A Chesapeake Shores Christmas (7 page)

She went back onto the porch, staring out into the gathering darkness, hoping to see headlights coming up the coastal highway. She was battling disappointment when someone scooped her up from behind and twirled her around.

“Megan O’Brien, I never thought I’d live to see you back in this house again,” Thomas said, beaming as he set her back on her feet. “Are you sure you want to go another round with that obstinate brother of mine when I’m available?”

Megan laughed at his teasing. Thomas’s lighthearted banter had always raised her spirits, and she’d known never to take his flirtatious remarks to heart. Mick was capable of blarney, but Thomas had raised it to an art form.

“If there’s one thing I know about you,” she told him now, “it’s that you’re every bit the workaholic your brother used to be. Why would I let myself in for that again?”

“And you think Mick has reformed?” Thomas asked skeptically.

“I know he has,” she said with confidence.

Mick emerged from the house in time to overhear. He scowled at his younger brother with mock indignation. “Are you out here trying to steal my woman?” he demanded. “Why would she want you? You’re hardly a prize.”

“But I am handsome and charming and will treat her like a queen,” Thomas claimed, giving Megan a wink.

Mick put a possessive arm around her waist. “Go find your own woman, if you can. Those two wives of yours didn’t leave you for no reason. Obviously you have a few serious flaws that exceed even mine.”

Thomas didn’t look offended by the jab. For one thing, they all knew Mick’s remark was true. For another, Thomas was used to Mick taking any opportunity to take a genial poke at him.

“Pot calling the kettle black,” Thomas retorted. “Megan had plenty of reasons to walk out on you, as well.”

Listening to them, she shook her head. “It’s lovely to see that you two still squabble like little boys,” she told them. “Shouldn’t one of you be more mature by now?”

“I hope I never get so old that I can’t take on the likes of him,” Mick said.

“Age and maturity are two different matters,” Thomas commented. “I’m not surprised you didn’t know that, big brother.”

Megan laughed. “If Nell overhears the two of you, you’ll wind up eating Thanksgiving dinner all alone in the kitchen. She won’t tolerate fussing at her table.” She studied the two men. “I thought you reached some kind of truce when you were both conspiring to get Kevin and Shanna together.”

“Now that was a worthy cause,” Thomas said. “Kevin comes to work happy every day now. He’s not the sad, broken man he was after Georgia died.”

“Amen to that,” Mick said in a rare display of consensus.

“There now,” Megan said happily. “See how easy it is to get along? Let’s go inside for dinner right this second, before this jovial mood wears off. See if you can’t carry it over to include Jeff, as well.”

“Now you’re just dreaming,” Mick said, but he gave her a smile that belied his words. He’d keep the peace today, because it was what Nell expected and what the occasion deserved.

As they walked into the jam-packed dining room, they found chaos. Even though there was plenty of room at the table for everyone, the kids especially were jockeying for position as if they feared being left out. The parents were making a mostly futile effort to bring order. It was Nell who tapped on a crystal goblet until she finally had every one’s attention.

“Did you not see the place cards I put on this table just to avoid this kind of scene?” she inquired. “Now find your places quietly, or you’ll eat in the kitchen.” She gave all of them a stern look. “And I’m not just warning the children, either.”

To Megan’s amusement, order reigned immediately. Nell might be diminutive, but her words carried weight with this family. Megan noted that even though Nell expected her sons to get along, she’d been careful to keep them well separated. It was easy enough to do, given the size of the crowd.

They had all barely settled down and Mick was about to say grace, when the doorbell rang. Megan’s spirits immediately rose, even though the likelihood of Connor ringing the doorbell, rather than walking in, was slight.

“I’ll get it,” she said, then hurried into the foyer.

She opened the front door still half expecting to find Connor, but instead she found a pretty young woman with blond hair, sad eyes and an infant in her arms. Wrapped in a blue blanket and wearing a warm blue jacket, the baby looked to be at least six months old, possibly older, and, to Megan’s shock, there was no mistaking the coal-black hair and striking blue eyes of the child as anything other than an O’Brien’s.

She opened the door wider and stepped aside, determined to be gracious despite her shock and confusion. “Come in. Please. It’s far too chilly for the baby to be outside.”

The young woman shook her head. “I can’t stay,” she said, then held the bundled-up baby out toward Megan.

Instinctively, Megan took the boy into her arms, cradling him against her chest. He squirmed in protest, but quieted as she rubbed his back.

“I don’t understand,” she said, her gaze on the woman’s face. “Why are you here?”

