Night Whispers - Leslie Kelly [15]
“For the last time, Mitch is not a threat to Kelsey.”
Mitch froze on the stairs, shocked into silence at the mention of his own name. Why would anyone think he was a threat to Kelsey?
“That boy is a risk to any girl who comes in contact with him. I heard all about him getting caught in the Thompson girl’s bedroom in the middle of the night.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Betsy, it wasn’t her bedroom, it was the family’s pool house. The two of them went for a late-night swim. Weren’t you ever young?” Ralph muttered.
“Bedroom, pool house, it doesn’t matter where. The point is, that boy is trouble. Marge, I know you’ve got a good heart, and Mitch’s mother was your best friend in college. But that doesn’t mean you’re responsible for him. Good gracious, he’s practically lived in this house for the past few years! If his own parents can’t handle him, why should they expect you to?”
Mitch held his breath while he waited for her answer. Even after spending months at a time with the Logans, he was still never sure if there would come a day when they’d decide he wasn’t worth the trouble and ship him off to someone else—or to military school. After all, why should Ralph and Marge be any different from his own parents?
“Betsy, that’s enough. Mitch is practically a part of this family, and he’s one of the most decent, honorable young men I’ve ever known,” Marge retorted.
“Tell that to the Wilsons…you know, the ones whose car he ‘borrowed’ three summers ago?”
Mitch groaned, not surprised she’d brought up that old incident.
“He’s different now,” Marge said. “Mitch was very rebellious when he first started coming to us. As fond as I am of Carol, I have to say she hasn’t been much of a mother to that boy. She and Richard are much too self-involved to have children. How could a child grow up in that atmosphere and not resent it?”
“That doesn’t change the fact,” Betsy said shrilly, “that your Kelsey is in danger. That boy is too handsome by half, and Kelsey is a pretty little thing. She wears her heart on her sleeve for him and one of these days…”
Mitch tightened his grip on the stair railing, astounded that even a spiteful, narrow-minded old biddy like Aunt Betsy would believe him capable of seducing a twelve-year-old kid.
“That boy would never repay our trust in him by abusing our daughter. If I am wrong about this, then I am absolutely no judge of character,” Ralph retorted. “Any man, young or old, who would take advantage of a young girl who lives under the same roof, who’s practically his sister, would deserve to be horsewhipped! And our Mitch is not like that.”
He liked hearing himself referred to as “our Mitch.”
“Now, this is Mitch’s home,” Ralph continued. “We trust him, and we love him. He is here not out of any friendship with his parents—he is here because he’s part of our family. And unless you treat him with the respect he deserves, you can just stay away, Betsy.”
Mitch was shocked at the fervent defense. Rushing upstairs to the room he shared with Nathan, he suddenly felt confident and secure that here, at least, were people who would always love him. People he would make proud. People he would never, never betray.
THRUSTING THE MEMORY of the incident out of his head with an angry shake, Mitch threw himself onto his living room sofa. Here it was, fourteen years later, and he was close to confirming Aunt Betsy’s dire predictions.
Any man who took advantage of an innocent young woman living under his own roof was a scumbag. Kelsey’s family would never forgive him for the utter breach of trust if he gave in to his attraction and got involved with his tenant. Hell, Mitch would never forgive himself!
So, it would not happen. Period.
“HE HAS A DATE.”
Kelsey said the words out loud, talking to her own empty apartment. She shouldn’t have been spying. If she’d been minding her own business she would never have had to see that gorgeous, perfect-looking blonde unfold herself out of her expensive car and mince her way to the front door of the brownstone. If Kelsey hadn’t opened her apartment door and peeked