Protecting Her Secret Son Page 20

  “I’m not sure if she’ll be back tomorrow.” It all rested on whether or not the police could catch Stanwood. “We’re not at finishing touches without a floor.”

  “No, but having her around would get us there faster,” Ed pointed out. “The crew worries about her and her kid.”

  Daniel did a double take. He should have expected it, especially from this crew. They were his best and he’d invited them into this charity effort because of their skill as well as their interest and willingness. Shannon had a way of drawing people together.

  “She and Aiden are doing fine,” Daniel said. He didn’t elaborate. Sharing anything more could jeopardize what they were trying to do. “If she can swing by she will. You know how she loves the work.”

  “All right.” Ed shuffled his feet, clearly debating his next words. “We wouldn’t let anything happen to her.” He laid his hand over the hammer in his tool belt as if it were a gun. “If you’ve gotta be back on the job, you could trust us to look out for her and her boy.”

  “We’ve got too many moving pieces to have Aiden underfoot right now.”

  Ed scoffed. “That settles it. Now I know the rumors are true.”

  “What rumors?”

  “You got a thing for her and the kid.”

  Daniel swallowed the immediate protest that would only prove Ed’s point.

  “It’s good.” Ed aimed the steely gaze he saved for straight edges and perfect corners at Daniel. “Good for both of you, not that you asked.”

  “I’ll tell her you’re all worried,” Daniel allowed. “She’ll appreciate the concern.” He didn’t need the entire crew taking an interest in his personal life. He tried to shove his feelings into a box and they wouldn’t go.

  He’d lived with her, they’d exchanged more than a few hot kisses and he still worried she’d run. Maybe she should. He sure as hell shouldn’t get clingy if staying meant danger. More than anything he wanted her and Aiden safe, secure. Whatever he felt for her, she had more pressing, lifelong matters of doing the right thing for her son.

  On his side of it, he was a firefighter to the bone and unwilling to give it up. Not even for the sake of family harmony. As much as he loved—liked—Aiden, being a dad required as much commitment as the PFD. There was only so much of him to go around.

  “I could love you.” The words annoyed him as he wrestled with all of it on the drive back to his parents’ house. It was like looking at life through a leaded glass window, the facets catching and refracting light of what could be, not what was.

  Everyone he knew enjoyed both the firefighting career and the side jobs. If he made his dad happy and took over Jennings Construction, what would that look like? Could he dial back the schedule so he wasn’t working himself to death on his days away from the firehouse?

  Dialing back meant cutting back personnel and hours. That wouldn’t work. He wasn’t about to put that kind of stress on the families that relied on Jennings Construction income. No way did he want to lose his best people to other contractors or the challenges of juggling two jobs to maintain the status quo. Good as Ed would be as second in command, Daniel knew he didn’t want more responsibility than he had now, even if it came with a hefty pay boost.

  Exasperated with the lack of insight or answers when he arrived at his parents’ house, Daniel parked around back and climbed the stairs to the garage apartment. Something told him he’d feel better, would be better able to cope with a family dinner, if he could have a minute or two with Shannon first.

  He knocked before he opened the door, feeling unreasonably awkward. They’d been muddling through the strange living arrangements. No reason to develop a hang-up now. Only the location had changed.

  Walking in, the apartment was too quiet and Daniel snapped to attention. Had Stanwood managed to get to them here? He stepped back outside, looking for any signs of a struggle he might have missed.

  The back door of his parents’ place flew open on a wild shout. Daniel’s heart leaped into his throat before he realized it was a happy sound. Aiden raced across the driveway, shouting the obvious, “We’re over here!”

  Daniel’s gaze moved past the boy to find Shannon standing in the open doorway, smiling as she watched her son. When she offered a small wave, he returned it and felt the frustrations slide to the back of his mind.

