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Would you like to go to brunch on Sunday at my parents’ house?
Do they know you are bringing me?
Duh. I asked if you wanted to go.
Conner too?
Yes.
Sure, as long as they are civil about the past.
They will be.
She typed in her next message and hesitated before finally hitting Send.
It never goes away, does it? You constantly have to deal with that night.
I am. That’s why I want to put it to rest once and for all.
I can help.
I appreciate that. But I don’t want you involved.
We can talk later. I’m off to my meeting now.
Gabi, I mean it. I don’t want this to taint you at all.
Bye. See you at home later.
She wasn’t going to let Kingsley tell her what to do. The affection she had for him was still growing inside her. When she thought of Conner and Kingsley she didn’t want the two of them to continue to live with the aftermath of false accusations. She knew it was going to be hard. But she wanted to help Kingsley figure what happened so he could move on to a future with her.
* * *
“Go long,” Kingsley said, and Hunter ran a pattern they’d done a million times before. Kingsley threw the ball and a few seconds later Hunter leaped in the air, caught it and started running, only to be blocked by Conner, who launched himself at Hunter’s knees and brought him down.
Hunter rolled carefully, scooping up Conner with him so that he didn’t hurt the toddler, and then sat up.
“I got you,” Conner said.
“You sure did. You’re pretty good at this. Thinking about being a football player someday like your daddy and me?”
Conner shook his head. “I’m going to be a knight.”
“Wow, really? There aren’t that many knights around these days,” Hunter said.
“Gammi likes them,” Conner said. “Daddy, I can be a knight, right?”
Gabi liked knights. Who knew? He was going to have to look into that a bit more. She seemed way too practical and too much of a twenty-first-century independent woman.
“You sure can,” he said. “Modern knights are men who are polite and always treat a woman like a lady.”
Hunter snorted. “Good luck with that.”
“Thanks!” Conner said with a big grin.
Conner stole the ball from Hunter, jumped off him and ran the ball back to Kingsley.
“Want to try to catch it this time?” Kingsley asked his son.
“Yes,” Conner said.
“Come here and I’ll show you how to run the pattern,” Hunter said.
Conner jogged back to Hunter and Kingsley watched his best friend and his son. Hunter would be a good father if given the chance. But not as long as the specter of Stacia’s death hung over them both.
He had no idea what they would find next. He knew they were going to need some help. Most of the women who’d been drugged at the parties in college weren’t interested in talking to him or Hunter. He toyed with asking Gabi to reach out to them. It would be the simplest thing. But he didn’t really want her involved in the matter.
“You going to throw the ball or just stare at us?” Hunter asked.
He tossed the ball to Conner, careful to throw where he knew his son would be. He also didn’t put the same force he would put behind a throw for Hunter. His son caught it and Kingsley felt a wave of love wash over him at the pure joy on Conner’s face.
“Daddy, I did it.”
“You sure did.”
They played until the sun started to set. Hunter and he drank beers while they watched Conner playing with his toy set on the living room floor.
“I saw that Gabi is the head of the alumni committee,” Hunter said.
“I noticed that, too. I’m not sure how that will help us,” Kingsley said. They both were talking quietly. Conner seemed engrossed in his play, but Kingsley didn’t want to take a chance on saying anything that his son would repeat later.
“Me, either. Just mentioning it. I have been over the files you sent me. I noticed that Mitch’s name was in there a lot.”
“You keep in touch with him?” Kingsley asked. Mitch had been a defensive back on the college team. And Kingsley hadn’t really ever had a chance to talk to the man. Maybe once or twice but for the most part he was a stranger.
“No. But I think that Chuck has. I am going to take my Harley and drive over to the college and see if he will talk to me,” Hunter said. “Want to come with me?”
Chuck had been a running back and now coached special teams for their former college. Kingsley and he had both played for New York, so he knew Chuck pretty well. “I might. I can’t go on a bike if we take Conner with us.”
