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law school and I knew I had to go help Gramps. He was getting bad off and wouldn’t leave the ranch. Her dad went ballistic when he found out about us. He said she wanted to give up her career to marry me. Said they’d had a fight about it and the only way was to break it off clean. I kept thinking she’d regret it later, giving up school to follow me across the country, to live out in the middle of nowhere. So, I called her, told her it was over, and hung up. I didn’t even let her speak except to say hello. I still can’t believe I did that. We were right out there on the water. I remember it like yesterday. I’ve thought about it a hundred times over the years. She was different.”
    “ Damn, that sounds familiar,” Jack said.
    “ I’ve told you all this before?”
    Jack shrugged and picked up the hunk of wood again and began to whittle with his pocketknife. “So what happens now?”
    Sam stared up at the stars. “Don’t know. I think I’m in shock.”
    “ Ya know, just because she says it’s yours doesn’t mean it’s your kid.”
    “ I thought of that.” Sam took a stroll up the pier to the grass then turned around and came back. “She’s got this old boyfriend, but says it’s not his. I can’t think why she’d lie, what she’d want with me otherwise. She comes from money, lives out on the edge of town where they built all those big houses and isn’t looking for someone to support her. I figured she hated me now. Maybe she does. Maybe it’s a trick.”
    “ Probably is.” Jack sent a splash flying with his toes. “Women do that. Say they’re gonna stick it out and then just up and leave.”
    “ Why didn’t you marry her?” Sam asked, genuinely interested. He and Jack were a lot alike, maybe too much alike. Maybe whatever problem Jack had with marriage was the same problem Sam had. Whenever a woman got too close, Sam found himself backing away.
    “ I don’t know,” Jack said. “Tell me about this kid. Did you say you saw him? What’s he look like?”
    “ Yeah, I saw him. I touched him but I just didn’t know it at the time.” Sam leaned against the post again. “He fell down and I picked him up. I touched him. I held him in my hands.” He looked at his hands, empty now, and could still feel a soft warmth there. He made tight fists until the feeling went away.
    “ Well? Does he look like you?” Jack prompted.
    Sam chuckled, though he found no humor in the situation. “I couldn’t tell by looking. I can’t remember what he looked like now. I think I’m in shock. He had blond hair, though. That Stewart guy has light brown hair, almost blond. Then, Jenna’s a blonde.”
    “ You had blond hair when you were little,” Jack informed him.
    Sam stood up straight and a jolt of pain shot down his left leg. “I did?”
    “ Granny Mae was a blonde. You and Mikey and Boone all had blond hair when you were real little. Darkened later.”
    “ Well, that helps some.”
    “ I’m not trying to convince you one way or the other,” Jack said. “I’m just telling the facts.”
    “ Man, I’m an idiot,” Sam realized.
    “ Why’s that?”
    “ Jenna. She came looking for me, yesterday at the park. I thought it was chance, but now….” Another humorless chuckle escaped his lips. “I don’t think so.”
    Jack clucked his tongue. “If she came looking for ya then she wants something, bro. Danger.”
    “ I guess. But what? For her kid to have a father? Money? I’ve had girls come after me for money but she doesn’t need it. She comes from one of those old money families. Her house is probably five, six thousand square feet. Nearly as big as Mom and Dad’s place. And she’s gorgeous, I mean really beautiful. She could find somebody in a second, kid or not. Ya know it can’t be Stewart’s kid. He would have married her by now if he’s still in town. It must be mine. That’s the only answer. The math adds up.”
    Jack read his expression and seemed to realize he needed strong