Living With No Regrets Read Online Free PDF Page B

Russ when he was that little.  He was the spitting image of him.  He and Leigh had a son.
     
     
     
    Russ fumed as he got into his truck to head over to Mary Leigh’s house.  He’d spent a good hour of ranting and raving before sitting in shock for another hour.  He had a son.  Russ just couldn’t wrap his head around it.
    There was a DNA report in the box under the pictures that he could take for comparison to his own if he wanted, but he and his parents agreed that there was no denying this little boy being a Kennedy with his red hair and green eyes and all of Russ’ facial features.
    He was now to the point that he was furious with Leigh for keeping him from his son for so long.  How could anyone do that?  The boy needed a father, and there was no telling what influences he’d been around for all of these years.  It never entered his head; his part in not returning calls and letters, just that she could, and should, have come back like he’d spent the first year secretly wishing she would.
    Needing gas, Russ stopped about halfway there to fill his tank.  When he went in the little country store that some friends of the family owned; Maybelle, his mom’s good friend, came straight to give him a hug.
    “We were just talkin’ ‘bout that Jezebel havin’ the nerve to move back here,” she said. “Especially since she was told not to come back here.”
    Russ was shocked by the revelation.  He had been so angry and distraught; he refused to listen to anything having to do with Leigh.  Now he was seeing it might have been a mistake.  It still didn’t let her off the hook, but he didn’t want her to be shunned.  Nobody deserved to have to live that way.  Even someone like Leigh.  This was the first time anyone had bothered to mention her in his presence for years, so He hadn’t known how bad it really was.
    “Who told her to not come back?” he asked calmly, not to show his irritation at the whole thing.
    “You know…I really don’t know,” Maybelle said as she went back to the other gossips standing at the counter.  They all were looking at him like his dog just died.  “It just went around that no one would have to worry about seeing her again.  Said it had been made very clear that she was no longer part of us, and shouldn’t show her face here again.”
    “Don’t worry,” one of the other ladies chimed in.  “We all have your back.  I heard that the girl tried to sign her child up for school this morning, but Principal Peters set her straight saying it was too late for sign up and that either she found other arrangements or the courts would be called in for negligence.”
    “How can she do that?” he asked.  “It’s not a private school, so they have to make space for the kid.”  Russ didn’t mention that it was his son they were denying the education to.  They’d find out soon enough.  “Not only that, but the boy ain’t to blame for what his momma did.”
    “That’s true.  Children must not be made to pay for their parent’s sins,” Maybelle agreed. 
    The whole conversation had only added to Russ’ frustration.  He had such mixed feelings on everything. 
    He had always wanted children.  Worse yet, he’d always wanted them with Leigh.  He’d given up on that dream years ago, but now here it was.  He was a father.  By Leigh.  The woman who broke his heart.
    He actually calmed as he got back in his truck and finished his trip to Mary Leigh’s after filling up.  He didn’t like the feeling he got about the boy, his son, being given a hard time at school.
    Did his son know about him?  Had Leigh told him about the real him, or had she spread her lies.  Would his son even like him?
    Russ pulled into the driveway where he saw the brawny housekeeper washing what must have been Leigh’s SUV.  Taking a deep breath, Russ got out as the man, Mark, came over to greet him.
    “How are you today?” he asked politely as he shook Russ’ hand.
    “I’ve had