Nick's Journey
Page 6
Rico cocked his head. “I thought you didn’t have any kids.”
“She had one. My wife and her first husband adopted him. That baby was your father, Caitlin.” Henry looked from Rico to Caitlin, who seemed dazed. “Do you understand what this means? You’re cousins, and cousins can’t marry each other.”
Rico looked from Henry to Caitlin and then to Zola. Everyone in his family had dark hair and eyes. Henry’s eyes were gray, but he had dark hair streaked with gray. What were the odds of these two people producing a blue-eyed, strawberry blonde granddaughter? “Does Caitlin look Italian to you?”
“John did,” said Henry. “He looked like Zola, with her black hair and eyes. And Caitlin is John’s daughter.”
Zola’s eyes were filled with sadness. “I always regretted letting my parents talk me into giving up my baby, but I knew Mary would give him a good home.”
Rico wasn’t about to give up Caitlin. He loved her too much to lose her again. There had to be a way around this. “I want everyone to have a DNA test.”
Henry shook his head. “Not necessary. I know John was my son and Zola’s son.”
“Did Grandma know?” Cait asked.
“No, I never told her. She and Zola stayed friends, and I didn’t want to ruin that friendship.”
Zola put her hand over Caitlin’s. “I wanted to tell you years ago, but Henry wouldn’t let me. He said it was better to keep the secret, but when you and Rico started getting serious, we had to do something to keep you two apart.”
Cait pulled her hand away. “You could have told us the truth instead of lying to us.” She stared at Henry. “Damn it, Grandpa, why didn’t you tell me?”
Henry didn’t answer. This little family secret had taken control of his tongue, and Zola’s eyes were filled with tears.
Rico knew they wouldn’t try out that new tub tonight. Damn! Why did this have to happen now?
After several seconds of silence, Cait stood and gathered that Irish stamina she’d inherited from her mother. If she was related to Dad, then she was also related to Zola, and Zola was Rico’s father’s oldest sibling. She and Rico weren’t first cousins, but it was still a close relationship. If they really were related.
Cait excused herself and went upstairs to her bedroom to make a phone call. Mom sounded like she’d been drinking, which might help loosen her tongue. To shock her mother into telling her the truth, Caitlin blurted it out. “Tell me about my natural father.”
Mom gasped. “Who told you?”
“I need to know the truth, Mom. If Dad wasn’t my natural father, I need to know.“
Cait’s mother sighed. “When John was off somewhere looking for work, I met an Irish dancer. Rogan was a handsome devil, and I fell for his charm. We were only together for a week or so, and I never saw him again. I knew the day you were born that you weren’t John’s baby. You have Rogan’s blue eyes and dimples.”
“Did Grandpa know?”
“God, no. John didn’t know either. Henry would have thrown me out of his house if he’d known, and we had to live there, because John couldn’t keep a job. Laziest man I ever knew, and Henry and Mary always made excuses for him.”
“I remember.” Dad spent his life talking and planning the things he’d do to bring in money, but he seldom followed up. Grandpa’s job supported them when Cait was a little girl, and then after Cait started school, her mother went to work. Cait was fourteen when her mother left, and Dad died two years later. By then, her mother had another husband, so Cait stayed in Frogtown, with Grandpa.
Now she knew the truth. There was no need for a DNA test. She sighed with relief.
She wasn’t related to Rico.
Rico walked upstairs to Caitlin’s room, heavy with the burden of Henry and Zola’s secret. He hated lies, and he hated it that this lie hurt Cait so much. So what if they were related? If there was a danger of having children with birth defects, they could adopt instead of making their own babies. If necessary, he’d have a vasectomy, but he would not let this tear them apart. Not again.
He tapped on her bedroom door. “Hey, cute stuff, you all right?”
She opened the door and he pulled her into a hug. “I love you, Caitlin, and I want to marry you. We’ll have DNA tests done and—”
She rubbed his chest. “That’s not necessary. Let’s go downstairs.”
In the living room, Caitlin looked from one sad face to another. “I called Mom. She said she had an affair with an Irish dancer, that he was my natural father. So, I’m not related to any of you.” She walked behind the sofa and put her hands on Grandpa’s shoulders. “You’re still my grandfather in every way that matters.”
Rico’s smile threatened to swallow his face.
Grandpa hugged Caitlin, then opened a bottle of wine and poured four glasses. He held up his glass. Gazing at Zola, he said, “To love.”
