Sydney had been one very busy lady. Correction, Sydney and Trevor had been busy. Each night when he had talked to his son, Trevor had filled him in on every detail of his day. His son’s days began with Sydney, consisted of Sydney with a touch of Thomas thrown in for good measure, and then ended with Sydney. Even over a thousand miles of telephone lines he could hear the emotions tugging at Trevor’s voice and words. His son was falling in love with Sydney. He couldn’t blame the boy. Like father, like son.
His gaze left the nursery and traveled the empty path he knew Sydney walked every day. The path that led directly to her father’s house. He hadn’t been surprised when he learned that Sydney had given up her apartment, and her independence, to move back home with her father after the accident. Her father’s house was a nice comfortable home, but somehow it didn’t really fit Sydney. He would have liked to have seen her apartment.
Daffodils, hyacinths and a tulip or two were flowering in the gardens surrounding the house. The flowers added a touch of color and the promise of warmer days ahead. Atlanta had seemed to be in the middle of a heat wave, yet up in the mountains of Pennsylvania it was still chilly enough to wear a coat. He eased his foot off the brake and drove toward the house. He didn’t need a coat. He had thoughts of Sydney and their private homecoming to keep him warm.
Four minutes later he was hauling his garment bag and laptop from the trunk of the car when Trevor opened the front door of the house and flew down the walkway yelling, “Dad!” Ellis dropped the garment bag, but gently lowered the laptop to the ground a second before Trevor blasted into his arms.
He held his son as he swung him around in circles. “I gather you’ve missed me?” Trevor’s squeals of laughter not only brought a smile to his own mouth, but laughter to his heart. He was home. After receiving a half-dozen noisy kisses, he slowly lowered Trevor back to the ground and noticed Sydney standing quietly at the door.
He could tell she had just taken a shower because her curls were still on the frizzy side, which was fine with him. He liked her hair a little wild almost as much as he liked it when the sun hit it at a certain angle and it appeared to be on fire. She was dressed in dark purple pants, that fit her legs like skin, and an oversize white shirt with tiny irises embroidered on the collar and pocket. And on her lips was the warmest smile he had ever seen. It nearly matched the warmth in her eyes.
He gathered up the garment bag while Trevor picked up the laptop. His son liked to help him unload after a trip, but he wasn’t big enough to handle the garment bag, so he always took the laptop. It was an awfully expensive piece of equipment to allow a five-year-old to carry into the house, but the look of pride and love brightening his son’s face was well worth the risk. Computers could be replaced, the look on his son’s face couldn’t.
Trevor slipped past Sydney and entered the house, calling for Thomas. Ellis stopped in front of Sydney and tenderly cupped her cheek. “I’ve missed you.” Homecomings with Trevor were filled with wild hugs, excitement and “What did you bring me?” Coming home to Sydney was filled with slow heat.
If he and Sydney had been totally alone there wouldn’t be any wild hugs or frantic yelling. He would carefully peel off every article of her clothing and make slow, deep love to her. Over and over again. He would want to savor every inch of her to satisfy the hunger that had been building for days. Tonight, when Thomas and Trevor were in their own beds and he could safely join Sydney in hers, he doubted if he’d still have the patience or control to go slow. They had hours to go before he could taste her again.
Sydney turned her head and pressed a kiss into the center of his palm. “I bet you didn’t miss me half as much as I missed you.”
“You’d lose.” He glanced into the house behind her and couldn’t see either Thomas or Trevor. He leaned in closer and pressed himself against her softness. The gentle green of her eyes darkened. “Do you have any idea how badly I want you this very minute?”
Sydney arched her hips and smiled knowingly. “I have an idea.”
He muttered, “Witch,” before capturing her smile with his mouth. There was no way he could conceal his desire. The proof of it was pressed gently into her thigh. But that didn’t mean she had to torment him even more.
