Page 159 of The Billionaire Boss and the Barista

Garrett even knew the dollar amount. He’d found the check stubs in one of the kitchen drawers when he’d been looking for a spatula to make Stella pancakes.

He hadn’t intended to snoop, but the bill drawer had given him a pretty good idea of Mariana’s financial picture.

Garrett ran a hand through his hair. “Anyway, after raising my daughter for the last five years, I decided Mariana deserved an early retirement. The condo will be in her name, all expenses paid. She still wants to babysit, of course, and now she can be there for Emma too, for any doctor’s appointments I can’t make.”

Jesse raised his brows, taking it all in with slow blinks of the long dark lashes that had made him very popular with the ladies. “Wow. That’s a lot. Lots of changes, I mean.”

In for a penny, in for a pound.“Can I ask you something?”

Jesse put his hands on his hips. “Shoot.”

“Keep in mind that this is coming from the jackass who didn’t know he had a kid because of one stupid fight,” Garrett began. “But I’m a little surprised you didn’t know about Stella. You were investigating the hit-and-run. Did you not go see Emma in the hospital?”

The pregnancy would have been obvious at some point.

Jesse’s face tightened. “It’s a fair question. I did see Em when she was at the local hospital, but I didn’t ever go up to Denver.”

The sheriff kicked the ground with the tip of his cowboy boot. “To tell you the truth, me and Mari weren’t talking a whole lot during that period.”

He adjusted his Stetson, scrubbing his reddening hairline. “I had started seeing Kelley Ames around then, long enough to fuel rumors that I might pop the question and marry her. Mari avoided me whenshe saw me in the street. I heard she started seeing Bronson again just after the accident. He kind of swooped in, riding to the rescue. I didn’t like it, but…”

He trailed off, his face dark. “Everyone thought Stella was his.”

“And you were still playing the field.”

Jesse scowled. “It’s not like Mari and I didn’t stay friends.”

Garrett nodded. But he couldn’t help but think thatMarino longer thought of Jesse in those warm terms. She would have told the sheriff the truth if she’d trusted him.

“And Ididcheck in after Emma came back from the hospital!” Jesse's voice was getting louder. “Mariana could have said something then—at the very least to tell me her theory that Emma’s baby daddy ran her down. It would have given me a new lead.”

“As the baby daddy in question, I kind of wish she had too. But it was a crazy time, with Emma in the hospital. Even after she went home, she had to go for endless rounds of physical therapy.” Garrett sighed. “I’m just glad Mariana kept Stella. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful.”

His philosophical response didn’t rub off on Jesse. The man wasn’t done venting. “To my knowledge, Bronson denied being Stella’s dad once or twice to some of his cohorts, but it was pretty half-hearted.”

Garrett made a noncommittal noise, leaning against the car door.

He wasn’t about to tell Jesse that Teddyhadgone to Denver, visiting Mariana several times during Emma’s pregnancy. It would have sounded too much like censure.

He tried again to bring the man back down, so he could grab that phone and get back to Emma, but Jesse wanted to keep complaining. He went on for a while about Teddy and his growing reputation as a slumlord.

Garrett, however, was already aware of what Teddy had been up to. He’d had his people keep track of the man’s business dealings, in case Teddy ever decided to pester his aunt again.

However, Jesse was really warming to the topic, as if Garrett’s questions had broken open some sort of dam.

He put up his hands to interrupt the rant. “Jesse, I knowthis thing about Mariana not being Stella’s mother is throwing you. You were close once and she didn’t share this very pertinent detail. I’m sure it also burns that Teddy knew and you didn’t.”

“But she let Bronson?—”

Okay, enough. Garrett slashed his hand through the air. “Do I have to say it aloud?”

Jesse crossed his arms. “Say what?”

There was no good way to do this, so he kept it as short as possible. “That I think my mother-in-law may have prostituted herself so she could keep a roof over my daughter’s head.”

Jesse dropped his arms, closing his mouth.

Garrett grimaced, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s just a theory, of course. Mariana hasn’t said anything remotely like this. But from the way she talks about Teddy and the speed at which she’s packing, it’s obvious she wants to blow town while he’s out of the country.”

---