The Instant Family Man

“You said you’re visiting Stone Gap. Where is home now?”

And the tables were turned. Because he was trying to beat her at her own game or because he was truly interested? “Baltimore. I’m an interior designer and I work with a relatively large firm there.”

He considered that and nodded. “Makes sense. You were always the kind of kid who wanted to make things more beautiful, leaving flowers in my manly tree forts and painting your bike’s spokes pink and purple. What am I saying? Kid? You’re a beautiful woman now.”

Two compliments in the space of a minute. The blush crept into her cheeks again, but she reminded herself that this was Luke, the man who could charm the leaves off the trees in the middle of summer.

“Well, thank you. Again.”

A car went past, its noisy muffler putting a pause in their conversation. “How’s your sister?” Luke asked.

She blinked. The air took on a chill, the sky seemed to darken. “You don’t know?”

“Know...what?”

Peyton drew in a breath, then pushed out the words. “Susannah was...” Her voice wavered, her breath skipped. Damn, why was this still so hard to say? “She was...killed in a car accident a month ago.”

Luke sat back against the seat, his face paling. “Really? That’s terrible. I hadn’t... I hadn’t heard. She was so young. Way too young.” He cursed, then leaned forward, his blue eyes intent on hers. “Oh, God, Peyton, I’m so sorry. Are you...okay?”

He touched her hand, a gesture of comfort, connection. The tight lock Peyton always held on her emotions loosened, and tears rushed to her eyes. She’d never expected him to ask her how she was. For a second, she wanted to tell the truth. I’m falling apart. My life is a mess. Everything I thought I had under control is careening off a cliff and for the first time in my life, I don’t know what to do. “I’m...I’m fine.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said again, his hand curling over hers, solid, there.

She started to speak, then realized he’d left off the most important part. No questions about his daughter? About how Maddy was coping with the loss of her mother? Did the man feel no remorse that he had left Susannah to fend for herself for so long?

She tugged her hand out of his, reached into her purse and withdrew her phone. Peyton turned the phone to face Luke. Maddy’s picture, a recent one from a happy day at the park shortly before Susannah died, filled the screen. “Aren’t you even going to ask how she’s doing?”

“Pretty girl,” Luke said. Charlie the dog padded over and lay down at Luke’s feet. “Is she yours?”

“No, she’s not mine. You know that. I can’t believe you don’t even recognize her.”

“I don’t know that kid at all, sorry.” Luke shrugged. “What is she, three? Four? Good age. They’re still cute then, but don’t have diapers. I think. I don’t know much about kids, though.”

“Because you have done your level best to avoid your own.” She stopped herself from adding, you selfish, self-centered jerk. Good thing she hadn’t fallen for that whole concerned-about-you act, with the nice little touch of his hand on hers.

“My own? My own what?” Luke met Peyton’s gaze, wariness creeping into his expression. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“This is Madelyne. Your daughter. Remember?”

The words hung between them in the heavy, humid air, lead weights on the end of a fishing line. Luke’s mouth opened, closed. The cicadas kept up their steady hum in the heat.

“Mine? But how... What...” He shook his head, cast another long glance at the photo of Madelyne. “Is this some kind of joke? I don’t have a kid.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Luke. I know my sister told you about the baby and you wanted nothing to do with her. Left her to raise Maddy on her own. Well, now Maddy has lost her mother and I think it’s about damned time her father was responsible and helped take care of her or at least supported her financially. She’s gone through enough for one little girl.”

There, she’d said it. And without all the cursing that usually accompanied that lecture in her head.

Luke tapped the phone’s screen. “I don’t know anything about this kid, Peyton. I don’t know what your sister told you, but Susannah never told me she was pregnant.”

A doubt tickled the back of her mind. “She said she did, Luke. She told me a hundred times how you broke up with her the instant she said she was pregnant. Either way, how can you not see the truth when it’s right here? Don’t you see your eyes and your smile in that face?”

He took her phone and held it closer. He studied Maddy’s picture for a long, long time, then hesitated before handing the phone back, almost reluctantly. “Maybe. She does look like me, a lot like me. You gotta believe me, though, Peyton. I had no idea Susannah had a baby. That’s the God’s honest truth.”

