by Regan Black
“Guilty as charged.”
She was processing that information when Aiden raced into the kitchen, his blue rabbit in one little hand as he made a beeline for Shannon. “Good morning, Mommy!”
She lifted him up, gave him a big squishy hug and then pretended to smother him with kisses until he giggled. The ritual over, he noticed Daniel, laid his head on her shoulder.
“Good morning, Aiden.”
Her son’s big eyes moved from her to Daniel and back. “Say good morning,” she whispered.
“Good morning, Daniel,” he said shyly.
“Good job,” she said, letting him wriggle out of her arms. As much as the idea appealed, she couldn’t stay in the house and hold him forever. She opened the fridge and poured him a cup of juice. “Daniel had a good idea for breakfast.”
Aiden sipped, staring at Daniel. “Does he live here now?”
“He stayed with me and helped a whole bunch while you and I were apart,” she answered.
Aiden stared at Daniel, the furrow between his eyebrows digging in. “You helped Mommy while the bad guys had me?”
“I did. It was hard on her while you were gone.”
“You helped me, too.” Aiden waited another long second, then walked over and pressed himself to Daniel’s knee. “You’re the good guy.”
Daniel stroked her son’s hair. “Back at ya, bud.”
Shannon blinked away happy tears. “Tell him your idea,” she suggested, ignoring the crack in her voice, buying time for her heart to settle back to its normal rhythm.
“Your mom tells me you like pancakes.”
“Mmm-mmm.” Aiden perked up. “They’re my favorite!”
“Mine, too,” Daniel said. “What if we play a game?”
“With pancakes?”
“Yup. The two of us—” he wagged a finger between them “—will eat all the pancakes we can while your mom tries to cook enough to keep up with us.”
“Yes!” Aiden bounced up and down. “Pancake game!” he chanted as they set the table, prepped butter, syrup, plates.
They gave her a run for her money and called it a tie when everyone was stuffed and there were two pancakes left on the griddle. “You can have them tomorrow,” she said to Aiden as they finished cooking.
“Or dinner?” he asked.
She laughed at the hopeful tone. “We’ll see. There’s a lot to do today.”
“Like what?”
“I thought we’d go see Rachel and the boys. They missed you.”
Suddenly Aiden’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want to go there. I want to go work with you today.”
She gathered him close, rocked a little as she rubbed his back. “We’re all going over for a visit.” She kissed his hair. How were they going to get through this? “Rachel’s my friend,” she said. “She and I want to talk about girl stuff while you and the twins play.”
“The bad guys are gone? They were mean.”
She wondered if Daniel could hear her heart cracking at her son’s worry and fear. “No. No bad guys ever again.” Shannon gave him another hug, aimed a pleading look at Daniel over Aiden’s head.
“I’m going, too,” Daniel said, stacking up plates.
“Will you stay while Mom and Rachel talk like girls?”
“I’ll stay.”
“’Kay.” Aiden’s pouting lip retracted a bit.
“After that,” Daniel said, “I thought we could go by the construction site where your mom’s been working.”
“All of us?” he asked, his hands working over the poor rabbit’s ear.
“Yes,” Shannon replied. “Why don’t we go up and get dressed?”
“’Kay.” He hopped like a rabbit to the stairs.
“We’ll be right back,” she said, following her son.
In the bathroom, Aiden showed more signs of worry. “I didn’t get to see houses with you on Sunday,” he said while Shannon helped him wash the remnants of breakfast from his face.
“You’ll see the house we’re working on today,” she said as he brushed his teeth.
The answer mollified him as the conversation turned to trucks while she helped him change out of his jammies and into clothes for the day.
“No socks,” he said, kicking his feet.
“Socks,” she said. “It’s October.” After a short scuffle for form, he let her put on his socks and shoes.
When they got downstairs, Daniel had the kitchen cleaned. Even the griddle and mixing bowls were washed, dried and put away. She just stared at him.
“Did I do it wrong?”
“No.” They’d cleaned up after themselves all week. She just hadn’t expected him to take the brunt of KP. “Thank you.”
“You have to wash your face,” Aiden pointed at Daniel.
He pressed the towel to his face, raised his eyebrows at Shannon.
“Daniel’s face looks clean to me,” she said. “Let’s get your coat.”
“Is not.” Aiden patted his own smooth cheeks. “Mine is clean.”
Catching on, Daniel took a knee and motioned to Aiden to come closer. “This isn’t dirt, it’s a beard. Come feel.” The boy giggled as Daniel’s scruff tickled his palm. “I know you’ve seen whiskers before.”
Aiden laughed and patted Daniel’s jaw.
“Tell you what, tomorrow morning I’ll make it disappear like magic. You can help me.”
“Really?”
She stood back, watching the man and boy talk beards and razors and shaving and felt her heart wishing once again. She couldn’t interrupt them, it was too adorable and there wasn’t a firm schedule today. Savoring the moment, she knew it would be a happy memory she and her son could carry forward. Could she stay? Was there a path that kept them in Philly if her ex escaped the police?
