Flynn (6 page)

“Pretty
girl and you’re all dressed up. Please tell me you’re going to take her on a
date,” said his mom.

“I
already did. I bought her breakfast.”

She’d
slapped his arm.
“On a proper one.
Maybe
to some nice restaurant.
You know I want to see you happy again.”

“I am
happy.”

“With
a woman sort of happy.”

“I’ve
invited her to the house for a meal and I’ll work my way up to the restaurant
bit, okay?”

“That’s
what I like to hear.”

Natalie
liked him. Flynn obviously liked her.

 
She squeezed her eyes tight shut. She hadn’t
counted on liking Emily’s dad in
that
sort of way. In fact, it was the last thing she thought would happen. And now
it looked like he was going to ask her out.

 
Maybe she should be honest with him. Tell him
who she really was but insist he not tell his daughter about Natalie’s true
identity until she was ready.

No, she
couldn’t do it.

She
realized now that she needed to get to know both of them much better before
springing that sort of thing on them. Putting the car into the ditch might have
been for the best. No one could walk up to someone’s house, knock on their
door, and say surprise I’m your birth mother.

She
glanced at the clock on the car’s dashboard. She’d told Flynn she’d drive back
to their place at 6:00 p.m. for dinner. She had mixed emotions about it. Fear
that she’d give herself away and blurt out the truth. Emily would hate her and
she’d go home a broken person. Nope, she had to keep it together. The more they
go to know each other, the easier it would be for everyone when she revealed
who she was.

Turning
into the driveway, she spotted another truck besides Flynn’s parked there. She
turned off the ignition and took two deep breaths, the way she often did when
she was preparing to make a court appearance on behalf of one of her clients.
Actually, she didn’t know what was worse. Going inside, getting involved deeper
in their lives, or speaking to a judge. Right now it seemed the former.

Natalie
got out of the car before she chickened out completely and headed back to the
safety of her motel. She walked to the front door thinking that it wasn’t only
Emily she was excited about seeing again, but Flynn too.

She
rang the bell and a man that looked like him, but a little older, answered it.

“Hi, you
must be Natalie. I’m Rory, Flynn’s brother. Come on in”

He
stuck out his hand and she shook it. He had a firm grip and
calloused
hands that felt a lot like Flynn’s.

“He’s
just putting the finishing touches to the dinner.”

Natalie
followed him through to the kitchen where Flynn was adding lettuce to a large
glass bowl.

“Hi,”
he said turning and smiling.

“Hi. Anything
I can help you with?”

“No,
I think I have it all under control.”

“Can
I get you something to drink?” asked Rory.

“A
soda would be great.”

“Let’s
see I think we have orange or lime.”

“Lime’s
perfect.”

Natalie
looked around but didn’t see or hear Emily.

“Emily
not helping you out?”

Flynn
shook his head. “She’s having a time out until dinner’s ready. She had what I
call one of her moments.”

Rory
handed her the soda. She took it and perched herself up on the bar stool,
watching Flynn slice tomatoes for the salad. “One of her moments?” asked
Natalie. She hoped he wasn’t referring to anything that was physically wrong
with her. That would break her heart to think her baby was suffering in any way.

“One
of the kids at school knocked paint over Emily’s skirt and well, she’s a wonderful
kid, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes she has a short fuse and I had to go
pick her up and she screamed the whole way home. She then threw her shoes
against the wall when we got into the house.”

Natalie
bit her lip. One thing she’d read online about Down syndrome was that some
children got frustrated in certain situations. Raising Emily all by himself
couldn’t have been easy for Flynn.

“In
fact, Rory, why don’t you go fetch her now we’re ready to eat. Natalie you want
to sit over there.” He pointed to the table that sat in front of the window.

Natalie
stood, walked over to it and sat. She saw Rory turning the corner of the
kitchen with Emily in tow.

“Hi
Emily,” said Natalie.

“Hi.”
She slid into the seat opposite her and folded her arms over her chest with a
distant pout. “Can I come back to the motel with you?”

Natalie
looked up, thrown by the request. Oh how she’d loved to have her do that.
The two of them together.
Her getting to
know her daughter.

“I’m
the bad daddy tonight,” said Flynn, setting down a platter of what looked like
homemade, and perfectly grilled hamburgers, in the middle of the table.

“You
wouldn’t let me see my calf,” she said pointing to him. She stomped her foot and
it shook the table.

“Hey,
hey, young lady.
Continue like that and you’ll be eating
your supper alone in your room. And what will Natalie think about you?”

I’d love her no matter what she did.

Flynn
brought over some buns and a basket of French fries while Rory carried ketchup
and steak sauce to the table and both men sat.

“I’m
not going to talk to you,” said Emily crossing her arms over her chest again.

Natalie
saw her lower lips quiver. Was she going to cry? She so wanted to comfort her,
but it wasn’t her business. She was a bystander not a parent. She had to keep
remembering that.

“Then
I guess it will be just me and Natalie going to Missoula tomorrow to buy knitting
supplies.”

“I’m
coming too,” said Emily.

“Not
if you don’t stop pouting and eat your dinner, you’re not.”

“Wow,
you’re going to be missing out on things big time,” said Rory.

Natalie
had to bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing when Emily quickly picked
up her fork and began eating the burger Rory had placed on her plate.

