LITMIR.BIZ

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iced tea, soda—”

      Again Liam looked at Riley, giving him a half smile, as if to say, She’s acting as mistress of the house. Riley was a little surprised at that, too, but maybe she just wanted to escape the room. Maybe she was really angry but not showing it. Maybe a lot of things.

      “Do you have any coffee?” Liam asked. “I’m working the supper shift and will be at the restaurant till late. Some caffeine roaring through my veins would be great.”

      “Is the coffee in the canister, Riley?” Brenna asked.

      “You don’t drink coffee?” Liam asked.

      “Not while I’m breastfeeding.”

      Liam had black hair shot with silver, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion that just grew ruddier. “I see. Never thought of that. I admire women who put their baby’s welfare first.”

      Riley and Brenna both knew exactly why that was. Shawna O’Rourke hadn’t had the fortitude, or the compassion, or the love a mother should have for her children, to stay.

      His father shifted toward Brenna now. “So, what did your parents have to say? I’ll bet your dad popped a blood vessel.”

      To Riley’s relief, Brenna retained her composure. “I’ve been living in New York ever since I left after high school, so I’m on my own. I make my own decisions, Mr. O’Rourke. Now I don’t depend on my parents for anything. Not even their opinion of what I should or shouldn’t do.”

      “But you did once.”

      “Yes, I did.”

      “I knew you and Riley were an item, even if they didn’t. But Riley wanted to keep it a secret, so I pretended I didn’t know. My gut tells me Miners Bluff was just a little too small for you.”

      “I wanted a career Miners Bluff couldn’t give me.”

      “And you got it. Do you think your life’s a lot different than it would have been if you’d stayed?”

      “Pop! Stop with the questions,” Riley erupted.

      “I’m just trying to figure out what’s happening now. How are you going to be a father to your son when he’s in New York and you’re here?”

      That was the question they were all asking.

      “I’ll get that coffee.” Brenna didn’t move right away. Rather, she went to Derek first to make sure he was safe in Liam’s arms.

      “I held four kids at one time or another,” he assured her. “I never dropped one of them. And I’m sober. Have been for five years.”

      “I didn’t mean to suggest anything otherwise. He’s just so small. Even when Riley holds him, I feel I want to put a safety net underneath him.”

      His dad chuckled at that and really looked at Brenna. “We didn’t get to know each other when you were in high school.”

      “No, sir. We didn’t.”

      “You really are an honest woman, aren’t you?”

      “I hope so. I picked up a box of cookies that aren’t home-baked, but they’re good. Be right back.”

      Riley couldn’t look away from her for a couple of moments. She’d tied her hair back in a ponytail. She was wearing jeans and a beaded T-shirt. Her belted waist showed her slimness. Her legs were long and curvy. Her feet were bare.

      While his father played with Derek’s fingers and toes, Riley followed Brenna to the kitchen. At the doorway, he lowered his voice. “I never expected this to happen.”

      “When your dad first arrived, he was throwing questions at me. He was really upset, Riley.”

      Riley studied her face, so temptingly pretty. “And what about you?”

      She looked up at him, her gaze hiding nothing. “I’m okay.”

      Riley sighed. “Best laid plans. I shouldn’t have waited. So why didn’t you just make small talk until I got here? Geez, Brenna, telling him about the DNA test.”

      “Do you know your father?”

      There was a note in her tone that warned him to be cautious. “I probably know him better than anyone. Why?”

      She practically whispered, “Your father asked me detailed questions. What time I got in on Wednesday. What we did that night, then yesterday. ‘Oh, you went to the doctor’s. Just to get him checked?’ Was I supposed to lie? He would have seen it. He’s a great lie detector. I can tell.”

      Riley almost smiled at that. “We all used to think that, before he started the heavy drinking. Now that he’s not drinking again, I guess you could say he’s more perceptive.”

      “Yes, well, he guessed it wasn’t just a regular doctor’s appointment, so I had to tell him the truth.”

      “You’re an open book,” Riley said, meaning it as a compliment.

      But she shook her head. “No, I’m not. Not anymore.”

      “You got hurt?”

      “Oh, I got hurt.”

      The idea of Brenna hurt disturbed something deep in Riley. He dropped his arm around her shoulder and guided her deeper into the kitchen. “Come on, let’s give him a little alone time with his grandson. I doubt if he’s going to get much of that. As soon as Shannon knows, she’ll be here wanting to hold him, too.”

      “And how about your brothers?”

      Riley’s expression must have hinted at trouble there.

      “Tell me.”

      “There’s nothing to tell. I don’t know how they’ll feel.”

      “But you have an inkling.”

      “We’re the O’Rourkes. You’re the McDougalls. My brothers consider our two families to have a feud going on. So I don’t know what will happen when they hear.”

      After Riley found the coffee, Brenna quickly made a pot. As the coffee brewed, the two of them just stared at each other, wondering what came next. When Brenna finally asked if he had a tray, he looked at her as if she were crazy.

      “A tray, Riley, to carry in his mug and some sugar and creamer. Surely there’s something like that somewhere.”

      They looked and looked until she found a flat platter that would suffice. When she carried it out to Liam and set it on the coffee table, he looked at it as if it were foreign. “Just the mug would have been fine.”

      “Do you take cream or sugar?”

      “Just a spot of cream.”

      She’d laid a spoon on the tray, too. “Would you like me to take Derek now?”

      “I get it. You don’t trust me holding him with a cup of coffee in my other hand.”

      “I think he needs to be changed and then maybe a little nap. He gets cranky when he doesn’t get enough sleep. Sort of like your son.”

      Liam practically roared at that, his first real laugh. “So you know that about him, do you?”

      “I haven’t been around him for a while, but I do remember that. You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like. I can wheel his crib in here if you’d like to watch him sleep.”

      “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Liam asked.

      “Sure. Babies sleep so much of the time at this age. If you want to capture their expressions and just be around them, it’s easier that way.”

      “You’ve been around babies a lot?”

      “Oh, no. But I have read a lot of articles, blogs and books. They all help.”

      “Is

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