Apparently, this argument with Crystal had been going on for some time because even though their mother looked disgusted, she didn’t look surprised. “We’ll address this later.”

“Now, Ella, I had to leave right after church because I couldn’t stand any more embarrassing questions about why you never come. I’m not leaving until you agree to meet us there next Sunday.”

A refusal was on the tip of her tongue until she had an idea. “Sure, Mom, I’ll come, but only if Declan comes with me.”

“Wha . . . what! I just don’t think that’s appropriate. I mean, people will ask questions.”

“Why would they ask questions, Mom? I’m old enough to have a boyfriend. I’d also like to bring Evan. He is Declan’s son.”

“Ella! Are you trying to ruin our name? First, you want to bring a strange man with you and now you want to bring along his child? You know what people will think!”

“No, I really don’t, Mom. Why don’t you enlighten me.”

“Why, they’ll assume that the child is yours.”

“And why is that horrible?”

Next came a statement from her mother that was a complete shock to her and even Crystal looked stunned. “Well, if you insist on this, maybe I can explain it to a few people ahead of Sunday. I’ll just tell Joanne that you and Declan were married quietly last year and have adopted an older child. They would understand since you felt it was your Christian duty.”

“Oh brother,” Crystal moaned, “you have officially lost it, Mommy dear.”

“Mom, do you even hear yourself? You’re harassing me about not going to church, yet you want me to lie to everyone there? Doesn’t that go against everything that church is supposed to represent?”

Her mother had the grace to flush guiltily before snapping, “Your father and I are well known and respected in our community. We have a reputation to uphold. You should be more sensitive to our feelings instead of trying to make things worse.”

Ella felt like her head was about to explode. If this continued, she was going to say something unforgiveable to her mother so she decided the only course of action left was to get rid of her. “Mom, I have company that I have neglected for too long. Tell Daddy I said hello.”

“Are you asking me to leave?”

Crystal stepped over and opened the door. “I think that’s our cue, let’s go, Mom. I’ve got an appointment for a tattoo at three.”

Ella didn’t think it was possible to distract her mother when she was irate with one of her daughters, but that one statement did it. Her mother’s voice raised in disbelief as Crystal ushered her toward the door. She gave a quick thumbs-up to Ella saying, “You owe me big time,” before shutting the door behind them.

With the closing of the door, Ella sagged back against the couch and muttered one of Declan’s favorite lines, “What the fuck?”

Chapter Seventeen

Let me get this straight, Ava said, “You’ve got a kid now and a girlfriend?”

Beside her, Declan’s friend, Mac, chuckled, “Yeah, I’m still having troubling processing the girlfriend part. The kid thing freaks me out.”

Always the most serious one of the group, Brant pinched the bridge of his nose. “When were you planning on telling your family about this? I had to hear it from Gray? He was pretty horrified when he figured out that I didn’t know.”

Of course, Declan should have known when he opened the door to find the three of them standing there that no good could come from it. He was just glad that Ella was staying with Beth tonight while Nick was out of town. They would have been on her like stink on shit. “Was I supposed to Facebook message you or something? Maybe a memo? Give me a break, it’s not like I’ve known that long and we aren’t exactly the type of family from a Norman Rockwell painting.”

“Declan,” Ava snapped, “can we skip all the sarcastic humor and get to what is going on?”

He bit back a reply knowing Mac would probably kick his ass if he hurt Ava. Talk about a complicated relationship. Mac had been in love with his sister for as long as he could remember. He thought at one time back when they were teenagers that eventually Ava would finally admit that she felt the same way. Unfortunately, some bastard had taken her innocence in the most heinous way possible and now it was a toss-up as to which sibling was the most fucked up. Mac had taken care of her that night, as he always had, and he knew that even though his friend was no monk, Ava would always be it for him.

“I recently found out that I have a six-year-old son. His mother and I had a one-night stand when I was in town one weekend. We recently ran into each other at Danvers. Apparently, she is a friend of Claire’s. I would appreciate you all holding your ‘I told you so,’ if you can manage it.”

“Shit, Dec,” Brant groaned, “I thought you said you were always careful.”

“Well, obviously I had more alcohol than sense that night.”

“How do you know you can trust what this woman says?” Mac asked.

“We’ve already had a paternity test. Evan is my child.”

Brant ran a hand through his hair looking even more stressed. “Does he know, the boy?”

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool with everything. He spent the night with Ella and me over the weekend.”

Looking incredulous, Ava said, “You’re really serious about this woman, aren’t you?”

Declan squirmed, feeling more uncomfortable about this topic of conversation than he had about Evan. “Yeah, I am. She’s different for me. Hell, she’d probably be different for anyone. But don’t start freaking out. I still don’t do the long-term commitment thing with women.”

“She’s beautiful,” Mac offered. “I’ve seen her around the office when I’ve visited.”

“Yeah I bet,” Declan growled. Mac just smiled at him and he suspected he had stepped neatly into a trap on that one.

Surprising them all, Ava said, “I’d like for all of us to go out to dinner one night. As far as I know, she’s the only woman you’ve ever been with for more than a week so she must be something. She knows you have a family so she probably wonders why you haven’t formally introduced us.”

“I met her at the beach,” Brant offered.

Mac grinned in agreement. “I’d like to meet her too.” That statement earned him a frown from both Ava and Declan.

“I would rather not do this whole charade of pretending we are a normal family. Ella and I aren’t getting married or anything, so you don’t need to bring her into our dysfunctional fold. That would probably just hasten her departure.” Giving them an evil smile he said, “I tell you what though. If you would like to meet Evan, I’m sure I could arrange something with his mother for a McDonald’s meet-and-greet.”

Brant wrinkled his nose. “McDonald’s? Why would we want to meet there? That’s strictly a kid place.”

“Guess what, Einstein,” Ava deadpanned, “Evan is a kid.”

“You know what I mean,” Brant argued, “it’s scary there without a kid to cover you.”

“Brant,” Mac sighed, “brother, we’ve got to get some blue collar into you somehow. Your grandfather had breakfast at Denny’s every morning for twenty years so I don’t know where you get these hang-ups about fast-food places.”

Ava smirked, “It’s because of his Irritable Bo—”

“Ava! For God’s sake, could you please keep it down? I don’t have that!”

Declan finally decided to take pity on them and invite them to come over next weekend. Evan was supposed to come by on Sunday for a few hours. He just needed to make sure Ella wasn’t there. He didn’t want his family to torture her. After a few more laughs, mostly at Brant’s expense, everyone headed for the door. Mac and Ava were the last to leave and he knew that Brant had intentionally moved swiftly to the elevator to give them some time alone. He couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to love someone like Mac loved Ava and never be able to have her. Declan knew she loved him in her own way, but it wasn’t the way that Mac deserved.