Missing You Chapter Three

"Hello Danny. Been a long time." The corners of the older man's face turned up slightly as Danny automatically shook the hand that was offered in greeting.

Danny continued to stare at the man he thought he would never cross paths with again. He was thankful his mouth was full, giving him a moment to recover before having to speak.

"Ed….." Danny paused, desperately trying to come up with something to say. "Wh-what are you doing here?" Before Ed could answer Danny spoke again, his voice laced with concern. "Is something wrong? Did something happen-"

"No, no." Ed quickly reassured him, explaining he was in town scouting out a yacht service the Montecito hoped to acquire. He gestured toward a table and the look on Danny's face told him the younger man wasn't buying it. They both sat in silence for a moment, Ed noticing Danny's guarded expression.

"Why are you here Ed?" Danny finally found his voice after gaining some composure.

The older man briefly looked down before meeting his former protégée's scrutiny. "I was hoping to change your mind about Nessa's party-"

"No, uh uh." Danny shook his head, not letting Ed finish. "We talked to her for a long time the other night and we have plans to see her up here, in Tahoe."

"Look, the girl's been through a lot and it would be so good for her if all of her family and friends could be there…"

"She understands why we can't come."

"Danny, don't let your feelings about what happened with Delinda cloud your judgment." Ed said in a fatherly tone that Danny tried to ignore.

"I don't have a problem with Delinda. That's all in the past." Danny gave a slight shrug as he glanced at his car through the window then met Ed's gaze.

"So it's me you have a problem with?" Ed challenged softly.

"There is no reason to have Mary go back there." Danny kept his voice even, hiding the long suppressed feelings that were just below the surface. His avoidance of the question was not lost on Ed. When Danny found out he and Jillian knew he might not be the father of D's baby Ed saw something die in Danny that day. Love? Respect? Even though it wasn't his or Jillian's place to tell him Danny saw their silence as a betrayal.

"Nessa got the impression Mary wants to come." Ed insisted, knowing he was pushing Danny but couldn't seem to stop himself. Old habits died hard.

"Mary forgets how much that town and the people in it hurt her." Danny said in a low, firm voice.

"Hurt her or you?" Ed demanded. He knew he had gone too far but how could they get past this if Danny continued to avoid the real issues of why he wouldn't come home?
He waited impatiently for the man he always thought of as a son to respond hoping he was misreading Danny's cold hard stare.

"This conversation is over." Danny slid his chair back to stand up but Ed quickly grabbed his arm.

"Danny, you're part of my family. I was hard on you and I am sorry for that but I have always thought of you like a son, you know that."

"A son?" Danny lashed out. Years of pain and bitterness finally erupted taking both men by surprise. "You treated me more like the family dog. Always scolding me, telling me what I was doing wasn't good enough, throwing me a bone once in a while when I actually pleased you." Danny chuckled bitterly at his play on words.

"The whole time I was with Delinda, before she got pregnant, I tried so hard to please you. I wanted to be a part of your family so badly…." Danny's voice became softer, strained with emotion. "I was so stupid."

Ed saw Danny try to get his emotions in check. Ed was hopeful that after Danny's outburst he would be more receptive to what he had come here to say.

"Danny, you don't know how many times I've wished I could go back and change how I acted not just to you but to Jillian too. So many things were going on with the casino, my marriage….but, none of that matters anymore. I know I should have done things differently, but that's part of being a family. You make mistakes but you stay together. You, Nessa, Mike, and Mary were all part of my family-"

"Mary?" Danny said incredulously, his eyes flashing with anger over the mention of his wife's name. "In the year before she left Vegas when did you ever treat her like family? I bet you can't name one time."

Images of conversations he had with Mary flashed through Ed's mind. He had been so demanding while she was Hotel Manager but the sweet girl had always risen to the occasion. The time he cornered her about her father in the middle of the casino, at Delinda's insistence until Danny stepped in, came to mind. Ed inwardly cringed at how awful he felt when he discovered later what had been really going on. He had no idea what her secret was concerning her father and only wished he hadn't treated Mary so callously. The same thought must have been on Danny's mind too.

"You keep talking about how I was a part of your family. Well, I hadn't been around one in a long time but I knew family was about unconditional love. It's what I have now, with Mary. What I could have had a long time ago if you and your family had been honest with me. If only you had cared enough about me to tell me the truth." Danny said matter-of-factly. The scraping of the chair across the tiled floor drew Ed's attention.

"Danny wait."

Ed saw Danny take a deep breath before slowly turning around to face his former mentor for the last time. Sadness had replaced anger in the young man's eyes and Ed wasn't sure which was worse.

"How could you have not told me, Ed?"

"It wasn't my place." Ed defended quietly.

"I should have known from the very beginning."

"I didn't know about you and Mary. Who do you think got her to do the amnio?" Ed couldn't help the edge that had crept into his voice. Danny would never know of the times he had pleaded with Delinda to come clean with Danny, for all of their sakes.

"And if she hadn't? If she hadn't gotten the test would you have told me?" Danny begged. "Or would you have let me find out when she was born and obviously not mine?"

A picture of his black haired, dark skinned granddaughter flashed through his mind and he so wished he could give Danny the answer he was looking for. In all honesty Ed wasn't sure what he would have done if Delinda hadn't agreed to find out if Danny was the father or her dead Arabian lover. When Ed only sat in silence Danny tried to hide his disappointment and harden himself against it.

"That's what I thought."

"Danny-"

"Tell Nessa we look forward to seeing her in a few weeks." Danny turned, trying to keep his breathing even as he walked calmly over to the bakery counter.

With heavy heart Ed watched him grab the takeout bags from the man behind the counter, saying his thanks then walk out the door.