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amazing as the baby slid from her body. Tuck didn’t even know it was possible for an unconscious woman to give birth. Shaking his head he realized that no man could ever really know just how strong women could be.

  His Clarice, who died slowly and painfully from the cursed cancer that took her,she never complained, never cried, never asked why. He never once heard her declare that it wasn’t fair, that she didn’t want to die. She just accepted her fate and dealt with it with more dignity than he’d ever seen from a person.

  He was a father. He had a son. Amazement rolled over him as he remembered hearing that first little cry. And yet, he wasn’t a father. Tuck had no idea if Bay would even allow him into the child’s life. He wasn’t sure he had the right to be but he hadn’t counted on being there for the birth, seeing that tiny life be born, feeling the instant connection to his child.

  Tuck had never wanted children. Was never going to have one and risk discovering his father’s meanness inside him. But thoughts of being without that child made him feel so freakishly empty. Looking inside himself he knew that he could never ever hurt a child of his and that he’d give his life to protect one instead.

  But he didn’t know if he’d ever have the chance to do so. Sighing, he pulled the piles of paperwork toward him and got to work. If this was all he could do for Bay, then he’d do it.

  A week passed and he’d talked to Bay every day, sometimes multiple times a day but always about work. She might be on maternity leave, she might have a broken leg, but the woman would not leave the Department alone. He’d dodged going to see her by using multiple excuses, but they were running thin.

  Flossie had started giving him the cold shoulder. No matter how he poked at her, she refused to speak to him unless she simply couldn’t avoid it. Even Joby was cool toward him when he discovered that Tuck hadn’t been to see Bay or the baby. He’d caught the disapproving looks from Owen who never said a word about the situation.

  After a meeting with the school principal, though, he had no choice. One of the two of them was going to have to put a training schedule together. While he suspected that Bay was happy to do the school training, she’d never actually said she would, always hinting that it was his job.

  When the Mayor brought him a Council problem and then other issues kept piling up that needed her signature or input, he realized he had no choice anymore. Unless he managed to talk Joby into taking the stuff to her, and that was just too cowardly even for him, it was time to face Bay and the baby.

  Letting Roy know where he was headed, he left the building and walked down the street to her apartment. His concerns of how she was managing the stairs was answered when he saw the new lift chair attached to them. It was an interesting mechanism that let her sit in the chair and ride her way up the stairs. It didn’t leave much room in the narrow stairwell, but he could see that it would work out just fine for her and Melody.

  His knock was answered by Melody, who gave him a quick grin, tossed an excuse over at Bay and quickly left for her own apartment. He entered and found Bay propped on the couch, a portable baby bed beside her. The once spartan apartment was now nearly filled with stuffed toys, baby furniture and piles of tiny clothes and blankets.

  Frowning he looked around, “You need a bigger place,” he blurted out before thinking.

  Bay scowled at him, “You think?” She sifted, trying to find a more comfortable place for her plastic coated leg. “Who the hell knew how much stuff a tiny little body needed?”

  Tuck couldn’t stop his feet from carrying him closer to the baby. All he could see under a patchwork blanket was a small head covered in black fuzzy hair. “How is he?”

  “Fine. Eats like he’s starving, poops like there’s no tomorrow.”

  A snorting laugh escaped before he could stop it. Reaching down, he gently touched the little head and felt the baby squirm in response. Afraid of waking him, Tuck moved away and got down to business.

  They went through the paperwork and essential information that needed her attention. She expressed her gratitude at his help and went over as many details as they could. Eventually though the baby began to move around and fuss. Bay scooped him up and cuddled for a bit before sending a look to Tuck.

  “Look, I know this is beyond complicated. I have no idea how to deal with this.” She stopped, unsure what to say next.

  Tuck nodded. “I have no idea either. I - “ he broke off, his mind going blank and gave a small shrug.

  For the first time since he’d met her, Bay looked nervous. He didn’t have long to wonder about it though when she said, “His name is Kidd Adam Miller Lopez. Just thought you should know.”

  Shock rippled through him. The name echoed in his head, Kidd Adam Miller. Named for him and for the town. “Why?”

  “Well, I was trying to come up with something patriotic. You know he was born on the Fourth of July. But the only thing that I came up with was ‘Independence’ and that was just silly to me. Especially after that movie you know? So, I brought it down a bit and thought of the town. Because he was born right on Main Street right? The name ‘Main’ seemed too goofy. And I liked Miller. But I’ve called him ‘kid’ ever since I found out I was pregnant and I couldn’t get over calling him ‘kid.’ So I did. And the Adam part... well I wanted something more normal incase when he grows up he didn’t want to be an adult man called Kidd, you know.” Bay’s ramblings finally ended with her looking even more embarrassed.

  “But aren’t you afraid people might put it together?”

  She shrugged. “You hired me, gave me a chance. It was really you that made me Sheriff here. And, the way I hear the story, if you hadn’t acted as fast as you did to get the ambulance to me... well, things might have turned out differently. There’s a lot of good reasons for the name Adam.”

  A sudden and huge lump filled Tuck’s throat. It was so big that trying to swallow it down was rather painful. So he just sat and took deep breaths for a few minutes, trying to calm things down.

  “There’s even the possibility that the kid could go by Kam Lopez. Just use the initials.”

  “Kam. I like that. Like it a lot.”

  As he looked at Bay and the baby Tuck realized that the cold dark hole inside him, left behind from Clarice’s death, was a lot smaller than it used to be. He couldn’t be sure, but maybe, just maybe the sunshine seemed a little brighter than it had been just a few minutes ago.

  ###

  Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won’t you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer?

  Thanks!

  Lucy Marsh