The Father of Her Son - By Kathleen Pickering Page 0,87
in Neverland with the ordered chaos that was as familiar to her as her own hands. Bunny had been great by covering in Kelly’s absence. To thank her, Kelly gave her three days off with pay. Of course, Bunny refused to take them right away, saying something about saving for an escape to the Bahamas. She’d been talking about this escape for four years now. Kelly suspected she never planned to go. Bunny was a woman who liked her routine. It was as simple as that. Kelly decided that after the holiday season she would take Bunny to the Bahamas herself.
Kelly never would have survived the huge undertaking that was the Neverland diner without her employees who had become friends. As she walked by, Jake whistled some tune off-key while he worked the grill, every once in a while glancing in her direction, she knew, to be sure no reporters bothered her. The floor staff laughed and chatted with customers as they deftly served the tables. Her crew worked like a well-oiled machine whether she was present or not. The value of their loyalty knew no price. Neverland thrived because she’d created a family from a colorful group of strangers who had been drawn to Neverland and spent a major portion of their waking time here. She had yet to fire anybody.
She, Evan and Matt may have done nothing on their so-called honeymoon weekend that resembled a honeymoon, but they spent the weekend playing in the penthouse away from prying eyes. Between movie marathons with popcorn and ice cream, basketball shoot-outs, pinball, laser tag, cooking homemade pizzas, they ate up the hours. Interacting as a family helped strengthen this budding friendship that Evan and Kelly were now bound by marriage to grow. Chances were good their union would not last, but at least she wouldn’t have to pretend that she was enjoying this private time together.
Another perk to this arrangement surprised her: Evan helped share the responsibilities. He dived right in. Since he didn’t return to work, Evan took Matt to school and would pick him up, thus ensuring her son could safely return to his daily routine. It was a godsend that the school had excellent security. Now that the principal understood Kelly and Matt’s unique situation, she took extra steps to make sure everyone kept an eye on Matt while he remained unaware of their diligence. After school, instead of bringing him to Neverland, Evan and Matt would return to the penthouse, where he could play while Evan worked from his home office.
Kelly and Evan had taken time with Matt last night to explain how as a new family if anyone was to say anything to him about Kelly or himself, he should ignore them. Should any questions arise, both Kelly and Evan would be happy to answer them.
Matt had frowned. “But, you are my dad, Evan. Right?”
Not sure how to answer and not wanting to lie, Evan said, “Do you want me to be?”
Matt had looked from Evan to Kelly as if that was the dumbest question he’d ever heard. “Well, duh. Yeah!”
Evan tousled his hair. “Tomorrow I’ll be sure Mr. Quince draws up documents to make me in charge of you. How is that?”
Matt lifted his hand for a high five. “Okay!”
Kelly had also been glad to clear the air between her and Evan over their vows. She couldn’t just marry him and use him as Michael had suggested, even though she suspected her brother didn’t mean for her to be so mercenary as much as he was trying to get her to take the vows. No doubt his tradition-steeped heart believed she’d be safer beneath a man’s wing.
Given the lies Campbell spewed in his interview with Dean, this time she agreed completely. But, she had to be true to her feelings. She would not lead Evan on romantically unless she truly felt love for him—though she was sorely tempted. Thinking about his touch made a delicious shiver run up her spine. She wondered how their heated moment on the pinball machine would have played out had she let it...or if Matt hadn’t doused the moment as only a child could.
Some of the patrons started to boo and hiss when Evan’s show came on and he wasn’t at his desk giving the usual morning greeting. Instead, Bethany and Dean sat welcoming each other for the next week while Evan was on leave.
On leave?
She and Bunny exchanged glances. Kelly would ask Evan about their word choice as