Old Dog New Tricks

by Roxanne St Claire

  “And it’s not really a problem.”

  She slowed her step and looked up at him. “Well, it’s not exactly a happy surprise.”

  Except…it was.

  Ever since Daniel had talked into the night with his mother, he felt great about being Nick Santorini’s father. Not only had the resemblance to his long-dead uncle feel like the only real confirmation he needed, his mother’s unabashed enthusiasm about a new member of the family had been infectious—and absolutely right.

  The minute he’d stopped fighting the shock and disbelief, Daniel had had a hard time wiping the smile off his face or managing not to tell everyone he encountered.

  I have another son.

  He couldn’t stop saying those words to himself. But he knew he’d have to tread carefully with Katie. “The truth is,” he said, “I’m kind of excited about it.”

  “Excited?”

  “Yes.” And he wasn’t going to be shy or coy about that, just careful. “How could I not be excited about the prospect of getting to know another son?”

  She blinked at him. “What if he doesn’t want to get to know you?”

  He hated the punch in the gut that came with that question. “We’ll cross that bridge, as they say.”

  “When we know for sure.”

  “Katie. After seeing my uncle’s picture, I think we know.”

  “You think we know. And honestly, I think so, too. But a seventy-year-old photograph is hardly the solid confirmation I’d imagine a doctor and man of science would demand before lives are upended.”

  “Would you like to see the picture?” he asked.

  She stopped and closed her eyes. “Do I want to?”

  “If you want to continue to cling to that kernel of hope that this is all a mistake, then no. You’re welcome to wait until we have the results from the test I took, which we could have in a month.”

  “It really takes longer than that.”

  “I spent a lot of time on the phone with the highest-level executive I could get to at the company, and she really did promise to expedite the results, considering the situation.”

  “You told her?”

  “I had to make the company understand how important this was, and she assured me that ours wasn’t the first case like this. In fact, they have a small division that personally handles situations like this. Cassie could call them and get a private representative to assure her that Nick’s results are not a mistake.”

  Her jaw opened. “Did you do that, too?”

  “I did, and the woman I talked to, Hannah Stavos, was confident the results are correct.”

  Katie gave a dry laugh. “A Greek, too. She’d know how important this is to us.”

  “It’s important to everyone,” he said. “They have a small department of specialists for NPE cases.”

  She gave him a questioning look.

  “Not parent expected,” he explained. “It’s a thing now, with these DNA testing sites. So she asked if I wanted her to reach out to your family, to you or your daughter, and I told her I’d ask you first.”

  “My, you’ve been busy.”

  “I promised you I’d make it a priority. I know you want that, and I know the picture won’t be enough.”

  “Can I see it?”

  He stopped and reached into the inside breast pocket of his leather jacket, giving a quick whistle to Rusty to keep the dogs close by.

  “Here’s Uncle Paddy,” he said, sliding out the envelope his mother had put the photo in. “The oldest son of the Brennan family of County Wexford, Ireland.”

  He handed over the picture with the reverence it deserved, not just as a family heirloom, but also as evidence.

  She treated it with the same respect, keeping her fingertips to the side. For several seconds, she stared at it, then squinted and angled it toward the sun.

  He watched her shoulders rise and fall with a sigh, and a soft moan came from deep in her chest.

  “So?” he finally asked, impatient for her to look up and confirm she felt as he did, even though he was basing his opinion on one or two photos of Nick he’d seen and she knew him in the flesh. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he was—

  “That sound you hear?” She looked up with misty eyes. “My kernel of hope just hit the ground and disappeared forever.”

  Without thinking, he reached for her, hugging gently. “I get that, Katie. I do. But you have to listen to me.” He tipped her chin so she had to look into his eyes. “I will not ever, ever try to take Nico’s place in Nick’s life or heart or head. I completely honor, respect, and understand their relationship.”

