Their Secret Son

Joe gently squeezed his son’s small shoulder and addressed his friend and fellow firefighter. “I brought along a candidate for that Junior Fire Marshal position. His name is Bobby.”

“It’s nice to meet you, son.” Sam extended a hand in an adult greeting that caused the boy to beam with pride. Then he cast an appreciative eye on the attractive woman at Joe’s side.

“This is Kristin Reynolds,” Joe explained, “Bobby’s mother.”

After pleasantries were made, Sam gave Bobby and his entourage a full tour of the station, the trucks and equipment.

The guys Joe thought of as brothers kept glancing at him and Kristin with knowing looks. Joe could tell by the way they grinned at him—and winked when Kristin wasn’t looking—that they assumed his interest in the boy had more to do with the pretty mother.

Maybe, to an extent, they had sensed something. Being this close to Kristin again was having an effect on him. And try as he might, he couldn’t seem to keep from gazing at her, appreciating the attractive woman at his side.

She wore a turquoise silk blouse that set off the color of her eyes, made them glimmer and sparkle. The slinky material dressed up a simple pair of black jeans that hugged her hips. Kristin had always been attractive, but the years—or maybe motherhood—had done something to her. Made her blossom.

As her shoulder brushed against him, he fought a natural urge to take her hand or to slip an arm around her and pull her close. To go back in time and take up where they left off.

It was a stupid thought. What they had before had been special—but the situation had been hopeless. And now, eight years later, they’d both grown up. Changed more than either of them could probably guess. And if that weren’t reason enough to ditch the sappy urges, there were too many secrets between them. Too much pain. Too much reality.

Kristin was destined for bigger things than a small-town life with an average Joe.

No. His interest was in his son. And Joe looked forward to the day he could announce that relationship to the world.

After the tour of the fire station, Joe took Kristin and Bobby to lunch at Burger Bob’s, a nearby hamburger joint with an indoor playground to attract kids and families.

Bobby zipped off to play until their order was ready, while Kristin waited with Joe at a corner booth.

It felt funny sitting across from her old teenage lover, waiting for a meal of cheeseburgers, fries and chocolate shakes—fare that had once been their favorite.

And it felt even stranger to go out to eat with their son, something other families did on a routine basis.

“Thanks for letting me take Bobby to the station,” Joe said.

She smiled, remembering how much time Joe had spent with the fire department when he was a teen, how the firefighters became the family he didn’t have. She supposed it was a way for Joe to introduce his son to his world. And she was glad she was able to share the day. “Thanks for letting me tag along.”

“You’re welcome.” He shrugged. “It was no big deal. Just a visit to the fire station. Kids like that sort of thing.”

She suspected it was much more than that. Unless things had changed, the department was Joe’s life, his family, his home. And taking Bobby to meet his buddies and see the station was an attempt to share himself with his son. But Kristin didn’t comment.

Nor did she mention the fact that he’d once shared his life at the station with her. And that she’d been honored when he had.

She remembered how his eyes had lit up when he told her about the camaraderie he found with the firemen. In fact, his anecdotes had made the guys down at the station seem so real, so extra-special, that she’d really wanted to meet them herself.

He’d taken her to the fire department once to introduce her to his friends. Most of the guys had been out on a call, but the ones she’d met had made her feel welcome. And special.

The aroma of burgers and fries filled the air, as they sat at the white Formica table, the past hovering too close, the future just out of reach.

When one of Burger Bob’s employees brought a tray of food and set it down, Kristin called Bobby to eat.

“Aw, do I have to?” the boy asked.

Kristin was ready to begin the usual argument, whenever her son wanted to continue playing instead of going to bed, brushing his teeth or eating dinner, but Joe stepped in.

“Bobby, a fireman has to eat when the chow is in front of him, since he never knows when he’ll be called out on an emergency that could keep him away from the station for hours.”

The boy nodded, then joined them at the table, taking a seat next to Joe. More than once, his eyes flitted back and forth between his messy, ketchup-laden burger and the man he’d obviously come to admire.

“Do you have a family?” Bobby asked Joe. “You know, kids and stuff?”

Both adults paused, hands half-raised or half-lowered, jaws frozen.

“The guys down at the fire station are my brothers,” Joe said. “And I’ve got a friend named Harry, who has included me in his family.”

Joe shot a glance at Kristin, and she bit her bottom lip.

She could read the pain in his eyes, the accusation. The disappointment. He wanted her to tell Bobby now, to use this as an opening to explain. But she couldn’t allow it. Her son might tell her father.

No more lies, she’d promised herself. But she couldn’t help this lie of omission.

What a web she’d woven.

As Joe munched on a double bacon cheeseburger, Bobby studied him while sucking chocolate shake through a straw. “For an adult, you’re pretty cool.”

“Oh, yeah?” Joe answered, a grin tugging at his lips. “Thanks.”

“You’re even more cool than Dr. Dylan.”

“Dr. Dylan?” Joe asked. His eyes traveled to Kristin, and she felt her cheeks warm.

Her fiancé, Dylan Montgomery, was better known as Dr. Dylan. And it was no surprise to her that Bobby would like Joe better. Dylan hadn’t taken Bobby on any outings—yet, although she was sure he would one of these days. Dylan’s book tours and speaking engagements took up a lot of his time.

“He’s not a shot-and-medicine kind of doctor,” Bobby said. “He’s on TV.”

“A movie star?” Joe asked.

“No,” Bobby interjected before Kristin could explain. “Not like that. Dr. Dylan just tells other people what they’re doing wrong.”

Joe looked at Kristin, then questioned the boy. “Does your mom take you to see Dr. Dylan?”

“Nope. He comes to our house, sometimes. He’s my mom’s boyfriend.”

“I see,” Joe said.

So, pretty Kristin hadn’t been a hermit. Or celibate. But then, neither had Joe. But for some reason, it prickled him to know she had a boyfriend.

Because of his son, he told himself. That’s the only reason.

But maybe he was just plain envious of the guy who’d captured Kristin’s heart. Envious because Dr. Dylan represented the kind of man Thomas Reynolds approved of as a son-in-law.

Bobby popped a French fry into his mouth. Between chews, he said, “Dr. Dylan is stuffy.”