First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

“If Kayla was bad before, she was unbearable after that. I did what any young teenage girl would do. I ran away. More than once, actually. Except each time, my dad would call your dad on the sly, and Kieran or Shane would find me. They would always find me.”


“I guess my dad couldn’t take it anymore. One day, I was home alone with him. That should have tipped me off – Patricia always felt threatened when my dad and I spent any time together, so she made sure it didn’t happen often. Your dad came over, talked to my dad for a little while. Next thing I knew, Uncle Jack was driving me to the airport, telling me everything was going to be better from then on.” She paused, her eyes far away, the memory of that day as clear as if it had just happened. “I remember the look on my dad’s face when I got into that car with Uncle Jack. It was the last time I ever saw him.”

“He was trying to protect you.”

“Yeah,” she sniffed. “I figured that out. Eventually.” Lexi took a deep breath, and that helped her go on. “I think he was scared, too. He didn’t want to lose me the same way he lost my mother. He made sure I had the best doctors and that I was well taken care of.

“Except for missing my dad, I had a good life. My aunts were nice. Aidan’s dad took me under his wing, sent me to the culinary academy and gave me work when no one else would give me the time of day. Aidan was one of the few who knew my secret – his dad had arranged for him to be wherever I was – and quickly assumed Kieran’s role as my guardian.”

She laughed, but it was a sad laugh. “I think he resented it at first, almost as much as I did. But then we became really close. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”

Ian was grateful for everything that Aidan had done, he really was. But it still chafed to have her talk so fondly of another man. “He loves you.”

“And I love him. But not like you think.” Ian might have had his doubts before, but Aidan had been brutally honest on their two hour flight. Between telling him what a monumental ass he was, Aidan also saw fit to set Ian straight on a lot of other things as well. But then Lexi didn’t know that. Aidan hadn’t told her what he was up to. He had told Ian as much.

“We take care of each other – I would do anything for him, but he knows as well as I do that there was only ever one man for me.”

Something swelled inside Ian’s chest then. “If you really felt that way, then why did you leave me, Lexi? Why did you shut me out? Not tell me about our son?”

“That week in Pine Ridge was the best seven days of my life,” she said honestly. “I should have been honest with you. I should have told you about my medical condition right up front and that I didn’t have enough meds to last me more than a few days. But you asked me to stay till the fair, and I could never deny you, Ian. Not ever.”

“You left.” It was still hard for him to fathom. Each time he thought about that day he felt a knife slicing right through his heart.

She nodded. “I had to, Ian. You – you’re so strong and fierce, so vibrant, so alive. I could never expect you to understand. The last thing you needed was to be saddled with someone for whom a paper cut could be a life-threatening situation. And Kayla had probably already told you about the baby. Even if you didn’t plan on marrying her, I knew you’d do right by your own child. You’re too good of a man to ever walk away from something like that.”

Anger lit Ian’s eyes from within, making them glow. “Saddled with you? Jesus Christ, Lexi. Is that what you think? Don’t you know I’d do anything to be with you? Under any circumstances?”

It was Lexi’s turn to look surprised. “I thought once Kieran told you - “

“Kieran didn’t tell me shit. Hasn’t talked to me since you left, as a matter of fact. Blames me for everything.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth again. “I wish I had known, Lexi. I would have done things differently, been gentler with you, made sure you had your meds so you wouldn’t have to leave me, ever. Nothing could change the way I feel about you, Lex. Nothing.”

“But Kayla –“

“Kayla was never pregnant,” Ian said, his voice bitter. “She lied. Made that up because she was jealous that you were able to do something in one week that she couldn’t do in a lifetime.”

“And what’s that?” Lexi asked quietly.

“Make me fall totally, completely, and irrevocably in love with you.”

“I did?”

“Yes, Lex. You did. But it doesn’t excuse the fact that you kept your pregnancy from me. Were you even going to tell me I had a son? Christ, when I think about you going through everything alone...”

“I wasn’t alone,” she argued, averting her gaze.