“Oh, come on! You can’t say a thing like that and then refuse to spill the beans!”
Their mom crossed herself. “Goodness gracious!”
Kayleigh calmly put another piece of potato in her mouth and spoke again with her mouth full. “Of course I’m not allowed to tell you who it was, but I can tell you that it was no fun getting those things out of there again. Two of them needed to be surgically removed.”
“You can’t tell a story like that and then withhold the name of the guy,” Ryan tried again.
Heath, on the other hand, pursed his lips in confusion. “Ryan, seriously, why in God’s name would you even want to know who puts tennis balls in their posterior?”
His wife had another suggestion, smiling as she spoke. “Why don’t you try figuring out which of your neighbors play tennis?”
“Oh my god!” Kyle groaned loudly. “Old Mr. Howard used to play tennis!”
“Mr. Howard is ninety-two years old,” their mother said, sounding appalled. “Leave the poor old man out of your dirty tall tales.”
“Mom.” Kayleigh began to laugh. “The older the wilder.”
“So it was Mr. Howard?” Ryan demanded with glee.
“My lips are sealed.”
Ellen Fitzpatrick shook her head. “Mr. Howard is a decent and amiable gentleman,” she said dictatorially. “When you were little, he gave you chocolate all the time, Kayleigh! You can’t just walk around telling people that the neighbors put tennis balls in their buttocks!”
“I never said it was Mr. Howard, Mom. Though I will say that there are old people out there who are still having a ball. No pun intended.”
While she giggled, Kyle nodded eagerly. “I can confirm as much, Mom. Once we were called to a swinger club hosting an ‘Oldies Night.’ I will never be able to forget the things I saw there.”
Heath’s dark eyebrows went up. “Was on a par with the time we were called to rescue that guy in a Batman costume who’d fallen out a window while his wife was tied up in bed wearing a Catwoman outfit?”
“Absolutely,” Kyle replied with a chuckle. “There were grannies and grandpas in fishnet overalls and see-through underwear snuggling on heart-shaped beds and feeding each other cupcakes with penises drawn on in frosting. Unfortunately, that was too much fun for one of the old guys. We had to take him to the hospital with a suspected heart attack—and all the guy was wearing was a fishnet shirt. Nothing else.”
“Good heavens,” their mom whispered. “Who does a thing like that?”
“Who shoves five tennis balls into their ass?” Kayleigh countered, still chewing.
“Imagine,” Hayden said, sounding almost as shocked as her mother-in-law, “you’re working in a hospital, and then your own grandpa is brought in in a fishnet shirt because he just had a heart attack in a swinger club!”
“I don’t want to imagine that!” Heath put an arm around his wife’s shoulder and pulled her close with a grateful smile. “Thank god we’re not into fishnet or swinger clubs.”
Shane watched his sister-in-law blush as his brother grinned. He had to acknowledge again how enviable their relationship was, a thought he often had when he watched them together. They’d known each other since they were children, so they were completely familiar and comfortable with each other. Heath really was a lucky bastard. Hayden not only acknowledged and accepted his quirks and defects, she also possessed a saint-like patience. That was the only explanation for her coming back to Heath after he flipped out three years ago. He’d been close to ruining his life because he thought he was responsible for their father’s death. Fortunately, their relationship had survived that dark time. Now they were not only outrageously happy together, they had a daughter and were expecting their second child.
Had Heath not been his brother, Shane would have been awfully jealous of all he had.
“If you please, I would like to change the subject now.” Ellen cleared her throat and gave her only daughter an admonishing look. “Maybe it’s best we don’t talk about the intricacies of your job, my dear. If you go on like that, I’m going to lose my appetite after all.”
“Exactly, Kayleigh!” Heath shouted triumphantly. “Why don’t you act a little more like a girl?”
Kayleigh didn’t look at all repentant as she grinned and gestured at everyone with her fork. “I bet you would like that! If I hadn’t had to fend against four brothers all my life, I might be more of a girl today. So it’s clearly your fault.”
