Trusting Sydney: The Temptation Saga: Book Six (9 page)

S
ydney’s heart
dropped to her stomach. She gulped.
Please, please let him be okay. I’ll do anything. I’ll give up anything. Anything as long as he’s okay.

The doctor entered with Duke’s chart.

“Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan,” he said.

“Please don’t beat around the bush,” Carrie begged. “What’s going on with our little boy?”

Duke had fallen asleep in the bed and appeared comfortable.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush. The news is good. Duke’s blood counts came back in the normal range.”

Sydney fell into Sam’s hard body.

“And that means?” Roy said.

“It means Duke has a virus. He’ll be good as new in a few days. Keep him rested and push fluids. Give him ibuprofen for the fever as needed.”

“But the bruises,” Carrie said.

“He’s a little boy. Little boys get bruises. It’s not uncommon for a little boy to not know how he got a bruise.”

“But Doc Larson—”

“Doc Larson did the right thing by telling you to come here, especially with the medical history. Although as I said before, blood cancers are rarely hereditary. I’d like you to repeat the blood work in a month, just to make sure. I’ll write out the instructions for your pediatrician at home.”

“Thank you,” Carrie breathed. “Thank you so much!”

Sydney burst into tears.

“He’s okay, sweetheart,” Sam said. “He’s okay.”

“I know that. It’s just… I don’t know.”

“You’re letting down,” the doctor said. “Completely understandable and normal. I’m so sorry you had this scare. But Duke is just fine.”

“Should we get him home to Nevada right away?” Carrie asked.

“There’s no reason why you can’t continue your visit,” the doctor said. “It’s really up to you. He’d be more comfortable at home, of course, but the travel might be difficult for him. If you stay, he’ll be on the mend by the time you leave, and the trip will be much more comfortable for him.”

“I have another barrel race the day after tomorrow,” Sydney said, “but I’d feel better if you and Daddy took Duke home.”

“Well, we can’t go anywhere tonight,” Roy said. “Let’s get him back to Bakersville to the hotel and make sure he gets a good night’s sleep. We can make that decision in the morning.” He held out his hand. “Thank you so much, Doctor.”

“You’re most welcome.” He handed Roy a paper. “Here’s the instructions for your pediatrician. You all have a good night.”

Carrie picked up a sleeping Duke.

“Just a minute, Doctor,” Sam said.

“Yes?”

“I assume you still have Duke’s blood sample?”

“Of course. It’s in the lab.”

“Then I want you draw some of mine. I want a DNA test.”

“Excuse me? I’m not sure I understand.”

“He’s my son. I want proof.”

Sydney’s stomach tumbled. “Please, Sam, not right now.”

“Right now’s the perfect time. He’s already had his blood drawn so we don’t have to poke him again. And he’s sleeping. He can’t hear us.”

“I can’t run another test without parental consent.” He turned to Roy and Carrie. “Are you okay with this?”

“No,” Carrie said. “I am not.”

Roy soothed her. “Carrie, it will happen sooner or later. If we do it now it saves Duke an additional pinprick.”

“You realize insurance won’t cover this,” the doctor said.

“I can pay you cash money right now,” Sam said. “Or put it on a credit card. I don’t give a damn what it costs.”

“All right. We’re not in the habit of drawing blood for paternity tests in the ER, but since you’re here, I can arrange it. You come with me.” He nodded to Sam. “I'll send a nurse in with paperwork for you to sign,” he said to Roy and Carrie.

Sydney plunked down in a chair, feeling utterly defeated. “I’m sorry,” she said to her parents.

“What are we going to do?” Carrie sobbed.

“Look,” Roy said, “the most important thing is that Duke is okay. Our little boy does not have leukemia. Grasp that concept, and everything else is nothing.”

“Everything else is
not
nothing,” Carrie said. “That man wants to take our son.”

“Lower your voice.” Roy put his fingers against his lips. “Do you want to wake him? Now just settle down. We have to accept that Sam is going to be a part of Duke’s life. There’s nothing we can do. He’s the child’s father.”

Sydney sat, numb and silent.

A nurse entered. “Here are the papers for you to sign.”

Roy scribbled his signature.

“I can’t believe you’re letting him do this,” Carrie said.

“If we don’t, he’ll just get a court order. Duke’s blood has already been drawn.”