  Who was he trying to fool? He already loved her and Aiden. Completely. They were the place his heart called home. She said he learned fast, but he’d fallen for them even faster. But he couldn’t tell her, couldn’t ask her to stay until he knew they would be safe.

  With a wild giggle, the boy climbed the stairs as fast as possible, giving up on the railing and scrambling forward with hands and feet in an accurate impression of a gamboling puppy. He was talking a mile a minute and Daniel only caught about every third word.

  Hearing cake and favorite, he assumed his mother had invited Shannon and Aiden over early. Hard to be aggravated with that, under the circumstances. While her ex was in the wind, Shannon really shouldn’t be alone. It’s why he’d brought her here.

  Maybe he could plant the seeds for his mom to stick by Shannon tomorrow while he was on shift.

  When Aiden reached the top of the stairs, Daniel plucked him up. “Did you say cake?”

  “Yes.” Aiden patted Daniel’s face. “The kind of cake you made when you were small.” He scrunched up his face. “Were you really small?”

  “Once upon a time,” Daniel replied.

  “That’s like a story.” Aiden laughed again as he squirmed to get down. “Dinner’s waiting on you.”

  “Uh-oh.” Daniel bent to drill a finger into the kid’s tummy. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you were hungry.”

  “I am.” Aiden’s head bobbed vigorously. “Come on.”

  The boy babbled in a constant monologue all the way to the door, passing by his mom with a loud declaration that Daniel had arrived and they could eat.

  Tess met the boy in the hallway and handed him a basket of rolls. “If you put this on the table, we’ll be all set.”

  “’Kay.” He took the bread basket, his little face serious. “How is the cake, Mimi?”

  “Baking perfectly.”

  When Aiden was out of sight, Daniel gave his mother a hard, quizzical look.

  “Mrs. Jennings is a mouthful, Tess didn’t feel right once I heard him say it,” she whispered. “Go get your father.” Her gaze drifted to his hands. “On second thought, you wash up. Shannon can—”

  “I’ll tell Pop it’s time.” Aiden streaked by them all.

  “Pop and Mimi.” Daniel shook his head. It wasn’t a big deal. Or it wasn’t until he caught the wistful shimmer in Shannon’s eyes. Had her parents ever met Aiden? She never mentioned them. Another layer of mystery to her and he wanted to solve them all. He tucked the question away for now. He could ask once they got the little guy to sleep tonight.

  As much as he struggled against parental expectations, he couldn’t imagine his life without them in it. He could easily see Shannon making the tough choice to isolate herself and her son to protect her own parents. In his mind, it wasn’t the right choice. Then again, he hadn’t spent any time married to Stanwood. Praise God.

  When Aiden returned towing “Pop,” they all sat down. His mother had stopped short of fine china, but everything else indicated an important occasion.

  Inside, Daniel cringed. Even without the added evidence of “Mimi and Pop,” he could see the designs his mother had on Shannon as a potential daughter-in-law. It might have gone just that way, if he’d asked Shannon out months ago. Now they had to shore up a cracked foundation before they could build on it.

  The salad had barely made it around the table before his dad started grilling Shannon about her past. It was in these moments that all the innocuous comments about how much he resembled
his father troubled him. Would running the construction company eventually turn him into a gruff and stubborn old man?

  “Dad.” Daniel shook his head. “Not tonight, okay?”

  “What? I like to know who’s at my table. She already told me she’s from New York.”

  He arched an eyebrow at her. “You did?”

  She nodded, gave a half shrug.

  “She’s already got the job,” Tess pointed out diplomatically.

  Daniel glanced at his mother as she studied her husband with exasperated affection. Her eyes held that same spark of love tonight that shined so brightly in their wedding pictures.

  “It’s been a long time since Ed interviewed me.” Shannon smiled graciously. “I worked on construction sites through the summers in high school. My first experience with builders hooked me. It was a mission project with my church youth group.”

  “What did you build?” Matthew asked.

  “We went to a low-income area and did repairs of all kinds. My first job was with a roofing crew.”