He broke the kiss when she begun to wrap her arms around his neck and it started to threaten his control. Having Sydney pressed up against his aching body was just too much of a temptation. He was never going to last until tonight if he didn’t put some room between them, and fast.
He forced himself to take a step back and yell over her shoulder, “Trevor?”
“What, Dad?” Trevor’s voice came from the direction of the kitchen.
He glared at Sydney’s knowing grin before answering his son. “Come see what I’ve brought you back from Atlanta.” He heard Trevor’s shout echo off the kitchen walls.
Sydney leaned back against the doorjamb. “You, Mr. Carlisle, are a coward.”
He leaned against the other jamb and grinned. She was going to pay for the comment, and pay dearly. “It beats explaining to your father and Trevor why I’m carrying you up the stairs.”
Trevor’s full-speed arrival through the living room prevented Sydney from responding. But he had to admit she looked extremely receptive to the idea.
“What did you get me, Dad?” Trevor skidded to a halt three inches away from the garment bag.
He reached down, unzipped one of the outer pockets on his suitcase and pulled out a bag imprinted with the name of a famous nature-store chain. “Bugs.”
“Bugs?” Trevor reached for the bag. “Real ones?”
He saw the look of horror on Sydney’s face and chuckled. “No, they’re made from all kinds of different things, like wood, plastic and rubber.”
Trevor pulled a wooden box from the bag and showed it to Sydney. It was engraved with red letters.
“It says African Insects.” Sydney looked on with interest as Trevor slowly undid the latch and opened the box.
Ellis smiled at the look of total rapture on his son’s face. He had known as soon as he had spotted the insect collection that Trevor would love it. The box opened on hinges and both sides contained a dozen replicas of insects in their own compartments, neatly labeled and protected by a clear plastic cover. “There’s everything from a desert locust to a tsetse fly.”
“Wow, Dad, can I hold them?”
“Sure, but you have to be very careful, they’re fragile.” He reached down and showed his son how to undo the protective plastic cover. “Only take out one at a time so you’ll remember which compartment it goes back into.”
“What’s this one?” Trevor pulled out a dark-colored plastic bug with gossamer wings.
“It’s a termite.”
“Cool, can I go show them to Thomas?”
“I...sure, go ahead.” Show them to Thomas. Trevor knew Thomas couldn’t see, so why did he want to show them to Thomas.
Trevor carefully replaced the termite into the appropriate compartment and took off for the kitchen. He and Sydney followed at a slower pace.
He took a step into the kitchen, but Sydney stayed in the doorway, silently watching the scene unfolding before them.
Trevor pulled up a chair next to Thomas at the kitchen table. Thomas seemed to have been enjoying a cup of coffee. There was an empty glass of milk at the place next to him. A couple of cookie crumbs dotted the table. “Wait till you see them, Thomas, they’re cool.” Trevor carefully opened the protective plastic and removed a large brownish grasshopper. “Hold out your hand.”
Thomas immediately obeyed. “What am I holding my hand out for?”
“A bug. I’m not sure what this one’s called, but he’s cool.” Trevor carefully placed the bug onto Thomas’s palm.
Thomas sat very still as he brought his other hand over and lightly touched the bug. “It’s not real.”
“Of course not.” Trevor chuckled. “Dad wouldn’t give me real bugs. He’s not that crazy.”
Thomas laughed along w
ith him. “I guess he’s not.” His fingers cautiously felt the bug. “This one feels like a grasshopper. What other kinds of bugs did he bring you?”
“All kinds of neat ones.” Trevor replaced the desert locust and reached for another one to show Thomas.
Ellis felt his heart give a funny little lurch at the scene. His son had formed a special bond with Thomas. The older man’s blindness didn’t matter at all to Trevor. In his own way his son had simplified Thomas’s disability. If Thomas couldn’t see with his eyes, he could see with his hands.
Thomas should have been his son’s grandfather.
He turned away from the touching scene and glanced at Sydney. She was mesmerized by Thomas, Trevor and a boxful of bugs. He could see the love gleaming in her green eyes, but he could also see the tears.
