The morning brought bright sunshine that contrasted sharply with Delaney’s outlook.

Blake had walked a mile and back to get them some breakfast before she was awake.  She hadn’t realized he’d gone until the warm hand stroking her head lured her from a deep sleep.

She felt torn about the man looking down at her. The profile she’d conjured based on what little Connie had told her was in stark contrast to the man she’d gotten to know. She admitted with reluctance that a part of her had wanted Blake to be exactly like that imagined profile.

“Thanks for breakfast.” Delaney eyed the box of doughnuts sitting on the bed beside her.

She didn’t feel like eating. Considering he’d trekked out into the sunny, but cold, morning in still damp clothes in search of a meal, she feigned interest and reached for one with chocolate icing.

“I got coffee too.” Blake pulled two Styrofoam cups out of a white paper bag and held them in the air.

“Great.” Yeah, just great, she thought, real great. So great, in fact, she might start to cry.

“How are you feeling?” He took the lids off the cups then glanced at her from where he sat near her hip.

“Fine.” She wished he’d complain or something about her not being out of bed yet.

Although she knew it was irrational, she didn’t want him to be nice. She didn’t want him worrying about her, or searching for doughnuts, or remembering she took cream in her coffee which was why he was opening the creamers and pouring them into the Styrofoam cup of coffee she didn’t want either.

Couldn’t he exhibit just a few of the scum of the earth traits she’d wanted him to be made up of?

If only she’d told him. If only she hadn’t gotten lost in the wonder of last night and done the unthinkable.

How could she tell him the truth now without turning him against her? And dear God, what could she say?

Last night was great, wonderful, the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced. By the way, I think I’m in love with you. Oh, and did I mention you’ve got a son?  That’s right, a son. And oh yeah, he’s been living with me for the last nine months. A minor oversight I’ve been meaning to tell you about, but now that we’ve, well, you know, didn’t see any reason to keep it from you any longer.

He’d want Ben. In the deepest depths of her soul Delaney knew it. Blake would want his son.

A sharp stab of pain made her look away from the man who had the power to make it a lasting one. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing the boy she’d come to love so much.

Blake reached out and lifted the hair away from her forehead. He leaned over, brushing the pad of his thumb lightly across the tender spot where she’d hit the dashboard. He studied her head as if trying to make his own determination as to her fineness.

“You look a little pale.” He leaned sideways and looked into her eyes. “Last night was amazing. I just hope with that bump and all that I wasn’t too hard on you.”

“No,” she said, torn apart by his concern. “I’m all right.”

Delaney looked away. She couldn’t stand the guilt of knowing what she’d done. Though it filled her with shame, she didn’t have the strength to tell him the truth, at least not yet.

“I called Ted.” He pressed gently on the welt, causing her to wince. “He said he’d pick us up, but he has to stop by one of the job sites first. He should be here in a couple of hours.” When he pulled his hand back, he frowned but said nothing more.

Delaney nodded. Maybe she could just go home this afternoon, forget she ever met Blake.  She loved Ben. He loved her. She’d make a great mom. It wouldn’t be right to disrupt his young life again. Would it?

Blake didn’t even know he had a son, at least Connie said he didn’t. He’d never mentioned it either, and how could you miss something you didn’t know about? If she told him, he might even resent being thrown into the role of parent, tolerating Ben out of a sense of responsibility but never really loving him. Ben would be much better off with her.

“You know, Delaney,” Blake said, as he handed her the coffee she didn’t want. “Now that we’ve slept together, it’s only fair I should warn you.”

Oh, okay, she thought, here it comes, the I’m not looking for a commitment speech. Well good. Maybe he wasn’t such a nice guy after all. And so what if he brushed her off. She knew there could never have been anything lasting between them.

She caught her lip between her teeth, refusing to acknowledge the sudden hurt that made her eyes feel too warm. It was a warning sign. The only way to avoid dissolving into tears and falling apart was to view him as an opponent.

“Look, Blake,” she started, taking the offensive, “we’re both adults. What happened last night happened.” She raised her chin a notch when he lifted his brows. “I’m not looking for anything from you. So don’t worry, you’re off the hook.”

Delaney set the coffee on the nightstand and tried to sit up.

Nothing felt right. She didn’t want to like him. She feared she was already in love with him. If she told him about Ben now, Blake would know she’d deceived him. He might never forgive her, even though she’d only had his son’s best interest at heart.

