Page 44 of Doctor’s Surprise Twins

My daysand evenings were spent in meetings so long I was exhausted and ready to collapse by the time I got home. I tried doing what I had been doing before the holidays, loitering on the weekends around town with a hope I’d see Maggie, but deep inside, I knew I’d never see her again. I hadn’t given up, but the work of directing a massive hospital expansion project took everything out of me. If I wasn’t in meetings, I was sleeping.

Last weekend, I went home to check on the farm. The foal was nearly a year old, and Evan needed a day off to attend a funeral for a distant family member. It felt good to be back in Yellow Springs but bittersweet at the same time. It was highly possible that Maggie had moved back there and was staying with her family. While I was in town, I stopped by Curt’s house, but he wasn’t home. I didn’t know where his father lived or I’d have just showed up there.

For the past four weeks, I’d done nothing but sit and think about her every spare second. Every time I thought I’d have a spare second to do some research, maybe dig around a little and find out where Maggie was, I either got too drowsy to continue or got interrupted by work. So I decided to take a new route.

“Welcome, Mr. Painter.” I shook the private investigator’s hand and sat at my desk. This was one meeting I was not dreading. I’d asked him to visit me for the free consultation because I didn’t personally have the time to do the searching, but I needed it done. I knew those babies were mine. My gut wouldn’t let me rest.

“Doctor Holt, I did the bit of digging you asked me to on the phone.” The tall, slender man wore a trench coat, its shoulders damp from snow that had melted on his way to my office. He slid a file across my desk as he sat down. “You were right.”

Curious, I opened the folder and looked down at the copies of the twins’ birth certificates. I could have driven to our local health department and looked them up, except I did not have the twins’ names. Jim had been able to locate all the information I hadn’t had time to think about.

“No name where the father is supposed to be listed.” I shook my head and thumbed through the file. There was no legal address listed for Maggie after the address here in Evansville. She couldn’t have just vanished into the wind. I looked up at the PI. “You didn’t locate her?”

“Well, I have to do more research. I’m going to focus my efforts in Yellow Springs, starting with her father and brother. It may take some time. It would be easier to track her through the babies’ medical records, but minors are protected in the state of New York, so I can’t see behind those firewalls without breaking some laws. It just depends on how much you want to pay.” His eyes glistened with a bit of excitement, like he’d never had such a grand adventure laid out in front of him.

“No, no... ” I knew I could just sit in Yellow Springs at a grocery or something and wait until I saw Tony or Curt pass through, then follow them home. I didn’t need Jim to break the law. “Nothing illegal.” I pushed the file back toward him. “How much time? A week? Two weeks?”

“Maybe months. Depends on whether she’s in town or not. We’re talking $200 an hour for my time on the road. Let me know what you think.” He stood and picked up the file, tapping it on the corner of my desk. “You have a nice lawsuit on your hands here. If you can prove paternity, you would win for sure. I have a lawyer on speed dial.”

My heart sank. The last thing I wanted was to sue Maggie for custody. I loved her. This was all a huge misunderstanding. And as angry as I was for the way she’d handled things, I didn’t want to hurt her. I wanted her to understand that I felt bad for what had happened. I wanted to make things right.

“No thanks, Jim.” I stood and shook his hand. Nearing the end of the day on a Friday, I decided it was time to put action to my frustration. I had the long weekend to go back to Yellow Springs, so I would. Martin Luther King Junior Day shut businesses down on Monday, and I’d already told our architect that I would not be available for meetings. I had reached the point of burnout. I needed a break.

“Suit yourself. I’ll wait until I hear from you about the search. I’m on standby to head to Yellow Springs and get started.” Jim excused himself, and I grabbed my coat. My bags were already in the car. All I had to do was make the drive. I wasn’t looking forward to the snow in the mountain passes, but it was the only way home, and I knew it well.

The drive went faster than I expected. I made decent time due to following a salt truck along most of the steep mountain roads. When I pulled into my driveway, I saw Peter’s car there, as if he was waiting for me or something. The way he left town had been totally unexpected, but after what Dad had said about him, I wondered if he had come to apologize.

I parked next to him and headed for the house, leaving my bags behind. When I stepped through the front door, dusting snow off my shoulders before entering, Peter looked up in surprise.

“Derek, I was just leaving you a note.” He dropped a pen and paper on the table and stood from his position on the couch. “I used your spare key. No, I didn’t take anything.”

I scowled at him. I hadn’t assumed he’d taken anything, but after he said that I realized I wouldn’t have put it past him to have stolen from me. I shrugged out of my coat and hung it on the coat tree. “What brings you by?” I noticed the wet footprints across my wooden floors and scowled deeper. I’d have to leave my boots on or my socks would be soaked.

“I came to apologize. I’ve been seeing a counselor like twice a week. I have to switch to a new one since I’m moving back to Yellow Springs, but I think it’s helping me a lot. I wanted to thank you for taking care of me and watching out for me. I’m going to be staying with Dad for a while. I was just leaving a note for you to stop by when you can. Dad said you were back and forth between here and Evansville. That’s amazing.”

Pete wrung his hands and his eyes appeared apprehensive. After all the animosity between us for years, I could see why he would feel uncomfortable.

“Yeah, I have a big project there, but my practice here is still growing. I’m on leave of absence at Mercy so I can help out in Evansville.” My boots squeaked as I headed for the kitchen. “Want a beer?”

“No, you sit down. I’ll get a few. You just had a long drive.”

Peter being helpful? I could get used to that. I smiled and nodded, then parked my ass on the couch and leaned back. With the news the private investigator shared with me, I had a renewed sense of urgency to find Maggie. My gut told me she was with her father, but I had no confirmation. I started thinking of ways to search for Tony’s address that wouldn’t be unethical. If all else failed, I’d use my hospital access to see if he had a patient account at Mercy. That would at least give me a starting place.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. It was probably Evan who came to report after he saw my car pull in. “Come in!” I didn’t even bother straightening in my seat. I was exhausted and just wanted to relax. But when Curt walked in, taking a trilby from his head and shaking the snow off it, my chest constricted.

“Do you have a few minutes?”

I sat straight up, my heart hammering. I wasn’t sure why Curt was here or how he knew I was home, but it didn’t matter. He shut the door and turned to face me, a tense glower on his face. He held the hat with one hand, tenting his fingers across the top of it with the other.

“What’s up?” I didn’t know whether I should stand or stay seated. All I could think about was how desperately I wanted to see Maggie to make things right. It had been a month since the babies were born—a month of agony.

“We need to talk.” Curt’s tone was firm, taut with the same exacting emotion I saw in his eyes.

“About?” I scooted forward to the edge of my seat.

“Maggie.”

Had she told him that we’d slept together? Did he know something I didn’t know? In the interest of protecting her secret form him, I played dumb. “What about?”

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