by Gina Wilkins
Tom responded by turning to Leslie. “Leslie, I’d like you to meet Kim McCain. Zach’s wife,” he added.
Leslie looked at the woman with renewed curiosity. Tom had told her that she would be surprised when she met Zach’s wife, and she was. Kim wasn’t at all the type of woman Zach had pursued when Leslie knew him. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
Kim smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, too. What a beautiful baby.”
“Thank you. His name is Kenny.” Leslie didn’t bother with further clarifications.
“Where’s Zach?” Tom asked.
Kim motioned behind her. “You know Zach. He saw Mark Hackett and the two of them started talking about kayaking. I left them standing in the lobby.” She glanced at the hostess. “Which table?”
The young woman pointed to a table for two across the room. “That one.”
“Thank you. We’ll have a seat as soon as my husband catches up.” Having politely dismissed her escort, Kim turned back to Tom and Leslie. “Heaven knows when that will be,” she said in resignation. “Once Zach gets to talking about kayaking...”
“Want me to go drag him in here for you?” Tom offered.
Kim smiled. “No, thanks. He’ll get hungry eventually.”
As if he’d heard them talking about him, Zach rushed up to join his wife. “Sorry, honey,” he said. “I couldn’t get away. Mark—”
He stopped talking abruptly, staring at Leslie. “Well, look who’s here,” he said then, breaking into one of his high-intensity smiles. “Lawyer Leslie.”
Chapter Six
Leslie smiled in response to the nickname Zach had given her when she’d dated Tom before. “Hi, Maverick,” she said, using the name she’d called Zach in return.
Zach McCain, she noted immediately, hadn’t changed a bit in the past eighteen months. He was still tanned and fit, dark hair tumbling over bright-blue eyes in a wickedly handsome face. Leslie had heard more than one debate over who was better looking—tall, dark Zach or slightly shorter, sandy-haired Tom. There was no doubt that they were both unusually attractive men, but Leslie had always had a preference for Tom’s dark-blond hair and beautiful green eyes.
Of course, she’d been aware of the differences that went much deeper than outward appearance. While both men were high-spirited and adventurous, Zach was more impulsive, impatient, a bit moody. Tom had been somewhat more mellow, open and laughing, well-known for the manners his mother had drilled into him. Tom, for example, would never have forced Leslie to find a table for herself while he lingered with a buddy in the restaurant lobby.
Yet Kim didn’t seem to mind her husband’s behavior. In fact, she was looking at him with obvious adoration. Leslie was a bit surprised to note that Zach looked at Kim in exactly the same way. Apparently, he’d met his match.
“Cute kid,” Zach said, motioning toward Kenny, who’d stopped drinking to stare in fascination at the newcomers. “Yours?” he asked, with typical lack of tact.
“My ward,” Leslie replied, thinking that Tom’s best friend deserved to hear the whole story. She was somewhat surprised that Tom hadn’t already mentioned Kenny. “My stepsister died and left him in my care,” she explained.
And as soon as this battle with Steve was settled, she fully intended to adopt Kenny so that she could legitimately call him her son, rather than her ward.
Zach shook his head, looking bemused. “You inherited a baby?”
Kim frowned at her husband, then said to Leslie, “I’m very sorry about your loss. You must have been close to your stepsister for her to leave you her son.”
Leslie decided then that she liked Kim McCain. “Yes, we were very close. I miss her.”
“Are you moving back to Fayetteville or just visiting?” Zach wanted to know.
“Leslie’s here to stay,” Tom said, giving her a quick, bracing smile. “I’ve finally convinced her that this is where she belongs.”
Leslie was glad that Zach and Kim were looking at Tom then, since she couldn’t stop her eyebrows from shooting up in surprise. Tom made it sound as if he’d asked her to come back, she thought. As if they’d been in contact since she’d left.
Zach looked from Tom to Leslie, searching their expressions. “So you two are seeing each other again?”
“You could say that,” Tom replied, sounding a bit smug. “Leslie and I were married this afternoon.”
