“Oh, for goodness sake. Old men do stuff like that all the time. It means nothing. They just forget who they’re with, and sometimes, even what day it is. When somebody comes along who reminds them of someone else, like their wife or girlfriend or mother, they lose touch with reality, and sometimes, they behave inappropriately toward that person. He didn’t mean anything when he grabbed my butt. Trust me. I’ve seen this kind of thing happen with some of the older guys who wander into Raymond’s Place. He needs help, Alex. Our help. I can’t just toss him into the street because you’re still mad at him.”
Raymond’s Place was the home for runaway teenagers that Kelsey managed across the Potomac River in Washington, DC. Originally intended as a safe haven just for teenagers, she’d taken in more than a few homeless vets over the years. Quite a few of them worked for her now.
“Other old guys have slapped your butt? And you didn’t tell me?” That needed to stop.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, knock it off. It means nothing. Especially not from elderly men who have nowhere to go and no one to watch out for them.”
Her overly kind perspective of his old man set Alex back. “Are you sure he’s sick?”
“I’m no doctor, but yes, sweetheart. Mel isn’t the same person who left you and your mom. He might act tough, but I’ll bet he’s just a shadow of the man he used to be. The older he gets, the more help he’ll need. McKenna said she’d stop by and give him a quick assessment this afternoon. There are ten signs that’ll tell us what we need to know. She gave me the name of a geriatrician who’ll see Mel today. I already made an appointment. It’s at three o’clock. If you take him, I’ll call McKenna and tell her there’s no need to stop by.”
“Today?” Well, damn. Alex lifted his fist to his lips, his course for the day already set in stone, plotted, and ruined. “I guess that means you want me to take Mel to see this doctor, this geriatrician.”
Of course. Kelsey had just had a C-section. She should be in their bed, sleeping with that little boy she’d delivered yesterday moring, while Lexie hovered and fussed about. Not traipsing across town, dragging an ornery old cuss who might get handsy with her between here and there, to a doctor’s appointment.
“I think he’ll feel more comfortable with his son at his side instead of a woman he barely knows, don’t you? I know you’re tired, but this is important.”
Damn it. Kelsey was formidable when she set her mind to any task. But talk about having the rug pulled out from under his feet. This was not how Alex saw this morning going. He’d been up the night before last with Kelsey, then all last night with his TEAM. He was tired, and now he was pissed. But never at Kelsey.
“Whisper and Smoke should be inside the house with you,” he told his dearly beloved. They were his former Army EOD canines. His guard dogs. The beefy four-legged fellows that adored Kelsey and Lexie, would die for them. Would kill for them, too.
“I’ve already fed them. The boys are fine. Will you go with your dad?”
“Yes, sweetheart,” Alex replied reluctantly, pressing his lips to the center of her forehead, behind which was a very intelligent brain. So much for reining in the thunder. He closed his eyes, his migraine starting up all over again. Usually, the moment he came through his garage door and into his kitchen, it backed off. But seeing Mel at the table had brought everything crashing back. And now this…
“Libby brought a complete turkey dinner over for us. She knows how much you like stuffing, gravy, and cranberries.”
“So I heard.”
“She made pecan and pumpkin pies, too,” Kelsey wheedled.
Alex looked down into the deep brown eyes of the woman he adored. He prided himself on having very few weaknesses, but Kelsey was his greatest. So was pecan pie. “With whipped cream?”
“Whipped cream with nutmeg…” She said with plenty of sexual innuendo.
His stomach growled and his body hardened. “Breakfast first, then I might indulge.”
Kelsey could read him like a book. “You can’t indulge for two more months, sweetheart, but I’d let you have all the pie you want today.”
“You will, huh?” God, he loved this woman. “I almost laughed out loud back there,” he confessed. “That little girl of yours gets smarter every day. She’s just like you.”
“Uh uh. She’s more like her dad.”
“No, Kelsey. She’s you all over again, and someday, she’s going to bring some guy home, and I’m going to have to kick his ass.”
“I can see the fight now,” Kelsey breathed into the hollow of his neck. “Who do you think will win, Lexie or you?”
He had to laugh even as his mouth descended over Kelsey’s. “I have a feeling I’ve already lost.” And didn’t that make him the winner?
Chapter Twenty
Maddie slipped out from under Jameson’s arm, out of his room, and back into hers. She showered and dressed, combed her long hair out, and twisted it while it was still wet into a loose chignon. Morning was long gone, but these men would need food and she meant to serve. In the kitchen, she made a large pot of coffee, then decided they needed breakfast again instead of lunch. It was early afternoon, but she knew these guys. So, she whipped up a batch of easy bake cinnamon rolls and put them in the oven, then lined up two pounds of bacon on the side-by-side built-in griddles. She whipped up two dozen eggs and had everything smelling good and herself looking perfectly innocent and normal, by the time Harley yawned his way to the