“Just happened?” Blake’s brows went higher. “Honey, you were a virgin. I’d say it was a little more than a thoughtless gesture.”

“I didn’t say it was a thoughtless gesture,” she defended. “But it was…I don’t know. And stop looking at me like that.” A furious battle of conscience raged inside her. She felt like a trapped animal, and there was only one thing to lash out at.

He angled his head and watched her, as if waiting.

“It was just past time. So you don’t owe me anything. And don’t try to make more of it than it was. No explanations, no warnings. Okay? Forget it.”

“Not likely.” Amber fires burned from eyes identical to the boy that was his son.

His son…oh God, what would he do when he found out? What right did she have to keep the truth from him?

But Blake might not even want him, she argued in her head, and she did, desperately. She tried to rationalize, but her conscience grew more and more restless.

“Guess you’re not a morning person, hmm?” Blake joked, as if trying to cheer her up. He grinned at her, all crookedly sexy. Why did he have to look so appealing, be acting so nice, make her feel so awful? Damn him for not being what she’d expected.

Delaney sensed a headache coming on, felt primed for a migraine. They ran in the family. She was prone, but she could sometimes prevent a debilitating episode if she acted early. Different things set them off. Her emotional well-being was one of them.

Right now there was no “well” to her emotional being. How could she relax when the main cause of her anxiety sat only a few inches away?

Distance, she needed to put distance between them. It would make her feel less overwhelmed. When she sat forward to get up, Blake held her back. He still wore that lopsided smile that made him look so irresistible. He was supposed to be self-absorbed, inconsiderate, not someone she could hurt.

She tried to sit forward again. She didn’t want to think about Blake’s feelings. What about her feelings? Was she just supposed to give up what mattered to her most in the whole world? How fair was that?

“I’m trying to get up here.” Delaney gave him her best glare when he held her back. He started to laugh, as if she’d made a funny face that amused him. His good humor only made her feel worse.

“Calm down. I’m teasing. I just thought you deserved fair warning.” He locked gazes with her.  Heat, like liquid fire, seemed to burn in his eyes, a molten promise.

“I didn’t want to be selfish last night, especially since it was your first time. So be warned, the next time we share a bed…” He paused as if giving her a moment to bring the image to mind. “I don’t plan to let you fall asleep on me again.”

It took a couple of seconds for her to react, to break the spell. Then she remembered all he could take from her.

Delaney growled, as much at her own weakness as his continued banter. The fact that he laughed harder only fueled her frustration. Her life was falling apart, and he was laughing.

She threw back the covers, spilling the box of doughnuts on the floor.

“Damn. Now why’d you do that?” Blake frowned as he stooped to clean them up.

“Oh, this is my fault!” Delaney whirled on him, her reasons for withholding his son from him eroding by the minute. The shakier her ground, the more desperate she felt.

She’d been thrown into this. Connie had seen to that, and maybe Blake too. If it turned out he did know about his son, he should have claimed him sooner, never have let someone else nurture Ben and start to love him, and then threaten to take him away.

Blake looked up and hiked a brow. “Sure looked that way to me.”

“Well, if you hadn’t gone out and bought them in the first place, I wouldn’t have knocked them off the bed.” Her breathing felt forced as she faced him. Blake’s mouth dropped open at her ridiculous rationale. Had she really said that? She was acting more like a child than Benjamin.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, sweetheart. Remind me not to make that kind of thoughtless mistake again.”

“I didn’t ask you to do anything for me.” Delaney couldn’t stop even though she knew she was wrong. Blake was positioned to uproot her world. She couldn’t lose Benjamin. She couldn’t.

“I don’t want you to do anything for me,” she railed, denying a deep-rooted sense of fairness which at the moment stood in shreds. “And just so you don’t continue under any delusions, the possibility of us ending up in bed again is so remote it…it doesn’t exist!”

She tried to stay tough, but when she faced Blake, it was an older version of Ben that stared back. The undeniable connection was there in every feature. He was Ben’s father. He had a right to know his son, a right she had chosen to deny him.

Delaney had to look away, unwilling to confront the truth. The tension in her head intensified. There was a war raging inside her, tearing her apart, snuffing out her hopes and dreams as effectively as any life draining bullet.

