A Father's Promise (Intimate Moments) Page 11

  Ellis appeared momentarily moved by the story before shrugging it off. “I still don’t see the connection to the current situation.”

  “Thomas St. Claire isn’t your father, Ellis, agreed?”

  “Agreed.”

  “So that means your real biological father is still out there somewhere.”

  “It’s a real big world out there, Sydney. There’s more than two hundred and fifty million people in the United States alone. How do you suppose I find him?”

  “Coalsburg is a pretty small town. Not too many people leave it.”

  “My mother left it.”

  “Yes, she did. She also never came back. Not even for a visit.”

  “Ellis, Sydney’s right.” Thomas sat up straight and all signs of fatigue were gone. “Catherine might not have come back for fear of running into your real father. She knew he would still be here.”

  “Maybe she was afraid of running into her parents.”

  “Could be, but if Sydney’s right about her being scared of naming your real father, then my money’s on her being afraid of running into him. Your father has to be from this town, Ellis. Catherine was in high school back then and she rarely left town except for a few church trips that I remember.”

  “There’s still a chance, Ellis.” Sydney didn’t want to build up his hopes just to watch them come crashing down, but he needed to explore every opportunity. “Trevor’s grandfather still might be living in town. We could find him.”

  “How?”

  “That’s where we need my father’s help.” She reached out and touched her father’s hand. He turned his palm over and linked fingers with her. “My father knows everyone in town, and he knows who was around thirty-three years ago.” She gave her father a loving smile and squeezed his hand. “With his help we could find Trevor’s grandfather.”

  Ellis thought about it for a moment then released a heavy sigh. “I would greatly appreciate anything you two might uncover, but I still have to head on home. Trevor needs me right now and he’s too young to understand why I’m not with him. I’ve been away too long as it is. I can’t stay any longer.”

  “We understand, Ellis, and we certainly don’t want to cause Trevor any more distress.” Thomas said.

  “I think the only solution would be if you brought Trevor out here to stay.” Sydney squeezed her father’s hand once again. “While my father’s mind might be a steel trap, he is going to need someone to do his legwork for him. If you bring Trevor to stay with us, there would be two of us to do the running. Plus you would be with your son. There’s plenty of room in the house and I know both my father and I would love to meet him.”

  “You won’t mind?”

  “Mind having Catherine’s grandson under my roof?” Thomas said. “It would be my pleasure, Ellis. Catherine thought enough of me to name me as the father of her child. The least I can do is help her son and grandson out. She would have wanted me to.” Thomas stood up and reached for his cane. “I’m going to the den to start working on my strategy. Thirty-three-year-old mysteries can be tricky.” Thomas left the room.

  Sydney didn’t watch her father leave. She was too busy watching the emotions sweep across Ellis’s face. Doubt was slowly being replaced with hope. She prayed she was doing the right thing and not setting Ellis up for another fall. “You know there is a chance your father might have left town or won’t admit to impregnating your mother and then abandoning her.”

  “I know, Sydney. Your little scheme has a very slim chance of working, and even if it does there’s no guarantee that Trevor’s grandfather would take the test and agree to become a donor. Then there’s the slim-tonothing chance there would be an actual match.” The frown on Ellis’s face lifted slightly. “Then again, if I headed home, there would be no chance at all, would there?”

  “Trevor would love springtime in the country.”

  “Five-year-old boys can be a handful. The house will be stuck in perpetual chaos.”

  “I’m sure the chaos will be outweighed by the love he will bring.”

  “The only thing that would outweigh the chaos is the number of stuffed animals he is going to insist on bringing with him.” Ellis chuckled as he shook his head at the thought. “I have a hell of a time saying no to him.”

  Sydney answered his chuckle with one of her own. The love Ellis felt for his son was obvious even to her untrained eye. “Five-foot-long alligators in the tub would definitely liven things up around here.”

