The Look of Love

by Chris Keniston

  By other stuff his wife was no doubt referring to the hours she spent doing rough sketches of room renovations for her clients to use when interviewing contractors. Or the afternoons spent accompanying a buyer shopping for furniture to decorate the newly purchased home. Or poring over color samples and swatches for one of her investors. “You really do too much.”

  “I know. I keep saying I’m going to charge for all the extras but—”

  “You love it,” he finished for her.

  “Yeah. I really do. And every once in a while I get to help people with more than just buying or decorating a home.”

  “You’re talking about that young woman who needed an investigator?”

  Angela squinted at him with one eye again and nodded.

  “Was Brooklyn able to help her find who she was looking for?”

  Angela bobbed her head and let her eyes fall shut. “Yeah. I think it’s been at least a few months now. I have to admit, Brooklyn is amazing.”

  “He is.”

  “And that associate of his is a real hoot.”

  Billy had to think about that a minute before he remembered about Brooklyn’s grandmother-in-law’s ex-cop husband. Though, from the stories Billy had heard over time, he suspected the grandmother was the true firecracker in that family.

  “Do you think they’ll ever come to visit? I’d love to meet him and Sharla in person.”

  “Hard to say. Their baby is due before ours.”

  “Then maybe we should go there?”

  “You mean now?” Billy’s hand stilled. “Before the baby?”

  “No, I’d hate to miss the birth of Nick and Kara’s baby.”

  “You want to practice on Baby Harper?” Billy ran his fingers up the back of Angela’s calf, kneading at a particularly stubborn knot.

  “I’ve been practicing for motherhood my whole life. It’s Kara who might need some help when that baby arrives. There was no Diaper Changing 101 in law school. Once her aunt and Nick’s mom are gone, she’ll probably need me.”

  Even Billy knew his wife was absolutely correct. Kara was a fantastic litigator. Wonderful mother to Nick’s son, Bradley. But so far she seemed a bit overwhelmed by the whole preparing-for-baby concept. “So we’ve established we’re not traveling because Kara may need you. And you’re not ready to hand off any of your current clients—”

  “There are only two of them left.”

  “I thought you were working with four people?”

  She shook her head. “Even though I thought the probate court was never going to sign off on the contract for Carolyn Porter’s house, we finally closed last week. And Mr. Sobel decided he wanted to wait a few more months to list his house.”

  Billy bit his lip and refrained from commenting. It was people like the Sobels made his wife’s job so much harder, working until all hours only to have the clients back off and then return in a few months and have her start all over again.

  “Oh.” Both of Angela’s eyes popped open. “I forgot to mention that I’ve invited a few people to your mom’s barbecue.”

  “I’m sure that will be fine. We all know she’s going to invite half the town herself.”

  “I know, and most of these clients have moved here from somewhere else. One of your mom’s parties is a great way for them to settle in. And maybe even make a few new friends.”

  “As long as making these new friends doesn’t wear you and Junior out.”

  “Junior and I are just fine. Besides, with your fingers, as long as you keep rubbing my feet like that, I could probably face demons and devils on my own—and win.”

  “Yeah, well, here’s hoping we don’t ever get to test that theory. Oh, by the way, Nick called to say his mother’s flight is coming in late. Do you still want to do dinner with them?”

  “How late is late?”

  “Almost nine.”

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “Junior is demanding I eat pretty soon. We’ll never make it until nine. Maddie and I can talk shop another day.”

  “Are you still scheming for Nick’s sister to move to Kona?”

  “You bet. I also want to introduce her to a few people, get her feeling like this could be home.”

  Billy’s chest rumbled with laughter. “I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but you remind me of my mother.”

  Angela flashed a cheesy grin. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “It is.” He loved his mother. She had a multitude of admirable qualities and was loved by everyone. But she also happened to be the biggest busybody he’d ever met and was determined to marry off every single person of legal age. “All we have to do for the next month is keep my mother and her matchmaking schemes away from Madeleine.”

  Angela sputtered with laughter. “Could we try to stop Mauna Loa from erupting instead? Your mother is a true force of nature.”

  That she was. He just hoped Madeleine Harper wasn’t anywhere on his mother’s matchmaking radar.

  * * *

  While Randy and Yvette walked into the hotel in search of a cool drink, Dan sat on the beach beside Maddie, wondering why he felt so comfortable with a woman he’d only known a few hours. “Your parents are quite a couple.”

  “Sometimes I wonder if I’ve gone to sleep and woken up in a Norman Rockwell painting.”

  “So they’re like this all the time. Not just on vacation?”

  “Well, it’s been a while since I’ve lived with them, but I think it’s safe to say, yes. They’re like this all the time.”

  “That’s great.”

  Maddie blew out a wistful sigh. “Yeah. It really is. Most of the time I doubt I’ll ever meet anyone who I’ll connect with like that.”

  “You will.”

  “I don’t know. I’m starting to think my father is a mutation. He must have a Z chromosome that, unlike the regular Y chromosome, doesn’t have the idiot gene.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Sorry. It’s been a rough few months on the dating front. But I am holding out hope for a few good men to outgrow the inferior gene. Nick seems to have.”

