LITMIR.BIZ

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know,” he said, “that really sucks, Mal.”

      What did? The fact that they’d both been too young, immature and ill-prepared to deal with the kind of situation a pregnancy had caused? To be honest, even now, with her education and maturity, she still felt a little out of her league when parenting a boy who’d lost so much in such a few short years.

      “I can’t believe you’d do that,” Rick said.

      Apparently, they weren’t both on the same page. “Do what?”

      “Let Lucas think that I didn’t want him.”

      At that, Mallory leaned forward. “Oh, my gosh, Rick. I’d never tell him something like that. For one thing, that would have crushed him.”

      Rick settled back into the sofa cushion as if relieved. Then, almost as quickly, he straightened up again. “Then what did you tell him?”

      “I told him—” Mallory paused for a beat, hating to admit it, then pressed on “—that you died.”

      Rick’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Why in the hell did you tell him that?”

      She hadn’t meant to lie, but she’d thought about it over the years. And she’d realized that something innocent and fragile had died inside her when Rick had signed those adoption papers and told her to do whatever she wanted. Then, when she’d had to choose between staying in Boston to be near Lucas or returning to Brighton Valley and Rick, she’d had to bury whatever memories they’d once had—and any hope of a future together.

      “At the time it seemed like the easiest way to explain your absence in our lives. Besides, I wasn’t sure what had happened to you. I knew that Joey ran away. And given the rumors I’d heard about the fights you’d been involved in and all the drinking, I’d assumed the same thing had happened to you.” She almost mentioned his uncle’s trial and conviction, but decided to let that ride for now.

      Rick stretched his arm out across the back of her sofa. “Listen, Mallory. I’ll admit that I got into a lot of trouble after you left Brighton Valley, but when you didn’t come back home like you said you would and wouldn’t return my calls, I fell into my old habits. In fact, without you in school, I couldn’t see any point in being there, either, so I dropped out before Thanksgiving.”

      She ought to feel a bit justified at the anger she’d carried for years, yet a surge of sympathy shot through her instead, urging her to rise up from her chair, and sit next to him, under his outstretched arm... To lean her head against his shoulder, to caress his knee, to offer words of compassion....

      What was wrong with her?

      Ten years had passed since she’d last seen him, and yet she still found herself struggling with those same old urges, those same yearnings, those same... What? Feelings?

      No, not those. Not anymore. She was no longer a foolish and gullible teenager blinded by his charm.

      “So you dropped out of school, and that’s my fault?”

      Rick’s brow furrowed, and his eye twitched. “Yeah, well, back then, I blamed you.”

      “You don’t now?”

      “Not for me dropping out of school. That was my own choice, but I rectified it.” Rick placed his hand on the sofa’s armrest, then stood. “I’m going to go before we both say things that would be better left unsaid. But just so you know, I’m going to respect your wishes and keep my true identity under wraps for the time being.”

      “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

      “But don’t take too long figuring out a comfortable way to set him straight.”

      “I’ll do my best.” She got to her feet, too. “Thank you for understanding.”

      They merely stood there for a moment. Then Rick moved a couple paces forward, reached for her hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze with a firm grip, sending a bevy of goose bumps fluttering up her arms. “You’ve got a week, Mallory.”

      Then he released her hand, leaving her in the middle of the living room as he headed for the door.

      A week? She wasn’t sure she was following him. “You mean...?”

      As he opened the front door, he turned and glanced over his shoulder. His gaze locked onto hers. “You have one week—seven days—to resurrect me.”

      “Or what?”

      “Or I’ll tell Lucas myself.”

      Chapter Three

      The afternoon sunlight spilled onto the antique oak and brass in the back office when Rick finally got a chance to read the morning paper. It wasn’t often that he could take a break on a workday, but the clinic schedule had been unusually light for a Wednesday.

      In fact, he’d even been tempted to let Kara, his vet tech/receptionist, go home early, but the last time he’d done that, a frantic woman with two sobbing kids had rushed in with a six-month-old Queensland Heeler and a year-old lab mix, both of which had gotten into rat poison. The dogs Rick could handle. But trying to calm and reassure the woman and children who were afraid their pets were dying had damn near been his undoing. Kara was so much better equipped to offer comfort than he was, so for that reason alone, Rick hadn’t let her go.

      As Fate would have it, nothing unexpected had come up this afternoon. At least, not until Kara approached his open office door.

      “Dr. Martinez?”

      Rick looked up from the article he’d been reading. “Yes, Kara?”

      “That little boy is back. You know, the cute little guy who kind of looks like you?”

      She had to be talking about Lucas. And the fact that she’d picked up on their resemblance probably required a response, but Rick wasn’t sure what to say, so he let it slide. “Is he with Alice Reilly?”

      “No, he’s alone. He rode his bicycle and left it outside. He asked if I thought it would be safe out there. He’s afraid someone might steal it.”

      “That’s because he used to live in a big city.” Rick set the paper aside and stood. Then he made his way to the front of the office, where the boy stood near the fish tank.

      When Lucas heard the adults approach, he turned and blessed Rick with a bright-eyed smile. “Hey, Dr. Martinez. I was just checking out the neighborhood and stopped to say hi.”

      Kara, who’d followed Rick and was leaning against the doorjamb, looked first at Lucas, then at Rick, and back to the boy. She smiled before returning to her desk and whispered, “Amazing.”

      Rick was definitely going to have to address the issue of his resemblance to Lucas with Kara one of these days, but not now. Not in front of the boy. And not until the week was up and he and Mallory had settled things.

      “I also wanted to tell you my good idea,” Lucas said.

      “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

      “When it’s summer, and lots of kids get jobs, I thought it would be cool if I worked for you. And I know just the thing I could do.”

      Rick couldn’t help but smile at his spunk, but hiring him was out of the question. Even if there weren’t state laws about child labor Rick had to comply with, the clinic could get busy at times. And he couldn’t have a nine-year-old boy underfoot. “I’m afraid I don’t need any office help right now.”

      “I wasn’t talking about working in the office,” Lucas said. “You could hire me to play with Buddy every day. That way, I could make sure he wouldn’t jump out of the fence, and you wouldn’t have to keep him locked in the small cage. What do you think?”

      The idea was pretty wild, but Rick had to give the kid credit for ingenuity. He’d figured out a way to spend time with Buddy every day once summer rolled around.

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