Read Online The Fighter's Secret Child (The Burton Brothers Series Book 3) by Leslie North - Free Book Online

using it. Taking Chaz from her, he told her, “You keep this up, that’s never going to heal.” She shot him a sideways glance, and he shook his head. “Trust me. I know about injuries and coming back from them. You’ve got to rest it. And have Alice take a look at it. She’s a natural with stuff like that. Her dad’s one of the best trainers in the MMA—or he was before his stroke. And that girl—she’s brought her dad back from a stroke that would have left any other guy in a nursing home.”
    For a minute, he thought she’d go stubborn on him. But her shoulders slumped and she gave a nod. “I like Alice. I’ll talk to her.”
    “Good.” He held the door for her and waited for someone to seat them. The hostess looked to be about sixteen and she gushed over Chaz, telling him, “You’ve got an adorable boy.”
    Beck’s face heated. He didn’t know what to say, so he kept his mouth shut and followed the girl to a table in the back. She left and came back with a high chair for Chaz. Beck had no idea how to fit the boy into that—wasn’t he too old for that kind of thing?
    Rachel got up to put it together, but Beck waved her back in her seat and put Chaz on the bench next to him. “Maybe you could just get us a booster chair,” he told the hostess.
    She did and that worked for Beck. He also pulled over the crayons the restaurant provided for kids to draw on the paper placemats. And now he knew why this place offered those kinds of things. He’d never thought about having to entertain a kid while you ate.
    Rachel kept trying to fuss, but Beck found out that Chaz liked the silverware and the salt and pepper shakers better than any crayons. “Not much of an artist is he?” he told Rachel after they’d ordered.
    She wrapped her good hand around her coffee and left her hand in the brace on her lap. “Well, there was the one time he decided to use the spaghetti sauce to paint the bathroom.”
    Beck let out a laugh. “Really? Sounds like me and Mason—we dumped Spaghetti-O’s down the slide to make it slicker.” A smile lifted the corner of Rachel’s mouth. He liked seeing it there, so he asked, “What else has this little monster gotten into?”
    Getting her to talk about Chaz seemed to relax her. She talked about his first word—which had been dog, not mama or daddy—and his first step. Beck’s gut tightened. He hadn’t seen either of those things.
    Anger flashed through him—Rachel had robbed him of those things by hiding his son from him. His hands tightened on his knife and fork. The stillness next to him pulled him back from the heat gathering in his chest. He glanced down at Chaz.
    The kid had pancake syrup on his chin and worry in his eyes. Beck had to let out a smile. The kid looked on his way to being a mess. Glancing over at Rachel, he asked, “Okay, I give up on this one—how do you deal with this?” He waved his fork at Chaz. “I swear he keeps ending up wearing more food than he eats.”
    Leaning over, Rachel wiped a thumb across Chaz’s cheek. “He really shouldn’t eat this much sugar. He’s going to be ready for a nap soon.”
    Beck frowned. “Are you serious? Middle of the morning.”
    She glanced at him and he saw the worry shadow her eyes. That did it. He was going to have to have a talk with her—and then do a search online about Chaz’s condition. What had she called it? Anemia of some kind? Aspastic? Aphasia? He couldn’t remember—but he was going to have to learn all about it and fast.
    Putting down his silverware, he glanced over at Rachel. “If you’re done, we should get back. And once he’s sleeping, we’re going to have a talk. A long one.”
     

Chapter 14
    Chaz was already asleep by the time they got back to the Burton’s home. Beck pulled him out of the car seat and Rachel’s heart tightened. She looked away, but had to look back. Beck was so careful with him now, and Chaz lay limp in Beck’s arm, his head resting on Beck’s wide chest and his