Was it possible? Would Susannah lie? Her sister had never been the most conventional of women or mothers, but lying about something as big as this? Peyton couldn’t see why Susannah would do such a thing, even though the doubt still haunted her thoughts. Susannah, the irresponsible. Susannah, the flighty. Susannah, who had told lies to the grocery clerk and the bill collectors and the boss of the week. Would she really have lied to her younger sister—about Maddy?

“Well, now you know. And if you want proof, I am more than happy to pick up one of those mail-in DNA tests. We’ll have results in less than two weeks.”

“You have all the bases covered,” he said.

“I have to. Someone has to be responsible here, and right now, that’s me.” Peyton started to get to her feet, suddenly anxious to be out of there, to go back to Maddy and hug her niece. “Once the DNA test proves you are Maddy’s father, I expect you to support her financially, if nothing else.”

He reached out, captured her hand. The touch cemented her in place, unnerved her and had her glancing at his chest again. God, what was wrong with her? Why did she keep getting so off track?

“What, that’s it? You come here, tell me I have a kid, tell me I need to do my part, then run off?”

She didn’t want to tell him she was rattled by the idea that Susannah could have lied. That her years of righteous indignation might have been wrong. That she wanted to get out of here, so she could breathe, digest it, get her mind back on track. “I’m not running off. I’m just going back to my hotel. I’m in town for a couple of weeks, should you want to discuss this further.” Two weeks, that’s all she had, to help Maddy feel grounded again, and then Peyton could go back to work and start building a solid foundation for the next phase of their lives.

“Should I want to discuss this further? Hell, yes, I want to discuss this further! Is the kid with you?”

“The kid is named Madelyne. And yes, she’s at the hotel, with Cassie. But don’t worry about it. I have it all under control.” She nodded toward the house, the bachelor pad with a fridge and a pool. “I’m sorry for interrupting whatever...fun you have going on. I only came here to tell you about her, because she needs...”

She couldn’t finish the sentence. Right now, Peyton wasn’t sure what Maddy needed. The child psychologist Peyton had taken Maddy to had said the little girl needed time, space, love. Three things Peyton thought she’d been giving Maddy in heaps, but it hadn’t worked. Nothing had brought Maddy out of her quiet little shell.

“She needs her family, and right now, that’s just me,” Peyton said, her voice catching again, damn it. “You’re her family, too, whether you accept it or not, and I’m asking you to either be a part of her life and get to know her, or...”

“Or what?” Luke said.

Peyton drew herself up, all business again, pushing that moment of vulnerability away. She tugged the papers out of her purse and flashed them at him. Peyton Reynolds, nothing if not prepared. “Sign over custody once and for all. The one thing Maddy doesn’t need any more of is uncertainty. I need to make some decisions for her future, and I need to know if those decisions include you or not.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Peyton, you are springing a lot on me in a very short period of time.” Luke ran a hand through his hair. It gave him that mussed, straight-from-bed look, and something in Peyton’s gut flipped. “I...I’m still processing the fact that I have a kid.”

“Like I said, you don’t need to accept this responsibility if you don’t want to. So here, just sign.” She drew out a pen from her bag and turned it in his direction. All she wanted was to be done here, done talking to Luke Barlow and all the questions he had dropped into her world.

He shook his head. “Hang on a second. I’m not signing anything yet. You show up on my doorstep, tell me I have a kid. And now you’re giving me a hard time for not being ready for this news? Susannah kept this from me for four years, and here you are, accusing me of being a terrible father without knowing the whole story. Maybe things would have been different if she’d told me, but she didn’t, and now this is hitting me. Give me five minutes at least to digest it all before you stomp out of here in a self-righteous fit.”

“I am not—” An angry retort sprang to her lips, but she cut it off. He was right. She had just dumped a lot on his plate. Whether he’d been a jerk four years ago or not wasn’t the issue anymore. If Luke wanted to be part of Maddy’s life now, she had to give him a chance. Maddy deserved that.

Peyton took in a deep breath, let it out. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m just at my breaking point here trying to be a parent to Maddy, and I need...help.”

