Protecting Her Secret Son Read online

  “I hope the kidnappers cooperate,” she said, changing the subject.

  “My opinion?” he asked.

  “Please.”

  “We take the day, maybe two, to relax and regroup. Everything else can wait.”

  So much for the subject change. “You don’t need to babysit me,” she said. “And you definitely need to go to the site. The crew will benefit,” she added as he started to argue. “I feel bad enough for setting you back on a schedule that was tight to begin with.”

  He reached over and covered her hand. “Let’s take this a step at a time. First, we get through tonight. If Aiden’s feeling good tomorrow, we can all go by the Caldwell project together and check on the progress. We’ll make a list and adjust the timetable while the crew gushes over Aiden. They will, especially now that they know what really happened. He needs that full circle affirmation as much as they do.”

  Guilt nipped her conscience. “I hope they understand why I lied about it.”

  “We both lied,” he reminded her. “They’ll get it. They all love you both.”

  Shannon debated the wisdom of a second glass of wine. Daniel simply got up, found the bottle and poured more for her.

  “He’ll want the park,” she mused, breaking the silence at last. “Rachel and her boys will want to see him.” Her palms went damp on a rush of nerves. “It’s not her fault, I know it up here.” She tapped her temple. “The idea of leaving him there scares me.” She drew her knees to her chest. “I can never say that to her.”

  “She probably knows.” Daniel patted her knee. “It’s okay to feel everything you’re feeling. We’ll go by and you’ll reconnect with your friend while the boys play for a while.”

  He seemed so easy with it. “How is it you’re so understanding?”

  “Not my first crisis.” That small smile came back, and his blue eyes twinkled. “Not even my first crisis with you,” he teased. “Give yourself time to recover.”

  “Right.”

  “You said pancakes are his favorite breakfast.” Daniel asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Think you can make enough to keep up with both of us?

  She considered how happy it would make her to try. “Pretty sure.”

  “Cocky. I like it.” One dark eyebrow dipped low with skepticism. “You’d better get some rest then. We’ll have a boys-against-the-girl test of your pancake power first thing.” He polished off the beer. “After that, we’ll make sure he has time with his buddies, run by the Caldwell house, then hit the park.

  “Sounds like a full day.”

  He sent the empty bottle into a brief spin. “Think it would be too much for him if we go by the firehouse? Give him a tour?”

  Too much for Aiden? Not at all. “He’d be thrilled.” She was fairly certain that would prove too much for her to resist. “Were you really trying to ask me out? Last Saturday,” she clarified.

  He pushed the longneck bottle aside and lightly outlined each of her fingers. “It wouldn’t have been much of a date,” he admitted. “I was supposed to tend bar and close up after the concert.” He stood up and tucked the chair back into place. “I hoped you’d come out, sit at the end of the bar and let me buy you a drink. Let me flirt with you a little.”

  “That’s...” Startling. Crazy. Tempting. She couldn’t pick one.

  “Flattering?” he supplied with a grin.

  His answer was better than hers so she nodded. “Yes.” She cupped the wine glass in both hands while the lovely scenarios of potential dates with him flitted through her mind.

  “Are you going to let Stanwood drive you out of town?”

  His question hit too close to the real reason she kept her distance from him. She left her wine glass on the table and walked out to the front room, searching for a reasonable answer. It wasn’t gratitude or joy swamping her now, but frustration. The only choice she could make was the one that safeguarded her son. Couldn’t he see that?

  “You left New York.”

  “Yes, I had to.” Staying would have been emotional suicide, not to mention the danger to Aiden. “To protect myself and my baby.”

  “I get that. I’m just making sure you see things are different now. You don’t have to leave Philly. You have friends, support and stability here.”

  All of whom her ex would happily mow down or use against her. “I also have an ex-husband skulking around, twisting up my life and hurting people. Killing people,” she added. “Aiden’s been a pawn once. I can’t stay here and let that happen again.”

  Detective Hertz had specifically directed her not to leave town. Grant had said the same thing. Hell, Gary had, too. None of that kept her here in town tonight. Only Daniel. Given a choice, she would have left a number for the detective, packed the essentials and bolted on the first bus headed west.

  Exhaustion hit her in a brutal sucker punch. The murder, the rescue, the week of unthinkable stress catching up with her, she sank onto the couch and dropped her head into her hands.

  “I do see that side of it.” His voice was soft, compelling. “Impossible not to. You’re a wonderful mother.” Daniel eased into the chair across from her. “Fierce, devoted. Never doubt it.”

  She looked up. “But?”

  “No buts, Shannon. I’m only asking you to trust the people who care about you and Aiden. There’s no weakness in leaning on a friend through a crisis.”

  “I’ve been leaning all week,” she said, exasperated. She wanted to feel like the woman he described. If she had to run to reclaim her independence and shake free of the skeletons of her past, she’d do it.

  “Which is a good start,” he said with a heart-melting smile. “Go on up and get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”

  It should have been easy after nearly a week of restless, sleepless nights. Up the stairs, turn right, crawl into her bed and sleep. Her mind and body were happy with that plan, but her heart stopped her at the top of the stairs. She turned toward Aiden’s room and eased the door open. Tiptoeing, minding the creaky floorboard, she double-checked the lock at the window and the security status of the house with the app for the wireless system on her phone.

