Conner felt this kind of loyalty and support was more than he deserved. The day would come when he’d return the favor. He’d make sure of it.

Fourteen

Conner had a long and tiring day traveling from the West Coast to the East Coast, and even though it was late by the time he arrived in Burlington, Katie had kept the boys up and insisted on meeting him at the airport. Katie stood in the baggage claim area with a little boy on each hand…a cranky, tired little boy on each hand.

She looked like a teenager to him, like a little girl with her long, soft brown hair, makeup-free face, large blue eyes. And when she saw him, she started to cry. Her mouth twisted, her nose reddened, and her eyes grew very wet.

He kissed her forehead. “Don’t,” he said in a hoarse whisper. And then he fell to his knees and pulled the boys into his arms. “I missed you!” he told them, nuzzling their necks.

“You’re itchy,” Andy complained.

“Why do you have this?” Mitch asked, touching his goatee.

“I want to be cool,” Conner said, fighting emotion. “Look at you. You grew. Which one of you is bigger?”

Andy giggled. “We’re identical. We’re the same.”

“I don’t know,” he said, frowning at them. “I think Mitch is getting taller.”

“Naw, but I’m smarter,” Mitch said.

“Are not!”

“Am so!”

“Can we fight at home, please?” Katie asked, emotion tugging at her voice.

Conner stood and enfolded her in his arms, hugging her close. “It’s so good to see you, to know you’re okay. Let’s get these monsters home.”

She nodded, tears in her eyes. “Let’s get Uncle…” She stopped and looked around, clearly giving a second thought to saying his name out loud in a public place. “Let’s get the bags and go home before you two turn into pumpkins.”

“I never done that, but she says it all the time,” Andy said to Conner.

“You better look out. You just might one of these days. Honey, take one of them to get a cart. I’ll take the other one to get the bags.”

“You have a lot?” she asked.

He looked down at her. “Everything. I have everything. I’ll explain later.”

Her eyes got round for a moment, but then she was all about business, taking Andy with her to get a cart while Conner grabbed Mitch and went to the carousel, praying his duffels made it, and he wouldn’t have to deal with lost baggage.

Once they had three large duffels and a carry-on, they made their way to the car. Conner insisted on driving; Katie seemed emotional and tired. She gave him some directions to get them started, and they were hardly underway five minutes when both boys passed out in the backseat.

“Everything?” Katie asked softly. “You brought everything?”

“I’m going straight to Sacramento from here. They want to prep me for the trial, which should be starting soon. There was no point in paying rent on a cabin just to store my jeans and boots.”

“But you’re going back, aren’t you? You love it there!”

“I hope to, but one day at a time....”

“What about your girlfriend? Couldn’t she hang on to it for you?”

“I’m sure she would’ve been happy to, but I didn’t want to load that on her. She’s a little stressed about this whole thing as it is.”

“Aren’t we all! I’m still a little nervous about you doing this, coming here. We weren’t supposed to see each other until this was over. More to the point, we weren’t supposed to be seen together, the four of us. A big guy with a short woman and five-year-old twin boys—we stand out.”

“Look, I know Mathis must have a lot of connections, but I find it hard to believe any of them have traced us to Burlington, Vermont. Thinking about it, I agree it’s smart to get us out of Sacramento—that’s a hot potato. And they did demonstrate they’d burn down a building to make a point. But I doubt they have a huge interstate network of thugs and investigators trailing us both.” He reached across the console and squeezed her hand. “Why do that when they can wait in Sacramento for me to show up for the trial? That’s where I could be a sitting duck.”

“I’m so scared, Danny.”

He squeezed again. “Don’t be. This will be over before you know it. And, this might be hard for a while, but I’m keeping the name Conner now. We’re going to change. You don’t have to, but I am.”

“Why?” she asked, surprised.

“Well, all my new ID is in that name and while I don’t plan to hide forever, I think it makes sense to leave Danson Conner behind....” He looked over at her. “And…that’s what Leslie calls me. I’m keeping it. It’s convenient and it’s who she knows.”

“Wow. I think you’re in love again.”

He shook his head. “Not again. In love for the first time.”

Anyone would have had to be blind to miss Leslie’s melancholy, and she knew it. Conner had only been gone twenty-four hours, but she’d pulled into herself the minute he’d driven away from her house. Paul was good enough to ask if she was all right, and she said, “Of course, I just hope everything is all right with Conner’s family.” Brie called her at work and asked how she was holding up, and she said, “I miss him, of course, but I can live with that easy. Is he in danger?” Brie answered that he’d benefit from the best protection law enforcement could offer. Leslie stopped by the bar for a glass for wine and takeout, and Jack said, “So, your boy had family business. He okay?” And she said, “He made it there safely and said everything is going to be fine. He should have things sorted out in a week or so.”

“What kind of family business?” Jack asked, because he was Jack. “I hope there isn’t illness involved.”