Thomas St. Claire was the man she called Father. The love they shared was obvious, and so was her pain. Sydney had been tossed out onto the stormy sea, just as Ellis had been. They were in different boats, fighting different waves, but they were on the same turbulent sea. He and his son were rowing against the monstrous wave called leukemia. Sydney was sitting alone in her boat watching her father row against the turbulent waves known as blindness.
It was Thomas’s fight, and Sydney had the difficult task of standing back and allowing him to fight the seas. She could make her father’s life comfortable and offer him her companionship, but the fight was his. The blindness was his to deal with as best he could.
He took a couple of steps to Sydney and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He felt his heart give another funny little lurch as she leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder while continuing to watch her father and his son with misty eyes. Sydney St. Claire was one amazing and strong woman. And he knew he was falling in love with her.
Ellis felt like a thief, sneaking out of the guest bedroom and silently tiptoeing to Sydney’s room. Discretion was a key element to loving Sydney. His gut was telling him they weren’t fooling Thomas for a minute. Thomas might be blind, but as Trevor demonstrated so nicely, he could still see.
He slipped into her room just as the shower stopped in the bathroom across the hall. Sydney was in there and the temptation to join her had been strong. Showering with Sydney was definitely one of life’s experiences he was dying to try. The sound of running water had affected his body in a basic male way. A very hard basic male way.
He wanted Sydney. He wanted the whole woman. He not only wanted her body, he wanted her warmth and her smiles. He wanted her heart.
The small box clutched in his hand felt inadequate as a missed-you gift. He had been rushing around the hotel in Atlanta when he passed the window of a jewelry store next to the restaurant where he had just had dinner. It was an expensive shop geared to tourists and hurried businessmen and women who never saw more then the inside of the airport, taxis and the hotel. The blaze of green caught his eye and halted his feet. The shimmering emerald stud earrings that blazed with an inner fire reminded him of Sydney. The depths of her beautiful green eyes blazed with the same inner fire when he was deep inside her, loving her.
He placed the box on the top of her bureau, walked over to the window and stared out into the night. This evening when he had pulled up in front of the St Claires’ home he had felt as if he was coming home. His son had been waiting with hugs and kisses. Sydney had been standing there silently with a certain gleam in her eyes. A gleam that promised a warmer welcome once they were behind closed doors. Even Thomas had seemed happy that he had returned.
Was this what a real family felt like?
The small rural town of Coalsburg had had that friendly, homey feel to it as he had driven through on his way home. John, the police chief, had waved to him. So had Georgette, who had been closing up her toy shop. Harvey, driving some big old Buick, had beeped and one of the other officers had passed him on his way out of town and tooted his horn.
He liked the warmth of the town and thought it would be a great place to raise Trevor. But it wasn’t to be. Trevor’s illness required the top doctors, the top hospitals, the top everything if he was going to win this battle.
The nearest hospital to Coalsburg was thirty-seven miles. He had checked. Trevor’s illness had to take precedence over everything, including his own happiness.
The sound of the closing bedroom door was soft, but he heard it anyway. He needed some time to pull his emotions under control before he turned around and faced Sydney.
Less than a moment later he felt warm, gentle hands stroke his back. “Are you looking at anything in particular?” Sydney’s breath feathered his ear as her hands continued their journey over his shoulders.
He felt some of the tension melt away under the heat of desire. Tomorrow would take care of itself. Tonight there was only Sydney. He pulled his gaze from the darkness and studied her reflection in the window. Sydney looked like some wanton angel. She had on her oversize white robe, her hair was a wild mass of dark curls. If an artist captured her right at this moment on canvas there could only be one title to the picture—Tempting Angel.
He felt the last of his strain fade as her hands slid around his waist and up his chest. “Yeah, I’m looking at an angel.”
Sydney’s gaze shot to the window. He could tell the instant she realized he was referring to her. She smiled a slow easy smile.
