AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m human. I can be shocked.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“I know, and I forgive you. I know that everything you did, you did because you love me.” She walked over and kissed his cheek. “That doesn’t make it right, but it makes it understandable. And I do love you, too, Dillon.”
She leaned against the counter and watched the coffee slowly drip into the carafe.
Dillon said, “You went ice-skating yesterday?”
“Surprised me, too.”
“And you like Sean Rogan?”
She rolled her eyes. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re answering my questions with questions because you don’t know.” Dillon leaned against the counter next to her.
“Damn. Serves me right; I have a shrink for a brother.”
“You could be a shrink, too. Just a few more years of school.”
“I’m done with school.”
“And?”
“And I really like Sean,” she said quietly.
“Why does that scare you?”
“I can’t talk about this with you.”
“Because I’m your brother?”
Right. That sounded so stupid. “Do you believe that you can really like someone, deep down know that someone is different and special in a way you don’t think of everyone else, after just a few days?”
Dillon smiled. “I knew I would spend the rest of my life with Kate after two days. And I had it worse than you.”
“Worse? How so?”
“I had Jack as competition.”
“Jack?” Lucy laughed. “I don’t see Jack and Kate together at all.”
“They have a lot in common,” Dillon said, not finding the same humor that Lucy did. “The way they think, they way they distrust, the way they process information. There was a point where I believed if I had to make a stand for Kate, I didn’t know if she would choose me. But I would have done it. Even though I was scared stiff she’d pick Jack.”
Lucy thought a moment. “I didn’t know Jack was ever in the running,” she said. “Jack and Kate are alike in some ways, but Kate has always wanted—needed—stability. Trust. Honesty. She plays the tough, no-nonsense FBI agent, but at her core she’s a quiet homebody. She’s happiest when she’s here, at home with you. It gives her peace.”
Dillon looked straight ahead with a half-smile on his face. “I really love her.”
“I know. That’s why you made her marry you, even though she gave you every excuse why that was a bad idea.”
“She’s stubborn.” Dillon glanced at Lucy. “Why don’t you trust your own feelings?”
“I don’t know.” She glanced down the hall to where Sean was working in the dining room. She remembered what he’d said, the promises he gave. How she was different, but not in the way she’d thought. “I think I realized that falling for someone who is almost part of the family—Patrick’s partner—creates a lot of problems, especially if things don’t work out.”
“Or it creates a lot of benefits if it does work out. You and Patrick have a terrific relationship. Sean is his closest friend since the accident. And Sean is smitten.”
“Oh, God, you sound like Dad.”
