“So your gentleman turned out to be a lout?” Gayle asked. She’d already heard most of the story—how Kyle had turned out to be one of Morgan’s fostering cases at the agency—but she hadn’t finished the story before the bickering girls had interrupted. “Is that it?”
Morgan shook her head meekly. “If only it were that simple …”
Gayle heaved an impatient sigh. “I have five minutes before I need to go back upstairs to make sure the girls are not, in fact, killing each other, Morgan. So what happened? Does he have a girlfriend?”
“You’re so damn sympathetic,” Morgan complained with disdain. “It’s heartwarming, really.”
“Come on, honey,” Gayle prodded, a little less gruffly. “Tell me what’s up. Does Kyle have a girlfriend?”
“No, he doesn’t,” Morgan murmured despondently. “At least I don’t think he does.”
“What do you mean you don’t think he does?”
She shrugged a helpless shoulder, took Casey’s chubby hand in hers, and pressed a kiss to the baby’s forehead. “He admitted that he told the agency his roommate was his girlfriend, because he thought that would increase his chance of getting custody.”
“And do you believe him?”
Morgan swallowed and hesitated. “I … I think I do. Kyle doesn’t seem like a liar. Plus, there were two obviously private bedrooms in his apartment.” She looked up to find Gayle studying her with a thoughtful expression. “Why would he lie, if it means risking a negative assessment in the approval process?”
Gayle shrugged. “I don’t know …”
“But?”
“I should ask you that—but why are you sitting here moping?”
“I’m totally confused,” Morgan snapped. “Kyle … Kyle seemed so perfect, Gayle! He was charming, loving, considerate. And now?”
“And now he’s no longer all those things?” Her friend raised both hands in question. “Granted, he told you he was a paramedic, when in reality he’s a pediatrician …”
“Exactly!” If Morgan hadn’t been holding Casey in her arms, she’d have jumped to her feet with conviction. But, as it were, she merely flashed her friend a feral look. “Why did he lie to me about his job?”
“I can fully relate to his explanation, Morgan,” she replied calmly. “Have you ever seen a hospital show on TV? Literally every single woman in those shows is after an unmarried doctor …”
“Oh, stop with the bullshit, Gayle. We’re not living in a hospital show, or a Harlequin romance. This is real life.”
“And that is exactly the reason you need to calm down and think about this. All right, so he didn’t tell you the truth about his job. So what? What else is wrong with him?”
“I don’t know!” Morgan shook her head and felt her stomach lurch uncomfortably. “He’s amazing, loves children, and wants to foster a ten-year-old boy. There must be something fishy about him, Gayle, I know there is! No man can be this … this perfect!”
“And what if he is anyway?
“There must be something wrong with him,” Morgan murmured obsessively, staring into space. “I’m just overlooking something because I’m in love with him.”
“Aha.” Her friend cleared her throat. “There it is.”
Morgan looked up, puzzled. “What?”
“Honey,” Gayle said softly. “You should talk to Kyle. And you should also try to get over your last case. Sandy Jackson has nothing to do with Kyle and this ten-year-old boy, nothing at all, you hear me?”
Morgan shook her head. “This is not about Sandy Jackson.”
“Oh, yes, it is.” Gayle leaned forward and put a hand on Morgan’s knee. “Of course the tragedy weighs heavily on your shoulders … I would feel the same way … But you can’t let it color all your future cases. You need to approach the job without prejudice.”
The sudden lump in Morgan’s throat made it difficult to breathe normally. Casey was the only thing that kept her from jumping up and running away. “How the hell am I supposed to do that, though?”
“I don’t know,” Gayle admitted honestly. “But if Kyle is the earnest, lovable, perfect man you think he might be, the man you fell in love with, then it would be unfair to allow Sandy Jackson to influence you in your current case.”
Morgan didn’t reply. Instead, she cuddled the baby.
Shortly afterward, she drove home. She was hardly surprised to find Kyle waiting for her in front of her house.
