Page 7 of Ransom for His Secret Son

But she had to be wrong about that.

The ambulance finally stopped, and Hal sprang into action. So did a nurse who had obviously been waiting for them outside the hospital, because when she threw open the ambulance door, Remi saw that she had a wheeled bassinet with her. The nurse was young and Remi didn’t know her, but her confident movements convinced Remi that she knew what she was doing. She got the baby secured in the bassinet and started through the ER doors.

The fluorescent lights of the hospital were harsh, and the sterile smell of disinfectant stung Remi’s nose as she followed Brody, the nurse and the baby. Brody’s focus was entirely on the newborn as the nurse guided them toward an examination room, his stiff posture a warning to anyone who might slow them down.

Remi couldn’t blame him. This wasn’t just another case for him. It could be personal in the worst way.

“Dr. Patel will be in shortly,” the nurse said as she parked the bassinet near the wall. She made a cursory exam of the baby. “Do you need anything in the meantime?”

“No,” Brody answered, not even looking up.

The nurse glanced at Remi, offering a sympathetic smile before slipping out the door.

Remi stayed near the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. The tension in the room was suffocating, and it only worsened when the door opened again, and a woman walked in. Not the doctor but Sandra Walker.

Brody’s mother.

Years ago, she had also been Remi’s school guidance counselor.

Sandra’s gray hair was neatly styled, and her sharp brown eyes softened the moment they landed on Brody. “I was visiting a friend who had surgery, and Jolene called me,” she said, her voice etched with concern. “She said there was a baby found at the cemetery.”

The woman looked at her son. At the baby. And then at her. “Remi,” Sandra said, and there seemed to be genuine warmth in her greeting. “It’s been a long time.”

Remi nodded, unsure how to respond. She could see the questions forming in Sandra’s mind and the unspoken emotions simmering beneath the surface.

“Brody, what’s going on?” Sandra asked.

Remi watched as Brody stood straighter, his jaw going tight again. “We don’t know everything yet. But…he might be mine.”

Sandra blinked, her gaze flickering to the bassinet. “Yours?” she asked, her attention shifting to Remi. “Yours?” she repeated.

“Not mine,” Remi was quick to say. She braced herself for the same cold hostility Brody had been giving her. But Sandra surprised her. There was no judgment. No blame.

“What makes you think this child is yours?” Sandra pressed, moving closer to the baby and smiling down at him.

Brody drew in a long, weary breath. “We found him at Miranda’s grave. Remi says someone might have used one of our embryos, the ones we stored during Miranda’s fertility treatments. The embryos are missing.”

Sandra gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh, Brody.”

Remi saw the pain flash across Sandra’s face, a reflection of the grief she carried for Miranda. But the pain was on Brody’s face, too. Along with some anger. No doubt because the mention of fertility treatments brought it all back.

It brought it back to Remi, too, and sometimes, like now, it felt as if the sorrow and regret would dissolve her to ash. She deserved every bit of Brody’s anger and more. Because she hadn’t stopped Miranda from dying.

No one spoke of the past, but Remi knew they were all thinking about it. Miranda had desperately wanted a baby and had been going through those fertility treatments when she’d discovered she had cancer. A diagnosis she had gotten when Remi had been with her at one of her appointments.

A diagnosis that Miranda had insisted Remi keep secret.

And Remi had. For two months, anyway, before she’d gone to Miranda to let her know that she was going to tell Brody. By then, though, the aggressive form of cancer had taken its toll, and it’d been too late for Miranda to even start treatment.

So yes, Remi totally understood why Brody blamed her, and the world, for losing the woman he loved.

“Right now, we need to focus on that baby,” Sandra continued, her voice calm and steady. “If he’s yours, Brody, you’ll have to decide what comes next. But glaring at Remi isn’t going to help anyone.”

Remi swallowed hard, Sandra’s unexpected support settling over her. She hadn’t realized how much she needed it until now.

Brody didn’t respond, and his shoulders stayed tight as he stared at his mother. The baby stirred in the bassinet, letting out a soft cry that broke the silence.

Sandra moved even closer to him, leaning over to gently stroke his tiny hand. “We’ll figure this out,” she murmured.