Colton's Secret Son

Knox smiled. “That’s where I would sleep if I had bunk beds, and I like the stars, too.”

The grin that Cody gave him shot straight through to Knox’s heart. He wanted to claim this child. He wanted everyone in the town, everyone in the entire world to know that this bright, beautiful boy was his.

He wanted to grab Cody to his chest and hug him...protect him from any hurt that might ever come his way. Raw emotion ripped through him and he realized that the alien, rich feeling was a father’s love for his child.

He cleared his throat. “You’d better get yourself into the bathtub before your mother comes up here and yells at us.”

“Mom doesn’t yell at me even when she’s mad,” Cody replied, but he got up off the bed. “Are we gonna hang out again?” His bright eyes gazed at Knox eagerly.

“Absolutely. I’m going to go downstairs right now and make some arrangements with your mother. And don’t forget to wash behind your ears. I thought I saw a potato growing behind one of them this afternoon.”

Knox went back down the stairs with Cody’s giggles ringing in his ears. He hoped Allison wasn’t going to give him a hard time about spending more time with Cody. He wanted more, he needed more.

“He’s got a great room,” he said as he reentered the kitchen where she still remained at the table. “And he’s a great kid, Allison. You’ve done a terrific job with him.”

“Thanks. He’s a good boy, but like all kids he occasionally does have his moments. Would you like another cup of coffee?” She looked slightly fragile with her shoulders curved as she leaned forward and wrapped her fingers around her cup.

“I’ll get it.” He picked up his mug from the table and carried it to the coffeemaker on the countertop. He poured the coffee and then returned to the chair across from her. “So, when can I get him again?”

“Next Sunday?” Her full bottom lip held the hint of a tremble.

Crap, she was making him feel like a big, bad monster attempting to tear her little baby boy from her loving arms. He shook his head. “No way, I’m not waiting an entire week to see him again.”

“Are you married?” Her cheeks flushed and she quickly picked up her cup and took a sip.

“Why do you want to know?” He crooked up an eyebrow. “Are you interested in resuming where we left off while I’m back in town?”

Her back stiffened and her eyes flashed. “Don’t be ridiculous. That’s the last thing I want. I just need to know a few things about your personal life if we’re going to work out a reasonable custody agreement.”

At least he’d shaken her out of the soft vulnerability that had made him want to embrace her rather than fight for his rights.

“I’m not married and I don’t have a significant other,” he replied. “My life for the past ten years has been all about my work.”

She gazed at him curiously. “Why are you really here in town? Are you on vacation, or are you actually working in case your mother shows up here?”

He leaned back in the chair and tamped down the resentment that threatened to rise up in his chest, a resentment that had nothing to do with Allison.

“Yeah, I’m here because of my mother, but not for the reason you think. None of the authorities really believes she’ll show up here in Shadow Creek, but I was told to take a sabbatical because of my relationship to her. I’d become an embarrassment because of her prison escape.”

Allison studied him for several long moments. “I’m sorry, Knox,” she finally said. She was one of the few people outside of his siblings who knew the extent of Livia Colton’s destructiveness. “Do I need to worry about her? I never wanted her to know about Cody.”

“She shouldn’t be a problem, considering I didn’t even know Cody existed until yesterday,” he replied drily. “What did people think when you started showing?”

“The gossipmongers went crazy for a couple of months. I heard everything from I got pregnant after a one-night stand to the father being one of the men who worked for my dad.” She looked down and then raised her gaze to meet his. “Your name popped up as a potential candidate, but when you didn’t come back to town that particular rumor died.”

He didn’t want to think about her being alone and pregnant and the subject of scandal and gossip. “Now, about Cody.”

She sighed and reached up and grabbed a strand of her hair and worried it between two fingers, a habit he remembered her having whenever she was stressed. “He gets out of school every day at three thirty and walks home from the bus stop.” She dropped her hair and frowned. “I guess you could pick him up here every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and then have him back by bedtime.”

“That will work. And what about the weekends? I can still have him on Sundays?” What he’d really like would be to have Cody every single day. He’d like to wake up in the mornings and fix him breakfast, see him off to school and then spend the evenings with him and tuck him into bed.

“I work on most Saturdays and Cody usually spends time out at Jade’s or comes in with me to the office. Maybe instead of Sunday you could take him on Saturdays while I’m working.”

He could tell by the hollowness in her eyes, by the slight thinning of her lips, she wasn’t happy, but he couldn’t help that. She wouldn’t be in this position if she hadn’t lied to him in the first place.

And with that thought he was ready to leave. They’d worked out the days he’d spend with his son and he didn’t need anything else from her.

He got up from the table and carried his cup to the sink. “Thanks for the coffee and the cookie,” he said.

She rose and together they walked to the front door. “I guess we’ll see you Tuesday afternoon,” she said.

He turned to face her and the scent of apples and spices suffused him. She stood close enough to him that he could feel the heat from her body radiating outward to warm him. Desire punched him hard in the gut.

He felt like he had when he’d been sixteen years old and she was fifteen and all he wanted was a kiss from the girl who had stolen his heart. The urge to capture her lips with his was nearly overwhelming.

Her eyes flared deep gold and she took a step backward. “Good night, Knox.”

“Good night,” he replied and stepped outside into the dark of the night. As he hurried to his car in the driveway, he didn’t know if he hated her for lying to him or if he hated her because as crazy as it was, he still wanted her.

* * *

Monday morning at nine o’clock, Allison sat at her desk in the Rafferty Construction Company’s office on Main Street.

Outside the glass partitions that made up her office space was the blood and guts of the business. Lumber in all sizes and types stacked the walls of the large space. Bath and kitchen tiles were in another section, along with anything and everything that might be needed to renovate a home.

At the moment two of her best men were building custom kitchen cabinets, and the sounds of power miter saws and hammering were as familiar to Allison as her own heartbeat.

Much of her childhood had been spent in the shop area, watching men build things from wood and talk about plumbing and wiring. It had never been her intention to take over the business. She’d wanted to be a nurse, but her father’s illness and his desire for her to take over for him had changed her life plans.

Now she couldn’t imagine doing anything else. This business was in her blood, a continuing tribute to the father she’d loved so much.

She sat up straighter in her chair as foreman George Carlson walked in. He headed straight for her office, a deep frown cutting into his broad forehead.

“We’ve got a problem on the Wilkenson place,” he said as he sat in the chair before her desk.

“What’s the problem?” The Wilkenson home was a large two-story on Main Street that had been in foreclosure for nearly a year. New owners had finally bought the place but before moving in they’d wanted an extensive renovation. Allison had bid on the job and three days ago they’d been given the go-head.

“I delivered a load of lumber there yesterday and this morning I discovered that it had been ruined. Somebody took a saw to it and made a bunch of kindling.” He narrowed his brown eyes. “And that same somebody also spray painted what wasn’t cut up, and you know who’s probably responsible.”

She sighed. Yes, she knew the likely culprits. Rafferty Construction had been in a fierce competition for business with Brothers Construction, Inc. That company, run by brothers Brad and Bob Billings, had also bid on the Wilkenson project and had lost the job to Allison. This wouldn’t be the first time the two sore losers had caused problems on a site.

“Call Sheriff Jeffries and get him out to the house to make a report,” she said with a sigh.

George snorted. “Bud Jeffries couldn’t find a criminal if one crawled up his pant leg.”

Allison fought against a smile. “We still need to make an official report,” she replied.

“Yeah, I know. On another note, are you going to fire Chad today?”