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  They had plenty to say to him. At least Kendall did. “So when were you going to mention it was your birthday?” she asked him and not for the first time.

  “Yeah, even Lisa Burton knew. You should have seen Kendall’s face when she heard that Lisa knew and she didn’t.” Hannah spoke gleefully from the seat behind them.

  “Sit back and be quiet,” Rick and Kendall snapped at the same time. Hannah was deliberately baiting Kendall, trying to get on her nerves, and he had to admit, she was doing a damn good job of irritating him too. Or maybe it was just the date that was getting to him.

  “Touchy subject?” Hannah asked, before surprisingly doing what she was told and curling up into the corner of the car.

  Rick groaned. The kid had a point in more ways than she knew. His birthday was definitely a touchy subject. He acknowledged the date and put up with his mother’s family celebrations. But he didn’t choose to make a big deal about it. Because his birthday also happened to mark his wedding anniversary to Jillian, an occasion he’d rather forget than remember.

  Kendall pulled up in front of Raina’s and Hannah bolted out of the car. As Rick started to do the same, Kendall put a hand on his arm, stopping him.

  He turned toward her.

  “You should have told me,” she said, no doubt about what she was referring to.

  “It was no big deal.”

  But the hurt in her soft eyes told him a different story. He hadn’t deliberately hidden the information, he’d just refused to acknowledge it to anyone, including himself. But he didn’t think she’d accept or appreciate the distinction any more than he felt like getting into the specifics of why he’d kept quiet. Kendall and her plans, her eventual departure, reminded him too much of a painful past he had no desire to repeat.

  In the wake of his silence, she exhaled hard. “Let’s go. Your mother’s waiting.” She got out of the car, slamming the door behind her, leaving him with the distinct feeling that by virtue of his silence, he’d betrayed something precious and important.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Surprise!”

  Rick jumped back, startled at the crowd of people waiting for him inside his mother’s house, and as he glanced around, he realized he’d been ambushed. A goddamn surprise party, he thought. He’d rather be alone on this night as had been his ritual for years. And his mother knew better than to gather a crowd.

  He loved people but this was the one particular time he preferred his own company. Being surrounded by the very folks who’d probably committed this date to memory wasn’t his idea of a fun night. Kendall’s hand unexpectedly came to rest on his shoulder in a show of support. A nice surprise considering how hurt she’d been earlier. He figured she still expected some answers but he appreciated her insight and presence beside him anyway.

  “Happy birthday.” His mother slowly walked up to him and kissed his cheek.

  Knowing stress was no good for her heart and she’d gone to a lot of trouble for him, he forced a smile. He’d deal with her later when they no longer had an audience.

  “You shouldn’t have,” he said through clenched teeth. “Nonsense. It’s not every day my middle son turns thirty-five.”

  “Start the show!” Norman called from the crowd. A round of steady clapping quickly followed along with the steady chant of “Show, show, show . . . ”

  “What show?” Rick asked warily over the continuous chanting noise.

  He glanced around, noticing Roman and Charlotte stood beside Chase holding up the back wall. All three shrugged almost in unison. Obviously they didn’t plan to take credit for Raina’s insanity.

  “I’m really in the dark too,” Kendall whispered. Like his brothers, apparently Kendall didn’t want to shoulder blame or responsibility. She was his mother’s co-conspirator only in that she’d brought him here.

  A loud whistle halted the chanting for a brief minute before it started up again.

  “Okay, simmer down.” Raina gestured with her hands, indicating everyone should be quiet.

  Rick shot her a concerned glance and she quickly lowered herself into the nearest chair.

  That seemed to silence the unruly crowd.

  “Now you all know I’m not up to running things,” she said softly. “So I hired an emcee.” She crooked a finger at Rick and he leaned closer. “I tried to get your brothers for the job but they refused.”

  “I owe them,” he muttered.

  “Well, let’s get started,” Raina suggested.

  “Then we can eat!” said someone from the back of the crowd.

