Delinquent Daddy (11 page)

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Boston managed to do most of the destruction. And when the yelling was over and the smoke cleared, Ellie was still pregnant, and Boston blamed her.

He couldn't tell his parents; he was too humiliated. She'd always assumed he just wasn't close to his family. That was why he'd never talked to her about them, why he'd never introduced her to them. But then she caught him calling his mother once; she listened to him talk to her on the phone and realized they meant a lot more to him that she'd ever thought. She was the one who hadn't meant enough. She was the one who hadn't been worthy enough to meet his hallowed family.

As he hung up from that call and closed his eyes, letting out a long, tired breath, Ellie knew he'd been too embarrassed to announce he'd gotten a no-one girl from nowhere, Tennessee pregnant. Instead, he'd lied and told his mom he was staying in Lawrence through the summer because he'd found a job. He made no mention of Ellie or their baby.

Things changed considerably after that. They'd broken up weeks before, but it was officially over from that point on. He tried to be polite to her, but neither of them could stop the cool distance. And all too often, they fell into the stupidest fights.

After trying to pick out baby names, with him shooting all of her suggestions down, Ellie sighed in disgust. "Well, want
do
you want, Boston?" she growled.

He spat back, "I don't know! Okay? I do not know. All I can tell you is what I don't want."

100

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"Oh?" she asked cockily. "And what's that?"

"Well, for starters, I don't want to be sitting here picking out baby names. I don't want to be seven months from becoming a father. I don't want to tell my parents I've made the biggest mistake of my life. I don't want to miss my first semester at Yale."

Blowing out a stream of curses under his breath, he surged to his feet and stormed off. And hormonal freak Ellie had become, she curled into a ball and cried.

Boston called her that night at one in the morning to apologize. He actually sounded sincere in his regret as he offered her an olive branch by announcing he liked the name Cassie. But there was still that note of desperation in his voice, telling her loud and clear how trapped he felt; he just wanted to be free of it all. He wanted out, and he wanted to attend Yale.

Getting into a bus accident the next day had been like providence. Ellie hadn't really been hurt. She'd barely gotten jostled, but the encounter had made her bleed and fearing for the baby, she'd agreed to go to the hospital. She'd been looked over and immediately cleared. She'd actually been waiting to be signed out when Boston had rushed into the emergency room where she was lounging on a cot.

She hadn't planned on lying to him. It'd been a spur of the moment thing that surprised her even as she did it.

There was a mixture of guilt and concern in his eyes when he stepped into her hospital room, like he felt as if he'd wished this kind of tragedy on her and now that his wish was granted, he realized how wrong it had been to want it. But he 101

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

came to her anyway, slowly, like a repenting sinner approaching the confessional.

"How are you?" he asked softly.

All she could do was nod and close her eyes. His trembling hand on her brow made her start crying all over again. When she looked up at him, he actually looked scared. "What about the baby?"

The idea hit her so suddenly, she didn't even really have time to change her mind before she asked, "Have you told your parents yet?"

He looked distinctly ashamed before he slid his gaze away and mumbled, "Not yet."

"Good," she rasped. "Because there's nothing to tell them anymore."

Boston whirled back in shock. "What?"

"There is no baby," she lied. "The baby's gone."

"You...you had a miscarriage?" She couldn't quite read how the news hit him. He looked struck, sure, surprised to say the least. His eyes seared into hers, so she could plainly see the thoughts and feelings flash through him. But they moved and changed so quickly, she doubted even he knew what was going through his head at that moment.

She turned her face aside. "I just want to be left alone, Boston. I want to finish college, go home to my aunt, and forget this ever happened. And you have to leave for me to do that. So, please...just go. I never want to see you again. I want to move on and forget."

He stared at her with wide eyes, clearly unable to believe she was sending him away. For the briefest of moments, he 102

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

looked hurt. If he'd kept that expression, if he'd done one thing to give her an ounce of consolation, she probably would've broken down and told him the truth.

But after taking a deep breath and clearing his face of all emotion, he nodded once and turned away. Ellie watched him leave; his stiff, straight back was the last thing she saw...for ten years.

"Well, I can understand why you did it," Nora said, jerking Ellie to the present.

She hadn't realized she'd spilled out most of her story aloud until her friend added, "You had a child to protect, and this jerk who'd just cheated on you was making a huge fuss.

If you want my opinion, I'd say you did the right thing. If you'd kept him from going on to Yale and passing his bar, he would've held that against you for the rest of your life and made all three of you miserable. I swear, Mendel resents Keller and me, and we weren't even forced on him. We actually
planned
on getting married and starting a family. It's not my damn fault he suddenly realized this isn't the life he wanted..."

Nora fell quiet and her eyes flashed guiltily toward Ellie's, as if she'd just realized she'd gone off on her own tangent.

Forcing a smile, she reached out and took Ellie's hand. "You did the right thing," she assured her. "You and Cassie have done beautifully without him."

Ellie nodded but bit her lip because she couldn't keep the doubt from plaguing her. A week ago, she would've agreed wholeheartedly with Nora. Boston had been so mad at her; he would've made a crappy dad. But now...now that she'd seen 103

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

him ten years matured and then seen how happy Cassie was meeting him and actually liking him, she wasn't certain of anything. She'd do any number of things for her daughter.

She might even let Boston Kincaid back into her life to make her little girl happy.

"Might" being the word of the day.

"Did you know Keller was the one who found him?" she asked.

After she explained the boy's involvement, Nora merely shook her head and grumbled, "I told Mendel not to leave that credit card lying around. The idiot." But she didn't look too upset. Rather she looked proud of her genius son. "I swear, someday, the FBI is going to show up on my doorstep because they've caught him cracking into top secret files.

