With those finals words, he turned on his heel. As his hand reached the door knob, he paused. Gavin felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
“I know your sister’s back in town. She should have stayed in Florida.”
Blood was rushing in his ears. “She needed to be near family. Her son—your son—is growing up fast.” He was surprised at how calm he sounded.
McHale’s eyes glittered with anger. “Don’t ever say that again. She ruined my chances for a party nomination. She won’t destroy my career.”
In two steps, without his brain giving directions, Gavin crossed the room. He was twenty years younger and six inches taller, and rage was fueling his every movement. He wanted to wrap McHale’s tie around his fist and pull him in close. Through sheer force of will, his hands stayed where they needed to be: by his sides. “She didn’t ruin your chances, you did. And Sean is a child, an innocent victim. You need to reevaluate your priorities.”
For several seconds they breathed the same air, locked in furious silence. Then McHale turned on his heel and walked out.
Breathing heavily, Gavin tried to get control of his anger. Wasn’t it enough for Allison to be estranged from the father of her child? Did he have to be a power-obsessed politician concerned only with his own image?
Falling into a chair, Gavin stared unseeing at the stack of papers on his desk. His chest ached at the thought of Allison in the same city as McHale and not even getting a phone call. What a waste of a man. She’d wised up as soon as she’d found out she was having Sean. But her little boy deserved better than that.
Between a rock and a hard place, that was his life. McHale above him, pertussis creeping up from behind, and all the time there was his nephew, a little guy who never asked for any of this drama. Time to call Evie, see if she could put in some lines about the disease prevention center working overtime. Hot anger swept through him. He hated to even think of trying to spin the facts. This wasn’t how he wanted to spend his time.
Was it possible to run an article that made McHale happy and still got the information out to the public? It would be an article that was three quarters sunshine and one quarter lifesaving, ugly facts. Journalists spun a web of words that changed opinion, sometimes regardless of the reality. It made him sick to even consider their expertise to sway public opinion. But McHale was going to be watching the pertussis outbreak very closely for any negative comments from the community.
Gavin took a steadying breath. Evie seemed like she walked her faith. Only time would tell if that was true. Meanwhile, he needed to focus on Allison and Sean and getting the epidemic under control. Help me remember, Lord, the only opinion that matters is Yours.
* * *
Evie felt the slam of a very small body against the back of her knees and tried not to pitch forward. She grabbed the bike rack to her left and let out a yelp.
“Sorry, Evie! Jaden, give your auntie some warning.” Stacey was trotting up the sidewalk, obviously left behind when Jaden saw Evie and made a break for it. Her rounded tummy was her only handicap, but that had been enough to give him a head start.
“It’s okay. I was just surprised.” Evie twisted around and rubbed the top of Jaden’s knitted hat. His arms were wrapped firmly around her waist, and he was grinning up at her, one front tooth missing.
“Do you see it, Aunt Evie? Do you?” He opened his mouth wider and wider, pointing with one mittened hand.
“Buddy, your mouth is open so wide I can see your lunch. But if you’re talking about that gap in your teeth, I would bet that somebody lost a tooth.”
“It was me! I’m the one!” He let go long enough to jump up and down. Huge brown eyes were even wider with excitement.
Evie shot a glance at Stacey, grinning. Her cousin was three years younger than Evie and about ten years further down the road to domestic bliss. Every now and then Evie caught the slightest sir of jealousy in her heart. Okay, maybe more than a slight stir. More like a full-blown green-eyed monster attack. The pretty blonde had lucked out first try and was married to her high school sweetheart. Another baby was on the way, who would probably have Stacey’s blond hair and Andy’s big brown eyes, just like Jaden did. Blessed. That was the word Evie would use for her cousin’s life.
“Let’s head over to the park before it gets any colder. I heard the temperature is going to drop this afternoon.” Stacey handed Evie a deli cup of what smelled like vanilla chai.
“Wow, how did I miss this?” Evie took a sip, almost scalding her tongue.
“You missed it when Jaden tackled you.” Stacey fell into step beside her as they walked toward the city center park. Lots of moms and dads and kids around on a freezing Saturday, but Denver worked that way. If you couldn’t handle the cold, you’d better stay inside or, better yet, move to Texas. The city didn’t stop for a few inches of snow, or even a few feet. It was just normal to look up and see snow on the mountains. And the streets and the cars.
Jaden raced ahead and went straight for the slide. Kids swarmed the area, adults clustered every few feet, trying to keep warm with coffee and oversize parkas.
“There’s a free bench. Somebody already scraped the snow off.” Stacey settled on one end and hunched over her coffee.
“Before I forget, there’s someone who’s just moving here and she has a little boy Jaden’s age. Would you want to have a playdate with them? To help them settle in to their new city and everything.”
“There’s no harm in that. We’re always up for a park date. How do you know her?”
“I don’t, actually. It’s the sister of someone on the finance board at the Mission. They just mentioned it and I thought of you.” Evie wrapped her hands around her cup and stared out at the playground, thinking of Gavin. She wondered if his sister would have his warm brown eyes, or his quiet sense of humor.
“Just a someone?”
“What?” Evie was caught off guard.
Stacey shot her a calculating look. “You normally use names. And a gender. Unless you’ve vowed to keep his identity a secret.”
She could feel her face getting warm. There wasn’t anything between them so there was no reason to be embarrassed. Or whatever it was she was feeling. “That wasn’t on purpose. Gavin Sawyer, male, no secret identity that I know of yet.”
Stacey grinned at her and said nothing.
“We’re also working on an article about pertussis. He’s a disease prevention specialist, works in community outreach.” There, that was Gavin in a nutshell. Except for that slow smile he had, the one that made a girl forget she hated flirting. And maybe it would be fair to mention the way his hair curled just a bit over his collar. And how he stood a good head taller than she was, and was very fit, but he never made her feel weak.
“Is he cute?”
Evie rolled her eyes, pretending to dismiss the question.
“Do I have to ask you again?” Stacey was smirking into her cup.
“Okay, a little cute.” She shot her cousin a glance. “A lot cute. He’s one of those guys that gets a first and a second look. But then when you talk to him, you forget about how gorgeous he is because there’s so much going on in his head.” She huffed out a breath. “Happy?”
“Cute and smart. Gotcha. So you’re going to use me to get to him through his sister? Not that I mind, I’m just trying to figure out my role here.”
“No! Of course not.” Evie glared out at the park, watching kids running every which way.
“Sure you don’t want me to put in a good word for you?” Stacey’s voice was shaking with laughter.
Evie said nothing, wishing she hadn’t tried to explain. She wasn’t even sure what Gavin was, except he was