17. Everett

EVERETT

" H ello?" the crisp voice of a female chirps from the other line as Sinatra plays overhead here at Mangias.

Lemon, Noah, and Evie all lean this way, trying their best to listen in.

"May I speak with Elizabeth?" I put it on speaker so that the three of them can hear.

"This is she." Her voice grows colder on the other line.

"Hi, I'm—I'm Judge Everett Baxter calling from Honey Hollow. I'm not sure how to say this, but I took a DNA test a couple of weeks back?—"

"Oh geez," she spits it out. "Harper told me all about it. You are a seriously sick person, running around pretending to be her father. How did you get this number? Are you some sort of a stalker? I knew nothing good would come out of her so-called internet fame. You better keep away from us. I'm getting a lawyer and a restraining order. Don't you dare contact either one of us again. You freaking sicko!"

The line goes dead and I blow out a breath.

"That went well." I stare at the phone a second too long.

"Obviously, she wasn't expecting it," Noah says.

"She's just confused." Lemon pats my hand. "They just need a little time to digest this, that's all. And well, the way the rumor mill got ahold of it didn't help too much either. Maybe try another woman?"

"That's what got him in this mess to begin with," Noah quips while grabbing a slice of pizza for himself.

"I'm glad you find this entertaining." I glance at the list. "I'll try Mia's mother, Cassandra."

Mia is fourteen, both her mother and stepfather are tech entrepreneurs, and she has an eleven-year-old brother. She also has a rap sheet for shoplifting.

I've been rehashing and rehearsing each child's bio as if there would be a pop quiz on it at the end of the day. And it's starting to feel as if I were right.

The phone rings and she picks up right away. I quickly introduce myself and fill her in on the details as best as I can. And to my chagrin, I fill her in on the other girls as well, seeing that she may stumble upon the news anyhow.

"Everett? I'm so sorry. The name doesn't ring a bell. But let's be honest, I don't remember a lot from that period of my life anyway," she howls with a laugh.

I suppose that's better than threats of a restraining order.

I look up at Lemon with a swell of relief.

"Who's Everett?" someone with a deep voice asks in the background and Cassandra seems to shush them.

"I'm married now," she tells me. "And my husband, Ryan, he adopted Mia."

"For freaks' sake," the deep voice pipes up in the background again. "Hang up on the idiot. He probably wants money."

"I can assure you I don't want money," I say in hopes to dispel any fears I may inadvertently be stoking.

"I'm sure you don't." She gives a nervous laugh. "We're not wealthy folks. My husband and I also have a son named Archer. Mia has a nice life. Although to hear her say it, you'd think we were dumpster diving for our dinner. Let me talk to Ryan and tell him what's going on. I'm sure we'll want to consult a therapist before we make any other moves. And I'm not saying I'm paying for that. If you're the daddy, you've got a lot of back baby taxes you owe, if you catch my drift."

Lemon and I exchange a glance.

"Forget the therapist," the deep voice shouts from the back once again. "I'm going to consult with my Glock if anyone comes near my family."

" Ryan ," Cassandra shouts. "You don't always have to be such a tool. The man is just trying to have a conversation!" Heavy breathing ensues and it sounds as if she's trotting to another location. "Sorry. Look, I've your number now. There's no way I'm letting you off the hook now. I'll shoot you a text with my email and we can keep in touch that way. I think I need to keep this out of Ryan's way for a bit. He's already flipping his lid. This is just a lot."

We hang up and she shoots me a text with her email just like she said.

"That went so much better," Lemon says it like a question because we both know it didn't.

"Third time's a charm," Noah practically sings.

He's getting his jollies off on this, isn't he?

"You can do it, Dad," Evie says, cheering me on.

"I feel as if I'm ruining everyone's Christmas," I grunt. "But next up are Ava and Olivia, the twelve-year-old twins. Their mother is Dr. Haley Griffin, the pediatrician."

"Pediatricians are friendly by nature," Lemon says, giving my hand a squeeze.

"Here's hoping." I input her number and it rings three times. I'm committed to hanging up after the fourth, but she picks up instead with a chipper hello.

I quickly go into my spiel as if I've already said these same lines to several hundred women, and if my playboy days continue to roost any more than they already have, then I just may have to.

"Wow." The woman gives a long pause. "I mean, I thought maybe this day would come, with genetics technology booming the way it is. Oh wow, this is a lot." That seems to be the running consensus. "Ava and Olivia—I may have let them believe that I conceived on my own. With a little help from science. They sort of think it's cool that they were test tube babies." She pauses again and Noah lifts a brow. "They came to that conclusion and I didn't exactly stop them. But it's probably time they learned the truth. So you're a judge, huh? Are you married?"

"Happily so." I quickly tell her about Lemon, Evie, and Lyla Nell, and the fact that we're living in Honey Hollow. "I grew up in Fallbrook and my mother is still there."

"You did?" She sounds stunned. "Who's your mother?"

"Eliza Baxter."

The woman belts out a laugh from the other end.

"I can't believe this," she says through a slight chortle. "Eliza and I are both on the board at the hospital. And my girls know her as well. She's at all the community functions. We just saw her at the tree lighting. Ever since the girls were little, she's commented on how adorable they are. In fact, they know her so well, they've been calling her Mimi Lizzy for years."

My jaw loosens and both Lemon and Noah look as if their jaws are rooted to the floor as well.

"Well, isn't this a small world?" I say. "I'm sorry if I'm throwing a lot your way, but I'd love to meet the girls one day."

"Oh, of course. Let me get my head on straight and think of the best way to do this. Obviously, we need to have your mother present because the girls just love her. She'll make a great buffer."

The call wraps up and I put down the phone to a raucous applause from Evie.

"I can't believe this! Grandma Eliza has met my sisters!"

"Just two," Noah points out.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," I say, staring ahead and feeling more than a little dazed.

The cackling coming from the bar only seems to grow and we turn around to see Carlotta climbing the furniture.

"I'll go put a stop to this," Lemon says. "I have to go to the little girls' room anyway. These babies just love to use my bladder as a bounce house." I help her rise from her seat. "And don't think for a minute that I'm not grateful that Carlotta was nowhere near this table while you made those calls."

"You and me both."

She takes off and Noah stands as he makes his way over.

"I just wanted to get you alone for a second," he says, walking me over a few paces while Evie helps Lyla Nell munch on a slice of pizza. "I hope you don't mind, but I had a thought."

"And it's so rare you felt the need to announce it?"

"About you." He frowns my way. "Look, I talked to my buddy at the FBI. He says he can help scan your DNA results and push them through the database of other DNA registry sites. That way if you have other kids out there, you'll know it."

I close my eyes a moment as the gravity of it all hits home.

"It's better to know now than to be sorry later," Noah continues. "Time isn't exactly on your side."

"You're right. Give your buddy the green light. And if he needs me to grease his pocket, I have no problem with that."

"Good." He offers me a pat on the shoulder. "I'm here for you. I know this can't be easy."

Another scream rips from the bar and this time it's Suze climbing the furniture.

"Mom?" Noah takes off and catches her just before she topples to the floor.

"Looks like Suze the Snooze is having a good time," Evie points out.

"Yeah, well," I grunt as I fall back into my seat. "Having a good time isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Eventually, that good time will catch up to you, even if it is a decade later.