In his office the following day, with a rare thirty-minute break between meetings, Ares decided it was long past time to call Sally.
But even as he reached for his phone, he had a moment’s trouble focusing. Yet again, Kelsey had consumed his thoughts last night,
keeping him awake long past midnight. Not only the kiss they’d shared on her front step, but also how much he’d enjoyed their
dinner, their walk together. When he’d finally slept, his dreams had been hot and wild—and full of joy.
Anything is possible, Ares. You just have to be willing.
Kelsey’s voice had woven its way into his dreams. Had he been crazy for not carrying her inside and making love to her? For not
discovering if waking up with her in his arms just might be the best thing he’d ever known?
Calling Sally when his insides felt this twisted was either a great idea, because she had a knack for finding the perfect words to say,
or a terrible one, because she always saw right through to the heart of things. Even when Ares couldn’t see them himself.
“Hey, lovely lady,” he said when she answered.
“Ares.” Her smile bubbled through in her voice. “I’ve missed your calls so much.”
Guilt dealt him an uppercut, though Sally wouldn’t have meant for that to happen. “And I’ve missed hearing your voice.”
“How does it feel being back home?” He heard the two words she’d left out: without Keira.
“It’s good.” Even if the house was way too big for just him. “But something huge happened on New Year’s Day.” There was no easy
approach except saying it right out. “My mother came by to see me. To top it off, she has two adult children. My real brother and
sister. Not half. Not step.”
There was complete silence for two beats, then Sally’s voice rushed out, “Oh Evan. Oh my God. I have to sit down.” He heard the
scrape of a chair. “You tell me. Everything.”
He did, from start to finish. Except the part about kissing Kelsey. Or how exponentially his feelings had grown for her in the past
week.
When he was finished, she said, “I’m just so glad Kelsey has been there for you. Just like she’s always been.”
Yes, without question, Kelsey had always been there when he needed her. He owed her so much. Flowers and an expensive dinner
weren’t enough. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around anything that would actually show Kelsey how grateful he was. “I can tell,”
Sally continued, “how pleased you are to have met your brother and sister. But what about seeing your mom again?”
He stared out at San Diego Bay, deciding he’d answer with the facts. “She obviously did a good job raising them. They got
scholarships for college. Kathy is a CPA. Tony is getting a master’s degree.”
“You’re thinking that she did a lot better for them than she did for you.” Though Sally spoke softly, she didn’t hold anything back.
She’d tried to teach all of the Baddricks to express what they felt, what they believed. Some of them had learned it better than others.
“It’s not polite to read people’s minds,” he teased, in lieu of facing her statement head on.
She laughed before turning serious again. “Maybe she was trying to make up for what she did in the only way she could. What she was never able to do for you, she tried to do double for them.”
He hadn’t thought of it that way. But even though Sally made sense, it didn’t lessen the ache inside him. “She did one thing right,” he
finally said. “She let me stay with you and George.”
“I love you too, honey.” Then she added the kicker. “I’m sure she’s hoping she can rebuild her relationship with you. Any mother
would want that.”
Sally and George had taught him to always be honest. Even when it was difficult. And damn, it was hard to admit to her, “I don’t know if I can do that.”
“Ares, honey, have you ever thought that reconciling with your mother might be less about what she needs and more about what you
need?”
“I don’t need it.” He had Sally. He had George and the Baddricks. Theresa had been gone so long that he couldn’t even relate to her
as a mother.
“When you didn’t know where she was, you didn’t have to think about it. But now she’s brought back all the shadows. You can’t have those shadows hanging over you if you’re ever going to move on. Especially after what Keira did.”
He’d come home from Europe intending to move on, promising himself that he wouldn’t let Keira steal another moment of his life.
But one of the reasons he hadn’t gone into Kelsey’s apartment last night was Keira. If she’d ever found out, there would have been
hell to pay. Which meant he was still giving his ex all the power she had never deserved.
“Just think about what I’m saying, okay?”
He smiled despite his dark mood. “I always think about everything you say.”
“Sure you do,” she teased. But then she gave an excited little yelp. “I just had the most marvelous idea. Why don’t you fly the twins
and your mom out here? Just for the weekend. So that George and I can get to know them too.”
He pulled the phone away from his ear to stare at it. “This is a joke, right?”
“I’m totally serious. I’d love to meet your brother and sister. And our house is a nice, safe environment for everyone to get to know
each other better. Plus, that would keep your mom away from the ex-boyfriend in Modesto for a couple of days. I’m sure this first
weekend will be the worst for her, when she’s alone in an empty house.”
