A Matter of Trust (The Boston Five Series #5)

by Poppy J. Anderson

  A little frown was on her face, and she seemed deep in thought.

  “Well.” He shrugged a helpless shoulder. “Someone seems to have crashed our party. What are we going to do now?”

  “Uh … Kyle?”

  “Yes, dear?”

  She chewed on her lower lip, looking so beautiful that he was close to throwing out the rest of his guests, so he could be alone with his wife.

  “You should turn off the grill.” She gulped. “I think my water just broke.”

  He looked at her, stunned for a second, his gaze traveling to her gigantic belly and then back up into her eyes. “Cody, get Morgan’s bag!” he screamed through the garden. “You’re about to have a little playmate!”

  Epilogue

  Cody Baker-Fitzpatrick opened the door and stepped into his family’s house. He immediately had to duck to avoid a ball that sailed past his head, the voice of his twelve-year-old sister screeching, “Mom! Jack’s playing soccer in the house!”

  “And Kate’s a tattletale!” his fourteen-year-old brother yelled back.

  “Mom!”

  Cody smiled, set his bag down on a chair, and picked up the ball that had attacked him a few seconds before. And then a herd of elephants seemed to come racing down the stairs. It was Jack running toward the hall, Kate hot on his heels.

  “Mom! Jack gave me the middle finger!”

  “And you copied your friend’s homework! I’m telling Dad!”

  Cody watched with a half smile as his siblings ranted at each other, only realizing that he’d come home when they reached the foot of the stairs in a flurry of stomping and yelling.

  “Hey, guys. Are you driving everyone in the house insane today?”

  Kate pushed past Jack, wrapped her arms around Cody’s hips, and wailed, “Jack is so mean! He never lets me play soccer, Cody.”

  “She’s a girl!” Jack rolled his eyes and then gave his older brother a look that was meant to express his annoyance, as if Cody must know exactly how he felt. “Every time I let her play, she kicks the ball over the fence. She does it on purpose!”

  “No, I don’t!”

  Cody ruffled his sister’s strawberry-blond hair and threw his brother the ball with his other hand. “If you let Kate play more often, she’d get better, Jack. And you shouldn’t keep kicking the ball into the Kingstons’ yard, Kate. Mr. Kingston doesn’t like that.”

  “Uncle Ryan says Mr. Kingston is an old crank,” Kate informed him.

  “That’s good to know,” Cody replied. “But maybe don’t mention that when Mr. Kingston’s around.”

  Jack dropped the ball, let it bounce once, and caught it again. “Even Mom says Mr. Kingston is an old geezer.”

  Cody sighed. “That may be the case, but don’t use that word around him either.”

  Showing no hint of contrition, Jack grinned at him. “Okay, Cody.”

  Cody twisted his mouth into a scolding pout and pointed at the ball. “If you get caught in the house with that, you’re in trouble. Why don’t you two go outside … but don’t kick it over the fence.”

  “We can’t play in the yard right now. Dad’s on the phone outside,” Jack informed him before stomping up the stairs again. Kate ran after him, loudly yelling that he had to let her play with him.

  “Nice talking to you guys,” Cody called after them, shaking his head. When he’d first moved out, Jack and Kate had called him at least three times a day because they’d missed him so much. But these days when he came home, the stupid soccer ball was obviously more important.

  Torn between amusement and resignation, he slipped off his jacket and threw it across the banister, before looking for Morgan, who had to be down here somewhere. He wandered through the first-floor rooms, happily looking at the many family photos on the walls, laughing at the photo of them all at his high school graduation. Finally, he stuck his head in the kitchen, where Morgan was hidden behind the open fridge door. She seemed to be on the phone, because the topic was some new law or regulation, indicating that she probably wasn’t talking to two-year-old Neyla, who was sitting in her high chair. The toddler greeted him with an excited wave of her little hands as soon as she noticed him.

  Cody waved back with just as much enthusiasm and then greeted her in sign language. He was happy to see she was making incredible progress with it.

  “I told him the exact same thing, Gayle, but he won’t listen to me. If you ask me, those new regulations are for the birds. For the trash can, yes! I couldn’t agree more! It was probably cooked up by some desk jockey with a square ass from sitting so much.”

  Desk jockey? Square ass?

  Morgan had to be seriously angered to be using words like that. She was a strict enforcer of the swear jar, which she should have paid into right now. But he decided not to say anything, because, after all, he didn’t always put his money in when his colorful language warranted it.

