Texas Ransom

Graham almost choked on his champagne.

She laughed again. “You’d better get used to the idea of being a daddy, Graham, because I think your lovely wife is ready. More than ready.”

Graham felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. Was that why Kendall had been so emotional recently? “She’s not…she didn’t tell you…”

“Listen to you stammer! She didn’t tell me she was pregnant, no. But I don’t know why you’re freaking out at the possibility. You’d be a terrific father.”

“Not every couple wants to have children,” Graham said with a scowl.

“That’s true. But I’m pretty sure Kendall does.”

“She said that?”

Ellie shrugged. “Not in so many words, but I can tell. It’s none of my business, of course…”

“Oh, come on,” Graham said dryly. “Since when has that ever stopped you?”

“True. Okay, I’ll just say it. Is everything okay between you two? Is there some reason why you don’t want to start a family just yet?”

“Everything’s fine. We’ve never been better. And maybe that’s what scares me,” Graham admitted. “Things are so good between us, I don’t want our relationship to change.”

“It could be a change for the better, you know. I may complain about being tied down, but I wouldn’t take anything for my girls. And Terrence…well, you know how he feels about them.”

“I’m not Terrence.”

“No, you’re not.” She gave him an amused look. “I wonder if I should tell you something.”

Graham groaned. “Why do I feel as if this conversation has led me straight into a minefield?”

“Relax. It doesn’t have anything to do with having babies.” Her blue eyes sparkled. “Did you know I used to have a little crush on you in high school?”

“Oh, right. Your boyfriend’s geeky younger brother.”

“You weren’t geeky. You were deep. And don’t think I didn’t notice how you looked in that football uniform.”

“How could you tell? I never got off the bench. Whereas Terrence—”

“Oh, your brother was something all right and I was crazy about him. But you had something special. A quiet kind of confidence that made me think you’d be the person I’d run to if I were ever in trouble. You still have that quality, Graham.”

He gave her a rueful look. “You give me far too much credit. Terrence is the hero type, not me.”

She reached up and patted his cheek. “That’s one of the things I’ve always adored about you. You’re totally oblivious to your appeal. Kendall is one very lucky woman. I hope she knows that.”

No, I’m the lucky one, Graham thought, his gaze returning to the crowd. And now if he could just find his wife, the evening would be perfect.

A LITTLE WHILE later, Graham finally spotted Kendall in the crowd. Her red dress stood out like a beacon amidst the sea of black tuxedoes and ball gowns, and his focus vectored in and lingered for the longest moment as he sipped his champagne and tried to hide a sudden impatience.

He would have preferred to do more than admire his wife from afar, but anything other than a smile would have to wait until they got back to the hotel.

He shifted restlessly as he continued to watch her. She was tall and elegant and so graceful she appeared to float through the room. Up close, the scars from the accident were still visible, but rather than detracting from her looks, the imperfections gave her a fragile, ethereal beauty that served to remind Graham of how fleeting life could be. How important it was to live each moment as though it were the last.

Ellie and Terrence had disappeared a few minutes ago, and now Graham stood alone and pensive. He’d lost his enthusiasm for the event and wondered when he and Kendall could slip away. It was all he could do to keep from glancing at his watch, but he told himself that he should just relax. After all, it wasn’t every day a man realized a lifelong dream.

As the architect on record for the project, Graham had been invited to say a few words to the crowd, but he’d declined so that the guest of honor—the Mexican ambassador to the United States—would have more time at the podium. Manuel Garza was just winding up his speech. He had close ties to PemCo Oil and had been a strong advocate of deregulating Mexico’s petroleum industry to allow in foreign investors. He’d seized the opportunity to stress the necessity of developing a regional energy program and cited the PemCo Tower as a symbolic merger of the two great neighbors. It was a gutsy speech, considering the protests back home.

As the ambassador began to close, Graham’s attention drifted to the windows and to the panoramic view of the city. Even now, standing at the very pinnacle of his dream, he could scarcely believe he’d accomplished what he had set out to do—make his mark on the skyline of his hometown.

