Page 2 of The Bachelor's Dilemma

Myles Riker reached out for the folder and flipped it open. The first thing he saw was a picture of a small child. It wasn’t a close-up, but he could tell the boy had dark hair. He looked so little. Was he small for his age? Myles didn’t know how big four-year-olds should be.

Earl frowned as he glanced at the paperwork.

“So, how did you want this handled? Show up one day and ask to meet your son?”

Myles shook his head.

“Despite what you may think, I have some feelings for the child and the situation. The last thing I’d do is give any reason to rock his security.”

He thought briefly of the different families he’d lived with, never knowing how long he’d stay. He couldn’t imagine deliberately causing that kind of panic and uncertainty to anyone, much less a little boy.

“I merely want to know he’s okay. That he’s loved and the family life he has is good.”

The detective leaned back in his chair, steepling his hands.

“The mother appears to be doing the best she can. It was a comedown from the lifestyle they enjoyed when the husband was alive. He was an attorney and made a good income. Since his death, they’ve moved to a less affluent neighborhood. She’s gone back to work. Still, from what I could see, the mother takes good care of the boy and he seems happy enough. Quiet, not as boisterous as other little kids I’ve seen. But, hey, everyone has a unique personality.”

“But he had a wonderful mother, right?”

Myles couldn’t remember his own mother. The best foster mom had been Allie Zumwalt. He hoped Zachery had a mother as sweet as Allie.

Earl nodded. “Doing the best she can.”

“What do you mean by that?” Myles asked quickly.

“She has to work, so leaves the child with an older woman in their building when he’s not in preschool. The apartment building is old, a bit run-down. The neighborhood’s not the best place to be after dark.”

“Should they move?”

“It takes money to live where they did before. New York’s not a cheap city.”

The one thing Myles had was money. He spent little, had amassed a small fortune working overseas with the extra hardship pay. Judicial investments had the money growing steadily.

The detective had delivered, and the cost had been nothing Myles wouldn’t have paid three times over or more to find out about his son.

He looked at the photograph again. Would he recognize the child if he tripped over him in a crowd somewhere? Shouldn’t there be some kind of tie between biological parents and children? Some sort of instant connection?

To Myles, there was nothing but wonder that he could have fathered this little boy.

Railing silently against Tiffany once again, he closed the folder and stood.

“Thank you,” he said, offering his hand.

“I’ll be here if you want anything else,” the detective said.

Myles carried the folder out with him. He was staying in a small hotel near where the detective said his son lived. He could walk without the limp as long as he didn’t overdo it. His shoulder was still stiff. Maybe he needed to get back to work to loosen those muscles. He was on medical leave and still doing his physical therapy routine each day.

When he reached his room, he settled down to read every word in the report the detective had compiled. Even if he never got to meet him, Myles knew he’d left a legacy to the future. Thinking about it, he could do more. On Monday, he’d make an appointment with an attorney to leave his estate to his son. They may never meet, but someday Zachery would know his father had cared about him.

Chapter One

Anna Tucker was frantic. She could scarcely think as she rushed down the crowded New York sidewalk, dodging pedestrians, searching for her son. How could one small boy disappear so quickly? Why wasn’t someone looking for his mother? How could a four-year-old wander around and no one stopping him? When she found him, she’d never let him out of her sight.

Of course, that was impossible, but she was so scared she couldn’t think straight. Where was Zack?

“Please, God, let me find my baby,” she prayed as she searched the crowded sidewalk in front of her.

“Do you think he’d try to cross the street alone?” the teacher’s aide next to her asked, already puffing slightly from the fast pace Anna set.

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