“I’d say you’re suffering from jet lag.” Tempting fingers made their way down his chest to toy with the drawstring of his pajama pants.
“Atlanta’s in the same time zone as Pennsylvania.” He felt his body come to life beneath her gentle touch.
Sydney’s lips were warm and teasing as they left a trail of kisses down the side of his neck. “So why did it feel like you were half a world away?”
He turned and hauled her up against his chest. He couldn’t stand it a minute longer. With a rough expletive toward the Fates, he lowered his mouth and savored Sydney’s heat.
Somehow Sydney managed to yank his T-shirt over his head and undo the tie on his pants. Her robe slid off her shoulders with a minimum of effort, which was remarkable considering he was too busy kissing every available inch of her body to pay it much attention.
The bed was soft and comfortable, but neither of them noticed. Pillows fell to the floor, protection was rolled on, and someone made a begging little plea. He wasn’t sure which one of them had moaned, but it probably was himself. He was not above begging.
Within three minutes of claiming her mouth, he was deep inside her watching the emeralds once again form in her eyes.
The emerald gleam of her gaze shattered as she climaxed beneath him. He felt her body’s contractions cradle him more deeply inside, forcing him to join her in that place over the edge.
Some time before dawn, emerald fire gleaming on Sydney’s earlobes and he totally exhausted from her inspired and heartfelt thanks for the gift, he heard her whisper into the darkness, “Welcome home.” Her words matched his sentiments exactly.
“Oh,” cried Norma Hess. “No wonder the poor girl ran away. Her parents would have never approved.”
Ellis looked at Norma and tried to rein in his frustration. Time was running out. He had been back from Atlanta for two days now, and nothing new turned up. It wasn’t for the lack of Thomas’s efforts. The man was obsessed with finding Trevor’s grandfather.
He had been afraid of that. Thomas and Trevor had become very good friends and now Thomas’s desire to locate his son’s grandfather had nothing to do with proving he wasn’t Ellis’s father. And Ellis knew it was more than just a matter of solving the mystery and keeping his police skills honed. It had to do with Trevor—only Trevor. Thomas had realized that Trevor, his new little friend, could die without that bone marrow transplant. The older man’s panic had turned into an obsession, just like his had done.
At least Thomas and he were working toward the same end. The same results. Find Trevor’s natural grandfather, no matter what. Of course the “what” consisted of talking to everyone who had been
alive and living in the town when his mother was here. Norma and her friend Vivian were the twelfth and thirteenth persons they had talked to since he had been back from the business trip.
“Cathy’s parents would have never supported her, either financially or emotionally.” Vivian shook her head.
“We’re sorry, Ellis, but your grandparents weren’t the shining example of humanity they thought they were. They held poor Cathy up as some symbol of purity and never let her forget it.” Norma appeared apologetic.
“It’s all right, Vivian and Norma. You’re not telling me anything I haven’t known already. I knew why my mother chose to raise me on her own, and from some of the stories I’ve heard, I can only thank her.”
“Good, good.” Norma took a sip of her coffee and nibbled on the edge of a cookie. “It was such a long time ago, you understand.”
“We’ve got years to go before we can retire, Alzheimer’s hasn’t set in yet, but boy, do we feel old,” added Vivian with a rusty laugh.
Thomas chuckled. “Nonsense, you two. I don’t feel old, and I’m older than you both.” Thomas pushed the cookie plate back into the center of the table. “So you can’t remember anything about Cathy and who she might have been seeing? She left this town four months pregnant. Surely someone had to have seen her with someone.”
Norma shook her head. “Cathy wasn’t very social in school.”
“The only time I saw her actually talk to anyone was at church. She seemed more comfortable there than at school.” Vivian reached for another cookie.
“Who did she talk to at church?” Ellis asked. The crumpled list of members was tucked safely into his pocket. “Can you remember anyone in particular? Some boy from the youth group or bible-study class?”
A Father's Promise (Intimate Moments) Page 17