Heartsong (Singing to the Heart Book 2) (21 page)

She backed away and shook her head, her sinuses burning with the bitter tears she refused to let fall. “No. Just because we had sex and said things we didn’t mean doesn’t erase our deal. We adopt Jesse and get a divorce.”

“Michaela?”

Before the first treacherous tear could roll down her cheek at the pained rasp of his voice, she turned away. “I think I should be getting back to Texas. I’ve been away from Momma long enough. Besides, she has an appointment next week with the neurologist to discuss the facial surgery, and I don’t want to miss it.”

She was halfway up the stairs when he said, “I’ll book a flight.”

With a nod, she hurried to Gabe’s bedroom. Once inside, she took a deep breath and banished the moisture from her eyes. Tears never solved anything, and they sure as hell weren’t going to ever fix her and Gabe.

The only thing that would do that was to get away from him.

* * * *

Later that night, Gabe entered his empty house after leaving Reese’s office. How could a day that had started out so promising end up so damned shitty?

After Michaela left that morning, he’d gone with Reese to an appointment the lawyer had set up with Gabe’s personal physician at his clinic. Trish arrived with Lydia and the baby a few moments later. In the lab, the physician took a cheek swab from both Gabe and the baby, then reassured them they’d have the DNA results back in a few days. They’d left the clinic and headed to Reese’s posh office, where Lydia oohed and ahhed over the richness of the lawyer’s space and the fantastic view of Nashville from the thirtieth floor.

Despite the hours they’d spent together, first at the clinic, then at Reese’s office going over the terms of the contract Lydia signed, Gabe felt no more connected to the baby than he had when he’d first seen her. Sure, the timing of Lydia’s pregnancy was perfectly in line with the time they’d spent together in Vegas sixteen months ago, but wouldn’t he have sensed something if the baby was his?

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the one person who might have an answer. Twenty minutes later, Gabe answered his door to let Seth Kendall in.

Seth moved into the living room and removed his trademark black Stetson. When he turned to Gabe, he narrowed his eyes on him. “Where’s Micki?”

Gabe snorted and poured them each a glass of Gentleman Jack. Seth took his whiskey and sat on one of the leather chairs opposite the couch.

He dropped onto his couch and stared into his glass of amber liquid. Had Michaela lied about loving him? If she loved him, why did she still want the divorce after they adopt Jesse? The thought of letting her go again ripped his heart in two. “She went back to Texas this morning.”

Seth swirled the whiskey in his glass with a contemplative furrow in his brow. “I’ve been wondering something, and I think I’ve kept my trap shut long enough.” When Seth’s bright green gaze caught his, Gabe knew his friend figured out the reason for the rushed marriage. “You and Micki got married, hoping you could adopt your brother. At first I thought maybe she was pregnant, but I didn’t think so after I saw you two together at the wedding. Something seemed off.”

“I guess our plan is pretty transparent, but yeah, we got married for Jesse. Our plan was”--remembering Micki’s words that morning, he winced and corrected himself--“is to get divorced once the adoption goes through.” Gabe tossed back half of the fine Tennessee whiskey.

“You fell in love with her.” Seth leaned back into his chair and let out his breath.

“Yeah, well, she never felt the same as I did. I should have known better.” Gabe finished off his whiskey and went to the bar to get more. He returned with the bottle of Jack Daniels and sat down. “But my fucked up marriage isn’t why I called you.”

Seth watched him. “You said you wanted to pick my brain. I thought you wanted some songwriting help, but I figured out the moment you opened the door that probably wasn’t why you called. Out with it.”

Gabe swallowed some more of the smooth whiskey, letting its heat melt his trepidation away. Was he afraid that little girl might be his or that she might not be? “That stripper I screwed in Las Vegas, Lydia Greenhow, showed up here this morning with a seven-month-old baby girl she is claiming belongs to me.”

Seth widened his eyes and let out a whistle between his teeth. “Holy shit.”

Gabe let out a chuckle. “Yep.”

“Is that why Micki left?”

