The Lawman's Surprise Family

“Your favorite,” she said, turning down the TV volume. “You look tired.”

“I’m wiped.”

“So I heard from Ellen who heard from Liza at the deli that Sofia McCray is back in town,” his mother said, shooting him an apologetic look. “Is it true?”

“Afraid so,” he replied.

“I’m surprised she’d show her face around here,” his mother muttered. “After she and that uppity mother of hers just walked off the way they did. Not a word to anyone—and left poor Steve by himself...”

She’d left Ben, too, for that matter.

“I always said Valentina McCray was hiding a bad core,” his mother went on. “And Sofia is just like her mother. I always said it, didn’t I? And you never believed me. I don’t know what all Valentina was hiding—an affair? Maybe even mob connections—”

“Being Italian doesn’t make her mafia,” Ben said with a sigh.

“I know, I know...” His mother turned back to the stove, lifting the lid off the bubbling pot to release some steam. “I’ve always said that I don’t care what country the girl is from, as long as she’s got a good heart. I’ve always said that, haven’t I? But the proof is in the pudding with that one!”

Ben wasn’t sure if “that one” referred to Sofia or her mother, but it probably didn’t much matter at this point of the conversation. His mother didn’t care for either woman. Everyone had known that the McCray marriage hadn’t been rock solid, but the gossips of Haggerston blamed it on Valentina because she was high-spirited, even though Steve hadn’t seemed to complain. Valentina was petite with a dark complexion that made her look twenty years younger than she was—sparking the envy of every woman in town. When Valentina up and left her husband, that was proof enough about her “bad core” in his mother’s books.

This was an old, oft-repeated conversation. They both knew it like the backs of their hands, and they went over it from time to time, just to buff it back to a shine. Ben’s mother had been thrilled when Ben had broken up with Sofia, even if he’d only done it because her father had convinced him that he was a loser who would just hold her back. Sofia had graduated high school and earned scholarships for her high grades. Ben hadn’t even graduated with his class that year, and he wouldn’t be going anywhere. That had done a number on his confidence. Steve McCray had told him privately that it was only a matter of time before Sofia saw what a loser he was and she’d move on to someone worthy of her. It made sense, and when Sofia had started questioning him about the future there in the parking lot, it had all crumbled down around him. He couldn’t offer her a future. He had nothing to give. So Ben had broken it off and driven away, convinced that if he did the dumping instead of getting the same treatment from her, it would be easier to bear. It hadn’t been, and he’d spent the past nine years wishing he’d at least gotten a goodbye.

“I actually saw Sofia today,” Ben said.

“Oh?”

“She’s a journalist now—”

“Well la-di-da.” Her voice dripped distain.

“And she’s been assigned to ride along with an officer for a couple of weeks to cover this new community watch project we’re starting up.” He shot his mother a boyish grin. “And the officer she’s riding with is me.”

His mother regarded him in silence for a long moment. “You’re kidding,” she finally said.

Ben shook his head. “I’m dead serious.”

“Don’t you go falling for her again,” his mother said. The pot started to boil over, and she whipped it off the burner.

Not falling for Sofia was easier said than done. Sitting with her in the car all day, the soft, floral scent of her wafting through the cab, had been awkward, but it had also been the sort of thing he’d dreamed about for the past nine years—another chance to just be next to her. He’d never really thought that he’d see her again.

“So what is she like now?” his mother asked as she tossed the noodles into a colander.

“She’s—” How was he supposed to tell his mother this? He swallowed. “She had a bit of news for me.”

She slowly raised her head, her brow crinkling in suspicion. “What kind of news?”

“She has an eight-year-old son.” He met his mother’s gaze and sucked in a breath. “And he’s mine.”

“Yours?” she asked weakly. “Are you sure? She could be lying.”

“No, I’m pretty sure,” he replied, shaking his head. “She didn’t seem too thrilled about me being his father as it is.”

Tears welled up in his mother’s eyes, and she stood stock-still for a long moment.

“You have a son,” she said in amazement. “That means I have a grandson.”

“Yeah, that’s how it works,” he said.

Then she dabbed at her mascara with the heel of one hand. “After little Mandy...”

He didn’t know what else to say, even though nothing else was necessary. His mother had been there with him through the whole ordeal when he lost Lisa and Mandy. She’d stood next to him like a soldier during the funeral, holding him up with the sheer force of her will and all of the muscle she had in her one-hundred-and-forty-pound body.

“Have you seen him?” his mother asked after a moment of silence.

“For about two minutes today. It was short.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jack.”

“And Sofia—what does she want?” she asked warily.

“Nothing that I know of,” he replied. “She just felt obliged to let me know, I guess.”

“After nine years?” she snapped. “She waited nine whole years to let you know that you have a son, and you think she doesn’t want anything? Mark my words, she wants money.”

“If he’s my son, I’ll support him,” Ben replied. “I have no problem with that.”

“What about her—is she married?” his mother pressed.

“No, she’s single, and before you start worrying, I don’t think she has any interest in me. In fact, she seems to think I’m no better than I was at seventeen.”

“You were a good kid.” His mother frowned.

“I got into a lot of trouble, Mom.”

“But you had a good heart,” his mother argued. Hearts were weighed differently than behavior, in her estimation of things.

“Of gold.” He could hear the bitterness in his own tone.

His mother had always believed that he was an innocent lamb, regardless of his suspension from school multiple times and a few serious warnings from the local police. Ben had been angry back then, and while he’d loved Sofia heart and soul, he wouldn’t have made a good husband or father. He could see that, and the most painful part of all of this was that he couldn’t entirely blame Sofia for making the choice that she did, even though that choice hurt him. A mother might love you no matter what you did, but a wife or a girlfriend—those were different rules to play by. And like Sofia had said, sometimes a woman just had a limit. Could he really blame her for drawing a line?

“At least Lisa didn’t know about all of this,” his mother said, her chin quivering at the memory, and he felt that old stab of guilt.

“No, Lisa should have known.”

“Just to hurt her?” his mother countered. “I think, for her, not knowing was kinder.”

“She could have made a more informed decision before marrying me,” he muttered.