A Father's Vow. Tina Leonard

Carolyn nodded, opening an appointment book. “I’ll call and schedule an appointment with Dr. Benton.”

       Ben put his hand over hers, surprising her. The contact sent warmth shimmering through her, and she found it difficult to meet his eyes.

       “Maybe an unannounced visit would be best.”

       Carolyn held her breath until Ben removed his hand from hers. She exhaled, forcing herself to think about the words and not the man. “The element of surprise can’t hurt, but we shouldn’t assume Dr. Benton would be unhelpful,” she reminded him.

       “Sorry.” He dipped his head somewhat sheepishly. “I don’t mean to sound combative. But Mom’s story has begun to be very real to me. That makes Dr. Benton a bad guy.”

       Carolyn nodded slowly. “I can’t blame you for the way you feel.” Whether Douglas Benton was a bad guy or not remained to be seen, but she understood Ben’s need to hope that there was an enemy out there that could be defeated. It must be hellish to be fighting the enemy he was pitted against—his daughter’s disease—with no weapons to rely on.

       The love for his daughter was strong in this father. She admired that he so desperately wanted to be able to ride up on a charger and save her. But it also broke her heart. What if he failed? “Leave Lucy with me, if you like, and see if you can locate your birth certificate. We can proceed from there.”

       “You don’t mind Lucy staying?”

       She shook her head. “Not at all.”

       His eyes settled on her with some unidentifiable emotion. “Thanks, Carolyn. She could use a friend right now.”

       Then he got up and walked out the door without saying another word, his shoulders stiff, his back straight. Carolyn bowed her head.

       It wasn’t sympathy that made her see Ben in such a rose-colored light. She simply had never stopped loving him, and in the moment when he was suffering the most, she found herself tearing her own heart in two as she struggled not to let herself fall for him all over again.

       Falling for Ben Mulholland had been the easiest thing she had ever done—getting over him had been impossible.

      * * *

      BEN’S BIRTH certificate appeared to be like any other she had seen. Carolyn wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but maybe she’d been hoping against hope that some clue would pop out from the stamped page and point her in the right direction.

       But the slightly yellowed Texas state document lay on the desk before her, innocuous and ordinary. She blew out a breath.

       “Nothing special there,” Ben said.

       She smiled to herself at the tandem tracking of their minds and picked up her purse. “I’ll head to Dr. Benton’s now and see what I can find out.”

       “I’m going with you.”

       “You don’t need to do that, Ben. Investigating this case is what you’re paying Finders Keepers to do.”

       “Trust me. I need to do this.”

       Under the circumstances, she could understand how he felt—and she had to admit that she looked forward to his and Lucy’s company as well. “Will a long drive be too hard on Lucy?”

       “I don’t think so. She can sleep in the car, and anyway, she enjoys small outings away from the house. She gets cabin fever.”

       Carolyn smiled as Ben rose and went into the lounge, where Lucy was engrossed in a conversation with stuffed animals and a plastic tea set Carolyn had unearthed from the main house. She heard Lucy mildly protest at having to leave the new toys behind, before acquiescing to her father’s coaxing. Carolyn’s lungs seemed to squeeze tight inside her. Ben was the parent she’d known he would be. She’d made the right decision all those years ago, and if she’d paid for that choice with unimaginable emotional pain, then it had been the right thing to do. Ben and Lucy adored each other—Carolyn couldn’t imagine one without the other.

       She started to call to Ben that Lucy was welcome to take the stuffed animals in the car with her, but then he appeared with Lucy riding on his back. “Someone had taken off their shoes and socks,” he said with a grin.

       Carolyn smiled at Lucy. “That sounds like a good thing to do.”

       “Mm-hm,” Lucy agreed. She squeezed her thin little arms around her daddy’s shoulders in a sweet hug.

       It was like looking at a face full of sunshine. Those corners of Carolyn’s heart that had never known that sunshine absorbed the light wistfully. “Come on,” she said softly. “Let’s go see what we can find out.”

       They drove approximately eighty miles north to the Austin address listed as Dr. Benton’s in the phone book. Parking the car, Carolyn didn’t allow herself to become apprehensive about the questions they would pose to Douglas Benton. Because of Lucy’s situation, she wouldn’t allow herself to feel anything but hope. She tapped on the front door of the house and gave Ben a smile that felt weak, though she meant it to be comforting.

       The wooden inside door opened, and a woman peered through the screen door at them.

       “Can I help you?”

       “We’re looking for Douglas Benton,” Carolyn said.

       “Why?” the woman asked, her tone suspicious.

       Somewhat taken aback, Carolyn looked over the middle-aged woman more carefully. Her hair was unkempt, her figure rounded with lack of exercise. She wore orange polyester pants and a short-sleeved brown shirt. Somehow she didn’t look like the wife of a prominent local doctor. “I’m Carolyn St. Clair,” she said, forgoing introducing Ben for the moment, in case his name alerted the woman to the reason for their presence. “Would you be Mrs. Benton?”

       The woman raised her eyebrows and studied the threesome, her gaze hovering on Lucy for a second before returning to Carolyn. “Luckily for me, no.”

       Uncertain how to take that, Carolyn pressed forward. “This is the Benton home?”

       “It is. But only Mrs. Benton lives here. Dr. Benton died the first week of August, so you’ve just missed him, you might say,” the woman said with a snort.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      BEN’S HEART contracted at the unwelcome news. He clutched Lucy’s hand tighter in his to calm himself. The unhelpful woman was clearly annoyed with their presence. He decided to allow Carolyn to continue on her course—after all, she was doing her job. He stood still on the porch, torn between giving in to despair and chewing the woman out for her dismissive attitude.

       Of course, she had no way of knowing that their mission was one of life-and-death. He had too much invested in the situation, and his desperation was setting his emotions at flashpoint.

       Carolyn’s calm voice pushed back the rush of disappointment swelling his heart. “I am sorry to hear of his passing. We were unaware that he was ill.”

       The woman shrugged. “What is it you wanted with him, anyway?”

       “Actually, it’s a private matter. Could you possibly direct us to Mrs. Benton?”

       “I can, but it’ll do you as little good as Dr. Benton.”

       To Ben’s surprise, the contrary woman opened the screen door. They stepped into the dark hallway, the musty smell of the house oppressive. A very unpleasant place to live, he thought suddenly. And this was the residence of the man who had helped his mother deliver him. He frowned. If this doctor had been guilty of baby smuggling, wouldn’t he have chosen somewhere better to live?

       “Thank you for allowing us to see Mrs. Benton,” Carolyn said. “I realize this is something of an imposition, and I hope she won’t mind us coming without an appointment.”

       The woman looked