Slow Ride (Riding with Honor) (7 page)

She looked at him oddly and then said
, “Today’s my birthday, Daddy.”

Shit.
  Tomorrow was Gretchen’s actual birthday but he completely forgot to bake cupcakes for her class party today.  He also forgot to order a cake for her birthday party tomorrow at Gran’s house.

“Well we are late so finish up your breakfast and then get dressed
,” he said, setting her clothes on an empty kitchen chair.

Heading back to his room
, he grabbed his cell phone and called Dana’s number back as he rummaged for some clothes for himself.

“Tommy?”
she answered. “Did you forget something?”

“Yea, I kind of did… I was supposed to make cupcakes for Gretchen’s birthday party and I completely forgot.  I’m going to drop her off and then go get store bought ones and I’ll drop them back off on my way to work
,” he said.

“I already brought cupcakes for her birthday.  I do that for all my student’s birthdays
,” she said.

Part of him wanted to kiss her but another part felt bad that she was doing his job.  The part that wanted to kiss her won out.  He wanted to kiss her real bad…
amongst other things
.

“Thank you
, Dana.  I owe you one,” he said before hanging up again.

He called Bobby to let him know he was running late and then jumped in the shower.  A half an hour later they were out the door and headed for school and work.  Gretchen looked angry.  She knew he’d forgotten to make the cupcakes.  Nothing he could do about it now.

As he walked Gretchen into her classroom, Dana got up from the table and headed over to him.  Her class now consisted of four boys and two other girls besides Gretchen who sat around the table.  He noticed Dana eye Gretchen and then stepping up next to him she turned to the class.

“Kids, I want you all to thank Mr. McMurray for the cupcakes.  He had them delivered this morning for Gretchen’s birthday today
,” she said.

The kids all sounded out their thanks and he felt Gretchen hug his leg and looking down he noticed her smiling up at him.

“I thought you forgot Daddy!  Thank You!” she said before running over to sit down at the table.

“You really saved my ass woman
,” he whispered to her. “Don’t make any plans for after tonight’s visit.”

She looked at him and he watched her cheeks flush and her eyes seemed to change to more of a blue green color than the normal sparkling green he was used to.  He wanted to ask her what she was thinking but she turned away from him and walked over to the table and began working with the students. 

He headed out for work and called Gran on his way.

“Gran?  It’s me Tommy, I need a favor
,” he said.

“Let me guess… somebody forgot to make a certain yellow cake with pink icing for a certain little heathen’s birthday tomorrow.  Am I right?”
she said.

Edna was Bobby’s grandmother but she had raised Bobby as her own.  He and Bobby had been friends since grade school and she had taken on Tommy when his mother died of cancer two weeks after his twentieth birthday. 

He had begun to drown the devastation he felt at his mother’s loss with drinking, parties and women.  Edna dragging him and Bobby out of one such party by their ears had been proof she was a force to be reckoned with.

Gran
, as she was lovingly referred to, ruled with an iron fist and he thanked God for her.  She was the neighborhood mom and had kept both himself and Bobby from being over the top wild during those years.  Now in their thirties she still treated both of them as though they were young boys.

“Yea…could you please?”
he said as sweetly as he could.

“Don’t kiss my behind now when you need something after not having called all week.  How’s that baby?”
she asked.

“She’s like an ounce over two pounds…how’s that?  See…I’m doing something right!”
he said.

“I guess I taught you something with Gretchen after all.  So tell me about this woman
,” she said.

Gran was like a
god… all knowing…all seeing. 
How did she do that?
He hadn’t said a word about Dana…for all anyone knew she was nothing more than the foster mom.  No one had any idea that he’d kissed her and how badly he wanted to again…but Gran knew!

“What woman?”
he asked.

“So this is how you want to do this?”
she asked in warning. “Ok, well…the guys have all been over here almost every night, except for you.  Lilly says you helped this ‘foster mom’ get in her car when she locked her keys in it.  Chuck says you bit his head off about her…which I’m sure with Chuck’s mouth he gave you good reason.”

“
Last but not least, Gretchen is all, ‘Miss Atkinson this and Miss Atkinson that…Daddy thinks Miss Atkinson has pretty hair.’  The only one not saying anything about
Miss Atkinson
is…you,” Gran finished matter of fact.

“Can we talk about this later…I’m late for work
,” he said.

“Fine, I’ll finish up your cake I already started on before you called and we can talk about it when you come to pick it up
,” she said smartly.

“Well that’s the thing…I have to visit right after work tonight and I kind of have plans after that…would you be interested in keeping the heathen over night?”
he asked.

“You can’t avoid me forever Tommy…and you can’t avoid yourself either.  I know you have a lot on your plate right now and I won’t turn down time with my grandbaby, but you had better make some time for me after Gretchen’s party once she and Miss Lilly leave for the salon
,” she said.

“Yes ma’am
,” he said, feeling guilty at the worry he heard in her voice. 
It was like being ten years old all over again.

“Tommy?”
she said, “For the love of all that is holy…give that baby a name already!”

“It’s Melody
,” he smiled.

“Bless her heart
,” Gran said with a smile in her voice.

After hanging up he tried to veer his mind away from the Band-Aid that Gran had just yanked off of his soul.  He
was
falling for Dana.  It wasn’t like it had been with Casey…drinking and crazy sex. 

This was creeping in kind of slow and warm…like a fire after having been out in the cold for too long.  It warmed him but sort of ached all at the same time.  He was trying like hell to fight it since she didn’t seem to return the feelings but he was losing.  He knew it and so did Gran it seemed.

