Keeping Kennedy Read Online Free PDF Page A

to be
hallucinating. Maybe she had a brain tumor! She spent entirely too
much time on that damned cell phone. She blinked.
    What had happened to her parents? She turned
back to the strangers in front of her. Who were these
imposters?
    “This must be the man,” Kennedy’s father
elated, slapping Drake heartily on the back.
    “Nice to meet you, Mr. Malone.” Drake smiled
and offered his hand.
    “Call me Chuck, D.D.,” Kennedy’s father
insisted, pumping Drake’s hand vigorously and giving him another
enthusiastic whop between his shoulder blades.
    D.D.? Douglas Drake? Kennedy shook her
head. Her father never pulled nicknames out of thin air. This man
couldn’t be her father. She knew her father. He wore Brooks
Brothers suits—not tattered jeans and muscle shirts. And her father
certainly didn’t have a tattoo…
    Tattoo?
    Kennedy’s gaze riveted to the emblem on her
father’s left bicep. Harley-Davidson. When had he gotten that? God,
she didn’t even know he knew what a Harley was.
    Kennedy felt weak-kneed. She stumbled back a
step. This just couldn’t be real. Xanax. She needed a Xanax …or a
Valium…
    “Somebody just me what’s going on,” she
demanded. Her voice sounded strange to her own ears. Why not?
Everything else was damned strange.
    “Sweetpea, what’s wrong?” Her mother checked
Kennedy’s cheek, then her forehead. “You feel a little warm. Are
you all right, dear?”
    “I have to sit down,” Kennedy muttered,
barely stumbling to the chair next to the hall table. Kennedy
recognized the soft hands caressing her hair and the tender voice
soothing her now; she just didn’t recognize the woman.
    Her father shot Drake a look, then settled
his assessing gaze on Kennedy. “Sweetpea, is there something we
should know? Something you’re afraid to tell us?”
    Feeling the blood drain from her face,
Kennedy met her father’s worried gaze. He couldn’t be
insinuating—
    “You shouldn’t be ashamed, Kennedy.” Her
Father smiled widely and swung one arm around Drake’s shoulders.
“Love is a wonderful thing, and if a new life springs forth a
little earlier than planned, then that’s okay.” He nodded
reassuringly, looking first at Kennedy, then at Drake.
    “Dad, I’m—”
    “Don’t worry about it, honey,” he
interrupted. “Your mother was expecting you before we were married.
It was a little daunting at first, but we managed. We were both
heavily invested in our careers. Kids weren’t on the agenda.”
    “That’s right, sweetpea,” her mother cooed.
“Everything will be fine. Your father and I handled the change. We
got married, bought this house and I became a stay-at-home mom.
You’ll get used to it. If you and Douglas are in love, then that’s
all that matters.”
    “Amen,” Chuck Malone agreed.
    Her mother pregnant before—? Oh, God. Had
she, Kennedy Malone, been an unplanned pregnancy? Her whole life
flashed before her eyes. How could she have lived with these people
all those years and not have known that significant fact?
    “No one else has to know,” her mother
assured.
    Kennedy shot to her feet, annoyance absorbing
all other emotion. “Will someone please tell me what the hell is
going on here?” she demanded. She looked from her mother to her
father. Both wore the same confused expression.
    “Kennedy, your hormones will level out in the
last trimester. Mood swings are typical early on,” her mother
offered, an indulgent smile on her face.
    “I am not pregnant,” Kennedy snapped. She
didn’t miss Drake’s look of quiet amusement. The man was no doubt
enjoying the show.
    Her father nodded solemnly. “I can dig that,
babe. We just want you to know that we’re cool with the
situation.”
    Kennedy flung her arms up in exasperation.
“Why are you talking like that? Why are you dressed like that?
What’s going on?” She’d lost it—this went way beyond Xanax or even
Valium. She needed a straightjacket. A shrink. A frigging mental
hospital!
    Realization