If Tom had hoped for a dramatic reaction to his announcement, he got his wish. Zach froze. Kim blinked in surprise, then broke into a smile. “You aren’t pulling our leg, are you, Tom?”
He shook his head and lifted his left hand, displaying the gold band. “You can call my mom if you need confirmation,” he added lightly. “She was there.”
Kim congratulated them both, seemingly sincere with her astonished pleasure.
Zach’s smile didn’t quite ring true. “So, how did this come about?” he asked. “I didn’t even know the two of you had stayed in touch.”
Leslie would have told the truth then. She had never intended for Tom to deceive his friends.
Tom gave her a look that kept her quiet, and said, instead, “You know how I am when I set my mind to something. I don’t take no for an answer.”
Leslie couldn’t help wondering whose pride Tom was protecting by making it sound as though he had done the proposing—hers or his own. She wanted to tell him that he needn’t bother on her behalf—especially with Zach. There’d been a time when Tom and Zach had kept nothing from each other.
Yet it was obvious that something about that relationship had changed. So, whatever had happened to Tom had also affected his friendship with Zach, she mused. She felt as if she were trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle with no idea of what it was supposed to look like.
“Let me be one of the first to offer my best wishes.” Zach was still smiling when he leaned over to brush a kiss across Leslie’s cheek. It was only when he was so close to her that she saw the hurt in his eyes.
“Thank you, Zach,” she murmured.
Zach turned to Tom and held out his hand. “Congratulations, Lowery. And welcome to the married men’s club.”
“Thanks, Zach.” Perhaps there was a silent apology in the look Tom gave his friend. Leslie couldn’t be sure, but she thought there was.
Growing bored with the adults, Kenny reached for his bottle again. Leslie tilted him back against her arm and guided the bottle to his mouth. The action brought Zach’s attention back to the baby. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a ready-made family,” he commented to Tom.
Tom nodded. “I know. I was just telling Leslie that we’re going to have to talk to Sherm and Sami about local pediatricians.”
Zach nodded and shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “Yeah, I guess they’d know about that sort of thing.”
Kim placed a hand on Zach’s arm. “We’re starting to get some evil looks from the waiters,” she said lightly. “We’d better take our table.”
“We’ve just eaten,” Tom said. “We’ll be going as soon as Kenny finishes his bottle. We’ll all have to get together soon, let Kim and Leslie get to know each other better.”
“That would be nice,” Kim agreed with a smile that was both shy and warm. “Zach’s on duty tomorrow and Thursday, so we have next weekend free, except for Sunday.”
“Are you taking some time off for a honeymoon, or will you be going to the office tomorrow?” Zach asked Tom.
Leslie was a bit surprised by the way Zach worded the question. They didn’t usually refer to the fire station as “the office.”
“No, I have to work,” Tom answered, and this time he directed an apologetic look toward Leslie. “I’ll try to take some time off later.”
“At least you have all your evenings free,” Kim said artlessly. “There are some advantages to an eight-to-five, Monday-through-Friday job. It’s much easier to schedule around.” Eight to five. Monday through Friday. Since when did Tom work that schedule at the fire department? Obviously, Zach’s hours
were still the standard twenty-four on, forty-eight off.
“Yeah, well, I’m on call this week, so I may still have to go out some nights.” Tom was still looking at Leslie. “The three of us in the fire marshal’s office take turns being on call after hours,” he said for her benefit. “My week starts tomorrow.”
The fire marshal’s office. This was the first she’d heard that Tom had changed jobs. It took a massive effort to keep the confusion out of her expression. Zach and Kim probably thought she already knew what Tom’s job was—wives were generally expected to know that sort of thing about their mates.
Her new husband, in the words of TV’s Ricky Ricardo, had some “ ’splaining” to do.
Nina Lowery was a good listener. Everyone said so. It wasn’t unusual for people who were practically strangers to unburden themselves to her. Steve Pendleton was proving to be no exception.
