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"Your father sounds harsh as does the druggist, but your father must have been a very decent man, once. He taught you lessons in life you've lived by as an adult. Not many, these days, can say that Nick. I think you were fortunate in many ways, despite your financial situation. And from what I've seen, you were rich in one commodity at least—love."
Nick mumbled under his breath, "I don't know if that'
s the word I'd use to describe my father."
"You couldn't forgive him for leaving you."
"Leaving me, sure. I was grown. I didn't matter. For leaving me, yes, but not Mama, Tina and Tony. They loved him so, Mama still does. Still defends him until this day. She's says I'm a lot like him."
Sliding next to him, Kelsey placed her hand on his arm again. "Sometimes people aren't what they seem, Nick. And sometimes, things don't work out, no matter how hard you try to make them. Divorce is very common these days."
"My Mama," Nick shook his head. "She married for life. One man. She's never looked at another man. Never considered another."
"Perhaps there were things in their marriage you just couldn't understand then." She squeezed his arm, and he glanced at her again their eyes meeting.
"He lived with her for twenty eight years. Twenty eight years. She never knew anything about the other women. We kids took care of that. Oh, he'd come home drunk, he'd get fired from his job. She knew all of that, and kept right on forgiving him for his weaknesses. They'd fight. Then one day he just up and walks out on all of us."
"Who knows what drives people apart? He must have had a reason for what he did. Have you asked him?"
Nick hit his fist into his palm. "I never saw him again after he left. Never wanted to. He never sent a dime to Mama for support. She worked like a dog for years in that damned dry cleaners. He never came back to see us." Nick shrugged and glanced at her, surprised to see such emotion in her eyes. "I guess he's the real reason I've never married. Fraid I'll be like him."
Kelsey shook her head. "No. I doubt that. I think you've been too busy being the 'father' of your family to marry anyone. You may be like your father in some ways, but there is a lot of your mother inside you, Nick."
Nick thought about that and smiled.
Had he been too busy for a relationship? He hadn't noticed. There had been women, the one night stands his mother hadn't approved of. That was a few years back, when his hormones were still in overdrive. But no one girl stood out in his memory. He liked sex, women were great for that. But marriage, he wasn't sure there was anyone out there for him. No one had captured his heart, but then he'd held himself above emotional involvement. He had numerous lady friends, girls he grew up with, but most of them were married now with families.
"You have to forgive your father Nick, or you can't go forward with your own life."
Kelsey's comment struck a chord he didn't want to face, and yet it made sense too. For the first time in his life he saw things differently. Through someone else's eyes. How could a stranger walk into his life and tell him what was wrong with it? Hadn't he come here to tell her a few things?
Nick stood up to leave. "Look, I shouldn't have come here. But that check made me see red."
Kelsey rose, too. "I suppose we should have discussed it earlier. Had I known I was dealing with a man of such high integrity, I would have considered your feelings more, Nick. Please, take the money though. Otherwise, I'll be feeling guilty. Besides, I respect and admire your ambition to get your family out of the zoning wars. The rent will be outrageous. It's sad that progress has to do this kind of thing to people. Look, I can afford it. Sometimes, we have to bend a little Nick. Take the money. Keep your promise to your mother, buy her a home."
Feeling like the devil himself offering candy to a child, Nick faced her with a frown. "But I can't just sell my kid," he began fighting the temptation she offered. She looked beautiful standing there in that flimsy little cotton thing, with her eyes shining with emotion. God, he wanted her.
"You aren't selling anything, Nick. Look, this is a new day and age. We didn't make love and create a child from it. You went to a clinic and donated sperm. That's all. Like giving blood. Think of it as scientific. Lots of people do this. Can't you see that this is helping both of us? You get what you want, I get what I want?"
Her words reminded Nick why he'd come here in the first place. That damned check. His anger returned blotting out the odd camaraderie they'd just shared. His lips firmed, he regarded her closely, speculatively. "I guess you are used to getting what you want. Aren't you?" He moved closer, not liking her words, or his temptation. "It's still a kid, my kid. And I can't take it lightly. Do you think that just because we can both have what we want, it's okay? Just because it's clinical it makes it all right?"
Her mouth flew open, her eyes blazed angrily. "What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded her voice rising in instant anger.
He stepped away from her, trying to find some way of communicating. "I'm used to working my butt off for what I want or need. It doesn't just fall into my lap, because I want it. And if it does, I want to know why."
"You think this has been easy for me?"
"Yes. Yes I do." He glared at her, wanting her to realize the seriousness of their actions. "I think that's what is wrong with you!"
"I've dealt with my fair share of humiliation, through this. It's cost a lot of—."
"Oh yeah, cost a lot of money. Everything cost money, doesn't it? You think just because you want a baby, and you've got the money, you can get one. Do you have any idea what you're asking of a person? You think you can just order anything you want. Kelsey wants a baby; Kelsey gets a baby, to hell with everyone else."
"How dare you?" She gasps her dismay, her eyes flashing with anger.
"Oh, I dare a great deal." He rasps, coming to stand just in front of her. He was so angry he shook with it. She held her ground, her eyes darkening with rage, her hair flowing against her shoulders. And it was all Nick could stand. Reaching toward her he jerked her up against him. His big hands slid over her robe to her belly. He couldn't resist rubbing sensuously there where his child might soon grow. She let out a little unexpected whimper, as her eyes widened.
Without thinking he lowered his head, his lips clamping down on hers.