Blake dropped the last doughnut into the box and tossed it on the bed as he stood up. Delaney waited for him to start yelling, wished he’d lash out so she didn’t feel so awful.  She wanted him to make a nasty remark she could manipulate in her mind to put him in a negative light.

“Thanks for clearing things up,” he finally said.

She felt a stab from the chill in his voice. Her cruel words had finally managed to dampen his good humor. He had no way of knowing she regretted every one of them.

Wavering on the brink of an apology he probably wouldn’t accept, she turned away.

“I’m going to get a shower.”

“Good.” She heard him say as he walked away from her. “See if you can wash off some of that attitude you woke up with.”

When the door slammed behind her, Delaney didn’t bother to look around. She knew he’d left the room.

“THERE’S A convenience store up ahead.  Either of you want to stop for coffee?” Ted asked.

“No.”

Delaney, as had been her manner since Ted picked them up at the motel, remained silent, locked behind two very firmly crossed arms.

“Well I just thought…” Ted’s voice trailed off as he ventured a look at the two of them. Blake bet his foreman wondered what kind of minefield he’d stumbled onto. The guy wasn’t stupid, and you’d have to be dead not to feel the tension that had stretched to a snapping point.

Ted shifted in his seat.

If he didn’t know for a fact he was awake, Blake would think he’d gotten trapped in a bad dream. That made more sense than Delaney’s personality shift.

She’d been totally irrational this morning, and now she was acting as if what happened had been his fault. How could it be his fault when he didn’t even know what it was about!

Maybe she had PMS. He didn’t know much about it, except that one of his married buddies called it the Jekyll and Hyde syndrome. Hell, that about summed up Delaney’s little switcheroo.

She’d made love to him, for Christ sake, beautiful, passionate love…to him, the man she wouldn’t look at now. What the hell happened between then and now?

“I need a cup of coffee,” Ted said, not looking at either one of them this time.

“So get a damn cup of coffee! Nobody’s stopping you.” Blake felt so frustrated he wanted to howl.

“Right,” Ted threw back. “You two feel free to sit in the truck and scowl each other to death.” He pulled into the convenience store parking lot and turned off the ignition. “Last chance,” he said without looking at his passengers.

When neither of them responded, Ted got out. “Why me?” Blake heard him grumble under his breath as he closed the door.

Blake ignored his foreman. Delaney slid a few more inches to the left and wrapped her arms even tighter around her middle. Man, she was really starting to piss him off. She’d fallen asleep wrapped in his arms and now couldn’t abide any part of her body accidentally brushing against his?

He knew why he felt punchy, but what had set her off? It had to be more than the doughnuts. At this point he shouldn’t care. The fact that he did made him even madder than her newly acquired aversion to chance physical contact.

“Do you want to tell me what the hell I did that’s got you so out of joint? Or is this one of those things that if I were a more sensitive man I should know?” It probably wasn’t the right approach when she was already acting like she couldn’t wait to get away from him, but he’d run out of patience sometime between her last snort and that little shift to the left.

She didn’t answer. Blake resisted the urge to take her by the shoulders and shake loose whatever bug had sunk its teeth into her.

Where was the sweet, loving woman with the smiling dimples who’d traveled to heaven with him last night?

He stole a glance at her and scowled. Maybe he should have taken her initial advice about not starting anything. Well, he hadn’t, and they were in it now, deep in it, even if she’d be packing her bags soon.

“Damn,” he cursed then flicked his glance back out the window. Crazy woman was driving him batty. If she did have PMS, he sure hoped it made a hasty departure. He liked it a whole lot better when she acted rational and not like some import from the Exorcist. If she started spewing green vomit and doing some three-sixty head spin thing, he was getting the hell out of there fast.

A pretty brunette walked out of the convenience store followed closely by Ted. She looked over her shoulder and said something to him, and he laughed.

They stopped on the sidewalk and talked for a minute. The woman reached inside her purse and pulled out what looked like a business card. She gave it to Ted. He read it, smiled, then stuffed it in his shirt pocket and headed back to the truck.

“I’ll be in touch,” he called to the brunette as he climbed into the cab.

Blake glanced past Delaney and raised a questioning brow. “Someone you know?”

“Yeah, Sandy.  We met in the convenience mart.” Ted turned the ignition then put the truck in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. “At the coffee station.” He grinned over at Blake. “She takes it black, same as me.”