  Ellis’s laugh slowly faded and a gleam of hunger leaped into his eyes. “You know that if I come back we’re going to become lovers.” His finger reached out and touched the corner of her mouth. “I can’t fight the desire any longer, Sydney. I want you too much to spend another night under the same roof as you without touching you. Tasting you. Knowing all of you. This time I won’t be stopping with kisses. This time there won’t be any stopping at all.”

  Sydney felt the heat of his gaze burn into her soul and the touch of his finger singe her heart. Ellis was telling her the truth. There wouldn’t be any stopping when he returned.

  Ellis lowered his hand. “I’ll ask you one last time, Syd. Do you want me to come back with my son to look for his grandfather?”

  She knew what he was saying. They would become lovers, but eventually he would have to leave again. Ellis’s home wasn’t in the small coal town of Coalsburg. Trevor needed advanced medical treatment that only big urban hospitals could provide. Even Ellis’s business was based in Philadelphia. Everything was stacked against a happy-ever-after ending. She told herself she could live with that as long as she knew it from the beginning. Making love with Ellis wasn’t a desire. It was a necessity.

  She stepped closer to him and gave him temporary custody of her heart. “Come back, Ellis. I want you too much to fight it any longer.”

  Ellis’s mouth crushed hers beneath his with the promise of both fulfillment and the pleasure that was soon to come. Real soon.

  Chapter 7

  Sydney glanced around the living room in awe. She had just figured out a new mathematical equation. One little boy times three hours equaled total chaos. Ellis had been right. She really hadn’t doubted him for a moment. She just thought he had been exaggerating a bit.

  The room that had once been her mother’s pride and joy had been turned into a zoo. The huge overstuffed sofa that was upholstered in a soft cream with huge pink cabbage roses was overrun with lions and tigers. The matching chair held an elephant and a six-foot-long rubber snake. The orangutan family had claimed the Queen Anne chair. She had to chuckle at the scene.

  Trevor had followed the one rule she had set down. Nothing was to go on the floor, where her father might trip over it. The floor was spotless, except for the expensive wool area rug her mother had purchased last year. It was the rest of the room that was in disarray. A charming disarray that would have panicked her mother and made her father laugh if he could see it.

  Thomas had fallen in love with Trevor within twenty minutes of the boy’s arrival. She was positive the feeling was mutual. Ellis had obviously explained to Trevor about Thomas and the fact that he was blind. Trevor had accepted her father’s blindness without any awkward silences or questions.

  Her father had been more nervous about the first meeting than the little boy. Trevor, who had been clutching one of the orangutans, had immediately gone into some long explanation on what the hairy apes ate. After being duly impressed, Thomas had asked to hold the monkey so he could “see” with his hands. Trevor, intrigued by this new way of “seeing,” had instantly shown Thomas every animal he had brought with him. The back seat of Ellis’s Mercedes had been full when they had pulled up earlier.

  “I did try to warn you.” Ellis’s voice came from directly behind her and held a hint of laughter.

  “Yes, you did.” She felt the flutter of excitement dance in her stomach at his nearness. Ellis was back. They were going to become lovers. She could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. She glanced over
her shoulder and gave him a warm smile. “I can see why you have trouble saying no to Trevor. He’s not only adorable, he does things quietly. He doesn’t go around demanding things and throwing tantrums when he doesn’t get his way, does he?”

  A couple of her friends had small children and she had experienced firsthand what some of them could do when they didn’t get their way. Heck, she had heard the noise they could create when things were going their way. She hadn’t really known what to expect with Trevor, but quiet hadn’t even entered her mind.

  “Trevor has never thrown a tantrum in his life. With everything he has been through, no one would blame him for throwing more than a tantrum or two.” Ellis reached out and lightly touched a curl that had escaped the ponytail she had pulled her hair into earlier. “I’ve missed you.”

  “You only were gone seven hours.” Seven hours and fourteen minutes, but who was counting?

  “That’s the part that scared me.”

  Since he had walked out the door and driven away this morning, she had been half-afraid he wouldn’t return, while the other half of her was anxious that he would. The decision was already made, they were going to become lovers. She turned her face and pressed her cheek into his warm palm. “I know that feeling well.”

