Cathy Gillen - Lone Star Valentine

Or, in other words, the status quo for a noncustodial parent, Gannon thought. Unable to bear the discouragement in her low tone, he rose and went to join her. “Has Bode taken advantage of that?”

Lily swung toward him, shivering slightly, her soft lips slanting downward. “Once a year—usually in the preseason—Bode asks me to take Lucas to a park in Dallas so Bode can be photographed with Lucas on the playground. Those ‘spontaneous’ photos of father and son are then released to the tabloid and legitimate press.” Cupping her hands beneath her elbows, she concluded bitterly, “Because Bode is so rarely seen with Lucas, his personal PR team makes sure that they get a lot of play in the media.”

Gannon could recall seeing a few of them himself. They’d done the trick, all right; even he had imagined Bode and Lucas had a great father-son relationship. “What about Christmas?”

A shadow crossed Lily’s lovely face. “Bode spends what time off he has in Aspen, with Viviana and their two babies, and an assortment of nannies and other help.”

Gannon couldn’t say he was surprised. “Has Bode ever asked to take Lucas with him on vacation or any other holiday?”

Lily sent him a droll look that upped his pulse another notch and made him want to console her even more. “What do you think?”

“He has not.”

“Correct.” She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, calves tautening sexily, her hips swaying beneath the snug fabric of her skirt. “Although according to the terms of our custody agreement, Bode is entitled to have his son with him on alternate holidays.”

Gannon’s eyes shifted upward, and his blood flowed hotter in his veins. He lifted his gaze from the tempting roundness of her derriere, guessing, “Bode just doesn’t take advantage of it.”

“It’s not what Viviana would want. Me, either, actually,” she continued with grim determination. “Considering how Viviana feels about the fact that Bode had a child with someone else before her.”

A silence fell.

Lily drew a breath. Then she raked her fingers through her hair, pushing the fringe of bangs off her face. “I’m sure this will all blow over. There are other ways for Bode to look good in the press in the next few weeks. I’m sure he and his team will find them.”

Gannon studied her outward control, which seemed fragile at best. “So you don’t want to counter with the offer of a couple of well-timed photo ops in the meantime, just to ward off any more trouble?”

Lily paused, then shook her head. “I let Bode be photographed with Lucas every summer because I want him to have some contact with his dad,” she explained. “And realistically, to date, I knew that was the only way it was ever going to happen.”

If —and only if—there was something Bode could get out of it for himself, Gannon thought.

Chin set, she continued, “I’m not going to let my son be used as a pawn in his father’s contract negotiations. Because I’ll tell you what would happen, Gannon. My ex would be all in, until the moment the new contract was signed. Then he’d want Lucas out of the way, again.”

She returned to her desk and picked up a framed photo of her little boy, looking down at it fondly. Smoothing her fingertips across the glass, she said, “Up until now, Lucas has been too little to really understand what was going on.”

Gannon hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting Lucas yet. Maybe soon?

Walking over to take a look at the photograph, too, Gannon did some quick calculations. “He’s what? Four now?” With the same wavy blond hair, turquoise blue eyes and piquant features of his mother. The same lithe, fit frame, the same intelligent welcoming regard...

“Yes.” Lily swallowed hard. “And I’m not going to tell my son that we’re suddenly changing all the arrangements and he’s going to live with his dad part of the time only to have to turn around a month later and tell him that he’s not. And then have him confused and upset, for no reason.”

Put that way... “I wouldn’t allow it, either,” Gannon said.

Lily paced away from her desk, took a deep breath and set her hands on her hips. She gave Gannon a look that said while she was glad they were in agreement, she was no more willing to let him close to her again now than she had been the last time they’d seen each other years ago.

They’d argued heatedly back then...and clearly she was in no mood to forgive and forget.

She drew a bolstering breath. “I really do have to get back to work.”

Getting the message that was his cue to leave, Gannon retrieved his hat. But he kept his gaze locked with hers. “If you need me—”

“I won’t.”

He withdrew a business card from his wallet, borrowed a pen from her desk and wrote on the back. Fingers touching hers, he pressed it into her hand. “That’s my personal number. I’m available 24/7 until Liz gets back in town.” And maybe thereafter, too, if the two of them ever got their friendship back on track.

“I won’t need you,” Lily repeated, stubborn as ever.

Gannon sincerely hoped that was indeed the case.

* * *

“COMPANY, MOMMA!” LUCAS shouted when the doorbell rang, several hours later. “My cousins and the ants are here!”

“Aunts,” Lily corrected. Grinning, she followed her son into the foyer.

“That’s what I said,” Lucas insisted importantly, standing legs braced apart, hands on his hips. “Ant Rose and Ant Violet.”

With a grin and a shake of her head, Lily opened the door and ushered their company inside. Unlike the twins in the family—Maggie and Callie—who were identical, Lily and her two closest sisters were fraternal triplets, and hence nothing alike.

Whereas she was tall and blond, Rose was of medium height, with light ash-brown hair. Violet was tall, too, but had very dark brown hair, like their dad’s side of the family.

“And Ant Rose brought her baby triplets, too!” Lucas continued as his cousins—two girls and a boy—toddled in with both aunts.

Chaos erupted as greetings were exchanged all around.

When Lucas had finally hugged everyone, he gestured to the play area in the family room adjacent to the kitchen and breakfast nook. “I’m building a barn!” he declared. “And a ranch. And a fence where I can put my cows and horses.”

“Let’s go see.” Violet herded all her nieces and nephews into the family room. Together, they admired what Lucas had done with his vast trove of wooden architecture-style building blocks and toy farm animals.

Meanwhile Rose—a produce wholesaler and proponent of the Buy Local movement—carried the box of veggies she’d brought for their weekly get-together into the kitchen. “So what’s up?” she asked with concern.

“With what?” Lily asked.

“Come on, sis. Don’t play dumb.” Rose set a dark green head of crisp romaine lettuce, juicy heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and radishes on the table. “I heard Bode was in town, along with an entourage. In a stretch limo, no less.”

“Oh...that.” While she rinsed the lettuce and put it in the salad spinner, Lily explained what had happened.

Rose’s expression turned to one of disgust. Having suffered her own quick and ugly divorce, she was not sympathetic to irresponsible, uncaring men. “That man’s ego knows no bounds,” she said, upset. “Hasn’t Bode thought at all about what this would do to his son?”

“Obviously not,” Lily murmured. Not that this was a surprise. Her ex never had cared about Lucas—and probably never really would, either, as sad as that was. All that mattered was raising Bode’s popularity with the fans in time for a new contract.

“No peeking, Aunt Violet!” Lucas shouted from the other room, while his younger cousins settled down to watch. “I’ll call you when I’m done!”