LITMIR.BIZ

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was rubbing his eyes, a sign he was still in the process of waking. Halfway across the room, he looked in the direction of his destination. Abruptly, he came to a halt.

      Lisa wasn’t surprised. Slade was an imposing figure. But she didn’t want her son’s first encounter with his father to leave any taste of fear. Quickly she switched on the light. “Hi, sweetheart,” she said, smiling warmly as she unfastened the gate.

      Andy stood rooted, staring at the tall, dark stranger in the doorway.

      “It’s all right,” Lisa soothed, then realized that there was no fear on Andy’s face. Instead, he was studying Slade with a guarded speculation, his expression a child’s version of the one she’d seen on Slade’s face so many times when he encountered someone for the first time and wasn’t certain if they were friend or foe.

      Glancing over her shoulder, Lisa saw that Slade had not moved. He was standing like a statue in the doorway, staring down at their child. The thought that he was disappointed at the sight of his son caused a rush of rage inside her. Motherly pride bubbled to the surface. Suddenly a look of tenderness, so intense it took her breath away, spread over Slade’s features.

      It took all of Slade’s willpower to not stride into the room and pick up his son. He didn’t want to frighten the boy. There was no doubt that this was his child. Andy was the exact image of him at that age. But then, he’d never for a moment questioned Lisa’s honesty. Remaining in the doorway, he squatted so that he was at eye level with his child, then said in an easy drawl, “I’m real pleased to be meeting you.”

      Andy remained where he was, his head cocked to one side, and continued to study the man.

      Lisa held out her hand to her son. “I want you to meet Slade Logan,” she coaxed.

      Andy accepted her hand and walked with her toward Slade, stopping a couple of feet in front of him.

      “Slade’s a friend.” Lisa saw Slade’s jaw twitch with controlled anger and added, “He’s also your father.”

      “Sllaade,” Andy said, as if tasting the feel of the name on his tongue.

      “You can call me dad.” Slade wanted to waste no time establishing his true position.

      Watching the two of them, Lisa found herself thinking how much alike they were. She’d known Andy resembled his father but until now she’d never realized just how much. And the resemblance wasn’t merely physical, either. Andy’s mannerisms, the way he held himself, the way he faced his father right now, studying him with guarded interest…all of these things combined into a miniature Slade.

      Lisa could tell by looking at him that with every fiber of his being, Slade wanted to pick up his son and hug him. Instead he extended his hand and said, “How about a handshake?”

      Releasing his hold on his mother’s hand, Andy took another step toward the man and placed his hand in Slade’s.

      Slade’s huge hand swallowed up the toddler’s. The desire to hold on to the boy forever was strong, but Slade made himself release his hold after only a moment.

      “Sllaade,” Andy repeated with a smile that indicated he’d decided to accept the man as a friend.

      “Dad,” Slade corrected with a crooked grin to let the boy know that he, too, considered them friends.

      Andy looked up at his mother as if confused by this double name.

      “Dad. You should call him dad,” Lisa responded to the question in her son’s eyes. Silently she prayed that, for her son’s sake, the tenderness she’d seen on Slade’s face would remain untainted by the ghosts that haunted him.

      Andy turned back to Slade. “Daa,” he said as if imprinting the name in his memory bank.

      A lump the size of Texas formed in Slade’s throat. “Son,” he said around it, and ruffled Andy’s hair. “Think I could have a hug?” he coaxed.

      Lisa was stunned by the depth of feeling she read on Slade’s face. She’d never seen this openly loving side of him. He’d been tender with her, kind, generous and thoughtful, but she’d always been aware of the wall he kept between himself and her. For a moment jealousy that her son had been allowed to enter Slade’s heart while she’d always be left on the outside flowed through her. Then pride came to her rescue. She refused to waste emotions on a man who preferred a ghost to a real flesh-and-blood woman. “Give your father a hug,” she encouraged, giving Andy a small nudge toward Slade.

      Andy hesitated for a second, then with a crooked grin that matched Slade’s, he opened his arms, approached Slade and wrapped them around Slade’s neck.

      Emotions too strong to even categorize pervaded Slade as he wound his arms around his son. Feeling Andy attempting to wiggle free, Slade forced himself to release the boy.

      Satisfied he’d been properly introduced to the stranger and the stranger was not a threat, Andy turned to his mother and held up his arms to her.

      “I suppose you want to get dressed and have some breakfast.” Because her shoulder was still too sore to allow her to pick him up, she knelt, wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his neck.

      Andy nodded vigorously.

      Feeling the need to have some time alone with her son, Lisa rose and, holding her son by the hand, headed to the door. “We’ll just show your father to his room first.”

      Slade knew she was trying to get rid of him and wanted to protest, but stopped himself. His relationship with his son was still on shaky ground and he didn’t want to do anything that would evoke anger from Lisa in front of the boy. Picking up both her satchel and his, he said, “I’ll drop your satchel off at your room.”

      Relieved he wasn’t going to give her any argument, Lisa nodded toward the next door on the same side of the hall as Andy’s room. “That’s my room,” she said.

      Slade dropped her bag just inside, while she paused in the hall.

      She nodded toward a door on the other side of the passage. “That’ll be your room.”

      Pleased that he would be so close to his son’s room, Slade smiled. “Thanks.” With a final wink toward Andy, he entered his room.

      Lisa had finished changing Andy’s diaper and was dressing him when she felt a prickling along her spine. Without turning around, she was certain it was Slade in the doorway watching her. From the first time they’d met, she’d been acutely aware of his presence. She’d hoped that had faded during the past couple of years. Obviously, it hadn’t.

      Andy peered around her. “Da,” he said, confirming what she already knew.

      Approaching them, Slade held his arms out toward the boy. “Can I give you a lift downstairs?”

      Lisa expected Andy to refuse. He was cautious around strangers. Even more, Slade had an intimidating effect on people. The first time they’d met, he’d gone immediately to the top of her list of men she most wanted to avoid in the future. I would have been smart to have followed that instinct, she admonished herself. Then she thought of Andy and retracted that thought. Her son was precious to her and she would never regret having him.

      Andy cocked his head and again studied the tall, mountain of a man while his mother finished tying his shoe. When she was done, he slid off of his bed and stood beside her for a long moment, then clearly making up his mind, he held out his arms toward Slade.

      Grinning with pleasure, Slade picked up his son.

      They were a matched pair, Lisa thought, watching the two of them together. Her pride still stung some, but she was forced to admit that bringing Slade and his son together had been the right thing to do.

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