“You’re a foster failure. I know one when I see one.”
She didn’t answer, but smiled at Goldie. “She is…a great one.”
“Yep, failure.” He laughed and reached out to wrap her in a hug. “Which is good, because her feelings for Rusty will have you over here very often.”
She tipped her head back and studied him for a moment. “I’d like that.”
He kissed her to seal the deal, sliding his hand around her neck and under her hair with a soft moan. “Oh.” He pulled back and widened his eyes. “The family got bigger about forty minutes ago. You were sleeping when the call came in, so I went downstairs.”
“Jessie had the baby?”
“Patrick Garrett Kilcannon, seven and a half pounds, twenty-two inches. Mom and baby are doing well. Dad is on cloud nine.”
“Don’t they wonder where you are?”
He made a face. “I might have given them the impression I was still in Raleigh, guaranteeing that Gramma Finnie will stay with Molly and we are alone until morning.”
She gave a noisy fake gasp. “Daniel Kilcannon, you’re a liar.”
“No, I’m a…” He pulled her closer for a kiss. “Goner.”
“And a grandfather again.”
“Does it make you feel weird to make love to a grandfather?”
She laughed. “‘Weird’ is so not how I’d describe the things you made me feel. About the grandfather part? What I feel is flat-out jealousy.”
“Then let’s get working on those kids of yours.” He gestured toward the bed. “Climb back in, and I’ll bring the tray. Champagne’s for the new baby. And the new room. And the new…” He gave a slow smile. “Light in my life.”
“Aw, you’re sweet. But crackers in bed?”
He started to answer, then stopped, catching himself from whatever he was going to say. “Yes. We have crackers in bed, you and me.” He gathered up the tray and walked it closer. “Let’s make another memory on this new bed.”
She scooted over, smoothing out the comforter so he could find a place for the tray. “I’m still reeling from the first one,” she said softly.
As he situated the tray, he leaned over to kiss her again. “Reeling is one way to put it.”
“Floating on air would be another.”
He slipped under the covers next to her. “We’re good together, Katie,” he said simply, as if no more words were needed. Instead, he pointed the small champagne bottle in the other direction and twisted the wires that held the cork.
“Do not get those bubbles on this new comforter,” she warned. “You’d have a lot of explaining to do to your amazing, secret decorating team.”
The cork popped, and he expertly managed not to drip a single bubble as he filled the glasses.
“Your family would do the same,” he said. “There are a lot of similarities, don’t you think? Which is why once Alex and John and Cassie are here for the restaurant, we can get to work on grandchildren for you.” He handed her a glass. “Toast to the matchmaking skills of the Dogfather and company?”
She clinked his glass, but felt her smile fade before she took a sip.
“No?” he asked, immediately reading her expression.
“We don’t ever talk about Nick.”
“What do you mean?” He blinked at her, putting down his glass. “We only talk about him. But recently, last week, we talked about us, then Rusty. Then we were focused on other things, but we can talk about him right now. You know it’s my favorite subject to hear every detail of his childhood.”
She thought of a million things she wanted to say about her son, but sighed. “I guess it’s premature since we don’t have that confirmation yet.”
“You’re not still holding out hope that the results are wrong, are you? They told me that wasn’t possible, but we’ll know for sure in less than a month.”
She picked up the champagne, but put it back down again.
“Hey.” With a hand on her chin, he lifted her face to him. “What’s the matter?”
“I forgot about it, that’s all. I got all lost and happy and made love to you, and I totally forgot that we have this big thing hanging over us, and now…now…”
“Now?” he urged when she didn’t finish.
“Now what’s going to happen when he finds out we’re…” She threw a sideways glance to encompass the bed.
“Lovers?” Daniel shook his head, a little hard to make his point. “What difference does that make? In fact, I think it’s good.”
“None of this is going to be ‘good’ to him.”
