The next morning Blake and Ben left before Delaney came downstairs. She was usually always the first one up, and Blake had paced the kitchen hoping to catch her prior to heading out for the day. He wanted to apologize for the way he acted last night.

He took another drink of coffee from the travel mug when he got out of the truck. He’d need a couple more to get him through the day. He’d been up most of the night trying to figure out what the hell to do about the mess he’d made of things. When he finally realized his heart would only accept one decision, he stopped worrying about the what and concentrated on the how. What choice did he have? He loved her. He loved Delaney. It was as simple as that.

Blake lifted Ben out of the truck then took his hand as they walked toward the job site.

“Keep hold of Hunter until we get back to the truck.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Ben tightened his arms around the puppy.

“How would you like to have lunch at the diner today, Ben?”

“What about Hunter?”

“He’ll have to wait in the truck, but we won’t be long. You can give him one of those beef chews to keep him busy while we get something to eat.”

“Maybe he can have some of my lunch.”

“Maybe,” Blake said with a grin, “or maybe we’ll just order an extra burger for him.”

Ben looked up at Blake and smiled. Blake squeezed the boy’s shoulder. Ben had filled a huge void in Blake’s life. If things worked out with Delaney, his world might turn out about as close to perfect as a man could hope.

He couldn’t wait to see her tonight, hopefully to begin to set things right between them. While they were in town, he’d stop at the florist next to Mosey’s Diner and buy some roses. Delaney loved flowers, and although it couldn’t begin to make up for the way he’d been acting, he wanted to do something to make her happy.

THE FRONT door opened just as Delaney was getting ready to walk out.

“Hi, beautiful,” the tall, drop-dead gorgeous man who greeted her said with a devastating, boyish grin.

“Hi, Justin.” If he hadn’t greeted her like that, Delaney wouldn’t have known which brother she was facing. They were so identical it was spooky. Her sure clue, though, was that Blake and good mood were polar opposites where she was concerned.

“I’m glad you’re here. I left a note on the sideboard, but I was hoping someone would get back before I left.” Delaney slipped into her coat. “Blake and Ben should be home soon. Dinner’s in the oven on warm. All you need to do is lift it.”

She looked at her watch. “If I don’t get out of here, we’re going to miss our reservation,” she said more to herself than Justin.

“Hot date?” Justin raised a brow.

“Gotta run,” Delaney told him over her shoulder. “Will you tell Ben I’ll see him in the morning?”

“I’ll tell him,” Justin promised. “Delaney…”

“Yes?” She half turned to look at him. He shook his head, but she had the feeling he’d wanted to say more.

“Nothing, have a good time.”

An hour later Delaney and Mary were seated at the waterfront restaurant Mary told Delaney about the first week they’d met. It took forty minutes to drive from Glebe Point, but Delaney didn’t mind since it was a special occasion.

“You’re such a dear to remember I said I wanted to try out this restaurant.” Mary reached over and touched Delaney’s hand. “You really didn’t have to do this, you know.”

“I know.” Delaney squeezed Mary’s fingers. “But it’s your birthday, and you’ve been so good to me. I wanted to do something special.”

After dinner they ordered dessert. Delaney excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. She saw their waiter on the way out and pulled him aside to see if he could put a candle on Mary’s chocolate volcano cake.

“Oh my,” Mary exclaimed when the flaming mass was set in front of her. Delaney laughed. The dessert had been aptly named. It was huge, shaped like a volcano with rich chocolate fudge oozing out of the top, capped off with whipped cream and a burning taper that matched the ones on their table.

“Oh my,” Mary said again as she set about attacking the decadent delight.

“That was wonderful.” Mary pushed the remaining volcano cake away. “Maybe you can take the rest home for Benjamin. If I take one more bite, I might erupt.”

“Ben will eat it. For a little kid he’s got quite an appetite.”

“He’s just like his father.” Mary chuckled. “I can tell already he’s going to grow up to be just as big and handsome.”

“I think you’re right.” Delaney smiled, trying not to dwell on Blake. After last night she’d been thinking it might be time to admit defeat. They couldn’t speak to each other without snapping anymore, except when Ben was around. Then Blake put on a civil face and did a fair job of keeping the peace for his son’s sake.

“Blake adores that little boy. It’s just a good thing Connie took him to you.” Mary looked at her. “I don’t like to say anything against a person, but she hurt that boy bad.”

“I know Connie wasn’t the best mother,” Delaney said, “but I’m sure she never physically abused Benjamin. I don’t think she always made the best decisions, like lying to him about his father, but in her own way I believe she loved him.”

