“Do it now, Billy.”
“Do you want me to go upstairs and open it?”
“No, open it here.”
Billy was her best friend. She knew him, and he wasn’t irresponsible. Even if things hadn’t changed between them, even if he weren’t in her bed right now, she’d still believe that about him. Billy might be a player, but that didn’t make him irresponsible.
He tore the end off and reached in for the letter.
“Do you want me to read it for you?”
“Would you?”
For him, she’d do anything. Didn’t he realize that? Renie’s own instincts kicked in, and protecting Billy was all that mattered.
She read it out loud, so he could hear it. She wanted to rip this bandage off fast, for both their sakes.
It said that before she died, Roxanne told her grandparents that Billy Patterson was the father of her child. She hadn’t told him she was pregnant, or that she’d had a baby. She’d told her grandparents that she planned to. But, the letter went on to say, she died before she was able to.
The lawyer representing the family wrote that a paternity test would be arranged at Billy’s earliest convenience. It also stated that Roxanne’s grandparents wanted Billy, the baby’s father, to become her sole guardian. They were too elderly to raise a baby.
“Do you have any reason to confirm or deny this Billy?” She was trying to be as straightforward with him as she could be.
“I slept with her,” he answered. “But not without protection, Renie, I wouldn’t…”
It felt as though a rock landed in the middle of her chest. This wasn’t news to her. Even though Billy didn’t talk to her about having sex when he was out on the road, she knew he had. She didn’t want to think about it, talk about it, or acknowledge it, but she knew it.
“I know you wouldn’t, Billy. But, obviously there was a reason Roxanne thought you were her baby’s father.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Do what they ask. Take the paternity test. There isn’t anything you can figure out until you know for sure you’re the father.”
“God, Renie. I mean…God.”
“I know.” She felt the same way. “You should tell your parents right away. You can’t handle the burden of this on your own, Billy. You’ll need their support.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Does this change things between us?”
“I’m your friend, Billy. I’ll stick by you. You know that.”
“What about us? You and me? What about that?”
“I don’t know.”
“He said her name is Willow.”
“That’s a beautiful name, Billy.”
He had to call the Johnsons. That was their name. Earl and Sophie Johnson. They lived in Texas, which was where he’d met Roxanne. He felt terrible that Mr. Johnson came all the way to South Dakota to track him down. He felt terrible about it all. He especially felt terrible that deep down he hoped the baby wasn’t his.
“Let’s go see your mom and dad.”
“Now?”