“There’s no need,” Sydney said. “Only one man can be the father, and it’s Sam. You can trust me on that.”

“He needs to know for sure, and I don’t blame him.”

“But this will only help him,” Carrie said. “It will give him the ammunition he needs to take Duke away from us.”

“No one is taking Duke away from us. You can count on that,” Roy said. “Now simmer down.”

Sam returned, a Band-Aid in the crease of his elbow. “I’ll get the results in a few days.”

“I hope you’re happy,” Carrie said.

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Sam said. “I’m happy that Duke is not seriously ill. I’ve had enough catastrophic illness affecting people I love to last a lifetime. I really didn’t want to go through that again.”

Carrie lowered her gaze, and Sydney felt bad for her mother. Sam had shamed her a little.

“Do you mind if I ride back with Sam?” Sydney asked. “We need to talk.”

Her father understood. She could tell by the expression on his face. “Yes, that’s fine, baby girl.”

“Well, I don’t know—” Sam began.

“Please, Sam. Just give me the ride to Bakersville. It’s only an hour or so.”

Sam sighed. “All right. We can stop and grab a bite on the way. Suddenly I’m famished.”

Sydney’s tummy tightened. She wasn’t famished. Not hungry at all. Gratitude filled her for her little boy’s health, but still so much remained unresolved.

Maybe the drive home with Sam would resolve some of it.

She hoped, at least.

“
S
o you expect
me to believe that you didn’t tell your parents who the father was because you didn’t want to lay a child on me? With all my other problems?”

Sydney gulped. She’d never expected him to question her reasons why. They were the truth, after all. “I was young. Those were my thoughts at the time.”

“Unbelievable.”

“Plus, you hardly knew me. It was a one-night stand. Did you really want me coming to you with news of a baby?”

“I don’t know, Sydney. I’ll never know how I would have felt, because you didn’t let me have the chance to feel anything, did you?”

He was right. What could she say? Except, “I’m sorry, Sam. I’m so sorry.”

“Doesn’t cut it.”

“I know that. But I am sorry. Truly.”

“You know, I could almost understand if you'd had the baby and then put him up for adoption. I’d still be upset, but I could at least understand. You weren’t ready for a baby. You didn’t think I’d want him either. Course you’d have been wrong about that, but I can at least see the reasoning. But that’s not what you did. You had the baby, didn’t tell me, and gave him to your parents to raise.”

“They wanted another child. My mama was only seventeen when Blake was born, twenty when I came along. She was only thirty-nine when Duke was born. She and Dad had tried to have another child for several years, but it didn’t happen. Duke was a godsend for them.”

“Maybe he would have been a godsend to me. Did you think of that?”

“No. I didn’t, and I’m sorry. I thought it was a one-night stand and you wouldn’t want the baby.”

“You were wrong.”

“I realize that now.” Memory washed over her of that incredible night together, the night that had resulted in their beautiful son. How could she make him understand when she wasn’t sure she understood herself?

“You got the best of both worlds, didn’t you? You got the baby without the responsibility. Instead of being the responsible parent, you get to be the doting big sister.”

Guilt rolled through her like hot lava. It was true. She couldn’t deny that she liked being a part of Duke’s life. Giving him away to strangers would have been too hard. But she couldn’t say these words to Sam.

Didn’t matter. He already knew anyway.

They drove the rest of the way in silence, until Sydney noticed they’d passed through town and were into ranching country.

“Where are we going?”

“Aw, fuck,” Sam said. “I was on autopilot. We’re heading to Dusty and Zach’s ranch. Shit, now I have to turn around. We’re almost there, too.”

“No matter. You’re exhausted and so am I. Are you staying at a guest house?”

“Yeah.”

“Is there more than one bedroom?”

“Yeah.”

“Just keep going then. I’ll sleep in the other bedroom.”

“Look, it’s no problem to go back.”

“Sam, please. We’ve both been through the wringer tonight. Let’s just go to bed.”

He relented and kept driving.

S
ydney woke in the darkness
. A warm body had snuggled against her back, spoon fashion. She jerked.

“It’s just me, baby,” Sam said. “Go back to sleep.”

She smiled and curled against him.

When she opened her eyes to dawn streaming through the window, he was gone.

The smoky aroma of bacon wafted into her room. She rose and pulled on her jeans and shirt and traipsed out to the kitchen.