As soon as she reached the door and searched her bag for her key, she told him she didn’t have the strength for another argument right then. “If you want to speak to me regarding the case, please call my office tomorrow.”
He seemed incredibly tall as he stood before her. “I’m not here about Cody.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Can’t you believe I came to see you?”
She studied him for a second. “I’m tired, Kyle,” she murmured weakly. She actually felt as if she would burst into tears if she had to face him for another moment, and she wanted to avoid letting him see her cry at any cost. Her nerves were too raw right now. She normally had a good grip on her emotions, which was crucial in order to have the ability to comfort children who’d suffered really terrible trauma, but after what had happened to Sandy Jackson and her three kids …
“Give me that,” Kyle whispered softly, taking her bag from her hands. “I don’t want you fainting at my feet.”
“Is that a medical diagnosis?” she asked in a voice that sounded awfully like crying.
“No, just a statement of concern.”
Without another word, Morgan unlocked the door and headed for her apartment, not waiting to see whether Kyle was following her. She didn’t even consider the possibility of throwing him out, and even if she had, she couldn’t have done it—not when he looked at her like that, with his light-brown eyes, his eyebrows knitted with concern.
She stepped into her apartment without a word, threw her keys down on the hall table, and went into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Kyle set her bag on the kitchen table and then stood there, as she noticed from the corner of her eyes.
“Hard day?” he asked at last.
“Yes,” she replied simply, starting the coffee maker. “What do you want, Kyle?”
“I wanted to check on you, see how you’re doing. And I need to talk to you.”
She pursed her lips and crossed her arms, leaning against the counter. “We already talked about everything today. The next step is a conversation between me and Cody, and then—”
“You know I’m not talking about Cody,” Kyle interrupted in his deep voice as he stepped closer. “I’m talking about us.”
She didn’t want to be lulled into trusting him, no matter how close he was all of a sudden, no matter how she felt her pulse race and her breath come in short little gasps. She’d fallen in love with Kyle the paramedic, and then she’d felt touched by the fact that Dr. Kyle Fitzpatrick wanted to provide a home for an orphaned boy. But those were two different men. Her heart was confused. Stupid little heart, swooning at the sight of him. How could anyone say they were in love with a man they hadn’t even slept with? You couldn’t fall in love with someone just because he surprised you with a picnic in the dark, was a baby whisperer, and knew how to give an amazing hand massage, could you? Love took a lot more than that. Or did it?
“I’m talking about what’s going on between you and me, Morgan.”
She stared at his throat like a hypnotized person, because she feared she’d be lost if she looked into his eyes. “And what would you say is going on between me and you?”
“I actually assumed that we are well on the way to having a relationship,” he said quietly, and then swallowed, which she noted by the movement of his Adam’s apple.
Unfortunately, swallowing her own pride was not one of her skills. “And here I thought you had a relationship with your roommate.”
“Come on, Morgan,” he murmured in a thick voice. “I want to clear up the c
onfusion and move past that.”
“And how do you presume to do that?” She pressed her lips together and turned her head away, anticipating his move to put a hand on her cheek.
When he spoke again, his voice vibrated with anxiety. “If I destroyed something between us …”
“What if you did?” she whispered softly when he trailed off.
His sigh reached the far corners of the kitchen. “I don’t know what I’d do if I blew it, Morgan. All I know is that I didn’t mean to hurt you—and that I don’t want you to be mad at me.”
Calling herself an idiot even as she did it, she finally turned her head in his direction and searched his serious eyes. His thumb gently brushed her cheekbone.
Stupid old heart.
Her reply was a whisper. “I don’t want to be mad at you either, Kyle, and I want to understand you, but … but I don’t know if I can.”
The disappointment in his gaze felt like a stab to her heart. She wanted to reassure him that it was okay, but something made her hesitate. And then his beeper emitted its ear-splitting screech.
He cursed under his breath and stared at the bothersome device in disbelief, frowning deeply.
“You and I need to continue this conversation as soon as possible.” It almost sounded like a threat, but then he took her face in both hands and kissed her, just once and briefly, and hard.
