He carefully flipped a burger as he considered his response to that. “We’ve already discussed the likelihood that I’ll never get married, so that’s not an issue.” He met her gaze. “Dee, I’m not going to let him down. I’ll make it very clear that we’re just buddies. I won’t set up any false expectations.”
“That all sounds very reasonable to me, but I’m an adult, not a five-year-old boy who desperately wants a dad.”
Sean swallowed hard as her quietly spoken words hit home. Of course she was right to be worried. How many times as a boy had he watched with envy as his friends went off to do things with their dads? Evan Forrester had done things with him, but it had taken years before Sean had allowed himself to begin to count on his foster father really being there for him. If anything had happened to jerk the rug out from under his feet once he’d finally started to trust his foster father, it would have been devastating. Kevin had none of those defenses in place. The kid was still innocent enough to wear his heart on his sleeve.
“Would you prefer it if I steered clear of him completely?” he asked, feeling an odd sense of loss even before she replied. Though he spent time with a lot of kids, there was something about Kevin’s cocky self-assurance and his vulnerability that struck a chord with Sean. Maybe he saw himself in the boy.
Deanna stood there, clearly weighing her answer for what seemed to be an eternity before she finally shook her head. “No, that’s not what I want, and I know it’s not what Kevin wants. I just don’t want him to get hurt.”
“Sometimes it’s not possible to protect the people we love from getting hurt,” Sean said. “But I’ll do my best not to hurt Kevin.”
“I know that, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” she said. “We wouldn’t even be here.”
Sean tucked a finger under her chin and forced her to meet his gaze, “I’m going to do my best not to hurt you, either.”
She shrugged as if her feelings were of no importance. “Yeah, well, like you said, you can’t always protect people from pain. It’s part of living.”
“You learned that lesson from your ex?”
“Among others,” she said tightly.
“Care to elaborate?”
“Not really. The important thing is that I survived.” She met his gaze. “So did you.”
Long after Sean had walked Deanna and Kevin back home, her words lingered in his head. He doubted she realized the significance of what she’d said. She’d managed to remind him that for most of the past decade—no, even longer than that—Sean had not only survived, he’d worked hard to keep himself safe from being hurt.
But only today had he realized that he—very much like Deanna, whether she realized it or not—had also kept himself from really living.
Chapter Seven
“What the devil is this?”
From her place at the reception desk Deanna heard the shout of the senior law partner in his office. She exchanged a glance with Ruby.
“Mr. Hodges sounds like he’s on a real rampage,” Deanna said in a whisper. “I wonder what it’s about.”
Before they could even speculate, the intercom on her desk buzzed.
“Deanna, Mr. Hodges would like to see you,” Charlotte Wilson said, her tone somber. “Have Ruby cover the desk for you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Deanna said, her palms sweating. She gave Ruby a shaky smile. “Pray for me.”
“Don’t let the man bully you,” Ruby advised.
Stomach churning, Deanna walked down the corridor to the suite of offices belonging to Jordan Hodges. A glance at Charlotte’s face was not encouraging. The secretary, who usually maintained a facade of icy reserve, looked as if she wanted to cry.
Deanna stepped inside the office and waited.
“Don’t just stand there. Come in and close the door,” her boss said, regarding her with a scowling expression.
She shut the door and crossed the room. “Is something wrong?”
“I’ll say something’s wrong,” he said, his expression grim. “I found these papers on my desk just now.” He waved an envelope in her direction. “They were supposed to be across town on the desk of opposing counsel. Care to explain why they’re not?”
Deanna stared at the envelope in confusion. True, it was her job to see that the outgoing mail went out each day, but she wasn’t the one who addressed it. “I have no idea. What does it say on the envelope?”
“The address label is quite clear,” he said, waving it under her nose.
She snagged a corner of the envelope and studied it. Sure enough, it was addressed to a lawyer in downtown Boston. “Sir, I know I’ve been a little frazzled lately, but if this envelope had come across my desk addressed like this, it would have gone out,” she said confidently. “It wouldn’t have gotten mixed up with the incoming mail.”
The color in Mr. Hodges’s face had finally begun to return to normal. He sank into his chair. “It’s not like you to make a mistake like this,” he agreed, studying her with concern. “You say you’ve been frazzled. Is something wrong I should know about? Your boy’s okay?”
She was surprised by the question. She rarely mentioned Kevin around the office. “Kevin’s fine.”
“Something else, then?”
Deanna hadn’t wanted to get into her personal problems at work. She never wanted her boss to think that she had so much going on that she couldn’t concentrate on her job. It was a sure way to get fired.
“It’s okay,” he encouraged her, pinning her with a steady gaze. “Just tell me.”
No wonder the man was considered a shark in court, Deanna thought. He was relentless and he managed to cross-examine a witness with that same look of compassion on his face that he had right now. She could almost believe that he really cared about what was going on in her life.
“I really don’t think there’s any need for me to burden you with my problems,” she said.
“Nonsense. Tell me,” he said even more emphatically.
“It’s just that there was this fire a couple of months ago,” she said hesitantly.