  She stared at him, silent. The only giveaway was that flicker of fear he’d noticed the first time he’d seen her in town. He wanted that gone. And he wasn’t going to stop until it was.

  “You asked me to put myself in Nico’s shoes, and I have,” Daniel said. “Long and hard. I also imagined how he’d feel if he were still alive.”

  She winced as if the very idea hurt. “I can’t even think about it.”

  “Well, I can. I have four sons, and I know what each of those relationships means to me. If I found out Liam wasn’t mine, I…I…” He shook his head, unable to put into words what it would do to him. And Liam. “It would hurt,” he finally said. “But I wouldn’t stop loving him. I wouldn’t look at him differently. And I certainly wouldn’t prevent him from knowing whoever that biological father was.”

  “You’re speaking in hypotheticals,” she said. “Nico isn’t here, and Liam is your son.”

  “Hypotheticals are all we have, Katie. But I swear to you, I will not try to be Nick’s dad.”

  She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, he could have sworn a little of that fear had softened. Not disappeared, but he had hope.

  “Then what will you be?”

  “His friend? His sounding board? His second opinion, if he needs one. But I don’t expect even that much. Hope for it, but don’t expect it. My only request is that the truth is out and open.”

  “Now? When?”

  “Once we have that final, concrete confirmation, we tell Nick with that in hand.”

  “How? He’s in Africa.”

  “We’ll figure that out. But once he knows, I want everyone in both families to know, and that we can talk about it and repair the cracks this will cause in both the Santorini and Kilcannon foundations.”

  She stared up at him, processing his speech for quite a few heartbeats. Finally, she nodded. “I understand you wanting that. After all, you’ve missed forty-two years of his life.”

  It was a small victory, but enough for him to ease her an inch closer. “I’m trying not to think too hard about that,” he assured her. “I’ve had my own sons and daughters. It’s not like I’ve been denied fatherhood.”

  Silent for a moment, she looked hard at him. “I’m starting to remember…”

  “Remember?” he asked when she didn’t finish.

  “What I liked so much about you.”

  He couldn’t help smiling. “I’m sorry you forgot.”

  “It’s your sense of right and wrong,” she said, speaking slowly, as if the words were just landing in her brain. “You have that calm, logical goodness about you that is quite…” She swallowed. “Yeah. It’s goodness. Like Nick, I have to say. He has a fundamental goodness about him.”

  “Thank you. I assume your husband had those qualities, too.”

  She angled her head, thinking. “Well, he definitely had a sense of right and wrong and was as fine a man as you could find. Calm? Never. Nico was Greek down to the last strand of his DNA, and he was driven by passion and emotion. All of the kids have that hot blood, especially Cassie and Alex. And Theo.”

  “And Nick?”

  “He has a temper, but it’s a slow burn. For the most part, he’s level-headed and rational, unless he doesn’t have control of a situation. Then he gets a little testy.” She was quiet for a moment, still searching his face and processing the conversation. “I guess I can see why
you’re happy about this.”

  “I am,” he said. “And that’s why I didn’t call you for a few days.”

  She drew back. “Because you realized you like the idea of Nick being your son?”

  “I didn’t know how you’d take it. You seem more comfortable with it being a problem than an opportunity. So I held back.” He leaned his shoulder into hers. “It killed me, to be honest. I must have picked up the phone twenty times.”

  That got him a warm smile, one that lit her eyes and gave him a kick in the gut. “Funny. I must have looked at mine twenty times.”

  He chuckled to hide the zing of satisfaction that gave him. “You should have called me.”

  “My daughter tells me the girls-don’t-call-boys generation is dead.” She gave a shrug. “But some of us are just ‘of a certain age.’”

  “That’s crazy. Call me anytime, day or night.” He put his arm around her shoulders because it felt natural, and good. And because they’d crossed a huge hurdle, or at least it felt that way to him. “There is no reason for us to go through this whole thing alone.”

