The Heart Surgeon's Secret Son

Five weeks had gone by and she hadn’t heard a peep out of Daniel.

She hadn’t really expected him to change his mind about her. She hoped he’d forgive her someday, but understood why he apparently couldn’t.

But she had trouble believing he’d continued to ignore Ryan.

Ignoring the fact he had a son didn’t fit with what she knew about him. Daniel wouldn’t neglect his child. Yet that was exactly what he was doing.

Each day that passed tore at her heart.

And Daniel’s lack of interest was getting to Ryan.

Not that her son complained, but he’d asked her about Daniel repeatedly in those first few days after she’d returned home. Asking her to tell him everything about their past, everything that had happened during the week she spent in Boston.

She hadn’t told him everything. But Ryan wasn’t a fool and probably saw the truth on her face when she’d edited what had happened between her and Daniel.

Ryan hungered for knowledge about his father, about how she’d cared for him.

Just last week he’d asked her point blank if she loved Daniel.

Although she hadn’t wanted to lay that burden on her son, she absolutely refused to lie to him. She did love Daniel and had admitted as much.

Ryan hadn’t asked her about Daniel since that night, but she saw how he continued to jump when the phone rang, how he avoided her eyes at times. Like he felt guilty.

She didn’t want him to feel guilty for wanting Daniel’s attention and love.

Neither did she want him to get hurt if Daniel didn’t react well to his son showing up on his doorstep in a week’s time.

She’d call on Monday, make arrangements for Ryan to meet him, for them to spend time together. If Daniel wouldn’t talk with her, she’d go through Gregory. Or Trina. Or the entire Boston Memorial Hospital staff. But she would give her son the opportunity to meet his father.

A week and she’d be back in Boston.

Face-to-face with Daniel. Because she wouldn’t leave without seeing him, without him meeting Ryan, without telling him there was no need for lawyers. Ryan could spend as much time with Daniel as he wanted or Ryan liked.

Based on Ryan’s interest in Daniel, she suspected that would be quite a lot.

She’d miss him, but she would encourage her son to enjoy each moment with Daniel.

Even Leona, if the woman wanted to be a part of Ryan’s life. Leona was Ryan’s only living grandparent. And although Leona had fertilized the seeds of doubt already in Kimberly’s mind, Leona had been protecting Daniel, doing what she’d believed right for her son.

Loving Ryan the way Kimberly did and having not always made the right decisions, she could forgive Leona for that. Although she’d never understand how the woman could have wanted her to abort Daniel’s baby. Still, all that was in the past and better

off forgotten.

But if Daniel turned Ryan away, she’d never forgive him.

Just the thought of seeing her son hurt made her livid.

Was that yet another reason she’d delayed in telling Daniel?

She sighed. Who knew all her reasons? Over the years they’d built up and time had made ignoring what had needed to be done easier and easier. She’d been wrong not to tell Daniel. She saw that now, but she didn’t regret that she’d given him the opportunity to fulfill his dream.

Only that she should have found the strength to tell him and still help him achieve his potential as a talented heart surgeon.

She heard the front door, glanced at her watch and smiled that her son had come home earlier than his ten o’clock curfew.

She’d barely seen him all week.

“I’m in here,” she called, closing down her computer program so she could spend time with him. Maybe they’d play a game of chess or just watch a movie together. “Did you and Tyler finish your science project?”