His mother needed my help. Her father had left them when she was very young, and her mother had died a couple of years ago in an auto accident with her boyfriend while they were on their way to vacation in Florida. She had left behind most of her college friends when she took her current job in Kentucky.
Life was hard. It was even harder when one didn’t have someone to fall back on, someone to lean on, someone to offer words of comfort or assurance that things would work out.
The baby drained the last sip from the bottle, and much to his chagrin, I pulled the nipple from his mouth with a loud popping noise.
I had promised his mother that I would be at the hospital when he was born. Opting to stay out of the delivery room, I waited it out down the hall.
It had been a month ago, but I remembered the feeling of amazement when I first held him.
She named him Joseph, after her grandfather.
I lifted him to my shoulder, softly patting his back until a rather loud burp came from his tiny body. “Good one,” I whispered, stretching out on the couch and situating him on my chest as I rubbed his back until we were both asleep.
***
I woke to the smell of bacon. Joseph was gone, and I vaguely remembered his mother collecting him. I found her in the kitchen. “Good morning.”
She turned and smiled at me, her dark hair now sleek as it hung midway down her back. She had put on makeup, and she was dressed in a pair of gray sweat pants and a faded green tee.
With a spatula in her hand, she motioned to her attire. “I can’t quite fit into my jeans yet, so….”
“You just had a baby. Give yourself some time.”
Her smile widened. “Well, you seem to be a natural at handling babies. He was sound asleep.”
“A full belly will do that to you.”
“Speaking of full bellies….” She pointed to a chair. “Have a seat. Breakfast is almost ready.”
I sat at the table, and she placed a plate in front of me heaped with bacon, eggs, and toast.
“Coffee?” she asked, holding a freshly brewed pot in the air.
“Yes.”
She poured the steaming liquid in a mug and set it down in front of me. “Cream or sugar?”
“Black is fine.”
After pouring herself a cup, she joined me at the table. The room was filled with awkward silence. She cleared her throat. “Today’s St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t know if you brought anything green, but if you did, you might want to wear it.” She grinned. “Unless you want to be pinched.”
“Not sure I packed anything green. I might have to take my chances.”
“No worries. I won’t pinch too hard.” She looked up at me shyly.
I took a deep breath. Everything reminded me of Flanagan, even the fact that it was St. Patrick’s Day. I should be taking her somewhere tonight for a green beer. Considering we just got back from Ireland, it seemed appropriate that Flanagan and I should be celebrating this holiday together.
But as I looked at the woman who sat across the table from me, I knew that I had promised her that I wouldn’t abandon her.
She put her fork down. “I don’t want to be a burden to you.”
“You’re not a burden.”
She stared at her fork.
“Maybe we should talk to Pax,” I suggested.
Her eyes shot to my face. “No, don’t tell him.”
“But….”
“No. Absolutely not,” she persisted.
Things had gotten more difficult since I went to Ireland. I shouldn’t have gone, but my jealousy had kicked in, giving me tunnel vision. All I could think about was Pax making a move on Flanagan. And I had wanted it to be me.
Between my commitment to help Joseph’s mother and my need to be with Flanagan, I felt as if I were being ripped in two. I wanted to convince Pax to help her, and then I could focus on my relationship with Flanagan.
Joseph’s cries traveled through the tiny apartment. She started to get up, but I put my hand on hers to stop her. “I’ll get him. You finish eating.”
Damn, I needed to think. If I was going to get out of this situation without hurting anyone, then I needed to come up with a plan.
Chapter 14
Craic
Seren
Cade had finally come back to town and wanted to meet me at Whiskey Nights. Part of me wanted to refuse, but curiosity burned in the pit of my belly. To learn after the most spectacular night of my life that he had recently had a child with someone else caused a myriad of emotions to eddy in my chest.
One of the Irish slang words I had learned before my trip was craic (pronounced crack). It had several meanings, among those were good times, gossip, and debauchery, and I had to wonder what the craic was with Cade. A sickening feeling rose through my body as I imagined him having a baby with another woman. Why hadn’t he mentioned that before now? It could have saved me a lot of aggravation.
I walked into Whiskey Nights and sat at the bar. Haley, Mason’s sister, was behind the counter, laughing at something one of the male patrons had said. She was a lot like her brother, outgoing and charming, not to mention nice-looking, and if it wasn’t for the fact they both had received a shitty hand when it came to their parents with their father dying when they were young and their mother preferring a good high over her children, I would have thought them exceptionally blessed, especially when it came to their gene pool.
She nodded her blonde head, the patron smiling and flirting as he ordered another drink. When she turned away from him, she immediately spotted me on the opposite side of the bar.
“Hey, Seren! I haven’t seen you in a while. You having a Pear Martini?”
I smiled in response, trying to paste on a smile to hide the trepidation that lurked just beneath my skin as I anticipated my conversation with Cade. “You know me so well.”
Her smile widened, sporting the same infectiousness as her brother. “Coming right up.”
She served Flirty Patron his drink and probably pocketed a nice tip, judging by the way he watched her jean-clad ass as she walked away to deliver mine.