“It shows solidarity. We’re together, we care for each other, we have each other’s best interests in mind. I can’t wait to tell him that. I can’t wait for him to see how I feel about you. I think that’s going to go a long way toward easing the transition.”
“Transition? He’s not transitioning to a new father.”
Daniel held up his hand. “Wait. Stop. Don’t.”
She looked at him, not sure what she wasn’t supposed to do or say.
“Do not ruin this memory or this day or this wonderful new thing with an old discussion we’ve had already.” He took her hand. “We’ll work it out. We’re all mature, loving, sane adults. Don’t you think it’s possible he’ll actually like me?”
“Maybe. Eventually.” God, how she wanted to believe that.
“Then we’ll weather the storm until he does. And he’ll see how I feel about you.”
She searched his features, looking for clues. “Which is?”
For a long time, he didn’t say a word. He locked on her gaze and held her hand and sat very, very still. Then he brought her knuckles to his lips to kiss them.
“You’ve made me forget all the pain, Katie. You’ve made me realize that vowing to be alone when there’s a woman like you is crazy and wrong. You’ve made me feel like a whole new man, emphasis on whole.”
“Oh. That’s…”
“That’s the truth. And at the risk of sounding like something my mother would embroider on a pillow, let me say that love conquers all, Katie Rogers Santorini. You know that. I know that. And Nick will know that.”
Love? He meant that in the broadest possible way, of course. Family love. General love. Not love love.
Because he might break a vow and sleep with her, but he’d never—
“Katie?”
She nodded. “I hope you’re right,” she finally said.
“I am right. I know it in my bones. I feel it in my gut. Trust me on this.” He took a sip of champagne, then his eyes flashed as he realized something.
“What is it?”
“If Nick marries this French girl, and they have a child…”
“We’ll be grandparents together,” she finished.
They just stared at each other as that sank in. Then they clinked their glasses, chugged the champagne, and laughed like they were teenagers in college again.
Chapter Twenty-four
“Grandpa! You’re not wearing green!” Pru stood at the bottom of the steps, hands on her hips, reprimand in her eyes. “It’s Saint Patrick’s Day. The wearin’ of the green, lad!”
He laughed at her dead-on imitation of Gramma Finnie’s brogue and glanced down at his slate-blue pullover. “I grabbed the first thing I found because Katie texted that they’re pulling up to Waterford.”
“Change before everyone else gets here,” she said. “Now, come and look at the shamrock centerpiece spray!” Pru seized Daniel’s hand as he came down the stairs and tried to drag him toward the dining room. “Cassie had it hiding in her event closet, which sounds like a place I might enjoy.”
But he eased her toward him instead. “I can’t see anything but those pretty pearly whites.”
She graced him with a blinding, braceless, full-mouth smile, fluttering her fingers on either side of her face with unabashed pride. “I feel like a new girl.”
“Well, I hope the old one’s still here to run this party tonight.” Because he’d literally han
ded the whole thing to her, and Katie had enlisted Cassie’s help, too. Giving Katie and Daniel more time to be alone. Well, not entirely alone. Goldie was a constant, and Rusty was lumbering through his recovery with more bad days than good.
“No worries, Grandpa. We got this. Alex and Cassie are like master caterers, and since our party is also the announcement of Santorini’s in Bitter Bark, the food is a mix of Greek and Irish. All the Greek gets a green touch, though. And there are fifty people on the RSVP list!”
He had to laugh. How could he do anything but? The last month had flown by as the fastest and best that he could remember in years. Four years, to be precise.
Trace came around the corner. “There you are,” he said to Pru. “Your mom wants pictures before everyone gets here. Let’s go, gorgeous.”
“Gorgeous beats brace face,” she quipped. “Uncle Shane will have to come up with a new nickname for me.”
“Yes, gorgeous,” Trace reiterated. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you can’t date until you’re thirty-five.”
She giggled, sounding much younger than she looked with her newly straightened teeth. “I’m not worried. When I’m ready, Grandpa’s going to find me my one true love.”
