Special Forces Father - By Mallory Kane Page 0,71
just because you’ve brought her a grandson. Then when she gets to know you, you’ll be just like one of the family.”
“And your dad?” Kate asked apprehensively.
“Dad talks pretty well. But he doesn’t interact with anyone much. I have no idea what he’ll think about Max. I do know that Lucas and Ethan—and I’m sure Travis—will be watching him closely. They don’t have good memories of him from their childhood.”
“But he won’t—”
Cara Lynn’s lips thinned. “His stroke was massive. He can barely move and talk. He’s not going to hurt your son.”
Kate’s face burned. “I’m sorry, Cara. I didn’t mean—”
She waved a hand. “It’s okay. I get mad at my older brothers a lot. Harte and I don’t remember Dad the same way they do. The man we grew up with wouldn’t—couldn’t hurt a fly.” She walked up to the door and swung it open. “Come in,” she said to Kate. “And brace yourself. You’re about to meet the entire Delancey clan.”
Kate held Max as Cara led her toward a pretty woman and a man in a wheelchair.
“Mom, Dad, this is Kate Chalmet.”
Kate smiled shakily and clutched Max more tightly as she waited to see what Travis’s parents would do.
“Kate,” Betty Carole Delancey said. “I’m so glad to meet you. And this must be Max.”
Max ducked his head and hid his face in Kate’s blouse. “Max,” Kate said. “This is Travis’s mother.”
“Now, Kate,” Betty Carole said in an admonishing tone.
Kate cringed, but before she had a chance to wonder what she’d said wrong, Travis’s mother continued.
“Max, I’m your grandmama. What do you think about that?”
Max peered at her sidelong. She grinned at him and finally, he lifted his head and smiled at her. “Grandmama?” he said.
Betty Carole laughed. “Yes. That’s right. And this is your granddaddy.” Betty Carole turned to Robert Delancey, who was eyeing Max with a pensive expression on his face. “Robert, this is Max. He’s Travis’s son.”
“Travis,” Robert said, his mouth twisting a little as he worked to form the word.
Max’s fist tightened on the back of Kate’s shirt. “Mommy?” he whispered.
“It’s okay, Max,” she said. “He’s your granddaddy.”
Betty Carole placed a hand on Robert’s shoulder. “Robert, where’s Travis’s car?” she asked him, then looked at Max. “Your granddaddy wanted me to find a special toy car that Travis had when he was a little boy. Would you like to see it?”
“Car?” Max echoed, peering at her and then at Robert.
Robert nodded. “Car—” he said. “Max. You want—car?”
The little boy nodded. “Let me down, Mommy.”
Kate set him on the floor and he stood there, watching Robert as the older man reached under the blanket that covered his legs and came out with a red wooden car. It was old, and the paint was scratched and dinged, but as soon as Max saw it, he reached for it.
“Mommy! It’s like mine!” he cried.
Robert looked up at her. “Okay?” he asked.
She nodded, smiling.
“Okay.” Robert held out the car and Max took it.
“Max,” Kate said. “What do you say?”
Max looked at Robert. “Thank you,” he said. “Granddaddy.”
“Oh,” Betty Carole exclaimed quietly. When she looked at Kate, there were tears in her eyes.
Kate felt her own eyes sting. “Thank you both,” she murmured.
At that instant, Dawson approached and introduced Kate to his wife, Juliana. They asked permission to show Max a computer football game.
Then Betty Carole introduced her to Lucas’s wife, Angela, a dark-haired beauty who seemed perfectly at ease in the middle of dozens of Delanceys. Ethan, who was younger than Lucas and Travis, seemed more serious and intense than his brothers. Harte greeted her warmly, introduced her to Danielle, then took her across the room to meet his aunt and uncle, Michael and Edina Delancey.
Dawson’s brothers, Ryker and Reilly, the twins she’d heard about, were there. Ryker told her that his wife, Nicole, a chef, was helping with the meal and that he didn’t know where Reilly’s wife, Christy, was. “She’s probably in the den, playing with Max and Dawson,” he said with a smile.
Then Edina brought over a red-haired woman. She introduced her as Rosemary Delancey. “This is my daughter,” Edina said. “She has just come back to us after twelve years. We thought she was dead. And this is her fiancé, Detective Dixon Lloyd.” Kate was nearly dumbfounded. Even with the faint scar that ran from her hairline to her jaw, Rosemary was stunning, her long wavy hair pulled back at her nape. She and Dixon were a study in contrasts. He was intense and darkly handsome,