“The question is who had to defend themselves against whom.”
“Yeah,” Ryan agreed with his twin. “That is the question exactly.”
Shane saw Kayleigh open her mouth for yet another repartee, but their mom was faster. “Love, what’s the matter?” she asked, turning her attention on him for a blessed change of topic. “You’ve barely touched your food. Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, Shane, what’s up?” Heath raised his head and studied him closely. “You’re awfully quiet today.”
Shane looked down at his still-full plate but didn’t say anything, because what could he have said without telling his family about Thorne and Brady? His thoughts continually circled around the fact that he had a son—everything else was meaningless by comparison.
His mom tried again. “Did something happen at the department?”
“If you’re not hungry, it’s gotta be serious.”
“Ryan, please,” Ellen rebuked her son. “Shane, you look a little distressed. Are you not feeling well?”
He took a deep breath and looked around the table, hesitant and unsure whether he should say anything. He didn’t want to say anything, but he didn’t know how long he could keep the news from his family. Finally, he broke.
“I have a son.”
There had never been complete silence at the Fitzpatricks’ dining-room table before.
“His name is Brady,” Shane said to fill the silence, “and he’s six years old.”
While the twins and Kayleigh stared at him dumbly, Heath and Hayden seemed especially stunned by his revelation. His mother was the only one who addressed the obvious after a brief moment of shock. Her tone was exceptionally and untypically severe.
“Shane Liam Fitzpatrick, how can you have a six-year-old son? Why have you never said a word until now?”
He sighed and pursed his lips, throwing his mom a cagey look. “That isn’t so easy to explain.”
“Then you better start explaining right this instant why I didn’t know anything about having a grandson! Nobody leaves this table until you’ve answered every single one of my questions.”
He wanted to disappear. Why hadn’t he waited for a quiet moment alone with his mom and told her about Brady in private? Now he had to explain the situation to his entire family, and he could already imagine the comments his siblings had in store.
“I couldn’t tell you before because … I only found out about him on Friday.”
His mother was visibly shaken. “Are you really trying to tell me that you didn’t know about him for the last six years?”
“Exactly,” Shane replied in a thick voice. He raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. “It really is more complicated than you think.”
He was grateful for his older brother’s calm tone, because he felt anything but calm at the moment. “And you’re sure he’s your son?”
“Yes,” Shane said simply. “No question about that.”
Chapter 7
Going to the indoor playplace Paradise was pure bribery.
Thorne knew it, and Brady knew it as well. Even Dana, who came along with her daughter, Mia, knew her friend had planned the trip to the incredibly expensive and incredibly loud indoor playground only as an attempt to pacify Brady, who had exhibited his most recalcitrant behavior over the last two days.
“Didn’t you swear on his birthday that you would never set foot into this unholy chaos again?” Dana asked.
“Mm-hm.” Thorne took a sip of her garishly colored soft drink and looked around
for Brady. He had dived into a pit filled with small plastic balls. At least he was laughing, which was a wonderful relief from the preceding two days during which he had behaved like a monster.
It was very much unlike Brady to be rebellious for so long. Normally his temper tantrums were over after half an hour, but this time he hadn’t spoken more than a few sentences since Friday night, and he walked around wearing a permanent frown. He didn’t understand why his dad had suddenly appeared but hadn’t stayed. He blamed his mother for that. At six years old, he had suddenly become aware of the fact that his dad had never been around, and in a fit of rage, he had blamed that on his mother, too.
On Friday, Thorne could hardly refrain from breaking into tears when he spurned the pizza and went to his room in a huff. All she could do was watch him trudge off. After that, he had hardly spoken to her, which hurt her to the core. She’d run out of ideas. The trip to Paradise was a calculated move.
“What did you do?”
She raised her tired head and met the questioning gaze of her friend. “What makes you think I did something?”