  “I agree. Since we’re confessing thoughts we’ve had over the last few days, I have to tell you that I realized how much I need a friend in this. A calm, rational friend who has an equal interest in the events ahead unfolding in a way that hurts as few people as possible. Someone who understands what being a parent means.” She reached up and touched his face. “Truth is, I need you.”

  A new wave of relief and contentment rolled through him. “Then let’s make a promise right now that we won’t hesitate to lean on each other while we’re waiting for that confirmation, and after we get it. Especially then.”

  She was silent for too long, making him turn her in his arms so they could look directly at each other. “Daniel Kilcannon.” She sighed his name with a wistful smile.

  “That’s what they call me.”

  “I guess if this was going to happen with any man in the world, I’m glad it was you.”

  “So, is that a promise?”

  She closed her eyes and whispered, “Yes.”

  Suddenly, he was transported back in time, four decades…a lifetime ago. To a college dorm that smelled like incense and lilac perfume. To lips that tasted like late-night coffee and all-night pleasure. To a girl who made him laugh and think and ache low in the gut every time they were together.

  “Katie.”

  She opened her eyes, probably at the unexpected gruffness of his tone. “What is it?”

  For a second, he didn’t answer. He was still hovering in the past, and back then, the only answer to that question would have been to pull her closer and kiss her.

  But that was then, and this was…breaking another promise he’d made.

  “Why are you looking at me like you want me to promise something else?” she asked.

  “I don’t want anything.” Except to kiss her. Right that minute, in the sunshine and cold, he wanted to lower his head, put his lips on hers, and kiss her right back to four decades ago.

  Before Annie…

  And that was wrong.

  He quickly separated them. “But let’s not forget our original plan. The one we had before…” Before kissing entered his brain.

  “To decorate your living room?” she guessed, with a slight frown of confusion.

  “Yes, yes, that. And to spend our time talking about the two people we miss the most and everyone else is sick of hearing about.”

  “Nico and Annie.”

  “Exactly,” he said, maybe a little too forcefully. “Nico and Annie. They are…”

  She smiled, almost as if she understood exactly what he was thinking. “They are our puzzle pieces,” she whispered.

  Yes, they were. And he couldn’t forget that.

  * * *

  Driving behind Daniel’s Tahoe on the curved road that took them to the picnic area, Katie tried to list all the safe subjects she would cling to over lunch. The decorating plan. Rusty’s improved health. The restaurant in Bitter Bark. And, of course, their happy, happy marriages.

  Not the fact that they had been one inch, one second, and one single breath away from kissing back on that trail.

  Kissing.

  “What was I thinking, Nico?”

  She could have sworn she heard her late husband laugh, so her imagination was certainly playing tricks on her.

  “But you wanted me to love again. You said it over and over those last few months.”

  Not this guy! Not this impostor with a claim on Nick!

  She could hear Nico’s voice, raised in frustration and disgust. Yes, it was easy for him to say she should love again, but this wasn’t what he’d meant. He was thinking of some faceless, nameless, vague concept of “another man” he didn’t think could ever compete for Katie’s heart.

  He wasn’t thinking of a big, strong, wonderful, kind, thoughtful, handsome, sexy, funny hero who was Nick’s biological father.

  Safe subjects, Katie. Safe friendly subjects.

  After they’d parked and Daniel retrieved a cooler from the back of his SUV, Katie launched into the safest topic she could think of.

  “Once we have the sectional chosen, the rest of the living room will be a breeze,” she said as they walked to the picnic tables. “When’s a good day to go to High Point?”

  If he noticed her effort to segue to something entirely new and different, Daniel was far too cool to call her on it. “This whole week is light for me, so you name the day.”

  “Okay, and while we’re at it, we should pick paint, a new rug, and, oh, did you look at the shutters and window treatments I sent?”

  He gave her a sideways look and a half smile. “Window treatments? I thought windows were treated with glass.”

