Meeting at Midnight by Eileen Wilks Read Free Book Online

out.”
    â€œHow old were you?”
    â€œEleven. It was summer, of course. I remember—hey!”
    She’d knelt and was reaching for my foot. “Must have been hot.”
    â€œBlazing. You don’t have to do that.” I tried to retrieve my foot without creating a tug-of-war.
    â€œQuit that or I’ll tickle you.” She ran the washcloth over my sole. “I’ll admit I’m not a real nurse, but I’m pretty sure this sort of thing is part of the job.”
    I scowled. This was every bit as embarrassing as I’d thought it would be. “No, you’re a paramedic. So why aren’t you working as one?”
    â€œBecause I couldn’t hack it.” She grabbed the towel. “So why is your brother married to your son’s mother instead of you?”
    Sucker-punched. I hadn’t seen that one coming, and for a second couldn’t think of a thing to say.
    â€œI’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” She dried my foot carefully, giving me the top of her head to look at instead of her face. Even with her hair pulled back, her hair was all crinkly, like a shallow stream wiggling over rocks.
    Or like Doofus wiggling all over even when he was trying to stand still. I sighed. I felt as if I’d just kicked a puppy—and gotten bitten for it. “Don’t apologize. I asked for it. I jabbed at you because I don’t like needing help for every little thing. Can’t complain if you jab back.”
    â€œOkay. Hand me your socks, will you?”
    I did, and she pulled a sock on my left foot. It felt weird to sit there while she did that. “I’m surprised none of the busybodies you talked to yesterday filled you in about me and Gwen.”
    Seely looked up then, her face all smoothed out. “I really am sorry. I’m not usually such a bitch.”
    That annoyed me. “You’re not a bitch at all.”
    â€œI can be, when my temper’s up.”
    â€œI have a temper, too, but no one calls me a bitch.”
    She laughed. “I have a feeling no one calls you anything but ‘sir’ when you’re mad.”
    â€œYou haven’t been around my family.” I liked that I’d made her laugh. It was a good sound.
    â€œYou’re obviously close.” She tossed the washcloth in the sink. “Um…Gwen did say that you’d only known Zach for a few months. She said that was her fault.”
    â€œIt was my fault as much as hers.” I didn’t like talking about it…but I didn’t like her thinking I was the kind of bastard who’d ignore his son, either. “I didn’t know about Zach’s existence until last March. Gwen and I met when I was on vacation a few years ago. It didn’t work out—at least, I decided it wouldn’t work out. She has money, you see. Family money. A lot of it. I didn’t deal with that well when I found out. She, uh, threw away my address when I left, so by the time she realized she was pregnant, she didn’t know how to find me.”
    â€œHow did you learn about Zach, then?”
    â€œShe hired a detective. That was after she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer.” I added firmly, so she’d know the subject was closed, “She’s okay now. Anyway, she brought Zach here for a visit, and while Zach and I were getting acquainted, she and Duncan fell for each other.”
    They’d fought it. In hindsight I could see that it must have been hell for both of them. They’d known I’d wanted to marry Gwen, and Duncan at least had accepted that I had a prior claim. But at the time I hadn’t been able to see anything except how betrayed I’d felt when I found out, how thoroughly my dreams had been destroyed.
    Seely rested her hand on my knee. “I’m glad you told me. If Zach is going to be here often, I wouldn’t want to say or do the wrong thing.”
    That was a good reason for