Trace narrowed his eyes at him. “Twenty years, Daniel. Not a moment before.”
“Oh, speaking of true loves.” Molly joined them, sporting green ribbons in her hair that brought out the emerald in her eyes. “Katie’s here. And the rest of the Santorinis are pulling into the driveway.”
Daniel just looked at her, still processing true loves and Katie in the same sentence.
At his stunned expression, Molly tugged one of her ribbons. “Too much?” Then she looked at Pru. “I told you it was—”
“They’re adorable, Mom. I’m going to get mine now. All the girls are wearing green ribbons, even Cassie.”
As she took off, Molly followed, slipping her hand around Daniel’s arm to bring him along. “Thanks for letting her take ownership of this, Dad,” she said. “It’s meant the world to her to organize this party, because she’s missed it so much.”
He nodded. “It’s high time we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day again,” he agreed.
They found his mother in the kitchen, wearing her own kelly-green ribbons that matched a brand-new button-down sweater purchased for the event. “And we even have our wee Patrick Kilcannon, who is one month and two days old,” she added to their conversation. “It couldn’t be better, lad. Thank you.”
“I just hope the whole plan is a success,” he said, peering out the kitchen windows at the small gathering around the Santorini’s catering van that had pulled up. “I want this to be a great opportunity to showcase Alex’s talent and help them launch this new endeavor in April.”
“Considering all the people coming, that should work,” Trace said, handing Daniel a small digital camera. “Molly is using this to document the entire nine months. Can you get a picture of the three of us before we go out?”
“Of course.” Daniel waited for Trace, Molly, and Pru to link arms and smile for the camera.
“Technically, it’s the four of us,” Pru corrected after he snapped the shot and the three of them headed to the driveway.
Daniel lingered for one moment, though, watching the scene unfold outside, unable to wipe the smile from his face as he watched his kids and Katie’s gather together on the driveway. He was vaguely aware that his phone was vibrating in his pocket, but he made no effort to interrupt the pleasure of this moment when anyone he really wanted to talk to was out there.
The Mahoneys had arrived, too, piling out of Declan’s truck to greet the others. Goldie, who for the past month had spent any night Katie wasn’t at Waterford in Chestnut Creek with her, was already out of the car, spinning in circles and on the hunt for Rusty. Molly, Trace, and Pru headed out to join all of the others, as a group of fifteen or twenty seemed to organically grow in front of him. All of them bathed in a late afternoon golden glow, but maybe that was just the way Daniel was seeing the world now. Bright and beautiful and full of hope.
On an impulse, he lifted Molly’s camera and snapped a picture through the window as Garrett and Jessie joined the group, holding a shaded baby carrier together. “She’ll like that one,” he said.
“Aye,” Gramma whispered, coming up next to him. “Family makes the prettiest picture, lad.”
“It sure does.”
“Even if her lad is making green tzi…tza…” Gramma shook her head.
“Tzatziki,” he finished for her, as his phone quieted.
“I speak Gaelic, not Greek.” Then she smiled at Daniel. “But I’ll learn for you, lad.”
He looked down at her, full of love for this tiny woman and her gigantic heart. “I know you will.”
She inched up on her tiptoes to whisper, “I’ve been studying some Greek sayings.”
“You have?” he asked as he finally pulled out the phone, but the call had gone to voice mail.
“For next year’s Christmas pillows,” Gramma said.
The smile that gave him disappeared the minute he read the name on the missed call.
Hannah Stavos, Bloodline.com
He stared at it, vaguely aware that his mother did, too. After a second, he looked up to meet her gaze. “I guess the verdict’s in.”
“Oh, Danny boy.” She put a spotted, aged hand on his arm. “You already know what it is. One look at your uncle Paddy, and we had no doubt.”
“None,” he agreed, shoving the phone back into his pocket. “And if I call her back now, this whole evening will be different. I’ll have to tell Katie, and she’ll fret about how we tell Nick. I don’t want anything to change this party. I’m afraid that once this is out—”
His mother squeezed his arm. “Courage is knowing what not to fear.”
