The Father of Her Son

Kelly clucked her tongue. “Lies. All of them. I’m sorry, Evan. We watched fairy tales this morning instead of more politics. Really hope you don’t mind.”

Hell, yes, he minded. He didn’t realize how much until he felt this blatant snub. He lowered his voice, not wanting the hurt to show. “You’re my friend, Kelly. I told you yesterday how much this interview meant to me. Couldn’t you have withheld your political sarcasm long enough to support me for this one important show?”

He inhaled a breath, really wanting to rant, but realized he sounded trite. He shook his head, needing to find a different tack other than personal insult. “Ratings, Kelly. You had a captive audience here. I could have used the help.”

He didn’t care that Kelly had gone pale, her mouth compressed as if her teeth might draw blood from those luscious lips. Something was very wrong. Kelly knew as well as he did that her support of NCTV was what brought the major portion of her regular clientele. Every employee at NCTV ate at Neverland at least once a week. Half the fun of eating here was watching themselves, their bosses or the celebrities they handled through the ranks appear on the big screen dominating the diner. Fans knew Neverland was the newsroom’s hot spot and the place swelled with curiosity seekers. Was she giving him a rap on the knuckles because he had asked her on a date yesterday for the seventh—or was it the eighth—time?

“Well, Your Majesty, the television cable line failed last night. I’m waiting for the repairman. The best I could do was play a DVD until he arrives.”

Now he’d been out of line. Kelly might be brash but she would never blatantly snub him. If he’d been listening instead of getting insulted, he would have heard Bunny explain the same thing.

He was an idiot. She’d always supported him from the first time they met seven years ago until his return from a seven-year assignment in Europe just four months ago. He had been thrilled to come home and find Kelly now owner of the diner where she previously worked as a waitress. She’d transformed the old dinosaur into a retro hot spot and renamed it. The fact that she was still single added to his enthusiasm.

But the true shocker had been when she introduced him to her son, Matt, of whom she was very protective and curiously tight-lipped about his origins. Her casual responses to his subtle questions never failed to intrigue him. His curiosity was always piqued by this voluptuous Irish siren who occupied more and more of his thoughts.

But something didn’t seem right. His usually bold and funny friend seemed distressed. Her hand had trembled when she pushed a copper tendril off her cheek. Had he upset her that much? He held up a stopping hand, chastened. “Kelly. I’m sorry. I didn’t understand.”

It took a New York second for her to snap back to her old self. “Indeed, Evan. As pompous an Irishman as ever I’ve met. So, will it be the usual? Or would you like an order of crow with your coffee?”

CHAPTER TWO

KELLY WOULD BURN in hell. She just knew it. Her excuse for not airing Evan’s interview was true. The cable line was down. What she omitted, however, was that she had yanked the cable from the wall specifically to avoid airing Evan’s interview with Senator Robert “The Buzz” Campbell. There was no way she would lay eyes on that bastard if she could help it. Bunny had caught her yanking the cord from the wall and had given her grief. Sidestepping her pointed questions had been tricky enough. Explaining her motives to Evan would be impossible. Luckily, it looked like that conversation had been evaded. Bunny kept her promise and said nothing to Evan.

Damaging the cable was the only way to avoid Evan’s interview and save face with him. Why hadn’t she just burst from the kitchen babbling about how sorry she was that the TV wouldn’t work and how unfortunate for them to miss his show? Why? Because that would have been a lie, and Kelly Sullivan hated lies.

Lies had short roots that could be plucked from one’s explanation in the face of the truth. Worse, if you were caught in a lie, no one would ever trust you again. The nuns at St. Peter’s School for Girls in Kinsale, County Cork, as well as her strict father and fanatically religious mother had taught her well.

However, what she learned on her own just a few short years ago—which her parents and the nuns failed to teach her—was that the truth could also ruin you. With a single word. Like yes. Or no. Answering yes when a man whom you trusted asked if you thought he was handsome. And then saying, no, when he asked if you’d like him to touch you, only to have him accuse you of lying for speaking the truth then use that handsome body to rape you.

Kelly had learned in the worst possible way what damage the truth could do. While lying was a sin, telling the truth could ruin someone’s life. Which was worse? Her only conclusion was to do what she must to keep her world safe. Kelly decided that instead of lying, omitting the truth whenever necessary was a necessary evil. While she would never trust anyone who lied to her, she had certainly perfected the art of portioning out the truth, as God was her witness.

Yes, she would burn in hell, for sure. Evan’s look of horror was proof enough.

She sighed. “Don’t look so glum, Evan. How will it be if I sweeten your disappointment with a free breakfast?”

His laugh was curt. “Well, of course you’ll offer a free meal when I’ve lost my appetite.”

“Well, then, this must be my lucky morning.” She poured his coffee, wishing desperately to get back on track with him. “So tell me, did you trounce the senator with all your unbiased nonsense in true fashion?”

This time to her relief, he laughed. “I think you’ve chastened me enough for my error. Now, let’s hear the end of it, if you will.”

She threw in their ongoing joke. “Will you try the pancakes, then?”