  Rick narrowed his gaze at the sound of the distinctive voice and looked around for the loner. “Samson, is that you?”

  Rick didn’t see the older man right away but he was a master at blending into the crowd. The duck man, as the children called Samson Humphrey, spent his days hanging out in the park by Norman’s, ignored most people, and looked homeless but wasn’t. He also was the panty thief culprit though no one except Rick, Charlotte, and Roman knew that. Turning out in a large crowd wasn’t the old man’s style. Unless . . .

  “Of course it’s him. He wouldn’t miss a free Norman’s chicken sandwich,” Norman said.

  “Damn right,” Samson called out, confirming Rick’s suspicion. “But if you used that honey mustard, froufrou stuff, I’m not eating.”

  Norman growled from low in his throat. “Why you ungrateful . . . ”

  Before Rick could step in, Raina clapped her hands, probably to stop the mayhem before it started. Then without warning, an entourage walked down the stairs.

  “This is your life, Rick Chandler,” Big Al, the retired high school baseball coach, said through his booming cordless microphone, seeming not to care that they were inside the house.

  Rick watched in disbelief as his past seemed to parade before him. An eclectic mix of his old teachers, coaches, and friends formed a circle in his mother’s living room.

  His stomach cramped. “This can’t be happening.”

  “Of course it can.” His mother’s glee matched his sense of impending doom.

  With Kendall by his side and Hannah giggling from the sidelines he found himself pushed through the throng of people. Finally he was given a front row seat, surrounded by his mother, his brothers, Charlotte, Kendall, and Hannah. The rest of the guests crowded in around them.

  “Let the fun begin.”

  Rick winced at the booming sound. Big Al obviously thought he was back at the football field.

  “Mrs. Pearson, recently retired from Yorkshire Falls Middle School, had Rick in her kindergarten class. Take it away, Mrs. Pearson.” Al handed his microphone to the petite, gray-haired woman to his right.

  “Testing. Testing.” She held the thing close to her lips and emitted a high-pitched squeak that had the room cringing and groaning loud. “Sorry. It’s been ages since I’ve used one of these suckers. I mean things. Once I retired I let my language run free.” She laughed. “Anyway, let’s continue.”

  “Please don’t,” Rick called out.

  “Don’t be a sissy, little brother. You can handle it.” Chase folded his arms across his chest and grinned.

  Damned if Rick wouldn’t get him back on his birthday.

  “Rick was an imaginative boy.” Mrs. Pearson spoke in her best teacher tone. “And from the beginning he knew how to draw a crowd. Quite the little entrepreneur too. Why I remember one playground hour when I noticed all the kids—mostly girls—lined up behind him.”

  “Rick always was a charmer,” Raina said.

  Rick shook his head, feeling a flush rise to his cheeks. Wasn’t he too old for his mother to make him blush? Obviously not. Shit.

  “Now, now, no interruptions,” Mrs. Pearson said, but she had a smile on her face, enjoying her return to the spotlight, no matter how brief. “So it turns out that young Rick had gone to the doctor for a checkup earlier in the week. Doc Little, you all remember him from before he passed on?”

  There was a murmur of assent and “God rest his soul” from
around the room.

  “Well, it seems Doc Little told Rick his ears were so clean he could see all the way to China. Rick, being a smart boy, lined up the kids and was collecting pennies—from anyone who wanted to see what China looked like firsthand.”

  The guests cheered for Mrs. Pearson as she passed the microphone to Ms. Nichol, another elementary school teacher, who resembled Lucille Ball.

  “I hope they’re not going to go grade by grade,” Rick said.

  “Oh, no. Just the highlights,” Raina reassured him with a pat on the hand.

  “Swell.”

  Kendall laughed and the This Is Your Life show continued. Rick endured a not-so terrible story from the still redheaded Ms. Nichol, a reminder of his middle school hijinks from another teacher, and embarrassing high school tales about how Coach had caught him making out with girls behind the bleachers.

