His eyes narrowed on her face. “I don’t know of another woman whose love for a child she didn’t give birth to would cause her to put everything on the line to make him happy.
“For you to sacrifice your own life for him tells me all I need to know about your character. My son has been more fortunate than he’ll ever know,” his voice grated. “I owe you a debt of gratitude I’ll never be able to repay for what you’ve done, Darrell.”
“It’s been no sacrifice—he was the most adorable baby on this earth. I fell in love with him on sight. He’s my life!”
“To know I have a son makes me feel the same way,” he asserted in a solemn tone. “So why don’t you make that phone call. After seeing his pictures, I’m eager to lay eyes on him in person.”
She felt that eagerness. It wasn’t an emotion he could feign. Nervous excitement welled up inside her. “All right. The phone’s in the other room.”
He followed her to the family room. As she picked up the wall phone receiver in the kitchen and started to press the digits, they both heard the front door open.
“Mom? What’s that black limo doing outside our house? Doug saw it on his way over to the pool and told me.”
Her anxious glance darted to Alex before she hung up the phone. In the next instant Phillip appeared in the family room. His hair was still damp from his swim. It looked darker when it was wet.
Melissa had been a beautiful girl with a ton of boyfriends. Darrell had always thought her son was the best looking boy out of all his friends. He seemed older than most of the seventh-graders and was growing more attractive all the time. Talk about the acorn falling close to the mighty oak—
But Darrell received an unexpected jolt when Phillip took one glance at Alex and went pale with fright. She recognized that look. What on earth?
His gaze switched to Darrell. “Is this that counselor you were talking about?”
Aghast, she said, “No, sweetheart. No—This man—” She struggled. “This man—”
“What your mother is trying to say is that I’m Phil.”
With those words, Darrell felt a strange charge in the atmosphere followed by a stillness that fell over Phillip.
He studied Alex for such a long time, Darrell wondered if he’d slipped into some kind of catatonic state.
“You’re my dad,” he finally muttered because he could see part of himself in the imposing stranger whose candor took Darrell’s breath.
“I’m sorry it has taken us so long to meet.”
Phillip’s body started to tremble in reaction. His eyes filled. “I hate you.”
“Phillip—” Darrel was horrified.
“I don’t blame you,” Alex responded with a calm she could only envy.
“I’d hate me, too, if I were in your shoes. But there’s something you need to know. My father’s brother was in a serious boating accident while I was on vacation in Colorado Springs thirteen years ago with my cousin Chaz. The doctors weren’t sure he was going to live.
“When we got the news, we flew straight home. Fortunately he pulled through. I would have come back to Colorado later, but my father had other plans for me. By the time I tried to reach your mother by phone, it was fall and she didn’t work at the dude ranch anymore. For security reasons no one would give me any information about her. I’m afraid time and circumstances separated us through no fault of our own.”
During Alex’s explanation, Phillip’s hands kept forming fists. Suddenly he dashed out of the room. Darrell heard him run up the stairs and slam his bedroom door.
She shook her head. “I can’t believe he said that to you.”
“After knowing what he’s been thinking all these years, I can. In fact I would have been surprised if he’d said anything else.”
“He’s changed so much from the darling, funny boy who used to play jokes and tease.”
She almost choked on her tears. “I—I’d better go up to him.”
“Let’s let him work this through on his own. He’s just sustained an enormous shock and will come around when he’s ready.”
Alex had a lot more confidence in the situation than she did. Maybe it took a man’s perspective in a crisis like this. Except that Alex wasn’t just any man.
Darrell eyed him covertly. Though he hid it well, she knew Phillip couldn’t be the only one shaken. Alex had just come face-to-face with a son he didn’t know he had until a few hours ago.
Her heart warmed to him because he’d given his son certain information to make him feel better about the circumstances surrounding his conception.
She’d seen Phillip’s eyes flare in surprise at the unexpected explanation. It remained to be seen if he would accept what his father had told him.
At the crucial moment Alex had known exactly what to say to disarm him. It was the master stroke of a man who put out fires every day in his role as king.
She was still unable to credit that he was willing to risk the fallout from the public scandal this would create in order to be united with his son.
Even if he tried to keep the news quiet, it would come out. His sterling reputation as the ruler of the canton would be tainted.
The woman he was betrothed to would suffer anguish.
He talked about his mother being thrilled with the news once she heard she was already a grandmother. But that wasn’t the way it was likely to work. His mother would not be thrilled or anything close to it!
Darrell was frightened for him.
Her anxiety must have shown on her face and in her body language because he said, “Relax, Darrell. I know what I’m doing. While we wait for him to reappear, how about feeding a starving man.”
He wanted food at a time like this? But then she remembered that Phillip could always eat in a crisis. It was one telling example of the ties that bound this father to this son.
“I have tacos left over from dinner. I’ll warm them up for you.”
“Sounds delicious. What can I do to help?”
“There’s instant coffee in that cupboard.”
“I’ll make it,” he offered. “It’s something I’m good at.”
The man was good at so many things, Darrell was in danger of losing her perspective altogether.
They worked in harmony, then sat down at the table like two ordinary people. But there was nothing ordinary about this situation or him!
Terrified of what was going on upstairs, she sipped her coffee without tasting it.
Alex on the other hand seemed to devour the six tacos with relish. After drinking several cups of the steaming brew, he made a sound of satisfaction.
“The Valleder Canton is renowned for its excellent cuisine, but I have to tell you they don’t serve anything this good.”
The secret to not falling apart right now was to keep making small talk.
“Yes, they do. I had a fondue bourguignonne dinner to die for at the Hotel Otter. But I must admit authentic Mexican food is hard to come by outside the western part of the U.S.”
When her cell phone rang, she jumped up from the table and hurried over to the counter to get it out of her purse. She checked the caller ID. It was Danice who no