Blame It On Paris

'So… you're the son of a bitch.'

The man's voice was pleasant enough, but the content made Will think of acid rain.

So, Will thought.

So.

He had about a millisecond to form impressions. Her ex-fiance was about what he'd expected, since Kelly would never have picked a loser. The guy had decent looks, plenty of IQ in the eyes. He was a little round-shouldered. Will thought critically, but that judgment might have been colored by his searching hard for a fault. Jason, similarly, was looking him over as if examining roadkill.

'I was wondering if I'd have a chance to meet you.' Will said, with no inflection at all in his tone, or he hoped there wasn't. If he'd ever aspired to being onstage, which he hadn't, this was certainly his moment. There didn't seem to be a soul in the whole circus-sized crowd who didn't know that Will was the one Kelly had left Jason for-at least as far as they knew.

'I can't believe you'd show up here.' Jason, wearing a white polo and shorts, was a few inches shorter than Will, which made Will extra wary. Short guys always had more to prove in public.

Will had plenty to prove, too, of course. That Kelly didn't have to worry anything would happen if he showed up. That Kelly would know she had a support system here if anyone was unkind to her. That Kelly would know he could handle tough situations without bailing.

Which meant he couldn't punch out the bozo, no matter the provocation.

'I didn't come to cause anyone a problem, Jason. I wanted to bring Char a present. To meet more of Kelly's family.'

'Yeah, right. Did you imagine you'd find any friends here? Everyone in this whole crowd has known Kelly and I since we were kids together.'

'Yes, Kelly told me that.' A little late. Will realized he could smell alcohol on Jason's breath.

'You thought you'd be welcome?'

Not that Will could feel a trickle of sweat snaking down his spine, but he was pretty sure if he said anything wrong, anything at all, Jason wouldn't mind taking a swing at him. It wouldn't be about who won or who got hurt. It would just be for the joy of Jason getting to throw a punch.

Will understood the dynamic. He had the same Y chromosome, after all.

But he had to come through for Kelly in this. That was it. There were no other choices. He had to be the guy she needed him to be. Period.

'I didn't think about being welcomed or not,' he said quietly. 'I just wanted to know some of the people in Kelly's life. Actually, that includes you. I never met her until she was going through hell and a half after the mugging in Paris.'

Jason either didn't hear him or just wanted to bully through his own agenda. 'If you think Maguire money's going to make you look good here, you'd better think again. Seduce another guy's woman. You're in the dirt class and there's no shovel deep enough to get you out.'

My, this was pleasant.

Will swallowed bile, swallowed some more bile, then swallowed again. It'd be so easy to answer that. So easy to defend himself, to get angry, to take on the battle Jason was inviting. Instead he said. 'I'm sorry you lost her.'

And then thought, uh-oh. Jason opened his mouth, closed it, didn't seem to know what to say or do.

Will figured that was it. he was either going to get punched out or things were going to calm down. Given that he'd screwed up absolutely everything else today, he figured it was going to go the wrong way.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

'KELLY…' Her mom shot in the back screen door. 'You were right.'

'About what?' Kelly was in the kitchen to grab a fresh roll of paper towels and a new tray of brownies.

'He's here.'

This batch of brownies was sticking harder than the last. Kelly had to dig in the spatula at the edges. 'Didn't I tell you he'd come?'

'Okay, yes, you did.' Her mom leaned against the counter. 'He's a good guy,' she said slowly.

'I told you that, too.'

'Yeah, well, you came home from Paris all different. Some of it had to be him. Maybe I didn't want to believe it was about me and your father so much. It was a lot easier to believe that Will was at fault.'

Kelly glanced at her mom again. 'And now? Do you still feel that way?'

'Now, I guess I wouldn't have any trouble loving a man who would walk on water for my daughter. Which, just for the record, is exactly what he was doing a minute ago. Jason found him, and I believe Jason was drinking a fair amount before he showed up this afternoon. If Will were my boyfriend, I'd probably go out there and find some subtle way to rescue him.'

'Holy kamoly, were you waiting for an invitation before telling me?' Kelly left the brownie tray and the paper towels and galloped outside.

She had no problem finding the guys. The neighborhood, being the neighborhood, was never quiet at a gig like this unless there was something fascinating worth being quiet for.

Under an old elm tree, near the birthday present table-and in the shade of one of the noisier poker games- Jason was sprawled on the ground. Will crouched next to him.

No one was going anywhere near the two except for Kelly, who hadn't run faster since high school track.

Will felt her shadow, looked up immediately with panicked eyes. 'Kelly, I never touched him. I think he'd had a fair amount to drink. And he was standing in the sun. And-'

'I'm guessing that's right. He never could handle much alcohol.'

'He's having a real tough day.' Will said.

'Aren't we all?' Any other time, a dozen people would have helped them. Instead, both families watched the two of them shift Jason over to a cool grassy spot in the shade.

'Need a lukewarm damp cloth. Maybe a thermometer. If this is just passing out from drinking, it's one thing,' Will said. ''But if it's heat related, we'd better figure it out pretty quick.'

Will took his pulse. Kelly wanted to shake her head, not surprised Will was taking charge even with her pistol of an ex. Minutes later, Jason's face and neck were being sponged down with lukewarm water. His pulse and temperature revealed nothing out of the ordinary. The diagnosis was too much beer too early in the day, for a guy who was already hot under the collar.

Jason's sisters got around to moving in, then. A measure of their acceptance of Will, whether Will knew it or not, was their exchanging some basic dialogue with him, even a second of laughter.

'Come on, you,' Kelly ordered Will, once the crisis was over and Jason was in his family's hands. In an ideal world, she'd serve him a glass of lemonade and hang out at the party with him, but nothing was ideal today. Everybody brought food and drink to these neighborhood parties, but kitchen detail- since it was her mom's birthday-fell on her for this one. There was no end to trash pickup or delivery of more food.

Since she was doing it, Will was doing it. The chores were a major comedown for a guy from the other side of the tracks-mopping up spills, serving the seniors, picking up paper plates and pop cans, carting trash. But Will never left her side.

'Don't be angry,' Will said. 'I know you told me not to come.'

'It's all right. I knew you would, and I really need to talk with you besides. I found the guy you were looking for. Will. It just came together this morning, in fact.'

'Wait. How did you know I'd be here? And what guy?'

'John Henry.' They both had to stop in front of the seniors. Anyone over sixty-five expected to be waited on in this crowd, even if they could outrun and outdance the younger generations by miles. Beer, lemonade, pop and ice water were delivered. Will brought up the rear with a trash bin.

'You were right about him, Will. There are missing periods of time. It seems he wasn't John Henry when he