Free Daniel's Gift by Barbara Freethy

She preferred the seduction of evening clothes, dim lights, and perfume, not the rustle and tustle of sweaty bodies with hair that had been slept on and teeth that needed brushing.
    Luke closed his eyes. Maybe Denise was right. Maybe he was having an identity crisis, wanting to change everything, wanting to have kids. He sighed and tried to clear his mind.
    Right now, he just wanted peace, a good night's sleep, a chance to wake up to a new day and forget about everything that had happened in the past twelve hours.
    "Dad."
    Luke twitched when he heard the voice. He opened one eye and blinked. There was no one there. He buried his face in the pillow and tried to let go of reality.
    "Dad."
    He was hearing things now. Definitely going over the edge.
    "Dad, wake up."
    Luke lifted his head off the pillow. Sitting crossed-legged on the end of his bed was a kid with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, the same kid who had rung his doorbell that afternoon.
    "What the hell -- "
    "Hi." The kid waved at him, and gave him a halfhearted smile that was almost as wary as it was welcoming.
    "Who are you? What are you doing in my room? How did you get in here?" Luke demanded, struggling to a sitting position.
    "I'm Danny," the boy said, peering at him in an intense manner that made Luke want to squirm. "You're bigger than I thought you'd be, and you have a lot of hair on your chest."
    "Bigger?" Luke asked in confusion, crossing his arms somewhat self-consciously. "What are you talking about? What do you want?"
    "I came by to see you before, but she wouldn't let me in," Danny said, pointing a finger at the sleeping Denise.
    "My wife said you were selling candy."
    "She's a liar. She slammed the door on my toe."
    "Now hold on," Luke said, then stopped himself. Why was he defending Denise? She probably had lied about the candy. "If you weren't selling candy, why were you at my door?"
    " 'Cause I wanted to meet you."
    "Why?"
    Danny shrugged and looked off to one side as if there were someone else in the room, but Luke didn't see anyone.
    "Jacob says we have to go now."
    "Who's Jacob?"
    "Come and see me tomorrow."
    "See you? See you where?" Luke asked. Even as he spoke, the boy vanished. He didn't get up and walk out the door, he just disappeared.
    Luke looked over at Denise. She was fast asleep. The clock on the bedside table read four a.m. Only five minutes had passed since he had last looked at it. Five minutes in which to have the strangest hallucination ...
    He fell back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling. It was another five minutes before he remembered -- the boy had called him Dad. How could that be possible?
    It wasn't possible. It didn't make sense. He wanted to go to sleep, and fast, because he had a feeling that if he didn't fall asleep immediately, the next person he'd see sitting on the end of his bed would be -- Jenny.

    Jenny jumped as a hand touched her shoulder. Her first thought was that Danny had moved, had lifted his hand and touched her. Then she looked up, saw Alan, and realized she had fallen asleep on the narrow couch in the hospital waiting room.
    "Oh, it's you," she said, rubbing her eyes. "I guess I fell asleep." She swung her legs off the couch and sat up, feeling dizzy at the sudden motion.
    "You've been in here all night, honey." Alan sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.
    "What time is it?"
    "Six o'clock in the morning."
    "Six o'clock? My God. I just came out for a minute when they wanted to run some tests." Jenny looked at him in alarm. "He didn't wake up, did he? If he woke up, and I wasn't there, I'd -- "
    Alan shook his head, cutting off her panic. "He didn't wake up. I just checked with the nurses. No change."
    "Oh. I guess that's good," Jenny said. "It's only been a few hours, and Danny's probably tired from the surgery. You know he loves to sleep in. I wouldn't expect him to wake up till at least ten. It's Saturday. Maybe he won't wake up till eleven. There's