mind spinning.
Her son meeting his father.
“Oh, look, Connor’s warming up to you. This is Brett’s boy. Going to have his first birthday before you know it.”
Kat lowered her eyes, the weight of the situation crashing down on her shoulders. She had to think fast. To find a way to protect Mattie.
“He’s your boy?” Justin asked her.
“Yes.” Kat rose quickly and moved over to Mattie. “Let me take him, Aunt Mattie. Your arms must be tired from holding him most of the morning.”
“Kat was trying to fix the flat,” Aunt Mattie explained to Justin. “The roads here are murder on the tires, you know. My arms are getting a bit tweaked. I’m not as young as I used to be,” she said as she handed Connor over carefully. “Though there’s nothing in this world better than holding our little Connor.”
The baby was on his best behavior, not fidgeting as he was prone to do when he was around strangers. Connor clung to Kat’s neck and she kissed his soft little cheek before turning to face Justin. “Aunt Mattie is recovering from a heart attack. She took the news of Brett’s death very hard.”
Aunt Mattie interjected, “I think I would’ve died, if it hadn’t been for Kat and Connor showing up when they did. That little boy was like an angel coming down from heaven to save my life.”
Justin rose. His gaze switched back and forth from Connor to Kat. The suspicion she’d known would come lit up his eyes. “Brett never said he had a son.”
Aunt Mattie chimed in. “That’s because Brett never knew about Connor. Kat came here looking for Brett, to finally tell him about his baby. But it was too late for Connor to meet his daddy. Kat’s been living here, taking care of me ever since.”
Justin’s eyes rounded on her. ”You never told Brett he had a son.”
The lines around Aunt Mattie’s eyes crinkled with worry. “Oh, dear. Did I say something wrong?”
“No, it’s okay, Aunt Mattie,” Kat told her softly. “Justin was a friend of Brett’s. He might as well know the truth.” She stared at Justin, hoping to get her point across. Now that it had sunk in that she’d been deceived, she didn’t want to transfer the damage to Mattie. Her emotions rolled through her like a tornado, but she kept up appearances rather than hurt Mattie Applegate any further. “I met Brett in New York and we spent time together. After I learned I was pregnant, I tried to reach him overseas. But I never heard back from him. So, I stayed in the city and worked, raising my son until…well, until the day I decided to come to Nevada to try to find Brett here.”
Justin glanced at the little boy in her arms and then focused back on her.
Kat stilled her frustration at the man who’d deliberately lied to her. She continued quickly, “I didn’t find Brett, but I found Aunt Mattie.” Kat turned to face the older woman. “Meeting Connor was the best medicine for her. Her health has improved so much even her doctors can’t believe it. Isn’t that right, Aunt Mattie?”
Aunt Mattie leaned forward in her recliner, nodding and making the sign of the cross across her chest. “It’s a miracle, is what it is. Connor is a gift from God.”
Justin squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then glanced at Connor with a proprietary look that curdled Kat’s stomach. “He is at that.”
The older woman began to rise. “Where are my manners? Would you like some pie? I can my own peaches and Kat made peach pie this morning. We’ll put on a pot of coffee, too. And then we can talk more about Brett.”
“Sorry, I can’t,” Justin said firmly. “Please don’t get up. Thanks for the offer, but I’m short on time today.”
Mattie’s face crumpled with disappointment. “You’ll come back, though. I’d like to hear about your friendship with Brett.”
Justin stared at Kat, condemning her with a solemn look. At least he caught the gravity of Mattie’s situation and kept his lips buttoned. Kat was thankful for that. “I promise I’ll come back.” He walked over to Aunt Mattie and lowered down on one knee to gently take her hand. He focused his full attention on the seventy-year-old woman who had raised Brett Applegate since the age of five, after his folks were tragically killed by a deadly storm.
“That’s good.” Mattie’s blue eyes glowed with warmth. She looked twenty years younger with that twinkle. “I’m very happy to meet one of Brett’s friends.”
“Nice to meet you, too, ma’am. Brett always went on and on about his aunt Mattie. Why, I’d say Brett’s talk about your peach pie got all the men in our unit longing for a piece of that pie.”
“Oh, that’s nice to hear, son. Next time you come, I’ll be sure to serve some up to you.”
“Will do. I’ll be by again before you know it. We’ll have that talk about Brett.” Justin grabbed his hat and walked to the door, glancing Kat’s way with a pointed look. “Kat, if you come outside to lend a hand, I’ll change that tire for you.”
“Isn’t that nice,” Mattie said, settling back in the recliner.
Kat forced a smile. The authority in his voice told her the marine sergeant wasn’t one to mess with. But the more she thought about Justin Slade lying to her, the more she couldn’t tamp down a surge of anger. She wanted answers. “I’ll be right there.”
Once Justin left the room, she kissed Connor’s cheek and placed him in the play yard that sat three feet away from Mattie’s chair. Connor sank his butt down and immediately picked up a Baby Einstein musical toy. He pushed the button, something he’d just learned to do, and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” rang out to placate him.
“I’ll watch him,” Aunt Mattie said.
“Thanks. I shouldn’t be long.”
Mattie peered outside the window with a thoughtful expression. “He seems like a nice young man.”
Kat practically choked out her agreement. “He does seem so.”
Then she walked outside to confront Justin Slade.
She had no doubt in her mind the fudge was about to hit the fan.
>
Justin set the jack on the ground and began hoisting up the underbelly of Kat’s ten-year-old Chevy. Kat kept a safe distance away, watching him work with rolled-up sleeves, his face tight, sweat beading on his forehead.
Looking at him now, she took a subjective view of what had happened in New York and understood why she’d broken her rule with him. Normally, she didn’t date soldiers or any other man who might drag her down to the ditch she’d clawed her way out of. She was heading to the top and nothing would stop her. She’d gone the poor man’s route once before with a young man, and that had gotten her nothing but grief. But Brett…or rather Justin, had had enough charm to persuade her to make an exception. She’d been so lonely, so desperate for a true friend. And he’d been that for two solid days. She’d opened up to him about her life and the recent loss
