Heartsong Cottage (11 page)

No, not baby portraits. He wanted nothing to do with kids.

Taking this job had been a big mistake. After his behavior at Gabi and Flynn's wedding, he'd decided he needed to deal with this kid phobia of his. Had he not let the “Hokey Pokey” screw with his brain, he wouldn't have gone outside and he wouldn't have downed half a bottle of Bushmills and he wouldn't have ended up in Shannon O'Toole's bed. A night of good sex—okay, great sex—wasn't worth the possible repercussions to his life. She was a friend of his friends. Eternity Springs was his refuge, his pool of tranquility, and he'd gone and pissed in it. So when Linda reached out to him, he'd said yes.

What a disaster.

Living with Benny was like walking barefoot on broken glass. He looked so much like Daniel's image of Justin as an eight-year-old that every day with the boy sliced open a new wound. So he'd been on edge when he discovered Benny chatting up a friend on the satellite phone. He'd barked at the boy, frightened him, and sent him running.

Now he had to do damage control. And do it with none other than Shannon O'Toole—the very woman who had haunted his thoughts and dreams for weeks.

Great. Just effing great. So now what did he do? Slink back into the forest without speaking to Shannon and hope she wouldn't mention having seen him to the Romanos or anybody else? Or should he cross the meadow and confront her?

He didn't really have a choice. The last thing he needed was for her to spread word of his whereabouts around Eternity Springs or, even worse, connect the mother and child she'd just met to a certain man in the news in New England.

He had to do something—anything—to prevent that.

His mood grim, Daniel headed across the meadow toward Shannon. He tried not to notice how beautiful she looked, standing beside the frothing mountain creek, her arms folded, sunlight glinting off the strands of red in her hair. He tried not to recall how gorgeous she'd been naked and sitting astride him, riding him, her head thrown back as she found her release.

Daniel noticed. He recalled. He couldn't help but notice and recall. His indulgence with Shannon the night of Gabi's wedding had been the lone bright spot in his life for longer than he wanted to admit. The evening with her had been the only time he'd been warm. Now, just seeing her again, the need to experience it again … to experience
her
again … pulled at him.

The futility of that emotion poked a temper already on edge. As a result, maybe he did clench his teeth and harden his jaw, but his reaction still didn't give her leave to ball up her fist and pop him on the chin. “What the—”

“You jerk!”

“What was that for?”

“Seriously?” Her eyes widened. “You seriously ask me that?”

He rubbed his aching jaw. “Yeah.”

“Gee … I dunno. Maybe your
wife
can explain it to you.”

His wife? What the … oh. Linda must have stuck to their cover story. Daniel hesitated. This presented him with a bit of a dilemma. How should he respond to Shannon? What was best for her to believe? Could he trust her with the truth?

His instincts told him he could, but the stakes here were huge. Lives were on the line.

In an effort to buy time, he said, “I didn't expect to run across anyone out here in the middle of nowhere. Eternity Springs is two hours away.”

She folded her arms. “Actually, it's only a bit of a hike through the forest and a twenty-two-minute drive.”

He mentally pictured a map of the area. The lone road out of the canyon where his cabin was located led in the opposite direction of Eternity Springs. There were not any public hiking trails marked. “But this is private property.”

“Oh, really?” Her smile was all teeth. “Does your wife own it?”

Knowing he had that one coming, he swallowed a sigh. “Now, Shannon. It's not what you think.”

“I'll say it's not. You sure had me fooled. You have everyone fooled, don't you, Daniel? Everyone sings your praises. They don't know that you are a lying, cheating hound dog.”

Okay, fine. She had her mind made up. Why should he try to convince her otherwise? She was making this easy for him. “Are you going to tell them?”

“I should.” She folded her arms.

“Please don't.”

“Don't what? Tell our friends that you're married? That you're visiting Colorado with your wife and stepson? Or that I made the exceedingly poor decision to sleep with you?”

“All of the above.”

