A Father's Secret

She decided she’d go up to Sam’s room and quickly clean out the last remnants of his occupancy, then she’d give Janet a call. Flinging open the bedroom window to air the room out, she methodically stripped the bed and removed the towels and robe from the bathroom. Then she cleaned until she thought her hands would bleed from the effort. Finally satisfied she’d scoured away every last remnant of Sam’s stay at Connell Lodge, Erin closed the window and went back downstairs.

There was no avoiding it any longer. She needed to talk to Janet. She half smiled. Her habit of avoidance was getting to be a little too much of a regular occurrence. Luckily, Janet was free when Erin phoned.

“I’m glad you called,” the lawyer said. “I was going to get in touch with you today.”

“The news about Sam Thornton being Party A?” Erin replied. “I already know.”

“No, not that. Really? Your guest is Riley’s father?” Janet’s shock was clear through the line.

“Apparently. I believe his lawyers will be sending proof sometime today.”

“Wow, how do you feel about that?”

“Threatened.”

She dragged in a deep breath and explained the situation, ending with what Sam had accused her of in regard to lying to stay in the house.

“So, is there any way we can challenge the terms of the trust?” she finished.

“That’s a tough question. I’ll do what I can to find out. I have a colleague with another firm who’d probably love to get his hands on this. He’s a bit of an expert.”

“Expensive?”

“He owes me a favor, don’t worry about fees.”

Erin heaved a small sigh of relief then remembered that Janet had wanted to talk to her, too. “What was it you wanted to call me about?”

“Let’s see, ah, yes, here it is. It seems there was some anomaly with your DNA test. They want you to test again. They’ve sent the requirements here to my office. If you can make it in this afternoon, I can get them out on the late courier in the evening.”

Erin had found it strange that she’d been requested to supply a DNA sample at the same time as Riley’s. Janet had assured her it had to do with providing a complete profile for Riley’s parentage and after that Erin hadn’t given it another thought. She shot a look at the clock. She could make the trip when Riley woke from his nap and said as much to Janet.

“Good, I’ll look forward to seeing you soon.”

She hung up from the call, trepidation seeping through her body. The world that had been her rock, her bastion of security, was crumbling around her, piece by painful piece. And as much as she appreciated the support she’d received from friends like Sasha and Janet, she couldn’t help but fear that the damage wasn’t over yet.

Fourteen

Sam paced the floor in David Fox’s office.

“You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet if you keep that up,” David said with a droll smile on his face.

“For what I’m paying you, you can afford to replace it,” he snapped in return.

He caught the look on David’s face and felt ashamed. His lawyer wasn’t the reason for his bad temper. This new development was.

“You know this means you have a stronger case, don’t you? Riley is not only your baby, he’s Laura’s, too.”

It was beyond belief. Sam closed his eyes as he let the words soak in once more. How could such a mistake have been made?

“So there’s no doubt? Erin is not Riley’s biological mother?”

“No doubt at all.” David leaned forward and lifted a sheaf of papers from his desk. “There’s been some further investigation into the leak about the mistake at the clinic. It seems that Mrs. Connell was implanted with the wrong embryo. When you and Laura didn’t arrive for your appointment someone slipped up big-time.”

Sam threw himself into one of David’s visitor chairs and reached up a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. It had been enough to know that Riley was his son, but to discover that he was Laura’s as well was a gift he didn’t deserve. But she did, he reminded himself. Laura had wanted nothing more than to be a mother. He could ensure that Riley grew up knowing what a wonderful and special person she was.

“What a mess,” he muttered, lost for any better description.

“Seems cut-and-dried to me.”

“What about Erin? Does she know yet?”

“We sent the information through her lawyer so I believe she will have been apprised of the situation by now.”

“She’ll be devastated.”