* * *
There it was—the truth that had been weighing on Aidan’s mind ever since he’d arrived in Chesapeake Shores. He waited for a reaction, any reaction, but Thomas just stared at him, clearly stunned.
“I need to think a minute,” Thomas said, making his way to a bench and sinking down on it as if he’d suddenly aged.
Aidan followed, unsure of what to do next. He sat down, too, and waited.
“You have to be wrong,” Thomas said eventually.
Aidan had expected the shock, but not the denial. “You think I’d lie about something like this?”
“I’m not saying you’re lying,” Thomas said quickly. “Not at all. I think perhaps you jammed a few pieces of a puzzle together to make them fit and came to the wrong conclusion.”
“Are you saying you never slept with my mom?” Aidan asked bluntly. “That it’s not possible for you to be my father? Because if you are, I think maybe you’re the liar.”
Thomas’s face flushed. “Let’s go back and start over before we both say things we’re likely to regret. What makes you think I’m your father? You said your mother never once mentioned me, that she only talked about your father in general terms. Is that right?”
Aidan nodded. “She told me how idealistic he was, how committed he was to the cause that mattered to him, all things I think we can agree describe you perfectly.”
“We knew other idealistic people during that time in our lives,” Thomas suggested, sounding more desperate than defensive. “College kids become passionate about a lot of things.”
Aidan knew he held the one piece of information that would end the argument. It was safely locked away back in his apartment. “But their names aren’t on my birth certificate,” he said quietly.
This time the color drained out of Thomas’s face. “You have a copy of that?”
“I have the original. My mom had it hidden away, but I found it last summer when I was cleaning out her apartment after she died. She obviously didn’t put your name on there to trap you into paying child support since she never even mentioned my existence to you.” He frowned. “Or did she? Did she tell you she was pregnant? Did you turn your back on her?”
“Of course not,” Thomas said with what appeared to be genuine indignation. “That’s not the kind of man I am. I take responsibility for my actions. I may have made mistakes in my life, but I never run from things.”
“Now,” Aidan agreed readily enough. He’d seen enough to accept that Thomas O’Brien today was an honorable man. “But back then?”
“I did the same back then,” Thomas said. “If Anna had told me she was pregnant, I’d never have let her walk away.”
This time it was Aidan who was startled. “She broke up with you?”
“She did. She said she didn’t want to hold me back from the things I was meant to do and that a serious relationship at that stage of our lives would do that. I didn’t want her to go back to New York, but I couldn’t argue with her, either. We were too blasted young. And she seemed excited about finishing up her college degree in New York.”
“She never finished her degree,” Aidan revealed. “She didn’t have the time or money for it, not with a baby on the way. My grandparents helped out. We lived with them until I was two, but their apartment was too crowded and I was too noisy and disruptive. Plus, if you knew my mom so well, you know how independent she was. She worked two jobs sometimes, until she finally found one in the city with an organization that gave grants to environmental protection projects.”
Thomas regarded him with what seemed to be real regret. “I’m so sorry it was so difficult for her, and for you. If I’d known about what was going on, I’d have found a way to make things easier.”
His expression filled with sorrow. “I wish I had known, Aidan. I really do. Her decision to leave came out of the blue. I thought we were happy as we were. I suppose I should have asked more questions. I’m sorry now that I didn’t.”
“But at the time you were relieved when she was gone, weren’t you?” Aidan said, his words sounding more like an accusation than a question. And maybe he’d meant them to be just that, one of the many accusations he’d wanted to direct at this man who’d allowed him to grow up without a father.
“I was confused,” Thomas replied slowly, as if giving his response real thought. “I was unhappy. But looking back, maybe I was a little relieved. She was right about the intensity of what we shared. We were in love, or thought we were. That kind of youthful passion can be a distraction and I didn’t want to lose focus.”
He finally looked in Aidan’s direction, studying him as if searching for proof that they shared DNA. “I can’t believe she would have kept a son from me, not the Anna I knew.”
“Not even to keep you from losing focus?” Aidan asked, his tone mocking as he echoed Thomas’s words.
“Look, son—”
“Don’t call me that,” Aidan said sharply. “You haven’t earned the right.”
“But isn’t that the point?” Thomas asked. “If you are my son, we have to figure out where we go from here, how to build on that truth.”
“If?” Aidan said, his anger stirring. “Are we back to calling me a liar? Or my mom?”
“I’m just saying that the situation is complicated,” Thomas replied, his tone surprisingly calm. “Neither of us knows why your mother did what she did. If she never told you my name, maybe that’s because she only wanted me to be your father, but couldn’t be certain.”
Aidan was on his feet. “Are you suggesting that my mother, the woman you claim to have loved, that you claim loved you, was cheating on you?” he asked, outraged by the suggestion. “That she put your name on my
