by Helen Lacey
Kayla swallowed back the excruciating pain in her throat. “I didn’t plan this. It just happened. We fell in love,” she whispered, suddenly wishing and longing for Liam’s strength beside her. He’d wanted to come with her. A united front, he’d said. But she’d pushed him away. Again. “I fell in love.”
The words seemed to physically hurt her father. “So did Kathleen. And then she left. She left us and could never look back.”
“It was a different time, Dad. A different situation. And now that everything is out in the open, things will be better. Mr. and Mrs. O’Sullivan are—”
“Nothing will be better. You’ll still be married to him and Kathleen will still be living in Oregon. Do you know what we get now? What your grandmother gets? A Christmas card. That’s all. A lousy card that we’ve never been able to display because it would cause too many questions. It’s like we had to wipe my sister from our lives and pretend she didn’t exist for thirty years. All because J.D. wasn’t man enough to be faithful to his wife.”
“I think he loved her,” Kayla said quietly, hurting all over. “I think he loved Kathleen.”
“Those people don’t know the meaning of the word,” her father spat back. “They know about being rich and entitled and arrogant and how to bulldoze their way through life to get what they want... But love?” He shook his head. “They don’t have the spine for it. I’m sure you’ll find that out the hard way. Because I can’t imagine that your new husband is all that different from his old man. He’ll hurt you. He’ll betray you. He’ll cheat on you.”
“If you would just give him a chance...”
“I can’t,” her father said. “I could, for anyone but him. Men like that don’t know how to stay faithful. It’s in his genes to hurt and betray people. I only hope you have the sense to get out before he does that to you.”
He refused to say another word to her, so after kissing her grandmother goodbye and exchanging a sad look with her mother, she left and headed straight home. It was only three o’clock, but she didn’t have the energy to go back to the museum. There was a missed call from Liam on her cell and she texted back that she was tired and was heading home. She called Shirley to cover her shift for the afternoon and drove back to the house. Ash called, but she wasn’t in the mood for a heart-to-heart with her friend, either. Instead she stripped off her clothes, took a hot shower and dressed in pink pajamas with ducks on them and sat on the couch, flicking through a magazine. Which was where Liam found her when he arrived home just after five.
“Everything all right?” he asked and dropped his keys and cell on the coffee table.
“Fine,” she said and closed the magazine.
“A bit early for pj’s?”
She shrugged. “I’m having a pity party.”
“Am I invited?”
“It’s not like I have a choice,” she said and sighed. “We live together.”
“Do we?” he shot back. “Seems to me that we’re about as far apart as two people could possibly be.”
She looked up and met his gaze. “Do you want me to move back to my apartment?”
The silence between them was suddenly deafening. His blue eyes darkened and he held out his hands. “Is that what you want? Are you trying to break me down, Kayla? To see what it will take to have me on my knees?”
There was real pain in his voice and shame immediately filled her blood. “No... I’m sorry. I’m just... I saw my parents today.”
He went perfectly still. “And?”
“And my father thinks you’re going to do to me what your dad did to your mom.” When he didn’t respond, she continued. “Cheat. Be unfaithful.”
A pulse throbbed in his cheek. “Does that seem likely?”
“Not at all,” she replied. “I don’t think you have a dishonorable bone in your body.”
His gaze was unwavering. “Did you tell him that?”
“He’s not exactly listening to me at the moment.” She shrugged and sighed heavily. “Liam, there’s something I want to do, and I’ll understand if you don’t agree...but I need to do it.”
He immediately looked cautious—and curious. “What?”
“I want to go to Oregon,” she said quietly. “I want to see my aunt and find out what really happened thirty years ago.”
Liam stood rigid, clearly absorbing her announcement. Silence stretched like elastic between them, as though he was thinking of every possible reason why she shouldn’t go. And then he spoke.
“I’ll book our flight.”
* * *
Liam had never been to Portland. And with rain that hadn’t eased for hours, he figured he might never again. It was Friday morning and Kayla was sitting beside him in the rental car, muttering directions she’d found via the GPS on her cell.
They’d arrived that morning, checked into a hotel in the center of town and headed to Kathleen Rickard’s home. J.D. had supplied the address, which was about a twenty-minute drive out of the city. The area was neat and the homes large and he pushed back the niggling feeling of resentment in his gut, knowing his father had probably bought the house for his secret family.
They pulled up outside a two-story, redbrick home with white gables, a wide porch and large front yard. There was a tire swing tied to a tree and he vaguely wondered if his father had put the rope there years earlier. It reminded Liam of the rope swing J.D. had hung from the old oak tree behind the barn at the ranch when he was a boy.
“Let’s go,” he said an unbuckled his seat belt.
By the time he’d grabbed the umbrella from the back and gotten out from the car, Kayla had her door open and was stepping onto the curb. Liam held the umbrella over her head and ignored the rain falling onto his shoulders. He opened the white gate and they walked up the path to the porch. There were four steps and he ushered Kayla forward, keeping her covered. Once they were underneath the porch and out of the rain, he shook the umbrella and moved to knock on the door. But the door opened before he had a chance.