“Sounds rock solid,” Blake said with a smirk.

“My thoughts exactly.” Ted pulled back onto 301. “Not to mention she’s got a—”

Blake cleared his throat. Ted looked across the seat then backtracked as he caught Blake’s drift.

“Great smile,” Ted said.

Delaney rolled her eyes. To her credit she didn’t huff or snort. Maybe she’d settled down some. She didn’t look quite as guarded. Actually, she didn’t look too good, real pale now that he took a closer look.

He leaned his shoulder against the window and watched her for a couple of minutes. She shifted again in her seat. Finally she turned and looked at him with questioning eyes. No doubt she’d felt his scrutiny. Damn if she didn’t look sad, like she might even cry.

Blake felt an overwhelming urge to pull her onto his lap and comfort her. That wasn’t what she wanted. She’d said she didn’t want anything from him, not even a damn doughnut. Well, he didn’t want anything either, just to share some good times before she split.

“Do you feel all right?” He glanced at the bruise on her forehead. He wasn’t sure if she didn’t feel good or if something else had caused the light to fade from those sparkling green jewels. If he had the slightest clue, he might be able to figure out how to put it back.

Delaney caught her lip between her teeth. “Fine. I’m fine.” She looked away again, resuming the Fort Knox stance that indicated any conversation was closed.

Blake didn’t need to know everything about her. He didn’t want to know everything about her. But after seeing those sad eyes, he suspected something a lot worse than spilled doughnuts had upset her.

Whatever ghosts had surfaced to haunt his leopard couldn’t have anything to do with him. He’d just been the one present when they’d appeared.

DELANEY WOBBLED on her heels a little when she slid down out of the truck to the gravel driveway. Blake’s hand shot out to take her elbow, but when she straightened, it fell back to his side.

Her headache didn’t feel quite as bad as it had an hour ago.  Now it only felt like an over-inflated balloon instead of a punching bag for the WBA.

“Thanks for the ride, Ted.” She knew the trip couldn’t have been pleasant for him.

“No problem.” He touched the brim of his cap.

At least he’d met Sandy with the great smile. Maybe they’d have better luck than she and Blake. As she stepped away from the truck, the thud-thud in her head spiked again.

Delaney clenched her eyes against the throbbing pain.

Anxious for a dark, quiet room, she headed straight for the cottage. A wave of nausea caught her off guard, and for a second the ground seemed to spin as if she might pass out.

“You’re pale.” Blake’s hand was right there to steady her. “Are you sure you feel okay?”

He had made a unilateral decision to walk her to the door.

“Yes.”

She didn’t want to talk because the effort increased the throbbing in her head. She wanted to sleep for several hours, possibly several days. When she woke up, she’d deal with the guilt. She’d deal with the truth as she knew it. She’d try, try to be objective. Then, she’d decide what to do about Blake.

She couldn’t deal with any of it now, not when her stomach felt so unsteady, and her head threatened to explode. Blake would still be here tomorrow, or the next day. She’d deal with it then.

“Delaney, look, I’m not sure what happened this morning.” Blake blew out a breath and kept on talking. He would have to pick now to turn into a conversationalist.

“You’ve got things on your mind.” The words banged against her temples like a steel hammer on a too tight drum. “That’s fine, none of my business, but whatever’s bothering you, it doesn’t have to—”

Delaney held up a hand. “I can’t do this. Just leave me alone for—”

“Yeah, okay,” Blake said before she could finish. “You got it, sweetheart.” He took a couple of steps backward. “I don’t know what’s eating you. Maybe that bump on the head knocked the sense of humor out of you. But I know when a woman’s gone cold on me.”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and angled his head to regard her a moment. “So look. You want alone. You got it.” He kicked a stone off the walkway with the side of his shoe. “If you change your mind, I’m in the book. If I don’t hear from you, well…”

He left the rest unsaid, turned and walked back to Ted’s truck. There was no over the shoulder glance, no hesitant step, just the long, powerful stride that lengthened the distance between them, leaving her to slump in a heap of guilt and regret.

For a day or two, she was only going to ask for a day or two. She needed the time to sort through the rubble Connie had made of everyone’s life, the rubble, Delaney knew, her own deception had added to.