“Not Benjamin, dear, I was talking about Blake. After losing his parents the way he did, then finding out he had a son somewhere. It just wasn’t right what she did.”

Delaney opened her mouth but had no response. Mary knew Blake better than anyone, except Justin maybe.

“It’s going to take a very special woman to help him heal and learn to trust again.” Mary looked at her with a warm smile. Delaney knew that look, but if Mary thought she was looking at that special woman, she couldn’t be more wrong.

“I hope he finds her.” Delaney breathed deep. “It would be nice for Ben too. You know, to have a mother some day.”

“Maybe he already has.”

Mary would like nothing better than to make a match. Unfortunately, it would take a bulldozer to move Blake in Delaney’s direction.

“I hate to disappoint you, Mary, but Blake isn’t looking. And if he were, I think he’d prefer anyone over me.”

“Now what makes you think that? I’ve seen the way Blake looks at you.”

“You mean glares?”

“He doesn’t glare when you’re not looking, dear.”

Delaney knew Mary’s perception was blinded by wishful thinking. If the woman really knew how Blake felt, she’d probably be shocked at how cold her dear boy could be.

“I don’t know what happened between the two of you,” Mary continued, “but take my word. When it comes time, Blake isn’t going to let you go, not without a fight.”

“He’ll be pushing me out the door, Mary.”

Mary smiled. “We’ll see, my dear. We’ll see.”

BLAKE SENT Ben straight upstairs to wash up for dinner. He wanted a few minutes alone with Delaney. He could smell something incredible coming from the kitchen.

He couldn’t hold back a grin. How friggin’ lucky could one man get? She was smart, and sweet, and so sexy she made him burn. And damn the woman could cook. And she was going to be his.

“Okay,” he said to the dozen red roses he held in front of him, “let’s go win back my woman.”

“You shouldn’t have,” Justin said when Blake walked into the kitchen.

Blake grinned. He set the roses on the table then lifted the lid off the casserole dish on the range.

“Damn, that smells good.” He dragged in a deep whiff.

“Yeah, if you didn’t get home soon, I was going to start without you.”

Blake looked toward the door. He felt like a teenager waiting for his first date.

“I’ll go up and send Ben down. You guys can get started. I want to talk to Delaney.” Blake turned to go upstairs.

“She’s not here,” Justin said. Blake turned around.

“What do you mean? Did she run into town?”

Justin looked away. Blake swallowed. He could tell from his brother’s expression that Delaney hadn’t just run out for a quick errand. A cold hand clutched his heart. He’d been a little rough last night but certainly not enough to drive her back to New York. They’d had worse arguments, said worse things. She couldn’t be gone, not now.

“She went out,” Justin said obliquely.

“Out? Where’d she go?”

“She didn’t say. She was in a hurry.”

The muscle flexed in Blake’s jaw. “Did she go out with Cole?”

Justin looked at the roses on the table and frowned.

“Tell me, Justin. Did she go out with Cole?”

“How should I know? She didn’t say who she was going out with, just that they were going to be late for their reservation if she didn’t hurry.”

“Damn it,” Blake cursed. “I told her not to go out with that bastard.”

Justin rubbed his hand across his jaw and shook his head. Blake knew his brother too well not to know when Justin was biting his tongue.

“What?”

“What?!” Justin shook his head again. “What the hell do you think? Can you blame her if she did go out with someone else? Christ, Blake, you treat Delaney worse than you ever did Connie, and she jerked you around for months.”

“You never had a problem with Connie when we were dating.”

“I always had a problem with Connie. I had suspicions about her before she took off. I just never said anything because I thought you fancied yourself in love with her and would have just told me to go to hell.”

“I didn’t love Connie. Maybe if you’d told me what you thought, it would have opened my eyes a little sooner.”

“Hell,” Justin said, “this isn’t about me or Connie.”

“You’re right, Jus,” Blake admitted, “but you don’t know the whole story with Delaney either.”

“What I know is what I see. You’re the one driving the wedge between the two of you, not her.”

“Oh yeah, and going out with another man is supposed to endear me to her?”

“You know what, Blake, maybe you don’t deserve her. Maybe I’ll go after her myself. After the way you’ve treated her, she’ll think I’m a saint.” Justin stood up and walked over to take down some dishes.

“If I believed for one minute you’d make a pass at her, you wouldn’t still be standing,” Blake told him.

“I’m going to eat,” Justin said. “Why don’t you cool down and tell your son dinner’s ready.”