“Kenny’s all I have left of my family,” he said, sitting at her kitchen table behind a cup of coffee and an untouched slice of lemon pie. “I can’t just forget about him.”
“No one’s asking you to forget about Kenny,” Nina reminded him gently. “The reason Leslie called you was to give you the option to be involved in your nephew’s life. She thought you had the right to get to know him. She had no idea you would try to take him away from her.”
Steve winced. “You make it sound so cruel.”
“From my standpoint, it is cruel. Haven’t you seen how much she loves that baby? She’s taken such good care of him. She has made so many sacrifices for him—her job, her home in Chicago.” Nina didn’t mention the hastily arranged marriage to Tom. She had no intention of letting Steve Pendleton know the truth about that marriage.
“And how long will she continue taking such good care of him?” Bitterness coated Steve’s words. “Until something more interesting comes along? She’s a Harden—trust me, they aren’t known for staying around.”
Nina couldn’t help thinking of the way Leslie had walked out on Tom to take the job in Chicago. Though Nina had never known all the details of that breakup, she knew Tom had been hurt. And yet she couldn’t believe that Leslie would ever walk away from Kenny. “You can’t blame Leslie for her parents’ actions.”
Steve ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t blame her. I just don’t trust her.”
“Your sister obviously did.”
She watched him flinch as her words struck home. “That’s something else I can blame Leslie for,” he muttered. “She didn’t call me when my sister was dying. I didn’t know—until it was too late.”
His voice broke, just a little, on the last word.
Nina’s heart immediately softened. She didn’t want to hurt him further, but she couldn’t allow him to continue to blame Leslie for something that hadn’t been Leslie’s fault. “Your sister asked her not to call you,” she said. “Leslie tried repeatedly to change her mind.”
Steve sighed and looked down at his hands. “She should have called anyway.”
“She couldn’t, Steve. Crystal was her friend.”
“Yeah, well, she was my sister!”
Nina didn’t even flinch at the controlled violence in his outburst. She recognized it for what it was. Pain. Frustration. Grief.
“I know what it’s like to be estranged from your family,” she murmured. “It’s very difficult. And when you lose someone without having a chance to make amends, or at least to say goodbye—well, it hurts. Badly.”
He searched her face. “You do understand.”
“Yes.”
“You lost a sibling?”
She shook her head. “My father. He never forgave me for the mistake I made as a teenager. Our relationship was still very strained when he died. I’ve always regretted that.”
“Mistake?”
“I was seventeen and unmarried when my son was born. The father was a college boy who wanted nothing to do with me when I discovered that I was pregnant. So you see, I understand how you feel. And how your sister might have felt. And I’m very sorry for both of you.”
“Surely she knew I wouldn’t have turned her away. I would have taken care of her. In fact, I would have insisted—” He fell abruptly silent.
“That she make different decisions?” Nina shook her head. “Leslie said that nothing would have changed Crystal’s mind about protecting her baby, even at the cost of her own life. Your sister loved her baby more than anything else in the world, Steve. And she wanted Leslie to raise him.”
Steve was silent for several long moments, staring glumly at his hands. And then he looked up slowly. “Your son...he’ll be a good father to my nephew?”
“My son will be a wonderful father.” Nina could make that statement without hesitation.
Steve sighed heavily. “I’m not a cruel man, Mrs., er, Ms.—”
“Nina.”
“Thank you.” He smiled at her briefly before continuing. “I’m dropping the lawsuit.”
She told herself that her heart fluttered only from relief. That it had nothing to do with this younger man’s smile. “You’re dropping it?”
He nodded. “Yes. It’s a fight I probably wouldn’t have won anyway, especially now that Leslie has married your son. I just needed to know that Kenny would be well cared for. And—well, I was angry. Hurt:”
“I understand that,” Nina said warmly. “And I think you’re doing the right thing, Steve.”
“Yeah, well.” He drew a deep breath. “Tell Leslie she’d better take good care of my nephew. I hope she deserves the faith you’ve shown in her.”
