A Father's Vow. Tina Leonard

the phone, jumping when the door swung open. Ben walked inside, his little daughter at his side. Lucy headed straight for the candy dish, and Ben headed straight for Carolyn.

       Her heart seemed to plummet downward like a fainting bird as his hazel eyes met hers.

       “I’m glad you stopped by, Ben,” Carolyn said, her voice friendly yet not more than that. “I just talked to Dylan Garrett about your case, and he believes Finders Keepers should try to obtain as much information for you as we can.”

       With those words, she steered them onto a business-like track. Immediately Ben realized Carolyn wasn’t comfortable with what he’d asked of her. Taking this case went against her wishes to keep him at arm’s length, which is what she’d tried to do from the moment he’d walked into the office. He’d insisted she be the one to help him, but he also respected the wall she’d erected to protect herself.

       Okay. He didn’t want to upset her. The fact was, she was doing him a hell of a favor, and he wouldn’t have come to Carolyn if his mother hadn’t insisted. But Eileen had been correct. Carolyn of the soft heart would put her utmost into finding the truth of a twin, for Lucy’s sake.

       It had nothing to do with Ben.

       “I appreciate that,” he said briskly. “I feel better knowing that Lucy and I are in capable hands.”

       Carolyn looked at him evenly. “I’ll need preliminary information, such as your place of birth. Also, I think we should be prepared for the consequences of what happens should we succeed with our search.”

       “Hopefully there’s a match and…” His voice trailed off.

       “There’s always the possibility this twin won’t want to have his or her life changed by the revelation of an unknown family.”

       Ben considered her. “I’ve thought of that. Selfish as it may seem, I’m not focusing on that right now.”

       “Donor matches are generally done anonymously,” Carolyn said crisply. “In this case, we’re counting on the family tie to secure the compliance of this person. But we have to be prepared that if you do have a missing twin, he may not be all that welcoming. It’s a bridge we can cross when we come to it, but I feel we should take it into consideration at this point.”

       Ben bowed his head. “It must seem cold-blooded of me, but I’d be willing to turn someone else’s life upside down to save my daughter’s.”

       She shook her head. “We just need to be prepared for the fact that this search is going to be very emotional. For everyone involved.”

       He looked at her narrowly. “I’d sell my soul to save my child. I swear I would.”

       “You can discuss the retainer with us later,” she said dryly. “I doubt Finders Keepers wants your soul, exactly. However, we don’t come cheaply, so let’s get to work. Is Lucy going to be all right while we talk? There’s a small TV in the reception area, and we could turn on ‘Sesame Street,’ or whatever it is kids watch these days.”

       “‘Sesame Street’ would be perfect, but I warn you, she won’t let me far out of her sight.”

       “I had noticed that.” They stood, and the three of them walked into the reception area outside Carolyn’s office. It contained a sofa, two chairs, walls of books, a TV and a gum ball machine. “This is sort of the lounge.” She flipped on the TV, and Lucy bounced onto the sofa.

       “Sit by me, Daddy,” she commanded.

       “I can’t right now. I have to talk to Miss Carolyn.” He glanced at Carolyn with his brows knit. “Miss Carolyn?”

       The blush that stole over her features was endearing, he thought. At twenty-seven, not many woman blushed. But Carolyn was not like any other woman he knew.

       She would not get on a plane to go to a fashion shoot if her daughter was ill. Of course, he couldn’t totally blame Marissa for running away. Sometimes he wanted to run as fast and as far as he could to get away from Lucy’s illness.

       The trouble was, his little girl had to be the one to outrun it. He couldn’t do it for her.

       “It is ‘Miss,’“ Carolyn said, her tone almost frosty to remind him to stay on his side of the wall.

       “Miss St. Clair and I will be over here in her office,” he said in the same crisp tone so she’d know he’d got the message. “Call me if you need anything, Lucy.”

       “Miss Carolyn is fine,” she told Ben as they walked behind the stone half wall that separated Carolyn’s office from the reception area. “Actually Carolyn is fine with me, if you don’t mind Lucy calling me that.” She motioned Ben to take a seat across from her.

       “We prefer Miss or Mrs. or Mr.,” Ben said firmly. “Lucy is a handful, and we’re trying to teach her proper manners from the start. It’s easier than undoing bad ones, and believe me, she appears angelic, but she’ll try the patience of the saints. Once we found out she was ill, it was more difficult to be strict, but—“ He stopped, realizing he sounded as if he were lecturing. As if he’d gone into teacher mode, stressing the explanation to a rebellious student.

       Carolyn didn’t seem to notice. She sat down at her desk and pulled out a folder marked with his name and inserted a new tape into her ever present recorder. “Let’s start with your birth certificate, of course. You were born on the outskirts of Austin, correct? A record of birth would have had to be filed at the county courthouse, and one with the state. We’ll need to compare them.”

       He stared at her, realizing she was asking for more than the rote repetition of what was on his insurance.

       “Whatever you can’t remember, we need to make notes so that we can look up this information.”

       “Jeez, I wish Mom was alive,” he said slowly. “I’m not sure I can remember all of it, and she could rattle family details like a professor.”

       “Well, we’ll have to do this without her,” Carolyn said, her voice gentle. “Ben, we have to determine the best way to begin searching for the existence of this person. We’ve got a good start but these are the things we have to know. Whatever you can remember will be crucial in saving us time.”

       He let her crisp, straightforward manner wash over him. She was right, of course. He had to rely upon himself now.

       And Carolyn. She had evidently gone to her superiors and asked for permission to handle his case. He wasn’t totally alone and defenseless in the world as long as he had her on his side.

      * * *

      “IT SEEMS TO ME that the first person we should speak to is this Dr. Benton.” Carolyn looked at Ben to see if he agreed. “Everything we’ve discussed leads back to the fact that the doctor is more than likely the only person who knows what really happened when your mother gave birth.”

       He nodded. “How do we proceed on a matter like this? Do you think this falls under physician-patient privilege, even though Mom is gone?”

       Caroline tightened her lips thoughtfully. “A patient’s records would still be confidential after death. However, talking to the doctor is a logical first step. I, for one, would be quite interested to hear what he has to say. First of all, he’s going to be quite surprised to have us show up out of the blue asking questions about the delivery.”

       “What compelling excuse can we use to get him to pull Mom’s records from the file? After all these years, there’s a good possibility the records no longer even exist. How long are doctors obligated to keep a patient’s records?”

       “Even after a patient is deceased, most doctors keep the files in what is known as a dead file or something along that line. Patients change doctors, and those histories have to be moved from an active file into another system. They’re somewhere. The question is, would he still have Eileen’s files in his office or would he have moved them into a storage facility?”