“You plotting a strategy for getting rid of some uncooperative lawmakers?” Mick asked, only partially in jest. He knew there were a few folks in the state capital his brother would love to see run out of office.
“Not today,” Thomas said, his smile halfhearted. “I was just jotting down some notes for Aidan about projects I thought the high school kids might want to be involved with in the fall.”
“So he’s come around?”
“He’s still saying all the right words,” Thomas corrected.
Mick frowned. “You don’t believe he’s sincere?”
“Oh, who knows? I’m probably imagining problems where there are none,” Thomas grumbled and grabbed an oatmeal raisin cookie from the plate beside him.
Mick promptly reached over and snagged the last one. “Ma was here baking today?”
Thomas nodded, then grinned. “I got here just in time to do a taste test.”
“Since when has Ma ever baked a bad batch of cookies?”
“Not once that I can recall,” Thomas replied, then winked. “But it never hurts to hint that this might be the first time.”
Mick laughed and nodded approvingly. “You’re turning out to be sneakier than I imagined.”
Thomas lifted his half-empty glass of milk in a silent salute. “And didn’t I learn from the best?”
“That you did,” Mick agreed. He studied his younger brother with concern. “What’s really on your mind? Something tells me for once it’s not the bay or those school projects.”
“I’ve mentioned this before but I keep getting this weird vibe from Aidan,” he admitted.
“Weird how?”
“I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s definitely something...” His voice trailed off and he shrugged. “I can’t explain it. I wish we knew more about him.”
“Such as?” Mick asked. “I can show you his résumé. We did the usual background check. Nothing turned up or we’d never have called him about an interview, much less hired him.”
“I’m not talking about some criminal past he’s hiding,” Thomas said impatiently, then shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m talking about exactly. It just hit me again this morning that something’s off.”
“This morning? Where did you see Aidan this morning?”
“He came into Sally’s when I was there with Connie and Sean. I asked him to join us.”
Mick chuckled. “The end-of-school pancake bonanza?”
“That was it,” Thomas confirmed.
“Did Aidan turn you down? Take off?”
“No, he joined us.”
“Was he quiet? Rude?” Mick asked, struggling to understand.
Thomas paused, clearly giving the question a surprising amount of thought.
“It wasn’t either of those things. If I had to describe his behavior, I guess I’d say he was observant.”
Mick stared at his brother incredulously. “Observant? Since when is that a bad thing?”
“It’s not bad. It was just a little intense.” Thomas looked at him. “You think I’m overreacting.”
“Since you haven’t given me a blessed thing to go on that doesn’t sound perfectly normal, then yes, I think you’re overreacting.”
Thomas sighed. “Maybe I am.” Still, he turned to Mick. “He doesn’t act that way around you, though, does he?”
“Not that I’ve noticed,” Mick said.
“He seems to get along just fine with Kevin,” Thomas conceded. “They’ve been playing basketball with Connor and some of the other guys in the family. The only thing Kevin says he’s noticed is that Aidan seems to have a thing for Liz and that it’s not going so well.”
“I’ve taken note of that myself,” Mick said. “I might have to step in and give those two a push.”
“And what do Megan and Ma have to say about that?” Thomas asked, looking amused.
“Oh, what do they know?” Mick grumbled. “My meddling’s turned out okay so far. I gave you and Connie a gentle nudge, didn’t I? You complaining about that?”
Thomas regarded him indignantly. “Now you’re taking credit for my getting together with my wife?”
“I am,” Mick said unrepentantly. “You were having a ton of second thoughts, as I recall. Two failed marriages. Connie being younger. Connie’s daughter not exactly being on board. You remember any of that?”
“It sounds vaguely familiar,” Thomas admitted. “But Connie and I would have worked through those things in time. She’s a smart woman. Patient, too.”
“At your age, I figured you didn’t have any time to waste,” Mick retorted.
Thomas laughed. “Well, there is that. Okay, thank you. Now, what do you suggest I do about Aidan? You’re the one with all the ideas.”
“I have his résumé inside. You can take a look at that and see if anything pops out at you.”
“Is that legal?” Thomas asked. “Aren’t personnel files closed to the public?”
“I was on the hiring committee,” Mick responded. “I asked your opinion since he’ll be working with you and the environmental club at the school. Who’s going to argue with that?”
“In this town, probably nobody,” Thomas acknowledged.
“Okay, then. I’ll be right back.”
Mick returned with Aidan’s file and handed it to his brother. “Read it here, though. I probably shouldn’t let it wander all over town.”
“Of course.” Thomas hesitated, as if he weren’t sure he wanted to know whatever might be in the file that could confirm this uneasiness he felt around Aidan. Finally, visibly drawing in a deep breath, he opened the folder and glanced at the top page, then moved on to the next and then the next.
Mick saw the exact moment when something registered. Shock settled on his brother’s face and his color drained away.
“Thomas, what the hell is it? What did you find?”
“The boy’s mother,” Thomas said, sounding thoroughly shaken.
“What about her?”