Damn, it grated on Peyton’s nerves to say that. She was the kind of woman who could do any task, by herself.

Any task but heal a wounded child who had lost her center.

“Whatever you need. Just say the word.”

She hadn’t expected his easy, quick response. She shouldn’t be surprised. The Luke she’d known—the Luke she had once fallen for—had been as fast to forgive as he was to lend a hand to a friend. He might not be big on commitment or permanence or anything approaching a long-term relationship, but he was one of those guys you could call in a pinch. The guy who would jump-start your car at two in the morning or help you move a couch in the middle of summer. She was hoping that guy was still there, beneath the chest her gaze kept drifting toward, and that he would be there for her for the next few weeks. “Maddy hasn’t handled the loss of her mother very well. I guess you’d say not at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“She won’t talk about it. Won’t cry about it. Just acts as if it never happened, except for being really clingy to me, as if she’s afraid I’m going to disappear any second. I’ve been trying to juggle my job in Baltimore and be her surrogate mom and help her through this and...” Failure wasn’t a word in Peyton’s vocabulary. She had never failed at anything in her life and refused to fail now. “And I think she and I need a recharge. A vacation. So I came here, where I can have two weeks to just be with her and take her places and see her smile again. And I thought it would be good for her if she got to know her father.”

“If you wanted me to be a parent, then someone should have told me about her four years ago.” He got to his feet. Charlie snapped to attention, pressing his body against Luke’s, the dog’s tail moving in a slow wag, as if he was worried about his master. “I take it she doesn’t know who I am? Or that I even exist?”

“No. Over the years, Susannah chose not to talk about you to Maddy. I haven’t, either, because...well, I assumed you didn’t want to be an active part of her life.”

“You assumed wrong. So if I see her, what am I supposed to be?” He scowled. “Temporary Uncle Luke or something?”

Peyton could see the Mustang in his driveway, imagine the parties he probably had in his pool. Her niece had suffered enough heartbreak for one lifetime, and the last thing Peyton wanted was for Maddy’s father to disappoint her. If he hadn’t grown up, if he wasn’t ready to be a responsible part of her life, then it was better not to set Maddy up for disappointment. “I think it might be best if I tell her that you’re an old friend of mine.”

He snorted. “Hedging your bets in case I’m not a good influence?”

“Giving you an out, if you want it. My offer still stands. If at the end of two weeks you don’t have any wish to be a part of Maddy’s life, you can sign over custody and I’ll raise her myself. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to step up.” Peyton met his gaze head-on, not on the ridges of his chest, or the way his bathing suit hugged his hips. “Maddy needs someone she can count on, now more than ever. And that means if you’re still dating everything with breasts and a smile, still driving a car meant for a sixteen-year-old and still working a job no more permanent than snow in North Carolina, then maybe you aren’t the best choice to be in her life.”

He took a step closer to her, so close she could feel the heat from his body. She could reach out and touch him, feel those hard muscles beneath her palm, trail a finger along that dark V that led to the parts of him the bathing suit kept hidden. Why hadn’t that crush died long ago? Why did she still find the man attractive?

“If I’m so terrible, why do you want me around her?”

Her breath hitched a little and she cursed inwardly. “I never said you were terrible.”

His smile tipped up on one side, and his eyes held that charm she remembered. “You’re not the only one who’s changed a lot since high school, Peyton.”

“I’m counting on that, Luke. Your daughter is, too.” She paused and squared her shoulders. Calm, cool, collected again, though with every second the heat simmering in his blue eyes made it exceptionally hard to maintain anything approaching cool and calm. “So, will you be there for Maddy? At least, for the next two weeks? Will you try?”

His gaze lifted over her head, to the swing a few dozen yards away. He didn’t say anything for so long, she wondered if he was going to answer.

“Just little bits of time,” Peyton said. “An hour here or there, maybe more if you’re up to it. Nothing big. I don’t...”

“Trust me with her.”

“Well, no. She doesn’t know you and I haven’t seen you in almost five years.”

“You know me. I’m not perfect, but I’m a decent man at my core, Peyton.” His gaze locked on hers, and Peyton’s heart stuttered again. “Trust me.”