“A fire? Where?”
“My building.”
“How bad was it?”
“Pretty bad,” she admitted, then added with some reluctance, “We lost everything.”
Shock spread across his face. “Why on earth didn’t you say something?”
“We’ve been doing okay. We’re living with Ruby temporarily. I’ve been adding hours at Joey’s to try to get enough money so we can move into our own place. To be honest, it’s possible that it’s catching up with me.”
“You’re working a second job at Joey Talifero’s restaurant?” he asked, clearly shocked.
“Actually I have been for some time.”
He shook his head. “Well, one thing at a time. We’ll deal with your need to work a second job another time. As for the fire, why wasn’t I told about it? I assume you told Charlotte.”
“Actually, no.” Mr. Hodges’s executive secretary was the last person she would have shared her personal problems with. “I don’t like to bring my problems to work. I never want you to get the idea that this job doesn’t have my full attention.”
He regarded her with unmistakable dismay. “Deanna, how long have you been here now? Five years, isn’t it? Ever since your son was born.”
She nodded.
“And every single evaluation has given you high marks for being a responsible employee, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then why on earth would you be afraid to come to me when you lose your home? I think that qualifies as the kind of thing your boss ought to know. We could help you out, give you a loan, represent you if you want to sue the landlord.”
Deanna stared at him in astonishment. She had never considered asking him for free legal assistance. The kind of cases he normally handled involved hundreds of thousands of dollars, not what would amount to pocket change in his world. “You would do that?” she asked.
“Well, of course w
e would,” he said with a hint of exasperation that she even had to ask. “What did you expect? As far as I’m concerned, every employee in this firm is like family. When anyone’s having a problem, I expect them to come to me before it interferes with their job performance.”
“Thank you. I’ll remember that in the future.”
“Forget the future. What about the here and now? What can I do?”
Deanna refused to ask for more money. He was already paying her a decent wage for the receptionist’s job she’d been doing. And she certainly didn’t want a loan she would have to struggle to pay back.
“Nothing, really. I’m handling everything.”
“Not if this mistake is an example of the way you’re handling things,” he chided, but more gently this time. “Who was at fault for the fire?”
“The fire inspector said it was the landlord,” she said. “But the landlord made it clear when I signed my lease that he wasn’t responsible for damages to anything in any of the apartments, that I needed to carry my own insurance.”
“Did you?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t afford it,” she admitted. “And we didn’t have that much. I didn’t realize until we lost everything how much it would cost to replace what little we did have.”
Mr. Hodges pulled out a legal pad and a pen. “What’s the landlord’s name?”
“Lawrence Wyatt.”
To her surprise her boss reacted with disgust. “Typical of Wyatt,” he muttered. “This isn’t the first time I’ve run across him. I’ll have a talk with him. I think I can promise you a settlement of some kind. Will that mean you can cut back on your hours at Joey’s, maybe start getting some sleep?”
“Yes.”
“See that it does,” he said sternly. “And, Deanna?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Next time there’s a crisis, don’t wait so long to come to me.”
“No, sir,” she said, exiting the office before the tears of gratitude stinging her eyes could fall.
Charlotte studied her worriedly. “Did he fire you?”
“No.”
“Thank heaven,” the secretary said fervently.
“I just can’t imagine what happened, though. I’m always so careful. I know how important papers like that are.”
“Mistakes happen to everyone,” Charlotte said.
It was such a rare attempt at reassurance that Deanna regarded her with sudden suspicion. “You never put that envelope on my desk, did you?”
Charlotte’s thin mouth remained clamped firmly shut, but the misery in her eyes was a dead giveaway.
“Never mind. I won’t say anything,” Deanna promised. “But you owe me, Charlotte.”
The woman finally sighed. “You’re right. I do. I wouldn’t have let him fire you, you know. I would have confessed if it had come to that.”
“But you were willing to let the mistake go on my record,” Deanna reminded her. “I won’t forget that.”
She turned and left the suite before Charlotte could respond. When Deanna reached the outer office, she was surprised to find Sean perched on the edge of the reception desk chatting with Ruby. They both regarded her with worry when they spotted her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Sean.
“I called him,” Ruby said. “Mr. Hodges never yells like that unless he’s ready to can somebody. I was afraid you were about to get fired, so I figured you’d need a big, broad shoulder to cry on. So, what happened in there?”
“He blew a gasket about a really stupid mistake, but then I explained about the fire and the extra hours at Joey’s, and instead of firing me, he’s going to talk to the landlord and try to wrangle a settlement for me. Actually, except for Charlotte’s role in it, it’s pretty amazing,” she said, still bemused by the whole turn of events.
“Charlotte?” Sean asked, looking confused.
“The snake who runs Mr. Hodges’s office,” Ruby said, then turned to Deanna. “What did she do?”
“Turns out she was the one who made the mistake I was getting blamed for.”
Ruby regarded her with indignation. “I hope you told Hodges,” she said.
Deanna shook her head. “No. I didn’t even realize what had really happened until after I’d left his office.”
