“You have a child with the woman you love.” Dallas smiled. “That’s a beautiful thing. The rest can be worked out.”
“Dallas, my child is five years old! I’ve missed a half decade of his life. I didn’t hear his first word. I didn’t see his first smile, his first step.”
“I understand.” Dallas looked toward the family room where the girls were playing. “Believe me, I understand.”
“I have rights, damnit. I want to know my son.”
“The child legally belongs to the Buchanans. They adopted him. I’m assuming they went through all the legal channels.”
“What if they didn’t?”
“I suppose it’s possible that Sydney just let her parents raise him.”
“She said she was only nineteen when she had him. I can’t believe she was that young when we met. She seemed so much older. She was a champion barrel racer. Dusty was twenty-three at that time.”
“And you were?”
“Twenty-seven. I feel like I robbed the cradle.”
“She was legal, Sam. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know that.” He shook his head. Emotion coursed through him. “Damnit!”
“First thing is to find out if the Buchanans are Duke’s legal parents. If they are, this is going to be more difficult. I won’t lie to you. If they’re not, and Sydney is the legal parent, it will be easier for you to get paternal rights.”
“Can you find that out?”
“Where was the child born?”
“Hell if I know. Nevada, probably.” Sam took a drink of Scotch. “That’s where they live now.”
“That’s a start. We can search the records.”
“How long will that take?” Sam asked.
“I don’t have an office. I’m not a practicing lawyer. I’ll have to call someone in Denver. But there’s an easier way to get this information.”
“And what might that be?”
Dallas cleared his throat. “Ask Sydney.”
“Are you kidding? She’s hardly proved herself trustworthy. First, she neglected to tell me she was engaged to some effeminate businessman, and now this? I’m not taking her word for anything.”
“All right. Fair enough. Her parents, then.”
“I doubt they’ll cooperate. I was pretty hard on Roy at the rodeo.”
“I’m sure he understands. This is a lot for you to deal with.”
Sam nodded. Finally, someone who understood, or at least tried to. “They see me as a threat. They’re probably afraid I’m going to take Duke.”
“Are you?”
&
nbsp; “I just might. He is mine, after all. I was never given a choice in the matter.”
“How do you think that would affect them?”