Riley's Baby Boy

by Karen Rose Smith

  Angus glared at him and so did his father.

  “Noah!” Riley called.

  The fire seemed to diminish in his father’s eyes. He shook his head as he rubbed his eye and stepped away from Riley’s bracing hand. Seeing the other man back away, Angus did the same, grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and held it to his nose. His wife rushed in, but Angus wouldn’t let her minister to him.

  “You know what?” Riley asked in a stern voice. “Neither of you are fit to be Derek’s grandfathers. You’re adults and if you don’t erase the old scores, none of us are going to be happy. I never want Derek to see this type of behavior and I won’t let either of you near him if this is what’s going to happen.”

  A baby’s cry broke the deafening silence. Liam, Angus, Carol and Riley turned toward the doorway where Brenna was standing with her son. She didn’t look angry as much as disappointed and oh, so sad. He knew how she felt. He turned his back on the two men and crossed to Brenna.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go home.”

  She cast a concerned glance at her father and mother, but Riley took her elbow and she let him lead her back to their table to pick up their things. Then they exited the restaurant.

  They didn’t talk on the way back to Riley’s house. Brenna seemed shut away in her little world, and he had to admit his thoughts were racing, too. What were they going to do about their families? How were they going to make parenthood work?

  He carried Derek’s diaper bag into the house, but Brenna didn’t seem to want his help. She just said, “Let’s talk after I put him to bed.” Then she disappeared into her bedroom and he didn’t see her again for a good forty-five minutes.

  She still looked drawn when she came into the living room where he’d been trying to occupy himself with the sports channel. He switched off the TV. When she didn’t sit with him on the sofa, he stood, too.

  For some reason, maybe it was the look in her eyes, he became defensive. “Your father didn’t have to do that tonight.”

  At first she seemed taken aback by his attitude. But then she put on what he called Brenna’s rebellious face and responded, “He thought he was doing something good. He thought he was doing something for Derek and the other kids in Miners Bluff. Can’t you appreciate that?”

  “What I can’t appreciate is that he stole my father’s thunder. This was about my dad doing something nice for us and Derek. Your father couldn’t accept that. He had to be the center of attention.”

  He was ready for Brenna to fight back. He was ready for her to blame his father for giving her dad a bloody nose.

  However, she didn’t fight back. Rather she stared at him with accusation. “When will this stop, Riley? You said our family’s feud doesn’t have to affect us, but it does. It affected us when we were teenagers and it’s affecting us now. The bad feelings between them have always extended to the two of us.”

  “What does that mean?” He didn’t like the defeated tone of her voice or the hurt in her eyes. Where had that come from? In the next moment he knew.

  “Did you date me back in high school to get back at my father?”

  The way she said it and the emotion behind it, he knew she’d just put her worst doubt and fear into words. His heart actually skipped a beat as he tried to figure out how to handle this. But she must have seen the truth on his face because she turned away.

  Riley cupped her elbow. “Brenna, look at me.” When she faced him, he knew he had to say it. “That might have been the way it started out.”

  She looked so betrayed he wanted to pull her into his arms and never let her go. But she folded her arms across her chest and he knew she wouldn’t let him.

  “But that’s only how it started out,” he assured her in a hurry. “Our families weren’t on my mind by the end of that summer. They definitely weren’t on my mind the night of the reunion.”

  “How can I ever believe that? How can I ever believe you? I gave you everything I was last night, Riley. Everything. And along with that, I gave you my trust. Today, after you left, I found this on the floor.” She produced a business card from her pocket. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you when I first arrived at the restaurant.”

  He stared at the card but didn’t take it.

  “Are you going to consult a lawyer?”

  He hesitated a moment and told her the truth. “Patrick gave me that card because he used this lawyer in his divorce. He said he was good and that we might want an agreement in black and white. But as I told Patrick, I didn’t see a reason to call a lawyer as long as you and I could agree on what we wanted.”

  “Well, Patrick mustn’t have thought we agreed, because he told Sean you were going to call Turnbull this week. He also told Sean that in high school you slept with me to get revenge, but that this time when you did it, it was a shame it backfired.”

  Brenna’s gossip dismayed him and he was even more upset that she believed it. “Where did you hear that?”

  “I was in your dad’s office and Patrick and Sean were in the hall. I could hear them clearly and believe me, I didn’t misunderstand what they were saying. I don’t know what we have and what we don’t have, Riley. I don’t know what last night meant or what happened today. I just know I’m really confused and I need to leave. That’s what I was doing in there. I was packing. As soon as I have everything together I’ll take Derek and go. I won’t keep you from him. Just call me and tell me when you want to visit. But I’ll be staying with my parents. I can’t stay here with you anymore, Riley, I just can’t.”

  She didn’t get close enough to let him touch her. She swirled away and disappeared down the hall and into the bedroom quicker than he could go after her. But even if he went after her, he didn’t know what he’d say. He couldn’t change the past any more than his father or Angus could. And that was his downfall, too.

