Instead, he turns serious, gripping my sleeve to bring me into the laundry room off the kitchen, out of Sadie’s earshot. “I met Callum today. He recognized Sadie.” Hearing Ewan say Callum’s name, my heart drops into my stomach. “Is he your boyfriend?”
“No!” I wish Ewan understood what an insult that is. “He’s a pub bouncer who bothers lots of women.” If I tell Ewan that Callum assaulted me and has been harassing me since he found out I was pregnant, we may have to get out of Waterford sooner. Ewan has that possessive look in his eye. I suspect he’d hunt Callum down.
“He asked me if I was Sadie’s father.”
My audible gasp burns my chest.“What?”
“I’m a strange man, holding her hand. Even the woman at the doll store said she looks like me.” He sounds so proud and stands so tall, I want to cry. “We’re blood related, so it makes sense. But Callum said he thinks she’s his. And wants to do a paternity test.”
I feel dizzy. “He’snotSadie’s father.”
“We should probably have a serious talk, Darcy. I need to knowwhoher father is, then. I didn’t think about it at first, but Callum made me realize Kieran will want to know. He’ll want to make sure there’s an understanding that you and Sadie are his.”
Tremors ripple up and down my spine.His.
Yours. We’re yours, Ewan.
More and more complications guarantee Kieran will reject me. I won’t make someone up. These security experts will figure it out. How would Kieran accept me if his best friend is Sadie’s father?
“Give me a few days to sort this out,” I say, to end that conversation. Moving back into the kitchen and seeing the pot on the stove, I remember the leaking ceiling in my parents’ room. “Oh. I need a pot.”
“For what? Making your own dinner?” His good humor returns as if he didn’t just have the look of murder in his gorgeous eyes.
“No. Rainwater is coming in from the roof over the master bedroom.” I bend down to grab Mum’s lobster pot, and I feel Ewan’s eyes on my ass.
“Let me.” He takes the pot from me and climbs the stairs.
I follow him and strip off Mum’s bed linens, which are soaked. “Not much I can do about the mattress.”
“I’ll move the bed.” With a hard shove, Ewan pushes it toward the window, and the frame snaps, tilting it on an angle. “Shite.”
“I should have warned you that it’s old.” And maybe an antique, but he looks guilty enough.
Ewan rubs his jaw and drops to his knees. “I can fix it.”
“Tomorrow. You’ve had a long day.”
“Your da will be back. Where will he sleep?”
I’m too hungry and messed up over this Callum business to figure that out. “Let’s eat dinner and come up with a plan.”
“Aye, why is the bed old?”
“It’s Dad’s mum’s. Or was.”
Ewan scrubs a hand through his hair. “Where is your maimeó?”
“She moved to Dublin when she got married again. Husband three.” I smirk. “She didn’t have any other children, though.”
Ewan stares like he doesn’t know what to say. “You’ve got kin in New York. Plenty. You’re one of us, Darcy.”
Unless they find out I’m adopted…
We walk downstairs, and my phone rings. Seeing it’s Dad, I answer, “Alo? Is the baby here?” Talking about a baby will certainly direct the spotlight off of me.
“Not yet.” Dad sounds stressed. “We’ve a bit of a problem. The wind is fierce up here. No ferry service. I’m gonna have to stay the night, unless I attempt the road south of Churchtown.”
I look at Ewan and realize we’ll be alone all night. “Okay. But Dad, if it’s so bad that the ferry’s not running, please don’t drive around on that northern road. It’s unstable with so much rain.”