The Switched Baby Scandal (A Scandals of San Sebastian Novel) (Entangled Bliss) by Theresa Meyers Page B

you today, but I think your mom is tired.” His gaze flicked from Emily to her.
    Emily’s casual use of his first name had taken him aback as well. She could see that now. There were creases in his brow and a wet sheen to his eyes. His smile trembled at the corners. Her heart softened, blunting the edge of her frustration and misplaced irritation, but not her resolve.
    He cupped a big hand around Emily’s tiny shoulder. “Why don’t you take her home?”
    Emily glanced back at her, then nodded. She leaned forward, getting close to his ear in a conspiratorial manner, but Taylor heard her high voice all the same.
    “I’m going to take Mommy home now. I’ll tell you when she gets better.”
    He smiled and winked at Emily.
    Taylor had difficulty finding her voice, and when she did it cracked. “About dinner…we’ll let you know when it fits into our schedule. I want to see how Emily handles all of this before I commit her or myself to anything more.”
    Reece nodded. Emily bounced over to her, a smile dimpling her cheeks. “Come on, Mommy. It’s time to go. Eddie’s going to be awfully hungry when we get home.”
    Taylor rose, slipped her purse onto her shoulder, and grasped Emily’s hand. She took a last look at the man on the bench. His thick, dark hair was barely ruffled by the spring breeze and he leaned forward on his knees as if an enormous burden weighed on his back.
    “And thank you again for the picture,” she added lamely, holding up the small piece of paper in her free hand.
    He smiled and waved.
    …
    Reece watched them walk away. He twisted the gold band on his finger. “It’s nothing compared to what I’ll be asking you to give me,” he whispered to himself, knowing that regardless of how well their meetings had gone she’d be hurt when he asked for joint custody. He wasn’t happy about hurting her—didn’t want to—but he needed to be part of Emily’s life in every sense, including being responsible for her welfare, and there was no other way around it.
    He wanted to legally be her father, and right now her birth certificate didn’t show it. He’d had his staff assistant, Jay, do enough research into the legal implications to know that he had to assert his claim to custody in court to validate the biological bond. But he also knew that it was risky. There was every chance that Taylor would fight him on the paperwork, even though his intentions were to care for Emily. She loved Emily. That much was crystal clear. The question was could he prove that he fit into Emily’s life enough for her to accept it?
    He couldn’t go home. Not after this. The suffocating sense of loss at the house would overwhelm him, making the heavy weight in his chest press down even harder.
    Emily looked everything and nothing like Becca. The dark, glossy hair that swung about her shoulders had red strands of light playing in it, just as Becca’s had the day they met. Her nose, like Becca’s, was pert and of pixie perfection, but the eyes—those eyes were too close to the ones he saw when he looked in the mirror each morning. They had unnerved him. It was like looking at the precious innocence of his own youth for an unclouded instant.
    Perhaps more shocking was how much Emily’s small voice made him long for Alyssa. It was bittersweet. One daughter made him only need the other more.
    Behind the wheel he found himself driving toward the historic section of San Sebastian where Main Street clung to a bluff overlooking the sea.
    After he parked, he crossed the narrow street to the small florist shop nestled among the brick-fronted boutiques. He came out with two roses wrapped in translucent, white tissue paper and two stuffed animals tucked under his arm.
    A low stone wall surrounded the graveyard, which was dotted with gray and white headstones between bonsai-like pine trees shaped over the years by the wind. He needed to talk. More rightly, he needed to be listened to.
    He passed into the solemn quiet of the