Second Time's the Charm

And she caved. Pulling around to the front of the clinic where the lights were bright and she could be seen from the reception area, Lillie parked again.

“I don’t have any idea what to say.” She didn’t know how much he’d been told. And she wasn’t about to give him any information he didn’t already have. She was sorry that he was suffering, but whatever he was feeling couldn’t come close to the devastating betrayal and heartbreak he’d put her through.

“Maybe just little bits at a time,” he said. “Tell me about that last month. Did you feel him move? Remember that first time you felt him move? We were out to dinner with clients. I can’t remember where. But you jumped and spilled my water glass....”

“It was at the Phoenician.” An upscale resort.

She’d said the words without thinking—had traveled back in time with him without realizing where he was taking her.

And...

He was asking about Braydon. Not about Jon. Heat rising beneath her skin, Lillie realized something else. He’d just admitted to her that he couldn’t relate to his son, his living flesh and blood, because of unresolved issues regarding his dead one.

Papa and Gayle had told her how Kirk’s lack of involvement hurt the little boy.

Ely was paying for his father’s mis

takes.

And that wasn’t right.

So she did what she could. Granted Kirk ten minutes of question-and-answer time. And then, when she’d had enough, when she’d actually started to feel his pain, she cut the call off, put her car in Drive and turned it toward home.

No matter what kind of transformation Kirk was making, or what kind of regret he was feeling, he was no longer Lillie’s business. Or concern.

She’d do what she could to help him, for Ely’s sake, but she couldn’t take Kirk on again. Couldn’t afford to lose any more of her to a man who only thought of himself.

Still, she felt his pain. They’d lost a son. Their son.

After picking up the phone to call Kirk back, she dropped it again.

She didn’t love him. She was absolutely certain of that. Please, God, don’t let her be so weak that she’d fall under Kirk’s spell again.

Lillie made a U-turn.

It wasn’t Kirk she wanted. She knew that without a doubt.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

JON HAD JUST put Abraham down for the night when he saw headlights shining in their living room window. He could close the blinds, block the regular passing of headlights up and down his street all night, but he preferred the company as he sat in the living room alone doing his homework.

His rented condominium had an adjoining unit. And the complex contained forty-six other units that shared a total of twelve driveways with four parking spots in each. One of his neighbors must have just arrived home.

He’d met the two young men who lived in the adjoining unit the day he’d moved in. He’d introduced them to Abraham, apologizing ahead of time if the toddler cried and disturbed them, and promised to do his utmost to keep the little boy happy. In return, he’d asked if it would be a problem for them to keep noise at a minimum after eight o’clock.

He hadn’t seen or heard them since—except coming and going, usually as shadows in the night. They kept different hours than he did.

But they were quiet. Which was all he cared about.

A knock on his door had him jumping out of his seat.

Not convinced that Abraham was fully asleep yet, he didn’t want whoever it was to knock again.

Barefoot and shirtless, dressed only in the cartoon character pants he’d pulled on after bathing Abraham, Jon pulled the door open. His body sprang to instant attention when he saw who was on his doorstep. Staring at his naked chest.

“Lillie! Come in.”

Stepping back into the shadows behind the door, he pushed the screen door outward.