Page 5 of The Bachelor's Dilemma

“You should mind your mother,” Myles said gently. “She was scared you’d get hurt or lost.”

He reached out and brushed Zack’s dark hair off his forehead.

“I thought I saw my daddy,” Zack repeated.

Anna wiped the tears from her cheeks and tried to smile at Myles.

“He’s got this fixation in his head that my husband is just gone out. Every time he sees a man who looks the slightest bit like Tom, he’s running after him. He hasn’t done this in a long while and I’d hoped he’d stopped by now. Thanks for your help. I’m Anna Tucker. This is my son, Zack. I appreciate your concern.”

Myles rose and nodded.

“You two take care now.”

He turned and walked away when every cell in his body screamed to stay. He’d actually touched his son. Met his adopted mother. He feared for a few moments that Anna Tucker’s fear would turn into reality.

It’d been a quirky idea to wander by the preschool the detective had listed in his report. Myles had no idea whether the playground could be seen from the street. Or if he’d recognize his son among a few dozen playing children. Fate had stepped in and he’d actually spoken to his son.

He’d thought that seeing Zachery from a distance would suffice.

Now that he’d actually met him, he wanted to know even more about him. He was adorable. His eyes were brown and his hair a darker brown. He seemed small, but so did the other children Myles glimpsed in the playground.

Zachery obviously missed his father. The report said Tom Tucker had died a year ago, which meant Zack had been grieving for months. A long time for a child. Wasn’t he happy with his mother?

Wanting to think about the encounter, Myles walked a few more blocks until he found a coffeehouse. Ordering a hot drink, he sat at a table near the window and gazed outside, his thoughts back to the boy he’d just met. And his mother.

There hadn’t been a photo of Anna in the report. She looked younger than he expected. And tired. She was thin like Tiffany had been.

But where Tiffany had always worn trendy clothing, Anna’s looked plain and serviceable. Her hair had been pulled back, and she wore a minimum of makeup. The frantic appeal in her eyes when she asked if he’d seen her son touched him.

He could tell she loved the boy.

Myles felt a need to do something for her as well. It couldn’t be easy raising a child alone. She’d no relatives close by. According to the detective, her parents lived in Florida. Her mother worked in a travel agency and her father was in frail health. The warmer climate was a necessity for his well-being in the winter months.

Her husband had been the only child of an older couple. His mother had moved west to be with her sister when her husband had died before Tom and Anna were married. She now lived in an assisted care home in California.

There had been little insurance money; the man had been younger than Myles was now when he died. They must have thought they had their entire future together. Neither had known three years after adopting Zack that Tom Tucker would be dead.

Would they still have gone through with the adoption?

Myles felt funny knowing so much about Anna Tucker and her family history. She didn’t know him at all except as a stranger stopping to help for a few minutes. Yet he wanted to know about her, to assure himself his son was getting the best of everything. And with the dearth of money in her life, was that possible?

Maybe he could set up a blind trust to make sure they had enough money. Would Anna accept?

The character sketch the detective had done showed she probably wouldn’t. She seemed big on independence. She hadn’t applied for any aid. Only weeks after her husband’s death, she and the boy had moved from the apartment she and her husband shared in Manhattan to one more affordable in Brooklyn. Anna Tucker had returned to work when she’d obviously planned to stay home with Zack if the first three years of his life were any indication.

He sipped his coffee and wondered what he could do. Maybe the best thing would be to leave mother and son alone.

Zack looked healthy. His clothes had been neat and clean. He obviously missed his father, but he was well cared for.

For a moment, Myles wondered what it’d be like to be a father. He’d have to change his job, quit the nomadic life he’d enjoyed the last decade and put down roots. Get a job that would allow him to be home evenings and to attend school events.

Would he grow bored? Long for faraway lands?

Slowly, Myles smiled. Zack was a cute kid. His dark hair probably came from him. And his brown eyes. Did he look at all like Tiffany? With soft baby cheeks, it was hard to tell. He wished he had some baby pictures of himself. Maybe he could see a resemblance to himself at that age.

He finished his coffee and rose. He’d walk by their apartment and then return to his hotel. It was enough to know where they lived.

Then he’d to think about what he wanted to do for the rest of his medical leave. Walking had been strongly recommended, as had light exercise in addition to the P.T. he was doing. He’d an entire schedule for the next couple of months tacked to the mirror in the bathroom.

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