LITMIR.BIZ

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to get her temper under control then she walked to the door. “No. You were right the first time. The mistake was mine. My mother tried to warn me. We argued before I left the hospital today. She said this was Sunny’s business and I’d only make things worse by sticking my nose in it. But I’m not the kind of person who can just stand around doing nothing.” She closed her eyes and without meaning to, added, “Watching my baby sister slowly slip away.”

      Cole’s ankle began to throb—the way it did when he was upset or pissed off. And at the moment he was thoroughly disgusted… with himself. He had nothing but good memories of Sunny—even though, at the time she worked in his father-in-law’s office, his life had been in chaos.

      He stood up but didn’t move to leave. “I’m sorry, Tessa. I blew it a minute ago. My only excuse is that my ex-wife is a piece of work and I could see her doing something like this right before the holidays. Can we start over?”

      She shook her head. “There’s no reason to talk about this. Unless you actually were involved with my sister.”

      He gently urged her back to the bed. Once she was sitting, he returned to his chair. “Sunny and I were friends. I helped her out of a tight spot when she was staying at the commune up the road. She wasn’t happy, and she didn’t seem to have any options. I gave her some.”

      “What kind?”

      “A job. A place to live. I advanced her some money, which she paid back. Your sister was—is—a nice person. I hope she pulls out of this.”

      “Thank you. I appreciate that, but I guess I need to be blunt. Did you or did you not have sex with my sister?”

      CHAPTER THREE

      “SHE WHAT?” Annie shouted. “A complete stranger shows up at your Santa gig and accuses you of fathering some kid you’ve never seen or heard of? That’s, like, the most insane scam I’ve ever heard.”

      Cole looked at his sister and wished he’d listened to his gut and gone home instead of swinging by Annie’s house. They were sitting on cheap plastic lawn chairs on her front porch, with a citronella candle burning on the low table between them. “It wasn’t like that, Annie. She’s not a scam artist.”

      “You’re right about the artist part. That would imply she was good at this, but she is a scammer, Cole. That’s a person who tries to take advantage of someone else. Someone good and kind and sweet. That’s you, Cole. A born sucker.”

      He stood up. “I am not.”

      She had that know-it-all big-sister look on her face that he hated. She held up her index finger. “One word—Crystal. Now, there was a player. She took you for nearly everything you worked your ass off to get.”

      He dragged the chair a foot or so away and sat again. His sister was too good at reading him. “She was my wife. Trust is one of your marriage vows, remember? Okay, forget it. I didn’t come here to talk about me and Crystal. I thought you might have some suggestions on how to help Tessa and her nephew. If I’m not the boy’s father, then she still needs to find out who is.”

      Annie looked at him shrewdly. “There was something in your voice when you said the word if. Is there a possibility you could be the kid’s father?”

      “Like I told Tessa…almost none.”

      She barked out a laugh. “That’s like being almost pregnant. Speaking of which, want to go inside for my latest craving? Bananas and capers on saltines.” He made a gagging sound. “No? Well, go on then. What happened?”

      “A month or two before Sunny left, I got drunk at the Oasis. Remember that bar down the street from the office? It’s also right around the corner from the apartment build ing Sunny was managing. She found me crying in my tequila.”

      “Over Crystal? Damn, that woman had her head screwed on backward. All she ever cared about was looking beautiful and being seen by all the right players as she drove around in her fancy car. You are so lucky to be done with her. So, anyway, this Sunny chick shows up and…”

      “We talked. And she tried to dance with me…. Until it was obvious I couldn’t walk, much less dance. She took me back to her place.”

      “Her one-bedroom apartment.”

      “I slept on her couch.”

      Annie looked at him, but didn’t say anything for a minute. “Well, someone doesn’t get pregnant by association. If you have any doubts about what happened, there must be more to the story.”

      “I woke up the next morning in her bed. Alone. She was at work. I don’t remember getting into her bed. I don’t remember having sex with her—I’m sure I didn’t. You know me, Mr. All About the Vows.”

      She went over and put her arm around him. “I do know you, and I’m sure you’re right. Sharing a bed isn’t the same as swapping genetic material. So, there really isn’t a problem, right? You told the Oregon sister that you weren’t the daddy and sent her back to San Antonio—where she should be, by the way. I mean, who leaves the bedside of her comatose sister to hunt down some lead from a diary?”

      Cole gave her a look he knew she’d understand.

      “What? You think I’m being judgmental?”

      “She’s doing what you would do. She and her mother can’t both be in Sunny’s room, because one of them has to keep the kid busy. How do you entertain a toddler in a strange town?”

      Annie’s eyes went wide. “You like her. And feel sorry for her.” She stepped back, a hand at the small bulge in the waistline of her brightly flowered cotton pajama bottoms. “No, Cole. No. This isn’t a hawk with a broken wing. Or a three-legged cat. Or a cowardly dog who barks at his own shadow. You’ve got the biggest heart in Texas, but you can’t save everybody who falls into your life with a sad story. Didn’t you learn your lesson with Crystal?”

      “I learned a lot of lessons from Crystal, but this isn’t the same. Tessa doesn’t want anything from me but a little swab of DNA, and frankly, I’m not worried about that. If it turned out the kid—Joey, his name is Joey—is mine, then I’d be okay with that. Your baby would have an older cousin.”

      “That’s not how it works, Cole. You don’t just open your mouth and give them spit because they ask. First, you protect yourself. You call a lawyer and—”

      “My lawyer won’t talk to me until I pay off my bill.”

      “Oh, stop. You’re being obtuse. This is your future, Coley-boy, and I’m not going to let some stranger trash it when you’re just now getting back on your feet. I’ll go see her in the morning and—”

      Cole recognized that particular tone. He called it her crusader voice. He took Annie’s shoulders in his hands and made her look at him. “No, you won’t. She’s going back to San Antonio in the morning, and I told her I’d come see her at the motel where she and her mother are staying. I want to visit Sunny. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that there’s a beautiful young woman who might be dying. The rest of this will shake out. Got it?”

      Annie closed her mouth in a pout that her husband claimed to find endearing but Cole knew meant trouble. “I’m going home now, Annie. Leave it alone. Promise?”

      He squinted at her sternly until she nodded, but he had an uneasy feeling she was going to spend the rest of the night figuring out a way around her promise.

      “Where’s Blake, by the way?”

      “Had an early meeting. Decided to stay in the condo.”

      Annie and Blake were still working out the logistics of their complicated lives, but Cole had no doubt they’d figure it out eventually. They loved each other and that was what counted.

      “Your ankle’s bothering you again, isn’t it?”

      “Nothing an ice pack and a couple of painkillers can’t

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