LITMIR.BIZ

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anyway. Because he knew that no matter what, he wouldn’t lose anything? That was very likely how things were for Mercers. Money and power talked.

      “I want to make something clear, Mr. Mercer. I know the Mercer name. You and your family are wealthy and powerful and own half the commercial real estate and the rodeo. I’m a single mother without much to my name but a secondhand shop. Regardless, if you push me, if you try anything underhanded, I’ll fight you with everything I have.”

      “Whoa,” he said, his blue eyes steady on her. “We’re going through the same thing, Ms. Ingalls. We’re in the same position. Money and power are meaningless here. If Alexander isn’t my biological son, all the money in Wyoming won’t make it any less true.”

      She stared at him. He was right—to a point. Money and power could take Shane away from her. He could end up with both boys.

      “I might be rich, Ms. Ingalls. But I’m not underhanded. I’m a single parent, just like you are. And I’ll swear on anything you want. I’ll never do anything to hurt you or these babies.”

      The sincerity on his face made her feel better. And truth be told, she needed to believe him or she’d spontaneously combust. “Call me Shelby.”

      He nodded. “And call me Liam.”

      He gestured for her to walk ahead out the door. “Let’s get the hell out of this clinic.”

      As she watched Liam zip up his son’s fleece bunting, the tenderness on the man’s face almost stole her breath.

      He loves that baby. Like I love Shane.

      Dear God, this was a mess.

      You’re my son, no matter what, she whispered silently to Shane.

      As they left the office, each holding a baby, Shelby was barely hanging on. If the DNA tests proved the impossible, that they’d each taken home a baby who wasn’t theirs, would Liam try to seek custody of both babies and win because of his power and money and influence? Right now it was easy for him to say he’d never do anything to hurt her. His back wasn’t up against a wall—yet, anyway. Not like hers was.

      Stop getting ahead of yourself, Shelby. He might be a Mercer, but she had a loud, bossy, big family in Wedlock Creek. They’d have her back. Her sister had managed to supply her with a lawyer in less than five minutes, after all. One step at a time, one piece of information at a time.

      Feeling a little stronger, she watched as Liam headed across the parking lot to his car, a sleek, black SUV, settled Alexander in his car seat, then drove it over to where she stood next to her twelve-year-old Ford.

      She could not, would not, lose Shane. But the little boy in that black car was very likely her baby, too.

      Oh, God. Suddenly she wanted to tear Alexander from his car seat, take him in her arms and explain it had been a mistake, she hadn’t known, she was so sorry she let someone else take him home and raise him these past six months.

      As tears slipped down her cheeks, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

      She hadn’t even realized Liam had gotten out of his car and had come over to her. “We’ll figure this out together,” he said.

      At the word together, she calmed down again and looked up into Liam Mercer’s eyes. She saw sincerity there. But the last time Shelby had trusted a man she’d ended up pregnant and alone.

      Careful, she told herself. Proceed with utmost caution. Agree to nothing. Sign nothing. You’re a smart woman. Keep your head.

      She was glad when Liam let go of her shoulder and opened her car door to get Shane’s car seat, busy with installing it in his SUV. They were not united. They were not anything. His use of the word together would likely only serve him. She didn’t know this man at all.

      She was on her own here and had to remember that. Or she’d lose everything.

      * * *

      Liam’s hands had been steady on the wheel during the drive to the hospital, but inside he was a mess. Every time his mind latched on something that would make Alexander his biological son, three more yeah, but what about xyz, yeah, but remember when the administrator said socked him upside the head. Shelby had been silent for the almost hour drive, and he was glad. He didn’t want to talk about any of it. He could barely handle thinking about it.

      Alexander wasn’t his son? He damned well was, no matter what a piece of paper said. That was the one thing that kept reverberating in his head. He was sure it was the same for Shelby, which made him want to be around her and never see her again at the same time.

      Was the baby in the back seat, the one without the cowboy hat, his biological child?

      Maybe. Probably? No. Yes. He went round and round as Shelby and Shane were ushered into the lab room to get their blood drawn. As he sat in the waiting room, Alexander playing his favorite game of squeeze Daddy’s chin, women around him commenting on Alexander’s cuteness and big cheeks, he could hear Shane crying behind the closed door. Which made him hyperaware of the timing; his tiny vein had just been pricked, a vial filling with his blood. Which would prove, once and for all, if the clinic hadn’t made a mistake with the typing. From prior visits, at that.

      Hell, it was unlikely, but he was hanging on to hope. If Shelby could be Shane’s biological mother, then they could all just walk away, go back to their lives and live happily-ever-after. Liam would have one heck of a story for tonight’s dinner at the Mercer ranch.

      Shelby finally came out of the lab room, holding Shane, who had a little round Mickey Mouse Band-Aid in the crook of his right arm. Liam stared at his little tear-stained face, seeing not only his own expression in Shane’s, but Liza’s, also.

      He almost fell out of his chair.

      “Are you all right, Liam?” Shelby asked, rushing over.

      He slowly shook his head. He was not all right.

      Calm down and go back to hanging on to hope. Wait for the blood results. If they still say Shelby isn’t Shane’s mother, then you’ll wait for the DNA tests. You’re Alexander’s father. You are.

      As they left the hospital, Shelby told him that the lab had promised to expedite the results, based on a call from the clinic requesting it. She would know by three o’clock today.

      “I want to stay with you and Shane until we know,” he said. “I need you in my sight.”

      “Because you’re afraid I’ll run away with your heir?” she snapped. “If Shane is your son, then Alexander is my son,” she reminded him, her green eyes flashing.

      He stared at her. “You really don’t trust me, do you?”

      “I don’t know you,” she pointed out. “And I don’t trust easily. Add in who you are...”

      “I told you, Shelby, I—”

      “Won’t do anything to hurt me or Shane. I know. I’ve tucked that away to remind you of it when you really have to face the truth of what’s happened.”

      He shook his head. “Let me change how I put it, then. I want you and Shane in my sight because I’m going out of my mind. I don’t want to be alone, but I don’t want to tell anyone about this yet. That leaves you. To be with someone who gets it without my having to say a word.”

      Her expression softened. “I know exactly what you mean.” She glanced at her watch. “Oh, God, I really need to head over to my shop and put a sign on the door that we’re closed for the day. The Minnow sisters are probably worried about me, and I had an appointment scheduled for ten-thirty to look through a bag of stuff.”

      “Minnow sisters? Bag of stuff?”

      “For Treasures, my shop. The Minnows are three elderly sisters who stop by every Friday at ten to see what I’ve added for the weekend shoppers.”

      He nodded. “The secondhand store. Next to the bakery, right?

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