That was the hardest part. Trusting anyone with Maddy. Susannah had always been busy and scattered, flitting in and out of Maddy’s life like a butterfly. Peyton was the one who had enrolled her in preschool, cut the crust off her sandwiches, enforced a bedtime, set all the doctor and dentist appointments. To let someone else control even five minutes of Maddy’s life took a Herculean amount of trust.

Charlie crossed over to Peyton, nosing at her hand until she lifted it to scratch his ears. It almost seemed as if the dog remembered her, remembered that day they had found him. More than five years ago, she had been walking home from her part-time job with Luke—Susannah had ditched her promise to drive Peyton home and headed off with her girlfriends. Luke had offered to walk Peyton home. Along the way, they’d found this mutt, shivering and shaking and curled into a ball under a tree. No collar, no tags, nothing but skin and bones and big eyes. Luke had scooped the dog into his arms and carried him a mile back to his house and straight into the kitchen, ignoring his mother’s protests.

Luke had fed the dog the steaks defrosting on the counter, then given him a bath in the second-floor tub. We should call him Charlie, because he had an angel looking out for him, Luke had said. Then he’d looked in Peyton’s eyes, in that way he had of making her feel as if nothing else existed in the world but this man, this moment.

An angel? she had asked.

If you hadn’t seen him, Charlie might not have lasted another day. He’s lucky to have you in his life.

In that schoolgirl-crush way, she’d thought he was talking about more than just the dog. She’d been head over heels for Luke, her heart breaking a little every time she saw him with her sister. But the Luke she remembered, the same one who had let down her sister when she’d gotten pregnant, had no more permanence than wet tape. She didn’t think that side of Luke had changed one bit—

But then there was the dog.

A dog required commitment. A home. A dependable adult.

Maybe Luke could handle Maddy. It was only two weeks, after all. A blip in time.

A test...

Was she really basing her decisions for Maddy on a dog, for Pete’s sake?

But what choice did she have? Maddy needed time, love and connection, and there was no better person to do that than the man who shared her DNA. Peyton had done her best, but even she had to admit her best might not be enough. Maybe spending time with Luke, with the man who had once loved her mother, would allow Maddy to heal.

And at the end of the two weeks, if Luke still wanted to be part of Maddy’s life, Peyton could make arrangements. Call up a lawyer, draw up a plan.

“I’ll do it,” Luke said, “but on one condition.”

Her gaze narrowed. “What?”

“I’m not going to be Uncle Luke or Friend Luke or anything else. I’m Dad. So you better figure out a way to tell my kid she has a father, and also that I’m not going anywhere two weeks from now. Or ever.”

Chapter Two

Two hours later, Luke sat in a lounge chair in the shade of the lanai roof at the back of his rental house, nursing a beer that should have taken the edge off his hangover, but instead churned in his stomach. Across from him there were splashes and laughter and bawdy jokes, but he stayed where he was, feeling older than dirt.

A kid. He had a kid.

He let the thought settle over him, but it didn’t become any more real or concrete. He’d seen the photo of Madelyne, seen his eyes in her wide blue ones, but still couldn’t compute him + Susannah = Kid.

Being a parent meant being responsible. Growing up. Stepping off the hamster wheel of parties and hangovers. Considering he had a party going on right in front of him while he was still battling the hangover from yesterday, Luke Barlow clearly wasn’t stepping off that hamster wheel anytime soon.

Except a part of him had been growing weary of the life he’d been leading, had been for some time. The problem was whether he was ready to change. Or if he was even capable of change.

Change like agreeing to spend time with a four-year-old? It didn’t sound hard—what did a four-year-old do anyway?—but it sounded like something better suited for a relative or a good friend or someone other than Luke. Someone with experience. Someone who knew what to do when a kid cried or fell down.

Except he was Maddy’s father. A father should know what to do. A father should have no problem spending time with his daughter.

A father who hadn’t known he was a father until Peyton showed up on his doorstep. From the minute she started speaking, the world had dropped away. Part of it was the bomb she’d exploded in his life, part of it was Peyton herself.

