Reunited By A Secret Child. Leigh Bale

not? I know how difficult this situation is for you, but it was inevitable that he would come home for a visit someday. Besides, where else was he going to stay?”

      He didn’t mention Rigbee’s Motel. He didn’t have to. It wasn’t a joke that they’d been accused of having bedbugs. Knowing her father was right didn’t make her feel any better.

      “Where’s Chrissy?” Katie asked.

      “In the living room watching TV.”

      The living room. A large suite of rooms they’d converted for their own use. It included a soft sofa, two recliners, a bookshelf and a wide flat-screen TV. It wasn’t fancy, but it was clean and comfy, and they were happy, most of the time. With a few maids to clean the rooms, Charlie oversaw the front reception desk, while Katie did the books. They made a good team, running the Cowboy Country Inn together. But just now, Charlie’s mouth was stretched into a straight, solemn line that made his white mustache twitch.

      “Did you tell him?” he asked again.

      Katie’s gaze clashed with her father’s. “No, I didn’t.”

      “Why not?” he persisted.

      She looked away, an impatient sigh squeezing from her lungs. “I couldn’t tell him with Chrissy sitting there listening in.”

      “You could have left her home with me,” he suggested.

      She shook her head. “No, I wanted to see them together first. I want to proceed with caution. Telling him might be a mistake.”

      “Why?”

      “What if he causes trouble?”

      Charlie shook his head. “I don’t think Reese is the type of man to do that. Not about his own child.”

      She didn’t think so, either, but she wasn’t sure. After all, he was a fully grown man now, and she knew nothing about him. How he’d been living his life. If he was married or divorced. If he had other children somewhere. Nothing.

      “He wasn’t a very nice person in high school,” she said.

      “With his background, can you blame him?” Charlie asked.

      “What do you mean?”

      “Have you forgotten about his father?”

      She crinkled her eyebrows. “No, I remember.”

      Everyone had known Hank Hartnett. Passed out in the middle of the sidewalk. Causing a brawl in the bank when his account was overdrawn. The bruises on his wife’s face. And sometimes on Reese’s face, too. The man was a constant source of gossip. The town drunk.

      “But that doesn’t excuse Reese’s actions. We don’t know him anymore. What if he takes me to court? He might try to take Chrissy away and then what would I do?” Katie met her father’s gaze, trying to keep the fear she was feeling from showing in her eyes.

      Charlie’s stiff demeanor softened as he limped over to the desk and squeezed her arm. “Ah, honey. You’re worrying too much about this. I don’t think Reese would do something like that. Right now, I think he’s hurting. He just needs a place to lie low, where he can receive some kindness and understanding.”

      Katie brushed a hand across her forehead, trying to keep her composure. She didn’t like this situation. Not one bit.

      Charlie sat on a corner of the desk, one gnarled hand resting in his lap. “I looked into his eyes. He’s still got a lot of kindness there. Did I ever tell you about the time I saw some of his friends picking on a stray dog?”

      “No,” she said.

      “The poor animal looked scrawny and half-starved. Reese was only about ten years old at the time. His friends were throwing rocks and hitting the dog with a stick. Reese got so angry at them. He defended the dog. In fact, he took the animal home with him. Next thing I knew, his mom was down in town buying dog food. And you know what he named that mangy old mutt?”

      She shook her ahead.

      “Duke. He treated that dog like royalty. I saw them together a few months later and couldn’t believe the transition. Duke had filled out and looked happy and healthy. He followed that boy everywhere, completely devoted to him.”

      Katie didn’t really care about a stray dog right now. “And your point is?”

      “My point is that there’s goodness inside of Reese. I’ve seen it. His mom attended church every Sunday, fighting to keep her family together. She had to be a remarkable lady to stay with that no-good husband of hers. But I have no doubt her teachings rubbed off on Reese, whether he liked it or not. It’s still there inside of him. He just has to let it come out.”

      Katie snorted. “I doubt that’s going to happen.”

      “Why don’t we give him the benefit of the doubt?” Charlie suggested.

      She pursed her lips and turned back to her work, trying to focus on the computer monitor. The electronic spreadsheet swam before her eyes, the numbers a blurry haze. She’d been working on the ledgers for over an hour and had accomplished nothing. Finally. Finally, she could tell Reese exactly what she thought of him. And yet words failed her somehow.

      She glanced at her father, feeling annoyed. “This isn’t a simple matter, Dad.”

      “Ah, honey. You take things way too seriously. Can’t you forgive him? After all, he doesn’t even know he has a child,” Charlie said.

      True. And that left Katie feeling a tad guilty.

      “Maybe if he hadn’t left town so fast, I could have told him I was pregnant,” she said.

      “You could have tracked him down,” Charlie pointed out.

      She jerked her head up. “How? Even his mom didn’t know where he’d gone. I asked. She was brokenhearted. It was horrible for him to leave the way he did. No forwarding address. No way to find him.”

      Charlie folded his arms and gazed at her quietly. “Are we talking about how he left his parents, or how he left you?”

      She blinked, wanting to cry. Wanting to scream and kick and yell. It had hurt her so deeply when she’d found out Reese was gone. It was obvious that their one time together had meant a lot more to her than it had to him. Of course, he’d been drinking heavily that night. Maybe he didn’t even remember what had happened between them. But she did. She could never forget.

      Charlie quirked one bushy eyebrow. “I know you’ll tell him when the time is right.”

      Maybe. Maybe not.

      She tried to forget the past, but it wasn’t easy. Overnight, her full-ride scholarship had been flushed down the tubes. It wouldn’t pay for diapers and childcare. And giving her baby up for adoption wasn’t an option for her. So she’d stayed here in Minoa to raise her child. Without a husband. Living in a town where she’d become a pariah. No one wanted to date her. No one knew who Chrissy’s father was. For years, Katie had kept the gossip mill busy. And now Reese had walked back into her life.

      A crash came from outside in the parking lot, as though someone had tipped over a large garbage can. Both Katie and Charlie whirled around. Someone yelled and then a low roar of voices permeated the small office.

      “What on earth is that?” Charlie said.

      Chrissy came running into the room, her eyes wide with fear, her little chin quivering. “Mommy! There’s a strange man looking in my window.”

      At that precise moment, a man’s face appeared at the window in the office. Cupping his hands around his eyes to shut out the sunlight, he peered inside.

      “Hey! There’s someone in here,” he yelled.

      A large black camera lifted toward them, its red light blinking. And in an instant, Katie understood. Somehow, the media had found out that Reese was staying here.

      “That