  Brushing a kiss to her son’s head, she sank to her knees beside the small bed, breathing in her son as she offered up more prayers of thanks. For Daniel, Grant and everyone involved with Aiden’s rescue.

  And there, her head pillowed on her arms at the edge of his bed, Shannon slept at last.

  * * *

  Daniel told himself he was happy she’d gone upstairs, that he’d done the right thing letting her go up alone without stealing more of those amazing kisses. He made his bed on the couch, his mind sifting through recent events. Pushing his hands through his hair, he sat down hard, staring at the dark stairwell, wondering why he was still here.

  Technically, his job was done or nearly so. Despite Grant’s request, he didn’t have to stay every night, not with the police watching outside and the new security system to protect her if her ex showed up again. He’d lived all his life in Philly and he trusted the police to catch Stanwood. Her son was home safe and the men who’d snatched him from the sitter were in custody.

  Like her, he hoped they cooperated and threw Stanwood under the bus. Quickly. So Grant would officially release him from this assignment. Living with her was becoming an unbearable temptation, a reminder of what he wanted and what he couldn’t hang on to. He was stuck on her, even knowing she’d run, take Aiden and disappear, the minute she had a window.

  That was the real reason he stayed, sleeping on her couch and helping her make plans for tomorrow. He wanted to keep her, them, in his life just one more day. He had tomorrow and he’d come up with something for the day after that. He wasn’t ready to let go.

  On the cushion beside him, his phone vibrated. He answered without looking at th
e display. At this hour, it could only be Grant with news. Probably bad news.

  “You sound weary, Mr. Jennings.”

  Not Grant at all. “Stanwood.” He hurried to find and activate the call recording app. “How’d you get my number?”

  “She’s playing you,” Stanwood said, the sneer coming across loud and clear. “Didn’t think she had it in her,” he said with a tone resembling admiration. “Do you fancy yourself in love?”

  “You put your hands on that boy.” Daniel flexed his good hand, imagining the satisfying crunch of fist meeting face.

  “I did no such thing,” he replied, indignant.

  “Go home, Stanwood.” Daniel had to work to keep from shouting. “Crawl back under your rock and leave her and the kid alone.”

  Stanwood made a dry, rasping sound that might have been a laugh in Daniel’s ear. “Once again she’s found herself a champion. I take full credit for teaching her that skill.”

  Daniel wanted to argue, managed to hold his tongue. Shannon had made all of the effort, the sacrifices and the decisions to become the mother, employee and woman he respected and yes, loved. It wasn’t any of her ex-husband’s business.

  “She didn’t pull the trigger, but she killed Loffler. You were there, you know. I saw you send the boy back to her warm embrace. You won that battle, my friend. Enjoy it, because you’re outgunned in the war ahead.”

  While Stanwood carried on, Daniel moved to the front window, half expecting the man to be out there on the porch, watching from a car. The porch was clear and the parked cars within his view of the street were empty. “Do you always talk this much?” he asked.

  Another rusty laugh. “Ask her, champion. Ask her where she got the money to move to your fair city.”

  That wasn’t any of Daniel’s business.

  “She won’t tell you. When she digs in her heels and refuses, when she looks at you with those big eyes, ask her who she is willing to sacrifice to keep what isn’t hers.”

  He glanced behind him, making sure Shannon wasn’t on the stairs. “Cut your losses and leave town, you bastard.” Daniel kept his voice low. “If you stay, I’ll make sure you go down for murder.”

  “I’ll stay, thank you, until that bitch returns what’s mine,” Stanwood snarled. “And if I go down, I will take her with me.”

  The call ended and Daniel sat there, staring at the blank phone as fury pumped through him. If Stanwood stuck around, Shannon would run. He’d seen it in her eyes, heard it in all the words she didn’t say about having a future here in Philly. She would run, with good reason, and never look back.

  He thought he might be sick.

  He’d offered her a better job, a role that could benefit everyone involved from his dad right down to Aiden, and she wouldn’t commit. He had a fresh understanding of why. Stanwood’s tenacity, his reach and his vile way of making the irrational sound reasonable could get under anyone’s skin.

  Daniel flopped back on the couch, staring at the ceiling and rubbing a hand against the ache in his sternum. What he didn’t know was why the bastard thought Shannon had something of his. He couldn’t mean Aiden. The man was too crazy to be seeking parenthood.

  Ask her, Stanwood’s voice ricocheted through his head. Daniel shook it off. He’d go out himself and buy two bus tickets and send her away before he took any orders or guidance from her ex.

  That ache in his chest burned now. If Shannon had something Stanwood needed or valued, she’d taken it for good reason to escape an abusive husband and unthinkable circumstances.

  He got up and went to the kitchen for another beer. What did he really hope to gain by sticking around, playing house with her and her son? Everything. What a dumb answer. The day had been too long, too tumultuous for rational thinking at this hour.

