My One and Only(5)
“Let’s stay rational here,” she said, speaking as much to herself as to Cooper. “Are you sure there isn’t anyone we can call? Where are you staying here in town?”
“I didn’t make it far enough to find a place to stay before I went into labor,” Jessi said. “That’s why Cooper found me where he did. It was pouring rain when the pains hit, so I ducked into the first dry place I could find. I thought they’d go away, and then once it stopped raining, I’d move on.”
“Move on to where?” Did the girl realize that you didn’t tuck a baby into your purse and wander off to parts unknown?
Jessi shrugged. “A motel, I guess. I had a couple weeks to go. I thought I had more time to figure this stuff out before she got here.”
“Figure what stuff out?” Haleigh asked. “Jessi, what are you doing in Ardent Springs if you don’t know anyone here?”
The teen toyed with the end of the sheet. With her eyes locked on the foot of the bed, she said, “I’m here to find my father.”
“Great,” Cooper said. “Give us his number and we’ll call him.”
The stubborn chin jutted out again. “I can’t. I haven’t found him yet.”
The mystery of Jessi Rogers grew more complicated by the second.
“I’m confused.” Haleigh propped a hip on the foot of the bed. “What do you mean you haven’t found him yet? Do you have an address?”
“All I have is a name. Well,” Jessi hedged, “initials. Mama said he went by J.T. and that he was from Ardent Springs, Tennessee.”
Cooper leaned a hand on the bed rail. “You mean you’ve never met your father?”
Bright red locks swung as Jessi shook her head. “I always thought Calvin was my dad. He was married to Mama when I was a little girl, and it wasn’t until I got pregnant that she told me the truth. She didn’t remember much about my real father, except for the J.T. part, where he was from, and that he was older and had a family already before getting Mama pregnant.”
“How old was your mother when she had you?” Haleigh asked.
“Eighteen.”
Great. To an eighteen-year-old, twenty-five was ancient. This mystery father could be anywhere from forty to seventy by now. Whoever he was, they weren’t going to locate him before Jessi and the baby were released, and Haleigh was not about to let this girl leave the hospital without having a safe, stable place to stay.
Haleigh contemplated solutions. There were no shelters for miles, and a newborn couldn’t be exposed to the germs present in a group home anyway. Haleigh caught a glimpse of Cooper in her peripheral vision and an idea formed. He’d put himself in the hero role once this evening. It was time to see how heroic he was willing to be.
“Cooper, I need to see you in the hall,” she said, motioning for him to follow.
“Where are you going?” Jessi asked.
“This will only take a minute,” Haleigh answered, pulling the door closed after Cooper stepped into the hall. When she turned to once again find him looming above her, she took a step back. “We can’t let that girl leave this hospital without someplace to go.”
“Agreed,” Cooper said, carrying none of the flirtatious nature of a few minutes ago. “I doubt she has enough money to afford more than a night or two at a motel.”
“She can’t take a newborn to a motel.”
“Then where else can she go?” he asked.
Here went nothing. Haleigh took a steadying breath and said, “You need to take Jessi and the baby home with you.”
He could not have heard her right. “Are you crazy?”
Haleigh didn’t flinch at the outburst. “You found her. You helped her give birth. And you’re apparently the only person she knows in this town.”
“Well,” Cooper said, floundering. “She knows you, too.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know I can’t take her home with me.”
“And I can’t take her home with me.”
“Why not?”
“How about because I’m a grown man and that’s a young girl? And that doesn’t even touch the fact that she comes with a newborn baby.”
“You’re being unreasonable,” Haleigh said, sounding as if she were suggesting he take home a plant instead of two vulnerable females. “There’s no other option. We can’t let her leave this hospital without making sure she has a safe place to go.”
Cooper whipped the ball cap off his head to jam a hand through his thick curls. He couldn’t argue that Jessi needed someplace to land, but he’d stepped up enough for one night. Other than the fact that she was a kid, he didn’t have space for the high-maintenance pair. Spending time with Carrie Farmer and her four-month-old had taught Cooper how much crap the little buggers required. Crap he didn’t have room for.