I wrapped my arms around him and began to cry. “I did too, Baby.”
I made Colt breakfast that morning and we drank coffee on the porch while swinging and looking out at the pasture. Sam was already running around chasing squirrels. I felt euphoric, like I had overcome the treacherous last bit of months. When my husband left for work, I got myself inside and started cleaning the house, and thinking about what we could have for dinner. I turned my favorite music up and danced around as I worked. I had a great life and I wanted to be happy again.
A knock at the door startled me. I turned down the music and headed toward it. All of our family would open the door and call out for me, and I knew it wasn’t locked. I opened the door to two people in business suits. A black SUV was sitting in our driveway. “Mrs. Mitchell?”
“Yes?”
I thought they were just there to go over something to close Tucker’s case.
“Can we come in Ma’am? Is your husband around?” A gentleman asked.
“He is out on the ranch somewhere. What is this about?” I asked.
They hadn’t come into the house yet and my vision of the second person, a woman, was obscured by the first guy standing in my way. “We really need you to get him to come home Ma’am. We can explain everything once he is here.”
Before I could turn to grab my phone, I saw Colt pulling up on the golf cart. He must have seen them coming in the Ranch’s main entrance. As he made it up the steps the man moved to the side, leaving me to be able to see the woman, who was holding the hand of a child. Colt walked past them, until he reached where I was standing. “Can I help you with something?”
“Mr. Mitchell? Hi, I’m Roger Nesbitt. I’m with the Department of Social Services. I’m sorry to just come by unannounced. We don’t get many of these kind of cases. Do you mind if we come in to explain?”
I was just staring at the little hand that was attached to the woman.
“Sure come on in.” Colt opened the door and let the man in.
As the man came through the door, the woman smiled. “Hi, I’m Sarah Forrester and this is Noah. Noah, can you say hi to the lady.” The little boy, who looked to be about three or four, came looking around the woman’s legs and I bent down to greet him, but what I saw in his eyes made me collapse.
I came to and noticed I was on the couch. Three adults surrounded my vision, while the little boy sat in the chair across from me. Ignoring the people talking to me, I got up and crawled over to where he sat. His hands were folded together and he was swinging his feet looking down at his pants. I kneeled in front of him and placed my hands over his knees, causing him to look up at me.
Those eyes…
Those beautiful green eyes that I knew so well…
Chapter 15
Colt
“Colt?” Savanna was kneeled down in front of the child. Her voice was weak and I could tell she was struggling. I knew what she saw because I saw it too. I was in too much shock to actually understand what the hell was going on though.
I reached down and grabbed her by the arms, lifting her to sit beside me. She gave me a worried look and I tried to smile, even though I had no idea what to say. I saw his eyes and there was only one person in my life that had those eyes. They couldn’t be looking for me if this had anything to do with Conner.
“Mr. Mitchell, we are very sorry to barge in like this, but last week there was a fatal accident on route ten. The driver and passenger of the vehicle died on impact, but the child survived. Since I can see the look on your face, excuse me for asking, but you do know Krista Nichols, don’t you?”
Oh God, it’s true.
I grabbed Savanna’s shaking hand and squeezed it tight. “Yeah, she was my ex. We ended things almost four years ago.” I was trying to do the calculations in my head.
“I’m sorry to tell you this but Ms. Nichols and her fiancée were killed in the crash. We notified the next of kin, but the only person we had listed was her father. He just underwent a triple bypass and wasn’t able to care for the child.”
Just because I needed more confirmation than a pair of eyes, I had to ask. “What does all of this have to do with me?”
The gentleman seemed uneasy with my question. “Were you not aware that Ms. Nichols was ever pregnant?”
I ran my free hand through my hair. “I wasn’t. I never spoke to her after she moved out.”
“I’m very sorry we just showed up like this. I’m sure you can understand that this isn’t something we could discuss over the phone. Ms. Nichols listed you on the birth certificate as the father.”
Savanna’s hand went limp and I didn’t know what to say or do to make her feel better. I glanced over at the little boy who was still staring down at his legs. My heartbeat picked up and something forced me up off of that couch. I stood over where the little boy sat and when he refused to look up, I crouched down and patted him on the head. He looked right at me, with the same eyes as mine. I was so choked up that I couldn’t say anything. He kept staring at me and finally his little voice filled the room. “My mommy says that I look like you.”