“So, she’s serious about the divorce?”
Liam focussed his attention on his brother. Kieran had flown into Rapid City airport that morning and hired a rental car for the forty-minute drive to Cedar River. Now they were sitting in Liam’s office at the hotel and drinking coffee.
“So it would seem,” he replied, fighting the twitch in his gut and the pain at his temple. It seemed as though he’d had a headache for days. But not one that painkillers would ease. It was only one o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, but he felt like downing a few belts of scotch to numb his senses.
His brother shook his head. “Have you tried talking with her?”
“Mom’s not listening to me,” he said flatly. “Maybe you’ll have more luck.”
“I’ll go and see her this afternoon,” Kieran said and shrugged. “Once I hear about this mess direct from the old man.”
“He’s not denying it,” Liam flipped back. “Not anymore. And I think he’s accepted the inevitable.”
Kieran shook his head. “Damn. So, how are things with you and Kayla?”
I have no idea...
Which wasn’t exactly true. The last four days had been tense. Oh, they went through the motions—breakfast conversation, a cursory kiss on the cheek before they went to sleep at night and a brief call during the day to see how she was. But that was it. The tension between them was acute and palpable. Since their argument after those incredibly passionate couple of hours on Saturday afternoon, they were more like barely tolerated roommates than husband and wife. She made sure she was in bed well before he turned in and was up before his alarm buzzed at six. There was no companionship, no affection and definitely no making love. Having her so close, but feeling the distance between them getting wider and wider every day, was the worst kind of torture.
“Fine,” he said, answering his brother’s question. “How about you?”
Kieran looked less than his usual positive self. His brother had been through his own brand of marital crap over a year ago, when his wife had announced that the son he believed was his, was in fact the child of his best friend. He’d raised the boy as his own for eighteen months and Liam couldn’t even begin to comprehend the kind of hurt his younger brother must have felt by such an unforgivable betrayal.
“Same,” he said and shrugged. “Work and more work.”
“Dating?”
“Hell, no,” Kieran said quickly. “I’m off that merry-go-round for a while.”
“You know, Nicola Radici has moved back to town,” he said and smiled. “She’s taken over JoJo’s since her brother and his wife were killed in that plane crash last year.” Nicola was Kieran’s high school girlfriend, the one he’d left behind. “She’s also caring for her two young nephews now.”
Kieran’s expression was like granite. “Nic and I were over a long time ago.”
Liam shrugged. “Worth a thought.”
“No chance. Nicola hates me. You do remember how badly I screwed up with her?”
“You were young. When we’re young we do stupid things.”
“Except for you,” Kieran said and grinned. “You never wavered back then. Looks like you saved your stupid thing for now.”
“Are you trying to make a point?” he asked, irritated, frustrated and already tired of the conversation. “If so, get to it.”
“All I’m saying is that this thing with you and Kayla kind of came out of left field. Was it the hands-off instruction from the old man when we were growing up that made you do it? I mean, she’s beautiful and smart and sexy and—”
“And my wife, remember?” he said roughly. “So enough with the compliments, okay?”
Kieran’s eyes bulged and then he chuckled. “Well, I’ll be damned...you really love her. Congratulations, by the way...about the baby.”
He was about to thank his brother when their father walked into the office. He hugged Kieran, gave Liam a nod and then dropped into one of the chairs. He’d spoken to his father only once during the past couple of days and that conversation had been curt. He certainly didn’t want to be at war with his parent, but loyalty toward his mother kept him guarded.
They talked for a while, about their mom, about Sean, about Liz and her three little girls. They reminisced about their childhood and some of Sean’s antics when he was a teenager, and not once did they mention their now not-so-secret half brother, even though he suspected the usually curious Kieran was itching to know more about the man who shared their blood, but was a stranger to them.
“I’m going to go and see Mom,” Kieran said a while later and got to his feet. “I’ll catch you both later.”
Once his brother left the room, Liam put in a call to Connie and gave her a short list of things he needed done that afternoon. When he was done with the call he looked up and noticed his father hadn’t moved.
“Are we gonna have this out?” J.D. asked, both brows up.
“Is there any point?”
“You’ve got questions...only natural.”
“Kieran’s the curious one, not me,” Liam supplied and flicked on his laptop.
“I’m not saying this to Kieran. I’m saying it to you. Tell me what you want to know.”
