He stilled. McCall? He pulled away. “You told McCall? But not me?”
She faltered, as if realizing she probably should’ve kept that to herself. He didn’t like to think he was a jealous person, but it didn’t sit right at all that Darcy would share his bed with him but not her secrets. “It, um, just sort of came out when I carjacked him and…” His eyes widened and she slumped in defeat. “Okay, I made some really big mistakes in judgment, but my motives were pure. I needed to know if he was a Devotee or not, and having someone on my side sounded like a really good idea.”
“I’m on your side,” he countered quietly, stung that she’d thought she couldn’t come to him with her fears. “Have I said or done something that would make you think that I wouldn’t be?”
She shook her head. “Not exactly. I’m sorry. I was being…afraid and stupid. I should’ve trusted you, Rafe. I
do
trust you. Does that count for something now?”
“Of course it does. I just wish you could’ve felt this way before you put yourself in danger. What if McCall had been a Devotee?”
“I’d have been screwed,” she admitted sheepishly. “But he wasn’t, so I dodged a bullet and recognized that I shouldn’t have gone that route. Trust me, I wanted to tell you, but by then I didn’t know how to bring it up.”
“How about, ‘Rafe, I need to talk to you. I’m Samuel Grayson’s daughter’? That would’ve piqued my interest at the very least.”
“This isn’t funny, so don’t make jokes,” she said.
“Who’s joking? Darcy…for future reference…just come out and tell me. I don’t like surprises.”
She nodded. That seemed fair. “Okay. Well, then, along those lines, I have something else to tell you.”
He regarded her warily. “Yes?”
Get ready for bombshell number two. “I think I might be pregnant.”
Chapter 23
T
he bottom dropped out of Rafe’s world at Darcy’s news. Well, the second bit of news, actually.
“Pregnant?” he repeated and she nodded. The night they’d went without a condom came rushing back and he groaned, kicking himself all over again for being so reckless. “I’m so sorry…”
She straightened, frowning. “Sorry? What do you mean, sorry?”
“It’s my fault. I should’ve insisted on a condom. I know you said that it’s difficult to get pregnant and, yes, if you look at the science, it seems the odds are stacked against human beings, but history has proven otherwise—getting pregnant is what a woman’s body is designed to do.”
She sniffed. “Well, my body wasn’t. I never thought that was in my plan. However, now I’m not so sure and I don’t want you apologizing. I’ve been thinking about it and, well, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, after all.”
“Darcy, you can’t stay here if you’re pregnant,” Rafe said, his voice urgent. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you and our child being in danger. It’s bad enough that I’m worried sick about Devin. I can’t do that with you.”
She framed his face. “We’re a team, Rafe. Without me, you’d be hiding in broom closets without so much as a flashlight. You’re the brains but I’m the common sense of this operation. Without each other, we’d be in a mess. We need each other.”
“I don’t know,” he said darkly. “I couldn’t protect Devin or his mother. I can’t fail with you. It would kill me.”
“You won’t.”
He loved her conviction, that she believed in him wholly. It buoyed him even when he knew he ought to send her anywhere but here. He pulled her to him and held her tight. “I love you, Darcy.”
“I know,” she said through a watery giggle. “But before we start picking out nursery colors, we should take a test first. I’m only a week late and with all the stress…you know how it goes.”
He nodded. “But I want you to know, either way, I’m here for you.”
“Good. I’d hate to think that you’d drop me like a hot potato in case it turned out I wasn’t knocked up.” She grinned and he laughed.
“No. Not that kind of guy.”
“I know that, too,” she said softly, her eyes shining. “Now let’s shake some damn trees and see if we can’t find someone who knows something about Devin. Devin deserves his family.”
“Tell me more about your biological mother,” Rafe said later that evening. She had her feet propped on his legs and he was giving her a good foot massage.
Sighing, she said, “There’s not a lot to tell. I don’t know anything aside from her name and where she’s from.”
“Tell me what you know.”
“Well, according to my adoptive mother, they met in foster care when they lived in Horn’s Gulch. She only ever knew her as Catherine and she was younger than my adoptive mom. Once Catherine gave birth, she got real scared and made Louise promise she’d take care of me and keep me away from Samuel.”
“Horn’s Gulch, that’s not too far from here,” Rafe noted. “Did you ever take a drive there?”
“No. I thought about it, but I chickened out. I didn’t know where to start and figured whatever leads had been there were likely long gone by now.”
“If she was in foster care, it’s likely there are records.”
“Yeah, but aren’t they sealed?” she asked.
“There are ways around that. I could make some calls if you like.”
“Would you? I’d appreciate that,” she said, smiling. He continued to rub her toes. She snuggled deeper into the sofa.
“How’d you feel when you found out that you were adopted?”
Darcy thought for a moment, remembering. “Sad. Not because I had a bad childhood or anything, but because I never got the chance to know Catherine. I wish I knew if we were alike or if our mannerisms were the same. I don’t even know my own medical history. Yeah, so mostly sad.”
He nodded and continued to rub. The motion soothed her, even though her heart hurt when she thought of Catherine and the loss of the only mother she’d ever known. “I miss my adoptive mother, though,” she admitted in a tight voice. “We were very close. I was an only child and we were each other’s support system. I’d always assumed it was because she’d been a single mom, but it was because she was always looking over her shoulder, afraid that Samuel would show up on her doorstep to take me away. I realize now that she shouldered a very heavy burden for me and my biological mother.”
“She must’ve loved you both very much,” he said quietly and she agreed.
