was an old, tired conversation. After M.J.’s husband died, Evelyn had assumed he had life insurance. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, he’d left her with a mountain of debt she hadn’t known about.
Yes, Gavin could hire another therapist. But M.J. desperately needed the extra money to clean up the mess of the mortgages and other bills that her mother was better off not knowing about. Unfortunately that meant no whining, and M.J. really wanted to whine.
Instead she put on a happy face and bypassed the issue of money entirely. “Sean is a bright boy. Full of energy.”
“How’s he doing?” M.J. set her full backpack by the door then let out a sigh when she sat on the chair. The card Gavin had given her was still tucked into her desk blotter. She traced the bold, black letters of his name. His bold, handsome face flashed into her mind and she shivered.
She met her mother’s gaze. “Sean’s making steady progress.”
Even if his father couldn’t see it. Was Gavin too demanding? He wanted results, but what father wouldn’t in the same situation? Any parent who didn’t want their child to go back to the way they were before an accident was a parent who needed serious psychotherapy. And a mother who’d lost a child needed something she could never get back.
Evelyn patted her shoulder. “I’m glad he’s doing better. But I’m still concerned about you. All day in the classroom and that doesn’t include time spent doing lesson plans or grading papers. Then three nights a week you work with Sean. You’re going to make yourself ill.”
M.J. didn’t want to think about what would happen if she couldn’t work. So she didn’t. “Don’t worry about me, Mom. The schedule is intense and I’ll admit it’s draining sometimes, but I’ll be fine.”
As long as Gavin didn’t decide his son wasn’t progressing quickly enough and fire her. That was something else she didn’t want to think about. If it happened, she had no idea what she’d do. For the sake of her sanity, she decided not to borrow trouble. Right now she had enough to worry about, thank you very much.
Evelyn studied her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m sure.”
When Evelyn’s expression filled with sympathy and sorrow, it was clear she was talking about the child they’d lost. “You’re not just doing all of this to keep yourself too busy to think?”
Even if that were true, M.J. thought, she was a dismal failure because she was thinking all the time. Unfortunately some of those thoughts were about Gavin. What had happened to make him so cynical? Was that having a negative impact on Sean? Not only was Gavin aggressively taking up her conscious mind, his too handsome image drifted through her dreams. The dark intensity on his face. The glittering passion in his eyes was seared into her subconscious and she couldn’t seem to forget how determined he was to have his son back. If desire were enough, that boy would be whole again.
Desire.
The single word made her tremble. How stupid was that? She barely knew Gavin; she hardly ever saw him. It seemed he made himself more scarce after she’d tried to get him involved in Sean’s therapy. But facts were facts. Even if she was capable of caring, a man like him would never be interested in someone like her. How weird was she that the thought made her wistful? She should embrace facts without question.
M.J. said with absolute certainty, “I’m definitely not keeping myself too busy to think.”
“Okay.” Her mother nodded. “You’re a big girl.”
There were times she wished she wasn’t, but never more than when Gavin looked at her with that mysterious expression in his dark eyes. She would give almost anything to know what he was thinking. Almost.
“Tell me about your millionaire.”
That surprised her. “You mean, Gavin?”
“Do you have another one?” Evelyn asked.
“First of all, he’s not mine.”
“But he is a millionaire. I read the paper.”
“Even the society pages?”
Her mother smiled. “I get bored waiting for the doctor and the hairdresser.”
M.J. grinned back. “I’m shocked and appalled.”
“Don’t tell your aunt.”
“Our little secret.”
“So, what’s he like?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to say he was a hottie, but M.J. held back. He definitely was that. And so much more.
“You met him,” M.J. said, not trusting herself to talk about the brooding intense man.
“I remember. He’s not the kind of man a woman could forget. Not even an old one,” she said with a grin.
M.J. understood all too well. “He’s certainly a concerned father.”
She admitted that concern, although she’d been infuriated by his insinuation that she was dragging out the therapy for personal gain. He’d told her he didn’t trust anyone, but she was only beginning to realize how deeply ingrained the mind-set was. Whatever happened to him must have been bad for him to still be so wary. He’d admitted Sean’s mother was the guilty party. And she knew the woman wasn’t involved in her child’s life. That was just wrong.
M.J. would give anything to have Brian here with her. The familiar pain took its place in her chest and she wondered how a mother could abandon her child.
How could a woman abandon Gavin?
The thought came out of nowhere and she shook her head, as if that would clear away the feeling. If she couldn’t get rid of it, she’d be forced to admit she was attracted to the man. It was a complication she didn’t need.
“What’s his house like?”
“Big. Beautiful. Overlooking the ocean. It’s a dream house. Like you’d expect a millionaire to have.”
Evelyn thought about that. “I’ll bet it doesn’t have the same character as this place and all the tradition of several generations.”
“That’s true.” Her stomach knotted. “He has a mansion, but it’s a house, not a home.”
And Sean was being raised by staff, not family.
True, Gavin was a working father. He had financial resources. But all the money in the world didn’t replace a mother’s love. The question was why Sean’s mother was out of the picture. Was it by choice or had Gavin “fired” her because she didn’t meet his expectations?
He was a demanding man and that concerned her for Sean’s sake.
She’d seen the way the boy looked at his father, as if the sun rose and set on him. She’d also seen Gavin rush in or not show up at all while she was there. He worked long hours and she could understand that. But was it by chance or by choice? Was he paying the staff to parent and her to put the boy back