He worked steadily on one of the custom bike frames getting the wiring in place for most of the morning until Lilly poked her head out into the bay and shouted over the music playing, “Tommy!  Becca’s on the phone!”

Turning the volume knob down, he grabbed the phone.  “Hey
, Becca,” he said.

“Well the results are in…you are Melody’s father
,” she said with a laugh.

“I didn’t doubt it for a second
,” he said with a smile.

“I am drawing up some papers petitioning the court for temporary emergency custody in light of Melody’s medical condition and I will file for permanent custody by mid next week
,” she said. “I will swing by the shop and get your signature and file the temporary paperwork today.”

“What does that mean?”
he asked.

“That means that hopefully by early next week you will no longer need supervised visits and can visit her anytime you want while we wait for the actual custody hearing
,” Becca said.

“So Dana…I mean
, Miss Atkinson won’t be her foster mother anymore?” he asked.

“No
, you will be her only legal guardian once the court grants temporary custody,” Becca said.

“Thank you
,” he said in a halfhearted whisper.

“Tommy, this is still what you want isn’t it?  Custody…of… Melody?” Becca asked.

“Yes!” he replied emphatically.  He just wished it didn’t mean taking Melody away from Dana or Dana away from Melody…and maybe even Gretchen.  Somehow he knew that his good news would be Dana’s bad news.

“I will be there before lunch, see you then
,” Becca said hanging up the phone.

Dana and the children sang Happy Birthday for Gretchen and
ate the cupcakes for a mid-morning snack.  The new children that had been moved into her class seemed to settle in well and the day got back on track after the birthday party ended.

“Dana you have a phone call in the office
,” Anita said, sticking her head into the classroom a little before lunch. “I will stay here with the students.”

She hurried to the break room and picked up the phone in there.

“Hi, Dana, this is Carmen.  I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but the test results are in…Mr. McMurray is Melody’s biological father.  His attorney will be filing for emergency temporary custody today on his behalf,” she said.

“
I expect that he should have temporary custody by the middle of next week if not sooner.  The agency has no reason to deny Mr. McMurray visitation now that paternity has been established.  I wanted to let you know before you left to visit…” Carmen finished quietly.

She couldn’t breathe…she couldn’t even cry…the news hurt so badly.

“Dana, you knew this would very likely be a temporary placement.  We have another child…he’s two and…” she started.

“I can’t right now…I’m sorry Carmen.  I’m not sure I can do this…I thought I could but I…”

“Take some time to get over the disappointment, as much time as you need.  There are so many kids that need a good home…please don’t let this one bad experience turn you away from this,” Carmen begged.

“I’ll have to call you back another time
,” she replied and hung up the phone.  Dropping into one of the chairs around the break room table, she gasped for air.

How long she sat there she didn’t know but at some point Anita came in and
Dana asked her for the rest of the day off.  Anita returned shortly with her purse and Dana left early for the weekend.

“Are y
ou and Dana taking turns now?” the on-duty nurse asked Tommy as she prepared a bottle for Melody.

“No
, she should be here…I’m not for sure why she’s not,” he replied. 
Liar.
  She’d received the news and wouldn’t be coming for visits anymore, just him.

As he rocked and sang to Melody, the nurse came over to
where he sat and knelt down beside his chair. 

“Her last two feedings have mostly been from the bottle and she kept them down.  The
doctor intends to remove the feeding tube this evening as long as it continues through the rest of today.  I think we are through the worst of it and now we just need to fatten her up a little bit and she’ll go home,” she said with a smile.

“When?”
he asked.

“Well
, it will be a little while yet.  We would like to see her get over four pounds before we release her but she’s improved beyond any of our expectations this week.  I’ll be honest, I really didn’t think this one would make it.  She was so premature and
so
sick…” she said as she handed him the bottle. “She has you and Dana to thank for that.”

Him and Dana.
  Where was she?  He needed to talk to her…he needed her help...he needed her.  This time was different…he couldn’t do this alone.  He didn’t want to be alone…not anymore.  Gretchen had been healthy and a good baby…barely ever a cold.  This baby was way more than he was ready for.  Panic hit him like a punch from Bobby.

After he finished feeding Melody and rocked her to sleep he called the nurse over to
help lay the baby down in her incubator and headed out.  He called Bobby to tell him he wouldn’t be back in this afternoon.

“Hey
, man, I hate to do this to you but something’s come up and I need to take the rest of the day off,” he said. “I may need to have Lilly pick up Gretchen…I’ll buy her chocolate if she’ll help me out.  Gran’s keeping Gretchen overnight tonight.”

“I’ll take care of rewarding Lilly
, just do what you have to do,” Bobby said.

“I’ll be over tomorrow morning to help get set
up for the party, I promise.  I’m heading over to the school to let Gretchen know that Lilly will pick her up and she’ll be staying overnight with Gran,” he said.

He planned to talk to Dana while he was there too
, but Bobby didn’t need to know that.  As he pulled his bike into the parking lot of the preschool he noticed Dana’s car was missing.  Heading into the office, he didn’t see anyone, even Mrs. Hargrove. 
What the hell was going on now?

He knocked and entered Gretchen’s classroom and
noticed that Mrs. Hargrove was teaching the class.  Gretchen ran over to him and hugged his legs.  God, he loved the changes in Gretchen this week…that was Dana’s work.  She had worked miracles for both his girls while simultaneously building a fire in him that he hadn’t known was missing…and he couldn’t seem to put out.