“He didn’t give me any details. He left pretty quickly. But I understand there’s some kind of domestic situation.”

“Ah,” Jack said. “Sounds like a divorce brewing or something.”

“It does sound like that, doesn’t it? We’ll get the full story when he’s back, which hopefully won’t be long. I sure got used to having him around in a hurry. I admit, I miss him already.”

So due to that and a nagging worry that she simply couldn’t ignore, she was quiet and knew it. She also knew she wasn’t going to be able to spend a lot of time talking to Conner while he was away, so she’d have to suck it up and think positively.

The very next morning before work, she was out in the front yard, pulling dead blossoms off some of the flowers they’d planted together, every thought on him. She heard someone coming down the street and looked up to see an elderly woman walking with a young woman who held the tiny hand of a two-year-old and carried a pudgy, smiling baby in a backpack. She’d seen them before; sometimes the young woman had one of the kids in an umbrella stroller. She stood up and smiled at them.

“Well, hi,” she said, brushing off her knees.

“Hello,” the older woman said. “I’ve been meaning to get down here to say hello. I’m Adie Clemens and this here is Nora and her babies. Nora forces me out of the house almost every morning.”

Leslie lifted her eyebrows. “Is that so? I’m Leslie.” She put out a hand to the older woman first, then the younger.

“Doc Michaels said she should walk every day and if I don’t walk her, she manages to forget. Nice to meet you.”

“Are you two related?” Leslie asked.

They looked at each other and laughed. “No, I’m just a thorn in her side,” Nora said. “Adie’s blood pressure and cholesterol have come down since she’s been eating less pound cake and walking. And now that spring is officially here with summer right around the corner, the girls and I sure can use the vitamin D. Your flowers are so beautiful. Adie and I have admired them every morning since you planted them.”

Leslie surveyed the yard with a longing in her heart. “My boyfriend, Conner,” she said. “This was his idea of bringing a girl flowers. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“The young man with the great big pickup truck?”

“The same. We work for the same construction company. I assume your husband works around here?” she asked, looking at Nora.

Adie laughed. “Not a husband between us,” she said, trading smiles with Nora. “Maybe that’s why we lean on each other a little bit.”

“I work part-time at the clinic and will work more part-time at the school when they open up. They’re going to do summer school with preschool just to get started and test the waters. Adie and Martha Hutchkins sometimes keep the girls for me.”

“She’s excellent with children,” Adie said, giving her arm an affectionate pat.

“I apologize. It was silly of me to assume…”

“No worries, I probably would’ve assumed the same. This is Berry,” she said, ruffling her little toddler’s curls, “and this is Fay Lynne. You have the most wonderful front porch. Best one on the block. And the weather is so great—we should christen it with some lemonade and cookies one of these afternoons. Are you up to some old lady chatter?”

“Excuse me, madam,” Adie said indignantly, drawing herself up to her full five feet.

Nora just laughed. “Like I said…”

And Leslie immediately thought, a friend in the neighborhood sure wouldn’t hurt, especially right now when she was feeling too alone. “I would love that. I usually get home by five. Six if I stop off at Jack’s for dinner or takeout.”

“Ah, Jack’s,” Nora said almost wistfully. “Back in the days before motherhood, I had been known to stop at a tavern or two. I vaguely remember....” Then she laughed.

“I would love to have you over to test the porch. Invite Mrs. Hutchkins and Puff,” Leslie said.

“We’ll be in touch,” Nora said. “Come on, Adie, let’s log those miles! See you later, Leslie.”

She watched them go and thought that Nora couldn’t be twenty-six, and here she was, a mother of two with no husband. Of course she hadn’t asked if there was a man somewhere, but she got the impression there wasn’t.

And then she heard the phone in the house ringing and dashed for it. Only two people called her—her mother and Conner.

“Hey, baby,” he said in his low, sexy voice. “I caught you before work.” He laughed. “Caught you alone without work crews in the trailer, so you can talk dirty to me.”

“Conner!”

“I’m alone at the moment, which is hard to manage around here. What are you wearing?” he teased.

“Oh, stop,” she said with laugh. “Tell me about Katie and the boys.”

“Ah, the boys—not a real quiet pair, that’s for sure. We’ve been doing a lot of wrestling and I think my sister is about to throw us out of the house. This is a small house, about the size of yours—just two bedrooms and a small living room, which we manage to fill up completely when the three of us are rolling around on the floor. And they get wound up and can’t settle down. She’s gone to run them around the park to see if she can wear them out a little. She took the day off today to spend time with me and to cook a nice dinner for me and her boss…the boss she says is keeping things very professional while she’s working up a crush on him. I’m going to get a chance to look him over.” Then he chuckled again.

“You sound…you sound so wonderful,” she said. But the image she conjured of him hugging his younger sister and rolling around on the floor with his nephews made her wonder how he was going to make himself leave them. “It must feel so good to be reunited with them.”