Sean's Reckoning by Sherryl Woods Page A

admitted.
    “You’re home early tonight.”
    “Joey insisted on it. I suspect Ruby got to him again. I honestly don’t know how she does it, but if I ever find out, I’ll put a stop to it.” She sounded annoyed.
    “Good for Ruby,” Sean enthused. “Tell me about this restaurant. Is it any good?”
    “The food’s filling, and there’s plenty of it. Actually the meat loaf isn’t bad. And everyone seems to love the spaghetti special.”
    Sean pounced on the mention of his favorite food. “What night is that? I love spaghetti. My mom’s wasthe best,” he said, a wistful note creeping into his voice.
    There were only a handful of things that could drag him right back to his childhood. Spaghetti was one of them. Ironically, when he’d first gone to his brother’s pub, he’d noticed that spaghetti wasn’t on the menu there. Of course, it was an Irish pub, but still, spaghetti had virtually become a universal menu item. Ryan had claimed it wasn’t on the menu because he hated it. He’d also sworn that he didn’t remember their mom making it. Either Ryan was lying or he’d suppressed the memory. Since Sean had done his share of that, he’d kept silent.
    “You still remember your mom’s spaghetti?” Deanna asked, her voice suddenly soft.
    “Yeah. Silly, isn’t it, when I’ve forgotten just about everything else about those early years. But when it comes to spaghetti, I’ve never had any that was better.”
    “Then, by all means, come by and try Joey’s sometime. It’s the Thursday-night special.”
    He thought about his schedule. “I’m on duty Thursday,” he told her. “But maybe I can talk the guys into coming by.”
    “You can leave the station?”
    “As long as all of us go and take our gear with us,” he said. “We have to be ready to roll if there’s a call.”
    “Well, you’ll probably run into Ruby and Kevin, if you come. It’s their favorite night, too.”
    “I imagine if I tell that to Hank, no one will be able to keep us away.”
    “Unless they’ve had a fight,” Deanna said, sounding thoughtful. “They could have.”
    “Then this will be one way to find out,” Sean said.“He’s coming over in a few minutes. I’ll mention Thursday to him.”
    “Okay, then. Maybe I’ll see you on Thursday.”
    “Good night, Deanna.”
    “Bye.”
    Sean hung up the phone, then sat staring at it as if it somehow still connected them. It was an odd sensation, one he wasn’t especially happy about. It had been a very long time, decades in fact, since he’d allowed himself to feel connected to anyone. Since he and his brother had hooked up, he had felt a renewed bond with Ryan, though it was still a bit on the uneasy side. And he and Hank were pretty tight, but that was it. Even the connection to his foster parents was tenuous. He still saw the Forresters from time to time, but he told himself that was because he owed them, not because he harbored any sentimental feelings toward them. The fact that there seemed to be some sort of invisible pull between him and a woman he barely knew was disconcerting.
    He tried to dismiss it but knew he was only lying to himself. Why else had he called Deanna in the first place? It wasn’t like him to poke around in his friend’s life behind his back. It had been an excuse, pure and simple, designed to let him off the hook emotionally. He could tell himself the call had nothing to do with a ridiculously fierce longing to hear the sound of Deanna’s voice.
    Lies, all lies. Filled with self-disgust at the pitiful ruse, he forced himself to face facts. He was drawn to Deanna Blackwell. He shouldn’t be. It was completely unwise and out of character, but there it was. He liked her. He liked her son. He was worried about the two of them.
    Deanna needed a friend, he concluded. Okay, she had Ruby. But who couldn’t use more than one friend? He could be that friend. And he could hang out with the kid from time to time, sort of like a big brother. It