The Secret Son's Homecoming

“I could ask you the same thing,” she said and winked.

“Damn ulcer is acting up,” he admitted and held up the glass. “I thought this might help.”

It occurred to her that it probably wasn’t something he’d openly acknowledge, but Connie had arranged for more than one specialist appointment for J.D. over the years.

“Spicy food, stress and alcohol,” she reminded him. “You know the drill...they’re all off the menu.”

He shrugged his giant shoulders. “Well, the food and booze I can easily give up. The stress is the hard one.”

“I don’t imagine being back in this house is helping,” she offered gently, recalling how he’d been kicked out of the ranch by his very angry wife over ten months earlier. Now he lived permanently at the hotel, despite both Liam and Kieran offering to have him come live with them. But Connie knew J.D. was too proud and stubborn to hang on to the fringes of his son’s lives. “I know Kieran is happy you are here today.”

“I wouldn’t let my son down,” he said and then smiled ruefully. “I’ve done enough of that lately.”

“Kieran has a big capacity for forgiveness. So does Liam,” she added gently.

“But not Sean and Jonah,” he said. “Right?”

Connie half shrugged. “I don’t know either of them as well,” she replied and figured it was the truth. Sean had lived in Los Angeles for over a decade, and Jonah was, well...Jonah. “But I’m sure they’ll all come around.”

“Maybe Sean,” he said hopefully. “Jonah, however, is another story altogether.”

“I’m sure he’s not as difficult as he makes out.”

J.D. laughed and it crinkled the corners of his eyes. “Ha, you’ve met my youngest son, right?”

Met him. Touched him. Kissed him. Dreamed of him.

Connie swallowed hard. “Sometimes people say and do things they don’t mean to cover up how they really feel, and so they don’t appear vulnerable. Perhaps that’s it. Maybe he’s afraid to show you how he really feels.”

“I know how he really feels,” J.D. said and winced. “He hates me.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t.”

“He does,” J.D. said. “And there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“You’re right about that.”

Jonah.

Connie turned her head and saw him standing in the doorway. She noticed that J.D.’s broad shoulders sagged slightly and saw sadness in the older man’s expression. There was nothing but resentment and bitterness emanating from Jonah, and it was aimed directly at his father.

And at her.

* * *

Jonah was so furious he couldn’t stand being in his own skin. J.D. and Connie, talking about him in hushed voices behind his back as though it was everyday conversation. And maybe it was. Maybe he was the usual topic of conversation for the whole damned family, or the whole damned town!

But that didn’t mean he had to like it, or allow it. J.D. had done enough damage over the years.

“Have you both finished dissecting me?” he demanded.

“We were just—”

“I know what you were doing,” he shot back, glaring at the other man, not daring to look toward Connie. “And I want it to stop.”

The silence was suddenly deafening. Every time he was near J.D., his resentment fired up; every time he thought about the man who’d so recklessly become involved with his mother, Jonah experienced an acute sense of loathing and rage. It never abated, not in all the years since he was old enough to understand the situation. Kathleen had left Cedar River—left her family—so she could have her baby in secret and not blow the O’Sullivan empire apart. He understood his mother’s motives, and he respected them, but he hated J.D. and everything he stood for—his dishonesty, his betrayal, his lack of integrity and honor—and vowed he would never demonstrate those qualities. Vowed to become a better man than J. D. O’Sullivan.

“Jonah, I think your dad just meant that—”

“Don’t call him that,” he growled, meeting her gaze for the first time since he’d entered the room. She blanched, and he registered a sharp feeling of guilt somewhere through the haze that was his rage. “This situation has nothing to do with you... It’s about him and me and my mother. Please stay out of it.”

“I can’t do that,” she said and he watched as her throat rolled over convulsively. “I care too much about your family and I won’t see them hurt...not by anyone.”

“Connie,” J.D. said quickly. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“That’s good advice,” Jonah shot back and glared at Connie, suddenly mesmerized by the way she glared back, not giving an inch. “You should take it.”

She took a long breath. “You know something,” she said quietly, her chin held at a tight angle. “You really don’t deserve them.”

It was a deliberate and cutting remark. Then she said goodbye to J.D. and left the room, ignoring Jonah completely. But he felt damned by the trace of her perfume that floated past him as she disappeared through the doorway. Jonah cursed his own stupidity before turning to glare at the other man in the room.

“She’s quite a girl,” J.D. said and half smiled. “Don’t you think?”

“I’d rather not speculate.”

“That’s reassuring,” he replied. “She’s a nice young woman and shouldn’t be messed with.”

Jonah almost laughed out loud. “I have no intention of messing with Miss Bedford,” he said, ignoring the twitch in his stomach. “She’s way too invested in your family. Actually, I’m not sure if it’s you or Liam that she’s infatuated with.”

J.D. laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Liam’s happily married and I’m old enough to be her father.”

“We all know your weakness for younger women.”

The older man’s smile disappeared. “I was thirty-one when I fell in love with your mother. She was eighteen. That’s not exactly a lifetime between us.”

Jonah wanted to cover his ears. He’d heard the story countless times. J.D. had fallen for Kathleen. They had an affair. She got pregnant. J.D. wanted to come clean and admit to his adultery, but Kathleen had persuaded him to remain in Cedar River and stay with his family while she gave up everything...for him.

Yeah, he knew the story...knew his mother, too, had made her choices over the years. But he still blamed J.D. entirely for taking advantage of a much younger woman.

“I don’t want to have this conversation again,” Jonah said quietly, harnessing his emotions as best he could.

“At this stage, I’ll take any conversation I can get.”

Jonah scowled. “Why the hell would you want to?”

“Because you’re my son.”

He winced. “You know I’m not interested in being anything to you.”