The corners of Dana’s mouth curled in amusement. “It’s plain as day you two had a major argument. The last time Brady ran around with such a thundercloud over his head was when he wasn’t allowed to watch TV.”
Thorne made a face and crossed her arms. “Brady couldn’t watch TV because he broke the TV set. If he hadn’t climbed the entertainment center, the TV wouldn’t have fallen down and—”
“You’re evading my question, Thorne.”
“I was just trying to protest the fact that you’re casting me as the bad guy here.”
Dana smiled warmly and leaned forward to pat her friend’s knee. “I have a six-year-old who wraps her dad around her little finger. Believe me, I understand being the bad guy.”
After taking a deep breath, Thorne licked her dry lips and then explained in a hoarse voice, “Brady’s not speaking to me. Hasn’t since Friday night.”
“But why? Did something happen?”
“I guess you could say that,” Thorne replied dryly. “A few days ago, Brady’s dad suddenly appeared on my doorstep—after almost seven years. He showed up again unannounced on Friday, ran into Brady, and the drama took its course. Now Brady thinks I’ve been keeping his father from him for all these years, and he’s mad that I made Shane leave again.”
“Who is Shane?” Confused, Dana scooted closer to hear Thorne’s lowered voice in this public space. “Didn’t you tell me Brady’s father’s name was Liam?”
“Yes, that’s what I thought.” Hesitantly, she looked up and shrugged, attempting to shrug off her dismay. “You know the story of my brother, right?”
“Aidan.”
“Yes.” Her face contorted in the effort of making a happy face. “Aidan will be released soon.”
“But that’s wonderful.”
“Yeah.” Thorne swallowed against the lump in her throat. “But because of that, two policemen came by the apartment. One of them was Liam … or rather, Shane. As it turns out, all those years ago, he’d been working undercover on the case.”
Dana’s hand stopped halfway to her mouth, the chips in it suspended. Her mouth was working like a fish on land gasping for air. Thorne had to smile in spite of herself.
“Are you really trying to tell me that … that …”
“Brady’s father was an undercover cop? Yes, that’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you.” She sighed deeply. “His name was fake, our engagement was fake, and his sudden disappearance had everything to do with my brother’s arrest. He was the one who busted Aidan.”
“Oh my God, Thorne!”
She struggled to contain the bitterness smoldering within her. Taking another deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment. “And that’s also the reason I couldn’t find him all these years. Liam Gallagher never existed.”
“Well, apart from the British singer. He’s real. Are you sure he’s not Brady’s father? I’m sure musicians get around.”
That managed to elicit a brief chuckle from Thorne. “Pretty sure.”
Despite Dana’s best efforts, Thorne’s mirth began to sink again as she realized her entire world was upside down. She looked around to check on Brady, who was climbing the jungle gym as eagerly and recklessly as always. It made her smile to see him having fun despite their quarrel. The most important thing for her was that he was okay.
Dana pulled her back out of her thoughts. “So that man is responsible for putting your brother in jail. Aren’t you mad at him for that?”
Thorne shook her head. “Strangely enough, that’s the only thing I’m not angry about. Aidan screwed up, and that’s the reason he went to jail.”
Dana studied her with a furrowed brow. “Are you sure you don’t hold that against the cop? I’d be furious.”
Thorne rubbed a hand across her forehead. “You want to know whether I would have preferred if my brother hadn’t gone to jail? Of course! But I would have preferred it even more if he hadn’t started down that road in the first place. Who knows what would have happened if he’d been allowed to go on like he was? He’s sworn to me that he doesn’t want anything to do with his former buddies or his life of crime anymore. So that means jail must have been good for something, right?”
“That sounds very rational.”
The surprised tone in her friend’s voice elicited a weak smile from Thorne. “I’ve a few years to think about it, you know.”
“But you’ve only had a few days to think about Brady’s dad.”
“Yes.” She tensed involuntarily. “God, I’d completely forgotten just how much Brady looks like him. Shane only needed one good look and knew instantly.”
