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Authors: Dallas Schulze
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details. Now I really have to go."
"Let me give you my number." He found a pen and grabbed a napkin off the table, hastily scribbling his home number and the number at the garage. Kelly took it from him, stuffing it into her pocket without looking at it.
"You'll call? You won't change your mind?" Dan didn't try to conceal the urgency he felt. What if she just disappeared, taking his unborn child with her? He would never know what happened.
"I won't change my mind. I don't have any other choice," she said firmly. She turned and hurried away as quickly as the heavy boots would allow.
Dan watched her leave, clenching his hands against the urge to go after her. It took every ounce of willpower he had to watch her walk out the door of Rosie's and disappear. She literally carried all his hopes for the future.
Chapter 5
Dan straightened from under the hood of his Corvette and stared at the phone on the wall, willing it to ring. It remained stubbornly silent, a fact that Lee regretted as much as he did, though for different reasons. Business at Lee's garage had been slow for the past two days. Lee was working on a truck, the only job they currently had. Dan was giving his own car a totally unnecessary tune-up.
A Corvette was probably not the best car for a family man, he thought, frowning down into the engine compartment. He wanted his child surrounded by something a little more substantial than fiberglass. He would need something solid, a wagon maybe. Of course when the child got older they might get something a little snappier.
Maybe he could keep the car, give it to his son or daughter for their sixteenth birthday. His scowl deepened. No, he didn't want to be the kind of parent who gave their children everything they wanted. A kid needed to learn the value of hard work, of earning something for themselves.
His own father had given him a job working on one of the construction sites so that he could earn the money to buy his first car. He had resented it, knowing his father could have given him the money outright But he'd busted his butt for nearly six months and nothing in his life had ever felt quite as satisfying as paying for that car with money he'd earned himself.
He wanted to give his own child that same sense of independence, of accomplishment. He grinned. His child. He liked the sound of that phrase. He'd told Kelly that he wanted the child without giving it any thought. Now he'd had forty-eight hours to think about it and he hadn't felt a twinge of regret for his snap decision.
So why hadn't she called? Why hadn't he insisted on knowing where she lived? It had been stupid of him to let her walk away like that, when he had no way of finding her. Of course, he could always call every family named Russell listed in the phone book. But that didn't guarantee he'd find her.
"Problem with the car?" Lee stood on the other side of the car, looking at the immaculate engine, seeking a reason for the heavy frown Dan had been wearing all day.
"No. It's fine." Dan answered distractedly. "I was thinking about something else."
"Wondering why the phone doesn't ring?" Lee's dark eyes studied his friend.
"Things are kind of slow around here, huh?" Dan reached to lower the hood, letting it shut with a thud.
"I didn't realize you were so passionate about my business," Lee commented, absently wiping his greasy hands on an equally greasy rag.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you checked the phone half a dozen times yesterday to see if it was still working. And every time it rang, you sprinted for it like you were trying for an Olympic medal. And you've done the same thing today."
Dan shrugged, reaching for the jar of waterless hand cleaner and smearing it over his hands. The sharp scent filled the air, competing with the odor of grease and new rubber from the rack of tires that lined one wall.
"I'm expecting a call," he admitted.
"Something important?" Lee leaned back against the truck he'd been working on.
"Yeah, it's
"Let me give you my number." He found a pen and grabbed a napkin off the table, hastily scribbling his home number and the number at the garage. Kelly took it from him, stuffing it into her pocket without looking at it.
"You'll call? You won't change your mind?" Dan didn't try to conceal the urgency he felt. What if she just disappeared, taking his unborn child with her? He would never know what happened.
"I won't change my mind. I don't have any other choice," she said firmly. She turned and hurried away as quickly as the heavy boots would allow.
Dan watched her leave, clenching his hands against the urge to go after her. It took every ounce of willpower he had to watch her walk out the door of Rosie's and disappear. She literally carried all his hopes for the future.
Chapter 5
Dan straightened from under the hood of his Corvette and stared at the phone on the wall, willing it to ring. It remained stubbornly silent, a fact that Lee regretted as much as he did, though for different reasons. Business at Lee's garage had been slow for the past two days. Lee was working on a truck, the only job they currently had. Dan was giving his own car a totally unnecessary tune-up.
A Corvette was probably not the best car for a family man, he thought, frowning down into the engine compartment. He wanted his child surrounded by something a little more substantial than fiberglass. He would need something solid, a wagon maybe. Of course when the child got older they might get something a little snappier.
Maybe he could keep the car, give it to his son or daughter for their sixteenth birthday. His scowl deepened. No, he didn't want to be the kind of parent who gave their children everything they wanted. A kid needed to learn the value of hard work, of earning something for themselves.
His own father had given him a job working on one of the construction sites so that he could earn the money to buy his first car. He had resented it, knowing his father could have given him the money outright But he'd busted his butt for nearly six months and nothing in his life had ever felt quite as satisfying as paying for that car with money he'd earned himself.
He wanted to give his own child that same sense of independence, of accomplishment. He grinned. His child. He liked the sound of that phrase. He'd told Kelly that he wanted the child without giving it any thought. Now he'd had forty-eight hours to think about it and he hadn't felt a twinge of regret for his snap decision.
So why hadn't she called? Why hadn't he insisted on knowing where she lived? It had been stupid of him to let her walk away like that, when he had no way of finding her. Of course, he could always call every family named Russell listed in the phone book. But that didn't guarantee he'd find her.
"Problem with the car?" Lee stood on the other side of the car, looking at the immaculate engine, seeking a reason for the heavy frown Dan had been wearing all day.
"No. It's fine." Dan answered distractedly. "I was thinking about something else."
"Wondering why the phone doesn't ring?" Lee's dark eyes studied his friend.
"Things are kind of slow around here, huh?" Dan reached to lower the hood, letting it shut with a thud.
"I didn't realize you were so passionate about my business," Lee commented, absently wiping his greasy hands on an equally greasy rag.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you checked the phone half a dozen times yesterday to see if it was still working. And every time it rang, you sprinted for it like you were trying for an Olympic medal. And you've done the same thing today."
Dan shrugged, reaching for the jar of waterless hand cleaner and smearing it over his hands. The sharp scent filled the air, competing with the odor of grease and new rubber from the rack of tires that lined one wall.
"I'm expecting a call," he admitted.
"Something important?" Lee leaned back against the truck he'd been working on.
"Yeah, it's
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