“So,” she said, leaning against the bar, “what’s up?”
“Hunting a job.”
“Me, too,” she said with a sigh as she tucked a strand of errant hair behind her ear, exposing a large silver hoop earring. “Nursing jobs are harder to find in Creekview than I thought. Everyone wants experience, but no one wants to give you a job so you can get some.”
“It’s a vicious cycle, isn’t it? I’ve just started sending out my résumé, so I don’t have a good feel for whether I’m going to have any luck yet. I will say that I’m applying for jobs both in town and out of town.”
“I was hoping to stay in Creekview, so I could be close to Mason and Lexi. But if I don’t find something soon, I’ll have to start doing the same thing. I’d probably have a better chance of starting with no experience if I applied in a bigger city.”
“You probably would, but don’t lose hope yet. Maybe Hawk can help you find something since he knows so many people in that circle.”
“Yeah, I’m hoping. He’s been on the lookout but hasn’t heard about anything yet.”
I felt the gentle pressure of a hand in the center of my back.
“What’s going on, ladies?” Cade asked. He pointed at my drink, pulled out his wallet, and tossed down some money. “Put her drink on my tab, Haley, and bring me a beer when you get a chance.”
Haley scooped up the money and walked toward the cash register.
“Flanagan,” he greeted as he tucked his wallet in the back pocket of his jeans and sat next to me.
“Mayfield.”
“You’re looking sexy as ever.”
I glanced down at my snug-fitting top, the color a soft blue that highlighted the darker blue of my eyes. “Don’t do that,” I said quietly, unable to hide the disappointment from my voice.
“Do what?” he asked.
“Tell me I’m sexy when you just had a baby
with another woman.”
He sighed. “It’s not what you think.”
Haley approached us, setting a beer down on a coaster in front of Cade. “So I hear y’all just got back from Ireland.”
“Yeah, we did,” I confirmed, not wanting to have this conversation.
“So how was it?” Haley’s green eyes glowed with curiosity, the corners of her pink glossed lips curving upward. “I would love to go somewhere like that, but the thought of flying terrifies me, so I probably never will.”
“It was the best trip of my life,” Cade said, his gaze turning toward me. “One that I’ll remember until my dying day.”
Flashbacks of our night together flitted through my mind, and I wondered if he was thinking of that night, too.
“It’s definitely worth overcoming the fear of flying,” I told her. “Ireland is beautiful. The countryside is majestic, and sheep are everywhere. You never know when you’re going to have to stop in the middle of the road until they get out of the way. They have a lot of cattle, too. And I got a really close up view of a couple of asses.” I cut my eyes at Cade and found him watching me, and then I turned my attention back to Haley. “I love all the history that’s there. Ruins of castles and monasteries and ancient walls dot the countryside, and they have a lot of medieval buildings that are still intact.”
She crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned her hip against the bar. “If I ever went, I’d want to go to Dublin.”
“There was a lot to see there, too,” Cade assured her. “Plenty of pubs,” he added, lifting his beer in the air and taking a long swig.
“Just like a guy,” Haley laughed, “wanting to go where the pubs are. You sound like Mason.”
Cade swallowed and set his beer down on the coaster. “Mason would have definitely appreciated the Irish whiskey.”
Haley glanced around the bar. “I better check on my customers, but I definitely want to hear more about your trip.”
When she walked away, Cade grimaced. “A couple of asses?”
I nodded, turning my head until I stared straight ahead. “A couple of huge asses.”
“Fair enough,” he said softly.
The scent of his cologne wafted through the air, and I tried not to think about how sexy he smelled, how his hands had caressed my skin on the night we spent together.
“When we finish our drinks, why don’t we go somewhere more private to talk? I want to explain everything to you, but I don’t want to do it here.”
I wanted him to explain. I wanted to understand why the guy that I had thought of nonstop for the last few months had made such incredible love to me when he had a newborn child with someone else.
“Don’t judge me yet,” he whispered, leaning more closely as my traitorous body wanted to gravitate toward him. “Not until you have the facts. Then you’re free to judge me all you want, but I want you to hear it from me.”
“If you’re just going to tell me a pack of lies….”
“I know I didn’t tell you that I knew about your invitation, and I’m sorry. If Pax had done what I asked him to do, you would have known that I had declined. But I promise you that I’ll tell you the truth. You can ask me whatever you want, and I’ll give you an honest answer.”
When I didn’t respond, he continued, “I swear it, Flanagan.”
“Fine,” I said softly, turning toward him. “But so help me, if I find out you’re lying….”
“I won’t.”
We both finished our drinks, said goodbye to Haley, and left the bar.
He walked to his truck and looked at me expectantly as he motioned toward the passenger side door. “Are you riding with me?”
Hesitating briefly, I said, “I think I’ll just follow you.” Just in case our conversation didn’t go well, I didn’t want to depend on him to get me back to my vehicle.
I followed him to a small park, complete with a walking track. Benches and picnic tables were sprinkled around the property, and I pulled in and parked beside him, joining him by his vehicle. A gentle but nippy breeze blew through the newly sprouted leaves of the trees that grew thickly around the perimeter.
