corner of his mouth. His dark eyes widened for a second, and then he smiled.
The smile made Devon’s nose tingle with tears, even if this smile seemed to be directed over her shoulder at Kieran hovering behind her. On some level did Michael sense his father had just walked into the room?
A matching smile curved her lips and she skipped to his bed. “How are you feeling? I missed you.”
“Fine. I got to watch TV this morning.”
“That’s always a big plus when you stay in the hospital. No more coughing?”
“Nope.”
“Ready to go home?” Kieran folded down the metal railing and perched on the edge of the bed.
Michael peered at him through lowered lashes and nodded.
With a pounding heart, Devon took a deep breath. “Michael, you like Kieran, don’t you?”
Kieran shot her a quick look and then dipped his chin-not that she needed his approval. She’d made a decision and just maybe the news would shake Michael out of his funk. Of course, if the announcement caused him further turmoil, she’d never forgive herself.
“Yeah.” Michael’s small frame jerked to attention.
“Good…because Kieran is your father.”
Chapter Nine
Kieran held his breath. If Michael went ballistic or shut down even further, it would stretch Kieran’s nonexistent parenting skills to the snapping point. Had Devon chosen this moment, hoping the news would launch Michael back into the world of the living?
Or had she done it to launch
Michael’s small hand clutched his red crayon, and then he glanced up quickly. “I know.”
Kieran almost slid off the bed as relief poured through his body. Devon had made the right move. If she hadn’t told him, Michael would be wondering why they were keeping it a secret.
Devon blew out a noisy breath-must’ve been holding hers, too-and plopped down next to Kieran on the hospital bed. Her hands trembled as she pleated Michael’s covers with agitated fingers.
“Is that okay with you, buddy?” Kieran chucked Michael under the chin with his knuckle, wondering if
Michael smiled and nodded. Seemed an understated response to potentially life-changing news, but then the kid, his son, had pretty much been acting like a robot since the moment Kieran had met him. But he’d take the smile.
Devon smoothed a lock of dark hair from Michael’s brow, her fingers still shaky. “Okay, then. Let’s get you all checked out and you and your father can get to know each other better.”
The doctor chose that moment to come in for one last check of Michael’s vitals. Raising his brows, his gaze bounced among the three of them. “Everything okay?”
Kieran tweaked Michael’s nose to break the tension, and Michael rewarded him with another smile. “Everything’s great, Doc. Do your thing so we can get this young man out of here.”
As the doctor whipped out his little flashlight and tongue depressor, Kieran pulled Devon into the corridor. “Your instincts were right on with that one. He probably would’ve been even more confused had we continued to keep it a secret.”
“I agree. I’m glad he didn’t freak out and withdraw even further into his shell, but I went with my instincts on that one.”
“How’d you know he wouldn’t?”
She shrugged. “He smiled at you when we came into the room-at you, not me. His smiles are few and far between these days.”
“I’m glad you trusted your parental instincts. I’m going to have to work on those.”
“It comes…with time. I’m just sorry that everything’s so messed up right now. The way Michael has been questioning me lately about his father, I expected more of a reaction. I’m sorry. It’s not the homecoming I had dreamed about.”
“At least you’d dreamed about one.”
They collected Michael and secured him in his car seat. Kieran had to start somewhere, so he insisted on fiddling with the car seat’s straps and buckles himself. Michael helped him by handing him one of the latches.
“You’re pretty handy, huh? That’s why you’re going to go to the hardware store with me.” He turned to Devon. “Driver?”
“Luckily there’s an outdoor shopping center with a hardware store and a few places for me because I’m going to leave that nuts-and-bolts shopping to you guys.” Her gaze wandered to the rearview mirror. “Is that okay with you, Michael?”
Kieran didn’t dare turn around. He didn’t want to put any pressure on his son, but apparently the idea met with his approval because Devon nodded as she started the car.
As she swung into the large parking lot of the shopping center, Kieran leaned over and said in a low voice, “Does he sit in the basket?”
“Ask him. Sometimes he likes to for fun and sometimes he’d rather walk.”
Kieran plumbed the depths of his addled mind for other scenarios he could encounter on this shopping trip. He didn’t trust his judgment to make the right choice when the time came.
He swiped at a trickle of sweat along his hairline. Being a father contained more landmines than an enemy outpost.
Devon nabbed a parking space somewhere between the giant hardware store at the far end of the lot and an equally giant linens store. “Okay, you guys are on your own.”
Her simple words sent more fear to his belly than he’d ever encountered as a soldier. But in Michael’s state, he proved to be a docile companion, preferring to walk, although he clung to the basket, and agreeing with every one of Kieran’s suggestions.
In a short time, Kieran had cruised through the store and picked up the items he’d need to outfit Mrs. Reese’s home with enough sensor lighting to pick up a stray beetle. It had better be enough to scare off a killer.
Devon texted him while he was waiting in the check-out line to meet her at the coffee place at the northwest corner of the parking lot. Kieran paid for the purchases and handed Michael two bags to carry. At least Michael seemed physically strong and fit. The mind? They could work on that. They could both work on that.
As he and Michael sauntered to Devon’s table, she wore a worried look and had a cell phone pressed to her ear. Kieran’s pace quickened along with his pulse.
When Devon noticed their approach, she put up her index finger.
“It sure looks that way, Detective Marquette.”
Kieran yanked out a chair for Michael and another for himself. It was the SFPD homicide detective.
Devon shook her head. “I doubt it. Too coincidental, don’t you think?”
She paused and rolled her eyes at Kieran. He wished she’d put that thing on speaker, but she probably didn’t want to scare Michael.
Devon slammed her frothy coffee drink on the table and gripped the phone with two hands. “Things? What things?”
She then rattled off the address of her mother’s house and ended the call. “That was Detective Marquette.” She toyed with the straw on her frozen coffee drink, and then dug into her purse. She opened her palm to reveal several coins. “Michael, do you want to toss some coins into the fountain and make a wish? We’ll be right here.”
He held out his hand and she dumped the change into it.
Kieran watched Michael walk to the fountain, and then turned to Devon. “Everything okay?”
“Detective Marquette is already on his way down.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“Yeah.” She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and studied Michael perched on the edge of the fountain chucking coins into the water. “He said he had some things to discuss with me about Mrs. Del Vecchio.”
