Page 3 of Secret Baby at Mountain Creek Ranch
“I’m sorry, but without approval, this claim will be denied.”
I push back, but I'm only met with more, "I’m sorry, but that is how the policy is written. We cannot make an exception in this case.” I hang up and listen to the voicemail. It's my boss. He's canceling another one of my shifts. The diner, which has been in business for over thirty years, has steadily been losing business due to some of the newer restaurants popping up in town.
The weight of my reality presses down on me, and it feels like I'm going to collapse from all the pressure. I owe thousands of dollars in medical fees, my hours at work keep getting slashed more and more each week, and live in my younger sister’s apartment because I can no longer afford a place of my own. I want to cry, but I don’t want Sam to see. I push back from the table and find Jameson’s intense gaze already on me.
It’s not like he’s someone I can confide my problems with. We are in this weird limbo—we aren’t friends, but parents together.
JAMESON
“I’ll be back. I just need a moment,” Tris says to me before she heads down the little hallway to the bedroom door.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that she is struggling right now. And it’s not for lack of working hard.
I wish there is something I could do to help her. I spent most of my savings on building my cabin, so I don’t have anything to offer to help with the medical bills. The settlement Tris got from the other driver’s insurance company wasn’t nearly enough to cover Sam’s expenses.
I look down at the little boy tucked in my side. He looks just like I did when I was his age—same dark red hair, chubby cheeks, and pouty lips. The only feature of Tris’s that stands out on his face are his eyes. Both bright blue and windows into what the other is thinking.
Sam giggles at something on the TV and looks up to me to see if I thought it was funny too. I smile down at him. It’s incredible the overwhelming and all-consuming love I feel for this little boy. I felt the flicker of connection the moment Tris told me that I was a father, but it was seared into my soul the moment his little hand squeezed mine as he woke up in recovery after his surgery.
It kills me to leave him when I have to go back home. His hugs goodbye to me when I have to leave nearly destroy me, and it takes near-superhuman strength to drive home, knowing it will be a few days before I can see him again. I lost so much time already, not knowing that he existed. I don't want to miss another moment.
Sam giggles again, and it's like music to my ears. I'd happily watch every episode of Horsey Heroes a thousand times if it means spending more time with him. The idea that’s been bouncing around in my head for the past few weeks, what once seemed like a pipe dream, seems more like a reality now. The hope that I could live closer to Tris and Sam had me thinking of ways to move here to Boulder. But what if there was a chance I could convince Tris to move to Centennial Springs?
I couldn't offer much, but I could provide a growing family that would welcome them with open arms, a place to stay in the cabin I built on my family’s ranch, and a close-knit community for Sam to find new friends.
"Hey, buddy?" Sam looks up at me. "I need to go talk to your mom. Will you be okay out here on your own?"
He nods and returns his attention back to the TV. I push myself to my feet and head down the hallway to the bedroom door. I knock a few times softly and wait for a response.
“Yes?”
“It’s me. Can I talk to you a minute?”
There’s a pause before she answers. “Sure.”
I open the door and find Tris sitting at the end of the bed. She's wiped away the tears, but her eyes are still a bit puffy from crying. The sight hits me like a punch to the chest, and I'm surprised by this reaction. There's no denying Tris’s beauty. It's obviously something that drew me to her in the beginning. But now, there's something different about her, a vulnerability that I didn’t see before.
“Are you okay?”
She puts on a fake smile and nods. "I'm fine. I just needed a moment to think some things over."
“I heard your call with the insurance company.”
Her mask, the brave face she tries to put on for the world slips, and I can see the toll these past few months have taken on her. And again, that feeling that I want to take care of her comes over me.
“I don’t know where I’m going to find the money to pay them. My boss keeps cutting my hours, and I can't find another job because no one is flexible enough to work with me on my schedule because of Sam.” Her voice quivers.
I reach my arm around her and pull her towards me. It's the first time I've held her since that day in the hospital, and once again, I feel her let go of her tears. I know there is nothing I can say at this moment to make things better, but the one thing I can do is hold her.
After a few minutes, she pulls herself together and sits up.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“What for?”
“This isn’t your problem.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. It involves Sam, so it is my problem.” I wipe away another tear from her eye. "If I had the money, I'd give it to you." She shakes her head. "I know that you’ve only had yourself to look to when it comes to caring for Sam, but I want you to know that I’m ready to help shoulder the responsibility—financially and emotionally.”