“Why the heck didn’t you go right back in and tell the man the truth?” Sean demanded.
“Because it turned out okay. Charlotte won’t do anything like that again.”
“You’re too darned noble,” Ruby said.
“Actually, I’m not,” Deanna said with a grin. “Now I have something I can hold over her head for years to come. Having leverage over Charlotte is a very good thing.”
Ruby grinned. “Then I suggest you start by telling her you’re taking the afternoon off and that she’s going to cover for you. Then the three of us are going to pick up Kevin and go celebrate.”
Deanna glanced at Sean to see how he was taking Ruby’s attempt to plan his afternoon. He winked at her.
“Sounds like a plan to me. I don’t go back on duty till midnight.” He glanced pointedly at Ruby. “Neither does Hank.”
Ruby frowned at that. “So?”
“Just thought you might be interested.”
“Oh, go on and call him, if you want to,” Ruby told Sean grudgingly.
Deanna didn’t think Ruby ought to get off the hook so easily. As Sean reached for the phone, she stopped him. “Why don’t you make that call, Ruby? I’ll go and speak to Charlotte.”
“But—”
Deanna cut off the protest. “If I can go in there and face down dragon lady, you can call Hank.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, go. I’ll call,” Ruby grumbled.
She was still on the phone with Hank when Deanna came back. “How are they doing?” she asked Sean in a whisper.
He chuckled. “The subject of the celebration hasn’t actually come up yet. Those two are doing a dance that defies explanation. I’m almost tempted to yank the phone out of her hand and tell the poor guy why she really called.”
“She’d never forgive you,” Deanna said.
“But Hank would be forever grateful. I like to shift the balance of power in our partnership arrangement from time to time.”
Deanna groaned. “You men and your macho games. I thought the two of you were friends.”
“We are. That’s how we stay that way,” he explained in a way that almost made it sound like a perfectly rational way to live.
“Whatever,” Deanna said. “Thanks for coming over here when Ruby called. You didn’t have to.”
He laughed. “You wouldn’t say that if you’d heard her on the phone. I expected you to emerge from that office bloodied and defeated.”
“But I notice you didn’t rush in to save me,” she said.
“Only because when I got here and heard the whole story, I got a somewhat different picture of the crisis unfolding.” He reached in his pocket and withdrew a package of tissues. “I ran out and got these.”
“Anticipating my weeping, were you?” she inquired, amused by his attempt at preparedness. “A lot of men would have run at the prospect.”
He shrugged. “Not me. I’m a sensitive kind of guy.”
“You say that as if it’s a joke, but you are, you know.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you knew about my plan to go in and pound your boss for making you cry in the first place.”
She bit back a smile. “When were you going to do that?”
“As soon as I gave you the tissues and turned you over to Ruby.”
Deanna laughed. “I don’t need you fighting my battles for me.”
“I know. I can see that.”
“But I appreciate your willingness to step in, just the same.”
He seemed suddenly uncomfortable with her praise. “Don’t turn me into some kind of hero. All I did was show up.”
She reached up and touched his cheek. “That’s quite a lot for a man who claims to know nothing about s
ticking it out through tough times.”
“Dee—”
“Hey, you guys,” Ruby interrupted. “Are we going to hang around here all afternoon or are we going to celebrate?”
Deanna met Sean’s gaze and held it. “I think we have quite a few reasons to celebrate, don’t you?”
For a minute she thought he might prolong the argument, but eventually he shrugged. “Whatever you say. Who am I to argue with a woman who managed to emerge from battle unscathed?”
Satisfied, Deanna turned to Ruby. “Is Hank joining us?”
Ruby shrugged. “Beats me. He was still grumbling a lot of nonsense about being awakened out of a sound sleep for no good reason when I hung up on him.”
“But you did tell him where we’d be, right?” Deanna persisted.
“How could I?” Ruby asked reasonably. “I don’t know where we’re going to be.”
Deanna sighed.
“I’ll call and give him a heads-up when we get there,” Sean said.
“Whatever,” Ruby said, setting off down the street at a brisk pace that left Deanna and Sean trailing behind.
They stared after her, then exchanged an exasperated look.
“Do you have any idea what’s going on between those two?” Deanna asked.
“Not me,” Sean said.
“Well, he’s your friend,” she said irritably.
“And she’s yours. Do you get it?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Why do I think that getting in the middle of it is a very bad idea?” Sean asked.
“Because you’re an intelligent man,” Deanna said. “But you’re going to call Hank, anyway, right?”
Sean nodded. “If only to get a firsthand look at the fireworks.”
Brave man, Deanna thought. Then again, he was a firefighter. A hot, noisy skirmish probably wouldn’t faze him. After all, he had lots of experience extinguishing out-of-control blazes.
Sean wasn’t prepared for Hank’s haggard look when he finally joined them at the ice-cream parlor that had been chosen for the celebration. He looked every bit as bad as he had a few weeks ago at the gym. He cast a sour look at Sean, barely managed a smile for Deanna, then squeezed into the booth next to Ruby, who never even looked up from her hot-fudge sundae.
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