Chapter Sixteen

Coyote

I'd expected Nessa to want to go back to bed, but I guess kids are like the energizer bunny, once they start for the day, they're unstoppable. It was still early, and I didn't want to wake up Bethany, so I sat and chatted to Nessa to try and keep her entertained. I had no idea what this little girl liked, but I remembered the games I'd played with my sister's kids. We were in the middle of a game of ‘guess the animal', where I'd make noises and she had to say what I was, the next thing I knew there was a quiet knock at my front door. I turned off the security system and opened the door to find Breaker and Callie.

Callie's eyes flew open, and she exclaimed, "What in the world are you doing?"

When she reached out to take Nessa from me, her sticky hands grabbed onto my shirt, and she snuggled closer. My sister immediately backed off. "I've never seen you carrying a child around. It's weird."

I stepped back so they could come in and grinned at her bemused expression, "I can't imagine why, I'm dad-like on some days."

Callie snorted with laughter, "No. You're not dad-like at all, you're silly Uncle Coyote."

"Well, I will learn to be." I noticed Breaker was carrying two bags, "What you got there?"

It was Callie who answered, "Breaker said you had a little houseguest, I know you don't have any child friendly food in the house, and I didn't know if Bethany had a chance to pack anything. So, I brought some snacks and something for breakfast."

"Cookies!" Nessa exclaimed, her initial shyness evaporating with the thought of more sweet treats.

Callie grinned at her, "Looks like someone has had a treat already," she reached into the bag and pulled out a pack of wet wipes and handed them to me. "You'll soon learn that these are invaluable with a three-year-old around. They just need to look at something and they're sticky."

"She's only two," I said as I wiped Nessa's hands.

"Really?" Callie looked at Breaker and then at Nessa. "Maybe she's just big for her age."

After I finished cleaning her hands, I put Nessa down on the floor and poured coffee for my sister and brother-in-law.

Callie was chatting to Nessa and seemed to be studying her closely, "How old are you sweetheart?"

"I'm a big girl!" Nessa said giggling and stuck her tongue out, it was bright orange.

"What on earth were you feeding her?" Callie asked me in a disapproving tone.

"I had some snack cakes in the cupboard. Those orange ones I like."

My sister shuddered and turned her attention back to Nessa, "Do you know when your birthday is?"

The little girl looked thoughtful, then grinned showing off those dimples again, "Gonna go water park!"

"That sounds awesome, my kids love the water park too," Callie said, looking thoughtful as she smoothed down Nessa's sleep muddled hair and turned to me, "At that age kids don't have much of an idea about time, but if she knows what her mom has planned, then maybe her birthday's not too far away, like in the summer?"

Summer. It was May, already. I didn't need to be a math genius to realize if this was true then this little girl was almost three. I put those thoughts to the back of my mind, Breaker and Callie hadn't come to visit, they had come because we needed to figure out who set the fire that almost killed Bethany's friend.

We settled down, and I told them all the details of what happened last night. Callie grew more worried, the more she heard. Finally, she asked, "Is Reggie okay?"

My head swiveled around to stare at her. "Since when are you on first name terms with Bethany's boss, much less calling him Reggie?"

Callie's mouth snapped shut and she looked down, picking at her sweater.

"Callie," Breaker hissed her name in a warning tone, but she didn't respond. Exasperated, he said, "If you've got enough balls to fuck with his life behind his back, you should have enough balls to answer for it when he asks."

I told her in a stern voice, "You know I don't like secrets, sis. Best come out with it."

I have literally never seen these two have any kind of conflict. So, I was waiting with bated breath to hear what she had to say. Of all the things I anticipated coming out of her mouth what came next was not among them.

"Reggie and I kind of decided to do what we could to get the two of you back together. I know you don't like me meddling, but I'm your sister and I only have your best interest at heart."

Bethany was the most important thing in my life, always was and always will be. The thought of Callie fucking around with our relationship incensed me. "You've got about ten seconds to make this make sense for me before I lose my shit."

"Bethany was the love of your life and you've never been quite the same since she left you."

A feeling of dread coiled in the pit of my stomach. If she told me that she manipulated Bethany into giving me a chance, I didn't think my heart would be able to take that, in addition to realizing someone just tried to kill her and Nessa.

"Start at the beginning," I said coldly. "Start at the beginning and tell me everything. Walk me through every detail because this is critically important to my personal happiness."

My sister could tell by the tone of my voice that I was seriously pissed with her interfering in my life. She swallowed thickly and started at the beginning.