  She laughed. “I’ll pick them.” She slid onto the bench and reached down to rub Rusty’s and Goldie’s heads, always side by side, when they came over to nuzzle her and sniff for food. “And we can bring these two sweet things to High Point.”

  “Sure.” Daniel set a large water bowl on the ground, and they both instantly headed for it. “Water for you guys and subs for us. I hit Hoagies & Heroes on the way out of town.”

  She opened the cooler and saw the logo for the sandwich shop. “The kids are very interested in this place,” she told him. “Thanks for sending those demographics and rental estimates to Cassie. They were meeting about it when I left Chestnut Creek.”

  “It’s a great shop in an ideal location,” he said. “Won’t be available for long.”

  Katie settled onto the bench and opened the paper of her sandwich, already more comfortable than on the trail. The intensity of his gaze had lessened, and the rhythm of their conversation had returned to what two friends would talk about.

  “I think they want to go over to Bitter Bark and do a walk-through,” she told him. “They can meet with the owners. It’s a change in plans, but John really thinks it’s a great option.”

  “How is it a change in plans?” he asked. “Cassie said Bitter Bark was on their short list for new locations.”

  She made a face as she looked at her sandwich.

  “You don’t like turkey?” Daniel guessed, looking at her.

  “I don’t like lying.” She bit her lip and dove into the truth. “We actually didn’t have Bitter Bark on that short list for new locations. But Cassie and I wanted to have an excuse ready for why we were in town, other than stalking you, which we were.”

  He laughed easily. “Not sure I’ve ever been stalked.”

  “You probably have, if what Linda May at the bakery told me was true.”

  “Which is?”

  “You’re a hot commodity, Daniel.” She slowly unfolded the napkin he’d supplied, reminding herself that every time they got into this personal talk, they risked…intimacy.

  “You want to know what is a hot commodity? Retail space in Bitter Bark. If they’re interested, let’s get them in as soon as possible.” Of course he deftly took them back to where they should be.
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br />   “Do you think that’s a good idea?” she asked.

  “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  She took a bite and chewed while considering how to answer. “We have this huge unknown…situation. Cassie is a little worried that if things go south with…this Nick issue, then…”

  “This Nick issue?” He looked skyward at that. “We really do have to come up with something that doesn’t sound like a euphemism for a fatal disease. But why are you worried about your family being in Bitter Bark, Katie? Because it’s…”

  “Enemy territory.”

  He snorted. “I was thinking more like ‘my home.’”

  “But what if, hypothetically, we tell everyone the truth and it goes very poorly?”

  “What if, hypothetically, we tell everyone and it is, over time, a wonderful thing that brings together two families?”

  She put her sandwich down and looked up at him. “You are so optimistic about this.”

  “Realistic,” he corrected. “I know my family and what they’re made of. You know yours. Honestly, what we’re looking at is one big match that could end happily.” He added a grin. “I happen to be very good at that.”

  “At matching two people, not two families.”

  “Why should it be any different? There’s an art form to matchmaking, you know.” He leaned a little closer as if sharing a secret. “There’s kind of a guaranteed outcome, if you really know what you’re doing.”

  She looked at him, smiling. “I wish I had the talent for it that you do. I told you I tried with Cassie, but she only wants a Greek man exactly like her father. When she meets one…pffft.” She made a little explosion with her hands. “It fizzles fast.”

  “Maybe she thinks she wants a Greek man, but what she really wants is someone with passion and intelligence and a big heart, which she thinks is ‘Greek’ because her dad had that.”

  He was exactly right.

  “You have to go about the matchmaking strategically.” He polished off half his sandwich, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and looked out at the foothills, sipping his water and deep in thought. “But we’re on to something, Katie.”

  Suddenly, he turned to her, swinging a leg over the picnic bench to face her. “I mean, in essence, we’re matching two big, happy families that might, through some shared genetics and a huge surprise, become, well, one big, happy family.”