“I knew her, Mick. I knew her really well.”
14
Mick stared at Thomas incredulously. “Are you sure about that? What’s it say her name is?”
“Anna Mitchell,” Thomas said without so much as a glance at the résumé.
“It’s a common enough name,” Mick said, waving off his brother’s concern. “You’re probably imagining things.”
“I’m not,” Thomas insisted with surprising certainty. “All along I’ve thought there was something familiar about Aidan, but I couldn’t pin it down. It’s Anna. He has her eyes, her coloring. I’m sure of it.”
Mick remained unconvinced. “If you and Aidan’s mom were friends, don’t you think he would have mentioned the connection when he first got to town?”
“Maybe he doesn’t know,” Thomas suggested. “Or maybe he does and that’s why he reacts so oddly around me. I have no idea what his mother might have mentioned about that time in her life. Do parents tell their kids about old college love affairs?”
“You’ve always had a great relationship with your exes,” Mick reminded him. “Was it different with Anna?”
“I didn’t think so,” Thomas said, his expression troubled. “We were young, just kids really. I had so many things I wanted to accomplish, and she knew that. She had a long list of ambitious goals for herself, so she understood. We parted as friends, at least that’s what I remember.”
“Did you stay in touch?”
“No, she moved back to New York right after we broke up. She told me she’d decided to finish college there, that she missed her family and missed New York, that she thought her future was there. I never heard from her again.”
“You never thought about contacting her?”
“It crossed my mind,
but I convinced myself it was best left in the past. You know how I was back then, single-minded about my goals. Anna meant the world to me, but she was a distraction.”
“How serious was it? Before the breakup, I mean.”
Thomas lifted a brow. “You asking for details, Mick?”
Mick frowned at him. “Of course not. I’m just trying to follow what you’re saying. Had you talked about marriage, anything like that?”
“No, never,” Thomas said. A faraway look crossed his face. “She was amazing, Mick. She was smart and as dedicated to environmental causes as I was. That idealism was something we had in common.”
Mick recalled Thomas’s first two wives. Anyone could have told him they were all wrong for him. Neither understood his passion for his career. Connie, though, she got it. Maybe this Anna woman had, too.
“It sounds as if she might have been the perfect woman for you,” Mick said.
“In retrospect, she may have been,” Thomas said wearily. “I do know that I loved her, or at least thought I did. But, like I said, we were too young to be so serious. She knew that, too. In fact, she’s the one who called it off.”
His expression turned nostalgic. “I thought about her for years. I’d be in the middle of some thankless fight with the politicians, half-ready to give up, and I’d hear Anna in my head telling me not to dare do that.”
“So, on some level you’ve always regretted losing her?” Mick concluded.
“I knew breaking up was the right decision at the time, but, sure, I had regrets. I thought it was more about my ego than anything else, though. I mean, really, what did I know about love at twenty?”
“You didn’t know that much when you hit forty,” Mick taunted. “Not till Connie came along. You know,” he added thoughtfully, “everything you said about Anna could describe Connie, too. She’s as passionate about this environmental stuff as you are, and she’s smart as a whip.”
Thomas gave him a startled look. “You know, you’re right. I never once made the comparison before, probably because Anna was so far in my past it never occurred to me. Connie and Anna would have had a lot in common. The other trait they shared was an admirable strength. I think that drew me to each of them.”
Mick sat back, trying to absorb his brother’s news. “You going to confront Aidan about this?”
Thomas nodded slowly. “Confrontation’s the wrong way of looking at it, but I do think I have to at least mention it, ask if I’m right. If he’s been harboring some sort of misplaced ill will toward me, we need to get that out in the open, especially if we’re going to work together.”
“And how will Connie feel about your dredging up your romantic past?”
“It has nothing to do with her,” Thomas said.
Mick gave him a disbelieving look. “Even I know better than that.”
“Come on, Mick. It’s ancient history,” Thomas replied. “Connie knows I was married twice, and she didn’t freak out about that. She’ll handle an old college relationship just fine. It’s no threat to her. Besides, the form says Anna is deceased. She can’t cause any trouble for us.”
Mick regarded him worriedly. “You may be minimizing the impact of this news. Just look at how it’s shaken you up knowing that Aidan’s mom was a woman you used to know.”
“Connie will be fine,” Thomas insisted. “I’ll speak to her before I ever have a word with Aidan. Like I said, though, it’s been years, Mick. It’s over and done with. I’ll make that clear. I’ll tell her I just need to tie up these loose ends, so Aidan and I can clear the air and work together.”
“Up to you to decide how to handle it, of course,” Mick said, for once not the least bit interested in inserting himself into the middle. He had a hunch the minefield was a lot more dangerous than his brother was envisioning. In his experience, women weren’t quite as predictable as Thomas clearly thought Connie to be.
“I need to go,” Thomas said, still looking shaken as he handed over the folder with the stunning information.
“You need me, I’m here,” Mick said.
“Thanks, Mick.”