"A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from a man who introduced himself as Reginald Archibald. He told me that he was a friend of Bethany Marks and asked if I knew who she was. I got really concerned that something bad had happened to her and they were looking for her next of kin. Since I know she doesn't have anyone, I told him that she was a close personal friend and that if anything had happened, my family would step up to help her."

"Well, thanks for that much," I murmured.

She continued, albeit a little less nervously. "He told me she was working for him in Patterdale and lived in his pool house with her daughter. That made me curious because Bethany didn't have a kid when she left Griffinsford. He explained that he'd just had a chat with her about my brother, how much she was still in love with him and how sorry she was to have run away instead of talking about problems."

The icy feeling in my chest thawed in an instant and I felt like I could breathe freely again. Glancing over at Nessa who was sitting on the floor playing with Ruby, I had that thought again that maybe she could be mine. I turned my attention back to Callie as she continued her long, drawn-out story.

"Reggie invited me to lunch. He said that he had a proposal for me. I'll admit that I was curious to know more about what was going on with the one and only woman my kid brother ever truly loved."

"So, you agreed to meet up with him, right?" I guessed.

She nodded. "Against Breaker's better judgement I did meet him for lunch. I had been half expecting some kind of weirdness to ensue. Come to find out Reggie is a very charming and down to earth man who genuinely seemed to have Bethany's wellbeing at heart. We got to talking and I told him that I thought you'd never really gotten over losing her. It became obvious that the two of you were star crossed lovers who just needed a little push in the right direction to sort yourselves out, so we conspired to make that happen."

While she was talking, my mind traveled back to that day in the car where we were talking about decor for my new business, and she brought up the importance of getting the word out. She seemed to have a flyer handy from a company that did events planning, it all made sense now.

"Now, I know you're going to be mad about this, but I agreed to create a situation that drew the two of you together, but I drew the line there, I told him that I wouldn't actively force the issue. My reasoning was that Reggie and I might not have all the facts."

"So, your plan was to get us to meet up and work on a joint project to see if we would end up starting something on our own. Am I understanding you correctly?" I somehow managed to keep the unbridled glee from my voice.

My sister wrung her hands in her lap, glancing from me to Nessa and back again. "Yes. I swear that I wouldn't ever do anything to truly manipulate you in any way. You and I have been through a lot together with that damned cult back in the day. I know better than anyone to mess with another person's mind or cross their personal boundaries."

"Yeah, I get that."

Callie took a deep breath and continued, "I knew you weren't going to be happy about any interference on our part in your personal life and that anything to do with Bethany was off limits in your view. It's just that, well there was more than just you and Bethany involved."

A gnawing sensation crawled forward from the back of my mind. She was talking about Nessa. Instinctively, my gaze went to the little girl who was playing, oblivious to our conversation. "What's this got to do with Nessa? Is her father trying to get back into Bethany's life?"

My sister made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. "God, you are so damned clueless."

Breaker's exasperated voice interjected, "You're a freakin' idiot for not seeing what's right in front of your eyes, literally."

Both Callie and Breaker were gazing at Nessa pointedly. She was giggling away as Ruby wriggled on her back. The likeness was unmistakable, there was no denying that she was the spitting image of my sister as a child.

"You really think there is a chance that Nessa is mine, right?"

Callie nodded, "That's what Reggie thought as well. He didn't tell me exactly why he was so convinced, but he seemed earnest enough. I thought it over and couldn't really see a downside to bringing the two of you together. Either nothing would come of it, or there would still be a spark that drew the two of you together. Either way you'd get an opportunity to be eyes on with this child that Reggie was convinced was yours."

"She looks just like you when you were her age. Our family photograph album is stuffed full of pictures of us growing up. That's how I know."

Callie choked up a bit and nodded rather than responding verbally.

I mentioned the family trait she carried. "She has dimples, like we do."

My sister frowned. "I'm also convinced she's closer to three years old. Her speech and development are more advanced, there are specific milestones that kids are expected to reach at particular ages. Did you ask Bethany her age?"

I shrugged, "Sure, she said she was two, all little kids act the same to me. To be honest I couldn't tell the difference between a two-year-old and a three-year-old." I said that, but as I watched Nessa, I was starting to notice things about what she liked and how she acted—and I felt certain that if things worked out with her mom, then I'd notice those milestones that Callie talked about.

Breaker broke into our conversation again. "That still sounds like a lot of circumstantial evidence if you ask me."

My good friend wasn't wrong about that, but the part they didn't know was it probably was all just a coincidence because of the timeline. "Sorry to disappoint you, but Bethany told me she got pregnant after she left Griffinsford. And we were using birth control the whole time. Although I would love to be Nessa's father, the odds are not in my favor."