“You
want more good news?” Flynn asked her.

“What?”
asked
Emily.

“Natalie’s
going to teach you how to knit.”

Emily
looked at her. She was sure she saw Jon’s eyes looking back at her and she had
to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. What would he think of
Emily? He’d love her too, she knew he would.

“I’m
going to make baby stuff,” she said.

“Did
Flynn tell you that our youngest brother and his wife are having a baby?” asked
Rory.

“Yes,
I did hear that,” said Natalie.

“He’s
going to be my cousin,” said Emily pointing to
herself
.

“What
if it’s a she?” asked Rory.

Emily
shook her head. “It’s a boy.”

Flynn
winked at Natalie.

“So
Emily, apart from spilled paint what did you do at school today?” asked Rory,
taking more salad.

“We
did some singing, and then we played basketball.”

“Wow,
I wish I was at school again,” said Rory. “All I did was work, work,
work
.”

“You
like school?” Natalie asked her.

She
shrugged. “It’s okay. I get to be with my friends.”

“You
must have done lots of studying to be a lawyer,” said Flynn.

“Oh
yeah, more than I ever really wanted to do.”

“So
why did you choose law?” asked Rory.

“My
father’s an attorney, and both my grandfathers were too so I suppose as they
didn’t have a grandson, it was up to me to continue the tradition.”

Natalie
watched Emily listening to her, twisting a lock of her hair as she did so. I’m
talking about your family, your grandparents, great grandparents, but you don’t
know it.

“I’m
full,” said Emily. “Can I go and see the calf and take Natalie with me?”

“Honey,
it’s
dark out there and the calf needs to sleep and so
do you if we’re going to Missoula tomorrow.”

“
Pleeeeease
.”

Flynn
shook his head.

Rory
put the napkin down on his plate.
“How about I take her out
to see it.
I have to get home anyway.”

Emily
jumped up and threw her arms around Rory’s neck, and planted a kiss on his
cheek.

“And
Natalie can see it some other time because it’s messy out there,” said Flynn.
He mouthed the word,
poop
which made
Natalie smile.

“Ten
minutes tops and then back to the house you come,” said Flynn.

“You
hear that, the clock’s ticking, so get your coat missy,” said Rory.

Emily
ran into the hallway as Rory stood.

“It
was nice meeting you, Natalie and I hope to see you again.”

“I
hope so too.”

Emily
tugged on her uncle’s hand.
“Hurry.
I
got ten
minutes.”

Rory raised
both his eyebrows at them as he was almost dragged out of the room.

Flynn
stood and started to clear away the plates.

“Here
let me help you,” said Natalie.

They
carried the dishes over to the sink and Flynn opened the dishwasher and began
to rinse the plates under the running water. Natalie passed him one to wash and
their fingertips brushed. They stopped what they were doing and simply stood
looking into one another’s eyes.
 
They
were so beautiful. They held her spellbound. She was so mesmerized by it that
she didn’t see him leaning toward her until his lips were on hers. She closed
her eyes. It had been a long time since she’d been kissed. He pulled her in
close, crushing his body into hers. She put her arms around his shoulders and
relaxed into his body.

His
erection stabbed her belly as the room whirled around her. She felt like her
feet had lifted off the ground. She hadn’t felt like this since…

Since
the first time she’d kissed Jon all those years ago. And now even her pussy
responded by feeling heavy and achy with a need to be filled.

A slopping
sound, and then water splashing on their feet, made them pull away. The sink
was overflowing.

“Here
let me get that,” said Natalie.

They
both went to the floor with tea towels at the same time. He leaned over and
kissed her again.
 
How could this be
happening?
Her falling for Emily’s father.
Her kissing him.
It all had to be a dream.
A very nice dream, but one all the same.

“Daddy.”

They
pulled away again when they heard Emily’s voice in the hallway.

“Yes,
honey we’re in here doing dishes,” called Flynn.

They
stood, each giving one another side way glances as Emily stood before them, out
of breath, her plump cheeks red blotchy from being outside in the cold.

“Uncle
Rory said to tell you he’s put more hay in for the calf as
it’s
cold tonight.”

“Okay,
honey. And now say goodnight to Natalie and off you go to bed.”

“Night
Natalie.”

“Goodnight,
sweet dreams.”

She
so wanted to kiss her and hug her but had to fight the urge.

“I’ll
see you tomorrow,” she called after her.
 
She turned to Flynn. “And I really should be
going, but thank you for the meal.”

“I’ll
walk you out to your car,” he said.

Flynn
got her coat down from the peg in the hallway and held it for her. He grabbed
his jacket, slung it around his shoulders and opened the front door.

“The
roads around here aren’t well lit. Will you be able to find your way back in
the dark?” he asked when they got to the driveway.

“I’ll
be fine.”

“Natalie,”
he said putting his hand on her arm. “You’re not leaving suddenly because of
what happened in the kitchen are you?”

That
was exactly the reason.
Not that she hadn’t enjoyed it,
but right now so many things were going through her head that she needed time
to process it all.

“No,
no, I’m just tired.”

“Good,
because maybe it was wrong of me to…”
She leaned over and kissed him, setting her hand on his cheek as she did so.

“Never,
ever regret something like that.”

She
smiled and got into her car.