Mick watched his brother walk away, shoulders slumped in a way he’d never seen before. Whatever Thomas said about this thing with Anna Mitchell being no more than a distant memory was a lie. It had been dragged right smack into the middle of the present. To his way of thinking that was never good.
* * *
Aidan had eaten cold, leftover pizza for dinner and was trying to settle down with a book when someone knocked on the door of his apartment, sending Archie racing in that direction to help announce the arrival of company.
Aidan laughed. “I heard it,” he told the dog, grabbing his collar to hold him back as he opened the door. He was stunned to see Thomas O’Brien standing there.
“Am I interrupting anything?” Thomas asked, looking uncomfortable.
“No, come on in,” he said, his tone polite, but hardly welcoming.
“Maybe we could go for a walk, instead,” Thomas said, hands jammed into the pockets of his well-worn jeans.
At the mention of a walk, Archie barked excitedly and ran for his leash.
“Well, one of us is clearly enthusiastic about that idea,” Aidan said, laughing. “A walk does sound good, though. I just finished way too much leftover pizza.”
He followed Thomas down the stairs and around the building to Main Street. The older man didn’t say a word as they turned onto Shore Road and walked along the waterfront. The restaurants seemed to be crowded with customers, but they had the walkway by the water mostly to themselves. The breeze off the bay was surprisingly chilly for June. Aidan was glad he’d thought to grab a jacket, but Thomas was shivering without one.
“Maybe we should stop somewhere,” Aidan said. “It’s cooler out here than I thought it would be.”
Thomas laughed. “You haven’t spent a day on the water when it’s freezing and the wind is whipping. Now, that’s cold. This is just a wee nip in the air.”
“Are you sure? You can have my jacket.”
Thomas shook his head. “I’m used to this.” He kept right on walking, his pace deliberate and steady.
When Aidan couldn’t stand it another minute, he glanced over at Thomas’s profile and took note of his troubled expression. “Is there something on your mind? It’s not about the school club, is it, because I have the time now to get some of those books from you. In fact, Shanna sold me one earlier today and I was just starting to read it when you showed up.”
“It’s not about that,” Thomas said.
The weariness behind his words had Aidan’s heart skipping a beat. “Then what?” he asked, filled with trepidation.
“Your mother,” Thomas began.
Aidan stiffened at the totally unexpected reply. “What about her?”
“She went to the University of Maryland, didn’t she?”
So, Aidan thought, Thomas had finally figured out the connection, or at least some of it.
“She did.”
“And we dated,” Thomas said flatly, no hint of doubt in his voice.
“I believe you may have,” Aidan said, choosing his words very carefully.
Thomas regarded him with a surprised expression. “She never mentioned me?”
Aidan shook his head. “Not really, no.”
“But you had some inkling we had a past, am I right about that?”
“Yes.”
Thomas regarded him impatiently. “Aidan, I’m trying to figure out some things. Help me out.”
“I’m being honest,” Aidan said, his defenses in place. “My mom mentioned there had been someone in her past, but she never mentioned you by name.”
His reply only seemed to leave Thomas more confused. “Then why the attitude when you got to town and we first met?” Thomas asked. “If s
he’d told you about me, it might make sense, but if my name never came up, then I don’t get it.”
“I found your name after she died last year,” Aidan explained.
“Okay,” Thomas said, still looking vaguely bewildered. He was silent, as if waiting for more.
“How well do you remember her?” Aidan asked to fill the silence. He decided to probe for a few answers of his own before giving anything more away.
“Very well,” Thomas said without hesitation. “When I saw her name and realized that’s who your mother was, so many memories came flooding back to me.” He met Aidan’s gaze. “They were good memories, Aidan.”
“Tell me,” Aidan pleaded, suddenly wanting to hear every detail about their time together. He had to wonder if Thomas would share his memories so readily once the truth was out there. “I don’t really know anything about that time in her life.”
Thomas’s expression softened. “She was beautiful, but I’m sure you saw that for yourself. Not just on the outside, but the inside, too. She was as idealistic as I was, so we had that in common. I don’t think she’d found a real focus for all that energy yet the way I had, but I knew she would eventually. She had such passion for anything that interested her.”
“She said the same about you,” Aidan admitted, drawing another puzzled look.
“I thought you said she’d never mentioned me.”
“Not by name, no. I put the pieces together after she died.”
“I’m so sorry you lost her,” Thomas said with apparent sincerity. “I wish we’d stayed in touch, that I’d kept up with her life, known about you before now.”
“Me, too.”
“What about your father?”
The charged words seemed to hang in the air. Answering that question was going to change everything. Aidan wondered if Thomas knew that, if he suspected, but his expression when he asked the question so innocently suggested nothing more than curiosity.
“I never knew him.” Aidan swallowed hard, then looked directly into Thomas’s eyes. “Until now.”
* * *
There it was—the truth that had been weighing on Aidan’s mind ever since he’d arrived in Chesapeake Shores. He waited for a reaction, any reaction, but Thomas just stared at him, clearly stunned.
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