Callie seemed disappointed. But it was Breaker who stated the obvious, "Does it really matter if she's your biological child or not? You're head over heels in love with her mother and she seems to have taken a real shine to you."

As I thought it over, I realized I was already imagining us as a nice little family with Bethany and Nessa. I really didn't care who Nessa's father was.

"You know I don't like anyone fucking around in my life but I'm going to give you a pass on this one because, one, it worked and two, I feel like your heart was in the right place and you were careful not to cross the line into manipulating us."

Relief registered on my sister's face but when she glanced down at Nessa she snorted a laugh, "If you're gunning for the open father position in Nessa's life, you're gonna have to step up your game."

When I looked down to see what she was talking about, I saw Nessa looking like she was about to take a bite out of Ruby's kibble.

"Leave it, Nessa, that's Ruby's!" The little girl giggled and handed Ruby the morsel. I turned back to Callie, "Yeah, I'm still on my daddy learning curve."

Breaker and Callie chuckled at the absurdity of my new situation.

I looked in one of the bags that Callie had brought and fished out her famous breakfast biscuits, "These are okay for kids, right?" I asked.

"If you look in the other bag, I've packed some cereal and fruit. She might be more used to having something like that for breakfast," Callie answered.

I pulled out a box with mermaids on the cover and Nessa's eyes lit up, "You like this, Nessa?"

"Fish lady!" Nessa shouted and made swimming actions, yeah, I guess that answered the question. I poured some in a bowl for her and added milk, and then opened the little container with the fruit pieces.

Callie and Breaker just watched as they sipped their coffee, occasionally grinning at each other, no doubt amused at my attempts to get breakfast for a toddler ready. I was just finishing up when my phone rang. Callie took over breakfast preparations and I noticed she'd grabbed a couple of cushions from the living room to put on the kitchen chair for Nessa. I guessed I needed to buy a booster seat pronto. Nodding my thanks at her, I grabbed it from the table, and saw the call was from Mace. I promptly put it on speaker phone so everyone could hear the update.

"Mace, I'm here. What did you find when you went out to Bethany's place?"

"The cops and firefighters were thick as thieves. I'm guessing because they suspected arson, they were swarming the place. We got close by easing up through the wooded area to the side and overheard them talking about there being an open police case and how the fire was set using an accelerant."

"Yeah, Thomas told Bethany he smelled gasoline so that fits with what we already know. What else did you find out?

"I saw fresh motorcycle tracks leading from the wooded area to the house. Whoever it was felt brazen enough not to cover his tracks."

Breaker commented, "That could be a sign that they had no fear, that they are a novice at committing crime, or simply that they aren't very smart."

Cyclops immediately rose in my mind. "To my knowledge Rufus has a car, not a motorcycle. I guess that rules him out."

"Not necessarily," Mace added, his voice sounding thoughtful. "The day I threw him out of the supermarket, he was riding a motorcycle—well, it was a motor scooter not a bike. The wheels are smaller, but it's hard to tell with the tracks because there's some skid."

"Then I guess he's still our prime suspect." I walked over to the doorway and saw Nessa messing around with the television. I noticed she'd left her breakfast untouched, I don't know what her usual morning routine was, but I guess after the excitement of last night, a bit of morning TV wouldn't be the end of the world. I switched on the TV and found some cartoons for her to watch, she plopped down on the floor and draped one arm around Ruby, like they were old friends.

When I walked back into the kitchen, Breaker was still talking to Mace on speaker. "Just do the thing I asked you too. I'm a club officer and you're a prospect. Need I say more?"

"I'm on it," Mace said, sounding all kinds of worried before hanging up.

"What was that all about," I asked curiously.

"Not a damn thing," he responded gruffly.

When I glanced at my sister, she was suddenly drinking her coffee like it was the most fascinating thing in her world. I pointed two fingers at my eyes and then at him in the traditional, ‘I've got my eyes on you' gesture.

He snorted a laugh and took another sip of his coffee. Meanwhile, I dragged my chair over to the doorway so I could keep an eye on Nessa and Ruby while still being close enough to talk to Callie and Breaker. The more I looked at Nessa the more I started to believe that maybe Bethany lied to me about her parentage—or if not outright lied, then certainly omitted a few details.

It hurt me to think of all the reasons she might lie about me being Nessa's father. Bethany must not think I'm an appropriate role model for her sweet little daughter. That was the most likely reason to my mind. I wasn't anything special in the general scheme of things, but I was a decent enough person. Nothing anyone should be worried about being around their child. A certain sadness and longing enveloped my chest. I really wanted to be with Bethany and Nessa. I had to double my efforts to show her that I would be a good protector.