Delinquent Daddy (Banks / Kincaid Family #2)(13)

"I need to put the cold food in the refrigerator," she blurted out, snagging his empty cup and moving toward the sink to wash it and set it back in the cupboard.

Boston sat back in his chair, watching her stash her groceries. She'd just turned to a pantry to put away her canned goods when the back door opened. He glanced over 54

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

and blinked when a small blond-haired boy strolled inside like he owned the place. Ellie didn't notice him at first, but Boston couldn't take his eyes off the kid.

Who the hell was this? Was he another child of hers, a younger son or something? The idea of Ellie having more children didn't sit well with him, and he wasn't about to explore why. He scowled as he watched the scrawny kid in the thick glasses meander toward the fridge and lug out a gallon of milk.

Ellie finally noticed the boy a second later, or rather she noticed Boston watching him. She turned and jumped half out of her skin.

"Keller!" she yelped. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm...getting...a drink...Mama Ellie." The boy panted, out of breath because the milk was too heavy for him.

Ellie hurried forward and took the carton from his grasp.

"Well, I'm sure you have milk at home, dear."

"But I'm here to see Cassie. We're going to play the new Pokemon game on her Xbox." He tipped his head back to stare up at her and send her a confused look. "Why should I go home to get a drink and then come all the way back, when I can just get it here?"

Ellie sighed. "Keller, Cassie can't play tonight." She glanced toward Boston. "She—"

But the boy had finally caught sight of him too. His eyes bugged. "Holy cow! Who's he?!" He spun toward Ellie. "Oh, wow. Is he Cassie's dad?"

Ellie's jaw began to fall open before she caught herself and snapped her teeth together. Then she groaned. "Of course,"

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

she muttered to herself, shaking her head. "I should've known you were involved in writing that letter."

Keller grinned, proud. "Well, sure. I found his address."

Boston and Ellie exchanged a glance. Boston looked surprised. Ellie was merely bone weary. She turned back to the boy and set her hands on her hips, taking on the aggravated mother look. " You found Montgomery Kincaid's address?"

"It wasn't hard." Keller gave a no-nonsense shrug. "All you have to do is pay thirty-nine, ninety-nine on people finders dot com and they just give you the address."

Ellie's mouth fell open. "And how did you pay for that?"

Keller started to look a little uneasy. Dipping his head, he mumbled, "My dad has a credit card on his dresser for emergencies."

"Keller!" Ellie sputtered. "Oh, my God."

But the boy was quick to say, "This was an emergency, Mama Ellie. Cassie was this close to finding her dad." He held up two fingers, stretching them less than an inch apart.

"But— What...how..." Ellie snapped her mouth shut and gaped openly at the boy. "What even made you two think Montgomery Kincaid was her father?" How had they gotten so close?

"It was in the magazine," he answered.

"The...what? What magazine?"

With a roll of his eyes as if he couldn't believe she could be so ignorant, Keller let out a sigh and trudged across the kitchen. He stood on his tiptoes and reached for a pile of magazines sitting in a basket on the counter. After digging 56

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

through them a moment, he lifted Vogue and showed it to her. The cover read, "Shannon's Out-of-this-World Marriage to Astronaut's Son." Ellie frowned at the picture of the famous model on the cover.

"Shannon March," Keller said. "Right here it says she married the son of a real-life astronaut. And you told Cassidy her dad was the son of an astronaut. There's not a lot of actual astronauts out there, you know," he added as if he were an authority on the subject. "So, it was pretty much a given this could be her dad."

Mouth falling open, Ellie turned toward Boston. "You married Shannon March?"

"My brother did," he murmured, frowning as he eyed Keller.

"Oh," she said. Wow. Her daughter's biological uncle was married to a world-known model. How amazing was that?

Boston eyed the magazine as he pushed to his feet and strolled toward it. A bug-eyed Keller handed it over as soon he reached for it.

"We read the article about her marrying Montgomery Kincaid," the boy said. "And when it said he went to the same college as you, Mama Ellie, then we knew...we just knew this had to be her dad. Because you said...you said you met her dad in college and he was the son of a—"

"I know what I said," Ellie snapped, irritated her own words had come back to bite her in the butt. But she'd never thought her daughter would turn into a mini Sherlock Holmes and actually get so close to finding the truth. Then again, she 57

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

should've known better with a genius savant like Keller as her best friend.

"Keller," she said on an exasperated sigh. "You need to go home now. And don't think I won't tell your mother about borrowing that credit card."