  Cody didn’t want to interrupt when she was on the phone with her best friend, so he lifted Neyla from her chair and kissed his little sister on her round cheeks. He’d immediately taken to the deaf girl, who’d been left in front of a fire station as an infant. He’d already moved out before she joined the family, but he was deeply attached to her nonetheless—as were Jack and Kate. He sat Neyla on his hip, handed her the stuffed toy she reached for with her little hands, and poured himself a cup of coffee, all the while listening to Morgan go on with her tirade.

  But when she raised her head a few seconds later to check on her youngest in the high chair, she discovered him and her features softened immediately. “Wait a second, my doctor son just came through the door … Yes, I’ll tell him.” She held the receiver down and smiled at him. “You’re finally back, honey!”

  “I was here Sunday.” He approached her and pressed a kiss to her forehead, which meant he had to lean down.

  “That was four days ago. That’s a long time.”

  He grinned and pointed at the fridge. “What’s for dinner?”

  “Go see what Kyle’s doing,” she told him. “Maybe I’ll find something I can cook in the meantime.”

  “Oh, yum, that sounds delicious,” he joked and left the kitchen, Neyla still on his hip. He went out to the yard, where Kyle was sitting in a lawn chair with his cell phone in his hand.

  He didn’t seem surprised that Cody had come to visit, since he raised his hand in greeting as soon as Cody stepped out onto the patio.

  “Hi.”

  “Hey, pal,” he replied calmly. “Care to sit with me?”

  “If you’re in the mood for company?” Cody sank into a chair next to him.

  “Of course I am.” Kyle Fitzpatrick gave him a weak smile. “One of my patients underwent surgery today, and I’m waiting for the report from the OR.” When Cody gave him a questioning look, he added, “A four-year-old boy with ASD.”

  “Catheter surgery?”

  Kyle shook his head. “Coronary sinus ASD. Necessitates open-heart surgery.”

  “Since the defect is located at the edge of the atrial septum, the dish couldn’t be adequately affixed there, right?”

  “That’s a hundred points for the candidate. How’s life as a resident? Do they treat you okay at St. Vincent’s?”

  Cody laughed with Neyla, who jumped up and down in his lap. “Everyone keeps saying, ‘Finally, there’s another Fitzpatrick in da house.’ You and Aunt Kayleigh must have left a lasting impression.”

  “Have you ever doubted that?”

  Cody clicked his tongue. Everyone knew full well how much respect Cody had for him and his work as a doctor. During his childhood, he’d spent more time in the family practice than anywhere else. It wasn’t coincidence that he’d decided to study medicine.

  “But you’re not here today to talk about your work, are you?” Kyle cleared his throat with an amused expression. “And certainly not for dinner.”

  Cody made a face. “How do you always do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Can you read other people’
s thoughts?”

  “That would be nice,” Kyle snorted, stretching his legs. “If I could read minds, at least I’d always know what I’ve wrong when Morgan’s mad at me.”

  “Since when is she ever mad at you?”

  “Oh.” He shrugged. “We have our difficult moments from time to time. Women.” He rolled his eyes.

  Cody laughed at this outburst, which was totally untypical of Dr. Fitzpatrick.

  “I bet your visit today has to do with a woman as well.”

  Cody mumbled something in the affirmative and studied Neyla closely while pondering how to begin this conversation. “Joey and I want to move in together,” he finally blurted out.

  “I see.”

  “Yes.” He swallowed hard. “But I’m afraid Uncle Heath won’t be too thrilled, since Joey isn’t done with college yet.”

  “Then why do you want to move in together now? Why now wait two years, when she’s done?”

  “Well.” Cody took a deep breath and confessed, “We want to get married.”

  Again, Kyle answered with a simple “I see.”

  “Yes.” Cody swallowed again. “I asked her, and she said yes.”

  “Then I should congratulate you. Or is there a specific reason for the rush?”

  “You mean is she pregnant?” He shook his head. “No, she’s not. Joey just doesn’t want her dad to bite off my head, as you can imagine.”

  Kyle’s reply was a dry laugh. “No offense, but my brother’s probably the last person who could pretend to have morals in that respect.”

  Cody started to grin. “Interesting.”

  “Hey,” Kyle warned. “Don’t get into trouble, you hear me?” Cody raised his free hand in surrender. “Do you want me to talk to him?”