  Yes, he wanted to kiss her again. He wanted more from her—body and soul. It was okay if she didn’t want him in return; he knew how to exit a relationship gracefully. He wouldn’t let Stanwood, of all people, force them apart, deny them a chance to find out what they might be to each other. No, he wouldn’t accept that without a hard fight.

  Oh, she trusted him, though there was still a wall she wouldn’t let him breach. It was as if he could see her living her life behind a pane of frosted glass, but nothing he did brought it down, brought her out or let him in.

  His phone rang again and he set down the beer to grab it before it woke up Shannon or Aiden.

  “Listen, you sli—”

  “Daniel?”

  At the sound of his mother’s voice, he held the phone back, confirmed the call. “Mom? You okay?”

  “Better than you, it seems. We just saw you on the news.”

  Daniel heard his father grumbling in the background, didn’t need to know the precise words as the disapproval came through just fine.

  “You were involved with that trouble down at one of the piers?” she asked. “Are you back on shift already?”

  “Not yet.” Daniel knew she’d be waving a hand to hush his dad or walking to a different room. He started laughing. Blame it on the adrenaline or frustration, he couldn’t stop.

  “The reporter said you were integral in saving that boy.”

  “Did they use my name?” Maybe that was how Stanwood got his cell phone number.

  “Not that I recall. You looked good, sweetheart. We were just worried.”

  “I’m fine, Mom. No injuries.” Aside from the cut on his forearm. “My shirt was the biggest casualty. Long day is all.”

  “Your dad went by the house where you said you were staying. He fussed about the lack of progress.”

  Fussed, his mother’s way of saying his dad came home and yelled for half an hour about Daniel’s lack of commitment to the business.

  “That’s just a favor for a friend. No timeline on that one yet,” he said. “The Caldwell house takes precedence.”

  “As it should.” He could hear her smiling. “We’re so proud you got involved for that family. It’s looking great. Your crew is handling it perfectly.”

  “You’ve seen it?”

  “Your dad took me by this afternoon.”

  He stifled the groan. Of course his dad would come by on the one afternoon he was off the site.

  “What’s this I hear about a place in Poplar? I don’t want you stretching yourself too thin. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone.”

  In this instance, he knew anyone meant his dad.

  He might not like lying, might not be good at it, but he could be glad he’d given Ed a better reason for walking out early today than the truth that he’d been dashing off to help an employee with her kid. His dad would have had a fit. The last thing he wanted as the heir apparent to the company was to send the man to an early grave.

  He gave his mom a few more minutes, finished off his beer while they chatted. He promised her he’d be back on the Caldwell project in the morning and wished her good-night.

  Careful to move quietly on the steps, he went up to the bathroom. The bright, juvenile jungle theme of the shower curtain and wall art made him smile every time.

  It was as natural as breathing to turn and check on Aiden before he went back down. Doing so, he found Shannon sound asleep half on and half off the boy’s bed. He stepped closer and noticed she was holding Aiden’s hand.

  Couldn’t blame her for wanting to stay as close as possible after the harrowing week they’d had. She needed good rest as much as her son did. If he left her here, she’d wake up miserable and sore.

  He gently jostled her shoulder and softly called her name. She was out. He scooped her up and carried her back to her bedroom, pulling the covers over her so she wouldn’t wake up cold.

  “Sleep well.” Unable to resist, he kissed her forehead.

  She nestled into the warmth of the bed, her face relaxed i
n sleep. Something about her contentment sank into him, too, and when his head hit the pillow on the couch downstairs, he slept soundly, as the day’s troubles gave way to more pleasant dreams.

  Chapter 8

  Shannon woke absolutely certain this was the best Friday morning of her life. She didn’t remember dragging herself to bed, but she rolled out and crept down the hall to peek in on Aiden. Though he often rose early, today he was still sacked out. Better for her, she thought as she rushed through her shower and dressed in yoga pants and her favorite sweatshirt.

  She had a pancake contest to win today.

  Downstairs, she made coffee and prepped pancake batter while Daniel went up and showered. With half a cup of coffee in him, he called Ed for an update.

  “All set over there?” she asked when he finished.

  “Crew is making progress. They can’t wait to see you both.”

  She drank her coffee, apprehensive about facing everyone today. “Maybe we shouldn’t put so much on his agenda today.”

  “You’re nervous.”

  “A little.” She didn’t like that he knew her well enough that he could see it, much less call her on it. “With good reason,” she added.

  “You should be,” he said.

  The reply caught her off guard. Where was the easygoing, thoughtful Daniel? It was like he’d flipped a switch overnight. Old nerves tried to take root and she nipped them, ready to stand her ground. This was her house and she could make him leave.

  “You don’t stand a chance of keeping up with the pancakes Aiden and I will put away.”

  It took her several seconds to realize he was teasing her. Rattled, she poked at the double batch of dry ingredients for the pancake batter.

  “Shannon?”

  Before she could answer, the floor creaked overhead and a few seconds later the bathroom door slammed. “He’s up,” she said as her heart fluttered. “He slept through the night. No nightmares.” She did a quick victory dance.

  “So did you,” he pointed out.

  “About that.” She felt heat rising in her face. “Did you tuck me in?”