Then he left her alone.
***
“Why didn’t she tell us anything? I don’t get it!”
“Apparently Mom didn’t think it was any of our business, Kayleigh.”
“Of course it’s our business, Heath! She’s our mother!”
“Exactly,” Heath replied. He was sitting at his sister’s kitchen table, calmly drinking his coffee, relaxed and at ease. “She’s our mother and, thus, old enough to make her own decisions.”
“She doesn’t owe us an explanation, Kayleigh.”
“You, too, Shane?” Kayleigh was utterly shaken, as Kyle noticed in the trembling of her voice. She sounded ready to burst into tears.
Her shaky voice reminded him painfully of Morgan’s a mere hour earlier. His stomach lurched at the thought.
“Do you really want to see another man sitting in Dad’s chair?”
Heath and Shane both groaned at the same time, obviously in agreement that Kayleigh was exaggerating. Ryan kept his head down and all but hid his nose in his coffee cup. Kyle, on the other hand, studied his sister with a frown, which is when he noticed his brother-in-law’s worried gaze. Aidan had, so far, been standing at the sink with his back to them, taking care of the dirty dishes. He hadn’t said a word, either, when the table was buzzing with the latest family outrage. Well, Kayleigh was the one who was outraged, and thus the one who did most of the talking, while her brothers practiced patience and restraint.
The news of their mother dating a man seemed to hit Kayleigh the hardest.
Kyle didn’t know what to think about the fact that his mom had a boyfriend, to be quite honest. Since the death of his father eight years ago, his mother had never once mentioned another man, nor had she ever appeared to be ready to let someone into her life. It was hard to imagine that there ever could be another man in his mom’s life. The very idea felt weird. But Kyle wasn’t selfish enough to cling to the assumption that his mother had to stay single and alone until she died, too. She was not an old woman yet—and even the oldest had every right in the world to find a new partner.
No, his mother was barely sixty, enjoyed life, and was a loving and caring person, just a wonderful human being. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was her. And when Kyle thought of his dad, he knew he would not have wanted to see his wife lonely and unhappy, even if that sounded lofty and philosophical.
“But why did she suddenly decide to tell Hayden about a boyfriend she’s been seeing for five months? Why did she keep this boyfriend from all of us?”
If she wasn’t careful, Kayleigh would start hyperventilating soon. Kyle leaned back in his chair and exchanged a meaningful glance with Aidan, who had been looking at them over his shoulder.
Of course Kyle’s twin brother just had to fuel the flames. “Maybe she sensed the uproar you would cause,” he grumbled into his coffee cup, “and wisely decided to keep her mouth shut.”
“Uproar?” His sister’s eyes widened with incredulity. “Our mother has a new boyfriend! What do you expect me to do? Praise the lord and cheer them on like a couple of teenagers?”
“We could try being happy for her,” Kyle ventured hesitantly. He put a hand on his sister’s arm and squeezed it gently, trying to comfort her. “Dad’s been gone eight years, Kaykay.”
When his sister’s eyes welled with tears at the mention of her childhood nickname, Kyle cursed himself for using it.
Fortunately, though, Kayleigh didn’t burst into tears as he’d feared. Instead, she lashed out at him. “And that means we’re supposed to forget him all of a sudden?”
“Nobody said that,” Heath assured her soothingly. “Nobody wants us to forget him.”
Kayleigh threw her hands up in frustration. “How can you all be so calm? Who knows what kind of person this guy is? He could be a pervert—or a gold digger after Mom’s money.”
There was a brief silence, quickly interrupted by Ryan’s snort. “The man’s not a pervert, Kayleigh. Jesus Christ, he used to be a music teacher.”
All eyes converged on Kyle’s twin brother, who’d been uncharacteristically quiet this far.
“What? How could you possibly know that, Ryan?”
Ryan’s expression became shuttered, but then he dropped the bomb of all bombs. “Jordan and I already met him. Bill’s a really nice guy, and he worships Mom. He certainly doesn’t seem interested in her savings account.”