  He had to hand it to his mother. She’d managed to lighten the night and even make him forget what this date stood for, at least for a little while. Catching her knowing smile, he knew she’d planned this on purpose. Before he could decide whether that was a good thing, Kendall grabbed his hand. Warm and soft, her skin slid against his, reminding him of how much he’d missed being with her.

  Leaning over, she whispered in his ear, “I’m getting more information out of this show than I have out of you.”

  “I’ve never excluded you.” When it came to Kendall, he’d felt more, given more of himself than ever before. And on the heels of the anniversary of his biggest disaster, it scared him.

  Kendall scared him. Not an easy thing to admit. So no, Rick thought, except for that one memory that touched a nerve because Kendall, like Jillian, would leave, he hadn’t excluded Kendall at all. If anything she’d gotten too close.

  Before Kendall could reply, his mother spoke into the microphone. “As you all know, I have the best boys. Even if they haven’t given me a grandchild yet.” Behind her, Eric cleared his throat, obviously not pleased she was using a public forum to air this particular grievance.

  Neither was Rick. Difference was, he’d grown used to her complaint. His mother met his gaze and patted his cheek. “But seriously I have wonderful sons. They take care of me in my time of need.” Her hand came to rest on her chest.

  And her gaze darted to a point far away—like a suspect with something to hide. But that thought didn’t make one bit of sense.

  “So,” Raina continued, jarring his thoughts, “it’s a pleasure for me to pass on my favorite story about my middle son.”

  “Can I leave now?” Rick asked wryly.

  “Only if you want to be hauled back and shackled with your own cuffs,” someone yelled out.

  Kendall smothered a laugh but a loud hiccup came out instead.

  “Okay, okay. Get on with it,” Rick said.

  He put an arm around his mother’s shoulder, grateful she cared enough to make his birthday something special and grateful she was still around to celebrate with him. Still around. The thought chilled him. So did the one request Raina had in life that went unfulfilled.

  Grandchildren. Something he’d almost given her back when he’d married Jillian. Raina, bless her generous heart, had welcomed and planned for Jillian’s baby as if it were Chandler flesh and blood. Unlike Jillian’s parents who’d disowned her, Raina took Jillian into her heart. And just like Rick, Raina had had her heart broken. But she’d never once looked back, not even when discussing her desire for grandchildren. Never blamed him, or forced the issue when he didn’t want to talk about it. Because she was his mother and she loved him unconditionally. Yet here they were many, many years later and Raina still didn’t have the grandchild she desired. Not even from Roman, who’d married a few months ago.

  Grandchildren, he thought again and his gaze drifted to Kendall.

  “Well, my story dates back to when Rick was three.” Raina’s voice and his childhood memories brought a welcome respite from the thoughts stirred up by this birthday cum anniversary.

  “I thought we were all the way past his high school days,” Roman said.

  Like Rick, he obviously knew where their mother was headed and it wasn’t pretty. Rick shot his youngest brother a grateful look though they both knew Raina wouldn’t be deterred. They were right.

  She ignored Roman and continued, twisting in her seat, facing the crowd for maximum impact. “Guess what my adorable child wanted to be for Halloween?”

  “I take it it wasn’t something as basic as a ghost or goblin?” Kendall leaned into him, her breasts heavy against his arm.

  He swallowed a groan, then shook his head. “Just listen.”

  “Chase, Rick, and I were in the car when Rick announced he wanted to be a fairy godmother for Halloween.”

  The crowd erupted in hoots of laughter and applause. That damn heat worked its way back to his cheeks. Dammit, he was getting too old for this. But he couldn’t help but laugh at the story, as did Kendall. She laughed hard, not stopping even when Rick poked an elbow lightly in her ribs.

  “I’m sorry,” she said between gulps of air. “I just can’t imagine it.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Me neither, but she swears it’s true.”

  “Oh, yeah?” A sexy grin tipped her lips as she met his gaze and a heavy beat of sensual awareness pulsed between them. Completely inappropriate considering how much company surrounded them but altogether right just the same.

  “Tell us more about the fairy,” a voice sounding like Samson called from the crowd.

