A Mother's Secret by Janice Kay Johnson Page A

frowning when Rebecca and Malcolm emerged from the women’s restroom. She turned until she spotted him at the table he’d chosen. She bent her head to smile and say something to Malcolm, after which they both started his way.
    There it was again, the feeling that made him think of drowning.
    He swore under his breath. What ridiculous, romantic mush . This was the woman who’d had the full intention of raising his son to believe his father didn’t give a damn.
    Don’t forget that , he reminded himself as he slid out of the booth and asked what drinks they wanted. Don’t forget it for a second .
     

    D ANIEL WAS DOING A LOT of pretending these days. At the moment, he was sipping a beer and theoretically watching the Golden State Warriors play the Portland Trail Blazers. He enjoyed taking in an occasional game; while in high school, he’d indulged in dreams of making the pros himself. Right now, the action on the court was no more thana blur of color to him—it might as well be hockey or, hell, curling.
    Joe lounged beside him, ostensibly having come over to Daniel’s to watch the game on Daniel’s large-screen plasma TV. There was a time when they’d done this more often. Only nine years apart in age, Daniel and Joe had grown up more like brothers than uncle and nephew.
    This afternoon, Joe had admitted when he called that Pip was abandoning him for the evening.
    “She and a couple of friends from her school are going out to dinner and shopping. She’s starting to have trouble getting her pants buttoned. I guess it’s time for maternity clothes.”
    Daniel had pictured slender Pip swelling until she had to waddle. Of course, on the tail of that image came one of Rebecca pregnant. Carrying his son. Pip was—what?—a month further along than Rebecca had been when she walked away from him.
    “Damn,” Daniel said in a tone idle by design. “You a father again. It keeps hitting me.”
    Joe still looked faintly incredulous. “Apparently I have a gift.”
    That was one way to put it. This was the second time he’d unintentionally gotten a woman pregnant. He’d married the first one, too, and done his damnedest to make the marriage work, even though Daniel suspected he’d never really loved Nadia.
    The divorce had, in Daniel’s opinion, been inevitable. Nadia had since met a great guy and remarried, although the last time Daniel saw her there had still been something wistful in her eyes when she looked at Joe.
    This marriage was different. In recent years Joe had become a grim man, as good at closing himself off as his uncle Daniel was. Falling in love had changed him.
    Halftime in the game had come, and Daniel muted the television with the remote. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
    Joe turned his head, his expression cautious. “So ask.”
    “Did Adam have insurance to cover the hospital or rehab?”
    There was a long silence. “No,” Joe finally said. “But I handled it.” The subject was obviously closed, as far as he was concerned.
    “By bankrupting yourself?”
    “No bankruptcy.”
    “But that’s why you sold your condo, isn’t it?”
    Joe’s struggle was brief but intense. He didn’t want to admit to having been desperate. “Yes.”
    “Why didn’t you come to me?”
    “Because I knew you were stretched to the max. The only way you could have helped was to ditch the Cabrillo Heights plans.”
    Daniel set down his beer. “Would you have asked for help otherwise?”
    His nephew grimaced. “Hell, yeah. But I did manage.”
    “I want to know how much you put out.”
    Joe told him.
    “You okay in the short haul?”
    “Yeah. Business has turned around. Pip makes a decent salary.”
    Daniel nodded. “Give me an accounting. As soon as the houses at Cabrillo Heights start selling, I’ll write you a check for half.”
    Predictably, Joe argued. Adam was his father. His responsibility. Daniel stayed resolute.
    Joe finally slumped back in his chair and lifted his bottle of