  * * *

  Brenna’s mom brought breakfast to her room the following morning. Last night her father and mother had found the cradle they’d used for her when she was a baby. It was handcrafted oak and absolutely beautiful. Her mother had it made up in no time and hadn’t tried to have a conversation with Brenna as they’d worked on it.

  Last evening Brenna hadn’t seemed able to find words to say anything. She’d never felt so horrible or betrayed or downright devastated. When she’d left Riley after high school, she’d loved him and she hadn’t wanted to leave. But her better sense had told her they weren’t ready and they were too young. They didn’t have trust, and might never have it. She’d been right about all of it. But she hadn’t wanted to be right. She had hoped Patrick and Sean were so wrong, that Riley had fallen in love with her, and that was all there was to it. But she hadn’t been able to escape that shadow of revenge. Maybe if he’d admitted it to her sooner, that that’s what he’d done, that that had been his motive—

  But Riley’s past motivation led her to believe that his behavior with her and Derek was a manipulation, too. This morning nothing looked any clearer.

  The breakfast tray her mom brought didn’t entice her to eat.

  “Thanks. The tea would have been enough.”

  Her mom took Derek from her. “You need more than tea. And you need to tell us what happened with Riley. How can we help if—”

  Angus suddenly knocked on her bedroom door. “How are you this morning?”

  “Not much better than last night,” she answered honestly.

  He asked her mom, “Would you mind watching Derek for a little while? I’d like to talk to Brenna.”

  “Of course I don’t mind. He’s a bundle of joy, for sure. I’ll take him outside so he can see all the pretty flowers.” Her mother was gone before she could decide if that’s what she wanted her to do.

  “I’m sorry,” Angus said.

  Brenna couldn’t cover her surprise, but she wasn’t sure what he
was apologizing for. “What are you sorry about?”

  He was dressed for work in a suit, but hadn’t yet added a tie to his open shirt collar. He went over to the queen-size canopy bed and sat on it looking ridiculous, with the ruffles brushing his trousers and those same ruffles above his head. “I’m sorry for everything about yesterday. I should have been a guest who kept my mouth shut. I never should have brought up the medical center.”

  “Not there,” she agreed. “Not after Liam had gone to so much trouble to give us what he could give us. You just trampled his present, Dad.”

  “Yeah, I can see it looked that way. And I never meant to start a fistfight. You’ve got to believe that.”

  “I believe you didn’t mean to start it, but it happened anyway. And now—” Her voice caught and Angus heard it.

  “Ah, Brenna. I’m so sorry this didn’t work out, because you and Riley—” He stopped. “You have IT.”

  Her astonishment made her blurt out, “We have IT?”

  “Don’t tell me you don’t know what I mean. And don’t make me have this conversation with you. I don’t want to get into the whys and wherefores of why you two migrate toward each other.”

  “Migrate?”

  “What else would you call it?” He held up his hand. “No, don’t tell me.”

  She almost smiled. Almost.

  “You’re unhappy here without him,” he concluded.

  “I’ve only been here one night, Dad. How can you tell?”

  “Baby, all I have to do is look into your eyes and I can tell. Whether you believe it or not, I know you. I’ve always known you. And from that day you almost drowned, I considered protecting you to be my life’s work. You didn’t seem to mind too much at first. You didn’t seem to mind until Riley came into the picture.”

  “You didn’t know Riley was in the picture.”

  “Do you think I’m deaf, dumb and blind? My precious only daughter looked at Riley O’Rourke as if he was a teen idol. I could see that. I knew when you were late there was a reason. I had my security guard follow you one day.”

  “Oh, Daddy.”

  “Yeah, it might have been wrong. And was I never more relieved and pleased at the end of that summer when you decided to go to New York, getting you away from him, I thought. Even if it meant you were so far away.”

  “You never said anything.”

  “Of course not. You thought you had a secret. I didn’t think this was a secret that would blow up in your face. But it did, fifteen years later.”

  She went over to the dresser, pulled open a drawer that had a few of her things in it, then shut it again. “I’m not going to stay in Miners Bluff any longer, Dad. I know you can handle the bridal extravaganza on your own. I need to go back to New York.”

  “Last time you left Miners Bluff you were heading toward something. This time, I think you’re just running. Do you think you’ll be any happier when you get to New York?”

  She turned to face her father. “What am I supposed to do? I love Riley. But I don’t think he feels anything for me. I think he just wants access to his son.”

  Angus’s brows went up.

  “Yes, we have chemistry. We always did and we always will. But that’s not what love is made of. That’s not what trust is made of.”

  “You’re so sure what Riley feels?”

  “No, I’m not sure at all. And he’s not saying. I feel used, all the way around. He used me to get back at you when we were dating in high school, and he used me again after the reunion. After I came back here, maybe he seduced me again on purpose to make sure I’d give him plenty of time with Derek. The thing is, Dad, he didn’t have to do that. I’ve always loved Riley. He could have had as much time as he wanted with his son. We could have worked it out. Now I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

  Angus stood, went to his daughter and dropped his arm around her shoulders. “You’ll figure it out. You always do.”

