Finally she looked up into his eyes, and it hit him. “Juliet. Your name is Juliet.”
Her eyes welled and a single tear spilled down her cheek. His throat closed up again. She turned and ran with the child through the door to the back. Apparently, for her the connection had broken. For some inexplicable reason his pride felt pricked.
“That’s right,” her brother exclaimed. As he turned to follow his sister he added, “But everyone around here calls her Julie.”
Harrison shook his head. He would never call her that. Despite the fact there could never be anything other than parenthood between them again.
Chapter Two
“You what?” Harrison’s father, George Rivers, roared and jumped to his feet, nearly toppling his chair.
Harrison raised his eyes to the study’s high, coffered ceiling and willed himself to stay calm. “I said, I just discovered I’m the father of an adorable, eighteen-month-old boy,” he repeated, annoyed by the slight tremor of emotion in his voice. He would have to get a handle on that and soon. He had to keep his perspective to make rational decisions.
Unfortunately, he suspected that little boy had already undermined his determination to keep his emotions under control. Nathan was one more person Harrison had to fear losing—one more person with the power to change him like his father had been changed.
His father put his fists on the desk and leaned forward. “The hell you say. Who is she? You haven’t taken the time to see anyone from around here. Is she one of your classmates from Harvard?”
“Her name is Juliet Jones. And no, she didn’t attend Harvard.”
“Juliet? I don’t remember meeting any Juliet.” His father straightened and ran a weary hand over his balding head, massaging it as he went. “I don’t recall hearing you so much as mention a Juliet.”
“That’s because you didn’t meet her and I am certain I never mentioned her.” Harrison walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows lining one wall of the study.
He braced his hands against the frame and gazed out at the expanse of freshly cut lawn and a wall of manicured shrubs. That time with Juliet had been his most private—not to mention distracting—memory. Having to make it known rankled, but he would do what was right.
“How long were you involved with this girl?”
Harrison’s jaw tightened as he faced his father. “One day.” One incredible, fateful day.
His father’s brows rose to where his hair had once been and he flushed vividly. “Are you saying this was a one-night stand? My God, Harrison. You’ve always pushed the envelope, but you’ve never done anything stupid before.”
“George, stop badgering the boy and let him tell us about the baby,” Harrison’s paternal grandmother finally spoke up from her chair in front of the fire-place.
George raised his hands in submission and sat back down behind his desk. “All right, all right.” Gesturing to Harrison, he said with a sarcastic note, “Please. Continue. I’m dying to hear about any and all of your illegitimate offspring.”
“Damn it, Dad—”
“Gentlemen, please.” Dorothy Rivers rose and came toward them. Elegantly diminutive, she looked up at Harrison with warm green eyes. “Darling, do get back to telling us about the baby and this Juliet.”
Harrison blew out a breath. “Yes, of course, Grandmother.” He took her small hand in his and used the excuse of leading her to one of the chairs in front of the great mahogany desk to reclaim his temper.
His father made a rude noise. “Exactly how much do you know about this woman?”
Harrison helped his grandmother get seated then faced his father. “Not much. Her family lives above and in the rooms behind a store they operate up on the McKenzie River.”
His father crimsoned. “Are you telling us you knocked up a storekeeper’s daughter?”
“George, don’t be crude.”
Harrison frowned. “As far as I could tell today, she’s the one who does the keeping.” He wished he had found out more, but Juliet had refused to speak further with him. Her brother, suddenly acquiring a proper brotherly attitude, would only answer the most basic questions about his sister and nephew.
“So why did she wait so long to contact you?” his father asked. “You did say the child was eighteen months old, didn’t you?”
“Yes, he is. And she didn’t contact me. I found out about him when I went back to the store—”
His father sat forward. “You went back? Why? You said it was a one-night stand.”
“Yes, I went back, and why is none of your business. If I hadn’t I never would have known about Nathan.”
His grandmother sat forward, too. “His name is Nathan?”
Harrison smiled into her eyes, only slightly faded by age, and nodded. “Nathan Maxwell Jones. Apparently, she named him after her grandfather.”
“Just like you were. Is he a towhead like you were, too?” Her eyes positively sparkled now.
Harrison’s smile widened. “As blond as can be.” He felt an intense warmth he wasn’t inclined to squelch spread through his chest when he pictured the little boy. His little boy.
George gave him that narrow-eyed look he’d been using at the office. “Is this Juliet aware of how much you’re worth?”
Harrison glared right back. “Seeing as I left my business card with her brother, I don’t think it’d be too hard to figure out.”
His father tented his fingers in front of him, his high forehead creased in displeasure.
Harrison raised his hands in exasperation. “What difference does it make? I’m going to do the right thing in regards to my child.”
His father slowly rose to his feet. “And just what do you consider ‘the right thing’ to be?”
Harrison shrugged at the obviousness of the answer. “To provide for my son and become a part of his life, as any father should.”
His grandmother’s eyes went wide. “You mean through marriage?”
Harrison pulled back his chin, not having thought of his involvement in those terms at all. To say Juliet wasn’t exactly corporate wife material would be putting it mildly. Their differences were too great for that sort of relationship. Besides, he didn’t want any kind of relationship. No matter how much he was attracted to her, he could never let himself have her again.
His father scoffed. “Of course he doesn’t mean through marriage.” He waved the idea off then fixed Harrison with a hard look. “What kind of proof did she give that you are indeed the father? No way will I acknowledge some random child as a member of the Rivers family without proof.”
Not about to give his father ammunition by telling him about Juliet’s claim that someone else fathered Nathan, he said, “She doesn’t need any proof. All you have to do is look at Nat to know he’s mine. I know he’s mine.” That baby was tangible proof of the intangible connection he’d felt with Juliet. A connection the likes of which he had never felt before or since.
“And all she has to do is look at you to know she’s hit the jackpot.”
“Juliet thinks no such thing. She made it quite clear she doesn’t want anything from me.” Just as he’d made it clear he wanted nothing more from her before he’d met Nathan. An image of her in her snug T-shirt, jeans and bare feet