“And Brady?”
She drew a shaky breath. “He heard Shane and me arguing in the kitchen.”
“What a mess.”
Thorne tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know what to do, Dana. Brady wants to get to know his dad, and Shane …”
“What does he want?”
She shrugged helplessly. “A few days ago, before he found out about Brady, he said our relationship back then was just part of his job. He sounded so cold and indifferent. But on Friday, he was suddenly really upset over Brady.”
“What do you mean by upset? Was he angry?”
Thorne gnawed on her lower lip indecisively. “No, it was different than anger. He seemed more crushed … devastated that he hadn’t known about Brady. And he said he really wanted to get to know him.”
“Can you blame him for that?”
“No, of course not, but … but you need to understand my side, too.”
Dana immediately put an arm around her friend’s shoulder. “Oh, I do, Thorne. I wouldn’t know what to do, either.”
Thorne was close to bursting into tears. “Up until now I had assumed that the father of my child loved me,” she admitted in a hushed, halting voice. “Even if Liam had disappeared suddenly, I though that Brady was … Oh God, that sounds so cheesy!” She stopped, ashamed of her naiveté.
“No, Thorne,” Dana soothed. “I know what you’re trying to say.”
She shook her head in confusion as the tears began to fall. “I don’t want to imagine that Brady was nothing more than … than part of a job.”
“That’s nonsense, and you know it, Thorne,” Dana comforted her. “You shouldn’t brood over how he was conceived but instead focus on what a wonderful kid he is. And he is, Thorne. He’s a great kid. To be honest, I’m hoping he’ll marry Mia one day so I’ll have the best, most handsome son-in-law in all of Boston.”
Thorne laughed through her tears. “Mia and Brady are only six, Dana. Is that really what you daydream about?”
“Well, your son is a really handsome little guy, and a mother has to watch carefully who her daughter ends up with.”
“Alright, forget matchmaking for a moment and tell me what I should do.”
Dana patted her on the shoulder and smiled a small smile. “You know th
at already, don’t you, Thorne? You’re just scared to go through with it.”
***
Even though Brady had had a great time at Paradise and had run through the noisy place with a joyful smile the whole day, he didn’t speak to Thorne on the drive home.
As soon as they entered the apartment, he ran to his room wearing the familiar frown again, as if to show his mother that while he had taken the bribe, he wasn’t ready to forgive her yet.
Thorne stared at the closed door, set down her purse, and slipped off her shoes. Then she went to the kitchen and grabbed a large tub from the freezer. Armed with ice cream and two spoons, she stepped into Brady’s room.
His scowl didn’t disappear even when his eyes lit on the pint of Rocky Road—his favorite flavor. She knew his moods very well and, thus, also knew that behind his angry face, he was hiding insecurity and fear. She didn’t hold it against him that he was acting in such a recalcitrant fashion, though it hurt her nevertheless. But this was about Brady, not about her.
Without waiting for an invitation, she sat down next to him on his bed and handed him one of the spoons. He took it.
As soon as he began to eat from the carton, she exhaled a small sigh. She wanted to pull him close to her, but she refrained. “Brady,” she said gently, “I don’t like you being mad at me. Could we please talk about the things that made you mad, so we can figure it out together?”
His light brown eyes flew to her face. “You know why I’m mad, Mom!”
“Yes.” She nodded sympathetically and took a small spoonful of ice cream, even though she could hardly swallow it. “I know this is about your dad.”
“Exactly!” The small mouth was covered in chocolate now and drawn into a pugnacious pout. “You never let me see my dad!”
“No, Brady. That’s not true,” she protested immediately.
“Yes, it is! All the other kids have a dad—I’m the only one who doesn’t! If you hadn’t sent him away, he … he would have stayed!”
“Love, on Friday night we were all upset and confused. So it was better that your dad left, so we could all calm down before we meet again.”
Blast From The Past (The Boston Five Series #2) Page 8
