The Surprise Holiday Dad

As he ducked out, it occurred to Wade that his father hadn’t bothered to mention the sale of the agency. Surely he’d heard about it, if only afterward.

It would be a stroke of luck finding a position in Safe Harbor. Being a father was a complicated business, Wade could see. Living near Reg’s friends and aunt would mean not having to tear his son away from familiar surroundings. They’d be able to get acquainted gradually, building a relationship step-by-step.

Things looked promising. A little too promising. In Wade’s experience, the minute you got comfortable, matters exploded in your face.

All the same, he might give Mike Aaron a call.

* * *

“YOU DIDN’T HAVE a clue he was coming?” Harper asked as she and Adrienne tossed out the last dropped teddy-bear grahams and torn pieces of party hat.

The other parents had helped clean up, too, so there wasn’t much left to do. With Stacy tiring easily due to her pregnancy, Adrienne had sent her and Cole home.

Mia and Reggie had carted his gifts to his room. The pair, who acted more like brother and sister than friends, was playing happily with all those new toys, judging by the squeals and giggles drifting from the upstairs window.

“We’re meeting with the attorney tomorrow to set some ground rules.” Since Adrienne didn’t care to discuss Wade further, even with a close friend, she changed the subject. “You’re sure you want to plan the wedding outdoors? The weather can be tricky in late November.” While Southern California enjoyed mild winters, that didn’t preclude rain.

Concerned about the cost of a wedding, Harper and Peter had discussed asking his parents, who lived inland, to hold it at their house. But their place was fairly small, so Adrienne had offered up hers. She enjoyed seeing her home full of friends.

“I prefer a garden setting, and if we keep everything outside, there’s less cleanup.” Since it was the second wedding for both bride and groom, they were taking an informal approach. The guest list was short, and the only members of the wedding party would be Peter’s father as best man and Mia as flower girl. Instead of a white gown, Harper had selected a knee-length dress in autumnal shades: golden-yellow, tawny-brown and red-orange.

“Of course, we can move inside if necessary,” Adrienne mused.

“You’re incredibly thoughtful.” Harper dropped a lump of hardening Play-Doh into the trash bag. “Some people prefer to reserve Black Friday for their Christmas shopping.” They’d scheduled the wedding for the day after the holiday.

“I’d rather be with friends.” Prowling across the grass, Adrienne retrieved a crumpled teddy-bear birth certificate. The kids had filled them out for their stuffed animals.

“You do have plans for Thanksgiving dinner, right?” Harper asked. “We’re going to eat with Peter’s parents. You’d both be welcome, I’m sure.”

“I’m on duty that night. But yes, we have plans.” Those involved treating her nephew to supper at a favorite restaurant, after which he’d join his sitter and her family. While it was painful being away from him, someone had to deliver the babies. Also, the trade-off was that Adrienne didn’t have to work Christmas Eve or Christmas night.

“If you’re sure...” Harper stopped as childish voices drifted from an upstairs window.

“Don’t open that!” Reggie shouted.

“I want to play with it,” Mia answered stubbornly.

“No way! My dad gave me that.”

His dad. The boy had already accepted Wade in that role. It hurt, even though Adrienne knew that fathers were important. Reg used to cling to Mia’s father, Sean. His death in an off-road vehicle accident had been hard on them all. Recently, Peter and Cole had grown close to Reggie, but they were both still busy adjusting to their new families and had limited time.

So many losses. Maybe she ought to be grateful that Wade seemed eager to step in, but she didn’t trust him.

“I let you play with stuff my dad gives me,” Mia responded. Although the little girl treasured the memory of her late father, she’d begun referring to Peter as her dad.

“Put it down!” Reggie sounded on the verge of a meltdown.

“Okay, okay.”

“Overtired,” Adrienne assessed. “Let’s call it a day.”

“Good idea.” Harper waved to Peter, who’d just emerged from stowing tables and chairs in a storage room that opened directly to the yard. “Let’s go scrape Mia off the carpet.”

Soon they were gone. In the kitchen, Adrienne paused to center herself. The refrigerator hummed as if happy to be stuffed with leftovers. On a rack above the old stove, light gleamed off the copper pots and pans that she rarely used. But they’d been there as long as Adrienne could remember, and she treasured them.

With a jolt, the attorney’s statement came back to her. Wade could lay claim to Reggie’s half of this house if he chose to, and its contents, as well. Adrienne wasn’t even close to paying off her medical school debts. There was no way she could buy him out.

He hasn’t asked for anything yet. She’d have to be on her guard, though. All the more because of Wade’s undeniably appealing masculinity, which had—much as she disliked admitting it—stirred a tantalizing physical awareness.

Good job being attracted to the wrong guy, Adrienne. Again.

After a disastrous engagement during her residency, she’d sworn off men for a while. Then, during her mother’s final illness nearly four years ago, she’d moved in to this house to help Vicki and Reggie. Between her work schedule and their needs, Adrienne lacked the emotional energy to pursue a relationship. Not that she’d been tempted by anyone.

And she wasn’t tempted now, not on any serious level. Especially since she had no idea what would happen when they met with the attorney tomorrow. Once Wade had a chance to reflect about this house and its obvious value, would he remain civil or would he show a different, greedy side?

She hoped he wasn’t that kind of person, for her nephew’s sake as well as hers. Like it or not, Reggie’s father was going to loom large in his son’s emotional landscape.

Rapid footsteps—Reggie rarely moved at any speed slower than high gear—prepared her for his arrival in the kitchen. Instead of his favorite stuffed animal or the tablet computer he used for educational games and homework, he carried the police station still wrapped in plastic.

“You want to build that in the family room?” she asked.

He clutched it tighter. “I’m saving it till my dad can play with me. On my birthday!”

Again, the word dad shook her, a reminder of what Wade’s arrival meant: that nothing would ever be the same, that they’d have to work out an arrangement. As for the possibility of losing Reg entirely, Adrienne refused to dwell on that. Because she’d fight this man with everything she had, if it came to that.

“Okay.” She hadn’t planned any particular activities for Tuesday beyond a special early dinner. Her office hours started at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, so even on Reggie’s birthday, she had to drop him at the sitter’s by 5:30 p.m.

Wade might not be thrilled about sandwiching his visit between Reggie’s return from school and Adrienne’s departure, but... What was it he’d said? I’d prefer just the two of us.

Despite the urge to maintain tight control, she recognized that doing so might antagonize the man. Maybe she should allow an unsupervised visit. Surely Wade could be trusted to deliver his son to Mary Beth Ellroy’s house at a reasonable hour.

Reggie broke into her reflections. “What’s for dinner, Aunt Addie?”

“Aren’t you stuffed?” She hadn’t kept track of what he’d eaten earlier, though. In his excitement, he might have left most of the food on his plate.

“I’m hungry.”

Time to turn back into Mommy, Adrienne thought as she opened the refrigerator. “Lots of sandwiches and veggies, and cake and ice cream for dessert.”

“Yay!” Her nephew pulled his step stool from under the sink and stood on it to retrieve his favorite plate and cup from a cabinet. Slightly chipped, they belonged to a beloved set that had been in the family for generations.

Sooner or later everything would belong to Reggie. Unable to have children of her own, Adrienne had taken for granted that he would grow up here, secure in her love and his inheritance.

A pang twisted through her. I won’t lose him. I can’t.

She ducked her head, refusing to let Reg see her distress. Tomorrow she and Reg’s father were meeting with the attorney.

She just hoped Wade Hunter didn’t intend to spring any unpleasant surprises.