DELANEY DIDN’T get back until almost midnight. She and Mary had been talking, and Delaney missed the exit on the highway. They’d driven almost thirty miles before she realized the mistake.

She tried to be quiet when she went in so she didn’t wake anyone. Blake usually went to bed before eleven when he had to work the next day. Justin seemed to turn in early as well.  Whether it was his normal habit or he was just following suit, Delaney wasn’t sure.

She hung up her coat then took off her high heels so they wouldn’t click on the wooden floors. The house was dark, but she knew her way by now. When she got upstairs, she peeked into Ben’s room, saw that he was sleeping soundly, then crept across the hall to her own room and eased the door shut without a sound.

“Where the hell have you been?”

Delaney whirled to face the imposing figure that uncurled from the chair by the window and moved toward her.

“What are you doing in here?” She got her back up.

“I asked you a question,” he said and she could feel the tension rolling off of him. “Where were you? And what the hell were you doing until midnight?”

“Get out of my room, Blake.” Delaney tried to remain calm. She didn’t have to answer to him, and he had no business asking.

“Were you with Cole?”

“I told you yesterday it was none of your business who I went out with.”

“Were you?” He reached out and took hold of her shoulders.

Delaney brought her arms up and broke his hold. “It’s none of your business where I was or who I was with.”

“I’m making it my business whether you like it or not. The guy’s only interested in one thing, sweetheart.”

Delaney was determined not to let him drag her into another argument. They never involved more than words, but when they were done, she felt as bruised as if someone had punched her. She walked to the door and held it open.

“Please go. I’m not going to do this with you. We never accomplish anything, and I’m tired of it.” She felt proud of how even she kept her tone.

“Yeah, well I’m tired of it too,” he said, “and you’re right. Your being here isn’t accomplishing anything.”

She turned back to him. He was going to tell her to leave. They still had almost a week, a week to patch the pain. Did she really believe he’d ever forgive her? Was she a fool for hoping there was still a chance?

“We have an agreement.” She straightened her back. “You’ll be free of me soon enough.” Why didn’t she just leave? What else did she need to convince her that Blake would never forgive her?

“If you left now, it couldn’t be soon enough for me,” he said.

“You’ve made that clear enough. But you’ll have to put up with me a few more days. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some sleep.”

“Not until you answer my question.”

“What question?” she asked, her frustration reaching the limit.

“Where were you?”

“Ugh!” Delaney pushed her hands through her hair. “Get out of my room.” She raised her voice with exhausted impatience.

“This is my house.” His voice elevated as well. “I’ll stay in any room I damn well please.”

“Fine, then I’ll go somewhere else.” She turned to leave.

“Don’t you dare walk away from me.” He moved in front of her, blocking her from leaving the room. “You know, Delaney, that’s a bad habit you have.”

“Really, well maybe it’s because you’re so easy to walk away from,” she came back, regretting the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. He made her so crazy. She didn’t want to hurt him, not like this.

Blake froze. She could see his jaws clench. “I want you out of here before I get home tomorrow. You got it! Pack your things and get out.”

Delaney closed her eyes. “Blake, I didn’t mean…I just—”

“If you’re here when I get home, I’ll throw you out. Believe me; you don’t want to make me do that.”

“But we have an agreement.” She clung on.

Blake threw his hands up in a gesture of frustration. “Ben doesn’t need you anymore. I don’t need you here anymore. Just leave us alone. We don’t want you here.”

“You can’t speak for Ben,” Delaney said, grabbing the final straw.

“Damn you! Just get out of my life, Delaney. Just get the hell out of my life.” He turned to leave. “And don’t say anything to Benjamin. I’ll let him know you’re gone.”

Delaney stood in the middle of the room after he left, tears welling in her eyes. He was sending her away, and it had ended with such ugliness. He didn’t even want her to say goodbye to Ben.

Delaney dragged in a breath. It was finally over. She’d fought her best fight, and it wasn’t good enough. Blake would never love her.

She tried to calm down. After a while she managed to halt the tears. She wanted to see Ben again, just see his sweet innocent face once more before she left.

Quietly she walked across the hall, noticing the door was slightly ajar. Blake had probably gone in before retiring to his own room. Delaney stopped a few feet from the bed. Ben wasn’t there.

BENJAMIN WIPED his eyes with the soft blanket Laney gave him when they lived in New York. He put his teddy down and hugged Hunter tight so the puppy didn’t wiggle out of his arms and fall into the water. Ben didn’t know how to swim yet, and he didn’t know if Hunter did, either.

