LITMIR.BIZ

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to rise from her chair when the two walked into the kitchen. “Don’t get up.” Knox waved her back down.

      “Cody hasn’t had any lunch,” she said, as if that was the most important information he needed to know. He needed to know that Cody hated green peppers and that he sometimes ran too fast for his own safety. Knox needed to know that Cody had a heart of gold and cared deeply about others.

      There were so many things he needed to know, but her voice failed her in that moment. She’d always thought her kitchen was large and airy, but it seemed much smaller with Knox’s presence.

      He looked ridiculously handsome in a pair of tight jeans and a dark blue, long-sleeved polo shirt that hugged his lean stomach and emphasized his broad shoulders and muscular biceps. His black cowboy hat rode at a cocky angle on his head.

      “Don’t worry, I’ll see that he gets lunch,” he replied and ruffled his hand on top of Cody’s head. Cody looked up at him with a big smile. “I planned on bringing him home sometime after dinner. Does that work for you?”

      “I’d like him home by seven at the latest. He has school tomorrow. We should exchange cell phone numbers.” She hoped Cody didn’t feel the tension in the air. Although Knox’s tone of voice was pleasant enough, his gaze was cold as ice as it lingered on her.

      “That’s a good idea,” he agreed.

      “And then we’ll go, right, Knox?” Cody asked eagerly.

      Knox laughed. Oh, Allison had forgotten the magic of his deep, wonderful laughter. “And then we’ll go,” he agreed.

      For just a moment his gaze met Allison’s and the icy cold had been replaced with a warmth that stole her breath away. It was there only a couple of seconds and then gone.

      He averted his gaze to sweep the kitchen. “You’ve got a nice place here.”

      “Thank you,” she replied. “I bought this house after Dad passed away.” She’d been shocked to discover that her father had a substantial life insurance policy when he’d passed. It had been enough money to buy the house outright and had given her and her son some financial security.

      “I’m sorry for your loss,” he replied. “John was a good man.”

      “Thank you. He’d been sick for a long time.” A hollow wind blew through her as she thought of her father.

      “Grandpa Rafferty helped me build a birdhouse. It’s hanging in a tree in our backyard,” Cody said. “Maybe when we come home later you can see it and you can also see my room. But now shouldn’t we get going?”

      Knox grinned down at Cody. “Yeah, let’s get going.”

      Allison got up to walk them to the door. “I’ll see you this evening.”

      “See you later, Mom. And don’t paint your fingernails purple and green,” Cody replied.

      With that they were gone, taking half of her heart with them. The house had never been as silent as it was then, with only the sound of her heart beating in her ears.

      She returned to her chair in the kitchen and stared unseeing out the nearby window. Not for the first time in the past two years, she wished her father was still there.

      John Rafferty had been a single parent after Allison’s mother had died of cancer when her daughter had been five. He’d been both mother and father to her, and eventually good friend and mentor.

      He could build a bookcase and braid her hair. He could renovate a kitchen and bake cupcakes for a school party. Unfortunately a heart attack had left him in a wheelchair and eventually his weakened, diseased heart had just stopped working.

      Growing up, she’d spent much of her time with the smell of freshly cut wood as familiar as the sound of her own voice. After school and on the weekends, she spent time at the construction company her father owned, the same one she now owned and operated.

      What a hypocrite she was, sitting there and missing her own father and at the same time half wishing Cody’s had never shown up in town.

      Cody deserved to know his dad. She could only hope and pray that Knox took far better care of Cody’s heart than he had of hers.

      With the day stretching out in front of her, she moved from her chair at the table to the one at the small kitchen desk. She opened the laptop and powered it on.

      Every couple of days, it was usual for her to check out Everything’s Blogger in Texas, a wildly popular site that served up the gossip of the area. It was a guilty pleasure, just like watching the Real Housewives franchise once a week.

      Today the cover story was of a Dallas socialite who had been arrested for drunk driving after leading the police on a dangerous chase.

      The headline on the second lead story was Femme Fatale Still on the Loose. Allison clicked to read the article. It was a rehash of Livia Colton’s escape from prison with nothing new added to the story since her disappearance.

      A slight chill ran across her skin as she thought of Knox’s mother. The last thing she had wanted was for Livia Colton to find out she had a grandchild. Allison had always known the woman was a hateful witch, but she hadn’t known how truly dangerous she was until her arrest and subsequent trial. Fear of Livia Colton had been part of what had made her lie to Knox about Cody’s paternity.

      Was that why Knox was back here? Was it possible he was not really on a vacation at all, but rather was on duty here in case his mother showed up?

      And if that was the case, then once his mother was back behind bars, would he once again leave Shadow Creek to return to El Paso and not look back?

      She had to believe that he intended to be more than a hit-and-miss father in Cody’s life. She also had to believe he’d protect Cody at all costs. At the very least she had to give him the benefit of the doubt until he proved differently.

      The hours of the day crept by achingly slowly. She took a long bubble bath and painted her nails a pearly pink and tried not to wonder about what Knox and Cody were doing. She dusted the living room and ran the vacuum cleaner in an effort to keep herself busy.

      After that she headed back to the kitchen, made herself a salad for a late lunch and then whipped up some of Cody’s favorite double chocolate chip cookies.

      While they baked she sat at the table and found her brain working through a hundred questions in her mind. Was Knox married? Was Cody his only child or did he have a family in El Paso?

      She should have asked him more questions yesterday at Jade’s place, but the shock of seeing him, the horror of realizing he knew about Cody, had made her half-brain-dead.

      She told herself that her curiosity had nothing to do with how the very sight of him had stirred old memories, of how the scent of him...a familiar clean, woodsy scent, had evoked a pool of heat inside her stomach.

      The only reason why she was curious about his life was that she needed to know how Cody might fit into it. What would a custody agreement look like between them? Would she now be sending her son to stay for a month in the summer with Knox and a stepmother? Would she now have Christmases without her son? Or Easters? Or Thanksgivings?

      And what about his mother, who was now on the run from the law? Dear God, she didn’t even want to think about Livia getting anywhere near her son.

      She needed to find out tonight exactly what Knox wanted. She had always kept a controlling hand on her life. She’d had to be in control to wear the many hats she wore.

      At the moment, everything felt wildly out of control and she still had three hours before they’d be home. One thing was certain: she wasn’t going to let Knox Colton leave her house tonight until he’d answered some important questions.

       Chapter 3

      It had been a day of wonder for Knox.

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