Page 81 of The Bachelor's Dilemma

“I think he should keep Tom’s name. That’s all the legacy Tom left him. He’d be your son in every way that counts.”

“He is my son.”

Myles stood and walked to the window.

“I had a detective find you to tell me if he was all right, that he was being raised well. I didn’t expect to actually meet you and Zack.”

“What are you talking about?” Anna also rose and went to stand by him. “What detective?”

“The one I hired to find Zack. I didn’t know his name, of course, just that Tiffany had given up my baby for adoption.”

Anna stared at him for a long moment.

“Myles, Zack is Tom’s son.”

“I know you two adopted him. And that makes him just as much Tom’s son as if Tom had fathered him. But you don’t have to pretend with me. Together, we can explain to Zack.”

She stepped back, a look of horror on her face.

“Is that what all this has been about—Zack? You think he’s yours? Is that why you insisted on getting to know me, getting to know Zack? You have a child somewhere and thought it was Zack?”

He turned to look at her.

“I know it’s Zack.”

“Just what do you know?”

“Tiffany gave up our son. T.J. and Anna Tucker of New York City adopted him. I came to New York when I was recuperating to see if I could get a glimpse of Zack. I wasn’t planning to stop. But when you asked for my help, everything changed.”

“Tucker is a very common name. What does T. J. stand for?”

“Thomas, I assume.”

“It isn’t me,” she whispered. “It wasn’t Tom. His middle name was Caldwell. I can prove it.”

“What do you mean?” Myles asked, not understanding.

“Zack’s my child. Mine and Tom’s. I have pictures of me being pregnant. Me in the hospital with Zack. Us at the christening. Tom and I did not adopt a child. Zack is our biological child. DNA can prove it in an instant.”

She stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest, watching him warily.

Myles stared at her in incomprehension. This was turning out all wrong.

She was supposed to be relieved he knew the truth, not putting up barriers.

“The detective said—”

“Well, I’d ask for my money back if I were you. He got it wrong.”

She turned her back on him, her hands rubbing her upper arms as if she were cold.

“All this is because you thought Zack’s your son,” she repeated.

“All what?”

He stepped closer, aware he’d made a major blunder. It changed little. He still wanted Anna. It might take a little while to absorb the news she gave. Zack wasn’t his son.

He would still be Myles’s. Once he and Anna were married. For a moment, he took a breath. It would come out all right. He took a step closer.

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