Baby Comes First by Beverly Farr Read Free Book Online Page B

seemed foolish, like arranging deck chairs on
the Titanic.
    Gloria was dead, and now he’d never have a
child of his own. The thought saddened him, but there was no point
dwelling on it. Margaret thought he might remarry and had started
making noises about introducing him to some of her friends, but he
knew he would never marry again. He’d be a good uncle to his nieces
and nephews and consider himself fortunate.
    He watched Hannah as she lay in the hospital
bed. She was a brave woman. He still thought she should tell the
father about the baby, but he had to admire her independence. She
was determined to stand on her own two feet. For a few minutes, he
had feared that she’d refuse his financial help, but she’d finally
accepted it, which made him feel better. He wanted her and the baby
to have everything they needed.
    Hannah sighed.
    He didn’t like to see her sad. “Who taught
you to play poker?” he asked, trying to distract her.
    “My dad.”
    Just from the way she said it, he knew she
loved him.
    She smiled at the memory. “He made me promise
never to play for money.”
    That explained the chocolate and corn chips.
“Tell me about him.” Although he hadn’t grown up with a father, he
didn’t mind hearing about other fathers. It made him glad to know
that some men did things right.
    “He was a mailman, or postal carrier as they
call them now. He was a redhead, like me. He liked to read
westerns, and he liked to garden. He met my mom when he was older,
nearly fifty, and she was in her late thirties. Dad always said it
was love at first sight.”
    He frowned. “Do you believe in that?”
    “For some people, maybe,” she said. “I don’t
think it’s very common, and I don’t think it’s reliable. First
impressions are often flawed. But my parents were happy together,
so it worked for them.”
    “They were two of the lucky ones.”
    She nodded. “They were both quiet, calm
people. In some ways it was like being raised by grandparents. But
I had a happy childhood.”
    “Are either of them living?”
    “My mom is, but she’s had a few mini strokes
and doesn’t remember me any more. She’s very frail and lives in a
senior center, where someone can take care of her 24/7. My dad died
while I was in college.”
    “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
    “No.”
    At least he’d always had his siblings, Luke
thought with gratitude. And as much as they sometimes got on each
other’s nerves, there was no denying that they cared for each
other. “What did you like best about your father?”
    Hannah thought for a moment. “He paid
attention to me. He listened.”
    “He sounds like a wonderful man.”
    Hannah looked at him warily. “And you think I
should give the same to my child.”
    “I wasn’t thinking about that, but since you
mentioned it -- yes, I do.” He hated to think of any child being
fatherless, if it could be avoided.
    Hannah shook her head. “What you ask is
impossible.”
    She was hiding something. There was obviously
some piece of information she refused to share with him. But he
didn’t want to pressure her, making her retreat further, so he said
lightly, “How does that quote go -- ‘nothing is impossible -- it
just takes longer?’”
    For a moment, her gaze searched his, as if
she were considering telling him, then she turned her head away.
“Some things are impossible.”
    He sensed that she wanted to trust him, but
couldn’t. Not yet.
    Who is the father? Luke wondered. What
man had slept with her and then left her? Hannah was an attractive,
intelligent, complicated woman. The man, whoever he was, must have
been a fool not to appreciate what he had.
    #
    Hannah sipped a glass of apple juice while
Luke searched the internet on his phone for the domestic employment
agency he had used before. She listened as he hired a woman named
Mrs. Parker to start working for her the next morning. “She’s an
excellent cook, and she’s very quiet,” he assured her.
    Hannah could tell