Temptation - Brenda Jackson [44]
She moved over toward the baby. Their time was limited and she intended to spend as much quality time as she could with Sunnie. Although the baby was only five months old, she wanted her to feel loved and cherished. Because deep in Sheila’s heart, she was.
“Calm down, Brad.” Zeke then glanced over at Alan. “Will you please tell me what’s going on?” he asked Brad’s attorney.
Brad dropped down in the chair opposite Zeke’s desk, and Zeke could tell the older man seemed relieved. There was no doubt in Zeke’s mind that once Alan had delivered the news to Brad he’d wished he hadn’t.
The man took out a handkerchief and wiped sweat off his brow before saying, “The paternity report shows a genetic link between Mr. Price and the baby.”
Zeke lifted a brow. “Meaning?”
“It means that although there’s a link, it’s inconclusive as to whether he is Jane Doe’s father.”
Zeke cringed at Alan’s use of the name Jane Doe for Sunnie. “Her name is Sunnie, Alan.”
The man looked confused. “What?”
“The baby’s name is Sunnie. And as far as what you’re saying, we still don’t know one way or the other?”
“No, but again, there is that genetic link,” Alan reiterated.
Zeke released a frustrated sigh. He then turned his attention to Brad. “Brad, I know you recall not having been sexually involved with a woman during the time Sunnie would have been conceived, but did you at any time donate your sperm to a bank or anyplace like that?”
“Of course not!”
“Just asking. I knew a few guys who did so when we were in college,” Zeke said.
“Well, I wasn’t one of them.” Brad stood up. “What am I going to do? If word of this gets out I might as well kiss the TCC presidency goodbye.”
Zeke knew the word would probably get out. He’d found out soon enough that in Royal, like a number of small towns, people had a tendency to thrive on gossip, especially when it involved the upper crust of the city.
“Who contacted you about the results?” Zeke asked Alan.
“That woman at Social Services,” Alan replied. “She’s the one who called yesterday afternoon as well, letting me know there was a chance the results would be arriving sooner than expected. I called Brad and informed him of such.”
Zeke nodded. And Brad had called him. “Did she mention she would be telling anyone else?”
“No, other than the woman who has custody of Jane Doe.” Upon seeing Zeke’s frown, he quickly said, “I mean Sunnie.”
Zeke was immediately out of his chair. “She called Sheila Hopkins?”
“Yes, if that’s the name of the woman keeping the baby. I’m sure she’s not going to tell her the results of the test, only that the results are in,” Alan replied. “Is there a problem?”
Yes, Zeke saw a problem but didn’t have time to explain anything to the two men. “I need to go,” he said, grabbing his Stetson and jacket and heading for the door.
“What’s wrong?” Brad asked, getting to his feet and watching him dash off in a mad rush.
“I’ll call you,” Zeke said over his shoulder, and then he was out the door.
Sheila heard a commotion outside her window and, shifting Sunnie to her hip, she moved in that direction. Pushing the curtain aside, she watched as Summer tried corralling a group of pink flamingos down the street.
She had heard about the Helping Hands Shelter’s most recent fundraiser. Someone had come up with the idea of the pink flamingos. The plan was that the recipient of the flamingos had to pay money to the charity for the opportunity to pass them on to the next unsuspecting victim, and then the cycle would start all over again.
Sunnie was making all kinds of excited noises seeing the flamingos, and the sound almost brought more tears to Sheila’s eyes, knowing the day would come when she wouldn’t hear that sound again. She knew she had to get out of her state of funk. But it was hard doing so.
She moved from the window when Summer continued to herd the flamingos down the street. Sheila was glad her friend hadn’t ditched the flamingos on her. She had enough to deal with and passing