Expecting the Doctor's Baby by Teresa Southwick

with an acquaintance who was on the hospital board of directors. He told Dad that image was important and he needed to stand out from the competition. Right after that I remember home evaluations by social services and court proceedings to finalize the adoption.”
    Mitch happened to be watching Sam’s face while her brother was talking and saw the downward slide from surprise to comprehension to hurt.
    â€œWhere else did you drive him?” Mitch asked.
    â€œNowhere.” Connor grinned. “Once I had my license I shunned the transportation gig and turned my attention to being a chick magnet with a cool car.”
    â€œOh, right,” Sam said, pushing aside her shock. “That beat-up old thing?”
    â€œAside from the fact that Dad wouldn’t buy me wheels and it was all I could afford, that Chrysler was a classic.”
    â€œOne that was always breaking down,” she teased.
    â€œ That you remember.” Connor sighed.
    â€œLike you said, memories are crystallized by whatever events are going on. My mother had died recently and you were supposed to pick me up from first grade and never showed. I was pretty scared.”
    â€œIt wasn’t my fault,” Connor protested.
    â€œI know.” Sam toyed with her salad some more. Not much of it had been consumed. “But that clunker was not why the girls chased you on an annoyingly regular basis.”
    Connor put his fork down and grinned. “I think buried somewhere in there is a compliment.”
    â€œAt the risk of inflating your already inflated ego,” Sam said, “you are, in fact, a hottie.”
    â€œIs that on the record?” her brother asked.
    â€œDon’t push your luck.”
    Though she was doing a good job of hiding her feelings, Mitch saw the shadows in her eyes. But if she wanted to discuss what was bothering her, she’d have brought it up. He’d take that as a cue that she didn’t want to talk about it.
    Finally, Connor looked at the expensive Rolex on his wrist. “As pleasant as it is having my ego inflated, I’ve got an appointment and traffic on the Fifteen freeway is a bitch this time of day.” He looked at her. “Gotta run, sis.”
    â€œCoward. I was getting the best of you,” she said.
    â€œNo way.” He stood, then bent and kissed her cheek. “Be good. Nice to meet you, Mitch.”
    â€œSame here.”
    Connor hurried out and they were alone. Mitch waited as long as he could, then finally asked, “You didn’t know why your stepfather adopted you, did you?”
    â€œNo.” The expression in her eyes was as tender as a fresh bruise. “In spite of his impatience with me I guess I always hoped that deep down there was some affection. I never suspected that adopting me was nothing more than a bullet point on his résumé.”
    â€œSam—” Mitch ran his fingers through his hair. What could he say? There was no way to refute the truth.
    â€œI should have known.” She pushed her uneaten salad away.
    â€œWhere in the rule book does it say that? You were a little kid. How could you possibly understand what was going on?”
    â€œNot so much then as later,” she said, meeting his gaze. “My father never missed an opportunity to imply that I probably took after my biological father, who had no use for me. But he, Arnold Ryan, was a hero for taking me in, putting a roof over my head and making it legal.”
    â€œI’m sure he cares about you.” He wasn’t sure of any such thing, but didn’t know what else to say.
    â€œHe cared about my mother. I’m sure about that. But the truth is pretty evident to me now.”
    â€œAnd that is?”
    Her eyes were bleak. “He never wanted to be responsible for me at all. Ever.”
    Son of a bitch, he thought. The man was a coldhearted jerk. He’d get points for not abandoning Sam into the child welfare system, but that was