He reached for her hand, sending all sorts of tingles up her arm, which circled around to the back of her neck. He tugged the slightest bit to bring her face closer to his. She complied, if only to give him a quarter since she did feel bad. His fresh, clean soap scent invaded her nostrils like a clear spring morning.

Evan’s voice dropped low and seductive as he said, “No pancakes, Red. I’ll take the usual.” A grin pulled across her lips.

An older gent chuckled from his seat at the table behind Evan. Everyone knew Kelly teased Evan about pancakes because he’d made it clear he hated them. Their open banter, bordering on flirting had become entertainment for Kelly’s patrons. She pulled away, liking her nickname, “Red,” but not the way he spoke it as if the word was a secret code for some fantasy he held about her.

Kelly’s son, Matt, scrambled onto the stool next to Evan. “Hi, Evan!”

Matt’s adoration for Evan tickled her. The kid was beaming. Probably one of the main reasons she rekindled her friendship with Evan was for her son’s benefit. Evan’s attention to Matt on these workday mornings helped fill in the gap of “guy interaction” that Matt lost when Herby died. The fact that Matt liked Evan alleviated her suspicions about the celebrity anchor’s intentions. In the past few months he’d done well in reestablishing the brief friendship that had been severed as soon as it had begun seven years ago.

He mussed the boy’s hair as he always did. “Morning, Matt-man. Miss me?”

Matt grabbed Evan’s wrists with both hands and Evan lifted him off the seat, which set Matt laughing. “Soon you’ll be too big for me to lift you like that, kiddo.”

Matt’s green eyes, so much like Kelly’s own, lit up with joy. “I know. I’ll be six on Saturday.”

“And those six years will certainly earn you a present.”

“Like a Lego set?” Matt was a Lego madman.

Evan shook his head. “You’ll have to wait and see.” He tucked his napkin into the neck of his light blue shirt, covering a striped tie of various shades of the same color. His smile assured Kelly that he’d forgiven her the television transgression.

“I’ll take my eggs anytime you find fitting, my dear.”

Kelly didn’t need to write a ticket for Evan. Once Jake spotted him, he knew exactly how to prepare Evan’s breakfast. Her television anchor celebrity was a creature of habit. Kelly glanced back into the kitchen and saw Jake already preparing Evan’s hash browns and scrambled eggs with Jack cheese and chili peppers.

She left him to answer Matt’s relentless questions while she attended to other patrons. As she filled coffee cups and took orders, Kelly congratulated herself one more time for not letting on that Evan’s appearance this morning—just as his reappearance four months ago, looking more filled out, worldly wise and more strikingly handsome than ever—had shaken her right down to her well-worn running shoes.

Before his return, she’d almost forgotten about the hunky black-haired, blue-eyed newsman she’d met her first day on the job. She’d spotted him jaywalking across the street during Manhattan morning hour like Moses parting the Red Sea. When he walked through the doors of Herby’s diner she’d been so taken by his smile that she poured his cup too full, spilling coffee over the counter.

It was amazing how after seven years, Evan had simply waltzed into Neverland as if a mere day had passed as eager to see her as if he’d never left. He had been quick to explain how the assignment in Paris had turned into a job on the continent. Kelly was surprised to realize she still stewed over his lack of communication over the years and had no desire to hear his excuses. They had struck up a lovely friendship back then that he dropped as abruptly as he had started. Didn’t he know that telephones and email were modern-day conveniences that friends used to keep in touch...even seven years ago?

In reality, Evan had only grazed her thoughts while he was away. Too much had happened. Between dropping out of college for Matt’s birth, working the diner and those two hard years caring for Herby—the diner’s owner and her salvation before he passed away—Kelly didn’t have much time for quiet musings. She had taken pains to be sure Evan understood that she had no more to offer him than friendship, a cup of coffee and an occasional free meal. She had a son to raise and protect. A business to run. Owning the diner and the apartment upstairs that she’d inherited from Herby afforded her an independence she never expected.

She had become a mother and businesswoman with intentions of her own, and she meant to stick by them. A distraction like dating, especially with a charming yet intensely career-driven man like Evan McKenna, was simply unwelcome. If she dated at all she’d be better off with a quiet, easy-mannered guy who worked as hard as she did and had no craving for power or fame.

“Penny for your thoughts, Red?”

Evan had been watching her with more attention than usual.

She had been moving at a brisk clip delivering plates and writing up tickets. She hadn’t realized her mind was reflecting so easily on her face.

“I’m trying to decide if you should get the fresh bacon or the scraps for the stray dogs out back.”

A bearded man next to Matt guffawed.

Her son looked mortified. “Mom!”

Evan drummed his fingers on the counter to a silent beat, exchanging a conspiratorial glance with Matt. Instead of his usual retort, he simply stated, “If you knew what I had planned, you’d give me the whole pig.”

She turned to face him, planting fists on hips. “What are you up to, Evan?”

He tapped his breast pocket. “Got something here I’m willing to share to celebrate the interview, despite the fact you missed the show. It all depends on whether you can get a babysitter for Matt.”

“Mrs. Walsh will watch me!” Matt seemed to know what Evan had planned.