Paul pulled into the driveway just as Ferguson and Georgiana were getting out of the car. Ferguson opened the back door and Davey jumped out. When he saw Paul, he ran to him. “Daddy!”
Paul held open his arms and Davey rushed into them. Father and son embraced, and Paul’s eyes closed as he slowly rocked his son from side to side. Only then was it obvious to Amber how worried Paul had been.
Georgiana watched them, and suddenly, her face twisted and she began to cry.
Paul frowned at her, as if he couldn’t decide between yelling at her and comforting her. Amber got Paul’s attention and gestured toward Ferguson, who was taking a couple of discount-store bags from the trunk of the car. She hoped he’d understand that she was trying to help, sending him toward the more rational member of the couple to provide real answers.
Amber, meanwhile, went over to the sobbing Georgiana and put a tentative hand on the older woman’s arm. “Is there anything I can do?”
Georgiana twisted away. “No!”
Amber lifted her hands, palms out. “Okay, that’s fine. Just trying to help.” She glanced over toward Paul, but he was now talking to Ferguson in a low voice. He’d put Davey down, and Davey was rolling a ball for Sarge, who rushed to grab it and bring it back to his young master in a display of energy Amber had never seen in him before.
Sarge must have been worried about Davey, too.
Georgiana cleared her throat. “I guess you know the truth about Davey’s father,” she said, her voice low and choked.
Amber felt like a deer in headlights. She didn’t want to collaborate with this woman, didn’t want to be on her side against Paul. But Georgiana was right: she did know the truth, or some of it, the part Wendy had told her in confidence.
“We took Davey to...to his real father. He’s a wealthy man, from our community. We were thinking he might want to help us raise Davey in the way...well, anyway. It didn’t work.” Her shoulders heaved. “It turns out he knew about Davey all along. He wants nothing to do with him.”
Amber stared, her jaw dropping. How could anyone look at their own son without wanting to know him, be involved? “That’s awful!”
Georgiana nodded. “He’s married with a child and another on the way. He doesn’t want his family to find out about Davey.”
“Wow.” Amber shook her head back and forth, slowly. She couldn’t fathom it, and from Georgiana’s reaction, she couldn’t, either. It was one thing they agreed on.
“He says Davey isn’t his problem.” Georgiana put her face into her hands and then looked up at Amber. “So it’s best that we just let things stay the way they are.”
“Stay the way... Don’t you think Paul deserves to know?” Amber felt almost dizzy with all the information, all the secrets swirling around.
“If he knew, he’d reject Davey, and then what?” Georgiana’s voice was low and urgent. “We love the child, of course, and for a time we thought we wanted custody, but today has made us realize we’re not equipped to care for him. He’s getting bigger, more energetic. We’ll be so old by the time he’s a teenager.”
Amber blew out a sigh. She had no idea what to do.
Paul was walking toward them now, Ferguson in his wake. Davey lay relaxed against Paul’s shoulder. “I’d like to hear your side. What happened?” he asked Georgiana.
Ferguson hurried after him. “We were truly just taking him out to get ice cream, but on the way there, we changed our minds and brought him here.”
“That’s right.” Georgiana jumped in too readily, and it seemed like this was a story they’d rehearsed. “We knew we were neglectful, letting Davey drive off down the beach, and that woman saw.” She nodded at Amber. “I thought you probably wouldn’t allow us to see him anymore.”
Paul tilted his head to one side. “You know that wasn’t a real logical thing to do, right?”
Ferguson opened his mouth as if to protest and then closed it again. “You’re right.”
Paul frowned, looking at the ground, obviously thinking.
It was something Amber admired about him: he was deliberate and careful. He couldn’t be rushed into a rash decision.
Finally, he lifted his head and looked steadily at Georgiana, then at Ferguson. “I want the two of you to get some counseling before you see Davey again,” he said.
Ferguson opened his mouth as if to protest, then closed it and nodded. “I’m not much for counseling, but it’s probably smart. We made a mistake, Paul.”
“Yes, you did.”
“We need to get Davey home,” Amber said, because her head was spinning. And then a feeling of warmth and nausea came over her. Light-headed, she sat down abruptly. Everything around her turned gray, and that was all she remembered.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
MINUTES AFTER PAUL squealed into the hospital parking lot, as he was explaining Amber’s symptoms to the medics who were transferring her to a stretcher, Erica came rushing over to them. “I’m her sister,” she said breathlessly, and ran alongside as they rolled Amber inside.
Paul had called Mary while driving and she had gotten word out to the people who needed to know. Now, of course, Erica was allowed to go back into the treatment area with Amber. Paul watched her go, his heart pounding, and then lifted a drowsy Davey out of his car seat and carried him into the waiting area.
He’d never experienced anything quite like this with Wendy. Her symptoms had come on gradually, which meant that there was always plenty of time to get medical help. As bad as her last days had been, there had never been a real emergency.
But no two cancer cases were alike. His mind raced, thinking of all the things that might have caused her to pass out. Pressure on a vital organ. Internal bleeding. A metastasis to her heart or lungs.
Before he could spiral into horrible possibilities, he forced his attention back to the here and
