Their expressions were skeptical but they were more interested in getting to the cartoons, so she started those and left them to watch while she returned to the kitchen and Liam Madison standing where she’d left him.
“So...” she said when she got there, hoping to prompt him to say something.
“It’s been over five years. Not a word, not a hint that I have kids...” he said.
“Yeah...” Dani debated whether or not to address that. Then she decided that he needed the whole story so she said, “Audrey told me that she’d planned never to tell you. She said when she met Owen he was at a time in his life when he regretted that he’d put everything into his career and didn’t have any family. She said you weren’t in a position to be a dad, and she had been afraid to raise kids on her own. She said Owen could be there for them all, that he could take care of the three of them, and that was something she needed. Something she wanted—to be taken care of...”
“That sounds like her,” he acknowledged. “She wasn’t the most strong or independent person.”
And there he was, as strong as they came and exuding the ability to protect. Knowing the kind of woman Audrey had been, Dani could see how she would have been drawn to that. Until she’d had to face the fact that he wouldn’t be around for long periods of time to fill that role.
Dani watched the marine take a deep breath and exhale slowly. “When I got your message I called my older brother. He’s here, in Denver. He got me a lawyer. The lawyer says the first thing that needs to be done is to prove that I am the father. There needs to be a DNA test.”
“The court will need that, too, or they won’t even consider giving you custody... If custody is what you want...”
He didn’t confirm that was what he wanted.
Instead, in a clipped, just-stating-the-facts voice, he said, “The timing tracks. I know it’s possible that I fathered Audrey’s kids. I don’t know that anything would have ever worked out between Audrey and me—there weren’t any plans, and we were just having fun—but if those kids are mine...”
There was resignation in that, but he wasn’t jumping for joy at the possibility.
“I’ll do what’s right,” he ultimately admitted.
“And what’s right might just be finding them a good, loving home with people who want them...” She felt the need to say it. After all, she was there to make sure the kids ended up in the best home possible, and she wasn’t convinced that even a biological father was the right choice if that man wasn’t thrilled with being a parent to them.
“I’ve thought about it, though,” he went on. “And even if they aren’t mine... Well, I considered Audrey a friend—”
A friend with benefits, apparently, Dani thought. But she didn’t say it.
“—and I know she didn’t have anyone. So even if her kids aren’t mine, I want to make sure that they’re taken care of in the best way possible. That they aren’t just left in a bad situation.”
That was commendable.
“And if they are mine,” he continued, “I should get to know them.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” she agreed. Especially since Audrey hadn’t seemed to have any doubt whatsoever that the twins were his.
“So... I don’t know... What would you say to me maybe coming here to stay with the three of you? That way I could help out with them, too, learn some of the ropes, just in case...” His dark eyebrows arched suddenly, showing how baffled he was by this whole thing. “This place is huge and I can bunk anywhere you’d be comfortable with... If you would be comfortable with sharing a place with a complete stranger.”
Dani had to think about that. He was right. She would be agreeing to share a house with a complete stranger. A big, muscular, handsome-as-all-get-out stranger. None of which told her that he was a person she could trust.
On the other hand, Audrey really hadn’t left any question that he was the twins’ father. He’d come from who knew where the minute he’d learned that he might have kids. And while he was obviously shaken by the news, he was still willing to take responsibility whether or not the kids were his, to make sure they were well taken care of.
None of those things spoke of character she shouldn’t—or couldn’t—trust. At least enough to put him in one of the rooms on the upper levels of the house.
And she did think that it would be good for the kids to get to know him. It would be a good idea for her to check him out, too, in case it came to handing Evie and Grady over to him.
“I think it would probably be okay,” she said then. “I’m staying in a room downstairs near the kids, but there are four empty bedrooms up another floor from here, and a guest suite that’s in that sort of box that sits a level higher than that—”
“I wondered what that was. It looks like a tower for an air traffic controller.”
“I know. It’s nice, though. Plush. Plus the view is something to see and there’s a deck to go out onto. The kids and I went up there to watch the city’s fireworks display last summer and it was like being in the sky at eye level with them. Unless you don’t like heights...”
“I’m fine with heights,” he informed her as if there shouldn’t have been any question.
“There’s also an elevator up to it if you don’t want to climb all the stairs,” Dani added.
“I think I’ll be fine with the stairs, too,” he said in the same way he’d said he didn’t have a problem with heights.
And of course he would be all right with the stairs with thighs the size of tree trunks inside those uniform pants, she thought.
But what she said was, “Do you want to stay tonight?”
“My brother and his fiancée are expecting me tonight. I haven’t seen any of my family in over ten months, so I need to check in. But tomorrow—”
“Sure, you can just move in whenever you’re ready.”
He switched gears then. “According to my lawyer we can go to a doctor or to a lab for the DNA tests—it’s just a couple of mouth swabs—but it has to go through channels in order for the court to accept it. The twins must have a doctor, right? I was thinking that if their doctor would do it—somebody they know—they might not be scared. If something like that would scare them... I don’t know.”