As he’d told Ellie earlier, the accomplishment was not his alone. Austin-based Hollister and Associates had collaborated on the design with a larger architectural firm in Houston, as well as with the developer, builder and representatives from PemCo Oil.

Thousands of hours had gone into both the design and construction of the building, but all that was behind Graham now. When he walked out of the building tonight, his role in the project would be greatly diminished. He and Kendall would finally be able to enjoy the vacation they’d been talking about for years. A month-long adventure that would take them to Bora Bora, Hong Kong, Singapore and finally the Australian outback.

The tickets and itinerary, along with their passports, were tucked away in his desk drawer at home, their suitcases had been brought down from the attic and Kendall had been feverishly shopping for weeks.

From the parade of sundresses, shoes and sportswear that had been modeled in their bedroom night after night, the one thing that stood out in Graham’s memory was a certain turquoise bikini that made him anticipate even more keenly the long, luxurious days on a private island in the South Pacific that would launch the trip.

He could picture Kendall’s long, toned body stretched out on the sand, her skin warm and silky to his touch. The image was so vivid that Graham could almost smell the coconut oil, but the stirring of warmth in the lower part of his body was all too real. He needed to think about something else.

You know, a trip like that…just the two of you…Iwouldn’t be surprised if Kendall came home pregnant.

His thoughts skidded to a halt as his sister-in-law’s prediction rushed through his head. How would he feel about that? Graham wondered. He’d never thought of himself as the paternal type, but deep down, he knew that wasn’t the real reason for his hesitancy.

After five years of marital bliss, he still harbored a secret doubt about his relationship with Kendall. What if she decided to leave him again?

His gaze went back to her. He couldn’t help it. He loved looking at her. But as she drifted closer, he noticed something he hadn’t been able to see from a distance. The anxious glitter in her dark eyes might have gone unnoticed if he hadn’t been watching her so closely. She was still smiling, but tension tightened the corners of her mouth and her fingers strayed to the gold necklace at her throat, a sure sign that she was upset.

She stopped for a moment, waylaid by someone Graham didn’t know, and as the man leaned in to make himself heard over the ambassador, Kendall’s gaze uneasily searched the room. Her eyes found Graham, moved away, then came back, a silent plea emanating from the brown depths.

Something was wrong. Graham could see the distress on her face. He started toward her, but at the same moment, a waiter collided with someone in front of him. The heavy tray of crystal flutes toppled, showering champagne over those in the immediate vicinity.

A collective gasp rose from the crowd as everyone scurried out of the way, and Graham’s view of Kendall was momentarily blocked.

Somewhere nearby a woman screamed. Not the shocked squeal of someone who had been doused by champagne, but a horrified, ear-splitting shriek that stunned the room into silence.

Everyone seemed to drop back a step, creating a void at the front of the room where a man had collapsed. Graham recognized him instantly. It was Manuel Garza.

Graham’s first thought was that the man had had a heart attack as he left the podium, but then he saw a crimson puddle beneath Garza’s left shoulder.

The ambassador’s wife was on her knees beside him, her hands covered in blood. She looked up, her eyes frantic and brimming. “Por favor! Someone help him!”

Graham reacted instinctively. He moved forward, not really knowing what he could do, but in the space of a heartbeat, security came out of the woodwork. Graham was pushed back into the crowd by a man wearing an earpiece. As the officer spoke rapidly into a transmitter concealed by his sleeve, he turned away, and Graham saw someone else rush toward the wounded man.

A hand reached out and grabbed her, but she jerked free and shouted, “For God’s sake, I’m a doctor! Let me help him!”

The ambassador’s personal bodyguards quickly formed a protective circle around him as the undercover HPD officers assigned to the event moved to restore order. But in the initial pandemonium, Graham had lost sight of Kendall.

He turned now, desperate to find her. He couldn’t see her at first, but then he spotted a splash of red near the entrance.

“Kendall!”