Nina frowned. “You’ll tell her yourself, when you let her know your decision.”
He shook his head. “Maybe it would be best if I just get out of their lives. Leslie and I are hardly friends.”
“Then you’ll learn to be. For Kenny’s sake,” Nina said firmly. “As you’ve pointed out repeatedly, you are his uncle. You should be a part of his life.”
“Tom and Leslie might have something to say about that,” Steve answered ruefully. “Especially if they adopt Kenny, which I’m sure they will, once I’m out of the way.”
“That will make no difference. Neither of them would deny Kenny the chance to know his only uncle.”
“What are you saying? That I should visit? Have dinner with the family? Spend Christmas with them?” He looked at her skeptically as he listed the options.
“Why not?” she asked with a deliberately challenging smile.
“Nina, you weren’t listening. Leslie and I don’t even get along.”
“Why not?” she repeated. “You have things in common. Both of you were hurt by your parents’ actions when you were younger. You both loved your sister, each in your own way. You both love Kenny now. If you will allow yourself to get to know Leslie as herself, rather than as her father’s daughter, I think you’ll like her. I like her very much.”
Her smile deepened. “As for my son, he is a wonderful man. Of course I’m biased, but he’s kind and loyal and thoughtful and funny. Everyone likes him.”
Steve’s smile was a bit crooked. He spoke with a touch of indulgence for her maternal pride. “He hasn’t exactly been funny when I was around.”
“You haven’t given him a chance,” she reminded him. And then sighed. “But to be honest, he’s had a difficult year. Some of the laughter has gone out of him, and it has broken my heart. I’m so hopeful that this marriage will bring the joy back to him.”
Steve looked interested, but didn’t pry into the details of Tom’s problems. He asked only, “So they didn’t just marry to keep me from getting Kenny?”
Nina phrased her answer carefully. “Tom and Leslie are meant for each other. They still have some issues to work out between them, but I believe they will have a wonderful marriage.”
He looked concerned by her circumspection, and she knew he was thinking of his nephew.
“They will be good parents, Steve,” she repeated firmly. “They’ll put Kenny’s needs first.”
A s
udden, brilliant idea made her bite her lip to hide a smile. “There is one way you can make sure of that, if it will ease your mind.”
His right eyebrow rose in question. “And what is that?”
“Eat your pie,” she said, rising from her chair. “I’ll get you a fresh cup of coffee. And then we’ll talk more.”
The baby was asleep by the time Leslie and Tom got home that evening. Without saying anything to Tom, Leslie carried Kenny into the guest bedroom, changed his diaper and slipped him into a one-piece sleeper, then laid him gently on his back in the portable crib and covered him with a light blanket. She knew he wasn’t yet down for the night. He’d wake in a few hours for another bottle, maybe stay awake for a little while before going back to sleep. She needed to get him back on the regular schedule that had been disturbed since she’d left Chicago.
She stood for several long minutes just watching Kenny sleep. He was so small. So fragile. So totally dependent. She’d made so many decisions on his behalf in the past weeks. She hoped she hadn’t made any serious mistakes.
Taking a deep breath, she went in search of Tom.
He wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen. Nor was he in his bedroom. Frowning, she looked down the hallway toward the house’s small, third bedroom. Tom had used that one for storage before. The door had remained closed for the past couple of days, so she’d assumed the room was still unused. That door was ajar now, drawing her like an invitation.
The boxes and trunks she’d remembered from before were gone, she noted immediately. The room now resembled a professional gym. Serious-looking workout equipment lined the walls—weight benches, a stationary bike, a treadmill, a stair climber, other machines she didn’t recognize. Tom had been into physical fitness when she’d known him before, but not like this. He’d kept in shape then through his very active adventures, not through formal exercise.
Tom sat on a bench in the center of the room, but he wasn’t working out. Just sitting there. Watching her.
He’d shed his jacket and tie and had unfastened the top three buttons of his white dress shirt. His sandy hair was disarrayed, as though he’d been running his fingers through it. His eyes were wary.