  “That would be the idiot gene?”

  Maddie held back a laugh. “Yeah. Nick is not only turning out to be a pretty good husband, he and his wife have a similar thing going like Mom and Dad. They’re really cute together too. I expect it won’t be too long before they can read each other’s minds as well.”

  “It is a bit uncanny how your parents do that. I noticed, a few times, all it took was one look, and then one or the other spoke for both of them. Once in a while you get an XO—I mean, second in command—who can almost read your mind, but nothing like that.” He had also had a few teammates who had worked with him like his own shadow, but he didn’t want to go down that path now. Her parents would be back soon, and he just wanted to enjoy Maddie’s company for the little time they had left. “Your mom is also pretty stoked about the grandkids.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Especially the new baby.”

  “It’s not that she isn’t excited to see Bradley, but this is her first grandbaby.”

  “Your brother was stationed overseas when Bradley was born?”

  “My brother didn’t know when his son was born. Or, more accurately, he didn’t know he even had a son. He didn’t discover then-five-year-old Bradley’s existence until the mother was diagnosed with cancer.”

  “Oh.”

  “It was quite a shock to everyone, but Mom was over the moon from the start. She dotes on that kid like he was the Second Coming. And I know the new baby is going to be even worse.”

  “I’m sure.” He certainly could relate to the shock of discovering having a child. Though finding out that he had an adult daughter wasn’t quite the same thing, it was a shock nonetheless.

  “They tell me Mom almost passed out from the news. But she recovered quickly. Nick had one heck of a learning curve too, but, fortunately for him, his wife has pretty good instincts. Though she wasn’t married to him yet at the time.”
r />   “It must have been hard for him.”

  “Once he got over the surprise of it all, he had to deal with the anger. It was difficult for him to believe that someone he’d loved enough to want to marry and raise a family with would have kept such a secret from him. No matter how many children he and Kara have, he’ll never get back those early years he missed with Bradley.”

  “No.” Dan leaned his forearms across the tops of his knees. “No, he can’t.”

  His mind circled back to that day months ago when his doorbell rang. Living in a quiet little place just outside base, he’d been enjoying a relaxing afternoon watching the Titan’s game. He couldn’t imagine who the hell would be ringing his bell instead of sitting in front of the TV watching the last minutes of the 21–24 game.

  On the other side of the open door stood a lovely young blonde, nibbling on her lower lip. “Hello.”

  This was not the time to be selling magazine subscriptions. “Hello.”

  “My name is Carolyn, and I was hoping you might have a few minutes to talk.”

  He glanced over her shoulder, wondering if some thug or other criminal with an agenda was lurking in the hallway to his apartment, then switched his attention to the TV screen. “This isn’t the best—”

  “It’s rather important. I’ve come all the way from Hawaii.”

  That got his attention. Who the heck comes from Hawaii to sell magazine subscriptions? Once again he looked at the TV and figured, if she wasn’t a well-disguised mass murder about to shoot him dead and rob him blind, he could always replay the final minutes of the game later. “Sure, come on in.”

  The young lady had a grip on the strap of her purse that turned her knuckles white. For her, whatever was up was very serious.

  “I’m not sure where to start.”

  “The beginning is usually a good place.” He considered offering her something to drink but decided to wait until he knew what this was all about.

  “I graduated in May from the University of Hawaii and took a job in Kona. I’m an accountant.” She paused as though expecting him to comment. When he said nothing, she continued. “My mom really wanted me to go to law school and someday join her practice.”

  “Some parents are really into family businesses.” His dad had hoped none of his kids would follow in his footsteps to the assembly line.

  “Mom worked hard to get her degree and to build her practice. While most of her friends were going out and partying, she put herself through law school. Her career was her entire focus. Then one day she looked up and realized she was thirty-five years old and had no one to share her success with.”

  He certainly understood that. At forty-one he had a lot of nieces and nephews but no real home of his own, something he was trying not to think about as he approached his twenty years in the navy and possible retirement.

  “Anyhow a couple years later she decided it was do or die, and she had artificial insemination.”

  Uh-oh. Dan started doing some fast math. Recent graduate made her twenty-one, maybe twenty-two. And twenty-two years ago he’d been a stupid freshman looking for an easy way to make some fast cash when one of his teammates mentioned donating sperm. But if this young lady had taken time off before starting college, then the math wouldn’t work. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  The math worked. This could all be coincidence, but he was pretty sure he knew why she was here. But how?

  “I’ve wondered my whole life about my father. My mother had some basic facts she got from the sperm bank. Height, weight, education. A basic medical history. Even a photograph. But not much more.”

  Dan blinked. It was a reflexive action like breathing. Speaking wasn’t an option.

  “Mom and I had made plans from an early age for me to save and position myself so I could buy a small condo after college instead of renting. I’ve got this fabulous Realtor in Kona. Absolutely the best. Mom only met her once, but she just loves her. And Mom’s not easy to win over either. They got along like a house on fire.”