Flabbergasted, Heath, Shane, and Kyle all stared at Ryan.
Kayleigh, on the other hand, barked at him in righteous anger, “You knew? You’ve known all along that she has a boyfriend? HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW?”
“Jordan and I went out to dinner a few weeks ago and ran into them at a restaurant.”
“A few weeks ago?” Kayleigh glared at Ryan. “And you just decided not to tell us?”
It was interesting to watch his brother, who looked exactly like him apart from the tiny scar at the corner of his mouth, assume the typical shuttered expression of a cop. “If you cared to listen for even a second, Kayleigh, you might understand why I complied with Mom’s wish to keep it quiet!”
“Mom wanted you to keep him secret?” Kayleigh’s voice finally cracked.
And finally Aidan started moving, wiping his hands on his jeans before placing them on his wife’s shoulders. Kayleigh flinched and raised her eyes, meeting her husband’s comforting gaze.
“Darling, take a few deep breaths now.”
“But—”
“As long as your mom is happy,” Aidan reminded her gently, “we’ll be happy for her.”
Kayleigh, who never behaved the way you expected a girl to behave, started to sob all of a sudden. “If she has a boyfriend, that-that makes Dad’s death so much more real somehow!”
Along with his brothers, Kyle automatically ducked his head at the sight of his tough sister crying bitter tears, seemingly unable to stop anytime soon.
While he, Heath, Shane, and Ryan exchanged worried looks, Aidan patted his wife’s shoulders in his unfazed, good-natured way. To the rest of them, he explained cheerfully, “Kayleigh’s a little … oversensitive right now.”
Ryan snorted with the empathy of a Republican gun lobbyist. “Oversensitive? God, I hope she isn’t pregnant again! You can’t even handle the two you have.”
When Kayleigh answered that with a look that shot daggers, and Aidan burst into loud laughter, everyone knew what was going on.
Before anyone could congratulate the expecting parents, however, Kayleigh sniffled. “I don’t have to like Mom’s new boyfriend, though. And he’s not going to sit in Dad’s chair at Sunday dinner!”
Kyle rolled h
is eyes but didn’t say anything. He was far too busy worrying about his own troubles, which involved a red-haired DCF caseworker he desperately yearned to be with.
Chapter 10
When she’d paid him a visit in his hospital room, Morgan had quickly been able to verify that Cody was an extremely smart, somewhat pensive, and slightly introverted boy. But what ten-year-old boy wouldn’t have been reserved after the things he’d gone through since the accident several weeks ago?
Morgan knew the boy’s patient record, having studied it last night with a glass of red and a pizza from the local delivery service. But in the end, she’d poured the wine down the drain and put the pizza in the fridge for another time—reading his file had spoiled her mood for a cozy, indulgent evening on the couch. Cody’s fate had touched her deeply.
It was hard not to feel anything but bone-deep compassion for the boy, who had been thrilled with the little present she had handed him a few minutes ago—the most recent J.K. Rowling book. Cody turned the pages cautiously, as if he was looking at the first edition of the Bible or something, and exhibited such unadulterated joy that Morgan could only watch him admire his new book with a smile.
“I haven’t even had time to read it myself,” she told him. “When you’re done with it, you have to tell me how you liked it.”
“I will,” the boy replied, almost reverently. “Harry Potter’s my favorite.”
“Really?” Morgan dragged her chair a little closer to his bed. “Which book is your favorite?”
“Oh, that’s hard.” His gaze became serious. “I like them all, but the first and last books are the best. In the first one, my favorite part is when Harry learns that he’s really a wizard and doesn’t have to live under the stairs anymore.” Cody paused and sighed heavily. “I’m an orphan now, too.”
“Yes, I know,” Morgan said softly, trying not to drown Cody in her pity. “I’m sure you’re dealing with too many changes all at once right now. That’s probably not easy. If there’s anything bothering you, you can always come talk to me, Cody. Or call me.”
A Matter of Trust (The Boston Five Series #5) Page 11