Chapter Nineteen
Clara stood frozen as she faced the woman on the doorstep. Sluggishly, her brain tried to assimilate what her eyes were seeing. The woman was gorgeous but more disturbing was this person she’d never seen before was hauntingly familiar, and her slow brain was finally figuring out why.
She’d been staring at a miniature version of the woman for weeks.
Every time she looked at Hunter.
“Or Walker? Is he here?” the woman asked, a frown crossing her perfectly made up face. “If this is a bad time I can come back.”
“Bad time?” Clara said, shock receding in the face of the pain she knew was coming. Was it a bad time for the mother of the child she wanted to claim to show up? A bad time for this Amazonian model to come back into Walker’s life right when he’d been about to ask her…
What had he been about to say?
“I—”
“Clara, let her in.”
The woman brightened at the sound of Walker’s voice. There was nothing she could do as Hunter’s mother shouldered by her and stepped into her home.
“Veronica,” he said, rising.
“Hi,” she said. “I know I must be the last person you want to see right now, but I had to come.”
Clara drifted into the room, watching the scene unfold like a viewer watching a TV show. Nothing seemed like it was quite right.
Or real.
“Did you do this?” Walker said, obviously putting the pieces of the puzzle together that she had. “Did you leave our child on my doorstep like a cast-off pet you had gotten bored of?”
Veronica wrung her hands. “I didn’t know what to do. I never wanted to get pregnant. Once I discovered I was, I was on the other side of the world working.”
“They didn’t have phones in this distant, remote location?”
She hung her head. “I get it. I know I screwed all this up in the worst way possible, but I need to see my son. I thought I could give him up and be happy knowing how good a father you’d be to him, but I can’t.”
Ice washed through Clara’s veins. She opened her mouth to protest, but Walker beat her to it.
“If you try to take Hunter back, I will fight you with every resource I have available to me. You abandoned him and I gave him a stable, loving home. Any judge in their right mind would grant me custody.”
“You misunderstand,” she said, holding out a hand. “I’m not threatening you. I won’t try to take him back. I just want to be a part of my child’s life.” A slow smile crossed her lips. “Did you call him Hunter? I like it.”
“I don’t care what you like.”
Clara blinked. She’d never seen him that icy cold. His eyes were artic as they looked at the mother of his child.
Veronica took a step back. “Of course. I made all the wrong moves, here. I get that. Really, I do. But put yourself in my shoes. I’d had a brief affair with a man I knew didn’t want me or a child. Not long term, at least. I thought I was all alone. When I reached the end of my rope, I thought you’d refuse to help if I gave you the choice.”
“Did you even stick around to see if you were right about your gamble or did you go straight to the airport once you’d delivered our child like a stray dog?”
She glanced away, guilt on her face. “I knew you wouldn’t send him away,” she said. “You’re a good man.”
“Which you know from our extensive history together.”
Her hands fisted. “You can berate me all you like, Walker, but I want to see my baby. Will you let me do that or not?”
“Of course,” Clara cut in when Walker opened his mouth. “He’s sleeping. I’ll go get him.”
“Thank you.”
“I don’t think so,” Walker said at the same time.
With a sigh, Clara navigated around Veronica and took his hands in hers. “Think logically,” she murmured to him. “This is his mother. What are you going to say to Hunter when he’s old enough to start asking where she is?”
He scowled.
“You don’t have to forgive right now,” she said. “But this isn’t a door you should close. Let me go get the baby.”
His eyes met hers instead of the blonde beauty standing a few feet away. “You think this is a good idea?”
“I do.” The words were like acid on her tongue.
He jerked his head. “All right. Get Hunter.”
Ducking around him, she raced to the nursery before he could change his mind.
Stepping into the dark room, she tiptoed to the crib and scooped up the sleepy baby.
“There’s someone I want to reintroduce you to, little man,” she whispered against his blonde curls. So much like his mother’s.
He gurgled in her arms.
“Come on.” Tucking the blanket around him she went back downstairs, every step feeling like a weight pressing down on her shoulders. When she entered the living room she paused. Walker and Veronica stood close together. By his body posture she could see Walker was less than thrilled to be so close to his ex, but she couldn’t help feeling they made a striking pair. With his dark charm and Veronica’s angelic beauty she could see why they’d ended up together.
And how they’d managed to create such a beautiful little boy.
“Veronica,” she called.
