A Kiss, A Dance & A Diamond

“Sounds like a lot of work.”

She shrugged. “Necessary. My dad has slowed down a lot in the past year.”

“He had a stroke, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” she replied. “A few months after Gino died.”

He knew she’d loved her brother. He also knew what it was like to lose a sibling. And he felt her hurt right down to his bones. But he didn’t press the subject. “So, did you have your dream job in San Francisco?”

“I thought so at the time,” she said. “I worked for an organic food company and managed the human resources department.”

“Is that where you met your fiancé?”

Her expression narrowed, and she glanced at him. “You know about that?”

“Liam told me,” he replied. “I figured Kayla told him. Why did you break up?”

She came around the counter with the coffees and the plate of cannoli, placed them on the table and sat down. “He broke it off when he realized he was still in love with his ex-wife.”

He grimaced. “Ouch.”

“Yes,” she said and pushed the plate toward him. “It sucked. Although, probably not as much as what happened to you.”

Kieran grabbed the cannoli, took a bite and then remembered how much he’d always liked Nicola’s cooking. Even in high school, she’d had a flair in the kitchen. “I guess you want to know the whole story?”

She shrugged and sipped her coffee. “Like I said before, it’s none of my business.”

He finished the cannoli in three bites. “Okay, I won’t tell you.”

“Suit yourself.”

He lifted up the mug, took a sip and then watched her over the rim. Her eyes had darkened, and he knew the defiant lift of her chin was a facade. She had matured into an incredibly beautiful woman, and suddenly he wasn’t in any kind of hurry to finish his coffee and leave. Her eyes, the delicately arched brows, her full, pink mouth, all a riveting combination of color and lovely angles. His gaze lingered on her mouth, and he experienced a sudden tightening in his groin. He knew it was stupid, knew that thinking about Nicola as anything other than an old flame was pointless. She hadn’t forgiven him. And he didn’t want to get involved with anyone. But still, he wasn’t quite ready to get up and end the evening.

And for the first time in forever, he actually wanted to talk.

“She left me for my best friend,” he said quietly.

Her gaze met his, and she held it and tilted her head a fraction. For a second, he saw compassion in her expression, a fleeting understanding that she clearly didn’t want to feel because she obviously still hated him.

“I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “Thanks.”

“And the other thing?”

Discomfort pierced his chest. It was always that way. Nearly two years on, and he still felt the pain of loss and betrayal as though it were yesterday. One day, he hoped the pain would lessen, that he wouldn’t wake up each morning with a hole in his heart so wide he couldn’t imagine it being filled with anything or anyone. He grappled with how much to tell her and then figured there was little point in being coy or secretive about the situation. “You mean my son?”

“Yes.”

He let out a long breath. “Christian. Who, it turns out, wasn’t my son but was actually fathered by my best friend.”

The sympathy in her expression returned. “How awful! You really don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“You can hear it from me,” he said and shrugged. “Or via one of the local gossip channels.”

“Okay,” she said, quieter than he expected. “You can tell me about him.”

Kieran’s chest tightened further, and the band of pressure at his temple returned. Fatigue spread through his limbs, and he sat back in the chair. “I believed he was my son for eighteen months before my now-ex-wife admitted the truth.”

Memories of that awful day bombarded his thoughts. Catching Tori and Phil together And then finding out the son he treasured was not really his child. He remembered Tori crying. Tori pleading. Tori telling him she should never have married him, that she loved someone else. Tori saying she wanted to be free of him and their marriage so she could raise Christian with the man she loved...the man who was his son’s real father.

“You never suspected anything?”

He shook his head. “Phil was my colleague and best friend. Tori was my wife. I guess I trusted the wrong people.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said, aching all over. “Me, too.”

* * *

Nicola’s heart felt heavy in her chest. She didn’t like the feeling. Didn’t want to imagine that she had any feelings toward Kieran other than dislike and resentment. But...his story saddened her deeply. She’d heard it anecdotally...from Kayla and her friend Connie who worked at his family’s hotel and knew everything about the O’Sullivans. So yes, she knew about his marriage ending and discovering his son was fathered by someone else. And of course she thought it was cruel and despicable. But she always managed to shrug her shoulders and wave off any feelings of sympathy or compassion for the man who had callously dumped her in front of the entire twelfth grade on the biggest day of their high school lives.

But hearing it from Kieran was different. And as much as she wanted to hang on to her resentment and rage at him in that moment, she couldn’t. Particularly as he’d gone out his way to help her with Marco. Thanks to his kindness and understanding, her nephew was now safely asleep in his bed.

“So...you divorced her?”

He shrugged lightly. “We divorced each other.”

“And Christian?” she asked, saying the child’s name almost as a whisper.

She watched as Kieran took a sharp breath and then sipped his coffee. “I didn’t want to confuse him, you know, or make things difficult...so I had to step away.”

She saw his eyes darken and experienced an odd discomfort in her chest. “That must have been hard.”

“The most difficult thing I have ever done in my life.”

“So, you don’t have any contact now?”

“No,” he replied. “I made a decision that was best for him. He needed to bond with his...with his father,” he said, swallowing hard. “And Tori didn’t want me interfering in her new life.”

Nicola tried desperately to ignore how her heart rate increased. She didn’t want to feel sympathy for him. She didn’t want to feel anything when it came to Kieran O’Sullivan. And she didn’t want to listen to his apologies, either. But she couldn’t help being drawn into their conversation. She’d always been a good listener—her career in human resources had demanded it.

“So this way, only one person got hurt...is that what you’re saying?”

He shrugged lightly again and picked up another cannoli. “Exactly. Everyone needed a do-over. Me included.”

“And that’s why you came back to Cedar River?”