‘You have a big heart if you thought he was tragic.’
‘There was a lot of blood on the carpet after Pike shot Rick, and Dad had another DNA test run.’ Declan looked surprised. ‘Of course it showed that Dad’s DNA and Rick’s weren’t a match. Dad definitely wasn’t Rick’s father.’
‘No one believed he was! Your father had tests done when Rick was a baby, and they didn’t match. I’m surprised he had another set of tests run.’
‘I think he wanted us to be absolutely certain that he didn’t turn his back on his own son.’
‘He didn’t turn his back on the guy we knew as Richard Conway, even though he knew Rick wasn’t his son. He tried to help him and Rick’s mother wouldn’t let him. Your grandfather also tried to help him, but that time it was Rick who wouldn’t take the help. I don’t know what else anyone could have done.’
‘I don’t, either, but Dad has always had a strong conscience and set high standards for himself. I think he feels that he failed. And if he hadn’t, then Lori, Grandfather and Eve would still be alive.’
‘I suppose you’ve told him he’s bearing too much guilt.’
‘Yes, but it’ll take time for him to reason it all out and see clearly.’ Kelsey looked at Declan. ‘He will, though. Dad usually manages to find a balance.’
Declan abruptly abandoned his lawn chair and kneeled beside her, taking her right hand in his. ‘And what about our situation?’ he asked. ‘What about you and me?’
Kelsey lowered her eyes. ‘I don’t have an answer.’
‘You mean that you don’t want to have a relationship with me?’
She looked up. ‘I don’t mean that at all. I feel different about you than I’ve ever felt about another man. I suppose I should be more coy …’
‘I hate coy.’
‘OK. Then I care about you very much. I don’t want to say goodbye to you. But you live in New York City and I live in Louisville. They’re over seven hundred and fifty miles apart.’
‘So you’ve done the math.’
‘Well, yes. And I know long-distance relationships rarely work.’
‘Rarely – but you can’t say they never work.’
‘I don’t have the statistics, if that’s what you’re asking.’ Kelsey smiled into Declan’s brilliant blue eyes. ‘But long-distance relationships are hard.’
‘No one ever said life is easy.’
She tilted her head. ‘You have an answer for everything, don’t you?’
‘I was on the debate team in high school.’
‘Oh!’ Kelsey laughed. ‘Just my luck!’
Declan turned over her hand lightly and slowly ran a finger up her arm, then lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly. Kelsey closed her eyes, temporarily forgetting the sadness of the past few weeks and her worries about a future with Declan. All she thought of was the feel of his warm lips on her palm.
‘You’re not really playing fair,’ she murmured.
‘All’s fair in love and war.’
‘I swear, Declan Adair, if you spout one more cliché …’
‘Then what?’ She opened her eyes and gazed into his – those intensely blue eyes that seemed lit by an inner fire, those eyes looking at her with such affection, such promise, such passion. ‘If I spout one more cliché, darling girl, what will happen?’
Kelsey sighed. ‘Then I’ll have to admit it’s true that the heart wants what it wants. And mine wants yours,’ she murmured as her lips met his.
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