by Jeannie Moon
“I’ve cut my hours back.”
“Still, this isn’t a good place for her, she needs a yard and trees. Not lights and constant traffic.”
“I’ve been thinking about that, too.” Stay calm, Harper. Stay calm.
“Have you? What kind of life is she going to have? Where do I fit in?”
That was it. He was pushing too hard, even for her. What she wouldn’t stand for was his questioning her commitment to give Anna a good life. The kind of life she never had growing up.
“She’s going to have a great life and you will be a big part of that, but you need to slow down a little.”
His long stride brought her face-to-face with a very angry man. “I will not slow down. I’m in this now, and there’s some serious catching up to do because you cut me out.”
“Fine, but don’t think for one second you’re going to ride roughshod over me. I’ve dealt with tougher men than you.”
Harper stood and brought the baby to the changing table, taking care of her diaper while Kevin watched her every move. He was studying. Learning what to do.
“I guess you’ll be dealing with one of those men and his very angry wife soon.”
Harper blinked and glared at him. “Are you really going to get your sister after me?”
He snarled a little at the dig and took the baby from her, holding Anna close to his broad chest. It didn’t take much more than that, Harper’s angry heart melted. She’d made so many mistakes in such a short period of time, it was going to take time to undo the mess and heal the hurt feelings. And Kevin was right. For as angry as he was, she was going to have to face the wrath of Meg and Caroline, his two sisters. They wouldn’t hold back. Not in the least.
“Should I put her in her crib?”
“Sure. If you’re ready to let her go.” It was fairly obvious he didn’t want to. The macho athlete had fallen hard and fast for the little pink bundle in his arms.
Once they left the baby’s room, Kevin went to the living room and, for the second time that night, he cleaned up glass. This time from the vase and snowman he’d smashed. “I’m sorry about this. I don’t usually get so pissed off.”
“Understandable under the circumstances.” Looking around, her eyes settled on the dining room table that was set for two. “Are you hungry? I did ask you for dinner.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’ll call you when I’ve gotten my head around all this.”
There was a little squeeze in her chest that he didn’t want to stay, but she couldn’t fathom what would make her think he’d want to. She’d just turned his life upside down, and if she were him, Harper figured she’d leave, too. “Okay.”
“When can I meet her nanny?”
“Anytime. Just call me.”
She walked Kevin to the door and watched every move as he slid the leather jacket over his arms and adjusted it on his shoulders. God, he was so gorgeous, Harper’s girl parts forgot that she wasn’t supposed to be attracted to him, that the two of them had to keep their relationship platonic so they could properly coparent Anna.
Unfortunately, those hormones were powerful things, and when she got too close and Harper could feel his body heat and absorb his scent, her desire sparked.
She needed him to leave before she did something dumb, like kiss him, but he stood there, one hand on the doorknob, not moving.
“I can’t believe you had a baby.” His voice was hoarse. Choked with emotion.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, touching his strong back.
Kevin’s muscles bunched at her touch and he didn’t say another word. He pulled open the apartment door and made his escape. Harper watched him go to the elevator, but he didn’t look back at her, he just got on when the doors open and vanished, leaving her with all their unfinished business to deal with.
Chapter 5
One of the things Kevin didn’t miss when he lived in another city was that he didn’t have the off-season command performances with his family. He knew he was expected on Christmas and Thanksgiving, but he’d avoided Sunday dinners where he knew he’d be grilled endlessly about the women he was seeing and if he wasn’t seeing anyone specific what he was going to do about getting married and giving his mother more grandchildren.
His sisters were doing a fine job on that front. Meg had given her a little boy to play with a few months ago and Caroline was expecting her own before summer. Molly, Meg and Jason’s adopted daughter, loved her Grandma Meryl and spent almost as much time at his mother’s house as she did at her own.
His marital status was a topic of endless discussion when the family was together, and he’d disarmed the conversations pretty quickly in the past when he’d tell them he’d be looking to settle down when his playing days were over. Not before. He never actually thought he’d want to get serious about anyone while he was still dealing with the pressure of the game, so it seemed like the safe thing to say.
He never thought it would bite him in the ass.
But Harper had taken those words to heart. She’d been at a lot of family events, knew everyone very well, and she’d heard all his excuses. So, because he couldn’t man up and tell his family to stay out of his business, that he’d find someone when he was good and ready, there was a baby he hadn’t known about and a woman he once cared for whom he could no longer trust.
Who was he kidding? He still cared for her even though the trust between them had been shot to hell, but Kevin also knew there was more to her decision not to tell him than his excuses. Harper didn’t take anyone’s excuses. He just had to figure out what it was.
There was a familiar bend in the treelined street and Kevin turned down Meg and Jason’s long driveway, hearing the gravel crunch under the tires of his car. Upon pulling up he leaned on the steering wheel and gazed at the elegant home. It was a big, rambling, traditional house with a white clapboard exterior and black shutters. Brick walks and gardens made the place feel cozy. Built in the twenties and designed with large families in mind, the house had character, and although Jason could have bought a more elaborate house ten times the size of this one, he didn’t. He knew that Meg wouldn’t want an oversized, fancy mansion, she’d want a place she could make a home.