“This is crazy.” Yet he felt an odd kick inside at the thought of a weekend to get to know his brother and sister better, especially with
Sally and George there to keep Tessa busy.
“What do you think?” she pressed.
“If we did it,” he said slowly, “there’s not enough room for all of us at the house, so I’d book a hotel for myself.”
“Of course there’s room for everyone, but I get it. You want to make sure you have somewhere to go, if you need it.” She barely
paused before saying, “So, you’ll ask them to come this weekend?”
He knew firsthand just how good Sally’s intentions always were. But while Tyler and Kathy were great, Ares was wary about getting
too close too fast, before he knew more about them. After all, that had been his problem with Keira—he’d seen only what he’d
wanted to see and had stupidly let her in. And of course, he wasn’t interested in going out of his way to reconnect with Tessa.
Knowing him well enough to guess that his silence was a mask for his reluctance, Sally said, “What if Kelsey could come too?”
His heart stopped. Kelsey? God help him. He wanted a weekend with her so badly, he felt lightheaded. Wanted more time with her—
talking, laughing, kissing—any way he could get it.
Hadn’t he been thinking he needed to stay away from her for her own good? Yeah, right, like that was going to happen. Not when his
heart jumped at the first opportunity to see her again.
“She’s so good at smoothing over rough patches,” Sally continued. “And I know how much you enjoy her company.”
His heartbeat kicked up. Does Sally know? Could she read his feelings about Kelsey as easily as she could read everything else
about him?
“She’s been a good sister-in-law.” He used the phrase deliberately, reminding Sally—and himself—exactly who Kelsey was. Keira’s
off-limits sister.
“She’s been a good friend,” Sally corrected. “Through thick and thin, Kelsey has always been there for you.” Now his foster mother
was the one carefully reminding him that Kelsey, rather than his wife, was the one who had stuck by him in good times and bad.
“She had such fun in the snow at the wedding, I’m sure she’d love to come back to a white winter for another couple of days.”
If it was just a white winter that would make Kelsey happy, Ares could book her a weekend at a fancy spa resort in Lake Imelda. But
what Kelsey loved most of all—more than massages or fancy restaurants or impressive five-star resorts—was family. Kelsey would
choose a weekend in Chicago with everyone over anything else he could offer. This trip was something he could give her, a small
repayment for all she’d done.
Yeah, great rationalization.
Because the truth he didn’t want to admit to anyone—especially himself—was that he wanted an entire weekend with Kelsey. Even
if he couldn’t kiss her, couldn’t touch her when they were with his family, at least they would be together.
* * *
He called Kathy, Tyler, and Tessa first. Funny that calling Tessa felt easier than calling Kelsey. Probably because he knew where he and Tessa stood. Whereas with Kathy…
Silently cursing his powerful desire for the one woman he could never have, Ares told his assistant to push back his next meeting,
then dialed Tessa’s number for the second time in as many days.
She answered on the first ring, her voice tentative as she said, “Ares?”
“There are a couple of things I wanted to check in with you about. First, I talked to Paul, and he won’t be bothering you anymore.”
“You talked to Paul?” She was clearly shocked, her voice suddenly higher than normal.
“He apologized for hurting you.” He wouldn’t tell her that Paul had asked for money. “But he was also on his third beer in the
middle of the day.”
“He has a problem with alcohol,” she agreed softly.
Ares wanted to ask her how she could possibly pick yet another guy with a drinking problem after running away from her abusive,
alcoholic husband. How could she be so blind? How could she make such bad decisions time and time again?
But he’d been blind with Keira, hadn’t he? Marrying her had been the worst decision he’d ever made. Though staying with her so
long might have been even worse.
So he understood a thing or two about bad decisions. And turning his back on a woman in distress wasn’t a consideration. He’d hold
out his hand even to his worst enemy if he or she was drowning. Hell, he’d probably have given his hand to his father if he’d asked
for help, even after everything. But his father had never asked.
“Paul’s not your problem anymore. If he shows up, call me. A friend knows a guy in the Modesto Police Department who’ll drive by
your house occasionally.
“Thank you, Ares. You’re too good to me.”
Her words—and how hard they hit him—nearly had him hanging up before he got to the other reason he’d called. But he wouldn’t
disappoint Sally. Not when his foster mother had given so much of herself to him—even when he’d been a temperamental, hormonal
teenager with a huge chip on his shoulder.