A woman greeted them. Tall and slender, she was about fifty years old and had a soft, blond bob. She was very beautiful, the kind of beauty that wouldn’t fade with years. In fact, it was remarkable how much Kayla looked like her. They shared the same soft brown eyes, slanted brows and high cheek bones.
“Can I help you?” she asked, frowning and then he noticed how her gaze quickly softened.
He cleared his throat. “Ms. Rickard, I’m—”
“I know who you are,” she said and waved a hand gently. “I was your babysitter once, Liam,” she reminded him. “And I’ve seen your photograph many times.” She looked toward Kayla. “And you must be my niece? J.D. called my son this week and told him you had both recently married. Congratulations.”
Kayla nodded. “Thank you...Aunt Kathleen.”
Her expression softened. “Why don’t you come in out of this rain and tell me what I can do for you,” she said and opened the door.
Within half a minute they were in a comfy living room, seated on a wide chintz sofa. There was an easel in the corner and canvases scattered around the room.
“You’re an artist?” Kayla said, clearly intrigued.
“Of sorts. I like to paint,” Kathleen said as she sat in the seat opposite. “But I don’t imagine you’ve come all this way to discuss my painting. What can I do for you?”
Liam saw Kayla’s chin wobble and he grasped her hand. “We’d like to know what happened between you and my father.”
A look of surprise crossed her face. “Don’t you know?”
“Your version,” Liam qualified. “Unabridged.”
She rested her hands on her knees and sighed. “I’d like to let my son know that you’re here,” she said quietly. “And then I’ll tell you what you want to know.” She took a few moments to send a text message and then returned her attention to t
hem. “Okay, here’s my version—I fell in love with a married man.” She met Liam’s gaze head-on. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”
He nodded. “We need to know.”
She nodded and began to speak. In his rage and resentment, Liam knew he’d been expecting a tawdry, impossibly inappropriate story about how his father had seduced a younger woman and once she was pregnant, paid her off and shuttled her out of town. But Kathleen Rickard’s version of events was nothing so scandalous. She was young, she fell in love with a married man who was twelve years older and they had tried to fight their feelings for months. And once she discovered she was expecting a baby, it was Kathleen who had insisted she leave town, not his father.
“He wanted to tell your mother, to make things right. But I wouldn’t allow it,” she said with a kind of admirable strength. “He had a young family and a wife who deserved to have her family stay together. I wasn’t going to be a home-wrecker. So I left town...of my own will. And to make it easier for me to make the break from my family and my much older and overprotective brother, J.D. let everyone think he’d made me go.” She let out a long sigh. “Look, we made a lot of mistakes back then. I had no right to get involved with a married man...but I was young and foolish and even though it’s no excuse, I simply followed my heart.”
I simply followed my heart.
Damn...if only it were that simple.
He squeezed Kayla’s hand and spoke. “My father told me the affair was over the day you left...is that true?”
“Yes. I learned from my mistake. And frankly, once I’d left South Dakota, all I wanted to do was have my baby and raise him the best I could. But your father didn’t abandon us,” she stressed. “He wanted to be a part of my son’s life. He still does. But Jonah...” Her words trailed off and she sighed a little sadly. “Jonah is stubborn and headstrong. Does that sound familiar?” she asked and smiled.
Liam’s mouth twitched and as much as he hadn’t planned on it, he realized it was damned difficult not to like and respect Kathleen Rickard.
* * *
Kayla’s fingers were numb from Liam squeezing her hand, but she didn’t pull away. She knew how tough the situation was for him and she admired how he held it together as they spoke to her aunt. And she liked Kathleen. The other woman was frank and forthright and clearly led a happy and productive life, even if there was a little sadness in her eyes when she spoke about J.D. and her son.
They chatted for a while and were just settling down to drink the coffee she’d brewed—along with a tea she’d made for Kayla—when the front door opened and then slammed and footsteps came down the hall. And then, there he was—Jonah Rickard—framing the doorway. Six foot something of dark-haired, angry handsomeness. Kayla gasped when he appeared, because he looked so much like Liam. His hair was a little darker, his shoulders a little leaner, but the glittering blue eyes and strong jaw were pure O’Sullivan.
Liam sprang to his feet and looked ready to face whatever was to come of this first meeting between him and his brother. Jonah didn’t look happy—not one bit—and Kayla suspected that was probably a common thing for him. He was livid and not bothering to hide it. So, he was another bastion of truth, another righter of wrongs and another man who lived by a code of black and white without shades of gray, she thought and smiled to herself.
“Jonah,” Kathleen said as she stood, clearly ready to defuse the escalating tension simmering between the two men who had yet to say something to one another. “I’m so pleased you had the time to stop by. I have visitors.”
“So I see.”
Oh, yeah, he was mad. Seething in fact. As though some kind of predator had invaded his territory and needed sorting out. Kayla realized that he would do whatever he had to do to protect the woman who had given him life. They were a tight unit. A family. And he looked ready to fight, with his taut fists and locked shoulders.
“Which one are you?” Jonah asked, one brow up. “The doctor? Mr. Hollywood?”
