Old Dog New Tricks

by Roxanne St Claire

  Linda May’s eyes widened at the question, then she let out a belly laugh. “He just left, and we’re still talking about him.” She gestured for the woman to join them. “Come and meet the very woman who introduced him to Annie Kilcannon.”

  Katie’s heart jumped into her throat. Father-in-law? She wasn’t quite ready to meet members of Daniel’s family. She was still reeling from—

  “Really?” A beautiful blond woman with sky-blue eyes clapped her hands together as if being led to a national treasure. “Oh my gosh, that’s exciting. I’m Andi.” She reached out her hand and drew Katie from her seat to shake her hand. “I’m married to Liam, Daniel’s oldest son.”

  The words almost knocked her right back in her seat along with a blinding smile. “Hello, I’m Katie Santorini, and this is my daughter, Cassie.”

  “Katie…” Andi frowned as if digging for a memory. “My husband’s told me the story of how his parents met. I thought it was on a blind date. Daniel was fixing someone else up, and Annie was a friend of a girl he was…” Her voice faded, and her jaw slipped open, and she started to put two and two together and come up with…the woman she was staring at.

  “She’s the one,” Cassie chimed in with a laugh.

  “Wow, it’s incredible to meet you. Liam said that the entire time he was growing up, his parents celebrated their wedding anniversary by sharing the story of how they met. It’s a big family tradition. And you? Why, you’re part of Kilcannon folklore.”

  Well, she was about to be even more so. “I’m honored.”

  “I didn’t know Annie, but I can tell you she raised an awesome family,” Andi gushed. “My husband is all heart and the best imaginable father, but he, of course, has his father as a role model.”

  “Of course.” Katie pressed her sticky, nervous palms together. “I’m…so glad.”

  “I hope you’ll come to Waterford and let the whole family thank you.”

  “We’re going tonight,” Cassie said.

  “Oh, wonderful. We’ll be there. Wednesday-night dinners are fun. But the real good time is on Sundays. Those gatherings are always a highlight for the family. We’ll see you tonight, then.”

  “Sure, thanks.” Cassie smiled and nodded, and for the first time, Katie noticed her daughter was a little paler since this new arrival had come. No surprise. What they were about to do was getting very, very real.

  “Well…” Andi stepped back. “Linda May, if Daniel stops in again, ask him to run up to my office. He just texted me about Hoagies & Heroes.”

  “I heard the Shipleys might be retiring,” Linda May said.

  “They might, and they’re trying to decide if they want to rent as is, or do some major remodeling and try to sell, which is why they contacted me. I suppose Daniel wants some insight for one of his many committees.”

  Or, Katie thought, he’d already made good on his promise to check on a property for another Santorini’s. She glanced at Cassie, who returned the same guilty look.

  “Before I call him back, I thought I’d check to see if he was in here getting his croissant du jour,” Andi joked.

  Linda May held up the plate in her hand. “He was so distracted by running into an old friend, he didn’t even eat it.”

  Andi’s brows lifted as she looked at Katie. “Seriously? That’s quite a compliment.” On an easy laugh, she waved goodbye and stepped out, then a customer stole the baker’s attention, leaving Cassie and Katie alone and staring at each other.

  “Let’s go outside,” Cassie said softly.

  Katie lifted her bag from the chair and grabbed her jacket, but didn’t bother to put it on. Her hands were shaking, and her head was light. The chilly air would help. Silent, she followed Cassie out the door and walked a few steps to a private spot on the sidewalk.

  “Mom, it’s only going to get worse,” Cassie whispered.

  Katie took a ragged breath. “I know. I didn’t expect him to be so…revered. So loved. So perfect in the eyes of this town and his family.”

  Cassie stared at her. “You just met a woman who said she’s married to his oldest son.”

  “I heard her.” Katie could barely breathe the words.

  “Look, I know you’re scared. I know you don’t want to believe it’s true. I know your world has been shaken ever since the day I walked into your house with that envelope.” Cassie got a little closer, all her sass gone from those Santorini midnight-black eyes. “And I’m sorry that I had to be the one to bring the news to you, but I thought I was doing something fun for our family. How would I know what we’d find out?”