But he was thinking of them, of how to make things easiest on them, and Dani appreciated that. “I can call their pediatrician first thing in the morning and set it up. I’ll try for an appointment tomorrow so we can get it in the works,” she offered.
“Good,” he said with a nod and the return of those arched eyebrows that seemed to give away whenever the possible reality of being a dad struck and rattled him. “I got a cell phone when I hit the States. Let me give you the number.”
He did and Dani gave him hers, assuring him that she would let him know if they could get into the doctor the next day.
“Otherwise, what’s a good time for me to move in tomorrow?”
“The kids’ preschool is closed for spring break this coming week and next so I’ll let them sleep until they wake up on their own—eight o’clock at best. After that tomorrow is pretty open.”
“So maybe we’ll just play it by ear?”
“Sure.”
He nodded, keeping his focus on her so that Dani again remembered how weird she looked and wished she didn’t.
But he still didn’t remark on it or question her about it. Instead, after seeming to apply her appearance to memory, he said, “I’ll take off then, get to my brother’s.” He glanced in the direction of the lower level and said, “Should I say goodbye or something?”
Dani almost smiled at the confusion in his voice that said he was at a complete loss of what to do with kids.
“It’s up to you. If you want to. But they get pretty engrossed in their cartoons at wind-down and I wouldn’t expect too much from them.”
“I like that you just
said I’m a friend of their mother’s, though. I wasn’t sure who to say I am...”
“Yeah, let’s just start there. They’ve had a lot to deal with since the accident. Keeping things as simple as possible seems to work best.”
“And if I am their father...we’ll figure out how to say that?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“If we come to it.”
So he had some doubts. She supposed he was entitled to that after Audrey kept him in the dark.
Dani walked him to the front door, opening it for him and realizing only then that there was a big, black rented SUV parked in the drive just outside the dance studio, so he must have seen what was going on in there when he arrived.
And thinking about how she just cut loose during dance parties with the kids—all while her hair was in the state it was in tonight—was a little disheartening and a whole lot embarrassing.
But she decided against saying anything and only said good-night.
Then she watched him walk out to his rental, unable not to notice that his backside was as good as his front.
But it didn’t matter. The guy had a lot to deal with, and she was only there to care for, advocate for and protect the twins.
And once that was taken care of, she had decisions of her own to make. Big ones.
So the way he looked didn’t make any difference.
Chapter Two
“That was some hard-core sack time—eleven hours straight. You must have been beat.”
“I was coming off about thirty-six hours without, so yeah,” Liam confirmed to his older brother, Conor, on Monday morning over coffee and the bacon and eggs Conor had made. “Sorry, though, for being the lousy houseguest who comes in the door and just crashes.”
“No problem, I understand. And so did Maicy.”
Liam had barely said hello to the woman his brother was now engaged to and shared a house with—Maicy Clark. They’d grown up with Maicy in the small Montana town of Northbridge. Conor and Maicy had only recently met up again, resolved old issues and rekindled their romance.
But after a brief greeting when Liam had arrived from the Freelander place the night before, he’d begged off to get much-needed sleep.
“I was just glad to hit the rack,” he said. “But now that I have, the first thing I need to hear about is Declan.”
Liam hadn’t known anything unusual had been going on with his twin until a week ago when he’d returned from his latest mission—the same time he’d received the message from Dani Cooper about Audrey. The message waiting from Conor had been old and it had only relayed that Declan had been wounded in action.
After receiving the two communications, Liam had immediately called Conor. But even then his older brother had said only that Declan was all right. Liam could tell Conor had been holding something back but he hadn’t been able to get him to say more. Because their phone time had been limited, Liam had needed to move on to the other news that had rocked him. Since then Liam had been in transit and unable to make more contact.
Last night Conor had only repeated that Declan was okay, but now Liam wanted to hear the details.
“It happened two days after Mom passed—after I’d called you about that. But when I tried to get hold of you to tell you about Declan, you were already out of reach,” Conor began.
Their mother had died in October. It hadn’t come as a surprise. She’d been in a steep decline physically and mentally for over a year by then. In some ways it had been a relief to Liam to hear it on the eve of his mission because at least he’d left knowing she wasn’t suffering any longer.
“Mom died, I left, Declan got hurt—all in three days?” Liam said, giving a succinct timeline.
“Yeah, it was a helluva three days,” Conor said, showing some of the strain it had put on him.
“So what happened?” Liam prompted.
“Declan and Topher were in a Humvee when they drove over a buried IED.”
Topher was Topher Samms. Like Maicy, Topher had grown up in the same small town with the Madisons. Both Liam and his twin brother, Declan, had considered Topher their best friend. The three of them had even gone through Annapolis and joined the marines together.