  He nodded this time. Maybe this was going somewhere different than he first thought.

  “My Realtor’s husband has an old navy buddy who used to be a SEAL and now he owns a private security company. He’s a top-notch private investigator.”

  Dan found himself studying her face, looking for commonalities.

  “I’d been trying to get files released since I’d turned eighteen. The donor didn’t sign an identification option.”

  He remembered that. Donors could authorize contact by the offspring once they reached the legal age of consent. Only eighteen himself at the time, he hadn’t seen the point.

  “But Luke is amazing. In only a few days he gave me a name and address.” She pulled a small legal-size envelope from her purse, emptied the contents and handed Dan the pages. “Yours.”

  Chapter Six

  Dan stood by the trunk of his rental car at the Honolulu airport and unloaded the two carry-on bags for Maddie and her parents. “It’s been a pleasure.”

  “Now don’t forget,” Randy said, “first vacation you get, come on down to Port Aransas, and we’ll get in some serious fishing.”

  “Will do.” There had been an exchange of email addresses, which most likely would never be used.

  Yvette grinned at him. “Knock ’em dead at the symposium.” For a split second he thought she was reaching forward to hug him only to have her back up instead.

  Madeleine yanked on the handle for the carry-on and, straightening her shoulders, offered a tired smile. No surprise considering evening in Honolulu was late night on the mainland, but nonetheless he thought he detected a hint of sadness playing peekaboo with exhaustion. She waved a thumb at her mother. “What she said.” Then she stuck that same hand out to him.

  “Thank you.” Glad for the slightest excuse to touch, he folded his hand around hers. Their handshake lasted only as long as socially acceptable, even though he wanted very much to pull her into a hug for a proper good-bye. “Congratulations again on the new baby.”

  He’d said it before but felt the need to say it one more time. He was oddly pleased that this time Madeleine and her parents would be involved in her niece’s or nephew’s life from the beginning. And not for the first time today he felt a physical ache in his chest at the years he’d lost with his daughter. Daughter. The word alone seemed as foreign as the concept. Carolyn was still a stranger. A polite stranger. With his DNA.

  The happy family walked away, and he resisted the urge to linger until they were out of sight. He’d also resisted the urge to meet up with them while he was in Kona. His reason for coming this far was to get to know Carolyn better. To start working on that father-daughter relationship that meant so much to her. Not that she’d come right out and said so. But he hadn’t moved up through the ranks to captain in only twenty years without being able to read between the lines and behind facades. And after today he was more than ready to do something about that family he’d never taken the time to have.

  * * *

  Madeleine followed her parents out the door of the aircraft and down the stairs to the tarmac. She loved the old-fashioned Kona airport. Honolulu had been nice, especially the company, but Kona felt like she’d finally landed in Hawaii. The only thing missing was for her friends and family to greet her in grass skirts with floral leis.

  From the bottom of the stairs she could see her parents ahead, already scooping Bradley into their arms. Hugs and kisses abounded. Maddie hefted her purse over her shoulder and shifted the carry-on to her other hand, unable to shake an odd sense of restlessness that had nagged her ever since Dan had left her at the Honolulu airport. Everything about spending the afternoon together had been different than an ordinary afternoon of tourism. Leaving him behind felt like leaving an old friend. Struggling with the unexpected sense of loss had made the one-hour flight to Kona seem longer than a round-the-world trip.

  And then she thought for the gazillionth time about the short time she
and Dan had spent together. Though he hadn’t given her many details, she got the impression from the little he’d said about his daughter that he hadn’t been a big part of her life growing up. A fate that affected a good number of military men. Especially during wartime when deployments away from home could go on forever. And something that he seemed determined to make up for. In the short time Maddie had had with Dan, she had more of a feeling about him than any actual information. She didn’t even know what he was doing now that he’d retired from the navy. Nor where he would call home. Though she did find out he’d be spending a week, maybe longer if needed, with his daughter helping her set up her new house. And Maddie got the distinct impression he wished he could do more.

  Which of course left her thinking about her own relationships. Though she loved living in Southern California, no matter how many friends she made, no matter how close they became, none of them would ever be the same as family. Through no fault of her own she’d missed her nephew’s early years, and, now, if she stayed in San Diego, she would miss the better part of the baby’s life as well. Yes, she’d arrange to visit as she’d done a couple of times for Bradley, but her career didn’t allow for much vacation time, and, even so, a few weeks a year wouldn’t be the same as day-to-day involvement in a child’s early life. She may not be his mother or even his grandmother, but that didn’t mean she loved the kid any less.

  As soon as she’d made it to the covered gate area, Bradley’s small voice squealed, “Aunt Maddie!” Squirming out of his grandmother’s hold, her young nephew shot into her arms.

  “How’s my favorite young man?” Letting go of her bags, she wrapped her arms around him, hefting him up and twirling him about. “I missed you!” It was hard to believe how much she’d come to love this little squirt in less than a year and a half. It didn’t hurt that the kid was both adorable and smart as a whip.

  “Daddy says you’re going to be here for a whole month.”