Sam stood at the stove in jeans, shirtless, his bronze muscular back a sight to behold. Had a more beautiful man ever been made?

“Good morning,” she said.

He turned. “Morning. Coffee’s made. Help yourself.”

Was that it? Was he going to say nothing about the fact that he’d slept against her last night?

“Uh, okay. Thanks.”

She fumbled in the cupboards until she found a mug and poured herself a cup.

“Like scrambled eggs?” he asked.

“Love ’em.”

“Good. They’ll be ready in a minute or two.”

So this was how it was going to be.
Fine. I get it.

He set a plate of eggs in front of her, and the doorbell rang.

“Excuse me for a minute.”

In walked Dallas McCray, the oldest of the McCray brothers. Sydney remembered him.

“Sydney, this is Dusty’s brother-in-law Dallas,” Sam said.

“We’ve met. Nice to see you.”

“You too,” Dallas said. He turned to Sam. “You want me to come back later?”

“No. This concerns her. Sit on down. I’ll get you some coffee.”

What on earth was going on?

“Dallas is an attorney,” Sam said.

“I’m a rancher with a license to practice law,” Dallas said. “I don’t claim to know everything about the law.”

“You know enough for me,” Sam said. “What did you find out?”

“To proceed with anything, you’ll need to get a DNA test.”

“Already done.”

“What?”

“The DNA test. Got it yesterday. I’ll have the results in a few days.”

“How’d you manage that? I thought we’d need a court order.”

“Circumstances. I was in the right place at the right time.”

Sydney widened her eyes. “I can’t believe this. What the hell is going on?”

“I’m going after my rights, Sydney.”

“Meaning?”

“I want my son.”

“You can’t possibly be serious. You’re not taking him away from my parents. I won’t let you.”

“You gave away your parental rights. I did not.”

“And you agree with this?” she said to Dallas.

“I’m just the lawyer here. It’s not my job to agree or disagree. It’s my job to answer his questions about the law, and that’s what I’m doing. He already knows I can’t represent him in any kind of legal action. I have a ranch to run.”

“Then who’s representing him?

“A friend of mine in Denver. Richard White. He’s a family lawyer. He specializes in this kind of stuff.”

“How much is this costing you?” she asked Sam.

“Don’t righteously care,” he said. “Hang the cost. I want my kid.”

“Don’t put the cart before the horse,” Dallas said. “We can’t do anything until we get the DNA results.”

“I can guarantee what the results will be. And so can you, can’t you, Sydney?”

Her cheeks warmed. “He’s the father,” she said. “I haven’t been with anyone else.” She turned to Sam. “After everything we went through last night, I can’t believe you still want to do this.”

“Last night only clinched it,” he said. “Last night proved how fragile life is. I’m glad as hell Duke isn’t sick, but damnit, anything can happen. Last night drove home that you never know what tomorrow may bring. I want to know my son now, because only God knows how much more time he and I have together.”

Sydney opened her mouth to speak but shut it quickly. What could she say to that? He made a damn good point.

“Tell me,” Sam said to her. “If you were in my place, what would you do? Say you had a kid out there you just found out about. Wouldn’t you want to get to know him?’

“I…I don’t know. The situation is completely different. I’m a woman. If I had a kid out there, I’d know it.”

“I think you just made my point. You can’t even begin to understand how I feel, can you? Women think they can make all the decisions because they have the babies. Well, I’ll grant you the fact that it’s your body. If you had decided to abort the baby, I wouldn’t have had any say in it.”

Sydney gasped. “I could never have done that.”

“I’m not saying you could have.” Sam’s tone softened a bit. “I’m just saying it was your decision. But that baby is half mine, and the minute he came out of your body, he stopped being solely your business.”

“Fathers do have rights,” Dallas said.

Sydney pounded her fist on the table. “I understand all that.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Sam said, still softly. “I’m just asserting my rights.”

“Can’t you at least talk to my parents? Maybe we can all work something out.”

“That’s an option you haven’t considered, Sam,” Dallas said, “and it’s something that makes real sense from where I see it. Remember, the court will consider what’s in the best interest of the child, not the parent. You can love that boy all you want, and you can want to be with him and raise him all you want, but if the court thinks leaving him with the Buchanans is in his best interest, that’s what they’ll do.”