  But Brenna didn’t feel as if she was going to figure out anything. Not before it was too late.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Riley took a firm grip on the ax a few days later and brought it down smartly on the log, splitting it in two. He heard a truck’s crunch of tires on gravel on his driveway. He also knew exactly who that truck belonged to. He positioned another log on the stump, raised the ax, took aim and brought it down forcefully again. He felt his dad’s presence before he heard his voice.

  “Is that helping?” his father asked.

  The sun was just slipping behind the horizon, but there was still enough heat in the day to make physical labor sweaty. He knew he probably looked as bad as he felt, with his T-shirt dark with perspiration and his beard stubble growing heavier with each passing day. He remained silent, though he did glance over his shoulder at his father.

  “Are you still angry at me for starting that fight with Angus?”

  “What good would it do if I was?”

  “Point taken,” Liam said. “I think we should talk.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about.”

  “Oh, I think there is. Plenty. Have you seen Brenna since she moved out of your place?”

  Shannon had called him after the disaster at the Shamrock and he’d told her Brenna had gone to stay with her parents. That really had said it all. “No, I haven’t seen her or talked to her.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she doesn’t want to see or talk to me. I am going to see Derek, though. But I thought I’d give it a few days.”

  “I closed down my heart after your mother left and kept it closed down all these years. That makes for a very lonely life.”

  If his dad had wanted his attention, he got it now. “You drank because you were lonely? You had all of us around!”

  “I drank because your mother didn’t want me or the life I wanted to give her. And yes, I was lonely for her, even when you kids were around. But even when I got sober, I was still lonely. Granted, not for her anymore. But a woman fills a man’s loneliness the way nobody else can. I just didn’t want to take the risk again.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I don’t want you to make the same mistake.”

  A mockingbird called as a swallow swooped toward the tall grass.

  “I’m not drinking,” Riley said tersely.

  “No, but I know you. You’ll bury yourself in guiding jobs or split logs till you drop. I think you need to face a little reality.”

  “And that is?”

  “Brenna didn’t fall in love with another man. She didn’t turn her back on you because you couldn’t get back on your feet.”

  “No, she turned her back on me because I first dated her out of a need for revenge. She turned her back on me because she thought I didn’t trust her.”

  “Did you?”

  Riley thought about the DNA test, holding onto that lawyer’s card. Why hadn’t he thrown it away? Brenna had never been anything but honest with him. She’d brought Derek to him so he could have a relationship with his son. As she’d said, she’d given him everything she was. And yet, still, that tiny bit of doubt had remained. Why? Because he wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about him? Or because he didn’t want to be the vulnerable one and admit how he felt about her?

  “I don’t know how to fix this, Dad.”

  “Do you love her?”

  “Yes,” he said, feeling as if the breath had been knocked out of him with the confession.

  “Then fixing this shouldn’t be so hard. You just have to convince her you do love her. Maybe you might even have to get Angus on board to help.”

  “Her father?”

  “Isn’t it the proper thing to do? To ask a man’s permission before you ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage?”

 
Of course, that was the proper thing to do.

  * * *

  As Riley stood at Starfall Point on Moonshadow Mountain two days later, he heard the women’s voices before he saw them. He’d enlisted Mikala, Celeste, Jenny and Katie’s help, as well as Angus’s. Brenna’s father had taken Riley’s call, which had been his first surprise. He’d been all set to keep calling, one way or the other until he got through to the man. Angus’s hello had been stern when Riley had phoned the store and gone through the receptionist. But Riley was used to stern. Before Brenna’s father could hang up on him, he’d told Angus his plan, asking Angus to help urge Brenna out of the house, to encourage her to go on an afternoon of hiking with her friends. Then he’d told Angus why.

  Angus had asked, “And if I do this, if I help you do this, what guarantee do I have that you’re going to make her happy?”

  Riley had been honest. “I can’t give you a guarantee, sir. There aren’t any. But I can tell you I’ll be the best husband I know how to be to Brenna, and the best father I can be to Derek.”

  “And the difficulties between our families?”

  “Maybe you’ll have to make a guarantee to me that you’ll do everything in your power to change that.”

  Riley had ended that call knowing he and Angus McDougall understood each other.

  He wanted to run down the trail and meet Brenna. But he didn’t. He stayed where he was. Soon the women came into view, walking through the purple wild geraniums and golden columbine and high grass, talking and laughing.

  Then there she was, and there he was and they were gazing into each other’s eyes again.

  “Riley, what are you doing here?”

  “I asked your friends to bring you here so I could talk to you. Thank you,” he said to the women.

  Mikala patted Brenna’s arm. “We’ll see you later.”

  Looking panicked, Brenna asked, “Mikala, where are you going?”

  Celeste gave her a smile. “You and Riley need to talk. We’ll be around if you need us later.”