One Night Love Affair *COMPLETED*

Chapter Twenty Eight

Lana was just sitting behind the table, still stunned at the fact James found out the one thing she wanted to keep from him.

'Well, at least he know everything now. Maybe he'll want to start fresh now...' She mockingly said to herself, knowing there was a chance slightest than the needle's end, that James will get over this lie, betrayal, or whatever he wanted to call it, anytime soon.

In the past six years, she questioned her decision to keep Sam a secret every single day. In the end, she always found a way to reason her decision. Because to be fair, having Sam all on her own matured her in a ways she never thought was possible. But she created a new life and he was worth any and all sacrifices she had to make in order to provide for him, to make him the happiest little boy on this Earth.

'Fine. Maybe I was a little selfish when I decided I wanted to keep Sam away from James. But how could anyone judge me? I didn't even know James. I still don't. How on Earth am I supposed to trust some guy who I slept with on the first nigh we met?'

Shock hasn't really left Lana's body, she was still sitting on the same spot, in the same pose she was when James walked out. Her mind were awake, she was thinking and making plans about what to do, if James actually comes back and demands to see Sam.

She could fight him away for only so long. There was a huge chance her unwillingness to cooperate would make James take drastic measures, like taking this whole thing to the court, for the whole world to see and know.

There was anything she was willing to do for her child. And no matter how hard she tried to find excuses for shutting James out of Sam's life, she just couldn't make herself to take away that little boy's father again. Not when it was obvious James wanted to get to know Sam.

It must have passed almost an hour before Lana realized she was still sitting in the kitchen, and she had to get up in a two hours time in order t get everything ready for opening her new bakery in the morning.

Finally she got up and went to bed.

'There's no point in killing myself over tonight. I need to get some sleep or tomorrow will be a disaster! I can't stress over this and at the same time open a bakery with success. I worked hard to get where I am, I can't screw the whole thing up just because James Cornell is back in town!'

***

Opening of Lana's bakery was even bigger success than Lana had ever dreamed of. So many people had visited her bakery in the past week, since the opening, she already had to hire extra help to manage to get all the orders.

But the worry never left her. She was worried about the possibility the success of the bakery was only because everyone in town wanted to see what their favorite gossip-providing girl had managed to do wrong this time.

She was unmarried and she had a child. One might argue she wasn't the only woman in America in this situation. But she was the only woman in Reedville, Texas. At least the only who had never been married before or after having a child that is. She was the one who the towns people would refuse to talk to, if she wasn't a Reed. Even though technically she wasn't really a Reed by blood. But the late Granny Reed made it clear Lana was her favourite grand kid and anyone and everyone who disrespected Lana disrespected her. So they got used to tolerating Lana eventually took her in as their own. 'An outsider on the inside.' they called her. Even though she was never told anything bad in her face, the gossips she created were making people curious about her life. She was their own life soap opera. Which they observed with great pleasure.

In this light, Lana was grateful she only told Gabe and Mia about James. Well, she did told a bar full of strangers about him as well, but that just didn't count. If there would be someone from Reedville in it, she would of heard an earful about what an idiot she was. Instead she only heard it from Gabe and Mia.

Also, this way she was only stressing about when James is going to show up and took her baby away, not about how everyone already knows about that.

But a week passed by and there was not even a word from James, his attorneys or any of his people. She wasn't even sure he was still in town.

'As my luck goes I might as well stop hoping for a miracle like this. Sooner will an angel fall from heaven into my lap, than James giving up on something. He told me he was looking for me all these years, than how come it seems he just dropped off the face of the Earth.'

Days passed and it really seemed like the harsh words James said to her that night were only a bad dream. If Gabe wasn't there to confirm that James actually woke up and walked in on their conversation, Lana would write the whole thing up her over-stressed imagination.

The funny thing is, he went radio-silent. He never contacted Gabe about the deal they made, but he did receive an envelope with the contract they talked about in it. Which ultimately meant James hadn't disappeared completely.

Days of James's radio-silence were driving Lana insane. She had a hard time of letting Sam go anywhere without her. She wanted to either take him to the bakery or just skip out on her dream job, that also provided for her and her son's livelihood. She became a nervous wreck, constantly looking behind her shoulder searching for a sight of James, trying to take Sam away.

"Honey, you're driving yourself mad. You need to stop worrying. You made a mistake. Deal with it."

Mia stated one day, after Lana jumped out of fear when one of the ranch hand's walked in the kitchen and she hadn't heard him announce himself.

"I don't want to... I just can't hep myself. I can't help the constant worry that James will come and take Sam away from me..."

She just broke into tears, standing in the middle of the kitchen, with a dirty rag in one hand and a burning chicken fillet on the stove.

Mia quickly removed chicken fillets from the heat, and gave Lana a tight hug.

"Honey, what you need right now, is not to wallow in self pity. What you need is a plan."