Gabe wasn’t sure if he even understood why she’d left. “In a way. She was mad because, when Lydia showed up here, I didn’t believe her. Damn it, Seth, I don’t want to believe her. The whole time all I could think of is how this will screw up my chances to get Jesse away from Lemont Finn. I said some things that probably made me sound like a pure heartless bastard. I told her I wanted the kid tested, and if she turned out to be mine, I wanted her to sign the baby over to me. In exchange, I’d pay her off. Which only made me madder because the bitch agreed to those terms without blinking an eyelid. In fact, she demanded more money.”

He remembered Michaela’s question and signed. “I think Micki thought I would have done the same thing to her if she hadn’t lost our baby before our breakup. But she’s different than Lydia. Michaela would never have given up her baby for money.”

“You were in shock. I know, when I got the news I was going to be a father the first time, I was in denial. It was the last thing I wanted.” Seth set his glass on the coffee table, which Gabe noticed was still full; then his friend leaned over his legs and folded his hands. “Getting the news that you’re a father or gonna be one isn’t easy. It’s a hell of a responsibility, but if I could have done things differently, I would have.”

“Leaving Abby was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and the stupidest.” With a wince as if the memories still caused him pain, Seth looked up at him. “I wasted fourteen years that I’ll never get back with my daughter. While I was off getting rich and famous, she was being raised by a sadistic bastard. Now she’s her own person. I’ve always loved her, but not knowing her as a little kid still hurts.”

Seth shook his head of curling strawberry-blond hair. “The only advice I can give you is to fight for that baby if she turns out to be yours. But you can’t exclude Lydia from her life. To do that would be the same thing Abby and her ex did to me.”

Gabe knew in his heart Seth was right, but he didn’t want to be tied to an immoral stripper for the rest of his life. What kind of strain would that put on his and Michaela’s marriage? Hell, did they even have a chance at a future? Then an even more terrifying thought occurred to him: If their marriage did fall apart, he’d already agreed she’d keep Jesse, but who would help him care for his daughter? Lydia? God, he hoped not.

He pictured the dark-haired, brown-eyed baby and tried to feel a connection, to see some semblance of recognition. But he saw none. The little girl didn’t look much like Lydia, but he sure as hell couldn’t see himself in her either.

Gabe emptied his glass and asked the question for which he’d called his friend. “Wouldn’t I know if the kid was mine? I mean, shouldn’t I be able to recognize some part of me in her?”

Seth took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. “That’s a tough question. I don’t know. I’ve always known Emily was my daughter, so when I met her for the first time…” He paused and shrugged as if remembering, his eyes taking on a faraway glaze as he stared toward the coffee table. “She answered the door and smiled. I still get chills when I remember the first time I laid eyes on my little girl.”

Gabe smiled at the emotion his friend conjured but lost the smile as he thought of his reaction this morning. If the baby did turn out to be his, how would he ever live with his memories of how he treated her?

“Yes, I instantly recognized her as my daughter, but I was also expecting to see her that afternoon.” Seth quirked his lips up into a one-sided grin. “Who knows if I would’ve recognized her if she’d shown up on my doorstep and I hadn’t known she even existed. I’d like to think I would have, but…” He shrugged, picked up the glass of whiskey he’d sat on the table, and drained it. “I can’t say that I would have.”

“What the hell do you mean the lab lost the samples?” Gabe gripped his iPhone so tight his hand hurt. “I paid you to get those results rushed through.”

His doctor sputtered on the other line. “I’m sorry, Gabe. These things happen. I’ll have to take another sample from you and the baby, and I’ll take responsibility for the tests.”

Gabe stared out the French doors at the cold November morning sun reflecting off the glass-topped table setting on the patio by the pool. “Fine. I’ll call Reese to get in touch with Miss Greenhow.”

He hung up the phone and it instantly started vibrating again. As soon as the call connected, Michaela’s worried voice sounded in his ear. “Have you seen the latest report on TMZ?”

“No.” The doorbell rang, and dread caused his heart to sink. He headed for the front door while he told her about the lost DNA samples.

“That’s the least of our worries. TMZ is reporting the news that you have a daughter and that you don’t want her.”

“Fuck!” Gabe stabbed the fingers of his free hand into his hair and fisted it. “When did the report come out?”

“I don’t know. This morning, maybe.” Micki’s voice quivered, and she cleared it. “I think it would be best if I distance myself from you. I don’t want this to hurt my chances to get Jesse.”

Fear of a different sort coursed through him, causing his heart to clench. “What are you saying?”