He's too smart for his own good."

Ellie nodded sadly. "He probably should've skipped those grades when the principal came to talk to you about raising his level of education."

Nora sighed. "I know, but when he found out Cassidy wouldn't be coming with him, he refused. He won't do anything without her."

Ellie had to agree. "They are quite a pair."

Nora nodded, and the two fell silent. Ellie realized they'd drifted off onto the same thought pattern when Nora sighed and asked, "So, what're you going to do about Mr. Daddy?"

Ellie let out a breath. "I have no idea."

Her first instinct was to pack up Cassie and get them as far away as they could go. But her daughter would hate her 104

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

forever if she did that. And Ellie knew the child needed a male figure in her life. But did that man have to be Boston?

"I'm kind of hoping he forgets about us and never comes back again."

[Back to Table of Contents]

105

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Chapter Seven

Boston took off work early in order to spend more time with his daughter at Chuck E. Cheese's. But when he reached Ellie's place and knocked on the door, no one answered.

Immediately disappointed, he shoved his hands in his pockets and scowled at the entrance as if it was personally keeping his child from him.

It was a Wednesday afternoon, and Cassie should've been out of school by now. She hadn't mentioned any after-school activities she had to be at today when he'd talked to her last night, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be at one of them.

Moodily wondering what he was going to do until five thirty, he toed a brown, wrinkled leaf off the porch and watched it flutter into the yard. He didn't want to skulk around Ellie's house two afternoons in a row. It reminded him too much of the days when he was so anxious to see her, he'd always show up early for their dates only to wait in the hall outside her dorm room until she was ready.

Boston groaned and ran his hands through his hair, feeling an antsy trepidation. He just wanted to see his daughter, damn it. He didn't want to think about her mother.

"Hey, Cassie!" a boy's voice yelled from the next door neighbor's backyard as if answering Boston's unspoken prayer. "Watch this."

The sound of his daughter's laugh followed moments later.

Amazed he could actually discern her laugh, Boston stood in frozen wonder for a second. Yes, that was definitely his 106

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

little girl howling with giggles. As euphoria filled him, he leaped off the cracked, uneven steps and started off.

Following the sounds of Cassie's voice, he strolled back between the two houses.

In the neighbor's backyard, he found Cassie and her friend, Keller. Sitting on the deck at the table under a large umbrella and reading a book lounged the nosy neighbor who'd come over to grill him the day before.

Boston stopped and took in the scene of Cassidy climbing a ladder to a huge tree house. Keller had already reached the top and was watching her ascend, waiting impatiently from the looks of it.

As Boston moved closer, no one noticed his presence. He was fully in their yard before Cassie finally glanced over and saw him. She'd just reached the top of the ladder and was about to disappear inside the tree house when she glanced back.

"Dad!" she screamed, her excitement lighting up her entire face.

Nora lifted her face and let out a startled yelp. Dropping her book, she leapt to her feet and started off the porch just as Cassie scurried back down the ladder.

Being called "Dad" for the first time sent a shiver though Boston. Good Lord. He really was a dad. And he kind of liked it. He'd never thought he'd cherish the idea of having children. Sure, he'd figured he'd probably get married some day and eventually start a family. But he'd just thought of it as part of life. Now, here he was, a father, and he loved the sound of Cassie calling him "Dad."

107

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Forgetting about the babysitter, Boston started toward his child.

Nora reached the edge of the porch just as Cassie reached him. His daughter ran toward him full force and threw her arms open as Boston swooped down to catch her.

It felt good to hold her. Incredibly good. He couldn't help but wonder what it would've been like to hold her the minute she was born, to feel how weightless she was and look into her newborn eyes. A bitter resentment filled him, but he pushed it down and focused on appreciating the nine-year-old she had grown to be.

"You came!" she said, burying her face in his collar a second before pulling back to beam up at him. "You really, really came!"

Boston laughed at her obvious excitement. "I said I would," he answered, a little upset she had to doubt him.

If only Ellie hadn't sent him away, his daughter would never have any reason to think he couldn't keep his word.

Cassie glanced over at the two on the porch. Her friend, Keller, had climbed down the ladder as well and hovered next to his mother.

"Keller," Cassie called. "Nora. This is my dad."

Boston set Cassie down and turned to the woman.

The regal-looking lady stared back, blinking repeatedly.

"Well, my word," she said. "Cassidy kept saying her father was going to come see her today, but I thought...Ellie didn't mention any of this to me."

"We're going to Chuck E. Cheese's," Cassie announced happily, taking Boston's hand. Her fingers were so small and 108

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

soft, he looked down at their connection, startled. He was holding his daughter's hand like it was the most normal action in the world.

Looking up, his chest swelled. "You must be Nora."

She gave him a slight nod, returning, "And you must be Boston." There was a cool edge to her voice today; she wasn't quite as accepting as she'd been yesterday when she thought he was merely a long-distance relation. Yeah, he thought bitterly, Ellie had definitely gotten a hold of her. And probably told all.

Realizing she was Team Ellie, and probably knew more dirt about him than most people did, he turned away uncomfortably and focused his attention on Cassie. "Are you ready to go?"

She started to hop up and down. "I've been ready since last night," she nearly exploded.

"Cassie," Keller said from between gritted teeth as if he was trying to get her attention.

Cassie glanced at her friend. "Oh, yeah," she added to Boston. "Keller wants to come too."

"Keller!" Nora gasped in appalled shock.

Boston studied the small boy who hovered by his mother's legs and stared disappointedly down at his shoes. His heart went out to the poor kid.

"Cassidy wants to spend time alone with her father," Nora berated. "You can't just—"

"Actually," Boston said, cutting in and grinning at Nora,