Since the weather was still a little cool, the park was nearly abandoned. He grabbed a jacket from behind the truck seat and guided me to a bench out in the open, one where the trees didn’t block the warming rays of the sun.
“Here,” he said as we approached. When I turned to look at him, he was holding the jacket open with both hands, so that I could slip my arms into it. Wanting its warmth, I accepted his offer, and once he had situated it on my shoulders, he gathered my hair and freed it. Surprised by his consideration, I felt some of my anger with him dissipate as I zipped the jacket, and I reminded myself not to fall prey to my attraction to him.
I sat on the wooden bench, and he sat next to me, propping his arm on the back of it. I tried not to be aware of the way his arm brushed against my shoulders, but I failed miserably.
“So what do you want to talk about?” I asked, needing to know but dreading his explanation.
“First of all, I want you to know that everything I said in Ireland when we were together was true. This isn’t a charade for me, Flanagan. My feelings for you are ripping me apart.”
Surprised by his words, I turned and looked at him to gauge whether his expression matched his sentiment. The sadness in his eyes as he watched me intently reminded me of an autumn day when everything vibrant gives way to decay.
He reached out and stroked my cheek, the slightly rough texture of his skin making me crave his touch even more. “That night when you told me that your name meant star, I didn’t say anything then, but I thought it was incredibly fitting. For me, you shine brighter than any other woman I’ve ever known. That day when I found out that Pax went to Ireland with you…I was so eaten up with jealousy that I was consumed by fury. I shouldn’t have gone to Ireland. I’d already gotten myself in too deep in another situation, and I damn sure couldn’t afford it. But there was no way in hell I was going to let Pax win you over. It was a selfish move, but I wanted you, Flanagan. I wanted you for myself, and the night that we spent together has changed me. And I can’t go back to the way things were. I’ve gotten myself into a mess, and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out how to get out of it without hurting someone.”
Turning away from me, he rubbed his hands over his face and through his closely cropped hair. “Shit. I don’t know what to do.” His jaw tightened as he struggled with his emotions, and I was definitely affected.
“In all the months that I’ve been back, why haven’t you mentioned that you were having a baby?” As appealing as it was to know that he was as affected by me as I was by him, I wanted him to start explaining. I wanted to know about his relationship with the mother of his child.
“There’s a reason I haven’t mentioned it.”
“And what’s that?” I asked, desperately trying to make sense of what was going on between us.
He turned to look at me, those juniper eyes making me melt under his perusal. “Can I trust you, Flanagan? No matter how angry you get with me, can I trust you to keep a secret if it’s necessary?”
I thought for a moment, wanting to consider if there were possible scenarios that might make me change my mind. He needed my trust, and I was more than glad to give it to him. “Yes, you can trust me, Cade.”
“It’s not my baby.”
His confession nearly knocked the wind from my lungs. All this time I believed him to be the father of a newborn child, and now he was telling me that it didn’t belong to him? I scrutinized him, wishing I had paid more attention in psychology class, so that I could discern whether he was telling the truth.
“Then whose is it?”
“His mother had too much to drink one night and had a one night stand with a total stranger. She doesn’t even know his last name.”
“And who’s the mother?”
“Do you remember Jessica Beacham from high school?”
I tried to thin
k back, but I couldn’t conjure her face. “No, not really.”
“She graduated the same year that I did. I liked her, and I made the mistake of introducing her to Pax.”
I drew in a sharp breath. “Jessica. That’s the girl that Pax told me about on the plane, the girl that you…slept with when he broke up with her.”
He clamped his mouth shut and shook his head as if he disagreed with what I had just said. “No,” he ground out. “As much as Pax would like to believe otherwise, I didn’t sleep with her. I’ve never slept with her.”
“But you liked her?”
“Yes, I did, but she fell in love with Pax. And Pax loved her, which is why I never understood why he broke up with her just because she was going off to college.”
“I imagine a lot of relationships break apart because of college.”
“Theirs shouldn’t have. He should have at least given it a shot, but instead, he called it quits. She was devastated, and since Pax wouldn’t talk to her, she turned to me.
“I was only trying to console her, trying to calm her down. Hell, she was freaking out. And it happened. I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just did.”
“And what’s that?”
“I kissed her.”
“You kissed your brother’s girlfriend?”
“Ex-girlfriend.”
I exhaled. “I’m not sure that makes it much better.”
“Shit, I know it, Flanagan. I know it. But I couldn’t take it back no matter how much I wanted to. He pretty much declared war on me after that.”
“That’s why y’all detest each other?”
He blew out a breath and ran his hands over his face. “Yeah. He knew I was attracted to her, and he’s convinced that I slept with her.”
“And you’ve never slept with her?”
“No. Other than that one kiss, we’ve never had a physical relationship.”
I took a deep breath as relief flowed through me, somehow knowing that he had never been with her made me feel better. Like Cade and Pax, I obviously wasn’t immune to jealousy, either.
Deceived Page 13