“Because of the baby. He needs his father,” she said, already taking a step back.

It was every bit as bad as Megan had feared. “Don’t you want to come in and talk about this?”

“No.” She cast a look of longing at the baby. “His name’s Mick,” she said, leaving Megan’s breath lodged in her throat. “Michael Devlin O’Brien, actually.”

His name was Mick? How could that possibly be? Megan’s thoughts reeled.

The solemn little boy in Megan’s arms stirred at the mention of his name and reached for his mother, but she was already at the bottom of the steps.

She swallowed hard, and her eyes shimmered with tears. “Tell his father I love him, but I can’t do this alone.”

Megan gasped, even though she’d been anticipating something like that from the moment she’d laid eyes on the child.

The woman gave her a pleading look. “Please take care of my son. Someday tell him that his mom loved him enough to let him go.”

Before Megan could utter a single word, the woman turned and ran off into the night. A moment later, still standing there in shock, Megan heard a car start, then saw headlights wind down the long driveway to the coastal road.

She stared down at the now-whimpering child, her heart aching for too many reasons to count. Worst of all, it seemed she didn’t know her soon-to-be-husband, ex-husband, whatever, half as well as she’d thought she did.

7

M
ick took one look at Megan’s ashen face and the infant in her arms and bolted from his chair. He went to her side, but she turned away from him. It was clear she was furious with him for some reason. Mick couldn’t make any sense of it, not her attitude and definitely not the sudden appearance of this baby.

“What the devil?” he demanded, even as the child started crying in earnest.

Though she was clearly as perplexed as he was, Abby stood and calmly took the boy from her mother, then scowled at Mick. “Lower your voice, Dad. You’re scaring him.”

Apparently sensing that things were about to get wildly out of hand, Jess quickly came around the table to Abby’s side. Like the rest of them, she seemed unable to tear her gaze away from the baby who seemed so obviously to be an O’Brien.

“Why don’t I take him?” Jess offered. “There’s bound to be something I can mash up for him to eat, while you all sort this out. Do we have any baby bottles, Gram?”

“I think there are two or three left from when Davy was a baby,” Nell said distractedly, her gaze riveted on the child in Jess’s arms. “They should be in the back of the pantry. They might be packed up in a box, though.”

“Not to worry. I’ll find them,” Jess said.

“Take the rest of the kids with you,” Abby suggested. “They don’t need to hear any of this.” Carrie and Caitlyn, especially, were staring at the newcomer with wide-eyed curiosity.

“Whose baby is that?” Carrie asked.

That was certainly the uppermost question on everyone’s mind, Mick thought.

“We don’t know,” Abby told her daughter and hurried her along to the kitchen.

“Is it a boy? Why is he here?” Carrie wanted to know, determinedly hanging back.

Out of the mouths of babes, more good questions, Mick noted. Though he was aware of all the undercurrents in the room, he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from Megan, who was looking everywhere except at him. Judging from her tight-lipped expression she was still seething and trying very hard not to show it in front of everyone. He had the distinct impression she was torn between bolting and exploding.

“Okay, now that the children have left the room, let’s look at this situation calmly,” he said mildly. He took his seat again, as did Abby and then with obvious reluctance, Megan.

“Megan, what’s going on here? Where did that baby come from?” Mick asked, echoing Carrie.

Megan finally looked in his direction with an expression that cut right through him.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” she said, her voice like ice. “A young woman just dropped him off and said he belonged with his father.”

An audible gasp greeted her announcement. It was the first time in forever that this family had been in unison on anything, Mick thought irritably.

He regarded Megan with confusion. “His father? What the hell is she talking about?”

“All I know is what she said,” she insisted, her gaze locked with his. “Did I forget to mention that his name is Mick? Michael Devlin O’Brien, in fact.”

“Holy mother of God,” Nell murmured, sketching a cross over her chest. Thomas quickly moved to Nell’s side and put an arm around her, all the while staring at Mick incredulously.

Mick could practically feel his blood pressure skyrocket at the unfairness of the implied accusation. He scowled at his mother and his brother. “Save your prayers, Ma. This is not my son, and anyone who says otherwise is lying!”

“Then how do you explain him being dropped off here?” Megan asked. “I’ve seen enough O’Brien babies over the years to know he bears a striking family resemblance. Plus the name would seem to be more than a coincidence.”

Mick was at a loss to explain any of it, but then Kevin spoke, his voice shaky.

“I may know,” he said.

“Then you need to explain fast,” Mick told him. “What do you know about this? Is the boy yours?”

