Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (25 page)

She thought she recognized the
man she had passed earlier
. He was walking in the opposite direction
as he
turned
around the side of the building and disappeared in the gathering darkness. She entered
her
apartment
just
as
the rain began in earnest.

A week later,
David
Kelly
parked the car in the lot nearest
Dannilynn
’s dorm. He
entered
the reception area, and was about to
ring
for the housemother when Sarah
opened the main door, headed for the mail boxes. “H
i
, Mr.
Kelly
.
”

“Hello, Sarah.” He held a bouquet of flowers in his hand. “I came up to surprise
Dannilynn
. Do you know when she’ll be back
from class
?”

Sarah paused before replying.
“S
he doesn’t live here anymore.”

“
Oh
?
Where
is she living
?
”

“I’ll write
down
the address
for you.”

David
debated calling Anna to ask when Danni had left the dorm then decided to wait until he went home. He
wandered through town
in the late afternoon sunshine
before finding the apartment building. It
looked
sturdy enough, in spite of its need
of
exterior paint. When he knocked on her door, there was no answer.
He
left, walked to
a nearby diner and ordered a sandwich and a cup of coffee.
She must
still
be in class
.
He glanced at his watch when
he had finished eating.
Almost five.
She was
certain
to be
home now
.

Chapter 8

Danni was reading the last chapter of her history assignment w
hen
Ben knocked
. She
opened
the door
to him, a wide smile on her face.
Maybe he’ll have dinner with me.

He
greeted her with a frown
.
“
You
didn’t ask who it was.
You shouldn’t
open
your door unless you know who it is.”

“But
I knew it was you—your special knock. And
Happy
’s here. He knew it was you
, too
.
See how his whole back end is wagging? Besides, h
e won’t let anyone hurt me.”

“
True
, but what if Happy is asleep, or
is
outside
doing his business
? I don’t want you taking chances,
Danni
.”

“
Okay
,
okay
. I
get it.”
She
turned away from the door
and
pointed to the man-sized dummy Ben was holding. “Is that what I use to practice with Happy?”

“This is it.
Sorry I forgot
it when I came to see you
last weekend.
”
H
e propped the dummy o
n
one of the kitchen
chair
s
. Happy sniffed the arm of the dummy and lay down under the table.

She giggled.
“
Lefty
here needs some help
.
Do you have any duct tape
—for his arm
? We
sho
uld repair it.
”

“I don’t, but for now, it’s
okay
.” He pointed to the p
oster
she had tacked up
near
a
torn spot i
n the wall
paper
. “That p
oster
is cro
ok
ed. Want me to fix it?”

“
I
’ll
do it.
S
tand ba
ck and tell me if it’s straight.
”
S
he c
lam
b
er
ed
awkwardly
on
to
a nearby chair
.

“Hey, yo
u shouldn’t do things like that.
”
He stood
in front
of the chair
, his
hand
s
clasping her
at her thickened
waist
. “What if
you lost your balance
? You might fall and hurt
little Miss Bumpus
.”

“I won’t fall. I’ve done this lots of times.
”
She
grinned then
straightened the p
oster and retacked it in place
. “There, all fixed,” and
turned
around to face
him
, his
hand
s
still
clasping her sides
.

Before she could climb down from the chair,
the
apartment
door
was pushed
open
.
Danni looked
up
at the sound of the squeak
ing hinge
.

Her
father
stood in the doorway.
Silent. Not moving.

Danni
sucked in her breath. “Da
d
, I didn’t know you
—
”

He
remained
w
h
ere he was
, staring at her
as the tension in the room thickened
.
“Since when did you move out of the dorm? Without telling you
r
mother and me?”

He took a step inside the apartment and pushed the door closed.

Her
pulse starting to pound,
too stunned to move,
Danni
opened her mouth to answer him
. She watched his eyes focus first on Ben’s hands, still resting
just above her hips
, and then at her belly.
She pulled her shirt down
,
which had ridden above her waist as she’d stretched to reposition the poster on t
he wall, h
er adjustment of her
clothing
too late t
o hide
her pregnant
bulge. Her father’s
face and ears turned red
.

“You brought me flowers,” she blurted. He’d never done that before.

He looked down at the hand still gripping the bouquet and the blooms fluttered to the floor. His gaze focused on her belly again.
“You
’re pregnant?
”
His
scowl deepened as he gl
ared
again
at Ben.

“Dad, let me explain.”

But he shook his head. “You don’t have to. I know how you got that way. When were you going to tell your mother? Or were you just going to show up on
e
day with a baby in your arms?”

H
is sco
wl deepened as
he
angl
ed
closer to the young people
who remained, statue-like
where they were
, Danni still on the chair, Ben’s arms still steadying her
.
Her
father’s voice rose. “You bastard! You did this, didn’t you?”

He took another step closer
to Ben
, his fingers fisting.

Then he looked again at Danni, her throat opening and closing spasmodically at her father’s anger
. Now
he knew what she’d been hoping she’d never have to tell him.
“Dad, please.”

He took two more steps toward her, close enough to pull her off the chair.

“And you! How could you let him get to you?”
At his words of outrage,
Happy
, who had been lying under the kitchen table,
rose and walked toward the man, his
neck hair
raised,
his lip curled. He growled
dee
p in his throat
at
the older man’s threatening tone.

“
Down, Happy
,
” Ben ordered
.

The
dog lay
back
down, growling
softly
under his breath
.

“Dad.”
Danni
climbed
down off the chair
with Ben’s help
. “I—wasn’t—I wasn’t expecting you.”

“
I guess not
.
” His
gaze flicked
again
to
her pregnant belly. “
You weren’t raised to—you’ll break your mother’s heart when she—e
xactly
when
did you plan to tell us
you left the dorm?
” he asked again.
“
Or that
you’d
gotten yourself knocked up
?
”

He
pointed a finger at Ben.
“
D
on’t you work
for
Joel
Taylor?
W
ait’ll I talk to
him
about his hired help.
Does he know you did this?”
He
moved closer,
again
clenching
his fists.

Ben
edged in front of
Dannilynn
,
as if to
prevent David from touching her
, his voice calm
.

“I didn’
t get your daughter pregnant
, Mr. Kelly
.
We’
re friends, that’s all.”

“Friends
?”
the older man’s
anger edged with
sarcasm
.
“
I’ve heard that before—
exactly what kind of
friends
, eh, Danni?
”
H
er father
glared at
her
. “
You knew better than to do this.
We taught you better. Y
ou listen to me good.” He raked one hand across his brow as if to erase what he’d seen when he’d entered the little apartment. His voice, previously higher-pitched, descended to a low growl. “
No
daughter of mine
gets herself pregnant when she isn’t married
. So d
on’t
you
bother com
ing
home until you’re rid of that bastard
.”
He
turned
on his heel
and left the apartment,
slamming
the door
behind him
.

Danni
dissolved in tears in Ben’s arms. “Now what am I going to do?” she bawled.

He
rubbed her back
. “Maybe
if
you
call
your m
om
before your d
ad gets home
.
Can
she
calm him down? Get him to see—
I’m sure he didn’t mean
what he said
.
”

She
shook
her head. “
I’ll c
all her, but I don’t think it’
ll help. She’s sure to be disappointed in me, and w
hen my d
ad makes up his mind, that’s all there is to it.
Mom
won’t
be able to
make
him change
his mind
.” S
he continued to weep.
“W
hat if she
asks
Joe
l
to
fire you?”