"What am I saying?" she said, pink flaring in her cheeks. "Of course you'll leave."

She stepped away from him, tripping. When he automatically reached out to steady her, she slapped his hand away.

"I told you, I don't need your help. On top of that, I have no interest in becoming another notch on your bedpost."

A nearly overwhelming urge hit him to explain it all to her-tell her about the past weeks, how his life felt like it was unraveling at the seams. He wanted to tell her about the jarring dreams that woke him every night since he had saved that woman. The memory of her lifeless body. Of his mouth over hers, pumping breath into her. The eerily startled gasp she made when air rushed back into her lungs. Then the way her eyes had blinked open and she had stared at him. Frightened. Confused.

But Jesse knew he wouldn't say a word. Sharing feelings and fears were for weak men. He had never been weak.

Besides, what did any of it matter? Deep down they both knew that she was right. He would leave. He hadn't come back intending to stay. Didn't want to stay. He only wanted a short diversion from the chaos in his head. And he couldn't turn Katie into one of his diversions. She deserved better than that.

The doorbell rang, the sound seeming far away as they stared at each other, neither of them moving.

"Someone's here," he said.

"So it would seem."

They heard keys in the lock, then someone barreled inside.

"Kate," Suzanne called out, her voice an octave higher than normal. "Kate, where are you?"

Kate tore herself away completely, then hurried into the living room. Jesse shoved his hands in his back pockets, and after a second he followed. Suzanne Bloom Chapman-Kate's sister, Jesse's sister-in-law-stood in her bathrobe and slippers, an unfamiliar young boy with shaggy dark brown hair and dark eyes standing behind her.

"Suzanne, what is it?" Kate asked.

Jesse felt a low prickle of concern when Suzanne yanked her gaze back and forth between the boy and him.

His older brother Derek flew into the house, his hair still damp from his shower.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he demanded of Jesse.

Years seemed to circle back to when they were young, still at home, always at odds.

"Tell you what?"

The boy shifted his weight uncomfortably, his shirt ill-fitting, his stiff blue jeans too large.

Derek's jaw muscles ticked. "That you have a son."

Four.

Jesse took a step back. "What are you talking about?" he demanded. "I don't have a son."

They stood in the foyer, the gawky boy staring up at Jesse with an expression of sheer awe.

"Hello . . . Mr. Chapman," he said awkwardly, his hands tucked into his pants pockets. "I mean,

ah, Dad."

Dad.

Shock rippled through the room at the word, at the reality of what that single syllable meant.

Kate could see the stunned expression on Jesse's face. He was visibly shaken.

Suzanne and Derek started talking at the same time, their voices rising in the foyer.

Kate watched, hardly able to take it in. A person only had to look at the boy to know that he was

Jesse's. He had the same hair and eyes. A hint of the same strong jaw that would one day emerge from

beneath the boyhood chubbiness.

When no one seemed to know what to do about the child, she kindly said, "Hi, I'm Kate. What's your name?"

"Ah, um, Travis."

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

Kate took in the boy and could tell his too-big blue jeans were brand-new, a belt holding them up. His

blue T-shirt still had crease marks on it, as if he had gone to the local discount store on the way over

here for a new set of clothes. But his boots were old and brown, with scuffs that needed polish.

Then every trace of awe and excitement on his face vanished when another woman marched in the door.

"There you are," the woman accused, one long hot-pink nail pointing at Jesse.

The boy flinched, his blush going a bright painful red that seeped up into his hairline. Kate didn't know

the child, but she could tell how hard he was trying to hide his emotions as he stared at his feet.

"Travis," Kate said, "there's a pool out back. Why don't you wait for us out there?"

His brow furrowed with a much older man's worry. Then he nodded and walked carefully to the back

doors that led to the yard.

"Belinda?" Jesse said the word like he wasn't absolutely sure.

"Belinda Martin, now Sanders," she stated. "Remember me? We used to date?"

She was short, with heavily highlighted blond hair, gigantic breasts, and lots of makeup. Kate had

practically memorized Jesse's high school yearbooks, and she remembered that this woman had been in

his class at Coronado High.

Belinda's brown eyes turned sly. "I've seen you all over the news lately, even saw you on TV here the other morning. And as long as you're in town, I figured it's time you started shouldering some of the responsibility for your son."

Suzanne stood to the side, shocked. Derek seemed his usual forbidding, older-brother self.

But it was Jesse's presence that was huge and overpowering. "If he is my son, why have you waited this long to tell me?"

Belinda fidgeted. "After you left for college and never wrote or called," she explained, "I got married.

I didn't want to rock the boat. But Harlan left me six months ago, and as long as you're back in town, I figured what the heck. I thought it was time you knew. You have a son."

The alarm on Jesse's face couldn't be anything but genuine.

"That's impossible," he said. "I'm always careful. When we-" He cut himself off, then looked around them. "When we were together," he rephrased, "I used protection. I always do."

Belinda whipped out some kind of medical document that showed the boy's blood type.

"If you don't believe me, do as many tests as you want," she challenged. "But all you have to do is look at him to know he's yours."

Suzanne sighed. "This is about money, isn't it?"

The woman's eyes narrowed. "So what if I came here for money? I need a job, a good job, and I've got

a chance to make something of myself in Vegas. But it takes cash to get out there to start a new life." "Good Lord, Jesse," Derek stated, looking tired and far older than his thirty-nine years.

Jesse and Derek stared at each other, tension sliding between them. How many times had Kate seen them this same way? Two brothers who were so different, one conservative, one wild. For as long as she could remember, their relationship had been strained. But Kate had seen the deep love that served as a sort of glue that kept them from severing their relationship completely. They existed in a place of love and frustration, yearning to be close but the differences in each other's personality and lifestyle making it hard. Judgment and impatience competing with the need to accept, underlined by a true caring that even their differences couldn't completely erase. The unexpected appearance of an illegitimate son didn't help the situation.

At length, Derek exhaled sharply, then became the practical, responsible man he was. "Jesse will not be blackmailed."

"Derek, I can take care of this," Jesse stated tightly.

"Can you?"

A spark of always suppressed fury flared-a fury that Kate had never entirely understood. She wondered, not for the first time, what had caused the rift between them.

With effort, Jesse turned away, focusing on Belinda. "Let me see the document."

Belinda handed it over, along with an entire file. He glanced through it with quick competence, then he gestured for them to sit down. Suzanne started toward the table.

"Suzanne, not now." He looked at his brother. "I can deal with this from here."

Suzanne started to say something, but Derek stopped her. "Come on, love. He's right." He looked back at Jesse, his expression undecipherable. "If you need anything, you know where to find me."

The brothers stared at each other, then Jesse nodded. "Thanks."

Kate started to leave as well. But Jesse surprised her when he caught her hand. For a second he just stood there, then he looked out the window toward the pool. She could see Travis lying like a rag doll on a wooden chaise lounge, one booted foot on the ground, the other hiked up on slats. Discarded. Forgotten.

Jesse's tension was palpable before he turned his attention to the folder and began to go through the papers in earnest.

Birth records, blood reports. Report cards and baby pictures. Belinda started explaining them all, pointing out the unmistakable resemblances between the boy and Jesse.