Liam almost got to his feet and left the room. Almost. He took a deep breath and met his father’s gaze. “Okay...just one question...why did you do it?”
“Why did I fall in love with Kathleen Rickard?” he shot back. “Why did I fall for the one woman I knew I shouldn’t want? You tell me,” he said and laughed humorlessly. “It looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Liam scowled. “It’s not the same thing,” he said. “You cheated on your wife with a younger woman. You got her pregnant and then ran her out of town so you wouldn’t get caught.”
“I didn’t...” His father’s voice trailed off. “It was a long time ago. Can’t we just leave it to rest?”
“You have a son with this woman,” Liam reminded him.
“A son who hates me,” his father said, clearly pained by the reality. “A son who doesn’t want to see me. Who’s never wanted to see me. A son who has spent his entire life pushing me away and refuses to acknowledge that I’m his father. A son who I have to let hate me, because as his father, it’s the only thing I can actually do for him.”
His father’s eyes were shining, and it reminded Liam that the only time he’d ever witnessed real emotion from the man was when Liz had died. And right now, in this moment.
“Did you ever love Mom?” Liam asked quietly.
J.D. sighed heavily. “She was a good wife to me. What I needed back then. I’d just taken over the business from your grandfather. I was busy and your mom understood that. She understood me.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“I love that we’ve had a long marriage. I love that she gifted me with four incredible children. But...no, I was never in love with her like I should have been. Like she deserved.”
“Like you were with Kathleen?”
“Yes,” his father admitted. “And I know you probably don’t believe me and it doesn’t really matter now, but my relationship with Kathleen ended the day she left town. And yes, I supported her and Jonah and I would visit so I could see my son, but the affair ended thirty years ago and I have been faithful to your mother ever since.”
“Mom’s going to divorce you...you know that, right?”
His father nodded slowly. “What about you, Liam? Are you going to stay angry with me? You’re my eldest son and more than that...we’ve always been friends, you and I. More so than with your brothers. I hope you can learn to forgive me.”
“Me, too, Dad,” he said and let out a heavy sigh. “Me, too.”
* * *
Kayla wasn’t sure what kind of reception she’d get when she tapped on her parents’ door on Wednesday afternoon. Icy, she suspected. She’d called an hour earlier and left a message, saying she was dropping by. Her mother answered the door and guilt almost stripped her bare when she noticed how tired and unwell she seemed. There were dark circles beneath her mother’s eyes and her complexion was pale and tight.
She walked down the hall and into the living room. Her grandmother, Joyce, was sitting by the window in her favorite chair and Kayla immediately moved forward and gave her a loving hug.
“Hi, Grams.”
“You look tired,” her grandmother said. “Not sleeping well?”
No. Because I spend most of the night trying desperately not to roll over to Liam’s side of the bed in case I ended up cradled in his arms. Even though that’s the one place I want to be.
It had been a long and difficult few days. They lived together, but were as far apart as two people could be. They had hardly spoken for days; instead they passed each other in the morning and evening, barely acknowledging that they were in the middle of a crisis. Other than a perfunctory kiss good-night, he didn’t touch her and she didn’t invite him to. They talked about the weather, the upcoming benefit and the baby and everything else was ignored.
“I’m fine, Grams. You?”
“Old,” she replied and grinned a little. “Tired.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t been to see you sooner,” she said and hugged her grandmother again. “I miss you.”
“Kayla?”
Her father’s voice made her swivel around. He stood near the door, arms crossed, his glasses perched on the edge of his nose in a way that was familiar and endearing. “Hi, Dad.”
“Are you here to tell us you’ve come to your senses?”
Okay, first hurdle. “I wanted to talk with you and Mom.”
“About O’Sullivan?” he asked and scowled. “Because I’m not interested in hearing about him.”
“I’m not here to talk about Liam,” she said and saw her father wince at the mention of his name. “I want to talk about you. About you and me and Mom and Grams. And about how we used to be a family and now we’re—”
“Your doing,” he said harshly, cutting her off. “You chose him. Over us. Over your family that has always loved you.”
It sounded so final. So...absolute.
Kayla’s eyes burned. “Are you never going to make peace with this, Dad?”
