Page 41 of Delinquent Daddy (Banks/Kincaid Family 2)

looked hurt. If he'd kept that expression, if he'd done one thing to give her an ounce of consolation, she probably would've broken down and told him the truth.

But after taking a deep breath and clearing his face of all emotion, he nodded once and turned away. Ellie watched him leave; his stiff, straight back was the last thing she saw...for ten years.

"Well, I can understand why you did it," Nora said, jerking Ellie to the present.

She hadn't realized she'd spilled out most of her story aloud until her friend added, "You had a child to protect, and this jerk who'd just cheated on you was making a huge fuss.

If you want my opinion, I'd say you did the right thing. If you'd kept him from going on to Yale and passing his bar, he would've held that against you for the rest of your life and made all three of you miserable. I swear, Mendel resents Keller and me, and we weren't even forced on him. We actually planned on getting married and starting a family. It's not my damn fault he suddenly realized this isn't the life he wanted..."

Nora fell quiet and her eyes flashed guiltily toward Ellie's, as if she'd just realized she'd gone off on her own tangent.

Forcing a smile, she reached out and took Ellie's hand. "You did the right thing," she assured her. "You and Cassie have done beautifully without him."

Ellie nodded but bit her lip because she couldn't keep the doubt from plaguing her. A week ago, she would've agreed wholeheartedly with Nora. Boston had been so mad at her; he would've made a crappy dad. But now...now that she'd seen 103

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

him ten years matured and then seen how happy Cassie was meeting him and actually liking him, she wasn't certain of anything. She'd do any number of things for her daughter.

She might even let Boston Kincaid back into her life to make her little girl happy.

"Might" being the word of the day.

"Did you know Keller was the one who found him?" she asked.

After she explained the boy's involvement, Nora merely shook her head and grumbled, "I told Mendel not to leave that credit card lying around. The idiot." But she didn't look too upset. Rather she looked proud of her genius son. "I swear, someday, the FBI is going to show up on my doorstep because they've caught him cracking into top secret files.

He's too smart for his own good."

Ellie nodded sadly. "He probably should've skipped those grades when the principal came to talk to you about raising his level of education."

Nora sighed. "I know, but when he found out Cassidy wouldn't be coming with him, he refused. He won't do anything without her."

Ellie had to agree. "They are quite a pair."

Nora nodded, and the two fell silent. Ellie realize

d they'd drifted off onto the same thought pattern when Nora sighed and asked, "So, what're you going to do about Mr. Daddy?"

Ellie let out a breath. "I have no idea."

Her first instinct was to pack up Cassie and get them as far away as they could go. But her daughter would hate her 104

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

forever if she did that. And Ellie knew the child needed a male figure in her life. But did that man have to be Boston?

"I'm kind of hoping he forgets about us and never comes back again."

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