“To love,” the others repeated.
Cait’s eyes sparkled, and Rico couldn’t wait to get her in that big bathtub. He took her hand and tugged her toward the front door. Zola and Henry were arguing about Jasmine again, and the dog slept on the living room rug when Rico and Caitlin slipped out the door.
Minutes later, they walked through his house, straight back to the bedroom. Rico turned on the water in the big slipper tub. “If the neighbors call the police again, somebody else can take the call,” he said, pouring bubble bath under the stream of water.
Caitlin came into the bathroom wearing his robe and nothing else. She opened the robe and stepped closer, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. “You’re beautiful, just like I remember.” Her breasts, full and creamy, beckoned, and she wore a little gold ring in her belly button.
He quickly stripped off his clothes and stepped into the tub. After he settled in the fragrant bubbles, she sat between his legs and leaned back into his chest. He ran his hands down her silky arms, and she twisted around to kiss him. The steam from the hot water made her cheeks glow and she felt so good in his arms, he wanted to keep her there forever.
They stayed in the tub until the water grew cold, then dried each other and walked into the bedroom. He’d missed the closeness, the companionship, the sex. He’d missed everything about this woman.
They made slow, sweet love, then Rico reached into the nightstand and pulled out a tiny box. “I want to give you your birthday present. I know it’s five years too late, but I hope you like it.”
“What is it?” As if she didn’t know.
“Actually, it’s me. The ring is a token of my love. What do you say, sunshine? Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” Absolutely. “Nothing can tear up apart now. I love you, Rico. I’ll always love you.” She’d loved him since their first date, and she’d waited so long for this moment.
“All we have to do is keep Henry and Zola from causing more trouble.”
She smiled and snuggled in, content for the first time in years. She had the man she loved right here in her arms. Forever.
Other books by Sue Fineman
The Martinson Ranch Series
The Mitchell Money ~ Kindle - Nook
Ginger’s Grief ~ Kindle - Nook
Maggie’s Man ~ Kindle - Nook
The Gregory Series
On the Run ~ Kindle - Nook
On the Lam ~ Kindle - Nook
On the Hunt ~ Kindle - Nook
On the Edge ~ Kindle - Nook
The Donatelli Series
Nick’s Journey
Maxine ~ Kindle - Nook
Blind Love ~ Kindle - Nook
The Inheritance ~ Kindle - Nook
The Inn at Dead Man’s Point ~ Kindle - Nook
Single Title
Gran’s Guilt ~ Kindle - Nook
Bio Sheet
Sue Fineman
Sue’s Blog
Sue Fineman lives in a small town in Washington state with her husband of forty-eight years, a tiny poodle with no tail, and a scruffy rescue dog who wags her tail all the time. Her three grown children are nea
rly old enough to join AARP. She also has one adorable grandson and multiple grandpuppies and grandkittens. At one time she and her husband took in foster kids, but that was when they were younger and had more patience. These days her husband manages to try Sue’s patience on a daily basis, but she’s decided to keep him anyway. She doesn’t want to start over training a new husband.
She’s been a secretary, technical writer, real estate agent, and foster mother to five children. Always an avid reader, she began writing in her mid-fifties, when she quit her day job. Sue has written over two dozen books in the past fifteen years.
To contact Sue, send an email to suepalmerfineman@nwi.net. To read her blog, go to http://suefineman.blogspot.com/.
Author’s Note
Nick’s plight as an abused and neglected boy seems extreme, but it’s more common than you might think. As a former foster mother, I saw kids who’d been badly abused by their parents, kids who’d suffered from needless neglect. Kids who had no hope for a promising future unless someone stepped in to help them. For those kids, a warm smile and encouraging word means so much. A safe, loving home is everything.
I’d like to think that every child we took in had a bright future, like my own kids, but I’ll never know. Our foster kids all moved on, one back with his mother, three with other relatives, and the last one to another foster home.
Nick’s story, Maxine, is the first of four books in the Donatelli Series. Blind Love is Tony’s story. Tony’s sister, Maria, is featured in The Inheritance. The youngest sibling, Alessandro, is featured in The Inn at Dead Man’s Point.
For other books by Sue Fineman, check my blog at http://suefineman.blogspot.com/
Contact me at suepalmerfineman@nwi.net
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Nick's Journey ~ Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Maxine ~ Excerpt
About the Donatelli series
BONUS STORY ~ The Frogtown Flasher
Backlist
Author Bio
Author's Note