His Secret Child (3 page)

Mike Hanley placed the hot Reuben and fries on the desk in front of his sister. She glanced up from the computer and smiled at him.

"Thanks. I'm starving." She shoved back her chair, stood and headed for the small rest room adjacent to her office.

"Don't you think it's time we talk about it?" Mike said. "You've put me off every time I've brought up the subject."

Leaving the bathroom door open, Sheila washed and dried her hands. "What's there to talk about? Caleb's back in Crooked Oak for a brief visit and when he's pulled his life back together, he'll be gone again."

"Well, it doesn't look like he's in any hurry to leave. He's already been here ten days and hasn't even put in an appearance in town. The natives are getting restless for a good look at the big celebrity."

"I suppose Caleb was the main topic of conversation over at Pete's Café, wasn't he?" Sheila returned to her desk, opened the styrene food container and growled hungrily when she picked up the sandwich.

"Caleb Bishop has been the main topic in town ever since your son told all his buddies that the great man had arrived." Mike sat down on the edge of the battered old wooden desk, reached out and grasped his sister's chin. "Sticking your head in the sand isn't going to work, you know. Crooked Oak is a small town. If Caleb stays—and it looks like he's going to—then sooner or later he and Danny are going to come face-to-face. What happens then?"

Sheila swallowed the delectable mouthful of corned beef. "Nothing happens. There's no reason for Caleb to suspect anything. After all, not a soul in town ever questioned that Daniel was Danny's father. Why should Caleb?"

"Because Caleb is one of four people who knows you and he had sex twelve years ago." Mike released her chin. "Have you talked to Susan lately?"

"I've been avoiding her calls," Sheila admitted. "I know she's going to do just what you've been doing— torment me."

"Honey, it's your own conscience that's tormenting you. You're feeling guilty for lying to Danny about his father. And you're scared to death that somehow he and Caleb are going to find out the truth."

"I won't let that happen." Sheila broke a French fry in two. "I will not let Danny get hurt because of my mistakes."

The telephone rang. Sheila jumped, then glared at the noisy object.

"Want me to get it?" Mike asked.

"No, of course not." Sheila lifted the receiver. "Hanley Garage and Tow Truck Service."

"Sheila? Have you seen my brother today?"

"Oh, hello, Tallie, how are you?"

Mike's eyes widened and his mouth curved into a smile. "Tell the first lady I said hello. I'm going back to work. Mr. Chapman is coming by in about an hour to pick up his Suburban."

The minute Mike left the office, Sheila lowered her voice and said, "I haven't seen Caleb since the first evening he got into town. Why would you think I'd seen him today?"

"Well, I talked to him earlier and he promised me that he'd get out for a while this afternoon."

"What makes you think he'd come to see me?"

"Because he said he planned to stop by the garage and talk to you and Mike about finding him an antique car that the three of you could restore together."

"Oh!" Oh, my God! The last thing she wanted—the very last thing she needed—was a reason to spend any time with Caleb. But if he did come by and hire Mike to help him restore an old car, how could she possibly refuse? What reasonable explanation could she give for not taking his money?

"Look, I can trust you to watch out for Caleb. He's lonely and vulnerable right now," Tallie said. "Without someone to keep close tabs on him, he's liable to let the first pretty face he meets get him into trouble. The last thing he needs is some hero-worshiping fan to get her claws into him."

"What do you expect me to do about it?" Sheila asked. "Besides, if he doesn't ever leave the farm, then it's highly unlikely that some crazed female fan is going to seduce him."

"All I'm asking is that if Caleb needs a little female companionship while he's in town, you provide it for him."

"I'm afraid your idea of companionship and your brother's are two different things. And believe me, I'm not sleeping with your brother as a favor to you."

"Hell's toenails," Tallie said, moaning dramatically. "I don't expect you to. It's just that he's all alone and you're all alone and—"

"I'm not all alone," Sheila told her. "I have family. Danny. Mike and his Christy. And I have dated Pat Lawley a few times recently."

"Pat Lawley? My heavens, Sheila, you're four inches taller than Pat and five years older. I like Pat, but he's hardly the man for you."

"Pat and I are the same height. And he's twenty-seven, which makes him three years younger than I am."

"Doesn't matter. Pat's not right for you."

"You aren't implying that you think Caleb is the right man for me, are you?"

"Well, maybe not. But I do remember a time when you had quite a crush on my brother. If he'd had any sense back then, he would have snapped you up before Dan Vance married you."

"Tallie!"

"Oh, all right, I'll stop trying to play matchmaker. If you're not interested in Caleb for yourself, then try to find him some nice girl to date while he's in town. And I mean
nice.
"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks. And give me a call in a few days and let me know how he's doing. Okay?"

"Okay."

After hanging up the phone, Sheila rested her elbows on the desk and cradled her chin in her cupped hands. If Tallie hadn't been Caleb's sister, she would have told her the truth twelve years ago. When she had discovered she was pregnant, she'd gone straight to Susan Williams, who had been the third member of their friendship triangle. Sheila hadn't wanted to keep the truth from Tallie, but she had convinced Susan and herself that if Tallie knew the child she was carrying belonged to Caleb, then Tallie would tell her brother. And the last thing she'd wanted was to ruin Caleb's big chance to play college baseball.

She might have felt differently about things if Caleb had loved her. But he hadn't. He'd taken her out on graduation night and she'd suspected all along that the date was a repayment for her valuable assistance in helping him pass his final exam. What had started out as a pleasant evening spent with a friend had turned into a passionate night that she had never been able to forget. She had lived off the memory of that one night for twelve years. She had lain in Dan Vance's arms during the intimate moments of their marriage and thought about the night another man had made love to her. And she suspected that Dan had known and had forgiven her for being unable to forget the man who had fathered her child.

