Second Chance Pass (Virgin River #5)(68)

“Hi, Terri, it’s Paul. How are you feeling?”

“Fine, Paul. How are you?”

“Great, thanks. I’ve been out of town and—”

“Let me guess,” she said tiredly. “Virgin River again?”

“As a matter of fact. I have a couple of potential building contracts down there and I’ve been crunching some numbers to see if it’s doable.”

“Big surprise,” she said with an unhappy laugh. “Kind of a strange place to go when you have a child coming you claim to want to be involved with, don’t you think?”

“Both these jobs will be complete by the time you deliver. And it’s not far—I can get to Grants Pass when I need to. Listen, I wanted to do this in person, but there’s no point in blindsiding you—I’ll be getting married fairly soon.”

He heard a sound; he wasn’t sure if it was a snort or a laugh.

“That won’t be a problem,” Paul said. “She knows all about my situation with you. She also has a child and—”

“I know,” she said, cutting him off. “Your best friend’s baby.”

“She understands we’ll be sharing custody and—”

“I’m not sure I like that idea so much,” she said impatiently.

“Well, we have to deal with what we have,” he said. “And speaking of that, I’ve been looking at the calendar. It has to be time for that doctor’s appointment by now.”

“What appointment?” she asked.

“The one with the OB-GYN. The one I’m going to with you.”

“Oh, that. I had my appointment last Friday. Everything seems to be fine.”

He took a breath. “You know I wanted to go with you,” he said.

“Sorry—they called with an opening. And you didn’t seem to be in town,” she answered crisply.

“If I’d known there was an appointment, I would have been there.” Anger began to swell up inside him and he cautioned himself to stay cool. He didn’t want to set her off, though he wasn’t sure what more she could do to screw up his head.

“Look,” she said. “You seem to have more important things on your mind—I don’t even hear from you once a week…”

He took a breath. “Can you get away for lunch today?” he asked her.

She was quiet for a moment. “Paul—forget it, huh? You don’t have to meet me for lunch or for anything else. Clearly there’s nothing between us. You’re getting married—go have your life. I’ll be fine.”

“There’s one thing between us. According to you.”

She hung up the phone.

“Damn it!” he said, slamming down the phone.

“Uh-oh,” Vanni said, standing in the bedroom doorway with Mattie against her shoulder.

One hand braced on the desk, he hung his head. “She’s got me over a nice little barrel here,” he said, lifting his head and looking at her. “She just gave me my out.”

“I don’t think that made you real happy.”

“No. It didn’t.” He flipped through his calendar. He found the name of the doctor that he’d jotted down, then pulled out the phone book. He couldn’t find Dr. Charlene Weir listed anywhere. “I don’t know what she’s up to.”

Vanni walked toward him. “What was your out?” she asked.

“She told me to go have my life—she’d be fine.”

“Oh, my.”

“You know what kind of problem that is for me,” he said.

“You wouldn’t be happy having a child of yours floating around out there, without knowing you, without your support and protection.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t.” He dropped an arm around her shoulders, kissed Mattie’s head. “I’m sorry to put you through this.”

“Don’t worry about me, Paul. Just resolve this to your satisfaction—I’m not going anywhere.”

Two hours later he found himself in probably the most unlikely spot in Grants Pass—the office of Dr. Cameron Michaels.

Of course Cameron fit him in, probably hopeful that his visit had something to do with Vanessa. Something that could benefit the good doctor. When Paul explained himself and what he needed, Cameron couldn’t keep from laughing outright.

“I’m sure you find this hilarious,” Paul said grimly. “But the fact is, I don’t have many places to go for a little assistance.”

“I have to hand it to you, Paul. You’re not as clumsy around women as you think. For an unlucky son of a bitch, you sure land on your feet.”

“How’s that, exactly?”

“You’ve got this mess to straighten out and Vanni still wants you. Damn.”

“Stop grinning. This isn’t easy for Vanessa. But if it’s mine, I want to take care of it. I have to. If I’m going to be a father, I’m going to be a decent father.”

Cameron shook his head. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to, but you stumbled into the right place. I’d love to tell you there’s nothing I can do to help you out of this mess—but I’m a children’s doctor. And it isn’t easy to deal with the number of babies who come into this world with parents who don’t give a shit, don’t even want them. At least you do. I’ll hook you up for an ultrasound, which might give you some answers, if you can get her cooperation. You can follow through with a court order for an amniocentesis if you need one to check DNA and confirm paternity. Not for you, not even for her. For this baby she’s carrying.” He flipped through his BlackBerry. “Then you can tell her, if she needs a good pediatrician, you know one.”