Delinquent Daddy (Banks / Kincaid Family #2)(3)

The thing was addressed to me, remember."

He glanced at Boston and shook his head miserably. But Boston was too busy frowning at the note to pay him any notice.

Monty turned back to Olivia. "I don't even know this woman she says her mom is. I never met a—" He paused and cocked his head thoughtfully to the side, deep in thought.

"Now, wait a second. Maybe I do know her."

"What?" his wife croaked.

He snapped his fingers. "Yeah. We had a class together in college. Calculus. Her hair was long and dark, and she always sat in the front row next to this bald lesbian."

Shannon went sheet white. " Montgomery, " she whispered.

"Whoa. Hey. I never slept with her," he swore. "Never even talked to her, I don't think. I just remember my friend Alex asked her out once. She turned him down. Said she was already seeing someone."

"I wonder who she was seeing," Olivia murmured. "I bet he's the father."

Three feet away from them, Boston tore the note from Olivia's hand.

"Boston! What—"

But he didn't pay attention to the way she broke her words off, and he totally ignored how she studied him with a 17

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

scrutinizing squint of the eyes. The dizzy spell that almost dropped him to his knees made his vision blur. He blinked repeatedly until he could focus on the words again. But no matter how many times he examined them, they continued to read the same.

Dear Mr. Montgomery Kincaid, My name is Cassidy Trenton. I am nine years and ten months old. I am looking for my dad. My mom is Ellie Trenton. She will not tell me his name, but she met him in college. She said he was the son of an astronaut and named after a state capital. I read about you in the magazine. You married the famous model Shannon March. They said you went to the same college my mom went to. They said your dad was a real-life astronaut. You are named after the capital of Alabama. Are you my dad? Please come meet me.

Sincerely,

Cassie Trenton

Frozen with horror, Boston could only gape. The blood congealed in his veins.

Yes, he'd done it now. He'd thought Ellie's name, and look what atrocity had emerged.

Dear God. She'd even dubbed the baby Cassie—the very name he'd chosen.

His stomach churned.

This was wrong. All wrong. It wasn't possible. That baby was dead.

He clearly remembered Ellie saying, "There is no baby. The baby's gone." She'd been pale and crying; he'd had no reason 18

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

to think she was lying. "So just leave me alone, Boston. I never want to see you again. I want to move on and forget."

"Umm...guys?" came Olivia's voice from beside him. A moment later, Monty tore the letter from his grasp.

Boston lifted his face.

His brother's jaw sagged. "Holy Shit, Boston," he said, glancing down at the child's scrawl. "This letter was meant for you."

Boston shook his head briefly to deny it. "No," he rasped.

"It can't be. Ellie...she told me she had a miscarriage."

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19

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage





Chapter Two


Boston missed the address his first two passes down the street—even though his navigation system kept telling him he had arrived—but the third time, he paid closer attention to numbers and yes, there it was, wedged between a pair of three-story homes worth an easy million in mortgage.

The house he sought looked more like a guest cottage. It's floor plan had to be under a thousand square feet total. A single-story building with brown siding and white trim, the place matched the color of the mansion to its left, solidifying his guest-cottage theory. Shrubs and small trees filled the yard and sheltered a good portion of the covered front porch.

To Boston, it wasn't much. The whole thing could easily fit into his garage. But to a woman who'd come from a dirt-poor trailer park in Tennessee, was raised by her spinster great aunt, and had gotten pregnant when she was nineteen, this just might be a dream palace. He could see Ellie settling down here, thinking she'd come out okay.

That didn't mean she lived here, he reminded himself. Just because the return address to that freaky letter was legitimate and led to an actual residence didn't mean any of this was true, even if the facts were too uncanny to give him any sort of hope.

The names, the timing...they all fit.

Hello, my name is Cassidy Trenton. I am nine years and ten months old. Boston subtracted nine years and ten months from his life. Then he took off another nine months, which 20

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

settled him right smack dab in the middle of April, his senior year at KU, just a few weeks before he and Ellie had split.

His fingers contracted around the steering wheel as a cold sweat filmed his body. Having trouble regulating his breathing, he pulled to the curb and stared at the mini house.

Did his daughter live here? Was she inside wondering where he was even as he sat there? Boston's vision blurred, and he concentrated on his oxygen intake before he had himself a full-blown panic attack.

Hello, my name is Cassidy Trenton.

Cassie. God, that was the name he'd chosen. Why, he had no idea. He'd been in meltdown mode back then, trying to deal with reality and ignore it at the same time. It took him nearly three weeks to realize the stress Ellie had to be going through as well and how he was only adding to her troubles with his constant bickering and snide remarks. Wanting to show a little support, he'd stayed up all night, flipping through a baby name book until he'd come across Cassie. At the time, it seemed to fit, so he picked up the phone and called Ellie.