He frowned, vaguely recognizing the quote. “Oscar Wilde or James Joyce?”
“A little lad named Plato.” She grinned. “Thought I’d start at the top of their food chain, if you get my drift.”
He chuckled and hugged her. “God, I love you. Come on, let’s show these Greeks how Kilcannons celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day.”
“Aye. Someone should be dancing a jig before the night is up.”
“Or a…what’s it called?”
“Sirtaki,” Gramma supplied. At his surprised look, she shrugged. “What? I did a little googlin’, ’tis all.”
“You really think…” He shook his head. “It’s because of Nick, right? You want to establish a bond with him someday.”
“Aye, and I will, but we also have a new lass, and she comes with a big family that we have to respect and embrace.” She reached up and patted his face. “I found that old videotape that Colleen took, by the way.”
“You did? Do I want to see it?”
“Only if you want to know that you and sweet Katie had something special even way back then.” She paused for a moment, stroking his cheek with a mother’s touch. “I know you loved Annie, Daniel. We all did. And we miss her so terribly. But God has sent you a second chance at love, and that rarely happens. Don’t let anything get in the way, no matter how difficult it seems.”
“I don’t intend to,” he told her, the declaration coming out more forcefully than he’d expected. “And I don’t intend to miss out on my fifth son, either.”
“I have all the faith in the world in you, lad.”
Together, they headed outside to a shower of greetings and hugs and one sweet kiss from Katie, who joined the fun with a little green ribbon of her own. He took a couple more pictures with Molly’s camera, then handed it to her.
“Right there, Dad,” Molly said, pointing at him and Katie. “Toss those Irish ribbons, Katie! Say green!”
They slipped their arms around each other’s waists and smiled for the camera, and after the picture was taken, he flat out leaned over and kissed her on the mouth, not caring who saw or what they thought.
But chaos reigned as trays were passed and jokes were shared
and Goldie barked insanely.
“Where’s Rusty?” Katie asked, looking around. “He’s the only thing that’ll calm her down.”
“Inside. Come on.” They heard another car peeling into the driveway, so they tugged her by the collar before any more people got her riled up. In the kitchen, Goldie took off on her hunt, but Daniel and Katie stopped for a proper kiss.
“I missed you last night,” he murmured into her mouth.
“Mmm. I ended up staying at the restaurant late with the kids and helping them get ready for this event.” She leaned back. “They are Kilcannon fans.”
He gave in to a slow smile. “Our first matchup is a bona fide success.” He heard Goldie barking at the other side of the house, so he put the tray down. “Let’s get her and Rusty set up in my room for the night,” he said. “There’ll be dogs in and out of here all evening, and they can keep each other company.”
“Is he doing better?”
“He’s tired. Not eating. But passes all the tests. Whined in his sleep last night, but right now? He’s as happy to see his girlfriend as I am to see mine.”
She slipped her arm around his waist and dropped her head onto his shoulder. “Girlfriend. Who’d have ever thought it?”
“My mother, it seems.”
His phone vibrated again, making him slow his step. Should he take the call? Get the news right then and there, with Katie at his side? As Goldie rushed off to bark at Rusty, he slid the phone out of his pocket only to realize it wasn’t a call this time but a text from Hannah Stavos.
Please call me. ASAP URGENT. Not what you think.
Not what he thought?
“Daniel? What is it?”
He looked up from his phone to meet Katie’s concerned eyes and every cell in his body froze.
Not what he thought?
Was it possible that after all this, Nick wasn’t his son? A punch of disappointment slammed so hard, he actually grunted.
“Daniel?”
He blinked at Katie. Would everything change? Would he lose her? Would they care for each other as much? Could he let go of this new fantasy he’d built?
“It’s…” He frowned. “What’s that noise?”
Old Dog New Tricks Page 27