  He shook his head. “No, that’s my job. I’ll talk to him.”

  “So you came here why exactly?”

  Cody looked at the man who’d started out as his pediatrician before growing to love him and becoming his foster father. He felt a lump in his throat. He could have said he was here because he wanted Kyle to be the first person in the world to know about his engagement, because he loved him, because he owed him everything he had and was, because he was his role model, the one Cody wanted to talk to about getting married, along with everything else in life. He could have said all that.

  Instead, he simply said, “Because you’re my dad.”

  Kyle looked at him for a long time, his eyes going misty, until he cleared his throat and held out both hands. “Why don’t you give me your sister so you can go in and tell your mom to end that call and bring out a bottle of champagne?”

  Cody pressed a kiss to Neyla’s head and murmured, “That sounds like a good plan.”

  Also by Poppy J. Anderson

  Boston 5: The Fitzpatricks

  Book 1: The Heat Is On

  When Hayden’s fiancé breaks off their engagement, her whole world falls apart. After all, she has loved Heath Fitzpatrick since they were children. Though she can hardly believe he really wants to break up, she picks up the pieces of her life and tries to accept the new situation.

  But her efforts are thwarted time and again by the rest of the Fitzpatrick clan, who have always been part of her life—and who are notorious for being outspoken, persistent, and downright meddlesome. None of Heath's siblings are above adding their own two cents. Or twenty.

  Even Heath himself, a daring firefighter, seems to be having trouble adjusting to his new single life. So how in the world is Hayden supposed to move on, forget the plans they made for the future, and get Heath off her mind? And even more difficult—she’ll need to banish him from her heart, forever.

  Book 2: Blast from the Past

  Shane Fitzpatrick is irresistible, and he knows it. Tall, dark, and handsome, the Boston Police detective has women swooning over him left and right. So far, the stubborn Irish Romeo hasn’t complained about it, but recently he’s been feeling increasingly ready to skip his many dates and look for “the one”—the woman to settle down with.

  Too bad the only woman he’s ever had serious feelings for doesn’t even know his real name. And to make matters worse, she also has every reason to wish he were roasting in the deepest pits of hell ...

  Book 3: More than a Feeling

  As the only girl in a family with four boys, Kayleigh Fitzpatrick learned to assert herself at a young age. She had to, if she didn’t want to end up tied up or bruised. These days, she stands her ground as a physician in a chaotic emergency room. She knows how to deal with all kinds of emergencies, even rioting patients trying to attack helpless nurses.

  However, as the unmarried daughter of a devout Catholic, she’s sick of hearing the continuous admonitions to start looking for a husband and make babies. Besides, Kayleigh knows her take-charge attitude and hot temper frighten off most men, and she doesn’t want to change for anyone. She simply likes herself the way she is.

  There’s just one problem. She bragged in front of all her brothers that she wouldn’t have a problem finding a date to her brother Shane’s wedding. When her plan doesn’t quite work out—and she can practically hear the jeers of her merciless siblings—help arrives from someone who wasn’t even on her radar.

  Book 4: All Tied Up

  Ryan Fitzpatrick comes from a home where he’d have felt his mother’s wooden spoon if he’d declared a woman’s place was in the kitchen. But now he goes for the type of woman who wouldn’t think of curbing his freedom or making demands of him. If he were to commit to any woman, she couldn’t be complicated, because he sure as hell won’t end up with a woman like his sister, whose loud-mouthed temper is enough to drive any man crazy.

  By one incredibly embarrassing twist of fate, he meets Jordan Esposito, a woman even more domineering and hot-headed than his sister. And Jordan just happens to be responsible for his absolute humiliation.

  Luckily, Ryan has sworn never to go out with obstinate, complicated, irascible, maddening women. But would it really be so bad if he made an exception just this once?

  Book 5: A Matter of Trust

  Kyle Fitzpatrick is married to his job. As an emergency physician, he expends all his energy on the welfare of his patients. He’s especially good with small children, going far beyond his duties to make sure his small patients aren’t scared. Of course, that fact constantly rouses the interest of the nurses Kyle works with. Scores of them have their sights set on the handsome doctor, who isn’t wearing a ring on his finger ... yet.

  But Kyle has his own problems, and they all revolve around an implacable woman named Morgan, who’s standing in the way of happiness in his private life.

  Or is it possible Morgan is actually the key to that happiness?

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