Hell, he hadn’t even recognized her at first. Gone was the geeky girl who had tagged along with him and Susannah. The girl who more often than not carried a book in her backpack and buried her nose in the pages every spare second. That girl had turned into a beautiful woman, the kind who stopped traffic, made a man forget every coherent thought in his head.

And lingered in his mind long after she had pulled out of his driveway.

Peyton had always had this way about her, an air his mother had called it, that wrapped people in a spell. Okay, maybe not people. Maybe just him. Because today he’d agreed to the one thing a man like him should never do—

To be a responsible role model and parent. Ha. Luke had his position in the family—sandwiched between his military hero younger brother and his overachieving CEO elder brother—serving as the family screwup. Yeah, he’d been good at sports, but he’d never been good enough to become a star player, the way Jack had been a leader in the military or the big-bucks moneymaker Mac was. Maybe it was because Luke hadn’t found his niche, his place in the world. Or maybe it was because he was no good at doing responsible or role model or anything even close.

He’d tried, once. Tried to be the kind of guy someone else could rely on.

And he’d screwed it up. Royally. No one talked about the fallout from that day, the accident that had left Jeremiah in a wheelchair. Nowadays, Jeremiah rarely left his house, rarely returned Luke’s texts, rarely did anything other than play video games in the dark and wait for his life to unwind.

Damn.

Luke twirled the beer in his hands, but didn’t drink. The weight on his shoulders hung too heavy for him to do anything other than sit there and wonder if Peyton had made a huge mistake in bringing a kid into his life.

Not a kid. His own child. His daughter.

Ben Carver plopped down into the seat beside Luke, clutching a nearly empty beer, his hair wet from the pool. Ben grinned, and the gesture lightened the heavy air around Luke. Friends for almost all their lives, Luke and Ben had been named Most Likely to Cut Class in high school, gone on more adventures in twenty-six years than most people went on in eighty and served as each other’s wingman almost every night of the week. They were bachelors—and damned good at it, if you asked anyone in Stone Gap. If there were ever two men in this town least likely to grow up, it would have been Luke and Ben.

Except now Luke had a child, and that changed things. A lot.

“You going to sit there all day or join the party?” Ben said. “There are some hot girls waiting for you to join them in the pool. Actually, they’re waiting for me, but they said you could tag along. Pity dates.”

“Yeah.” Luke tipped his beer in the direction of Tiffany and Marcia and...Beth? Barbara? He couldn’t remember. There were three other women in the pool, and two other guys Luke had known since high school. A typical Sunday afternoon at Luke’s house, a small rental he’d had for about a year now. He should have been enjoying himself. Should have been in that pool, living it up with Beth/Barbara/whatever her name was. But his mind kept straying back to Peyton, back to the earnest intent in her eyes, to the obvious protectiveness she felt for Madelyne and, most of all, to the way Peyton had dropped a detour into his life. “Nah. Got a lot on my mind.”

“Dude, it’s Sunday. Party day. Not the time to think about anything other than Coors or Yuengling.”

Luke propped his elbows on his knees, let the beer bottle dangle from his fingers. “You ever think we’re too old for this? That maybe it’s about time we grew up?”

“What is wrong with you? Hell no, we’re not too old for this. When your AARP card comes in the mail, then maybe it might be time to grow up.”

Luke smiled, but the gesture felt flat. “Jeremiah might disagree.”

“Jesus, Luke. What the hell is wrong with you? Why’d you go and bring that crap up?”

Luke saw his own reflection in the mirror of Ben’s sunglasses. The image seemed distorted, small, as if there was a lot more Luke could do to be a bigger presence. “Just thinking through my life choices, that’s all.”

“Well, that isn’t going to get you anywhere but depressed. And that doesn’t work on party day.” Ben clinked his bottle against Luke’s. “So come on, have another beer and let’s go join our hot friends.”

Luke glanced over at the others. “You go. I’m going into town. Pick up some snacks and beer.”

“We have plenty—”

But Luke was already out of his seat and heading into the house. He left the full beer on the countertop, threw on a T-shirt, then climbed into his Jeep and headed toward downtown Stone Gap. He didn’t need to go to the store. Didn’t need to do a damned thing today except mow the lawn, but for some reason, he couldn’t stay in that lounge chair for one more second.