Losing herself in the project, Brenna discussed ideas with her dad who took turns walking Derek, cooing at him and generally making a fuss over him. Her father hadn’t mentioned Riley or asked about him. Of course he hadn’t asked her any personal questions, either, and she was glad about that. Maybe he wouldn’t try to interfere. Maybe he’d let her and Riley work things out on their own.
Her cell phone played and she took it from Derek’s diaper bag. A purse wasn’t necessary when she carried all of his paraphernalia in a leather tote big enough for the kitchen sink.
“Work?” her father asked as she studied her phone’s screen.
“It’s Riley. Excuse me while I take this.”
Her father gave her a really-do-you-have-to? look, but then took Derek from her arms and walked him over to the window that looked out onto the parking lot.
Brenna thought about leaving her dad’s office for privacy but then decided she had nothing to hide. It wasn’t as if she and Riley were going to say anything her father shouldn’t hear.
“Hi, there,” she answered, “What’s up?”
“I’m home,” he said as if that should mean something.
“What time is it?”
“It’s 1:30. Where are you?”
“Oh my gosh! I completely lost track of time.”
“Derek’s with you?”
“Of course he’s with me. Where else would he be?”
“I don’t know. Where are you?”
Had Riley expected her to be at home when he returned? Had he expected maybe to have lunch together, maybe even feed and rock Derek since his schedule permitted it today?
“I’m in my dad’s office. He asked for my help with a bridal promotion he’s carrying on in June.”
The lilt in her voice was met by silence. Finally Riley asked, “Did he just think this up, or was it something he’d planned?”
“It was already planned. The promotion starts June 1, and I have some ideas on how to spice it up.”
“I imagine you do.” Riley’s voice was flat.
“Riley, what’s wrong?”
“I thought you’d be here when I got home.”
“I thought I’d be back. But this is part of running my business, too. My line and my gowns will have exposure from this month-long sale. I could have customers from Sedona and Phoenix as well as Flagstaff.”
“This is about you selling gowns?”
“This” could be complicated over the phone, but she didn’t want to go there with her father listening. “I’ll be home in about forty-five minutes. Can we talk then?”
“We can talk whenever you’d like. I’m not the one postponing the discussion.”
Her hackles rose. “I’m in the middle of something.”
“Obviously.” He paused for a moment. “Did you eat lunch?”
“I forgot about lunch. Dad had a few pastries brought in and I munched on those when we first started.”
“Isn’t Derek distracting you?”
“No, he’s not. I fed him before Dad and I started. He’ll probably sleep as soon as I put him in his car seat to drive back.”
“I wish you had left a note, Brenna.”
“I’ll remember that for the future.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“See you soon,” he said abruptly.
“Soon,” she agreed, not sure exactly what they were going to discuss when she got home. Her father? Riley’s custody? Her independent streak? She put her phone away and when she looked up, her father was watching her.
“You know you can move back home anytime.”
“I know, Dad, but that’s not the answer.”
“And living under his roof is?” Now she heard the anger in her father’s voice. He’d been keeping a lid on it. All it had taken was the mention of Riley for it to ooze out.
“No arguments, Dad. It’s not good for Derek and it’s not good for me.” She took her son from her father’s arms and settled him once again in the sling at her chest. He was where he belonged.
“Brenna, why can’t you see—”
“I don’t know what you want me to see. Riley is a good man. He’s a decorated veteran and you should see him with Derek. He’s gentle and tender and caring.”
“And how is he with you?” Angus asked as if he knew more was going on than sharing responsibility for their son.
“I’m not going to discuss me and Riley.”
“I don’t like this, Brenna. He could be leading you on to get what he wants.”
“And what do you think he wants?”
“My guess is, he wants you to stay in Miners Bluff with Derek. He also still might want revenge for what he thinks I did to his father.”
“Sometime, Dad, we’re going to have to talk about what did happen to Liam O’Rourke. You didn’t just shut down his business. You shut down his life.”
“Brenna—”
“Not now, Dad. Not here.” She motioned to the list on his desk. “Show that to your managers and then we’ll talk again.”
He seemed to debate with himself whether or not he wanted to argue with her. But instead of arguing, he said, “We’re going to really have to get into gear if we put a lot of these suggestions into practice.”
“We can. I can have gowns here within a week, and anything else you might need, too.”
“Can you set up a meeting with Katie?”
“I’ll call her after I get back to Riley’s.”
Her father picked up the diaper bag and handed it to her, then he walked her past housewares to the top of the staircase.
In a low voice, so no one else could hear, he said, “If Riley isn’t good to you, if there’s dissention while you’re living there, please come home.”
She stood on tiptoe and kissed her dad on his cheek. “I’ll call you after I talk to Katie.” Without further discussion about her personal life, she blew him a kiss, gave him a wave and descended the stairs.
She’d just pushed open one of the two heavy glass doors and stepped into the sunshine when she recognized a woman reaching for the other door handle.