His expression softened for a moment and she saw him swallow hard. “You broke my heart. You broke your mother’s heart. And your grandmother...” His words trailed off. “I lost my sister because of those people...because J.D. couldn’t stay faithful to his wife. He took my sister from her family. And now his son has done the same thing with my daughter.”
“But I’m still here, Dad. I’m still your daughter. My marriage to Liam doesn’t have to change that. And once you get to know him, you’ll see that he’s—”
“I don’t want any O’Sullivans in my house!”
Her father’s harsh tone made her cringe. And when she noticed her grandmother was crying, Kayla’s heart constricted in her chest. Her mother moved across the room to comfort the older woman, and Kayla remained where she was, heartsick.
She touched her abdomen. “What about your grandchild? This baby is half O’Sullivan... I can’t change that. And I want my child to have you in their life. I want my child to be a part of this family.”
“One day you’ll understand the hurt I feel,” her father said in a raspy voice. “You’ll understand this betrayal when your child does something so callous to you. You’re my beautiful and smart daughter and we’ve always been proud of you...and you could have had any man you wanted. Why him? Why O’Sullivan’s son? When you knew what it would do to us.”
Kayla swallowed back the excruciating pain in her throat. “I didn’t plan this. It just happened. We fell in love,” she whispered, suddenly wishing and longing for Liam’s strength beside her. He’d wanted to come with her. A united front, he’d said. But she’d pushed him away. Again. “I fell in love.”
The words seemed to physically hurt her father. “So did Kathleen. And then she left. She left us and could never look back.”
“It was a different time, Dad. A different situation. And now that everything is out in the open, things will be better. Mr. and Mrs. O’Sullivan are—”
“Nothing will be better. You’ll still be married to him and Kathleen will still be living in Oregon. Do you know what we get now? What your grandmother gets? A Christmas card. That’s all. A lousy card that we’ve never been able to display because it would cause too many questions. It’s like we had to wipe my sister from our lives and pretend she didn’t exist for thirty years. All because J.D. wasn’t man enough to be faithful to his wife.”
“I think he loved her,” Kayla said quietly, hurting all over. “I think he loved Kathleen.”
“Those people don’t know the meaning of the word,” her father spat back. “They know about being rich and entitled and arrogant and how to bulldoze their way through life to get what they want... But love?” He shook his head. “They don’t have the spine for it. I’m sure you’ll find that out the hard way. Because I can’t imagine that your new husband is all that different from his old man. He’ll hurt you. He’ll betray you. He’ll cheat on you.”
“If you would just give him a chance...”
“I can’t,” her father said. “I could, for anyone but him. Men like that don’t know how to stay faithful. It’s in his genes to hurt and betray people. I only hope you have the sense to get out before he does that to you.”
He refused to say another word to her, so after kissing her grandmother goodbye and exchanging a sad look with her mother, she left and headed straight home. It was only three o’clock, but she didn’t have the energy to go back to the museum. There was a missed call from Liam on her cell and she texted back that she was tired and was heading home. She called Shirley to cover her shift for the afternoon and drove back to the house. Ash called, but she wasn’t in the mood for a heart-to-heart with her friend, either. Instead she stripped off her clothes, took a hot shower and dressed in pink pajamas with ducks on them and sat on the couch, flicking through a magazine. Which was where Liam found her when he arrived home just after five.
“Everything all right?” he asked and dropped his keys and cell on the coffee table.
“Fine,” she said and closed the magazine.
“A bit early for pj’s?”
She shrugged. “I’m having a pity party.”
“Am I invited?”
“It’s not like I have a choice,” she said and sighed. “We live together.”
“Do we?” he shot back. “Seems to me that we’re about as far apart as two people could possibly be.”
She looked up and met his gaze. “Do you want me to move back to my apartment?”
The silence between them was suddenly deafening. His blue eyes darkened and he held out his hands. “Is that what you want? Are you trying to break me down, Kayla? To see what it will take to have me on my knees?”
There was real pain in his voice and shame immediately filled her blood. “No... I’m sorry. I’m just... I saw my parents today.”
He went perfectly still. “And?”
“And my father thinks you’re going to do to me what your dad did to your mom.” When he didn’t respond, she continued. “Cheat. Be unfaithful.”
A pulse throbbed in his cheek. “Does that seem likely?”
“Not at all,” she replied. “I don’t think you have a dishonorable bone in your body.”