  Ellis had only been here less than a week and the house had seemed empty when he left. What was she going to do when he was gone for good? She’d face that future when she had to. For now, him being there was all that mattered.

  She moved a step closer and watched as the heat of desire flared in his eyes. She felt his hand cupping her cheek, pulling her closer still. Closer to his warmth. Closer to his mouth.

  She could feel the forthcoming kiss that was already electrifying the air between their mouths. She wanted this kiss. She had been dreaming of this kiss for seven hours and fourteen minutes. With a light sigh she closed her eyes and reached for him.

  “Dad, can we have dinner soon. I’m hungry.” Trevor’s voice came from the area around her thigh.

  Sydney jerked back and nearly collided with the chair holding the orangutan family. She glanced down at Trevor, who had entered the room unnoticed and was standing less than a foot away from his dad. A quarter of an inch more and Trevor would have caught them kissing. It was an unsettling thought. A flush darkened her cheeks as she glanced at Ellis.

  Ellis’s gaze seem to stare longingly at her mouth while he ruffled his son’s brown hair. “I’m sure dinner will be soon. I’m feeling mighty hungry myself.”

  She knew exactly what Ellis was hungry for, and it wasn’t the roast she had slipped into the oven over an hour ago. “Dinner will be in about twenty minutes, Trevor. Can you wait that long?” Somewhere in the kitchen there had to be something the boy could munch on without ruining his dinner. Trevor was on the thin side. An extra calorie here and there wouldn’t hurt him.

  “How many’s that, Dad?”

  “Twenty minutes, Trev. You know how to count to twenty.” Ellis appeared quite proud of that fact.

  “Yeah, but how long’s that?”

  “Enough time for you to have one cookie and help me set the table.” She gave Trevor a friendly smile. “I baked a batch of chocolate-chip cookies while your father went to get you. He told me they were your favorite.” She wanted Trevor to know he was welcome in their home and she had needed something to do while Ellis was gone. It had been a toss-up between food shopping, stopping in at the nursery, baking cookies and fixing dinner or having her very first anxiety attack. She had chosen to bake.

  Trevor pulled on his father’s hand. “Can I, Dad?”

  “What, have a cookie or help Miss St. Claire set the table?” Ellis smiled down at his son. All the love he felt for the child was clearly visible in that smile.

  “Both, Dad, please.” Trevor tried not to appear excited about the prospect of getting a cookie before dinner.

  “I guess it’s all right just this once.” Ellis gave her a probing look. “As long as you don’t make a habit of eating cookies before every meal.”

  “I won’t.” Trevor gave her a hopeful look.

  She smiled down at the boy and held out her hand. “Follow me, Trev, and I’ll show you the way to the cookie jar.” Trevor’s little hand felt so fragile and warm when it reached for her outstretched hand. He grabbed her hand without a moment’s hesitation and the trust he handed her with his tiny hand nearly overwhelmed her heart. Trevor had given her his trust. She turned and headed for the kitchen before Ellis or Trevor saw the tears forming in her eyes.

  The red stool, positioned near the phone on the wall, caught her eye. When she was a little girl, her mother always pulled it over to the counter for her. She used to sit on it and watch or help with whatever her mother was doing. Many fond memories were connected with that stool.

  Without releasing Trevor’s hand, she pulled the step stool over near the counter and motioned for him to climb on up. The stool had two little steps and had seen its share of action whenever she or her mother had needed something from the back of one of the top shelves.

  Trevor scampered up the steps and perched himself on the seat as if he were king. “Mrs. McCall lets me set the table at home.”

  “I bet you’re pretty good at it, aren’t you?” She reached for the white ceramic cookie jar with red geraniums painted on it and lifted the lid. The aroma of freshly baked cookies whiffed out and tantalized even her senses. Amazingly, she had not sampled any of the cookies as they lay cooling on the wire rack. Her father was another story. She had to shoo him out of the kitchen before there wasn’t any left for Trevor.