“I’m contacting a lawyer from Dallas who might be able to help me get Jesse.”

He sighed as the person on the other side of the door gave up ringing the doorbell and resorted to pounding and shouting. Gary. He should have known if Michaela had seen the report, so had his manager. Gabe’s heart shattered. Maybe Michaela did have a better chance of getting Jesse on her own now. “What’s the lawyer’s name?”

She was silent for so long, he thought she’d hung up. When she spoke, her voice sounded watery, and for a moment, he wondered if she was fighting back tears. “Lance Cartwright. He’s my second cousin, so I thought he’d be willing to help. I got the idea after seeing our mutual cousin at the
CMA
s.”

Logan Cartwright hadn’t always been a singer. His first profession had been being a successful divorce lawyer in a law partnership with his first cousin. How long had she been planning to leave him? Gabe closed his eyes and rode out the searing burn in his chest. He’d been a fool to fall in love with her again. “He’s as good--if not better than--Reese. Whatever you want, I’ll agree to. Our prenup gives you the ranch and money to take care of things. Maybe--” He had to swallow the sudden bitter lump in his throat. “Maybe it’s for the best.”

He hung up the call and opened his door. To his surprise, Gary wasn’t the only one on his doorstep.

A grim Reese stood beside his furious manager. “We have a problem. Lydia Greenhow checked out of her hotel this morning and vanished.”

* * * *

The morning after the news broke, Micki told her mother about her plan to contact their cousin’s law firm in Dallas. Feeling as if her entire world was exploding around her, she sat on the couch in the family room where she’d found her mother watching TV and looked down at her folded hands in her lap. “I think filing for divorce would be my best option. I need to distance myself from this mess of Gabe’s before I’m dragged in.”

Momma narrowed her eyes on her when she finished her plan. “And you think filing for divorce two weeks after getting married will make this all go away?” She didn’t give Micki a chance to respond. “You can’t run from this, Micki. In fact, you should be doing the complete opposite. You and Gabe need to present a united front. You said you married Gabe for Jesse, but if you leave him now, how do you think that will make you look in the eyes of the judge?”

Micki swallowed and closed her eyes. “I don’t know. But what chance do I have to get him if Gabe is entangled in this mess with that stripper?”

“Damn it, Michaela Jo!”

Her mother’s use of her full name had Micki looking up at her with surprise. Momma hadn’t called her by that name since she was a little girl.

“You’re a fool if you think I don’t know what you’re really doing.” Momma rolled her wheelchair closer to the couch and rested her arthritic hands on top of Micki’s. “Micki, I know you love him. You’re afraid he’ll leave you again. But what if he doesn’t? I heard that song he sang to you at the award show. God, girl, the man has it so damn bad for you it made my heart ache.” She gently squeezed Micki’s hands and sat back in her wheelchair with a wince. But whether it came from her disease or from the memory, Micki didn’t know. “If your father had loved me half as much as Gabe McKenna does you, I--I…”

When a tear slid down Momma’s cheek, Micki took her mother’s hands and shook her head. She hated the pain her father’s betrayal still caused her mother. “Shhh… I won’t call Lance. You’re probably right. Filing for divorce would be a stupid move.”

But how could she stand with Gabe? He was bound to break her heart like her father had her mother’s. After all, he hadn’t discouraged her when she brought up getting divorced yesterday. Could she stay and risk even more of her heart?

* * * *

Micki stared out the master bedroom window. The day dawned cold and breezy, but the bright sun belied the weather forecast of rainstorms later that day. She prayed for torrential downpours. Maybe then the cars and vans parked along the county road outside the front gate would go away--at least for a little while

Ten days of hell.

That was the prison she and her mother found themselves in. Sure, they were living in the ranch house and had plenty of food and comfort, but outside the front gate was a horde of reporters and paparazzi. Not all of them were tabloid hacks either; a few of them were from the local TV stations, which justified prying into their private lives as local special interest stories.

Gabe was still in Nashville where he dealt with the brunt of the reporters. Every time she booted up the Internet, his face flashed on the screen in some story posted by the tabloids on the newsfeed of her search engine. Some of the reports even speculated that they were splitting up. In another story, her mother’s illness and the scheduled surgery were mentioned as the causes of her coming abruptly back to Texas following the CMA awards.