Seduction, Westmoreland Style - Brenda Jackson [61]
Early the next morning Casey found Norris in the stables and requested a day off work. There was someone she needed to see and talk with immediately. McKinnon’s mother.
The moment she pulled into the yard, Morning Star Quinn stepped out of her home wearing a huge smile. Not for the first time Casey thought the woman was absolutely stunning with her huge dark eyes in an angular face, high cheekbones and long, straight black hair that flowed past her back. It was apparent she was Native American and she looked more in her thirties than in her fifties.
“Casey, this is a pleasant surprise,” Morning Star said, giving her a hug. “Is everything all right?”
Casey shook her head. “No, but I believe eventually everything will be. First I need to talk to you about something important.”
“Sure. Come inside and join me in a cup of coffee.”
Casey followed the older woman inside and the moment she stepped foot across the threshold, she felt a special warmth. She followed Morning Star into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “Is Mr. Quinn at home?”
Star glanced up from pouring the coffee, smiled and said, “No, he and your father went hunting today. I don’t expect either of them back until later. Do you need to see him as well?”
“No, you’re the person I came to see. I’d like to talk to you about McKinnon.”
Morning Star’s dark brow lifted as she joined Casey at the table. “What about McKinnon?”
“I’m in love with him,” Casey came right out and said, thinking she needed to let Mrs. Quinn know how she felt upfront. She began to relax when she saw the huge smile that touched Morning Star’s lips.
“I saw it happening,” Morning Star said, taking a sip of her coffee.
Surprise lit Casey’s face. “You did?”
“Yes. It was there in your eyes whenever you looked at him and I saw the same look in his.”
Casey sighed as she took a sip of her tea. If he loved her that was definitely news to her. “We’ve been together ever since the night of my party,” Casey said, pretty sure she didn’t have to paint a picture of what she meant by that. “And last night McKinnon sort of broke things off. He told me about his health issue and for some reason he’s convinced that—”
“Because of it the two of you couldn’t have a future together even if you wanted one,” Morning Star finished for her.
Casey met the older woman’s eyes. “Yes.”
Morning Star didn’t say anything for a long moment, but then she met Casey’s gaze and said, “We all have Lynette Franklin to thank for that. She took off right after McKinnon confided in her.”
Casey nodded. She had figured as much. “But that was her. What does how she reacted have to do with me?”
Morning Star smiled. “Because you are a woman. McKinnon sees you as a person who would probably make some child a wonderful mother, a child he can not give you. He really thinks he’s being noble in cutting you loose.”
“Well, he’s not. Of course I want children, but we can adopt. Giving birth to a child isn’t such a big deal to me.”
“It is to some women and he knows it.” Morning Star sighed deeply before continuing. “Making the decision to have a vasectomy was probably one of the hardest things my son had to do because he loves children and always wanted to settle down one day, marry and have some. He was torn about what to do until one particular day when he had to go to the hospital for his annual tests.”
“What happened?”
The older woman stood and walked over to the sink. Then she turned around and Casey could see the love and pain for her child etched on her face. “While in the waiting room, McKinnon met a man who was also a carrier. The man shared with McKinnon how he’d unknowingly passed the disease on to his six-year-old son, and the rough time his son had had before dying the year before. It’s my understanding that from that conversation, McKinnon swore that he wouldn’t have any children and risk passing anything on to them.”
Casey wiped a tear from her eye, sadden by the stranger’s loss and even more sadden that McKinnon’s dream for a family had died that day, too. “I refuse to walk away and