From the corner of his eye he saw Molly, her long, dark ponytail flying behind her, charging out of the backyard toward his car at full throttle and she started jumping up and down and squealing once she was next to his door. The kid was always a mass of energy, but today she was in overdrive.
“Uncle Kevin, Uncle Kevin!” She was breathless, and there was obviously more to the greeting than her usual enthusiasm. “Hurry up!”
He opened the door of his brand new Maserati, something else he’d have to rethink now that he had a kid, and stepped out to meet the bouncing seven-year-old. “You’re going to go into outer space if you don’t stop bouncing, Molly. What’s up?”
She kept jumping and finally Kevin grabbed her under the arms and lifted her so her freckled face was eye level. Her little feet were dangling, still kicking, and she was talking so fast he couldn’t make out anything she said. “Slow down!” he commanded. “First, don’t I get a kiss hello?”
“Fine.” She grinned, grabbed his face with her pixie-sized hands and gave him her signature smacking kiss.
“Now, tell me what has you so excited?”
“We have a puppy.” Her words burst out with her giggle. “A cute little puppy. Daddy brought her home.”
Her hands came to her mouth in an attempt to contain her excitement, but her blue eyes told her story. The kid was so happy she was ready to burst. Molly had wanted a dog since Meg and Jason moved here two years ago. Kevin had been the only one on Molly’s side, helping her make lists why a dog would be a good idea, helping her research breeds, but her parents kept saying no. He wondered what made them finally say yes. Wiggling down, she grabbed his hand and started pulling him inside.
“She’s so cute. Her name is Daisy.”
Daisy. That was a good na
me for a girl dog.
“How’s Moe Kitty doing?” Moe Kitty was Molly’s huge, surly black cat who pretty much thought he owned the place.
“I think he’s mad. He’s hiding. But mommy said he’ll adjust and we just have to teach Daisy that she can’t be rough with him.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He figured the cat wasn’t mad, but had found a place to plot an ambush. Moe Kitty wasn’t the type of cat to give up his territory willingly. He heard his sister’s voice from the back of the house, so instead of going through the mudroom entrance, he opened the gate to their expansive yard and was charged by a flopping mess of gold fur.
“Daisy! Don’t jump!”
The dog jumped anyway. “Hey, girl,” Kevin scratched the pup behind her ears and stared into the happiest brown eyes he’d seen in a long time. “Welcome to the family.”
Looking down at Molly, who was patting Daisy’s side, he felt himself smile. The girl was giddy over her puppy. Kevin squatted down and the dog sat, very happy with the ear scratches. He wondered if someday Anna would want a dog.
“She’s great! How old is she?”
“The woman at the rescue said she was five months. A golden mix.” Meg had joined Molly and him on the ground with the puppy. “She’s fixed and her foster mom said she was house-trained, but I have my doubts about that.”
“She’s just a baby, Meg.” His sister was very fussy about her house, but she had such a big heart he could see she was totally in love with the dog already.
“I know, but why does she have to pee on the cashmere rug in Jason’s office?” Meg took the dog’s face gently in her hands. “The cheap throw in the laundry room would be a better choice.”
Meg was rewarded with a soft lick and a nuzzle from Daisy.
“Fine,” she said. “Be cute.”
Kevin laughed. His sister was loud and pushy, but she loved without any restraint. It was her greatest gift and her greatest fault. The news about Harper, whom Meg considered a close friend, was going to crush her.
How was he going to do this? How was he going to tell his family about Anna? The scarier thing was how would they react? Meg would be so hurt. So would his mother. Caroline would be pissed, and Jason . . . Jason had the potential to lash out and wreck Harper’s career in retaliation. He was unlikely to do it, but he could.
He took a deep breath and thought about all the people inside. These were the people he most cared about, and he had to break news to them that would rattle their world.
He followed Meg and Molly into the house and settled into the smells of the warm kitchen. His mother had promised a pasta dinner, and she was at the large island stirring sauce and humming quietly to herself. In the den, Jason was alternately watching football and watching his six-month-old son, Ian, push up on all fours.
“He’s going to be crawling soon,” Kevin said. Right then the dog charged in and he grabbed the baby before the very excited puppy jumped on him.
“I have to get used to having a dog around,” Jason said. Daisy was nose to nose with the baby, who was laughing like crazy. “The kids love her, though, and she’s a real sweetie.”
Kevin had to agree. Once Daisy processed that the small human was around, she calmed down. Not easy for a young dog.
But now, with everyone milling around the house, Kevin had to break everyone’s heart. He was almost relieved Caroline and Josh weren’t there because Caroline would be in all her raging hormonal glory and ready to drive to the city to rip Harper a new one.
“You look like you have something on your mind, Kev.” Jason took Ian and sat in the large club chair by the window. He was the picture of the perfect father, and Kevin wondered how he was going to do with the role.
“I have something to tell you guys. Let me get Meg and Mom.”