She was still debating it when they were parked at Rachel’s driveway fifteen minutes later. Before the kidnapping, Aiden would have sprinted ahead, truck of the day in hand. Today, his little hand gripped hers and held on tight.
“You’re staying.” Not a question this time.
“We’re all staying,” she said gently. “And only for a few minutes.”
“’Kay.”
The brief visit had a rough start, with Aiden nervously clinging to her at the gate. He settled in better when the twins came out in a mood to play hard. In the kitchen, Shannon and Rachel caught up over a cup of coffee while Daniel played outside with the boys. He pushed swings, drove cars through the sandbox and looked for all the world like an overgrown five-year-old having the time of his life.
“You landed a good one there,” Rachel said, a gleam of feminine appreciation in her eyes. “I thought your boss was amazing the day...well, the day it happened. And now? That man is a keeper. Five stars, my friend.”
“You might be reading too much into it,” Shannon said. Recalling the kisses, her lips tingled at the denial. “He’s been a rock through all of this but he has a life.”
“A life with plenty of room for you and Aiden, I’d bet.”
Rachel was only making what Shannon needed to say more difficult. “I may not be in Philly much longer,” Shannon blurted. “Aiden and I may be moving.”
Rachel gave her a cool stare.
“We may not have a choice,” she added. “You’re my best friend. Family really.”
“In my book, family sticks,” Rachel said quietly. “We haven’t had any more trouble here. Even if we had, I’d say running away is the wrong call.”
No, it was the only call until Bradley was behind bars and she had some assurance he’d stay there.
“It can’t be just you and Aiden against the world forever,” Rachel said. “I heard they caught the kidnappers.” Rachel’s gaze drifted to the window again. “The news had gre
at coverage of Daniel carrying Aiden back to you.”
“What? We haven’t seen that.” If her ex had seen it, Daniel might be more of a target. Suddenly the coffee burned in her stomach.
“I should’ve taped it for you. Then we could play it at your wedding reception.”
“You’re making too much of it.” Her heart pirouetted in her chest at the idea, despite all the other factors. Factors that, if ignored, would end with others getting hurt.
After promising Rachel she wouldn’t do anything rash or leave town without a proper goodbye, they went outside. Oh, how she hated lying. Gathering up Aiden, his cheeks bright pink from the crisp air and raucous playtime, she handed Daniel the car keys while she settled Aiden in the booster seat.
“Did you have a good talk?”
“We did.” Parts of it were good, she thought when it felt like a lie. “Looked like you were having a grand time yourself.”
“Couldn’t help noticing Rachel’s boys have a fire truck.”
“I’ll rectify the error immediately.”
He reached across the console and took her hand. “Hold that thought a bit, okay?”
Realizing he was up to something, she nearly offered a lecture on bribing children. Except that would be rude. And incorrect. Daniel and Aiden were carrying on as if they’d known each other for years rather than hours.
At the Caldwell house, the crew stopped everything to come out and give Daniel a standing ovation and Aiden a big welcome home.
“We have cupcakes!” Lou ducked back into the house and returned with a lavender bakery box. With Aiden right there, Shannon and Daniel glossed over the particulars of the kidnapping situation.
“I knew you weren’t right,” Lou declared, aiming a finger glazed with sawdust and chocolate frosting at her.
Ed kept a watchful eye on both of them and Shannon hoped that, unlike Rachel, he’d keep his thoughts or theories on their personal involvement to himself.
Riding a sugary high, Aiden ran up and down the new ramp while Ed caught them up on the progress they were making.
“The flooring should be here later today,” Ed told them. “We’ve got this under control.”
“Daniel can come back this afternoon,” Shannon offered. “We’ll all be back tomorrow.”
“Maybe,” Daniel corrected. “It depends on what Aiden needs.”
“Take the weekend,” Ed said. “You’ve all been through hell. It’s Friday. If you don’t celebrate, what good is it being alive and together?”
His words followed Shannon, pressing at her, as the three of them stopped for lunch at the diner Daniel had taken her to for brunch last Sunday.
“What do they have here?” Aiden asked. He was preoccupied with the picture on the child’s menu and the small box of crayons the waitress had given him.
Shannon read him the menu, noting the distinct displeasure on her son’s face when she mentioned chicken nuggets. A week ago that had been his favorite.
“Everything is good here,” Daniel said. “I think I’ll have mac and cheese.”
Aiden’s jaw dropped. “You can’t. You’re a grown-up.”
“That’s a dumb rule,” Daniel said.
They had a brief, laughter-filled debate about foods appropriate to various age groups, and when the waitress returned with drinks, the ordering process went more smoothly than she expected.
As did the meal. Aiden wasn’t a picky eater, though his appetite seemed a bit off and she could see he was running out of steam. Although he didn’t nap much anymore, he didn’t get kidnapped, either. Thank God. She knew better than to coddle him, but she didn’t want to push him, either. He’d been scared, stuck with strangers for nearly a week.
“Maybe we should go home and chill out,” she suggested when they left the diner. “He’s asleep.”
Daniel checked the rearview mirror and chuckled. “Fresh air and good food will do that. We could just drive for a bit.”
