Finish the Course (The Barnes Family Book 1) (19 page)

              “I don’t understand why Greely didn’t want us to tell Judah,” Anna leaned on her husband’s arm as they flew home a week later. “He has a right to know he has a son.”

              “She has a right to protect her son from the man who didn’t want him.”

              Anna couldn’t deny that truth, but she felt a loyalty to her brother that was hard to shake.               “Slater, losing her changed him – and not for the better.”

              “Maybe it wasn’t just losing him,” her husband was yawning. “Maybe it was the idea of losing his child as well.”

              She leaned into his shoulder and joined him in slumber for the rest of the flight.

              Anna did not tell her brother about Nathaniel, but she did call him and tell what Greely said to tell him.

              “Guess who I saw while on my honeymoon.”

              Judah didn’t respond.

              “You aren’t going to guess?”

              “Oh,” he laughed. “I thought that was rhetorical.”

              “No, but I’ll give you a hint,” she paused for effect. “It was in Paris.”

              “Paris, France?”

              “No,” she scoffed, “I jetted over to Paris, Texas while taking my European honeymoon.”

              He was quiet for a moment, “Was it her?”

              “It was.”

              “How does she look?”

              “Fabulous.”

              He was still there. She could hear him breathing.

              “Judah, you okay?”

              “Yeah.”

             
Liar

              “She told me I could give you her number.”

              Judah laughed, but there wasn’t a trace of humor in the sound, “What for?”

              “In case you wanted to get ahold of her. To talk.”

              “She couldn’t find a better offer?”

              “She wasn’t looking for one,” Anna was getting angry now. “She was looking for a place to heal from her loss.”

              “Her loss?”

              Anna wished he were here in the room with her so she could throw something at him.

              “You know what I’m talking about, Judah.”

              He was breathing heavily enough that she could hear him over the phone line, “She told you about the baby.”

              It was Anna’s turn to be silent.

              “I’ve never regretted anything more than that.”

              “Then call her,” she urged.

              “Is he going to call?” Slater spoke up from the other side of the kitchen after she disconnected.

              “I don’t know. Probably not right away.”

              Slater stood behind her, “I think they need to work on open communication so they don’t have any more misunderstandings in the way.”

              She leaned into him, “That would be best.”

              He leaned down to taste her neck, “I suppose not all love stories can be as smooth as ours.”

              Anna turned in his arms as she laughed, but he cut off her amusement with a kiss.

THE END

Coming soon:

Greely looked down at the number Anna had given her several months before. It had taunted her since the receipt of it. The younger woman had slid it into Greely’s hand on her way out the door.

              “Just in case you ever want to call him.”

              Greely had kept it in her sock drawer ever since.

              Why was it now, this Tuesday morning, sitting on the kitchen table?

              “Nate?” she walked into her son’s room and leaned against the frame.

              He pulled an earbud out and raised his eyebrow, “Yeah?”

              She held up the slip of paper, “Do you know what this is?”

              He glanced at it and nodded.

              “Did you take it from my drawer?”

              “I saw it the day you asked me to grab you an extra pair of socks for your business trip,” he shut off his music.

              “And?”

              He frowned, “And I took it – just in case.”

              “Just in case what?”

              “Just in case I ever needed to call him.”

              Greely felt a bubble of fear welling, “And did you?”

              “Need to call him? Yeah,” her son looked a little irritated. “But I didn’t do it.”

              Greely looked away.

              “Mom,” Nathan was clearly exasperated, “I’d like to know my dad before I grow up.”

              “He doesn’t know about you,” she stared down at her black pumps.

              “I know. You said that.”

              She crossed the room and sat down on his bed, “Nate, I’ve been thinking about this a lot. It may be time for you to meet him.”

              Nate looked up at her in shock. “Doesn’t he live in Virginia?”

              “Pennsylvania, actually,” she swallowed hard.

              “So, how would that work? We’d go visit?”

              Greely shook her head, “I got a job offer in Maryland.”

              “In the U.S?”

              She nodded.

              “We’d be near Jarod and Nick?” he asked about his cousins.

              “Pretty close, yes.”

              Nathan appeared to be thinking about the situation. It was a lot to contemplate. Nate had lived in Paris all his life and had only been back to the States once a year since then. He had friends in his neighborhood and at his school. On the other hand, Greely knew he wanted a chance to meet his father. The subject had come up more and more often since he had met Jude’s sister the previous year. Greely watched him for a few minutes and then left him to ponder it in private.

              She picked up her phone and dialed the international code.

              “Iris Keller here.”

              “Iris, this is Greely Walker. I need some more details on that position.”

Thanks to Stacey of Trytek  Images for the cover art
http://trytekimages.zenfolio.com/