  “Cassie, so many people will be affected,” Katie whispered. “His entire family. Our entire family. So much is at stake, Cassie. Your father’s legacy, my life, and that man’s whole world. And, honey, we’re still not entirely one hundred percent sure.”

  Her daughter cocked her head. “Did you hear him laugh? Did you see the way he gestured? Did you even look at his smile? We’re not talking eyes and hair here, but something subtle and undeniable.”

  “I am going to deny it until I have absolute proof,” Katie said, clinging to that single strand of hope she had.

  “Mom, Daniel Kilcannon has a right to know the truth. He has a right to know that Liam Kilcannon is not his oldest son and that he has seven children, not six. He has a right to know that he is Nick’s father.”

  Katie swayed at the power of her words. “You know I agree. I’ll tell him tonight, but not in front of his whole family. He has to be alone when he finds out. It’s going to stun him. And then we can work out a plan for telling his family and your brothers.”

  “And Nick.”

  “Nick is your brother.”

  “Half,” she said, a note of sadness in the single syllable.

  “See? You already look at him differently.”

  “I don’t, but, Mom, if I were the oldest Santorini, I sure as hell would want to know ASAP who my father is and that he’s not buried in Saint Catherine the Great Cemetery in Chestnut Creek, but alive and well and running a dog farm. And, oh yeah, I have six more siblings.”

  Each word pushed her back, because Cassie was absolutely right. But crushing two families in the process seemed absolutely wrong.

  “We don’t know for sure,” Katie said, knowing her flimsy hope was fading fast.

  Cassie sliced her with a look. “Mom, four out of five Santorinis measured over seventy-five percent Greek and less than three percent Irish. That was switched for Nick. The likelihood that John, Alex, Theo, and I are full siblings was ninety-nine-point-eight percent. And Nick—”

  “Was three percent. But not zero.”

  “Essentially zero.”

  “But there’s a chance we’re wrong, Cassie. A tiny, minuscule chance.” Katie reached out to her daughter. “Don’t you think I should be one hundred percent certain before I tell anyone?”

  “Well, if you can figure out a way to get the man’s saliva sample, I can figure out a way to get his DNA tested and see if it matches what we have for Nick. That takes time, Mom. At least eight weeks, and Nick will come home again in a few months. Don’t you think you and Daniel would want to break the news to him together?”

  She couldn’t even fathom that conversation. Or the ones that would have to happen first.

  “I’ll tell him tonight.”

  “Okay.” Cassie put her arm around Katie’s shoulders and pulled her closer. “Now, come on, let’s go shopping.”

  “For what?”

  “For new clothes. We’re meeting the whole family tonight, and we Santorini girls have to look a-may-zing.”

  Chapter Four

  “I heard we have a new arrival.” Daniel came around the corner of the kennels to the section they jokingly called Solitary, which was a large, gated room where the dogs who couldn’t be around any others were kept while they were trained.

  There, he spied his son Garrett, on his hands and knees, face-to-face with a mahogany-colored retriever who was currently sulking in a corner. De
clan, Daniel’s oldest nephew, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his gaze locked on the dog.

  “Some of my men picked her up on a call today for a wellness check,” Declan said, shaking his head as he looked at the dog. “Happy to say she’s in much better shape than her owner, who went to the morgue.”

  Daniel made a face at that. “Anyone we know?”

  “I doubt it.” Declan shifted from one foot to the other. “We got a call from the postal service about a man who lived in a trailer way out past Goose Hollow Road who hadn’t opened his mailbox or moved his car in a week, but they could hear the dog barking inside. Sadly, he passed of natural causes and left the dog behind. Sheriff was there, of course, and wanted to take her to county, but one of my men thought he could keep her.”

  “What changed?” Daniel asked.

  “He’s got four other dogs, and it was obvious the minute she got to the station that this one does not play well with others, since she ’bout tore Monty’s head off,” he said, referring to one of the dogs that lived at his fire station. “You know what that would mean at the county shelter.”