She narrowed her eyes. If this were a cartoon rather than real life, she'd have steam shooting out of her ears. At the thought, Daniel had the most ridiculous urge to grin.
I am losing my ever-loving mind.

“You have more nerve than an abscessed tooth.”

He stifled the urge to touch her and decided he'd tell her a portion of the truth. “Again, it's not what you think.”

“Oh, spare me,” she drawled, her tone ripe with derision. “It's exactly what I think. I wouldn't believe a word out of your mouth if you tried to tell me that the sky is blue and water is wet. This is pretty much the middle of nowhere, and you obviously thought you were safe bringing your family here.”

“Obviously I made a mistake.”

“You don't know the half of it. Dammit, Daniel, you made me the other woman!” She bunched up her fist again, and he stepped back just in time when she threw it a second time. “My father had a lover and I saw what that did to my mother. I know what it did to my family. I won't be party to it. So don't worry. I won't rat out the rat. Your secret is safe with me.”

Daniel abruptly shut his mouth. That made everything easier. He didn't like lying to her, even if technically, he hadn't come right out and stated a falsehood.
No, Linda is the one who did that.
He just hadn't corrected it.

He cleared his throat and said, “Thank you.”

Her mouth set in a bitter line, Shannon backed away from him, her big brown eyes gone wet. She blinked repeatedly, fighting back the tears. “You sure had me fooled, Daniel Garrett. You have everyone in town fooled. Everyone thinks you're a hero.”

Hero.
He didn't try to stop the bitter laugh. Two graves on the hillside of a Boston suburb proved her wrong. “That's their mistake. I'm nobody's hero. Don't forget that.”

He turned to go and silently added,
I sure as hell can't.

*   *   *

Shannon's temper added energy to her step and cut her hike back to Bob's cabins by almost five full minutes. The nausea in her stomach had nothing to do with morning sickness and everything to do with the reality of her current situation.

Pregnant by a married man.

She was embarrassed, humiliated, and ashamed. She would never forget the moment as a fifteen-year-old when she learned that her father had been unfaithful to her mother. The sense of betrayal had been devastating, and watching her mother fall apart had broken her heart. To think that she'd been party to a similar hurt … Shannon blinked back angry tears. It didn't bear thinking about.

At Gabi and Flynn's wedding, Daniel had denied being in a relationship. Unless he'd met and married that woman in six short weeks, he'd lied to Shannon.

So, the precedent was set. Made her decision easy as pie, didn't it? She could darn sure lie right back at him and not feel one twinge of guilt. Maybe she could even stay in Eternity Springs!

She pictured herself behind the bar at Murphy's, the strings of her apron tied high over her baby belly. When somebody asked, she'd repeat the question. My baby's father? Why, he's a professional soccer player from Brazil.

Although considering that she'd be poor as a church mouse, perhaps she'd better rethink that claim. Maybe say the father was a golf cart mechanic. Who worked for a ski resort. That was only open in February.

“I'm losing it. Completely. Totally. Losing it.”

She wished she could talk to somebody. She'd like nothing better than to cry on her best friend's shoulder. But she couldn't talk to Rose. Even if she was ready to confess all about Russell and her situation—which she wasn't—she couldn't talk about the baby because she couldn't ask Rose not to tell her husband. Cicero worked with Gabi Brogan who was the sister-in-law of Hope Romano who was Daniel's close friend.

Pregnant by a married slimeball of a man.

Maybe she'd drop by Angel's Rest and talk to Celeste. Or actually, not talk at all. Just cry on her shoulder. Ask for a hug. Ask for some words of wisdom. More often than not, Celeste had words of wisdom to share. Heaven knows, Shannon needed wisdom right now.

That evening she attempted to do just that, but upon arriving at the resort, she learned that Celeste was out of town and wouldn't return until the end of the following week. Shannon wanted to sit down on the front porch steps and bawl.

She'd never felt so alone in her life.

Not even when she'd realized Russell had killed Ted, and absolutely nobody would believe her.

But as she strolled across the grounds of the Angel's Rest estate toward the footbridge headed back to Heartsong Cottage, it occurred to her that she wasn't actually alone now, was she? She had a little person living inside her. Someone who depended on her.

