Page 3 of Secret Baby
The girl laughed. "Daddy, who's she?"
Colt kept the girl wrapped in his arms. "No one, sweetheart. We have to go."
John stepped next to Alice and called out, "Colt, wait. We all have eyes. My sister faked her death for years. She will have a good reason."
"Clara deserves more than excuses." Colt stepped away and grabbed a small bag.
Vicki's voice cracked. "What? Colt, is she—"
"You know who she is, and why I don't want my daughter hurt," Colt interrupted, and carried his daughter toward the door. "Leave us alone, Victoria Morgan."
Alice called out in a small voice, "What are you talking about?"
Right now Vicki couldn't let him leave. Six years of her life were all a lie. Vicki stepped forward and got in Colt's way as he made a beeline for the door. She inhaled, and Colt had the same smell of oranges mixed with oak trees. Her nose turned toward him despite everything, and no argument formed. All she could do was ask, "Please, Colt, what's going on?"
"Why am I the one with answers?" He kissed the girl, who giggled in his arms. "I came home from war and wanted my daughter to visit my sister and her soon-to-be husband. What are you asking me?"
Her heart raced, though her muscles went rigid. "Who's her mother?"
"Don't do this in front of her." Colt shook his head and tried to cover the girl's ears. "Step out of the way, Victoria."
"Daddy, is that lady my mom?" Clara's singsong voice and trust in Colt knocked Vicki hard in her stomach. "She's awfully pretty."
Vicki's breath hitched. Her baby was alive.
Colt bounced the girl in his arm. "Doesn't matter, sweetheart. Daddy loves you."
"Am I?" Vicki repeated the question with a high voice, her hand on her chest. She needed to hear the affirmation.
"This isn't possible." Alice shook her head. "When in the world did my brother date my best friend?"
Vicki didn't look at her friend, though her heart hammered as she stared into Colt's brown eyes.
"Don't hurt her, Victoria Morgan. The House of Morgan has done enough damage." Colt stepped around her and opened the front door. He kept his daughter in his arms, and outside, on the front stoop, he called to his sister, "Alice, we'll get together another time."
A sudden coldness hit Vicki's core. She doubled over the second the door closed and she heard his truck engine. The words hadn't formed in her mouth to say something to stop him. Her muscles went rigid again. She couldn't believe Colt Collins would deceive her. Unlike her father, Colt had always been a stand-up guy. A small part of her heart whispered that he'd been the one to keep Clara safe.
Her baby's name was Clara.
It was a pretty name.
John came over and hugged her. Turning to her brother, she let him hold her trembling body.
Alice sat on her couch with her mouth open. Then she rubbed her pregnant belly. John repositioned himself to hold his fiancée's hand too. Alice tapped his leg and then switched seats with John to sit next to Vicki. Vicki hardly noticed anything until Alice took her hand. Her friend now smelled more like a mom as she quietly asked, "Did you have a baby with my brother, Vicki?"
Vicki's eyes widened. She'd never spoken about this. Everything in her head was fuzzy, but she nodded.
Alice clutched her stomach, and John dropped hers to massage his wife's shoulder and arm.
Alice pressed her lips together. "Why didn't you say anything? I didn't know you even dated my brother."
"A month doesn't count as dating." Clawing her nails into the seat cushion, Vicki forced herself to relax. She gazed at the marble floors and then up to the windows that showed Biscayne Bay. The water view somehow cleared her mind. Vicki swallowed and stared at Alice. "My baby died the day she was born."
"No one told me about you and Colt." Alice shook her head. "For years, your name never came up. Please explain this one more time. How did you have my brother's baby without me knowing?"
Vicki bit her lip then answered, "Before college, we both went on that trip to Paris, for the orchestra. You weren't there."
"The church-sponsored choir? I don't believe it." Alice pushed John's knees down then asked, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
