* * *
After sleeping in late the morning after the Parkinson’s event, Raina should have woken up feeling refreshed. Instead she felt a sense of dread, and it wasn’t because of the kid’s party she was now driving Zoe to.
Meeting Spencer Davis had been a shock, one she hadn’t been prepared for. And to make matters worse, she’d been attracted to him. As she’d fallen to sleep last night, she’d tried to convince herself that it was nothing, but deep down she knew it wasn’t. She’d felt butterflies swarming in her belly each time he’d come near her table. And when he’d asked her out, she’d wanted to jump for joy, but she couldn’t. She was in a quandary of wanting Spencer for herself but knowing that Zoe needed him more.
The thing was men like Spencer Davis were never interested in her. They wanted fun girls, like Alexa had been back in the day. They didn’t want neurotic, workaholic girls like Raina. But Spencer had sparked a desire in her she’d never felt before. None of her past relationships had made her feel the way Spencer had with one look.
“Auntie Raina.” Zoe was poking her arm. “You missed the turn.”
“Sorry.” Raina snapped out of her reverie. She’d missed the right turn onto Caroline’s street. She had to snap out of this. She would never have a chance with Spencer. Once he found out her identity, he would keep her at arm’s length.
Several minutes later, she pulled into the car-lined street. She found a parking space several doors down. This time, Zoe couldn’t jump out because Raina had made sure to put on the child lock. Raina exited the vehicle, pulled the gift for Caroline out of the trunk and came around to open Zoe’s car door.
Zoe wasn’t too happy about being confined, but she didn’t mouth off.
“Here’s your gift for Caroline.” Raina handed her the gift bag with the greeting card. She hoped the little girl would like the video game she’d gotten; Caroline’s mother had noted it on the wish list. Raina had been shocked at how much parents spent on children’s toys. The gift had cost over fifty dollars.
A Caucasian woman opened the door. “Zoe, welcome,” she said. “Come on in. All the kids are in the back on the obstacle course. And you must be Raina.” She leaned over to give Raina a quick hug as she entered the foyer. “So glad to meet you. I’m Cynthia Williams.”
“Thanks for having us,” Raina replied.
“I’m just happy Zoe could attend, given the circumstances,” Cynthia whispered.
“Well, my parents and I are trying to keep things as normal as we can.”
“Is that even possible?” Cynthia blurted out.
It was an honest question that most people might be afraid to ask, but Raina didn’t mind. She appreciated that the woman wasn’t walking on eggshells around her like most of the other parents. When she’d come to school with Zoe a week after Alexa’s death, she’d seen the downcast looks, the pity stares. Lord knew what poor Zoe was going through. She knew kids could be cruel. “We’re doing the best we can,” Raina answered.
Cynthia touched her shoulder. “Well, if there’s anything that I can do, babysitting and the like, please let me know. Alexa was always such a help with Caroline.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the offer.”
Raina stayed in the kitchen with the other parents, sipping coffee and eating coffee cake, while the kids played outside in the inflatable obstacle course complete with pop-ups, a slide and a tunnel. She didn’t have much to share with most of the women in the room because they were married homemakers. There were only two single parents in the bunch. Most of them were sympathetic and offered words of wisdom here and there, but Raina quickly realized she had a long road ahead of her if she didn’t have Spencer Davis to help her. She just hoped he wouldn’t hate her too much, but she didn’t have any choice. She had to know the truth.
* * *
“Spencer, Chad Gray is on the phone,” Mona told him on Monday morning.
“Did he say what it was in regards to?” Spencer pressed the intercom button down.
“No, but if you’d like me to twenty-question him, I can,” she replied in her usual Mona-like manner.
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll take it.” Spencer reached for the receiver. “Chad, what can I do for you?”
“Well, as your lawyer I was served with a request for you to submit to a paternity test.”
“What!” Spencer sat up in his ergonomic executive chair. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Why don’t you tell me?”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Spencer replied. He’d always been an advocate for safe sex. Even if a woman claimed she was on the pill, he didn’t care; he still put on a condom. Always. He wasn’t going to take the chance of becoming a father before he was ready.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes,” Spencer stated emphatically. “Matter of fact, I’ve been celibate of late.”
“Well this is going back seven years,” his attorney replied.
Spencer became silent. Seven years ago, he’d been knee-deep into partying and alcohol. Although he always stressed safe sex, was it possible that one time he could have slipped? “Who is she?”
“Does the name Alexa Martin ring a bell?”
Spencer’s mind wandered, trying to recall his heyday of partying in the clubs with Ty and Cameron. The memories were fuzzy, but the name sounded oddly familiar.
“What does she want?”
“It’s more like what her sister wants.”
“Why would her sister care about paternity?”
“Because Alexa Martin passed away and her sister, Raina, has guardianship of her daughter, Zoe Martin.”
Raina. It couldn’t be his Raina, could it? “What’s the sister’s name again?” But even as he asked the question, Spencer knew the answer. It was as if someone had just punched him in the gut.
“Raina Martin. She’s petitioning you to submit to a paternity test on behalf of her niece.”
Spencer’s heart sank. Raina. The first woman in years that he’d been attracted to, the first woman in a long, long time that he’d thought didn’t have an ulterior motive in meeting him. He’d been wrong.
Raina Martin had connived her way into catering a party that she knew he would attend. For what? What had she hoped to gain? Had she been looking to see if she could have the same chance with him her sister might have had? If so, she’d sure played it close to the vest, acting all sweet and innocent. She’d really duped him.
“Well, the name Alexa Martin doesn’t ring any bells. I don’t recall having sex with her.”
“That’s all fine and good, but you don’t want to push this, Spencer. It could get real ugly if she decides to take her story to the press. She could do a real smear campaign on you. I did some research and Alexa recently died of cancer. Beating up on her grieving sister whose only trying to take care of her niece would shine a negative light on you, especially when your agency is taking off.”
“So she’s a do-gooder?” Spencer asked bitterly, upset with himself for liking the fact that she was raising her sister’s kid.
“If you want to call it that. Quite frankly, you can put this whole matter to rest by taking the paternity test and ruling yourself out.”
“That sounds reasonable enough, Chad, but what if I am the girl’s father?” Spencer inquired. “What then?”
“Then you’d better be ready to pay