Page 56 of The Christmas Eve Delivery

“I have better things to do with my time and energy than acknowledge this bullshit. Miles, I mean JM, can take a very long walk off a very short pier.”

“What are you going to do if he shows up here again?”

“What I should have done the first time he walked in that door. Tell him there are no rooms at the inn and send him right back to Quality Suites out by the freeway.”

Evie narrowed her eyes and looked at me. I could tell that behind her glasses, her mind was turning something over in that big brain of hers.

“What are you going to do, Lydia?”

“I’m too busy growing a baby to care about anything he does.”

“Yeah, but it’s his baby, though.”

I shook my head. “Nope, not anymore. As far as anybody is concerned, I got into this state from immaculate conception. There is no father. I will not acknowledge him. I never want to hear that man’s name again, and I never want to see his face back in this town.”

28

MILES

“Briggs Priest to see you, sir,” Sarah announced over the intercom.

“What’s he doing here?” I muttered. “Sure, send him in.”

A moment later, the lawyer stepped into my office.

“Briggs, what brings you in today?” I got up from my desk and gestured for him to take a seat in the conversation area in the center of my office.

“I had another meeting in this building, and I thought I would stop by and check up on your little situation Upstate.”

“I thought I was paying you to deal with that,” I said.

“We sent out the initial communication a while ago, but the woman we contacted hasn’t responded.”

“Is that good or bad?” I asked.

“Depends on what her intent is,” Briggs responded. He tugged up the front of his slacks and took a seat. “If she has any kind ofplans for coming after you for any financial support, it could be bad.”

“How so? Drink?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I can only speculate, which isn’t going to do you any good at this point.”

“What’s your best guess?” I asked. I sat across the small coffee table from him.

“Worst case scenario, if she can prove that you were in that little town on business, she could come after this whole thing.” He circled his finger in the air, indicating the company.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I laughed. “She didn’t seem to care who I was or why I was there.”

“If she didn’t care, then she would have signed acknowledgement and sent the letter back as requested.”

“What do I do at this point? Recommendations?”

“There’s nothing you really can do until she makes some kind of financial demand. When that happens, we can jump into action,” he said.

“You’re telling me I have to sit here twiddling my thumbs, waiting for her to come after me and my company for an undisclosed amount of child support?” I asked.

“Basically, yes,” he said. “I know that’s not the answer you were looking for. But you can’t force her hand. There is no child yet, and even after the baby is born, you need to get a positive paternal DNA test.”

“I was really hoping to get this settled and behind me sooner rather than later,” I admitted.

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