Kayla glanced at Liam, saw that he looked remarkably at ease by his brother’s unexpected appearance and then felt a powerful surge of respect flow through her. He wouldn’t lose control. He wouldn’t make a scene. He had a kind of dignified control in his profile and it made her love him all the more. He was a rock. Solid. A man who could handle anything. My husband. She experienced an almost silly gush of happiness and grasped his forearm, digging her fingertips in and latching on tight.
“Neither,” Liam said quietly.
“Ah,” Jonah said with a kind of chilling mockery. “The big gun himself. The favored eldest child of J.D. O’Sullivan is gracing us with his presence. My life is complete.”
“It’s good to meet you,” Liam replied, clearly choosing to ignore the other man’s sarcasm.
“Is it?” Jonah shot back. “Did the old man put you up to this?”
“No,” Liam said quietly.
“Then why are you here?” Jonah asked, his mouth then pressed into a thin, tense line.
Liam half shrugged and Kayla suspected he did it to antagonize the other man just a little. “My wife wanted to meet you. And I was...curious.”
Jonah scowled, confirming Kayla’s suspicions that he harbored a whole lot of resentment—most of it aimed at anyone named O’Sullivan.
“Well,” Kathleen said and gave a soft, almost brittle laugh. “Why don’t we all sit down and talk?”
“I think I’ll pass, Mom.”
“You might want to hear this, Jonah.”
“Hear what?” he demanded.
The older woman offered a tight smile. “That I’ve decided that I’m going on a trip.”
“To where?” he asked.
Kathleen pushed back her shoulders with a resilient sigh. “To South Dakota. I think it’s time I went home.”
Chapter Ten
Kayla wasn’t sure what to expect from the reunion between her father and Kathleen. Especially since sourpuss Jonah had made it very clear he didn’t want anything to do with anyone. Her family included. He was only coming to Cedar River to keep a protective and watchful eye over his beloved mother. End of story.
He refused any offer to be collected at the airport in Rapid City, choosing to hire a car and drive to Cedar River. By the time the rental car pulled up outside her parents’ home on Monday, Kayla had watched her father’s mood shift between anticipation and despair as the afternoon stretched on. But her concerns evaporated once she witnessed her grandmother’s joy at being reunited with her daughter and then finally meeting her grandson. To his relief, Jonah wasn’t completely disagreeable and appeared to be making an effort to be civil. Her father cried a little when he hugged Kathleen for the first time in three decades and Kayla had to wipe a few tears from her own eyes. It was an emotional moment for everyone. And yet, oddly, she had a niggling feeling of disconnect as she watched her family together. And she felt...alone. And missing Liam more than she’d thought possible. But there was no way her father would have agreed to him being there.
Once everyone was settled in the living room, Kayla headed to the kitchen to make tea. With Jonah right behind her.
“Where’s the big gun?” he asked, lingering in the doorway.
Kayla knew exactly who he was talking about and ignored his cynical tone. “Liam’s at the hotel. Where you’re staying while you’re in town.”
He shrugged lightly and looked around. “Mom’s decided she wants to stay here.”
“But not you?” she queried, one brow arched.
He shrugged again. “She needs some space to reconnect with everyone.”
She suspected the only person needing space was Jonah Rickard. Still, despite his scowl and disagreeable tone, she couldn’t help feeling compassion for him.
“Grams is so happy that you and your mom are here. By the way, you should start calling her Grams r
ight away...it will hurt her feelings if you don’t,” Kayla said and smiled sweetly.
“I don’t think I—”
“You and I are her only grandchildren,” she said pointedly. “That might be something to think about while you’re sitting all alone in your hotel room.”
He frowned. “This isn’t some kind of happy family reunion for me, cousin. I’m here to make sure my mother is—”
“I know why you’re here,” Kayla said, cutting him off. “To protect your mom. I get that. I feel the same way about my parents.”
“Is that why you married a man they hate?”
Kayla didn’t respond. Jonah Rickard’s issues were his own and she had enough to think about without getting mad at him for trying to bait her. Besides, it wasn’t a question she could answer without digging deep into her fractured relationship with her husband. Things had remained on ice since they’d returned from Portland and they hadn’t discussed what Kathleen’s and Jonah’s arrival would do to the dynamic of both their families. And their marriage. But she knew it wasn’t a conversation they could avoid indefinitely.
* * *
“You know, if it’s all too much having Kieran and Jonah at the hotel, as well as your father, your dad could stay here?” Kayla suggested on Wednesday morning.
They were in the kitchen. Liam was making coffee and Kayla was buttering toast.
“I think Dad would prefer to be at the hotel,” Liam replied, dropping a tea bag into her favorite mug, “to make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble.”
He.
Jonah.
“Have you tried talking to him?” she asked as she returned the butter to the refrigerator.
“I talked to my father yesterday.”
“I meant Jonah,” she said. “I mean, he is your brother and—”
“Half brother,” he corrected. “And talking to him makes my teeth hurt.”
She chuckled, amazed at how good it felt. “It’s just that he’s probably feeling a little caged right now, with his mom being here and reconnecting with my parents...and also left out. It wouldn’t hurt to try.”