“Mikala?” Brenna asked.
Mikala Conti had been quiet in high school, though not shy. More than once she’d stepped up when she’d felt strongly about something. But for the most part, she’d kept her own counsel and had just seemed to take everything in. At the reunion Brenna had heard Mikala had become a music therapist who was thought of highly enough to have clients come to her from other parts of the country. At lunch Celeste had told Brenna that Mikala had married Dawson Barrett, another of their classmates.
Mikala laughed and gave Brenna a hug. “Hi there. I heard you were back.” Mikala gently rubbed her fingers across Derek’s head. “And who’s this little guy?”
“Meet Derek Ryan McDougall.”
“He’s beautiful.”
Brenna tapped Mikala’s hand with the rings. “I heard you got married.”
Mikala actually blushed a little. “Remember Dawson Barrett?”
“Oh, yes,” Brenna said with a nod. “You did always look at him as if he was the best invention since chocolate cake.”
“I did not!”
“You did. I’m glad to see it worked out. When did this all happen?”
“After the reunion. Dawson brought his son back here to live and, well, I wore one of your gowns for the wedding. I love your work, Brenna. It’s beautiful.”
“Well, thank you.”
Mikala hesitated a moment, gazed at Derek, then back at Brenna. “I’m pregnant, too. Dawson and I can’t wait to be parents, not only to his son Luke but to a new baby, also.”
“When are you due?” Brenna asked.
“November. Everything kind of happened at once.”
Brenna noticed Mikala didn’t seem embarrassed about it at all. Maybe she should take a page from her friend’s book. “I know what you mean. I never thought I’d be back here with Riley’s baby.”
“When love comes calling, sometimes a woman loses her good sense.”
“Oh, this didn’t have anything to do with love,” Brenna quickly said. “I mean, it just happened the night of the reunion. Riley and I always knew we shouldn’t be together, and I think knowing that just makes any chemistry more explosive.”
“You and Riley weren’t a secret in high school.”
“Of course we were.”
“Like you said, Brenna, another girl can tell the way a girl looks at a guy. I remember seeing the two of you duck under the bleachers for a kiss.”
Brenna’s hand went over her mouth. “Are you serious? And you never said anything?”
“It wasn’t any of my business. Everyone knew about the bad blood between your families. I wasn’t going to spill the romance between the two of you. I’m pretty sure Jenny knew about it, too. You’d painted an ornament for Zack to give his mom one Christmas. You could always draw and sketch and paint. You met Zack behind the Feather Peak Diner to give him the ornament. Jenny saw Riley pick you up. She mentioned it to me in passing and we just gave each other one of those looks and let it go.”
“I’m grateful you didn’t say anything back then. The lid would have been blown off our lives.”
“So where’s that lid now?”
Brenna guessed Mikala would have a good idea of what the complications were from Derek’s birth. “The lid was blown off when we told our parents. But we’re hoping for the best.”
“Are you staying at your mom and dad’s?”
“No, I’m staying with Riley. He deserves to get to know Derek.”
“It sounds as if we all have some catching up to do. Maybe we can get together. I know I’d like some pointers about being pregnant...and afterward.” She eyed Brenna. “You look great.”
Brenna laughed. “It took work, and still does, but I love being a mom.” She didn’t know how long she’d been standing there talking with Mikala, but it was probably longer than she thought.
“I’ve got to get home now, though. Riley was expecting me to be there and I wasn’t.”
“First crisis?” Mikala asked.
“Heavens, no,” Brenna said with a laugh. “And I’m positive it won’t be our last.” She fumbled with Derek’s diaper bag, hooked her fingers inside, and brought a card out.
“Here’s my cell phone number. Are you listed?”
“Both the studio where I see clients, and under Dawson’s number. It was so good to see you again.”
“We’ll talk soon.”
Five minutes later Brenna was on her way to Riley’s house, hoping he understood her life was separate from his, even in Miners Bluff.
* * *
Feeling at loose ends, and that was strange in itself because he was never at loose ends, Riley sat at the computer in the alcove in his master suite updating weather charts, going over itineraries for upcoming tours, checking his schedule against Clay’s. The first couple of weeks he’d been home after his discharge, he’d hiked, done ground work around his house, split logs and generally found something to do for every waking hour. He’d always been high-energy, never at a loss for what had to be done next. That had been an advantage when he’d joined the marines. Superiors had recognized those qualities and set him in the right direction.
But today when he’d returned home and Brenna hadn’t been here, Derek hadn’t been here, he’d felt...definitely at loose ends. He hadn’t wanted to call her. She could have been at her parents, with friends, anywhere. But he’d just wanted to know where she was. He’d told himself she had his son with her and that’s why he needed to know. But he missed her company. He missed the lilting sound of her voice, the baby talk she used with Derek, the scent of her perfume, her feminine presence in his house.
