CHAPTER 20
Their food came,and Micah said a prayer of thanks.
Then Naomi lifted her sandwich and looked at him over it. “Okay. I’ve been patient enough. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”
Micah set down his spoon before he even took the first bite. He’d been turning over how to say this since he got the call from the federal liaison.
“I wanted to let you know something about Richard,” he started. “Word got back to him about his baby being born.”
Naomi’s eyebrows shot up. “I suspected it would eventually. How did he find out?”
“Hard to say for certain. He has contacts everywhere, and a man like that doesn’t lose his network just because he’s behind bars.” Micah paused. “What I do know is that he got his attorney involved. When Sissy didn’t tell him their baby had been born herself, he got suspicious. I think he’s turning on her. He demanded a paternity test.”
Micah watched the color shift beneath Naomi’s skin. Watched the way her hand went still on the sandwich. The way she stopped chewing.
“A paternity test,” she repeated.
“Sissy didn’t name him on the birth certificate—perhaps as a way of shielding the baby from Richard’s family instead of Richard.” He met her eyes. “But you and I both know how Richard operates. He’s not the kind of man who lets something like this go without answers. Sissy might think she loves Richard, but she’s in way over her head in this situation.”
Naomi set her sandwich down. Her eyes were fixed on a point somewhere past his shoulder. But Micah saw her mind working, saw how she was turning this news over and testing it from different angles.
“So he doesn’t know for certain that the baby is really his,” she said.
“Correct.” Micah picked up his spoon again, not because he was hungry but because he needed something to do with his hands. “But if the test confirms he’s the father, he’ll have legal standing. Even from behind bars, he could have his attorney file motions. He could request that a family member be given custody or visitation rights. His mother. His brother.” He paused. “Obviously he can’t get custody himself while he’s incarcerated. But he can make your life a nightmare trying to put Grace with someone who will do what he wants.”
Her expression tightened. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I didn’t think you would.”
“How long would a test take? If it’s court-ordered?”
“Weeks, most likely. Maybe longer, given that he’s incarcerated.” He met her gaze. “I wanted to be sure before I said anything to you. I didn’t want to bring you something I couldn’t back up.”
When Naomi looked up at him, something in her expression had shifted. The fear was there, but it wasn’t what was on top. What was on top was something harder, sharper.
She held his gaze. Then she picked up her sandwich and took another bite.
Something about the way she did it—her jaw set, her eyes forward—confirmed to him that Naomi wouldn’t let this one go without a fight.
Naomi turned the words over in her mind the way she used to turn over numbers. She looked for the angle, the weak spot, the place where something didn’t add up.
Richard knew about Grace.
She knew the day would probably come. But she hadn’t expected it so soon.
The café buzzed around her. Someone’s chair scraped back. Dishes and silverware clinked.
But all the noises felt far away, like she was hearing everything through water.
“Hey.” Micah’s voice sounded quiet, close.
She looked up.
He studied her the way he always did—quietly, patiently.
Gio would have been talking by now. Explaining what she should do, how she should feel about it, what the logical next step was.
Micah just waited. He let her find her own footing. And she appreciated that.