  Daniel huffed out a soft curse under his breath, language he generally saved only for shelters that routinely put down “unadoptable” dogs. “Thanks for bringing her, Dec.”

  “Of course.”

  “Has Molly seen her?” Daniel asked, knowing his daughter was the vet on duty at Waterford today.

  Garrett nodded. “Full physical. She checked out fine.” He pushed the food bowl closer, but she didn’t attack it the way Daniel would have expected for a starving dog. “Unless you consider severe hatred of other dogs a disease, I happen to think of it as a daily challenge.”

  From flat on the floor, the dog moved only her eyes to follow the conversation closely enough that Daniel would have sworn she knew what they were saying.

  “I take it you tried her in the pen?” he asked.

  “Until she went after Lola and Ruby. So…” He inched down to look her in the eyes. “Sorry, but it’s a nice big solitary unit until we have our way and train you, Miss Goldie.”

  “That’s her name?” Daniel asked.

  “I gave it to her,” Garrett said and shot a teasing look to Declan. “So no other noobs confuse her with an Irish setter.”

  Declan curled his lip at the friendly dig. “Sorry, but that dog looks exactly like Rusty to me.”

  Garrett and Daniel shared a look. “Not even close,” Garrett said.

  “An understandable mistake,” Daniel added. “But that’s a red golden retriever, and you can tell the difference by the waves in her hair and the shape of her tail.”

  “Well, knowing that’s not my job,” Declan said. “Which”—he looked at his watch—“starts in an hour. Thanks for taking this one.”

  “Oh, then you won’t be here for dinner?” Daniel asked. “I’ve invited some guests, and I was hoping for a good Mahoney turnout.”

  “Sorry, Uncle Daniel. Both my brothers are on duty with me tonight, and Mom and Ella are in DC.”

  “Oh, that’s right.” He’d forgotten his sister and her daughter had gone to Pet Expo to check out new products for their business, Bone Appetit.

  “Sorry to miss meeting your new friend,” Declan added. “I heard she caused quite a stir at Linda May’s today.”

  Daniel blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

  “And that her daughter is pretty,” Garrett said.

  Daniel whipped around. “How do you know she has a daughter?”

  “News travels fast, Dad,” Garrett joked.

  “News…what…how?”

  At his stunned reaction, both men laughed, and Declan put a friendly hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “No such thing as a secret in this family, is there?”

  “It’s not a…” He gave up. “We’ll miss you tonight, Dec. And we’re happy to take care of Goldie and get her ready for adoption.”

  “Thanks.” He gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Good luck with your new lady friend.”

  “She’s not—”

  “New,” Garrett finished. “They knew each other in college.” At Daniel’s look of sheer disbelief, Garrett added, “Andi met her, too. And she told Chloe, who told Shane, who told—”

  “The free world,” Daniel finished.

  “Pretty much.” Garrett laughed.

  Daniel held his hands up in surrender. “I give up.”

  But he was still amused by the whole thing a few hours later when he looked up from the place settings he was carefully arranging in the dining room to find his mother tugging on the sleeves of a navy cardigan and eyeing the table with a look of amusement.

  “The china and crystal, lad?”

  “We have guests coming.”

  “And the everyday stoneware isn’t good enough for a lass you wooed in college?”

  “Is there anyone around here who doesn’t know who’s coming to dinner?”

  “I know!” His youngest daughter, Darcy, blew into the dining room in her usual whirlwind fashion, blond hair flying, little Kookie tucked under one arm and Stella barking behind them.

  “Me, too.” Molly, his other daughter, popped through the other entrance, from the kitchen, still wearing scrubs from her day in the vet office.

  “And I have a question.” Pru, Molly’s teenage daughter, was hot on their heels. “Does ‘lady friend’ mean an old girlfriend from the past, or is that a nice way of saying she’s Grandpa’s age? I’m confused by that.”

  Daniel snorted softly. “In this case, both.”

