The Secret Child

“Heavens, no.” What an interesting conversation that would be, Marni mused.

Rebecca remained quiet. Marni glanced at her friend and nearly shuddered at the thoughtful look on her face. Pulling one of the law books from the pile on her desk, Marni flipped through the pages trying to locate the case law she needed to prepare her opposing brief.

“It‘s him, isn‘t it.”

Marni‘s shoulders sagged. Her friend hadn‘t become a successful attorney because she was dumb.

Rebecca leaned forward in the chair, her blue eyes piercing. “He‘s the guy who got you pregnant and then skipped out, isn‘t he.”

“He didn‘t skip out,” Marni corrected her. “I just never told him about Jenna.”

“Well, he didn‘t give you a chance if he got married two months after you split.”

The sarcasm in Rebecca‘s voice made Marni wince. She sent Rebecca what she hoped was a glare. “Would you please stop!” Marni snapped the book closed in irritation. “Cole Ballinger is not one to run from his responsibilities.”

A startled gasp escaped Rebecca. “Cole Ballinger? Ballinger Electronics’ Cole Ballinger? Marni, you dog. Do you know who he is?”

Marni rolled her eyes. “Jenna‘s father?”

Rebecca ignored Marni‘s bad humor. “No, I mean financially. There was a big article on Ballinger Electronics in Time or Newsweek a month or so ago. He‘s a rich guy.”

“Gee, I must have missed a little detail.” Marni couldn‘t help the mockery of her tone. When it came to Cole, she knew just about everything there was to know.

“They were thinking of closing shop on their software division, and then Daddy gave it to Sonny Boy to play with. Boom. Six months later they‘re showing a huge profit margin. From what I understand, this isn‘t the first division Golden Boy‘s turned around.”

“Good. Maybe he‘ll go away and save another division of Daddy‘s company and leave me alone.” If only she could be so lucky.

Rebecca became serious again. “You‘re not going to tell him about Jenna, are you?”

Marni stood and walked to the window. She opened the venetian blinds and gazed out at the setting sun casting a deep orange hue over the skyline. “No, and he‘s not going to find out, either.” Turning back to face Rebecca, she leaned against the windowsill.

“He‘s bound to if he keeps coming around. And I get the impression this guy won‘t give up until he gets what he wants. Looks to me to be the determined type.” Rebecca looked pointedly at the framed photograph of Jenna on Marni‘s desk. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

Marni nodded.

Rebecca leaned back in the chair again. “Well, the initial consultation is free, kiddo. I think it‘s time you told me everything.”

Marni stepped away from the window and reached into her desk to retrieve a legal pad. She tossed it to Rebecca. “I don‘t know where to start.”

Rebecca suddenly became every inch the lawyer. “The beginning is always a good place.”

Marni punched the Do Not Disturb button on her telephone, then came around to stand in front of the desk. “Do you need to know the first time I ever saw him?” She couldn‘t help the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Propping her hip against the desk, a vivid recollection struck her of the first time she‘d ever laid eyes on Cole Ballinger. A heavy sigh escaped her.

“If that‘s where it begins, then go for it.” Rebecca‘s voice was soft and coaxing. She leaned back in the chair again and waited for Marni to speak.

“He was a football hero. Captain of the wrestling team. You name it, Cole did it. A rich kid with everything going for him. Good looks, charm, a hot car and Elizabeth Wakefield on his arm. After he graduated from high school, he attended the university in Lawrence. Life was pretty lonely after he left town.”

“But he had a girlfriend? I don‘t understand.”

“I had a such a crush on Cole, it wouldn‘t have mattered if he‘d had ten girls shackled to his leg! He never noticed me until he returned to Elk Falls two years later. He came back to see his sister, Janelle, graduate. I finally got up the nerve to talk to him and the next day he called and asked me out.” Marni sat on the edge of her desk. “God, I was in heaven. Cole Ballinger asked me out on a date.”

She glanced at Rebecca. “I worked that summer in a law office as a receptionist, trying to save up enough money for college so I could get my paralegal certificate. My mother‘s health was getting worse and we couldn‘t afford much. It was up to me to pay my own way. I worked all day, but my evenings were spent with Cole. We did everything together. I was young and foolish, and I believed it when he told me he loved me.”

Rebecca chuckled. “A man will tell you anything when he‘s got a hard...”

“I know, I know.” Marni grimaced.

“What happened to this Wakefield woman?”

Marni shrugged. “Cole said they‘d split up.”

Rebecca shook her head. “So you made love to the guy, came here, then found out you were pregnant.”

“I called, but I spoke to his father. Carson told me his son was on his honeymoon.”

Rebecca lifted a brow at Marni‘s barely controlled sarcasm. “With Wakefield?”

Marni nodded, a stab of pain wrenching her heart. Pain at what she‘d lost, at what she could never have. “Cole told me today Elizabeth claimed to be pregnant, but she really wasn‘t.”

“So he slept with Elizabeth right after you left. What a jerk!”

Marni detected the heat in Rebecca‘s words, and despite the gravity of the situation, she found herself defending Cole. “It wasn‘t like that. If it were, this wouldn‘t be so difficult.”

“I don‘t understand.”

“Cole‘s father never liked me. My mother was a waitress, my father skipped out when I was two. I wasn‘t socially connected. All the usual stereotype clichés about a poor kid from the wrong side of town fit, and Carson Ballinger didn‘t think I was good enough for his son. Carson offered to pay for my education and take care of my mom‘s medical expenses if I stopped seeing Cole. He played on my insecurities and used my mom‘s diabetes as ammunition. I‘d never fit into Cole‘s crowd. I had no education, no breeding, as he put it. He convinced me Cole would eventually tire of making excuses for my lack of social connections and my ignorance of his way of life. He made me believe I‘d only become an embarrassment to Cole.”

A hard glint came into Rebecca‘s eyes. “And you accepted that?”

“Oh, yeah. I even took him up on his offer and told Cole the next day it was over between us. Mom and I came to L.A., and I applied to USC.”

Rebecca sniffed in derision. “Did Sonny Boy lie to you when he said Wakefield was out of the picture?”

“No, he didn‘t. When he didn‘t hear from me again, he was angry. He passed out drunk at a party one night, and when he woke up, Elizabeth was in bed with him. She told Cole when they divorced she hadn‘t really been pregnant at all.”

“What a witch!”

Marni ignored her friend‘s outburst. “Today, when he explained what happened, he told me Elizabeth got pregnant two years later. She aborted it and he divorced her. I asked him what he would have done if Elizabeth had had the baby. He was so angry, Rebecca. Really angry.”

“Can‘t say I blame him.”

Marni closed her eyes, remembering his harsh expression when he told her what Elizabeth had done. She opened her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her. “He said he would have sued her for custody–maybe even full custody.”

“Ah, I‘m beginning to understand. Still, you‘re not married to him. Why the worry? You‘re the one with all the rights here, kiddo. You can sue him for support. Thirteen years’ worth of it. A nice little nest egg if you ask me.”

“You don‘t understand. Cole‘s whole point is that Elizabeth didn‘t give him a choice. She robbed him of the opportunity to be a father.”

“Marni, I think you‘re worrying for nothing. Besides, Roe v. Wade is about a woman‘s choice, not a man‘s, and has absolutely nothing to do with your situation.”