Free Return to Oak Valley by Shirlee Busbee

of the house with a plate of Oreos and a half gallon of milk. They'd eaten the cookies in silence, drinking from the carton of milk. There were no words between them. He accepted her peace offering.
    He hadn't betrayed her then, Shelly thought, and he could have. Most kids would have. And while the actions of a nine-year-old weren't a true test of the character of the adult, she decided it was good enough for her. Slowly, she nodded. “Yeah, I believe you.” Nick let out his breath in a whoosh. “Thanks. I needed that.”
    They smiled at each other. “So,” Nick asked, picking up the last cookie and taking a bite, “what do we do now?”

Chapter Four
    I t wasn't an easy question to answer, and Maria's stubborn silence only complicated the situation. Though she was determined to tackle Maria, Shelly didn't honestly believe that she'd have better luck than Nick had had getting the truth out of her. All she was likely to get from Maria was a better
feel
for the situation. They both agreed that since his ashes had just been scattered, obtaining a sample of Josh's DNA was impossible.
    Tentatively, she offered, “We could use mine—the results would at least show that we're related.”
    “Yeah, that might be better than nothing.” He grimaced. “But that wouldn't prove that Josh is dear old dad.” He smiled wryly. “Thanks for the offer—I may get desperate enough to take you up on it—and while it would help, what I really want is something more tangible. Wish he'd conveniently left a blood sample lying around for us to find.”
    Shelly nodded. “I agree that's what we need for real,
legal
proof of parentage,” Shelly said with a sigh. “Otherwise, we're just whistling ‘Dixie.’”
    His long legs stretched out in front of him, Nick nodded. “That part of it doesn't bother me.” he murmured. “Right now, it's enough that you accept me.” Huskily he added, “It's a good feeling to be able to talk to you about it; to have someone listen to me and
believe
me.” His eyes hardened.
    “And that you're not listening to that hypocritical bastard Sawyer.”
    “Yeah, well, that hypocritical bastard is just the sort of person we're going to have to convince if you want public recognition that Josh is your father,” Shelly muttered. “It isn't going to be enough for me simply to say, ‘Hey, everybody, I believe him!’ And speaking of that, how are we going to handle that aspect of it? Take out an ad in the local newspaper?”
    Nick laughed. “Nah. I won't put you through that. For the time being, let's just go with the flow.”
    Shelly simply looked at him, and he laughed again. “I know. I know. I want the recognition, but I feel like I've just jumped the biggest hurdle—you. Having done that, all of the other stuff suddenly doesn't seem important, or rather, not so urgent.” He made a face. “Mom and Raquel are right—you really don't need to be burdened with ancient history at this point. You, we all need to deal with Josh's death right now, and you're going to have your hands full the next few months settling the estate. Once the estate is out of the way, then maybe we can put our heads together and come up with a way to expose the truth.” He grinned. “Without, of course, causing a lot of talk.”
    Shelly snorted. “In this valley?” They exchanged wry glances, knowing the impossibility of such a thing. “I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Shelly said, suppressing a yawn.
    Nick took the hint and, grabbing the tray, headed for the door. His hand on the doorknob, he looked back over his shoulder and grinned at her. “Nitey nite, auntie.”
    Shelly made a face at him. “Good night, nevvy.”
    Long after Nick had departed, she lay awake, thinking over the events of the day. In a way, she was almost grateful to Nick for springing the news of Josh's fatherhood on her: it prevented her from brooding over Josh's sudden death and gave her thoughts a different direction. It didn't