His gaze was unwavering. “Did you tell him that?”
“He’s not exactly listening to me at the moment.” She shrugged and sighed heavily. “Liam, there’s something I want to do, and I’ll understand if you don’t agree...but I need to do it.”
He immediately looked cautious—and curious. “What?”
“I want to go to Oregon,” she said quietly. “I want to see my aunt and find out what really happened thirty years ago.”
Liam stood rigid, clearly absorbing her announcement. Silence stretched like elastic between them, as though he was thinking of every possible reason why she shouldn’t go. And then he spoke.
“I’ll book our flight.”
* * *
Liam had never been to Portland. And with rain that hadn’t eased for hours, he figured he might never again. It was Friday morning and Kayla was sitting beside him in the rental car, muttering directions she’d found via the GPS on her cell.
They’d arrived that morning, checked into a hotel in the center of town and headed to Kathleen Rickard’s home. J.D. had supplied the address, which was about a twenty-minute drive out of the city. The area was neat and the homes large and he pushed back the niggling feeling of resentment in his gut, knowing his father had probably bought the house for his secret family.
They pulled up outside a two-story, redbrick home with white gables, a wide porch and large front yard. There was a tire swing tied to a tree and he vaguely wondered if his father had put the rope there years earlier. It reminded Liam of the rope swing J.D. had hung from the old oak tree behind the barn at the ranch when he was a boy.
“Let’s go,” he said an unbuckled his seat belt.
By the time he’d grabbed the umbrella from the back and gotten out from the car, Kayla had her door open and was stepping onto the curb. Liam held the umbrella over her head and ignored the rain falling onto his shoulders. He opened the white gate and they walked up the path to the porch. There were four steps and he ushered Kayla forward, keeping her covered. Once they were underneath the porch and out of the rain, he shook the umbrella and moved to knock on the door. But the door opened before he had a chance.
A woman greeted them. Tall and slender, she was about fifty years old and had a soft, blond bob. She was very beautiful, the kind of beauty that wouldn’t fade with years. In fact, it was remarkable how much Kayla looked like her. They shared the same soft brown eyes, slanted brows and high cheek bones.
“Can I help you?” she asked, frowning and then he noticed how her gaze quickly softened.
He cleared his throat. “Ms. Rickard, I’m—”
“I know who you are,” she said and waved a hand gently. “I was your babysitter once, Liam,” she reminded him. “And I’ve seen your photograph many times.” She looked toward Kayla. “And you must be my niece? J.D. called my son this week and told him you had both recently married. Congratulations.”
Kayla nodded. “Thank you...Aunt Kathleen.”
Her expression softened. “Why don’t you come in out of this rain and tell me what I can do for you,” she said and opened the door.
Within half a minute they were in a comfy living room, seated on a wide chintz sofa. There was an easel in the corner and canvases scattered around the room.
“You’re an artist?” Kayla said, clearly intrigued.
“Of sorts. I like to paint,” Kathleen said as she sat in the seat opposite. “But I don’t imagine you’ve come all this way to discuss my painting. What can I do for you?”
Liam saw Kayla’s chin wobble and he grasped her hand. “We’d like to know what happened between you and my father.”
A look of surprise crossed her face. “Don’t you know?”
“Your version,” Liam qualified. “Unabridged.”
She rested her hands on her knees and sighed. “I’d like to let my son know that you’re here,” she said quietly. “And then I’ll tell you what you want to know.” She took a few moments to send a text message and then returned her attention to them. “Okay, here’s my version—I fell in love with a married man.” She met Liam’s gaze head-on. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”
He nodded. “We need to know.”
She nodded and began to speak. In his rage and resentment, Liam knew he’d been expecting a tawdry, impossibly inappropriate story about how his father had seduced a younger woman and once she was pregnant, paid her off and shuttled her out of town. But Kathleen Rickard’s version of events was nothing so scandalous. She was young, she fell in love with a married man who was twelve years older and they had tried to fight their feelings for months. And once she discovered she was expecting a baby, it was Kathleen who had insisted she leave town, not his father.
