The Baby Bet: His Secret Son

“Forgive me for leaving you. Forgive me. Don’t grieve for me, my sweet baby boy. I want…you to…be happy. You deserve…to be happy because…you’ve brought me so much…joy. I’m so…tired. I love…you. I…love…you. I…love…”

“Mom!” Andrew said, tightening his hold on her hand. “No! Don’t go. Don’t leave me. Not yet. Mom! Oh, God, no-o-o.”

Andrew had buried his face next to his mother’s head on the pillow and wept.

The feel of tears on his cheeks jolted Andrew back to the present, and he stared up at the ceiling of the hotel room for a long moment, struggling to regain control of his raging emotions.

He dragged his hands down his face, then propped his elbows on his knees and skimmed his thumbs over the tips of his moist fingers.

He hadn’t cried since that day in the hospital when his mother had died, he thought. He’d wept then, until there were no more tears to shed.

And these tears? They weren’t for Sally Malone or for the lonely fifteen-year-old boy who had been forced into an early manhood. No, they were for Kara, and Robert, and for all the MacAllisters who were going through the horror of a long hospital vigil now just as he had experienced so many years ago.

They were suffering immeasurable pain because of what he had done. He had set off on a mission that his mother would not have approved of.

He’d been so determined that Robert MacAllister would acknowledge the existence of Sally Malone. But if she had truly wanted that recognition, what was rightfully hers, she would have approached Robert herself and demanded he take responsibility for her and his child.

“Ah, man, Malone,” Andrew said aloud, shaking his head. “You went off half-cocked, didn’t think it through, just reacted to Clara’s rantings and ravings, and that photograph in the newspaper, and…”

And now? An entire family was in pain because of what he had done. He couldn’t reverse it, couldn’t fix it, couldn’t do anything, except wait to find out if Robert MacAllister was going to survive.

Andrew snatched up the telephone receiver and dialed the number of Mercy Hospital. When someone answered, he asked to speak to Dr. Kara MacAllister.

“I’ll need your name before I page her, sir,” the woman on the telephone said.

“Malone. Andrew Malone.”

“Thank you, sir. Please wait on the line while I page Dr. MacAllister.”

Yes, he’d wait, Andrew thought. He’d wait for Kara to answer the page. He’d wait for Kara to trust him enough to tell him about her past, reveal her innermost secrets to him.

But for the life of him, he couldn’t think of one good reason she would even consider doing that.

“Oh, Kara,” Margaret whispered, “Robert looks so much better. See? There’s even a little color in his cheeks now.”

“Yes, there is,” Kara said. “He’s sleeping peacefully, Aunt Margaret.”

“Did you see the smile he gave me before he dozed off?” Margaret said, her eyes filling with tears. “That was my Robert.”

“It was a beautiful loving smile,” Kara said, nodding. “It hasn’t been twenty-four hours since Uncle Robert’s heart attack, but the specialists feel he is going to make it through this. Now that he’s out of intensive care, they’re discussing what tests they want to run and when they think he’ll be up to going through them. I’m so happy that—”

The pager in the pocket of her white medical coat buzzed. She took it out and looked at the tiny screen on the top.

“I have to call the hospital operator,” she said. “I’ll go out to the nurses’ station so I won’t disturb Uncle Robert.”

“I’ll just sit here and watch him sleep,” Margaret said. “Will that be all right?”

“Yes, that’s fine,” Kara said. “I know some of the family is here, but you’re the only visitor Uncle Robert is to have for now. The doctors were very emphatic about that. The others will have to be patient. It probably won’t be too long before they can see him. I’ll be back soon.”

Kara hurried from the room and went to the nurses’ station. She lifted the receiver to the telephone and pressed a button.

“Dr. MacAllister,” she said.

“There’s an Andrew Malone holding on the line for you, Dr. MacAllister,” the woman said. “Shall I put his call through?”

Andrew, Kara thought, a vivid image of him forming instantly in her mental vision. She’d dreamed about Andrew Malone. Sensual dreams. Dreams of being held in his arms, kissed and caressed by him. Dreams that had caused her to toss and turn in the narrow bed in the residents’ room. Dreams that had finally jolted her awake to discover that heated desire was pulsing low in her body.

“Dr. MacAllister?” the operator said. “Are you still there?”

“Oh. Oh, yes, I’m here. I’m sorry. Please put Mr. Malone’s call through. Thank you.”

Kara depressed the button on the telephone and an instant later it rang. She lifted her hand again and saw that it was trembling slightly.

“Dr. MacAllister,” she said, hoping her voice was steadier than it sounded to her own ears.

“Kara? This is Andrew. How are you? And how is Robert?”

“Uncle Robert regained consciousness early this morning,” she said. “He’s in a private room now and sleeping peacefully. His doctors are very optimistic about his surviving the heart attack and are conferring as to what tests to run and when.”

“Thank God,” Andrew said, his voice husky. “Oh, man, what a relief. I can’t begin to tell you how…well, I can only hope you know that I’m grateful that he’s going to be all right. You believe me, don’t you?”

“Yes. Yes, Andrew, I believe you. I’m aware of how distressed you were about what happened. Uncle Robert has a long way to go here, but things certainly look brighter than they did last night.” Kara paused. “Where…where are you, Andrew?”

“I managed to get a hotel room.”

“Oh, I see. Well, that’s good. You got some sleep, then?”

Yes, and dreamed about you, Andrew thought.

“I slept,” he said. “Did you?”

A warm flush stained Kara’s cheeks as she remembered the dreams she’d had of Andrew.

“Oh, yes, I was snug as a bug in the residents’ room. I’m as good as new.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Listen, I’m going to have something to eat, then come over to the hospital. I’ll stay in the shadows, keep out of your family’s way, but I’m not going back to Santa Maria until I know what the tests show about Robert’s condition. I’d like to see you while I’m there.”

“I…well, yes, of course, you’ll want to be kept up to date on Uncle Robert’s condition. Just so you know, I’ll be checking on my patients who are here, doing my rounds. I’ll watch for you…in the shadows.”

“Kara, being kept apprised of Robert’s condition isn’t the only reason I want to see you. You know that, don’t you?”

“I…”

“Don’t you?”

“Yes, Andrew, I know that.”

“Good. Until later, then. Goodbye.”