He took a seat across from Devon, and his gaze lingered on her bright hair and rosy complexion. He felt as if he had to drink her in to sustain him for the next time they were apart.
Because he couldn’t stay with her. He wanted to work out some way he could visit Michael, but he didn’t want to be alone with the boy. He could never have him spend the night.
Bryan dropped off their drinks and a couple of straws. “Are you eating?”
They both said at the same time, “Nachos.”
“Yeah, you two always did like to share the nachos, and we make ’em even better than in my dad’s day. Extra jalapenos, right?”
When Bryan left, Devon studied Kieran as if preparing to dissect a frog in biology class. “You remembered, didn’t you?”
“You’re excited about nachos with extra jalapenos?”
She plunged her straw into her glass. “Don’t dismiss it as trivial. Every little bit is a step forward.”
Devon possessed a cheery optimism. Had it always been shored up by that layer of steel he sensed beneath the sunshine? A deadly combination-especially if he hoped to convince her that she’d be better off without him.
“Okay, what do you want to know?” She planted her elbows on the table on either side of her glass.
“I want to know all about Michael. I suppose you don’t have any baby pictures of him.”
“Are you kidding?” She dragged her big bag from the back of her chair and patted it. “I’m glad I didn’t have this purse with me yesterday.”
She pulled out some photos of a smiling, chubby baby and for the next half hour proceeded to tell Kieran all about his son.
He scooped up some salsa with the corner of a chip and paused. “He sounds like a great kid, happy, well- adjusted, so what happened? Why the trauma over the old lady’s death?”
“I don’t know. He called her Granny Del, and she’d bake him cookies and tell him stories. She was great with him. I don’t think she’d ever had kids of her own. She was a widow, but her husband was long gone before we moved into that building.”
“Does Michael have a good relationship with your mom? Maybe Granny Del was a substitute grandmother for him.”
“I suppose.” She dabbed her luscious lips with a napkin and Kieran pulled his gaze away. “He doesn’t see my mom much. After leaning on me heavily after Dad’s death, Mom packed up and moved to one of those retirement communities in Florida. We see her occasionally, but she tries to keep busy and active…to fill the emptiness from Dad’s death.”
“Your dad was the police chief of Coral Cove, wasn’t he?”
“Yes. You see. There’s another one of those trivial facts.”
“I got the feeling Dr. Estrada was blaming me in part for Michael’s trauma.” Kieran shoved the plate toward Devon, and took a long pull from his iced tea. And would finding out he had a father like him only add to the boy’s trauma? How could he possibly help Michael? That would be like the blind leading the blind-literally, in his case.
Devon shoved some chopped tomatoes around the plate with her fork. “I don’t think she’s blaming either one of us, but I do think she was implying that not having a father present may have contributed to Michael’s feelings of loss when Mrs. Del Vecchio passed away.”
“Passed away? She was murdered.”
“Yeah, well, Michael doesn’t know that-at least I don’t think he does.”
“What about the murder? Were you home when it happened?”
“Yeah, that’s the creepy part.” She hugged herself and hunched her shoulders as if shivering. “It happened mid-morning. I was doing laundry and I found the body.”
Kieran dropped his napkin on the table. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.”
“Did you hear anything? See anything?”
“I heard noise from her apartment. It must’ve been a thump against the wall or something since she lives right below me. That’s why I decided to check up on her after I put my laundry in. While I was in the laundry room, someone slammed the door. The cops think it might’ve been the killer.”
His heart lurched. Devon had been in danger and he hadn’t been there to protect her. Hadn’t been there for four long years. “My God. It’s a good thing he didn’t see you or vice versa.”
“You’re telling me. It was awful enough finding Mrs. Del Vecchio’s body.”
“How was she killed?”
“The guy drowned her in the kitchen sink, like he was dunking her head in the water over and over because she had marks on her neck.”
“Brutal.” And he knew brutal. “Who would do an old lady like that? Did they rob her?”
“Her place was ransacked, but as far as I know, she didn’t have anything worth stealing.”
“Cops have any leads?”
“Not that I know of. At least they didn’t while we were still there. A Detective Marquette was working the case, and I haven’t heard from him since we got here.”
“Wow.” He tracked his fingertip through the condensation on the outside of his glass. “Maybe it was just a crime of opportunity. Her door was unlocked, and some junkie thought he could get some quick cash.”
“Maybe. I just hope Elena can get through to Michael. He hasn’t said anything to me about Granny Del since I told him she was dead.”
“Do you think Michael is going to be more upset when he learns he has a father?” Especially a father like him.
“I don’t know. He started asking questions a few years ago, and I was vague.” She drew criss-cross patterns in the plate. “Maybe somehow he figured out that his father was dead, and when Granny Del died, too, he couldn’t handle any more loss.”
Kieran’s injured eye ached and he dug the heel of his hand into his good eye as if that could stop it. He’d known coming back to this place was going to be hard, but he didn’t know it would cause gut-wrenching grief…and indescribable joy.
“Are you okay?”
He dropped his hand and adjusted his patch. “It pains me sometimes, my eye.”
“How much do you remember about us, Kieran? When I first saw you on the beach, you said you didn’t remember me but you knew me. Then you tried to back away from that. Which is it?”
This woman with her golden hair and clear blue eyes had a core of granite. If he’d expected his angel to be soft, yielding and pliant, he’d have to adjust those expectations.
“You saved my life, Devon.”
Her eyes widened. “I-I did?”
“I didn’t remember a woman, Devon Reese, but I remembered an ideal, a vision of warmth and goodness and pure happiness.”
A tear wobbled on the edge of her lashes and the tip of her nose reddened. “You’re going to be so disappointed.”
No. She was the one headed for disappointment.
He had to get off this subject of expectations and disappointments. He glanced at the clock on the wall. “Two hours is almost up. I hope she made some progress with Michael.”
“And you? Will you give her a chance to help you, too?”
“Maybe.”
“When are you going to tell your parents and Colin?”
“From what I gather, Colin is incommunicado. I’ll notify my parents when I feel comfortable in my own skin.”
As they pushed back from the table, a pretty blonde covered her mouth and squealed. “Kieran Roarke. Now I believe you’re really back.”
Kieran gripped the back of his chair and he murmured to Devon. “Who’s that?”
She whispered back. “Britt. You dated her in high school.”