A good compromise as her son would probably wake up as soon as they stopped. With the sky clear and sun shining, it seemed like a perfect day. She planned to enjoy it, since in her mind they were overdue. With only the occasional sharp reactions from her son as any indication of what he’d been through, she felt confident that he’d bounce back without much trouble.
“I know I’ll have to keep an eye on him going forward,” she said. “But he seems generally happy and content. It gives me hope that this won’t have a lasting effect on him.”
“He has a loving mom, great friends. He’ll be fine,” Daniel said, taking her hand. “Seems like a break in the routine is what we all needed.”
Words like we and all were addictive and she basked in them, drinking them in as she might turn her face to the sunshine after a week of rain showers.
Aiden woke up after an hour’s nap, groggy and a little grumpy as they reached the firehouse. They’d skipped the park, planning to make that stop after the tour if Aiden was up to it.
Here, too, Daniel got an ovation for his heroics, though he tried his best to wave it off. He introduced her and Aiden to everyone and she did her best to keep names and faces together as they walked around the firehouse.
Aiden, little legs tired, asked Daniel to carry him as they toured the kitchen and lounges, the sleeping areas and all three stories of the building the firefighters called home. It was a vantage point she hadn’t seen before, a sense of family she hadn’t expected. The commitment rested well on him, on all of the people she met.
“Want to see the trucks?” Daniel asked Aiden.
“Yes, please!” Agog at the size, the shine, the tools, her son asked question after question about everything in sight. With extraordinary patience, Daniel answered them all.
“Normally we have an ambulance, too,” he said. “It’s out on a call right now.”
“We rode in an ambulance already.” Aiden nuzzled into Daniel’s embrace, yawning. “I don’t want to do it again.”
“That’s understandable.” Daniel rubbed his back. “You think you can handle one more surprise before we go home?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I don’t know,” Daniel said.
“Please?”
“Jennings, a word?”
At the sound of his chief’s voice, Shannon turned with Daniel to see Chief Anderson standing at his door watching them, a smile on his face.
“Won’t keep him long, I promise, Ms. Nolan.”
“No problem.” Shannon opened her arms for Aiden and gave Daniel a smile.
“Hey, bud.” Daniel looked around, pointed to another firefighter. “Direct all your questions to Mitch, okay?”
“’Kay,” Aiden replied.
Shannon, her sleepy son on her shoulder, felt something slide into place as she watched Daniel stride down the hallway. Not an elusive wish, more of a peace and contentment for what was here and now. Daniel was a fantastic boss on the construction side of his life. Seeing him here? She felt honored that he’d shown her he was a firefighter in his heart.
A confident man in any arena, there was a happiness to him here at the firehouse that she hadn’t seen before. He might not define it that way, but it was evident to her. Whatever happened between them, it gave her an inexplicable satisfaction to have this priceless glimpse of him.
Her phone rang, pulling her from the reverie and she shifted Aiden to her opposite hip so she could fish it out of her pocket. She felt a wave of hope when she saw Grant’s name on the display.
“Grant, hello!”
“Hi, Shannon. How’s everyone doing today?”
“We’re doing great,” she said, looking down at her boy’s soft cheek. “Did you, um, find the man you were looking for?”
Mitch, the firefighter Daniel had pointed out to Aiden, motioned for her to take a seat on the
couch. He murmured something about cookies to Aiden and when her son grinned, he guided him over to the kitchen. “That okay?” he whispered.
She nodded, grateful for the help amusing her son. She didn’t want him overhearing anything that would raise more fear about his ordeal or more questions she wasn’t ready to answer.
“The manhunt is ongoing,” Grant said. “The cameras lost him about an hour after the shooting.”
Her heart sank.
“We did get some interesting news about Loffler’s business at Marburg.”
“That seems fast. Don’t attorneys usually drag things out?”
“Seems Loffler broke that mold, starting with your divorce from Stanwood.”
“Fair point.”
“Because my source knew we were looking, when the ‘upon death’ action popped up this morning, she told me first. Knowing I could reach you. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” It felt as if her poor judgment in husbands was practically public knowledge, having to share so much about those dark days with Grant and Daniel directly. Once they caught her ex—she had to believe it would happen—he would likely try and drag her name through the mud with his. She needed to get used to a lack of privacy. At least until she could hit the reset button on her life.
“Upon death, his Marburg attorney was to contact you immediately. You and Aiden are named as his beneficiaries.” Grant whistled. “From the looks of this, you won’t need to worry about Aiden’s college expenses.”
Shock wasn’t a big enough word for the sensations coursing through her. “Pardon me?” She pressed a hand to her forehead. “Why would he do that?”
“According to the paternity test I’m looking at, he’s providing for his son.”
“That’s impossible,” she whispered. “I never, we never.” She cleared her throat, lowered her voice. “I didn’t cheat.” Suddenly Gary’s comments started to fit together. “Oh.”
“Oh?” Grant echoed.
“Yesterday Gary asked my forgiveness. He said he’d made things worse while trying to protect Aiden from Bradley. He must have meant the, ah, test.” Her heart started racing and her skin felt cold. “He must have called in favors at the lab his law firm uses to fabricate that report.”