A gentle tapping on the open door alerted Sheila of a potential customer. She looked up to see Caleb Bishop poised in the doorway, his long, lean frame silhouetted by the afternoon sunlight behind him. Her heart skipped a beat. Her stomach fluttered. Damn him for still having such a potent effect on her. Damn him for coming back into her life and unsettling her peaceful existence. And damn him for unwittingly putting Danny's security at risk.

"Hello," he said. "Have you got time for me?"

She wanted to scream no loud and clear. She wanted to tell him to go away and leave her alone, to stop sending her into turmoil with his nearness. But she couldn't say or do anything to alert him that she was afraid of him, that his presence in her life was a danger to both her and her son.

"Sure. What do you need?" She whirled the swivel chair around, shoved it back and stood to face him.

I need you, honey, he wanted to say, but didn't. I need to set you up on that old desk of yours, spread your legs, unzip my jeans and … His thoughts wreaked havoc on his body. His sex enlarged and tightened uncomfortably.

He removed his cap and fiddled with it in his large hands. "I, er, I thought maybe you and Mike could find me an old hot rod to restore. I couldn't do all the work myself—" he raised his limp right arm "—but I thought I might keep the car here and y'all could help me fix it up. It'd give me something to do to pass the time."

"What's the matter? Have you gotten tired of holing up at the farm and feeling sorry for yourself?"

He grinned, that devastatingly cocky grin that countless female fans swooned over. Sheila wanted to shout to the world that he had bestowed that special smile on her years before he'd become a baseball star.

"Yeah, something like that." He took several tentative steps into her office. "So, do you think you can find me a car?"

"I'm sure Mike can, if you tell him what you're looking for. He's working on a van right now. Why don't you go on out to the garage and talk to him?"

"Do you still tinker around on cars yourself?" he asked. "I remember you were almost as good a mechanic as Tallie."

"Occasionally I get my hands greasy," she said. "If Mike needs my help. But mostly I handle the office and take part of the tow truck calls."

"I remember when Gramps and Dan first went into business together. It was right after Gramps's first heart attack and the doctor told him he couldn't work at the factory any longer. Dan had been recently widowed and left his job in Chattanooga to come home to Crooked Oak and put his life back together. Sure never thought he'd wind up marrying one of Tallie's friends."

"Dan was a good man and we had a good marriage, despite the difference in our ages. I still miss him terribly."

"Yeah, I guess you do." Caleb's body relaxed enough that he felt comfortable moving in a little closer to Sheila. "But at least he left you with a child. I imagine having Dan's son makes living without him easier."

Myriad emotions tightened Sheila's chest. For one brief moment she couldn't breathe. Her instant reaction to Caleb's comment was fury. She wanted to pound his chest with her fists and tell him that her child was his son, not Daniel's.

A long, seemingly endless moment of silence strung out between them. Say something, Sheila told herself. Say something before he wonders why you're reacting this way. But before she could think of an appropriate response, a woman's soft voice called from the doorway.

"Hi." Smiling directly at Sheila, Donna Fields curled her small hand and waved her fingers in greeting. "I stopped by to see if my car's ready."

Glad for any interruption, Sheila breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, Donna, come on in."

The elegantly slender woman, a mane of mahogany red hair falling around her shoulders, entered the small office. She halted beside Caleb, who had turned and openly admired the woman's physical beauty.

"Hello," Donna said. "I don't think we've met. Are you a customer or a friend?"

Caleb reached out and took Donna's hand, gave it a lingering squeeze, then grinned devilishly, flirtatiously. And the Green-eyed Monster soared inside Sheila like a jet plane in flight. Did the man have to try to charm every woman he met?

"I'm an old friend and a potential customer," Caleb replied. "Caleb Bishop, at your service, pretty lady."

"Caleb Bishop?" Donna practically gushed with enthusiasm and pleasure. "Tallie's brother. The baseball player." She pumped Caleb's hand. "I've heard so much about the Bishop brothers from Tallie that I feel as if I know all three of you."

"I'm sure she told you that I'm the handsome one." Caleb's smile widened. "By the way, how do you know Tallie? You weren't one of her high school friends. Believe me, I'd remember if you were."

Oh, yeah,
Sheila thought.
Her he would remember.

Donna laughed, obviously charmed by the man who still held her hand. "Actually, I met Tallie when I was dating Peyton." She chucked at his puzzled expression. "Oh, there wasn't anything serious between your brother-in-law and me. We were just friends."

Sheila rose from the chair, squared her broad shoulders and stood beside Donna. Might as well let Caleb get a good look at the two of us, side-by-side, get the comparison over with and come to the conclusion that any man would—that Donna Fields was a beautiful desirable woman and Sheila Vance was a big, plain country girl.

"Your car's ready," Sheila said. "I've got your bill."

Donna rummaged in her purse, pulled out a credit card and handed it to Sheila. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have an evening class, so I have to rush back to Marshallton for a dinner date with a colleague."

"We'll have to get together soon." Sheila processed the bill, then returned the card to Donna. She pulled a set of keys off a nearby hook. "Here's your keys. Your Corvette's parked in the side lot."

Donna took the keys, gave Sheila a quick hug and whispered in her ear, "Is Susan pregnant yet?"

"Not yet," Sheila replied softly. "Keep your fingers crossed. She and Lowell are going in for some tests next week."

Donna shook her head, then turned to Caleb. "Nice to have finally met one of Tallie's brothers."

"Would you be interested in seeing more of one of Tallie's brothers?" Caleb asked.

"Oh, that's a tempting offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. You see, I'm taking a group of my students from the junior college to England during spring break and I'm going to be terribly busy from now until we leave."