The great room was right next to the kitchen and, as before, his mother was fixing dinner and Meg was looking at a book about dogs with Molly. He didn’t want to interrupt the scene, it was so perfect.
“Meg, Ma? Can I talk to you two for a second?”
Meg tilted her head toward Molly and he shook his head. Automatically, his sister’s face dropped. “Molly, can you go to the playroom for a little while and practice sit and stay with Daisy? The grown-ups need to talk.”
Molly nodded and left the room without much fuss after grabbing a bag of dog treats for the training session. Kevin envied his niece. Everything was still simple. Everything was easy. Not that the little girl had had an easy time of it. She’d lost her parents when she was five, been the center of a major custody fight, and come through only because his sister and her husband had fought harder than anyone should have to for the little girl’s happiness.
That’s what Kevin had to do now. Fight for his little girl.
He went back to the family room followed by his mother and sister and stood, waiting for them both to sit. The two were such a contrast. His mother was petite, dark-haired, conservative and restrained in her appearance and manner. Meg was only a little taller, but her mane of blonde hair and powerful presence were impossible to ignore. “What’s this all about, honey? Have you been traded again?”
“No, Ma. Not traded.” If only it was about baseball. It used to be the game that was the most important thing in his life. He learned the hard way that the game really isn’t anything. “It’s about a woman.”
Meg clapped her hands. “Really? Is my little boy finally growing up?”
“Shut up, Meg.”
The way he was feeling—nervous and unsettled—must have come through in his body language, because both his mother and sister stopped and focused on him. “Kevin, honey,” his mother said. “What’s wrong?”
“I found out the other day that . . . that . . .”
He paused and thought about it. He was a father. He had a child, but looking at Jason holding Ian, Kevin saw all the things he wasn’t going to have that went along with it. A wife, days together as a family, daily contact. He was going to miss all of it.
“I found out I’m a father.”
Nothing.
He looked at everyone in the room and there wasn’t any reaction. Just quiet.
His mother finally looked up at him. “You got some girl pregnant?”
“Not just some girl, Mom.” He took a deep breath because he knew what he was going to say next was going to cut deep. “Harper. I’m the father of Harper’s baby. She just told me the other day.”
“Anna? She’s your daughter?” Meg’s voice trembled with disbelief. “How could that be? You two weren’t even seeing each other.”
“Actually, we were seeing each other. Last year.”
“Last year? I had no idea.”
“It started at Caroline’s wedding. I don’t know. We kept it quiet.”
There was more quiet. The only thing he heard was a quick sniffle and Meg stood. “Excuse me. I . . .” She darted from the room so fast, Kevin didn’t have time to say anything.
Jason stood next and, with the baby, followed Meg. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. His wife was upset, Kevin had gotten her that way, and the look that passed between him and his brother-in-law was clear. If the two of them were alone, Jason would have kicked his ass.
That left him alone with his mom, a woman who had a very clear understanding of right and wrong. He sat on the couch next to her, wondering how it was going to go. Her back was ramrod straight and her hands were folded in her lap. Meryl Rossi was a quiet, gentle woman, but she wasn’t beyond letting her son know exactly how she felt. She’d done it more than once when he’d screwed up, and he had a feeling he was in for it now.
Nothing like the calm before the storm.
“I have no words for you.”
“Mom, I swear, I just found out. She just told me.”
“I get that, and if I have a chance I will tell Harper exactly what I think about that. But what about you?”
He had no idea where she was going with this, but it couldn’t be anywhere good. “What about m
e? I didn’t know.”
“Are you really that dense?”
“What do you mean?” He stood and ran his hands over the back of his head and down his neck. There was a knot forming at the base of his skull and he could feel the headache arching over the top of his head and down to his brow.
“I never spanked you when you were a child, and I’m wondering if I made a mistake with that particular child-rearing philosophy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jesus, where was this coming from?
“Kevin, what Harper did was wrong, but she’s one of Meg and Jason’s closest friends. Why didn’t you tell anyone you were seeing her?”
“I don’t know. I just didn’t.”
“Did she ask you to keep it quiet?”
Had she? He just assumed she’d want their relationship should be secret. She’d joked about it, about what Meg and Jason would do if they found out he and Harper were a couple. A couple. She’d referred to them as a couple.
Shit.
“No, she didn’t.”
“So you slept with her. More than once, I assume?”
He nodded.
“Maybe you could have mentioned that you were seeing her. I’m sure Harper didn’t like being hidden. No woman would. You know how sensitive Meg is to that kind of thing.” He knew Meg was sensitive because Jason had kept her a secret from all his friends when the two of them were in high school. He hadn’t thought Meg would fit in with his rich prep school crowd. With Harper, he just wanted things private. She generated a lot of strong feelings with people in his family, and he didn’t know if she’d fit in.
Aw, crap.
“I didn’t think it was a big deal, Mom.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
He was trying to understand how Harper’s lying had gotten him into trouble with his mother. He didn’t do anything except make love to her. He tried to see her, talk to her. He tried and she blew him off.
“I don’t know why you’re pissed at me.”