Texas Mum. Roz Fox Denny

with the larger facility in San Antonio, they have much greater access to labs. DNA results shouldn’t take long.”

      “I guess that’s something. You know I’m for anything that has a shred of promise to help Nick get better. Please, arrange the transfer, Dr. Avery. I’ll sign authorizations tonight. It will be midnight or later, but I’ll come straight to the hospital from the airport.”

      “I’ll leave the necessary release forms with the ward clerk on Nick’s floor.” He gave her a bit more information about the receiving hospital, then said, “Delaney, don’t be too hard on Nick’s father. Remember we want his cooperation. The old saying is you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

      “I know. I really do know that.” It was just so disappointing that he didn’t believe her. Didn’t trust her. After she hung up, Delaney took several deep breaths. Then she scrolled to Maria Sofia’s number. She should have gotten a number from Dario when he contacted her at the hotel, but she’d been so irritated by his attitude that she’d forgotten to ask.

      The girl answered on the second ring, but their connection had static. “Maria Sofia, this is Delaney Blair.”

      “Are you still in Argentina?”

      “No, I left Buenos Aires early this morning. I’m awaiting my connection in Miami. Could you give Dario a message? Nickolas’s doctors will be moving him to San Antonio tomorrow.” She gave the girl the name of the facility. “I hope Dario hasn’t already booked a flight to Lubbock.”

      The connection was bad, but Delaney caught Maria Sofia’s promise to let Dario know right away. “Our call is breaking up,” Delaney said, plugging one ear and moving nearer to a window. “I’ll be in Lubbock around midnight, Texas time, should Dario want to check anything else with me. Otherwise it’s the same plan, just a different hospital in a different city. Adios.”

      She still had time to call Nickolas.

      “Mommy, where are you? Last night you said you’d see me today.” He sounded fretful. Delaney was racked with guilt for leaving him in the first place to go on a wild-goose chase. Although, if Dario turned out to be a match, it would be worth every minute of her time.

      “I’m at the airport, honey. I’ll be boarding a plane soon, and that will bring me closer to you. Remember I told you last night I didn’t get to only fly on one plane to get home. I’ll see you tonight, but don’t try to stay up, because you need your rest, and it’ll be very late when I land. I’ll wake you up and let you know I’m there. I promise.”

      “Did you buy me a present? Henry’s daddy came to see him today and brought him a Dallas Cowboys shirt. I want one.”

      Delaney had been walking toward her gate, and it so happened there were gift shops galore. She checked her watch to make sure she had enough spare time to stop at one. “How about a Miami Dolphins shirt instead?” she asked, finding a table of kids’ shirts on sale right inside the door.

      “Okay, I guess. Mommy...Henry asked where my daddy works. I told him I don’t got a daddy. He laughed and said everybody’s got one.”

      Delaney’s heart seized for a moment as she waited in line to pay. Was it Murphy’s Law? Up to now she’d never needed to have this conversation with Nickolas. Henry was older than Nick, so it was understandable he might ask such questions.

      “Nick, honey, Mama has to go board her plane. You be a good boy for the nurses, and I’ll see you in a few hours, okay?”

      “Okay. Bye.”

      She pocketed the phone, and paid for the shirt and tucked it into her carry-on. She’d never lied to Nick about the absence of his father. She had put off getting into it with him—waiting, she supposed, for when he went to school. Nick knew Zoey Bannerman had a dad, and yet he’d never asked her why he didn’t have one. The subject had never come up before. Now it had. Boy, howdy, just what she didn’t need—another problem to deal with.

      More anxious than ever to get home, she forced her mind to things other than Nick’s absentee father.

      San Antonio would provide a whole new block of prospective Latino donors. If things didn’t work out with Dario, she would need help arranging a recruitment event. She’d also need someone to drive her car to San Antonio, since she would fly with Nickolas. Maybe Jill Bannerman and Amanda Evers, her friends from La Mesa, would do that, and help her organize a campaign to register a new batch of prospective donors.

      Her flight was called, temporarily stopping her planning. Delaney stood and gathered her things. Once boarded and settled, she got lost in thought again. It took a while, but she finally admitted she needed to feel as if she was doing something productive while she waited for Dario to be tested. Or with luck, maybe a stranger-donor would magically show up if she cast a wide enough net around San Antonio.

      She tried to read one of her veterinary journals, but her mind skipped back to Dario, back to how good he had looked, back to how cold he had been. So, wouldn’t it be the perfect retribution to find a stranger donor and be able to tell Dario she no longer needed him?

      Or not.

      Deep down Delaney couldn’t help wishing he’d been someone she could lean on. Yes, she had done her best after he’d pulled his vanishing act to put him out of her mind. Of course he’d always lurked there. And now that he was back in the flesh, gosh darn it, he was stuck there. Her heart had a far more charitable opinion of him than her head did.

      A few hours later when her flight landed in Lubbock, she was bone weary and champing at the bit to see Nickolas. Delaney retrieved her bags and rummaged in her suitcase for a sweater to ward off a nip of fall in the air. Nick had taken ill in late May, and here it was almost October. Oh, how she hoped he wouldn’t have to spend Halloween in the hospital. But that, too, was probably wishful thinking.

      She arrived at the hospital after midnight. Per the hospital rules, she stopped at the main desk to check in. The night registrar knew her well, since she’d been there through Nick’s first bout with cancer, too. “Is everything all right with your son, Dr. Blair?” the woman asked. “Or did you go out for a breath of air before I came on shift?”

      “I’ve been out of town for a couple of days, Marge. I know Nick will be asleep, but I promised him I’d come in when my flight arrived. I’ll probably spend the night at his bedside. Tomorrow he’s being transferred to San Antonio.”

      The sympathetic clerk shot Delaney a look of concern.

      “Nick’s doctor says it’s a positive move,” she assured the woman. At this small hospital, staff became like family.

      “Then, that’s good,” the woman said. “Would you like me to have an orderly prepare you a cot?”

      “Thanks, but the chair reclines. I don’t want to disturb his roommate.”

      A harried-looking man entered the hospital and approached the desk, so Delaney waved and headed for the elevators. She rode up with a couple of tired-looking interns. They got off on the surgical floor. Delaney went up two more floors to the pediatric area, which split off into a variety of wings. She was all too familiar with the cancer ward.

      At the nursing station she was again greeted like an old friend. One of Nick’s favorite nurses, a young, dark-haired and cherry-cheeked woman, smiled and handed Delaney a folder. “Dr. Avery said you’d be by quite late. After you check on Nickolas, if you’d like to go to the waiting room, look these over and sign where the doctor put red x’s, we should be able to get his transfer scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I hate to see him go, but professionally speaking, I hope they can help him make a full recovery.”

      “You and me both, Jessie.” Delaney took the folder and tucked it under her arm. Glancing back, she said, “I’ll probably spend what’s left of the night. I’d appreciate it if someone can drop off a blanket.”

      The nurse nodded, and Delaney went down the hall. She peeked in, then entered Nick’s room. She was always struck by how small he looked