now, sixteen years after the fact, and wanting to barge into their lives, but the thought had crossed his mind once. Or twice. “Thanks.”

“Sure.”

They eventually spotted their wives. Teal was seated on a bench in the shade of a tree; Lacey stood next to it talking to a young family with little ones in a double stroller. Like Will, Lacey struck up a conversation with anyone in the vicinity. They were like a portable Happy Grounds Coffee Shop, hospitality without the coffee.

Teal's pallid complexion struck him again. She put up a good front with Will and Lacey, but she hadn't been herself in the week leading up to their arrival. Given the stress of needing to tell her sister about Cody and now anticipating The Talk with Maiya, it was no surprise, though.

She gave him a small smile. “Was it fun?”

“I haven't laughed so hard in ages.” He sat beside her.

“Where's Maiya?”

He glanced at Lacey to make sure she was out of hearing. She was introducing Will to her new friends. “Minnie McMouse is buying a gift for the aunt. How are you?”

“I threw up and now I feel better.”

“Teal.” He put the back of his hand against her forehead. “Are you sick? Do you need to go home?”

“I'm fine.” She moved his hand and held it. “But I'll probably make an appointment with the doctor.”

“Why? What is it?”

She smiled, a slow, lazy movement of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes twinkled. “Most likely a boy or a girl.”

Her voice sounded far away, as if he stood at a distance. The words were difficult to make out. “What?”

“I'm a little slow on the uptake. Nauseous and tired? Ten days late? Duh. Lacey figured it out. I know we haven't been trying for long, but—” she shrugged—“this seems to be how it works with me.”

“You're pregnant?”

“I think so.”

“You're pregnant!” He shouted so loudly Lacey and Will and their new friends stared. “My wife is pregnant!”

They cheered and clapped.

“She's pregnant!”

Other passersby joined in.

“We're having a baby!” He couldn't stop. His face felt like it might split from his grin. He grabbed Teal in a bear hug.

“Uh, River.” She pushed against him and looked up at his face. “We might want to tell our daughter before the rest of the world?”

“What? Oh yeah. I guess. Oh, Teal. I'm so happy. Are you happy? Are you all right? Should we go home? Do you need crackers or something? We should put your feet up.”

“Am I listening to the next nine months?”

He chuckled. “Probably.”

She nuzzled against him and giggled. “I am beyond happy.”

“Me too.” He rested his chin on her head. “Me too.”

And then, to his chagrin, he began to cry.

Chapter 51

While the others headed to the ice cream parlor, Teal headed to a restroom. The happy hordes of people slowed her progress. She still wore a silly grin, but then so did three-fourths of the other visitors. The remaining one-fourth were tired or hungry and most certainly not in the throes of happy pregnancy news.

Funny how she had missed the signs, but it had been almost seventeen years. For Lacey, it had only been a little over one. Her sweet sister was ecstatic. Almost as much as River.

She grinned, although she felt a twinge of sadness for him. The poor guy had cried in public. He said they were tears of joy, but she sensed a touch of sorrow, too. This would bring back all the memories of the joyful time that ended so terribly for him.

How would Maiya take the news? Teal laughed to herself. Her teenager would be happy and embarrassed—her parents? eww!—and attempt to find an in-between space of cool. Teal wanted to tell her right now, privately. What a crazy place to have told River, in the middle of Disneyland. She had not been able to contain herself after Lacey pointed out the obvious while they rode on a make-believe Mark Twain boat on a make-believe river that rolled enough to make her sick to her stomach.

Now Teal reached yet another bathroom, grateful for a short line. Maybe she could find Maiya. She guessed which store she had gone to. But River might feel left out. All right. She would not tell Maiya. She would simply bask in a few moments alone with her, the last moments of Maiya being her only child.

A few minutes later she detoured away from the ice cream parlor toward the shop. Having lived sixteen years in Los Angeles with a daughter, she knew her way around the park fairly well. They first visited when Maiya was three. It became an annual trek, sometimes more when special deals were offered.

Like Maiya, River had grown up visiting the place with his parents and sister. The little boy in him emerged whenever he and Maiya hit the rides Teal avoided.

She smiled, imagining the fun they would all have introducing a new little one to adventure, history, fantasy, music and colors, gentle rides, and . . .

Teal stopped dead in her tracks.

Had she seen what she thought?

A gap opened again in the crowd.

And she saw again.

Ahead, on the left, at the side of the wide, congested walkway stood her daughter. Maiya's back was to her, but she was unmistakable. The black ponytail, the khakis with gathered cuffs, the sleeveless grape-purple tee were her. She spoke to a stranger.

Who was not a stranger.

The man wore blue jeans and a brown T-shirt, but his bearing was clearly military. Thirtysomething, he stood under six feet tall. His shoulders were squared, his slender arms roped with muscles, his hair buzzed to the length of colorlessness, his face lean and weathered, his eyes squinted against the sunlight.

They would be green, not quite the dark shade of Maiya's eyes, but green nonetheless.

Teal would have recognized him anywhere. No matter that the dishwater-blond hair was gone along with the slumped shoulders, the chains, the black clothing. He had haunted her dreams for over sixteen years.

He smiled now. Maiya's ponytail bounced. He laughed. Maiya gestured, her hands painting images in the air. He held out his arms. Maiya stepped into a hug.

From her father.

Teal strode, fast and hard, this way and that, no destination in mind. Her heart pounded in her ears. Her throat ached. The world around her blurred. She bumped into people. They apologized. Her voice screamed inside but did not find its way to her tongue.

Where did one go in the happy kingdom to have a meltdown?

She just kept walking.

How could Lacey and Will have done this to her? Was River in on it? Why had they contacted Cody behind her back and set up such a public meeting? Were they nuts or cruel or utterly clueless?

Poor Maiya! On her own while the others ate ice cream? Teal would have allowed a meeting. She would have.

Sometime. Somewhere. Anywhere else than here and not this week. Certainly not before she had told Maiya that Cody Janski was Bio Dad.

But she would have allowed it. She would have.

“Lady! Watch where you're going!”

Sorry! Sorry!

She had to sit down. A busy restroom was not the place. There must be a first-aid station around. If only she could find a map. If only she could find an empty bench.

Certainly not before she had told Maiya that Cody Janski was Bio Dad.

Maiya did not know him. Will and Lacey did. How had they arranged a meeting? Why wouldn't Lacey at least have introduced them? Had Cody approached Maiya after Will phoned him to say where she was? Had Maiya walked into a trap, not knowing she was going to meet—

No.

No to all of that. River, Lacey, and Will would not have done such a thing.

This was Maiya's doing. She had guessed Cody's identity. Not wanting to ask about him, she and that nerdy Baker had tracked him down, most likely not a problem after hearing stories about him being in the Marines and where he had been stationed. Maiya herself had contacted Bio Dad and arranged . . .

Oh, God.

Her baby had done what Teal had refused to do for her. Maiya had not been able to count on her own mother.

Oh no. Teal would never . . .

But she had.

She was, in the end, no different from Randi, no better. Maybe even worse.

She sobbed and strode smack into the middle of a furry mass.

“Hey, are you all right?” A woman's voice came from the middle of the enormous body of yellow-orange fleece. A tiny screen in a red vest shaded a set of eyes. “Do you want some help?”

Teal shook her head and gazed up at Winnie the Pooh's face bobbing several feet above her own.

“Oh, bother.” The voice from the chest pulled her attention back to the eyes. Giant arms enveloped her. “Just have a good cry. Then we'll go find a honey pot and you'll feel all better.”

At that moment, Teal did not have any choice but to do as she was told.