At Mick’s blunt question, Shanna turned on her husband with a dismayed expression. “Is he?” she murmured, sounding stunned.

“Of course not,” Kevin said impatiently. “I can’t be a hundred percent certain, because I’ve never seen the baby before, but I’m pretty sure Connor must be the father.”

“Connor!” Mick bellowed. “You can’t be serious.”

“I can’t swear to it,” Kevin stressed. “It just fits with a few things I do know for a fact.”

Mick couldn’t accept what had to be outrageous speculation on his older son’s part. “You must be wrong,” Mick argued flatly. “Connor couldn’t possibly have kept this kind of secret from the rest of us.”

“Of course he could,” Bree said, speaking up for the first time. “Connor’s as tight-lipped as anyone I’ve ever known. That’s why his clients trust him.”

“I agree,” Kevin said, giving Mick a challenging look. “Have any of us ever been invited to his apartment in Baltimore? No. When he wants to see us, he comes here. He never talks about who he’s involved with or even if he’s involved with anyone. Dad, you and I were talking about that very thing just the other day.”

Mick thought back to that conversation. He still couldn’t grasp the magnitude of the deception Connor might have perpetrated on all of them.

“So you’re saying your brother has been hiding not only a woman but a baby from us?” Mick said. “Why the hell would he do that? We’re family.” He tried to think of an explanation that made sense. “Is there something wrong with this woman? Does he think we wouldn’t approve? Why else would he never once bring her here? Did the two of them sneak off and get married?” Mick had at least a hundred questions. Unfortunately the only man who could answer most of them wasn’t here.

Feeling completely out of sorts over this turn of events, he scowled at the one son who was here. “Kevin, what exactly do you know about all this?”

“I’ve already told you most of what I know,” Kevin insisted. “I saw a woman at his apartment when I stopped by unexpectedly months ago. She was obviously pregnant. Connor looked as embarrassed as hell that I’d caught her there, but he didn’t offer any explanation. He barely even introduced us.”

“What did he say?” Mick asked. “Did he say she was a friend? His wife? Some woman he was helping out?”

“Believe me, he barely mentioned a name, and it wasn’t O’Brien. I don’t think they’re married, but I do think she was living there. There were some cozy touches in the apartment, things only a woman would do, like a quilt hanging on the wall, some fresh flowers in vases, that kind of thing.”

“And you never thought to say a word to the rest of us?” Mick said incredulously, just as Bree muttered, “Speaking of tight-lipped.”

Kevin frowned at both of them. “It wasn’t any of my business. Whatever was going on, it was Connor’s news to share. I just chatted for a minute and got out of there. It was damned awkward, to be honest.”

Mick studied the rest of his family. Everyone appeared as shocked as he was feeling. Megan still looked as if she were reeling. Hard as he tried, he couldn’t think of a thing to say that might make her feel better. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. He slammed a hand down on the table so hard the china rattled.

“None of this makes a bit of sense,” he declared. “What kind of person lives with someone, has a child with her and never says a single word about it to his family? It’s just not possible.” He scowled at Jeff’s sons. Matthew was twenty-four, Luke twenty-two, both of them plenty old enough to have created this situation. “What about you two? Do you know anything about this?”

Jeff bristled at Mick’s hint that they could be involved. “Don’t start throwing accusations at my sons,” Jeff said heatedly. “If you can’t control Connor, that’s your problem. That child in there doesn’t belong to Matthew or Luke.” Despite his adamant claim, he cast a frown in their direction, then looked relieved when they nodded.

“We don’t know yet that Connor had anything to do with this, either,” Mick insisted. “For all we know some woman got pregnant, maybe knew Connor in passing or something about this family and decided to leave a baby on our doorstep because she knew we’re rich enough to care for it. Mark my words, she’ll be back to make even more outrageous claims in a few days.”

This time it was Megan who spoke. “I don’t think so. She sounded totally sincere. She wanted her baby to be with his father.”

Mick refused to accept that. “I’ll say it again. There’s no reason Connor would keep something like this a secret.”

“Of course there is,” Kevin countered. “You know how adamantly Connor’s opposed to marriage, because of …” His voice trailed off as he glanced apologetically at Megan. “Well, you know why. At the same time, he knew if any of us knew about the baby, we’d be all over him to get married.”

“Well, of course we would,” Mick declared furiously. “O’Briens step up to the plate in this kind of situation, I don’t care what kind of so-called issues they have.”

No one seemed to have any response to that.

Eventually his brother Thomas stood up. “Mick, I think Jeff and I and the rest of us need to clear out and let you all deal with this crisis.”

