An Unlikely Daddy

Indeed it might. “You’re the best, Julie.”

“I know.” Julie flashed a grin over her shoulder. “The world spins because of me.”

Marisa actually laughed. That made two laughs in one day. Maybe she was improving.

Ryker arrived just as Julie was popping the casserole into the oven and setting a timer. “I’ll get it,” she said when the bell rang. “I want a first view all to myself.”

“Do you want a spear and shield, too?” Marisa tried to joke.

“My tongue can take care of all that. Just relax.”

Marisa listened to the greetings at the door and thought it all sounded pleasant enough. Julie apparently gave Ryker time to doff his jacket and gloves in the hall, then the two of them returned to the kitchen. She didn’t feel tension between them, but somehow she didn’t think that would last. She knew Julie too well.

Once they were all seated around the wooden table, Julie plunged right into the inquisition. “So what took you so long to get here?”

Ryker arched one brow. “Meaning?”

“Well, the funeral was nearly six months ago. Most planes are faster than that.”

Marisa battled an urge to quell Julie, realizing that she needed to hear some of this, too. And count on Julie to address it baldly.

Ryker rested his arms on the table. He wore a gray Yale sweatshirt that looked as if it had seen a lot of washings. “It depends on whether we can take a break,” he answered. “I couldn’t get away. Not then.”

“But six months?”

Marisa felt this was a bit unfair. She opened her mouth to say so, but Ryker spoke first. “Sometimes one is in a situation that one can’t walk away from. Not even for the death of a family member.”

“Now that’s mysterious,” Julie popped back. “I guess it’ll stay that way, won’t it?”

“I’m afraid so. There are things I can’t talk about. Marisa knows that. There were things Johnny couldn’t talk about, either.”

“I get it,” Julie said pleasantly enough. “So, what happened to Johnny? And how about a truthful version?”

Relax? Julie had told her to relax and now she was delving into this? Marisa wanted to get up and leave, but Julie had arranged her chair so that Marisa couldn’t. Damn!

“I was told the same thing Marisa was. That’s all I know.”

“Officially, anyway,” Julie said bluntly. “I guess that’s all anyone will know.”

Then Ryker surprised Marisa by getting angry. He’d seemed so self-contained until that moment, but a definite edge crept into his voice, and his dark eyes sparked. “That’s more than some people get, Julie. Some never know anything at all.” He started to push back from the table, but Julie’s hand shot out and caught him by the arm. He looked at her grip on him, and Marisa was sure he could have shaken it away like a fly.

“I’m sorry,” Julie said. “I’m worried about Marisa. She’s my friend, and you popped up out of nowhere at a very late date.”

Ryker turned his gaze on Marisa. “You couldn’t have asked me this yourself? You needed someone else to speak for you?”

“I asked you last night,” she reminded him, her heart thumping. He appeared to relax a hair, and Julie released his arm.

“Look,” he said, “I didn’t come here to make your life harder. I came because John asked me to. I came as soon as I could get away. But if it’ll save you problems, I can leave right now. I’d feel bad about it, because I said I’d be here for you, but if you don’t want me around, then it hardly matters what I promised.”