  Matthew whistled with admiration. “Hot work.”

  Shannon agreed.

  “I’m not gonna eat the peas, Mommy.”

  “You are.” She took a bite to demonstrate. “They’re very good.”

  Aiden scowled at his plate. “They’re green.”

  “Mrs. Jennings—”

  “Mimi,” Aiden interrupted Shannon with an adoring gaze for Tess.

  “—made us a lovely dinner,” Shannon continued smoothly. “You’ll taste everything with good manners.”

  Aiden pushed the small helping of peas around his plate.

  “Far cry from summer work to full time.” Matthew was like a dog with a bone. “Did you go to college?”

  “Give it a rest, Dad,” Daniel muttered.

  “Yes, sir.” Shannon replied over him with the same unruffled tone she’d used with Aiden. “I have a bachelor’s degree in international business.”

  “Seems that makes you overqualified to tile showers on our builds.”

  She laughed and Daniel admired her restraint. He shot his mother a pleading look and she ignored him, thoroughly engrossed with the little boy.

  “You might be surprised how much it overlaps,” Shannon said.

  Matthew’s bushy eyebrows twitched. “How’s that?”

  “International business requires preparation, a solid foundation, good product in the form of expertise, along with time and patience to get from start to a clean, polished finish.”

  Matthew cocked his head and laughed outright. “Right enough.” He turned to Daniel. “I like her. You could do worse.”

  Tess tsked at her husband.

  “It’s true,” he blustered.

  “It’s not that kind of dinner,” Daniel said as color crept into Shannon’s cheeks. Under the table, he tried to reassure her, rubbing her knee with his. If she’d let him, he’d be her shelter against everything unpleasant from his Dad’s nosiness to Stanwood’s deadly threats.

  “And why shouldn’t it be?” His dad reached for his glass of beer.

  “Are you fighting with Pop?” Aiden asked Daniel.

  “Not at all, bud. Did you eat the peas?”

  Aiden scowled at his plate. “No.”

  Daniel speared a pea on each tine of his fork. “Bet I can eat all of mine before you eat all yours.”

  Aiden’s brown eyes lit at the challenge and he sat up in his chair. “How’d you do that?”

  “Years of practice. Go on,” Daniel urged. “I’ll wait.” He did, then he won the first round, let Aiden win the second. Soon enough all the peas were gone.

  But the game didn’t derail his dad’s agenda for long. He caught Shannon’s eye. “We could watch the little guy if you and Daniel would like to go out for a bit.”

  “I’ve got to be at the firehouse early tomorrow, Dad.”

  “Another time, maybe,” Shannon added.

  “That’s no career when you have people depending on you,” his dad groused.

  At this point, under the pointed gazes of both his mom and dad, it was impossible to know if they meant the construction company or Shannon and her son.

  Either way, the old argument was...old. He’d made his choice and while he loved the construction work, he wasn’t ready to give up fighting fires. He couldn’t be what they wanted him to be, not yet, maybe not ever. “Since I’ll never please everyone, may as well please myself,” he said.

  His father glared at him over his beer. “That’s a selfish outlook.”

  “Daniel gave Aiden a tour of the firehouse the other day,” Shannon interjected. “Well, both of us. We were very impressed.”

  Matthew opened his mouth, but Tess spoke first. “It’s exciting isn’t it?” she asked Aiden.

  As the boy launched into a description of his favorite aspects of the trucks, Matthew wisely held his tongue. It was the first time in Daniel’s recollection that his dad dropped the subject so easily.

  He seized the moment to start clearing dinner plates and dishes. The sooner they made it through dessert, the sooner this would be over. Too bad his dad wasn’t done.

  “How much longer are we into that charity project of yours?”

  Daniel felt Shannon’s gaze on him and avoided it. “Ed has things under control.” he said. He wasn’t about to mention the flooring trouble, though his dad might already know. He placed slices of cake in front of each of them.