“You’re family, too,” Nell protested. Though she looked shaken by the news, she clearly wanted to salvage whatever was left of the holiday celebration. “And we haven’t even had our meal yet. Shouldn’t we at least try to share our Thanksgiving meal before everyone leaves?”

“We’ll take some turkey and a pie home, if that’s okay,” Jeff’s wife, Jo, said. “It’s fine, Nell. Thomas is right. You don’t need the rest of us chiming in with our opinions. The situation is complicated enough.”

Mick appreciated the gesture. Jo had always been a sensible woman. “Thank you. I apologize for this, and Jeff, I’m sorry for trying to drag Matthew and Luke into it.”

To his surprise, Jeff paused by his chair and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “No need to apologize, Mick. And before you go off the deep end with Connor, make sure you get all the facts, okay? If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years with Matt, Luke and Susie, it’s that things aren’t always what they seem.”

Mick glanced toward the kitchen, where the baby could be heard whimpering. “I’d say these facts speak for themselves.”

“Not necessarily,” Jeff insisted. “Give the boy a chance to explain.”

It was Nell who walked his brothers and Jeff’s family through the kitchen to wrap up some meals to go. His own family sat where they were in stunned silence until they heard the kitchen door close. Then everyone began talking at once. Mick held up a hand and demanded silence. He turned back to Kevin.

“Are you absolutely sure you don’t know anything else?”

“Not much,” Kevin said. “The next time I saw Connor, I asked him about the woman I’d met, but mostly he just blew me off. He did tell me that her name is Heather and they’ve been together since college.”

Megan’s eyes widened as Kevin spoke. “Of course. I should have seen it right away,” she murmured.

Mick’s head was spinning. “Seen what?”

“Just now, at the front door, I thought she looked vaguely familiar,” Megan said. “I saw them together years ago at one of Connor’s college baseball games. She was a cheerleader.”

“I think she was,” Kevin said, regarding her with surprise.

“You were at Connor’s games?” Mick asked.

She frowned at him. “That’s hardly the point.” She whirled on Kevin. “Call your brother,” she said decisively. “Tell him to get over here now. If he balks, you might mention that his son is here and that pretty much trumps whatever he’s feeling about me, his father or the wedding.”

“I’ll call him myself,” Mick said, but Megan put a hand on his arm.

“It’ll go better coming from his brother. Besides, I owe you an apology for thinking even for a second that you could be responsible for this.”

“Understandable,” Mick said, conceding how things must have looked at first glance.

Megan sighed. “But it’s yet another reason why we shouldn’t be rushing into marriage again.”

He stared at her incredulously, unable to fathom how she’d made such a leap. “Why on earth would you say that? One thing has nothing to do with the other.”

“Oh, Mick, don’t you see?” she whispered. “If I could doubt you, even for an instant, then clearly I haven’t worked out all the issues between us.”

All Mick could see was that this latest roadblock wasn’t even of his own doing. He felt like hitting something or someone—Connor came to mind—but knew it would be counterproductive. Instead he needed to focus on cleaning up this mess his son had made and winning Megan’s trust in time to take that walk down the aisle on New Year’s Eve. It was getting more and more difficult to have faith he could pull that off.

After Kevin left to try to reach Connor, everyone remaining at the table pretty much agreed that dinner was over. No one had any appetite for the food, which had gone cold by now anyway.

“We’ll have leftovers later, when everything’s calmed down,” Nell said, taking charge. “I’ll package a few things up for all of you. Bree, you look exhausted. Jake, why don’t you take her home? Abby, you and Trace should probably take the twins home. I’ll send the food over later.” She turned to Shanna. “Do you want to take Davy and Henry home now? We’ll see that Kevin gets home as soon as things calm down a bit.”

Shanna nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. Don’t you want help with cleaning up, though?”

“Jess and I can take care of that,” Megan assured her. Right now Jess was upstairs trying to get the baby settled into Davy’s old crib, which Mick had brought down from the attic.

“Then I’ll get the boys,” Shanna said. “I’ll speak to Kevin on my way out and let him know someone will give him a ride.”

“I’m so sorry about all of this,” Megan said, giving her a hug. “This family’s always been full of surprises, but today may have set a whole new standard.”

Abby gave Megan a fierce hug. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? Try not to let this upset you too much, and keep Dad from blowing a fuse once Connor turns up. If you need backup, Trace and I are only a phone call away.”

“Thanks, sweetie.”

When everyone had taken off, Megan gave Nell a weary look. “Do you honestly think we’re going to be able to sort this out?”