Someone who deserved better than to be born to a mother in hiding for her life and a father who was married to someone else.

“What am I going to do?” she murmured.

“About what?” came a voice from out of the darkness.

Zach Turner.
Sheriff
Zach Turner. Nope, definitely not someone she could confide in. As always when she found herself in the sheriff's company, her mouth went a little dry and her heart began to pound. She reached deep inside herself and summoned a friendly smile. “Internet marketing. I've been advised to jump into social media to drum up business for the pub during the winter. I don't want to do it. It's not my milieu.”

“Mine, either,” Zach said as he crossed the footbridge and joined her. “I'm afraid I have no advice for you on that subject. Are you coming or going from Angel's Rest?”

“Going. I'm on my way to the pub now.”

“Did you by any chance see my wife? She said she had soaps to deliver here, but she's not answering her phone. One of my deputies called in sick, so Savannah and I need to coordinate child care for this evening.”

“I did see her up at the main house unloading a box from the trunk of her car probably five minutes ago.”

“Good. I'll track her down. Thanks, Shannon.”

“You're welcome, Zach.”

She breathed a little easier when he walked on toward Angel's Rest and she hurried off in the opposite direction. As she started up Spruce Street, a bone-deep weariness unlike any she'd known before overcame her. The trek ahead of her to Murphy's felt more like a three-mile hike than a short six-block stroll.

She arrived to find the pub relatively quiet. Grateful that Honey had the situation well in hand, Shannon spent twenty productive minutes in her office approving orders and writing checks before eating a bowl of soup and calling it a night. At home, she crawled into bed and fell swiftly asleep.

She slept soundly and awoke refreshed and surprisingly energetic. Just as important, she awoke with a more positive outlook toward the future. This baby wouldn't be due until May. She had time yet to make her decisions. All she needed to do was to take care of herself and her baby—eat properly, rest when she needed to rest, and make a doctor's appointment. With someone other than Rose.

If Shannon knew how to do one thing, that was how to survive. She would survive this challenge, and she and her baby would thrive.

With that positive thought in mind, she buried her concerns, turned her music up loud, and spent a productive day at work at Bob's—until nausea and exhaustion hit her again at three
P.M.
The pattern continued, and she took to playing Goldilocks at Mama Bear and napping on a cot she'd set up for that purpose.

So she was asleep when someone came knocking at the door. “Hello? Shannon? Are you here? Hello? I need help!”

Groggy, she sat up and shook her head, thinking she'd been dreaming.

“Mom, I'm bleeding!”

Mom? Shannon's hand immediately went protectively toward her belly.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Hello? Help us, please!”

Shannon rolled up off the cot and had taken two steps toward the door when it opened. Her stomach sank when she realized that Daniel's wife stood on the threshold. “You
are
here,” the woman said. “I saw the truck outside so I thought somebody was here but…”

The boy held up his arms to reveal a torn shirtsleeve and an angry scratch on his forearm. “Do you have any of that spray stuff, lady, so I don't get an infection and my hands fall off because of these stupid mountains?”

“Honey, please.” Daniel's wife offered Shannon a tired smile. “He fell. Skinned his hands.”

“And knees, too. I tore my jeans.”

“I have a first-aid kit, but it's up in the main house. Come with me, and we'll get you fixed up, young man.”

“Oh, good. Thank you,” the woman said, following Shannon back onto the porch. “First aid is what brought me here to begin with. Do you have any aspirin or acetaminophen? My husband has a bad fever, and I'm afraid we had an accident with our bottle of pills.”

“I knocked it over into the bathtub and ruined 'em,” the boy piped up.

The harried blonde explained, “You don't have to worry that he's contagious or anything. I'm not bringing a horrible disease to you while we're out in the middle of nowhere. It's a genetic condition.”

Shannon's head whipped around. “A genetic condition?”

“Yes. It's something he's had since he was a child. Part of it is that he gets these bad fevers that last a few days.”