The woman jerked around, her eyes zeroing in on her child.
“Oh,” she whispered, the fight draining out of her face as a naked need replaced it. “Can I hold him?”
She looked to Walker who gave her a sharp nod.
“He’s tired so he might be fussy,” she warned before handing over the baby.
“Hello,” Veronica said to the infant. “Your daddy calls you Hunter. What do you think of that?”
She rocked him easily in her arms, and Clara’s chest tightened. They fit together. Two pieces that were never supposed to be separated.
Hunter reached up to grasp one golden curl that was so like his own. Pulling it into his mouth, he sucked on the strands, utterly content.
Seeing the child, she’d come to think of as hers that happy in the arms of another woman was yet another knife in Clara’s heart. What had she expected? She’d always known one way or another her presence in Hunter’s life would be temporary. She wasn’t his mother. Nor his stepmother.
She wasn’t anything to him.
And with Veronica back, the odds of her ever being any of those things was growing increasingly smaller.
Clara stood on the edge, looking at what would have been a family had Veronica made a different choice.
Once again, she was on the outside looking in. The one left in the cold, able to see the life she wanted but never quite able to reach it. Hadn’t this happened time after time when she was younger? Hadn’t she nearly run herself ragged trying to be someone others would view as being worthy of their time?
Their love.
But not even her own flesh and blood had ever seen any value in her.
Staring at him stare at Veronica made her realize how foolish a dream that had been. She’d been right back in the first year. He wasn’t the man for her.
She was alone.
“He’s so beautiful,” Veronica said. “And he looks happy. I knew you’d keep him safe.”
“He’s my son,” Walker said, cupping Hunter’s head with a gentle hand. “There was never any question of doing whatever he needed of me.” He glanced up, his eyes finding hers. “Of us.”
Veronica followed his gaze. “Of course. Forgive me, I should have realized. Thank you, as well,” she said to her.
“Clara,” she introduced herself with a wave. “It was no trouble. Hunter is an amazing kid.”
“Still, if you were helping take care of him, you have my deepest thanks. I’m glad Walker didn’t have to go through this alone.”
“You’re welcome. In fact, I think it’s best if I bowed out for the rest of the evening. I’m sure you two have a lot to catch up on.”
“Again, thank you. We definitely do.”
Nodding, she turned to leave, trying to think of anything she needed to take with her. This would be the first night she’d slept in her apartment for weeks.
A hand grabbed her arm as she entered the hall.
“Where are you going?” Walker demanded.
She gestured to the living room. “You need to get everything sorted out, and that will be an easier conversation without me.”
“Not true.”
“Really? You want to discuss the custody of your child with your old lover when your new one is sitting right next to her?
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “All right. Fair point.”
“I’ll sleep at my place tonight,” she said. “It’s fine.”
“Nothing about this is fine.”
Her lips quirked. “I told you before. You never do anything the normal way.” She tried to pull away, but he didn’t let go. Instead he pulled her closer.
“None of this negates the conversation we were having before we were interrupted.”
She stared at the buttons on his shirt for a long moment before allowing her eyes to rise to his.
“It doesn’t?”
“Not even slightly,” he promised, his voice low.
Unable to stop herself, she touched her lips to his, reveling in the fact that she still had the power to do so.
Lightning fast he had them rotated until the wall hit her back. Giving herself over to the feelings he inspired, she relaxed into his arms. His lips slanted over hers in a thorough kiss before he lifted his head.
“Once this is all sorted, I want to get back to what we were discussing.”
“And your question?” she whispered, running her lips along his jaw.
“And my question.”
The pit in her stomach eased at his words. “You know where to find me,” she told him.
“Thank you,” he told her, sincerity in his eyes. “Thank you for being so understanding about all this. I don’t deserve you.”
“Truer words,” she teased. “Let’s just try to weather this latest Beckett storm and we’ll figure out the rest.”
Nodding, he stepped back to release her, looking back toward the door to the living room. “You’re sure we’re okay? I should be getting back to Hunter.”
“Go,” she said, shooing him away. “I’m fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He leaned forward to brush his lips over her forehead. “Sleep well, sweetheart.”
“Alone?” she asked, cupping his cheek. “Not likely.”
A low growl rumbled from his chest. “I know the feeling.”
With a last squeeze of her fingers, he was gone. Back to his ex and the child they’d created together.
Leaving Clara standing in the hall.
Alone.