  She held the jar out to the little boy. “Remember, only one.”

  Trevor took a cookie and smiled. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She held the jar out to Ellis who had followed her into the kitchen and was leaning against the counter watching the exchange between her and his son. “Only one for you too. I don’t want you ruining your dinner.”

  Ellis took a cookie and grinned at his son and winked. “Thanks, Trev. Without you here, she never would have let me have a cookie before dinner.”

  She picked a cookie for herself and replaced the cookie jar. “Just don’t tell my father.”

  “Don’t tell your father what?” Thomas had entered the kitchen just as the words came out of her mouth.

  Ellis chuckled and Trevor bit into his cookie. She shook her head at the cookie clutched in her hand and knew she couldn’t hide the truth from her father. Thomas had probably smelled the cookies the instant she took the lid off the jar. “They aren’t allowed to tell you we’re sneaking cookies before dinner.”

  One of Thomas’s eyebrows raised behind his dark glasses. “Cookies?”

  “Trevor was hungry.” She smiled at the boy and bit into her own cookie.

  Thomas walked farther into the room and tried to sniff out the direction of the cookie jar. “Can’t have the boy go hungry, can we?”

  Once again she reached for the cookie jar and gently bumped it against her father’s hand. Thomas immediately snatched up a cookie and grinned. “What do you think, Trev, are the cookies any good?”

  “They’re real good, Mr. St. Claire. They’re almost as good as Mrs. McCall’s.”

  Almost! Almost as good as Mrs. McCall’s! She frowned at the cookie—minus one big bite—in her hand. What did he mean almost as good as Mrs. McCall’s?

  Her father tried, but wasn’t successful in covering up his chuckle before he turned his attention to eating his cookie.

  “A high compliment indeed.” Ellis gave her a reassuring smile. “Trevor is totally smitten with Rita and everything she does.”

  She nearly blushed with pleasure as Ellis tried to soften his son’s words. It was very sweet of him to reassure her. Then again, she was the one cooking their dinner tonight.

  “What’s smitten?” Trevor asked.

  “It means you really like Mrs. McCall.” Ellis ruffled his son’s hair as he polished off the rest of his cookie.

  “I
love her, Dad.” Trevor frowned for a moment. “Kyle came over to play zoo with me yesterday and he told me he has two grandmoms and that I didn’t have any. Mrs. McCall said I wasn’t to worry none because she’ll be my grandmom anytime I want.”

  The look on Ellis’s face as he gazed at his son not only tugged at her heart, it hauled it across her chest and jammed it into her throat. Trevor wasn’t belittling her cookies, he was being loyal to his “grandmother” Rita. The woman earned more than a raise in salary. She deserved a nomination into sainthood.

  Ellis walked into the den and immediately glanced at Sydney. She was curled up on the couch with her nose buried in the mounds of paperwork surrounding her. Guilt assaulted him again. Because of him, and now Trevor, she had once again missed out on going to the nursery and doing the paperwork there. Instead, she would spend half the night doing it. He knew what it took to run a business. Whatever energy of his that Trevor didn’t use up, One If By Land did.

  Sydney was in the same boat. Her father was now solely dependent on her, at least physically. As for financially, he didn’t know how Thomas was set, before or after the accident. He had considered it too personal to have him investigated that way. It hadn’t mattered to him how well off Thomas had been. All that had concerned him was the components in his blood. Now he was glad he hadn’t had the man’s financial status investigated. Thomas wasn’t his biological father after all.

  The television was turned on low and Thomas seemed to be listening to it.

  Sydney turned her head and glanced at him the moment he walked into the room. “Is Trevor asleep?”

  “He made it through one book, but conked out on me in the middle of the second.” He had started the habit of reading to Trevor at night years ago. His son had grown up with a love for books and words. “He now knows at least eight more jungle animals that he doesn’t have in his collection.”

  “The boy sure knows his animals,” Thomas said with a chuckle. “Maybe he’ll be a veterinarian when he grows up.”