Here to Stay by Margot Early Page B

truth really would be cruel, if it would be the better part of valor to keep it to herself.
    There was the question of inherited family conditions, but Sissy knew of nothing major in Clark’s family.
    What she wanted in her heart was to tell Elijah, to hear him say it was all right, to say that he would love the baby as his own. She wanted to give him the chance to do all those things.
    I must, she thought.
    He said, “Ezra James?”
    Sissy had liked the sound of Ezra Workman; the name was her choice. Elijah, who’d been less keen, had suggested they give their child a name he wouldn’t hate them for later. But Sissy had said, I like Ezra! He’s a prophet, like Elijah . Now, she said, “His name means ‘help.’”
    “If only James meant ‘his parents get rich,’” Elijah replied.
    They both laughed, and he hugged her and the baby. “May I hold our son?”
    In that moment, she decided. Ezra Workman was Elijah Workman’s son, and that would be the end of the matter. Yes, she’d be more comfortable if she could tell him the truth and if Elijah would accept it and love her and Ezra to the same degree. But that was too much to expect—from a man like Elijah anyhow, a man who’d saved himself for her. This would be better for everyone. For her, for Ezra, for Elijah.
     
    T HAT EVENING , Elijah walked with Ezra in the hall outside Sissy’s hospital room. His mother, Maureen and her new baby Ashley, and his brother Paul had all come to Kansas City to see Ezra. To Elijah’s disgust—and pain for Sissy—the Athertons had not. Instead, Heloise Atherton, with more travel resources than anyone in the Workman family, had said, “Well, we’ll look forward to seeing her next time you’re down here.”
    Her husband had cleared his throat but had not argued.
    Now Elijah wondered whether Mrs. Atherton would have been up to Kansas City like a flash if the baby had been Sissy’s and Clark’s. He knew the answer. Heloise’s coldness was directed at him.
    God, their first grandchild, and they didn’t want to see him as soon as possible? Elijah wondered if, hoped that, at least Alan would break away and come up to see the baby.
    Ezra was a beautiful baby, at least Elijah thought so. He marveled at his perfect tiny fingernails, at the smell of him. He didn’t think he’d ever smelled anything truly new before. To his eyes, Ezra looked like Sissy. Hethought the nose would be Sissy’s, straight and narrow and elegant. He didn’t see the Workmans’ trademark bump, which made his family’s noses so hawklike.
    As he wandered the corridors with his infant child, nodding to an occasional passerby who smiled at the new father he was, his chest filled with pride. My son . He didn’t dream of Little League and football games. He just knew himself to be in love with his child, proud of him, wanting everything good for him.
    A door ahead of him swung open, and a tall figure strode in, looking about, and instantly spotted Elijah. A bright smile broke over Alan Atherton’s face and was mirrored in Elijah’s.
    Alan hurried toward him. “Is that my grandson?”
     
    “H EY , S ISSY .” Elijah spoke softly from the doorway. Sissy looked up, her arms already reaching for Ezra, which made Elijah’s heart swell with love for her. “You’ve got another visitor.”
    She saw her father, and her eyes instantly welled up. She lifted a graceful white hand, trying to stop the tears, but her father came to her bedside and embraced her. He said, “This Ezra of ours is the handsomest child I’ve ever seen. And lucky in his parents.”
    Unexpectedly, Sissy sobbed against her father’s chest.
    Alan said, “Your mother’s afraid she’s coming down with something, or she would have been here. She didn’t want to risk giving it to Ezra, but she insisted I come. Not that she had to twist my arm too hard.”
    The lie was smooth, and Elijah breathed some relief, seeing that Sissy, who hadn’t heard her mother’s voice on the phone, had