With one hand braced against the door, she unlocked the deadbolt and went inside. There seemed little hope she could pick up her life as before, at least not with a clear conscience.

Even when she’d turned on him, Blake hadn’t been unkind to her. It would have been so much easier if he’d lived up to her erroneous expectations, so much easier, she thought, if she’d had the foresight to protect her heart.

She suspected when he learned the truth about Benjamin, he’d wish he’d never met her, although she doubted he’d ever forget. How did you forget someone who had knowingly kept you from your own child?

“TAKE IT easy, boss. The way you’re going after that wallboard with the nail gun we’re going to have to put up a new piece.”

“Then we put up another piece,” Blake shot back.

“Okay. Forget I said anything.”

Blake resisted the urge to throw the gun across the room. He’d thought he could work off some of his frustration on one of the jobs. The idea had failed miserably.

“Damn her,” he cursed, ignoring the looks his men shot one another as he walked off the site. How had Delaney managed to get under his skin so quickly?

Hell, he didn’t even know what had gone wrong between them. She’d just freaked out, for no apparent reason. He hadn’t talked to her in two days, not since she told him to leave her alone. Why hadn’t she called yet? He’d left the door open. He’d been confident he would have heard from her by now. Had she reached for the phone as many times as he had over the last forty-eight hours?

The only thing that stopped him from driving over and confronting her was a fear that maybe whatever set her off did have something to do with him, even though he couldn’t think what it might be.

He could deal with her irrational behavior being a result of their accident, a delayed reaction. He could deal with her just not being a morning person. He thought he could even deal with PMS.

What he didn’t think he could deal with was finding out she really didn’t want to see him again. Did she really just want him to stay out of her life and leave her alone, especially after what they’d shared? That, as odd as it seemed for a man who hadn’t planned on committing to a woman for several more years, unsettled him.

He had no one to blame but himself. He’d let his guard down. He had believed he was safe because she wouldn’t be around long. He’d been about as safe as a box of matches at a bonfire. The thought of her leaving gave him no comfort now. Safe or not, it bugged the hell out of him. He didn’t like feeling this anxious about a woman, especially one who’d turned the tables on him.

“A damned fool,” Blake muttered. She’d hooked him like a big mouth bass, reeled him in with those peek-a-boo dimples and filleted him with piercing green eyes before he even realized he was caught.

Blake got in his car and backed down the drive. He was caught all right. He just wasn’t sure what to do about it. If Delaney didn’t come around soon, he might not get a chance to do anything other than try to get over her.

He needed to stop by Mary’s to check on the new windows. He’d been avoiding it because he didn’t want to run into Delaney, at least not until she gave him some kind of indication she wanted to see him. With each passing day his confidence that would happen slipped another notch. He couldn’t avoid it any longer though.

When Blake got to Mary’s, she’d just finished making a pot of beef stew.

“Why don’t you sit down and let me lift you a bowl, son?”

It was past three, and he hadn’t eaten since early morning. If he’d seen Delaney’s car when he pulled in, he might have passed, but it hadn’t been anywhere in sight.

Blake missed her like crazy. He’d be damned, though, if he’d beg attention from a woman who’d rejected him. She’d have to apologize first. In the least she’d have to make some kind of move to mend their rift. Even then, it might be wise to play it cool until he felt a little more confident about her feelings.

“Thanks, Mary, I think I will.” He took off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair. “I see you’ve been doing some canning.” He hitched his head toward the large oak hutch that sat against the side wall. Neat rows of freshly filled quart mason jars lined the shelves with an assortment of canned goods.

“Peaches and tomatoes, some beans too. And I made some of that grape jelly you like. I’ll give you a couple of jars to take home.”

“Thanks,” he said, smiling for the first time in two days. “Nobody makes it like you do.”

Mary set a steaming bowl of stew and some crusty bread in front of him then poured a cup of coffee and joined him at the table.

“It’s too bad about your truck. Delaney told me what happened.”

“Yeah.” Blake took a bite of stew without looking up. He’d just as soon not talk about it.

“I have to tell you. I’m worried about that girl. I told her she should have gone to the doctor.” Mary rested her cheek against her hand. “She still had a headache when I saw her this morning, but she insisted it was nothing to worry about.”

Blake paused in his eating. This time he did look up.

“You mean she’s been walking around with a headache for the last two days?” He didn’t know if he felt more angry or concerned.