  “Oooh. The G word.” Pru flipped her hand to offer Molly an empty palm. “Mom, you totally owe me a dollar.”

  “Not so fast, kiddo.” Molly came closer as if an examination of Daniel’s face was in order. “He said an old girlfriend, not a current one. Which is it, Dad?”

  He didn’t know whether to laugh or howl for help.

  “You only have yourself to blame,” Molly said, obviously reading his expression. “You set us all up in perfectly wonderful relationships.”

  “’Tis true, lad,” Gramma Finnie chimed in. “They say, ‘There’s nothing quite as contagious as happiness.’ And this family is positively buzzing with it these days.”

  “And that makes this father elated, but…” He walked around the table to do a mental head count. “As far as I’m concerned? You’re all abuzz about nothing.”

  “But ye still brought out the best china, lad.” Gramma Finnie straightened a knife and fork at one of the place settings. “And the Sunday silverware.”

  “Yes, I did,” he said. “Because Katie is a special guest and an old friend—I mean one from way back. As I’m sure you’ve heard through the overactive rumor mill, she’s the person who introduced me to Annie. I’d say she deserves the best we have.” He picked a plate up and examined a slight chip on the rim. “Of course, these are forty years old.”

  “Wedding presents for you, as I recall.”

  He sighed, because like everything else in this house, even the plates had Annie’s fingerprints on them. Staring at tiny cracks in the surface, a memory flashed in his head, an image of Annie turning from the china cabinet one day to say something when one of the saucers fell and shattered. Her only concern had been that the dog would step on a piece of broken porcelain.

  “Dad.” Molly’s hand on his arm tugged him from the memory. “We’re teasing you. You know that, right?”

  He glanced down at her, forcing a smile. “I have no doubt that once my romantically charged offspring catch a glimpse of this woman, they will start the next betting pool on what day we’ll get married.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “Really?”

  “But that is not what this is about, okay?” He looked up from one to the other. “As the women closest to me in the world, could I ask you to remember that?”

  “We only want to see you as happy as we are,” Darcy said.

  “I’m happy,” he insisted. “Well, I’m content. And I’ve danced around six different women that you
kids all thought I should date, and I’m done. Okay? I’m done with your fix-ups and betting pools.”

  “No actual money has exchanged hands,” Pru said softly, an apology in her voice.

  “Until that dollar you want from your mother.”

  She gave him a grin that revealed her good heart and a mouth full of braces. “You still didn’t answer. Is she a girlfriend or not?”

  He exhaled some frustration. “Katie Rogers—er, Santorini—is coming here as a friend,” he said. “An old friend who I share some nice memories with, including the night I met the one and only woman I am ever going to love.”

  From the corner, Rusty lifted his head at the serious tone. Daniel must have been more forceful than he’d realized, because they all looked a little taken aback. But for crying out loud, what was it going to take to get it through everyone’s head that he wasn’t interested in dating anyone?

  After a second, his mother held up her hands. “Aye, lad, you’re right. We’ll all stop the teasing.”

  “I’ll tell everyone to chill, Grandpa,” Pru promised. “It’ll be an order from General Pru.”

  He smiled at his granddaughter. “Thanks, kid.” Except he’d heard it all before, and it never did stop.

  Once again, he looked from one to the next. In one way or another, these were the women—and a girl—who’d stepped in four years ago when his world was shattered, picking up whatever pieces of Annie’s life they could.

  Gramma had moved out of her townhouse and back to Waterford to pick up the household role that Annie had managed so effortlessly, whether that was making the bread pudding or remembering every birthday. Molly never failed to be the unofficial hostess at any event, always ensuring guests and friends felt comfortable at Waterford. Darcy kept things light and fun, spreading her inimitable warmth and brightness even in the darkest moments, exactly as Annie had. And Pru? Well, she was Annie’s voice of common sense—and reminded him more of her every day.

  He knew all they wanted was a little more love around here. And he needed a way to get the heat off of him and onto someone else. As an idea occurred, he leaned over the table and narrowed his eyes at them.