Stupid that he cared. Stupider still that he couldn’t concentrate now. She’d said she’d be home and here it was, an hour later. His thoughts went to accidents, car trouble, a road block, road construction.
She was making him crazy.
When he heard the front door open, he made himself sit there calmly and count to five. Then he called, “Back here.”
Derek was fussing when she came in, even though she cuddled him against her breast. He remembered what she’d said—I don’t want to be away from my baby. Maybe a child and mother shouldn’t be parted, especially at this age. But at what age could they be? At what age could Riley have his son all to himself?
“He was really good for me, but he began fussing in the car. I’m hoping if I dress him in some cooler clothes, and put him in that little swing we bought, he’ll be a lot happier.” She was at the door to his room and looked as if she didn’t want to step inside.
“You can come in,” he said, half teasing. “I won’t bite. Just lay Derek in the middle of my bed and see what he thinks of it. It’s bigger than yours.”
It certainly was. She had a double. He had a king-size. He never wanted to sleep in a bed again where his feet hung over the edge. He never wanted to sleep in a bed again that when he rolled over, he could have fallen off. As a big guy, beds and sofas and chairs were sometimes a problem...but not in this house.
Brenna laid Derek in the middle of the huge bed. Free from constraint, her son lifted his arms and legs, kicked and bobbled, cooed and gooed until they both smiled.
“Sometimes all he needs is a change of scene,” she said.
“He had a change of scene all morning. So what were you doing at McDougall’s? I mean, why did you go to begin with?”
If they were going to talk about her father, this could be a short conversation. He had to remember to listen more than talk, filter the noise and get the underlying message. Intelligence at its finest.
“It’s not complicated. Dad called. He thought I could help with the bridal campaign. I could tell from his questions that he really liked several ideas I gave him.”
“What’s not to like? You learned from him. You have your own store and brides are your deal.”
She laughed. “I think he came to realize that. So while I’m here, I’m going to work with him on this. The first weekend in June, McDougall’s will have a bridal fashion show. I’ve convinced Dad to do a full ad campaign on the internet and in the local newspaper. I suggested he make a Facebook page and get the word out on other social media. There’s no telling how far we could reach.”
“Are you into all this?”
“I have to be. I have a virtual assistant who does most of it, and I have to manage everything we put out. So would Dad.”
“Consultation has never been his strong suit,” Riley muttered.
“No, it hasn’t,” she agreed easily. “But I think he realizes if we don’t do something to reconnect again, there could be a real wall between us. I don’t want that. I don’t want to be the black sheep who did something wrong and now can never be forgiven.”
“Did you do something wrong? Or did you just do something careless?”
“It doesn’t matter, because Dad and I are going to get beyond it. We have to. I won’t have another split like the one between your family and mine. I won’t have a split between me and Dad.”
“You wouldn’t be split if I weren’t in the picture.”
“You’re Derek’s father. You’ll always be in the picture. Whether you’re in his life or out of it, you’re going to affect him.”
“So this idea of helping your dad—are you going to have time for it, what with your own work and Derek?”
“I’ll make time for it. He wanted me to come back to McDougall’s after I graduated to work with him. I didn’t. So having a project like this now means a lot.”
> Riley could feel all the memories between them—the loyalties they’d always felt to their families that they weren’t going to bring up again right now. Old feelings of resentment rose up as he thought about the years when his father was out of work, when he hadn’t found Alcoholics Anonymous, when he’d cared about his buddies in the bar more than his own kids. But Riley realized that if he let those resentments rise up and if he dwelled on them, they’d just fester in his relationship with Brenna. He definitely didn’t want that. Yet somehow he had to figure out a way to get rid of them.
When Brenna sat on the corner of the bed, Riley pushed his chair away from his computer and went over to sit beside her.
She was looking at him as if she wanted to ask him something.
“What?” he prompted.
“It’s none of my business.”
“That never kept you from asking before.”
She thought about that and then shrugged. “I’m just wondering if you’ve ever had anybody here to enjoy this with you.” She motioned around the bedroom and to the bathroom with its whirlpool tub.
“I’ve never had anybody here but you Brenna. Shannon stuck her head in here a couple of times, but that’s it.”
“You’ve been without sex since the reunion?”
He laughed. “Why so surprised?”
“Because when we were together, we were always in the backseat of the car, or sneaking into your room, or something. I just always thought you were the type of man who—”
“Liked it a lot?” He laughed again. “Oh, Brenna. What about your Thad? Did he like it a lot?”
“That’s not what we’re discussing.”
“So answer my question anyway. Did he?”
“If you’re saying I wasn’t sexy enough, if you’re saying I didn’t put out enough and that’s why he was unfaithful—”
Riley took her hands which had started fluttering and held them as he kissed her lips. With their son lying on the bed, a kiss was all he was going to get...except maybe into deeper hot water with this conversation.
Brenna broke away. “See what I mean? And that’s not the answer for everything.”
“It answers a hell of a lot.”
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