He should have checked on her. She’d probably felt lousy the whole time they were at the motel and not let on. Maybe that’s why she’d acted so strange. She could be walking around with a concussion and not know it.

“I’m sure she doesn’t hold you responsible, Blake.”

“Did she mention where she’d be today? If she doesn’t have enough sense to look after herself, someone else is going to have to.” Since she’d been in his truck when she hit her head, Blake reasoned that someone else should be him.

“Oh dear.” Mary gave him a look of concern.  “She left this morning. I probably should never have let her go, not to drive all that distance alone.”

If she’d driven to the western shore or further than fifteen minutes in any direction when she’d been having headaches, he might just lock her in a room and ream her out until they both needed something to kill the pain.

“All what distance?” Blake asked, sure he wouldn’t like the answer.

“She went home. She said she’d been away too long and needed to get back.”

“New York!” Blake stopped short of throwing his spoon on the table.

“I’m afraid so.”

He shoved his fingers through his hair. He couldn’t believe she’d gone. She could have told him. You didn’t make love to someone, spend an entire night wrapped in their arms, then just split.

“Damn her,” he murmured, frustrated and hurt she hadn’t even cared enough to say goodbye. If he’d known she planned on taking off like this, he would have…not done a damn thing. Delaney made it clear that was what she wanted from him. Nothing. He hadn’t wanted to believe she’d meant it.

“I’m sure she’ll be okay. You seem awfully upset though, Blake. Are you sure there isn’t something else bothering you?” Mary looked at him as if she had suspicions, or maybe hopes. She’d be disappointed to know he suffered from nothing more than hurt pride.

“I’m sure, Mary. I just feel responsible since it was my truck.”

It shouldn’t matter. He knew from the get-go Delaney wouldn’t be around long. He just couldn’t believe he’d misread her interest so badly.

Blake grimaced.  Despite what appeared to be a clear signal, he couldn’t believe he’d been so off-base. Regardless of what she said the other day, he was convinced she had feelings for him. Maybe she was worried about getting in too deep only to have to break it off when she left.

New York wasn’t that far. He could drive up to see her. She could come spend a weekend once in a while. There had been too much left unsettled between them to let it end this way.

What the hell was he thinking? They were done. They’d never even really got started. And if she hadn’t left, Delaney would have had to come to him. He’d already decided that. He wouldn’t waste his time on a woman who didn’t want him. No doubt she’d saved them both an awkward goodbye.

Blake swallowed the hot lump in his throat as he pushed up from the table.

“I’m going to check those windows, sweetheart, and then I’ve got to get going.” He carried his bowl to the sink. “Thanks for the stew.”

After leaving Mary’s, Blake stopped by the house to pick up some drawings. On the way back out he checked the answering machine. Like a siphoned well, he felt empty. Although he hated to admit it, he’d been hoping there would be a message from Delaney.

For a flash in time she’d filled a vacant place in his life. He hadn’t been able to find his son, a part of him that, although he’d never known, he felt all the same. Now the first woman to capture his heart so completely up and left without a word. He hadn’t meant enough to her to warrant even that courtesy.

Blake dragged his hand through his hair. Before he’d met her, his only priority had been finding Benjamin. That’s what he should be doing now, focusing on his son, not wasting time thinking about a woman he’d never see again.

He pulled Harry Bigley’s phone number up on his cell and hit the send button. He hadn’t talked to the detective in a couple of weeks and felt a sudden need to do something, to take some kind of positive action. Calling Harry might not lead to anything, but at least he might be able to convince the man to spend a few hours this week seeking out information on Ben.

“Listen, I’m glad you called,” Harry said when Blake reached him at the Dulles Airport terminal. “I might have a lead on your kid. I’ve got to go to Chicago for a couple of days on another case. When I finish there, I plan on flying to New York to check things out. It’s nothing definite, but you said you wanted me to follow every lead. They just called my flight so I’ve got to run. I’ll let you know if it pans out.”

Blake clipped the cell back on his belt. Maybe this time, he thought. He’d guard his hope like he’d have to remember to do with his heart from now on.

Harry had followed every lead he got, but none had led to Connie or Ben. Finding his son meant the world to Blake. It might never happen, though, and unfortunately, life didn’t stop to wait while you went chasing after shadows.