“He wanted to tell your mother, to make things right. But I wouldn’t allow it,” she said with a kind of admirable strength. “He had a young family and a wife who deserved to have her family stay together. I wasn’t going to be a home-wrecker. So I left town...of my own will. And to make it easier for me to make the break from my family and my much older and overprotective brother, J.D. let everyone think he’d made me go.” She let out a long sigh. “Look, we made a lot of mistakes back then. I had no right to get involved with a married man...but I was young and foolish and even though it’s no excuse, I simply followed my heart.”
I simply followed my heart.
Damn...if only it were that simple.
He squeezed Kayla’s hand and spoke. “My father told me the affair was over the day you left...is that true?”
“Yes. I learned from my mistake. And frankly, once I’d left South Dakota, all I wanted to do was have my baby and raise him the best I could. But your father didn’t abandon us,” she stressed. “He wanted to be a part of my son’s life. He still does. But Jonah...” Her words trailed off and she sighed a little sadly. “Jonah is stubborn and headstrong. Does that sound familiar?” she asked and smiled.
Liam’s mouth twitched and as much as he hadn’t planned on it, he realized it was damned difficult not to like and respect Kathleen Rickard.
* * *
Kayla’s fingers were numb from Liam squeezing her hand, but she didn’t pull away. She knew how tough the situation was for him and she admired how he held it together as they spoke to her aunt. And she liked Kathleen. The other woman was frank and forthright and clearly led a happy and productive life, even if there was a little sadness in her eyes when she spoke about J.D. and her son.
They chatted for a while and were just settling down to drink the coffee she’d brewed—along with a tea she’d made for Kayla—when the front door opened and then slammed and footsteps came down the hall. And then, there he was—Jonah Rickard—framing the doorway. Six foot something of dark-haired, angry handsomeness. Kayla gasped when he appeared, because he looked so much like Liam. His hair was a little darker, his shoulders a little leaner, but the glittering blue eyes and strong jaw were pure O’Sullivan.
Liam sprang to his feet and looked ready to face whatever was to come of this first meeting between him and his brother. Jonah didn’t look happy—not one bit—and Kayla suspected that was probably a common thing for him. He was livid and not bothering to hide it. So, he was another bastion of truth, another righter of wrongs and another man who lived by a code of black and white without shades of gray, she thought and smiled to herself.
“Jonah,” Kathleen said as she stood, clearly ready to defuse the escalating tension simmering between the two men who had yet to say something to one another. “I’m so pleased you had the time to stop by. I have visitors.”
“So I see.”
Oh, yeah, he was mad. Seething in fact. As though some kind of predator had invaded his territory and needed sorting out. Kayla realized that he would do whatever he had to do to protect the woman who had given him life. They were a tight unit. A family. And he looked ready to fight, with his taut fists and locked shoulders.
“Which one are you?” Jonah asked, one brow up. “The doctor? Mr. Hollywood?”
Kayla glanced at Liam, saw that he looked remarkably at ease by his brother’s unexpected appearance and then felt a powerful surge of respect flow through her. He wouldn’t lose control. He wouldn’t make a scene. He had a kind of dignified control in his profile and it made her love him all the more. He was a rock. Solid. A man who could handle anything. My husband. She experienced an almost silly gush of happiness and grasped his forearm, digging her fingertips in and latching on tight.
“Neither,” Liam said quietly.
“Ah,” Jonah said with a kind of chilling mockery. “The big gun himself. The favored eldest child of J.D. O’Sullivan is gracing us with his presence. My life is complete.”
“It’s good to meet you,” Liam replied, clearly choosing to ignore the other man’s sarcasm.
“Is it?” Jonah shot back. “Did the old man put you up to this?”
“No,” Liam said quietly.
“Then why are you here?” Jonah asked, his mouth then pressed into a thin, tense line.
Liam half shrugged and Kayla suspected he did it to antagonize the other man just a little. “My wife wanted to meet you. And I was...curious.”
Jonah scowled, confirming Kayla’s suspicions that he harbored a whole lot of resentment—most of it aimed at anyone named O’Sullivan.
“Well,” Kathleen said and gave a soft, almost brittle laugh. “Why don’t we all sit down and talk?”
“I think I’ll pass, Mom.”
“You might want to hear this, Jonah.”
“Hear what?” he demanded.
The older woman offered a tight smile. “That I’ve decided that I’m going on a trip.”
“To where?” he asked.
Kathleen pushed back her shoulders with a resilient sigh. “To South Dakota. I think it’s time I went home.”