  Rick shook his head. There was nothing to do but grin and bear it. With Kendall keeping him hot and his thoughts occupied with taking her to bed, he could handle anything.

  “Well since you asked . . .” Raina chuckled. “Rick’s grandmother had read him Cinderella and he’d taken a shine to the fairy who granted any wish. I knew darn well John would enroll him in military preschool if there were such a thing, so I swore him to complete secrecy and promised him packs of baseball cards if he never told his father.”

  A round of applause followed. Rick exhaled a sigh, amazed that his younger antics amused these people and touched that they’d all shown up on his behalf.

  “Okay, show’s over.” Eric took the microphone from Raina’s hands. “My . . . patient . . . needs her rest. There’s Norman’s best food on the island in the kitchen. Make yourselves at home. Eat, drink, and be merry.” He raised a glass to Rick. “Happy birthday, son.”

  Rick blinked, unsure he’d heard the man correctly, thinking he’d meant son more as a warm term than a literal statement. But a glance into his eyes and Rick knew—that word held a wealth of meaning, for both his mother and for him. On the subject of Raina, Eric Fallon had nothing to worry about. Rick, like all her sons, wished Raina health and happiness. She’d found the latter with Eric. After twenty lonely years, Eric had given her something special and Rick felt he owed the man for that.

  Though he didn’t have a glass, he met Eric’s gaze and gave him an approving nod. One full of man-to-man understanding. Rick hadn’t had a father in years, but if anyone deserved his mother, Eric did.

  Rick stepped forward to shake the other man’s hand, then turned to Raina. “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too. And, Rick—” Something suspiciously like moisture had pooled in her eyes.

  “What is it?”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it again before gesturing over to where Kendall stood. “Just that she’s waiting. And I know you care for her. That look in your eyes? You didn’t even have that around Jillian.”

  “Well, at least I know the outcome ahead of time. Now don’t you have to rest?” Though she didn’t look quite as tired as he’d expected she would. With a weak heart, something worse than a heart condition as she’d explained to them months earlier, she tired easily and was at serious health risk. But she certainly didn’t look at risk now.

  “You know no such thing,” Raina said, referring to Kendall. “When you want something badly enough, you have to go for it.”
She patted his cheek. “Think about it. Now Eric’s right. I need my rest.” She took hold of the older man’s arm. “He said I could stay the night at his house so the party could continue here. He even offered to let me sleep in his bed.” A bright blush spread across her cheeks. “I mean borrow his bed while he sleeps on the couch while the party goes on till all hours here.” She turned pleading eyes on Eric. “Get me out of here before I make a fool of myself.”

  “Already happened, sweetheart.” Eric shook his head and laughed. “But your wish is my command. Let’s go before you do get yourself in trouble. Make that more trouble. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her, Rick.”

  “I have no doubt you will.” Rick inclined his head, giving his subtle blessing, then watched as the older couple worked their way through the crowd and out the door.

  What a night and it wasn’t half over. Kendall still looked busy with her sister, so Rick headed for the soft drinks on the side table in the corner. Pouring himself a cola, he raised his glass and hummed. “Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me. Happy birthday . . . ”

  “Always sing to yourself?” Kendall came up behind him, snaking her arms around his waist.

  Her chest pressed against his back and her warmth seeped inside him, softening his heart yet hardening his body to the point of burning need.

  He laughed. “Caught in the act.”

  “I loved that story about the fairy godmother.”

  “You and everyone else in the room,” he muttered. “Had for a pack of baseball cards.” She pivoted around so she was facing him, her arms still tight around his waist. “I didn’t know you could be bought, Officer Chandler,” she said in a husky voice.

  “Those were the good old days. And it wasn’t the cards, it was the gum.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t remember the incident?”

  She lifted her brows, causing a wrinkle of skin between them, and his desire to kiss her grew stronger. “I don’t remember. But assuming it’s true and not a figment of my mother’s overactive imagination, I was all of three years old. What do you think held greater appeal, the cards or the gum?”