Part 5 (1/2)

”Tell me who the baby's father is,” he said. ”I promise I won't do anything but talk to him.”

She eyed him through a sheen of tears and said, ”He's gone.”

”Dead?”

She shook her head, her bright red hair whipping back and forth across her bare shoulders. ”No. He's left Bitter Creek.”

”And gone where?” Billy demanded.

”Away.”

”That's convenient,” he said. ”I suppose once you've had the kid and put 'unknown' in the s.p.a.ce where the father's name is supposed to be, it'll be safe for him to come back.”

He watched the flush of shame and humiliation rise on Emma's fair skin and felt guilty for putting her through the wringer. He was in no position to be lecturing her, when he was unmarried himself and the father of a fifteen-month-old son.

The same thought must have occurred to her, because she said, ”You're in no position to talk, Billy.”

”Both parents' names are on Will's birth certificate,” he pointed out. As though that excused the fact he hadn't married his son's mother.

But Debbie Sue Hudson hadn't wanted to marry him. Or have his baby, for that matter. Billy knew what it felt like to be unwanted, and he'd been determined no kid of his was going to suffer that fate. So he'd taken his son, vowing to see to it that Will always felt loved.

So far, that had meant making sure his son was warm and dry and fed. He'd spent hours talking to Will about all the plans he had for his son's future, which was going to be promising, if Billy had anything to say about it.

Which was a far cry from his own childhood.

Billy hadn't mourned his stepfather when he'd died driving drunk three years ago. Oh, he'd shed a few tears after the funeral. But what he'd really been mourning was the lost dream of growing up with a father who loved him, instead of one who detested and demeaned him.

Which was why he'd been so adamant about protecting his son. And why his current situation was so dire.

He couldn't afford to lose his job with the TSCRA. He needed to be able to prove to a family court judge in Amarillo that he could provide a better home for Will as a single parent than Debbie Sue and her new husband could. The worst of it was, Debbie Sue didn't really want Will. She wanted money.

Sometime after Will's birth, Debbie Sue had overheard two bar patrons discussing how Billy had gotten his job with the TSCRA because he was Jackson Blackthorne's b.a.s.t.a.r.d son. She'd decided that with such rich relations, Billy was the goose that laid the golden egg. He'd been paying her a little bit every month to keep her off his back.

Four months ago she'd gotten married, and her new husband had seen the main chance. Debbie Sue had demanded that Billy pay her $50,000 to give up her parental rights. Otherwise, she threatened to haul him into court and seek custody of Will.

Billy was terrified that if push came to shove, she'd do what she said. And she'd win. After all, he'd been ”Bad” Billy Coburn all his life. He'd stood before enough judges for doing the wrong thing that he'd seen how they operated. Judges listened to what you had to say, then did what they d.a.m.n well pleased. He didn't trust a one of them.

He had a high school diploma, and he'd taken a few night college courses in Amarillo, but that was the extent of his education. He had a job, but Blackjack had threatened to take that away from him-and would-if he didn't get out of Bitter Creek. He could get another job. But would it be good enough to convince a judge he was financially stable?

And he was a single male parent. Mothers usually got children who were as young as Will. Not always, of course. But often enough to make Billy's skin get up and crawl every time he thought of facing a judge who had the power to take Will away from him.

If he'd had the money, he'd gladly have paid it to Debbie Sue. He would even have swallowed his pride and gone to Blackjack for cash, if he'd thought there was a s...o...b..ll's chance in h.e.l.l he'd get it. But there wasn't.

Billy had no idea how he could come up with that kind of money. His parents' ranch, the C-Bar, was mortgaged to the hilt, and his stepfather had run it into the ground. They had a few head of Angus cattle, but the ranch made ends meet with the stipend Blackjack had promised to pay his mother and sister if Billy went away and left Summer alone. Even that would disappear, he was sure, if he stayed in town more than twenty-four hours.

The day Billy finally told Debbie Sue he didn't have $50,000 and never would, she'd begun court proceedings, telling him to get the money or give up Will.

He would never give up his son.

But what was the judge going to say when he found out that, not only was Billy unmarried and unemployed, but he had the additional costs of caring for a sick mother and a pregnant teenage sister?

He could run. But what kind of life would Will have if Billy kidnapped his son and they ended up looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives?

”I'll be fine, Billy.”

”What?” Billy had been so lost in his thoughts that he'd forgotten Emma was sitting across from him.

”I'll be fine,” she repeated. ”Now that you're here-”

”I can't stay, Emma.”

”Why not?”

”It's complicated.”

”Take your time. Explain it to me. I'm not going anywhere.”

He wondered how much he should tell her. Not about the custody suit. He wasn't sure he could talk about the possibility of losing Will without her seeing just how close to the edge he was. Maybe he should focus on what arrangements they should make for their mother.

”What's Mom's prognosis?” he asked.

”Not good. The cancer has invaded her organs-lungs, kidneys, liver. She's dying, Billy.”

”How long does she have?”

”The doctor doesn't know. A couple of months, maybe.”

”Isn't there anything he can do for her? Chemotherapy? Radiation? Surgery?”

Emma shook her head. ”It's too late. He can give her something for the pain. She's going to need care. With everything I have to do around the ranch and...” She smoothed her nightgown over her rounded abdomen. ”And other things... I realized I couldn't do it all alone. So I called you.”

Billy shoved a hand through his hair and blew out a gusty breath. ”How would you feel about selling the ranch?”

”What would that accomplish? The shape it's in, no one would pay much for it. Except maybe the Blackthornes. They'd buy it for the land.”

Billy grimaced. ”Mom paid too high a price to get this place. I'd hate like h.e.l.l giving it back to Blackjack for nothing.”

”That's not the worst of it,” Emma said. ”Where would Mom and I go? Is your place in Amarillo big enough for the four-” She patted her stomach and revised, ”The five of us?”

”There's barely room for me and Will.”

”So selling this place is out. Any other ideas?”

Billy swallowed the last of his bourbon and set the jar on the table. ”Let me sleep on it. Maybe something will come to me by morning.”

”I hope you have better luck than I've had,” Emma said. ”I've gone round and round with this in my head, and I haven't figured out a solution to the problem.”