Bachelor Dad: A Single Dad Romance

“She looks exactly like my sister at that age. Right down to the freckles across her nose.”

Libby didn’t want to make things worse for him, but even he should know that a resemblance wouldn’t stand up in court. “That’s definitely a good sign, but—”

“I intend to have a paternity test done, if that’s what you’re going to say.”

She studied him. “You really didn’t have a clue?”

“Absolutely none.”

By the set of his mouth, she knew she shouldn’t push it. Maybe he hadn’t known, but whether he had or not wasn’t the question. “I guess I should congratulate you,” she finally said, not knowing what else she could do. “It isn’t every day a man learns he’s the father of a four-year-old. And just so you know, you were lucky to miss the diaper and potty training years.”

He gripped the coffee cup tightly in his hands and stared into it. “That doesn’t convince me that this is going to be easy.”

She smiled. “It isn’t.”

He looked up with a pitiful smile of his own. “Which is why women have babies, not men.”

“You just keep thinking that,” she replied, swallowing a chuckle.

Their conversation came to a halt when Tootie returned with the little girl. “She’s hungry,” Tootie announced.

Libby looked at Garrett. “Is that the other half of your sandwich?” she asked, pointing to the sack on his desk. “You could give it to Sophie.”

“I don’t know why not. I seem to have misplaced my appetite.”

Tootie took the sack from Libby and bent down to Sophie. “The break room would be a much better place to have lunch than here in this busy office. Let’s take it in there, and I’ll get you another glass of milk. How would that be?”

The child nodded, but didn’t speak, and as Sophie followed Tootie out the door, Libby wondered why. But before giving any more thought to it, she realized how long she’d been there and that she still had the letter Garrett had given her in her hand. “I’d probably better be on my way,” she told him, giving the folded paper back to him. Turning for the door, she was almost in the hallway when she heard him speak.

“She hasn’t said anything. Not a single word.”

Libby looked back, but wasn’t sure how to answer. “She may be shy,” she tried, hoping that would ease the lines that had deepened between his gray eyes. “After all, everything here is new to her.”

He nodded, but the worry on his face remained. “Including me.”

She pressed her lips together, wondering if there was anything she could say that would cushion his shock at learning he was a father. But she didn’t feel she knew him well enough to give him advice. “You’ll both do fine,” she offered, hoping that would help at least a little.

He shook his head. “I don’t see how we can. I don’t know the first thing about raising a child.”

“Neither do most mothers with their first,” she pointed out. “But they learn.”

“No, women are endowed with maternal instincts.”

“Endowed?” she asked, laughing.

“You know what I mean. And I’m serious. I really don’t know what to do.”

“You’ll learn, Garrett, and before you know it, you’ll be a great father.” At least she hoped he would be. All he really needed was to get off to a good start. To do that he needed—”Why don’t you have your sister take a look at Sophie? Make sure she’s in good physical shape, and then go from there.”

His worry lines eased a little, and a hopeful smile appeared. “You’re right. I’ll take her to see Paige today. Thanks, Libby.”

“You would have thought of it yourself.” Before he could deny it, she hurried on. “I’d better be getting home. I’m working the night shift, too, and Noah will be home from school soon.”

He nodded. “Thanks again.”

“Any time.” But something kept her from taking that step away. Surely she could do something else for him. She wouldn’t have to get involved, just offer a little support.

“Garrett?”

When his gaze met hers, she saw that his usually bright eyes were clouded with worry. “If you need some help—you know, a question about food or clothes or whatever—let me know.”

His eyes cleared, and then his smile slowly appeared, spreading wide. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Good grief! she thought as she hurried down the hallway toward the main door. Was she out of her mind? The less she was around Garrett Miles, the better. But, fool that she was, she’d just offered to help.

Chapter Two

Garrett had hoped the waiting room of the small medical clinic where his sister was the only physician would be empty. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be, but hope seemed to be the only thing he had left. He was worried. Sophie hadn’t spoken a word since Tootie had taken charge of her at the city building nearly four hours earlier. Even now, as she and Garrett stepped inside the waiting room of the clinic, she was silent, holding his hand with a grip a wrestler would admire while she clung to her teddy bear with her other hand.

Don Fulcom, the husband of one of the nurses, sat in a chair, thumbing through a magazine. He looked up as Garrett and Sophie crossed the room. Garrett nodded in greeting and guessed the man was probably there to pick up his wife.

“Hello, Garrett,” Cara Milton said from the other side of the receptionist’s window.

Garrett noticed she was trying hard not to stare at Sophie, and he tried just as hard to ignore her obvious curiosity. “Is my sister free?”

She turned to look into the hallway behind her before answering. “Not quite yet, I’m afraid, but she shouldn’t be too much longer.” She crooked a finger at him, and he leaned closer, hoping she wasn’t going to ask him about Sophie. Instead, she asked, “Would you like to wait in her office?”

He looked down at Sophie, so small and silent next to him, and he nodded.

Cara smiled as he crossed to the door that led from the waiting room into the hallway and on to his sister’s office. He knew full well that he and Sophie would soon be the talk of the town, especially when, before he was completely out of earshot, he heard a whisper.

“I wonder who that little girl is?” Cara was saying to Don Fulcom.

Garrett didn’t wait to hear the answer and doubted Don even had one. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he took Sophie into Paige’s office.

“Do you want to sit down?” He pointed to two chairs facing a worn desk that was stacked with medical files and journals.

Sophie hesitated, before climbing onto the chair closest to the wall.

Knowing that news spread fast in Desperation, Garrett wanted to be the one to tell his sister he was a father. Not that he had any idea of how to do it. She’d probably ask questions, and he knew so little, except that Sophie was the result of a relationship with a young woman he’d once thought he might be in love with. It had taken a few months for him to know the real Shana, and once it became clear that she wasn’t the kind of person he’d thought she was, he broke it off. A month and a half later, he moved to Cincinnati, where he lived with his sister until he was hired by the City of Desperation.

Nervous, he leaned a hip against the edge of the desk, crossed his arms, smiled at Sophie and waited. He’d learned quickly that trying to have a conversation with a four-year-old who didn’t speak—for whatever reason—was pretty much futile. Hopefully Paige could give him a clue as to what was going on, and then he would do whatever was needed to correct the problem. It was that simple.

Several silent minutes later, he heard Paige’s voice outside the small office. As the door opened, he pushed away from the desk and gave Sophie what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

“Cara told me you needed to see me?” Paige made it a question as she stepped into the room. For a brief moment, she looked only at Garrett, but when Sophie shifted in the chair, Paige looked down. “Well, hello there!” she greeted Sophie. “I didn’t see you.” Kneeling to Sophie’s level, Paige smiled and stuck out her hand. “My name is Paige. What’s yours?”

When Sophie didn’t answer, but placed her hand in Paige’s, Paige looked up at Garrett, who managed to swallow his nervousness enough to speak. “Her name is Sophie,” he answered.