“Is Topher okay, too?” Liam asked, suspicious that this was the first he’d heard his friend’s name mentioned in the incident that had injured Declan.
“I’m sorry, Liam,” Conor said, his words, tone and expression enough to convey that Topher hadn’t made it.
That news was another blow to Liam, who closed his eyes and leaned on forearms he set on the table on either side of his breakfast. He let his head fall between his shoulders and took a steeling breath that he held until his lungs burned, all while Conor gave him that moment.
It was a lengthy one as he tried to digest that his and Declan’s old friend was gone.
When he could, he exhaled, sat up straight and opened his eyes again.
“Tell me about Declan,” he said curtly because it was the only way he could keep emotions in check.
“It’s been rough,” Conor finally admitted. “There was more than once that we came near to losing him—”
“But we didn’t. You didn’t let that happen.”
Conor was a navy doctor and navy doctors treated marines.
“He’s family so I couldn’t take an active part in his care, but I took all the leave I’d accumulated so I could go with him from hospital to hospital, to make sure nothing was overlooked—he was in bad shape at the start. But yeah, he pulled through and even kept the leg I wasn’t sure was going to make it with him. I did some shuffling and he’s on his way here for rehab, so I can keep track of that, too. You’ll be able to see him.”
“So he really will be okay?” Liam said, still needing some reassurance.
“His body’s healing,” Conor seemed to hedge. “I’m a little worried about his head—”
“Brain injury?” Liam asked.
“No, thank god there wasn’t that. But I think he’s carrying a lot of baggage about Topher. Declan was driving the Humvee. As bad as he was hurt himself he did everything to try to save Topher. He even carried him away from the burning Humvee—although seeing Declan and how bad he was, I can’t begin to guess how he did that.”
“He’d have done anything to help Topher,” Liam said, knowing his twin, knowing it was what he himself would have done.
“But Topher took the brunt of the explosion. He died before anybody could get to them. Declan won’t talk about it—not to me, not to the counselors I’ve sent in. I’m afraid we’re still facing some rough waters there. But physically... He has some scars, he may have a limp, but yeah, he’s gonna be okay.”
Liam was grateful for that at least. “I do want to see him. As soon as he gets here. But in the meantime, can I call him?”
“Sure, I got him a cell phone. I’ll get you the number when you’re ready.”
“Yeah, I’m ready now,” Liam said. “I’m not going to be staying here...”
He explained the arrangement he’d made to move into the Freelander place.
“You’re gonna start playing dad even before you know for sure?”
He told his brother his reasons for that.
“Did you see the kids?” Conor asked.
“For a few minutes. The nanny—that’s the Dani Cooper who sent me the message—told them I was a friend of their mother’s. They weren’t too interested.”
“And what did you think? Did you feel any kind of instinctive connection?”
“Uh, no, I didn’t even know what to say to them. I was just glad I wasn’t alone with them and that the nanny is pretty smooth.”
And even though he meant Dani Cooper was smooth in her dealings with the kids and the awkwardness of him showing up the way he had, it was suddenly the nanny’s skin he was thinking
about—flawless peaches-and-cream skin so smooth he’d wanted to run the back of his hand over it to see if it felt like it looked...
He reined in the odd wandering of his mind and said, “They’re cute kids, I guess... They have dark hair like ours. Blue eyes—”
“Like ours? The color Kinsey thinks ties us to the Camdens?”
“No, theirs are more the light blue that Audrey’s eyes were. There might be a little resemblance between the girl and Kinsey when she was a kid, though—I kind of thought I might have seen that.”
“So they really could be yours.”
“I told you that anyway. That week with Audrey before I deployed was a wild one. Audrey was a partyer and we were drinking like there was no tomorrow. And not always being safe...stupid as that is.”
“But that was five years ago and she never came after you for child support, for anything. Seems like if the kids were yours she would have at least wanted you to pitch in with some money.”
Liam repeated what the nanny had told him about Owen Freelander and described the house that made it obvious there hadn’t been a need for more money.
“It doesn’t surprise me that Audrey would have gone with somebody who was offering what this guy was,” Liam said. “Marriage, money, to take care of her and claim her kids as his own to provide for, too. And actually, the more I think about it the more sense it makes that the guy was so much older than she was—”
“She had daddy issues?”
“Maybe. She saw herself as a helpless kitten, I know that. She was raised by older parents with money. There were nannies and people paid to take care of her every need. Her parents spoiled her rotten and I had the impression that when they died she started searching for replacements to take care of her and spoil her the way she was used to. Finding herself pregnant? With twins?” He shook his head. “There’s no way she would have wanted to do that by herself. I’m kind of surprised that she didn’t terminate the pregnancy at the get-go.”
“Never an easy thing to do.”
Liam conceded to that. “And I don’t think she really understood what it is I do—we met when I was here, doing that training. That lasted two months, looked more like a normal job—”
Special Forces Father Page 2