His new daddy said he was going to teach Ben to swim and sail a boat. Ben thought that would be fun.

He liked his daddy. Ben liked him a whole bunch, but he didn’t like it when Daddy yelled at Laney.

He woke up because he heard people yelling. It scared him, like when his old mom and the mean man yelled. Sometimes the mean man hit his mom, and Ben would hide in the closet.

Daddy told Laney she had to go away. Ben loved Laney. He didn’t want her to go.

Ben wiped his nose on the back of his pajama sleeve. Daddy and Laney were yelling about Ben. He heard his name so he knew he must have done something bad to make them yell. And Daddy told Laney that Ben didn’t want Laney to stay here. Ben didn’t know why he said that. They didn’t see Ben in the hall. If they did they might have got madder, and he didn’t want to make them mad at him. Maybe they’d get so mad they’d make him go away too.

Hunter started to squirm. Ben put his blanket on the dock, too, and then stood up and held Hunter closer. He didn’t want Hunter to get away because he might fall in the water. Or if Hunter ran away, Ben might not be able to find him in the dark.

Ben decided the little boat at the dock was a stupid place to hide. He should have gone into the woods where Hunter couldn’t get hurt.

Hurrying along the wooden planks, Ben sniffed back his tears. He’d stay in the woods until Daddy and Laney weren’t mad at him any more. Maybe then Daddy would let Laney and Ben stay.

DELANEY CHECKED the bathroom. Ben wasn’t there. Had he awakened and gone into Blake’s room? She frowned. He’d have been more likely to come across the hall to wake her if he needed anything.

She walked down the hall to Blake’s room and tapped on the door. She didn’t want to have to see him again tonight, but she had an ominous feeling she couldn’t explain.

When Blake didn’t answer after a minute, Delaney opened the door and looked inside but didn’t see Blake. His bathroom door was open, but the light was out. Something wasn’t right.

“Having trouble sleeping?”

Delaney jumped. She hadn’t heard anyone come up behind her. The man gave her a warm smile when she looked at him.

“Justin, were you downstairs?” she asked, her voice full of worry.

“No, I was just going to the bathroom.” Justin tilted his head to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Ben’s not in his room or anywhere else upstairs.” She pushed a hand through her hair. “Blake’s not here though, either. Maybe Ben woke up and Blake took him downstairs for a drink or something.”

“Well, I wouldn’t worry. That’s probably what happened.”

“I’m going to check.” Delaney told herself Blake and Ben were probably together, but she’d feel better if she knew. Justin followed her downstairs. The door to the kitchen was propped open, and the light was on.

Blake sat at the table with his head in his hands. When he looked up, Delaney expected him to start yelling at her again. Instead, he just looked at her. His hair was mussed, his eyes vacant, as if he was lost. She’d never seen him look so sad and for a moment her heart stopped as she imagined the worst.

Blake stood up and walked toward her. “Delaney, I’m sorry. I don’t, I—” He shook his head.

“What happened?” she croaked. “Oh God, Blake, what happened to Ben?”

Blake stopped in his tracks. “Something’s wrong with Ben?”

“He’s not upstairs. I thought maybe he was down here with you. You don’t know where he is?”

Blake ran from the room and leapt up the stairs. A minute later he came back down. He looked frantic.

“He’s not up there,” he said, repeating what she’d already told him. “Where is he? Why isn’t he upstairs?” Blake was yelling. Delaney knew fear when she saw it.

“I don’t know. Maybe…” Delaney hesitated, not knowing if she should say what she suspected. Blake was already upset, and she didn’t want to add guilt to the fear.

“What?” He grabbed her shoulders. His eyes searched hers for an answer. “Tell me.”

She bit her lip. “He might have heard us arguing. It might have frightened him.”

Blake swore. “Do you think he’s hiding somewhere? Hell,” he swore again, “start checking anywhere he might be—closets, under the bed, I don’t know—everywhere.”

They went into the living room to begin searching.

“Blake.” Justin stopped his brother. “Were you out front at all?”

“No, why?”

Justin pointed to the front door. It wasn’t closed all the way, as if someone had left in a hurry.

Blake groaned. “Oh God, we’ve got to find him before he gets lost or hurt.”

Blake and Justin decided to search the woods around the house. Blake told Delaney to check the waterfront by the docks.

Delaney touched his arm. “Blake, we’ll find him.”

He closed his eyes a second before nodding then took off for the tree line that stretched toward the road.