“So you came.”

“I’d have come sooner if I’d known about you.” He leaned forward in his chair. “I never would have leftif I’d known about you.”

“I didn’t send it.”

“Would your aunt have?”

Michael drove his fork into his stew. “Nope. Not Nem. She hates your guts.”

“So I gathered. Mike, do you believe me? That I didn’t abandon you?”

The boy shrugged as he took another bite. “Probably, knowing Kelly. She could be … self-serving sometimes.”

Which was why Ben had eventually been relieved when Kelly had turned him down sixteen years ago, when he’d asked her to come home to New York with him.

“Could Kelly have sent me the letter?”

The boy looked thoughtful, then shook his head. “Not likely. My mother hasn’t been heard from in over ten years. And you said it was postmarked Medicine Gore.” He looked toward the bank of windows over the sink, seeming to take stock of all the gifts adorning them. Ben saw a shadow of pain move over his face before he turned back. “Nem must have sent it.”

“But why? She loves you. She wouldn’t want to risk your leaving with me.”

“Because she doeslove me. Because this clear-cutting war scares the hell out of her. She would do anything to make sure I’m safe.”

Ben lowered his gaze. “I know about Emma’s father.” He looked back at his son. “Your grandfather was killed just before you were born.”

Michael stared directly into Ben’s eyes. “Someone blew up the dam the paper company was building. Grampy Sands got caught in the flood.”

Ben nodded. “It happened the day I left.”

“Yup. The very same day you disappeared.”

As he stared into his own young eyes, Ben suddenly realized what Mike was implying. “You think I had something to do with that dam blowing up?” He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. “Jesus. You and Emma and Kelly believe I’m responsible for Charlie Sands’s death?”

“The whole town thinks you’re responsible.”

“Good God.”

“I’d keep the beard and a low profile if I were you.”

“I didn’t do it. I didn’t blow up that dam!”

“Well, the loggers sure as heck didn’t.”

“Neither did the environmentalists. That would have been counterproductive. The flood would have damaged the very land we were trying to save.”

Ben stood up and stalked to the counter, leaning his hands on the sink and looking out the window. There was nothing but darkness outside and the reflection of the kitchen staring back at him. He could see Michael sitting in his chair, his back to Ben, his arms resting on the table. He spoke again, not turning. “Mike. I swear to you, I didn’t blow up that dam. And I would have known if anything like that was being planned.”

“It’s not me you have to convince. It’s the people here. Sixteen years is a long time for a suspicion to take root.”

Ben turned and looked at his son, who was now looking at him. “Charlie Sands was your grandfather. So more than anyone else, youhave to be convinced.”

“I already am.”

“Just like that? You don’t know a damn thing about me.”

Michael stood up and approached Ben, his stride confident, and stopped one step shy of touching him. “I know all about Benjamin Sinclair,” he said softly. “I can tell you how your grandfather, Abram, built his shipping company from nothing, and I can tell you what your personal net worth is. But most of all, I can tell you that my father never would have walked away sixteen years ago if he had been responsible for another man’s death.”

Ben could only stare back, frozen in awe.

Blind faith. Childhood loyalty. And a young man’s confidence in what he could determine from facts and figures and history.

And maybe a little help from Emma Sands? Even hating him, for fifteen years she had apparently not held judgment on her nephew’s father. She hadn’t betrayed his identity when he arrived, and she hadn’t interfered this past week. She had simply let them walk their own course to this moment—then disappeared into the woods to give them this time.

“Michael. What is it you want?”

“A father.”

He was going to drown in a puddle of emotion. Ben forced himself rigid, but the tremors began anyway, starting deep inside and working their way outward.

This boy scared him to death. He wasn’t ready to be a father. Hell, until now, he hadn’t really believed it was possible. From the moment he’d read the letter, Ben had been sure it was all a dream—that he’d conjured up a long-lost child because he’d needed something to cling to after his grandfather’s death.

Ben realized he was standing as still as a statue, sweating bullets, and staring at empty space. Michael was sitting at the table again, quietly eating his supper.

As quietly as his son, Ben walked back and sat down. “I never would have left, Mike, if I had known about you. My God. It never even entered my mind that Kelly might be pregnant. She seemed so … she seemed like she knew what she was doing,” he finished on a whisper, heat climbing up the back of his neck. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “It’s not an excuse, but I was barely nineteen. I thought I had the world by the ass and my whole life ahead of me.” He leaned forward. “I asked her to come away with me, but she refused.”

Michael finally looked up, a sad smile on his face. “I love my mother very much, Mr. Sinclair, and I came to terms with who she is many years ago. But Emma was the anchor that held my world together.”

“And you’re worried that if you come to New York with me, she’ll be alone.”

Michael nodded. “Yes. But that’s not the only problem.”

“Then what is?”

“Remember the guy who stopped in here Wednesday evening?”

Ben snorted. “Galen something. He’s got the personality of Pitiful.”

“Well, Galen Simms thinks he’s courting my aunt, which is why he was such a bastard to you. He didn’t like finding you staying in the lodge.”

“So if Emma marries him, she won’t be alone.”

“He’s not courting Nemmy as much as he’s courting Medicine Creek Camps and my aunt’s reputation as a guide,” Michael said. “Simms has a set of camps on a lake twelve miles north of here. But while our business is booming, his is sinking in red ink. He’s looking to marry himself a business manager.”

“Your aunt is astute enough to see that. Besides, she didn’t seem all that enamored with Simms.”

“But Nem might think about marrying him anyway, so I don’t feel obligated to stay. What she doesn’t know is that if I leave here with you, I intend to take her with me.” He tossed a smile across the table. “Kicking and screaming if I have to.”

Ben blinked, then rubbed his hands over his face, several times, to wipe away his shock. “Excuse me?”

“You finally came, and it’s time for me to leave Medicine Gore. But I’m not leaving here without Nem—and if I have to torch the Cessna, the cabins, and all one thousand acres, I will.”

Chapter Four

B en gaped at hisson.

“Once we get home, she can start a new life, like me. You have a big house, don’t you?”

Home. The boy wanted to go home. Just hearing him say it made Ben break into a cold sweat. “Have you mentioned this little plan to your aunt, by any chance?”

Michael snorted.

“Then she won’t be kicking and screaming. She’ll be going for her shotgun.” Ben stood up and planted his hands on the table. “Michael, you can’t tell a grown woman what to do. I know you don’t like being reminded of the fact, but you areonly fifteen years old. Your sense of authority is all screwed up.”

Michael also stood. “Come with me. I have something to show you.”

Ben grabbed the edge of the table, wanting to upend it, but closed his eyes and counted to ten. This was not at all going well.