LITMIR.BIZ

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negatively affecting some of the kids. That display he subjected you to is simply bravado. It’s going to take some work to get him back again. Hard work.” She played her trump card. “I was hoping you’d be up to it.”

      Megan felt her lip curl. Luke hadn’t been man enough to acknowledge he had a son fourteen years ago when she’d sent him a letter just after Cody’s birth, telling him she’d had his child. If he couldn’t accept then that he had a baby, he certainly wouldn’t be up to the challenge of raising a difficult teen now.

      She blinked back tears as she remembered that sad time. The letter going unanswered. The phone call she’d made to the ranch a month later—just in case he hadn’t gotten her letter. It had been answered by a woman. Megan had given her name and asked to speak to Luke, but the woman had said, “Luke’s away at a convention. I’m his wife. Shall I tell him you called?”

      Shocked to the point of gasping for air, Megan had hung up. Luke was married. So the conversation she’d overheard hadn’t been a mistake or a figment of her imagination. Megan had never felt lonelier than at that moment. Nor had she ever felt more foolish. She wasn’t contacting Luke to get money out of him, and she didn’t expect him to play a part in their son’s life—not if he didn’t want to. She’d written the letter as a courtesy. Whether he’d received it or not, there was no point in leaving a message with Luke’s wife.

      “Megan, are you all right?”

      Judge Benson’s voice broke into her thoughts and Megan made an effort to control her emotions. She didn’t want anyone in this room to know how vulnerable she felt, to know the truth of how stupid and gullible she’d been. Or how angry she was with Luke for denying their son back then.

      LUKE TRIED TO CONVINCE himself it was worth risking the stable family life he’d worked so hard to restore since Tory deserted them, only to turn it upside down by letting Cody into it. He wished he’d known about his son all those years ago. Megan was seriously delusional if she thought Cody wasn’t a delinquent. Otherwise, why were they all here?

      “I know my brother is more than able to rise to the challenge, Judge.” Matt’s foot connected with Luke’s ankle. “I think he’s just a little stunned to find out he’s a father again. Aren’t you, Luke?”

      Luke sent his interfering brother a glare. He was perfectly capable of making up his own mind; he didn’t need Matt making it up for him. “I’m prepared to give it a try…if Megan is.” He looked across at her, his eyes begging her to disagree. She lifted her head defiantly. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was pure loathing in her eyes.

      As if to thwart him, she gave an almost imperceptible nod.

      “I don’t want you going into this halfheartedly, Mr. O’Malley.” The judge’s voice held steel. “What we have here is a boy in desperate need of a father’s influence and a strong family relationship—and a mother who’s willing to agree to that.”

      Luke shot another glance at Megan. She didn’t look too willing.

      “What I need from you is a commitment to your son. A commitment that you will not fail him. He needs you, more than he’s ever needed anything in his life. And believe me, we are talking about his life.”

      The judge’s sobering words brought Luke up short. If Cody continued as he was, his life could be in danger. Sending him away to boarding school wasn’t the answer.

      He squared his shoulders. “You have my promise, Judge. I’ll do everything within my power to help Cody. I’m committed to being his father in every way possible.”

      The judge nodded and sat back, visibly more relaxed. “Good. So you’ll move to Colorado, Megan?”

      “If that’s what you think is best,” Megan said stiffly. Hands clasped, she avoided Luke’s gaze.

      “Yes,” Judge Benson said. “But now we have to face the hard part.” She picked up the phone and addressed her assistant. “Would you ask Cody to step back in, please?”

      CODY SAUNTERED BACK into the room after a good two minutes of making them all sit and wait on the edges of their seats. It was this sort of insolence that Luke would never tolerate from his daughters. The kid really needed straightening out. Luke only hoped he was as ready for the challenge as Matt claimed he was. He had enough stress in his life, and adding a troubled child to the mix wasn’t going to help.

      When Judge Benson explained to Cody what the adults had decided, he scrambled to his feet and let loose with a string of colorful adjectives that had Megan blushing and begging him to stop, Luke ready to leap from his chair, drag him to the bathroom to wash out his mouth and both Matt and the judge sitting sagely, waiting for the tirade to end.

      Eventually it did, and Cody threw himself back into his chair. The room fell silent. “I’m not goin’ anywhere,” he snarled.

      The judge sighed. “Then I’m afraid you give me no other choice, Cody.” She picked up her phone and said, “I’ll have to send you to juve—”

      “I’ll do it on one condition,” he interrupted. Obviously, there was room for negotiation where juvenile detention was concerned.

      “And what might that be?”

      “That he—” Cody pointed at Luke “—marries my mom.”

      It was harder to tell who gasped louder, Luke or Megan.

      MEGAN FOUND HER VOICE first. “Cody! What are you saying?”

      He glared at her, chilling Megan to the bone. What had become of her once sweet-natured son?

      “If you want us to play ‘happy families,’ then he’s going to have to marry you. And I mean right now.” He gestured dismissively at Luke. “I want him to be committed to us. I don’t want him hanging around and pretending to be my dad, like what happens to the other kids in the neighborhood, and then have him run off when somethin’ better comes along.”

      “We’ll be living in Luke’s home, Cody,” she reminded him. “He won’t be going anywhere.”

      “You know what I mean!” he cried, jumping up and overturning his chair. “Everyone in our neighborhood’s had dozens of ‘dads’ or ‘uncles’ living with them. None of ’em ever stay around for long ’cause they’re not married to the kids’ moms. They don’t care. They’re only there for the sex!”

      “Cody!” Megan was horrified. Yes, it was like that in their neighborhood, but she’d never had another man stay the night, let alone live with them. She hadn’t even dated. She glanced at Luke to guess what he must be thinking. Did he believe she’d had a succession of men through the door like some of the other single moms in their neighborhood? The men got all the fringe benefits but took none of the responsibility, and they left when things got hard. Or they went to prison.

      Luke was watching her carefully, as though considering her reaction, but Megan couldn’t think of a thing to say to dispel the notion that she was one of those unfortunate women.

      LUKE SEARCHED CODY’S features. Was the kid trying to manipulate the adults in the room? Or did he genuinely feel that without a marriage certificate, their “family” wouldn’t be a valid one?

      “It’s not going to be like that, Cody. I have a big house. Your mom and you can have your own space. What I’m offering is the security of a home and family who’ll love you and care about you.”

      “How can I know you mean that if you don’t care enough about me to marry my mom?”

      Luke could see through the bravado to the pain in Cody’s eyes. The kid had been through the wringer. Lord knows what kind of men must’ve been in his life for him to question Luke’s commitment like this. Cody wasn’t asking them to live as husband and wife and sleep in the same bedroom—and judging by the sparks of anger emanating from Megan, that wasn’t even a remote possibility.

      What his son was doing

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