Sean didn’t want any part of the investigation. It was one thing for Ryan to conduct his search, maybe turn up this family member or that one. Then Sean could see them…or not. But the memory of Michael, his lower lip trembling as he was led away by a different set of foster parents, made him want some resolution, too. And one look at Ryan’s expression told him he couldn’t sit on the sidelines, especially when there might be a way he could help.
“There’s a guy in the department whose brother is at the Pentagon. Maybe he’d be willing to do a little digging around for us,” Sean conceded reluctantly. “Want me to ask him?”
“That would be great,” Ryan said enthusiastically. “I know you have your reservations about all this, but seeing me again hasn’t been so awful, has it?”
Sean grinned. “Hardly. How many times have I actually seen you, though? You could start to get on my nerves yet.”
“Very funny. Now tell me about this woman we’re helping this morning,” Ryan coaxed, circling right back to the topic Sean had been hoping to avoid. “How’d you meet?”
Sean told him the story of the fire and all about Kevin. When he was finished there was a broad grin on his brother’s face.
“You are so hooked,” Ryan declared happily.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Is she pretty?”
“I suppose.”
“Sweet?”
He thought of Deanna’s sharp edges and feisty independence, all of it tempered by a surprising naiveté. “Sweet enough, I guess.”
“Vulnerable?”
Sean’s gaze narrowed. “Yes,” he confirmed tightly.
“And she’s a struggling single mom?”
“Yes. What’s your point?”
“Damsel in distress. Kid desperate for a father. Firefighter with a need to play hero. You do the math.”
Sean didn’t like the way things were adding up in his brother’s head. “Oh, go to hell,” he muttered.
His brother grinned. “Not till I get a look at this woman. And before you tell me what a pain in the butt I am, consider this—it could be worse.”
“I don’t see how.”
“Maggie would be all over this,” he teased. His face took on an odd expression, and then he met Sean’s gaze. “She’s got all these nesting urges.” He hesitated, then added, “She’s pregnant.”
Sean studied his brother, trying to gauge how he felt about the news. He didn’t know him well enough to read him with any accuracy. “You sound dazed,” he said finally. “You are happy about this, aren’t you?”
“Happy. Terrified.”
“What are you terrified about?” Sean asked, even though he could guess the answer. He opted for being supportive, saying the words he’d want to hear if he were in Ryan’s place. “You’re going to be a great father. And Maggie’s amazing. She’ll be a wonderful mother.”
“Oh?” Ryan said, his expression skeptical. “Maggie will be a terrific mother, but me as a dad? I don’t know. It’s not like either you or I had a sterling example set for us.”
“Which means you’ll try all the harder to avoid making the same mistakes,” Sean reassured him, stealing words Deanna had once expressed to him.
“The same way you’re trying with this kid? What’s his name? Kevin?”
Sean sighed. “Yeah. Something like that.”
“A word of caution,” Ryan said. “If what you’re saying is true, that you’re not interested in his mom—not that I believe that for a second—then be careful. Who knows better than the two of us what it feels like to be abandoned? You may not officially be this kid’s dad, but if he’s come to think of you that way, it could be devastating if you take off.”
“Yeah, I know,” Sean said. “It’s not something I’m likely to forget.”
With that thought hanging in the air, they fell silent. Ryan had managed to hit on the one flaw in Sean’s plan to keep Deanna at arm’s length. He needed to make a decision to stay—or go—before it was too late.
Unfortunately, he knew in his heart it was already too late on all counts. There was no question that he already loved that boy. What was more important, like it or not, he was in love with the kid’s mom.
Admitting that to himself was one thing. Acting on it—doing what was right—was entirely another. But there was no question about one thing, he was running out of excuses and out of time.
Sean had been in an odd mood all day. Deanna glanced at him now and found that he was still wearing the same brooding expression she’d found troubling the second he’d shown up with his brother in tow.
The fact that he hadn’t reacted at all to the discovery that she’d already managed to find a few pieces of furniture was especially telling. She’d expected a scathing glance at the sofa, maybe a remark about the bed, but there’d been nothing at all.
Maybe it was because his brother was with him, she concluded. She’d liked Ryan Devaney at once, even when she’d realized that he was subtly sizing her up. In fact, a part of her liked him even more for that. She thought it was great that he was looking out for his kid brother, even after all the years they’d been separated. Though the byplay between them was awkward at times, there was an unmistakable undercurrent of love and a bond that was growing stronger as time went on.
Apparently she’d won Ryan’s wholehearted approval, because he’d kissed her cheek when he’d left and whispered, “Hang in there.”
She still wasn’t entirely certain what that had been about, but she suspected it had something to do with Sean’s weird mood. He’d offered to give his brother a lift, but Ryan had turned him down flat, hitching a ride with Hank and Ruby instead.
Kevin was spending the weekend with a friend, so he hadn’t been underfoot during the painting, which meant Deanna was now all alone in her new apartment with Sean.
“Thanks for helping today,” she said as she gathered up empty pizza boxes and hauled them off to the trash can in the kitchen. “You want
