Dance Away with Me(98)

And so they climbed to the tree house together, the three of them, Wren in Ian’s arms. Tess sat on the edge, her legs dangling. Ian settled next to her. Wren was all big eyes, fascinated by the play of sunlight through the frail spring leaves beginning to open above her.

Tess braced herself to ask the question that had been tormenting her ever since Ian had left. “Tell me what you found out.”

“None of Bianca’s friends and ex-friends knew any more than we do, so I drove out to Queens. I’d had her things shipped to a storage facility until I figured out what to do with them, and I decided to take another look.”

“You found something.”

He nodded. “Inside an old makeup case from her modeling years. I almost missed it.”

“What was it?”

“The Holy Grail.”

Wren sneezed.

“I found paperwork,” he said. “From a sperm bank.”

It took her a moment to comprehend. “Are you telling me . . . ?”

“Wren is a sperm donor baby.”

Tess’s hand flew to her mouth.

“I took the documents right to my attorney. Everything is legal. For once in her life, Bianca did it all right.”

“Oh, Ian . . .” Her heart stretched so wide in her chest that it squeezed out everything else. Bianca had no family, and Ian’s name was on Wren’s birth certificate. Her child’s eyes sprang open as a tear landed on the baby’s cheek. Tess sniffed and swiped the back of her hand over her own eyes. “Is it really over? Is she really mine?”

He nodded. “You have everything you want. Not only Wren. After last night, I think you have your career back.”

It was true. Tess had safely delivered a healthy baby under difficult circumstances without losing the mother, but was that enough to break through her paralysis, or was she going to keep running away?

Never again. Bianca’s death would always be with her. She couldn’t imagine delivering a child without experiencing that tug of fear. But she’d do it. She’d worked through it last night, and she’d work through it every time. She was a midwife. That was her identity.

A bird fluttered in the branches over her head. She’d have it all. Her career. Her child. The mountain that had become her home, and the town that both embraced and challenged her. Everything except Ian North.

She gazed out at the treetops. “Now we don’t have to stay married.”

He shifted next to her. “There’s no rush, but . . .” He rubbed his hand over his jaw. “I’ve gotten an offer for the schoolhouse.”

She swallowed. Looked straight ahead. “Are you going to sell?”

“I don’t know.”

She made herself say the obvious. “It isn’t as though life here has worked out for you.”

“No, it hasn’t.”

She rose from the edge of the platform. “I need to pick up Savannah at the hospital.”

“The ladder’s steep. Give Wren to me.”

“I can handle her.”

“I know you can, but . . .”

She was already maneuvering down the rungs. At the bottom, she hesitated. He stood above her at the top of the ladder. She needed to say something, and she needed to say it now while she had her clothes on and was thinking clearly. “I think you should take the offer.”

“Why’s that?” He came halfway down the ladder before he swung himself to the ground.

“You should know better than anyone. You haven’t been able to produce anything you like since you got here, and you’ve been roped into a marriage you don’t want, along with taking responsibility for a child who’s not yours.”

“Nobody made me do anything,” he said stubbornly.

“Ian, you have to cut free. For yourself and for Wren.” Tess knew she had to be clear about this, even if it broke her heart. “If you stay at the schoolhouse, you’ll seem permanent to Wren, and she’ll want more than you can be expected to give. I don’t want her attaching daddy fantasies to you. It’s not fair to either of you.”

“Jesus, Tess, she’s only seven weeks old. There’s plenty of time.”

“She already goes to you as easily as she comes to me.”

“She’s a newborn! There’s no rush.”

“Just do it, Ian. There’s no reason to wait.” She strode toward the schoolhouse, leaving him behind.

*

Ian didn’t like anything about their conversation, especially her implication that he posed some kind of danger to Wren. Tess was crazy. And yet . . .

That edginess he’d been dealing with since the night he’d painted her body—the uneasiness that was screwing up his sleep—wasn’t quite as sharp. Not only had she given him permission to reclaim his life, she’d practically ordered him to do it.

*

Tess was at the hospital waiting for Savannah to be released when Kelly called. “Brad came back to the house this morning, but I’m not ready to talk to him. I know you’re living at the cabin now, but would it be a terrible imposition if I took the other bedroom? Just for a bit. I shouldn’t ask, but—”

“Of course, you can.” Kelly didn’t inquire why Tess was living there now, but she had to be curious.

It rained on the trip back to Tempest. Savannah rode in the backseat along with Zoro and Wren. She spent the first few miles gloating over being discharged less than twenty-four hours after she’d arrived at the hospital while her mother couldn’t leave until later today. For once, Tess welcomed Savannah’s chatter, since it almost kept her from thinking about Ian.