  “In other words, you don’t know when you’ll be done.”

  “We’re close, Dad,” Daniel said with a sigh. “We won’t go over by more than a few days,” he confessed.

  “Not at all if you would stay on site and keep up with your crews from start to finish.” He was gaining steam and Daniel didn’t know how to stop the runaway train of his dad’s disappointment.

  “I’m afraid that’s partly my fault.” Shannon bravely entered the fray and Daniel stifled a groan. “Due to some personal trouble of mine, Daniel’s been distracted.”

  “That had nothing to do with it.”

  “What kind of trouble?” Matthew and Tess asked in unison.

  “I got taken,” Aiden said. “By the bad guys. Daniel did a Superman and got me back to Mommy.” He stuffed another bite of cake into his mouth, blissfully unaware of the stunned silence he’d created.

  No, the kid didn’t miss much at all.

  “I had good help with that.” Daniel followed Aiden’s lead, cutting into his own thick slab of cake with satisfaction at his father’s dumbfounded expression.

  Tess looked at Daniel. “This was the boy,” she said, brushing Aiden’s white-blond hair.

  He rested his hand on the back of Shannon’s chair, making it clear where he stood on the issue. “Yes.”

  “We don’t expect that trouble to follow us here,” Shannon explained. “Staying here is merely a precaution. If you’re uncomfortable, if you’d like us to leave, we will.”

  Tess was already shaking her head. “You’re staying,” she said in the irrevocable tone that ended all arguments during his childhood. “We’re happy to have you both.”

  “Aiden and I appreciate it very much. Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” Aiden echoed with a chocolate-coated smile.

  “Can I help with the dishes?” Shannon asked.

  “We’ll manage.” Tess glanced at the clock in the hallway. “I imagine it’s getting close to bedtime for your little man.”

  Daniel and Shannon gave her a few more minutes with Aiden by clearing the table before wrestling a reluctant and yawning boy out the door and up to the apartment.

  Daniel did what he could to help Shannon with the bedtime routine, his thoughts in turmoil over the dinner, his upcoming shift and the sense that his dad might have a point
about his decision to be a firefighter.

  “Why is it called a daybed when you sleep on it at night?” Aiden asked in yet another attempt to delay the inevitable lights-out.

  “Hmm? Oh. Girls give normal things fancy names.” His reply earned him a light elbow from Shannon.

  “Fancy names and lots of pillows,” she said. “It’s a daybed because it’s good for day stuff, too.”

  “Like what?” Aiden’s fingers worried the ear of his rabbit.

  “Naps and reading. Maybe we’ll test that out tomorrow.”

  “With a truck race! Naps are for babies.”

  “We’ll see.” She bent and kissed him good-night. “Sleep well.”

  “Now Daniel,” Aiden demanded.

  When Daniel came over, Aiden surged up to hug him, the little arms tight on his neck. “Are you staying here, too?”

  “Sure thing, buddy.”

  “Okay. I like it when you stay.”

  When Aiden had run out of clever delays and excuses, Daniel and Shannon retreated to the front room where he immediately apologized for the fiasco of dinner.

  “Don’t do that.” She waved off his apology. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m making tea, do you want some?”

  “How can you say that?” He followed her. “They were rude.”

  “They were parents. They love you.” She reached back into the cabinet for a second mug. “Someday I’ll probably embarrass Aiden the same way.”

  “Not a chance,” Daniel countered. At her raised eyebrows, he added, “They ride me to quit and take over the family business every chance they get.”

  She slowly came closer, as if giving him room to bolt before she slid her arms around his waist. He watched her, caught in that warm brown gaze as she pressed up on her toes and brushed her lips to his. The irritation choking him all through dinner faded under that sweet caress.

  Bolt from her? Not a chance. He cradled her head and took the kiss deeper, his fingers flexing into the silky, short hair. He kissed her with all the feeling he didn’t dare put into words. Yet.