“Yes. I know she did. And I miss her terribly.” Her voice broke and he stopped rubbing to reach over and gather her in his arms. He held her that way so she could quietly cry, letting the grief she’d held back for too long wash over her. After a time, she wiped her nose with a tissue he’d handed her and she said, chuckling at the irony, “My mom would’ve loved you. She’d always said I ought to start dating doctors. She had this thing about wanting to know if my dates would be good providers down the line. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I wasn’t dating those other guys as settle-down material. I was just looking for a good time.”
“Is that what you thought when you saw me?” Rafe joked.
She lifted her head, a small smile on her face. “Not at first. You seemed kind of stiff. But that all changed within seconds of talking to you. I realized you had something special. And I was not above wanting to get into your pants, I won’t lie.”
“Are you saying you seduced me?” Rafe asked in mock indignation. She straddled him and he slid into a more comfortable spot with his hands cradling her backside. “I don’t quite remember it that way.”
“No? For a doctor you have a terrible memory,” she teased and leaned into him for a deep kiss, reminding him just how easily she’d twisted him around her finger that first night.
“Ah,” he said, a little breathlessly. “It’s all coming back to me now, but how about a recap?”
“My pleasure. It went something like this....”
Rafe spent considerable time on the phone, even enlisting the help of Agent Hawk Bledsoe to track down some information on Catherine, but the foster mother who’d taken in young Catherine and Louise was long dead.
He shared the news with Darcy, wishing he’d had something more solid to lead with.
The light dimmed in her eyes, but she nodded. “I knew it was a long shot. So much time has passed. Thank you for checking, though.”
He hated seeing her so despondent. He knew how that felt. “We’ll keep trying. Any lead that comes along, we’ll chase it down. I promise.”
She took his hand and kissed his palm. “You’re a good man, Rafe Black.”
“So some say,” he murmured, wishing he’d had better news. But there was something else he needed to know from her. “Did you take the second test?” he asked, his nerves taut. The first pregnancy test had been inconclusive, which could’ve meant, yes, she was pregnant or, no, she wasn’t. They’d had to wait a few more days to take the test again.
“I did,” she admitted, her mouth trembling a little. “It was negative.”
He should’ve felt relief. But he didn’t. “How do you feel about it?” he asked, wanting her perspective first. “Are you happy?”
She shrugged in answer. “I suppose. I mean I should be.”
“But?”
“But I kind of got used to the idea and I liked it.”
He smiled. “Me, too.”
She looked up. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
Darcy jumped into his arms. “You’re constantly surprising me in a good way, not a scary or irritating sort of way.” He laughed and kissed her. “So what does this mean?”
“It means I would’ve been overjoyed to have a child with you and when it happens for real, I know what a blessing it will be.”
“I agree,” she said, her laughter fading. “But I want to wait. I’m not entirely ready just yet.”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. I want to focus on Devin for now. Later, we’ll have a basketball team of kids.”
“Whoa, now, let’s not go crazy. One or two sounds doable…not a team of Globetrotters,” she said, the laughter returning.
“Okay, it’s up for negotiation, but for the time being, we agree.”
“Yes.”
They snuggled and spent the rest of the evening quiet and reflective, but beneath the coziness of the moment, each was processing everything in different ways. For Rafe, knowing Darcy wasn’t pregnant relieved some pressure, but the knowledge that Devin was still missing weighed on him more heavily with each passing day.
If something didn’t happen soon, he would lose his mind and do something crazy.
He had no idea that by tomorrow morning, his life was about to change.
Ford McCall entered the station early and something caught his eye. He stopped at Chief Fargo’s office and saw a car seat on the desk. That in itself was something to make him stop in his tracks. Fargo didn’t have kids. He walked in and went straight to the seat and found a note taped to it. “Little Devin Black belongs with his father. I found him all alone when Abby vanished and thought he was all alone in the world. Then when Dr. Black came to town, I loved little Devin too much to let him go. But I must do what’s right.”
Ford stared at the note, turning it over, searching for a signature, but it was simply a typed note, as impersonal as it was suspicious.
Fargo entered the room, carrying a dark-haired baby boy as awkwardly as if he’d been carrying a wiggling ferret. “Oh, I see you’ve found what was on my doorstep early this morning,” he said sourly.
“Is that…Rafe Black’s baby?” Ford asked, incredulous.
“It’s what the note says, isn’t it?” Fargo snapped, handing off the kid with distaste. “I’ll do the honors and call Black. You keep the kid busy. He smells funky. Maybe you could check his pants.”
Ford stared at the baby, unable to fathom that Baby Devin, the kid whose very existence had been questioned repeatedly for months, was now in his arms. He eyed Fargo, not buying for a second that the kid had just shown up without warning, but as he adjusted the baby, who’d begun to fuss, he realized now was not the time to pick that fight. He’d have to tell Hawk his suspicions later.
Fargo picked up the phone and made the call to Rafe without a lot of ceremony.
“Hey, Doc. I’ve got good news. Your kid showed up. I’ll deliver him to your office in about a half hour.” He hung up and met Ford’s incredulous stare. “What? It’s good news. He ought to be happy.”
“Sure, Chief. It’s good news,” he said, patting the baby on his bottom when he fussed some more. “Doesn’t it seem a little coincidental that the baby just showed up when Rafe put some pressure on you to find him?” he asked, unable to keep his suspicion to himself. “Just saying…seems odd.”
Fargo’s stare narrowed. “The kid’s here. Rafe’s happy. Case closed. Move on.”
“Yeah, that’s the Cold Plains way, isn’t it?” he muttered, walking away from Fargo before he said something he really couldn’t take back.
He supposed Fargo was right about one thing: Rafe would be happy and relieved. And that was a good thing. Ford would try to accept the news as simply that: good.
Rafe’s hands shook as he clicked off his phone. Darcy stared, worried. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“That was Fargo. They’ve found Devin.”
“What?” Darcy exclaimed. “Where?”