The Gazebo

“They both thought I was asleep. Even so, the doctor asked Mom to step out of the waiting room into the hall. But I could tell from the man’s voice something had gone horribly wrong. I…thought my sister was dead.”

Deirdre had to clench her hands into fists to keep from reaching out to Cade, touching him. The breach yawned between them, so painful it hurt to breathe. She could see Cade there, at the hospital, his body not yet filled out with a man’s muscles, his face still boyish, the scar on his chin still new. He must have been devastated, feeling responsible for anything that went wrong in the family, the way he always did. She could almost hear the litany of self-blame running through his head.

I should have foreseen she was going to fall, stopped her from being so reckless.

I should have hurled myself on the open toolbox so she wouldn’t have hit the sharp metal edges when she fell.

He’d thought she was dead. He must have been going through hell. It should have been over once the doctor said she’d live, but he’d only exchanged one level of hell for an even deeper one.

Cade blew out a steadying breath. “Mom begged the doctor not to tell our father unless it was a question of saving Deirdre’s life. She prayed Deirdre would recover without needing that kidney. Deirdre did. Mom made me promise I would never tell. I never did.”

“So, that’s the Cliff’s Notes version,” Stone said. “Think you can add anything more?”

“Cade, for God’s sake! I know you’re doing this under duress, okay? Your objection has been duly noted and thrown in the circular file. Now tell the man something useful or stop wasting his time.”

“This isn’t easy, Dee. I don’t want my family hurt.”

“Oh, yeah, and I’m just loving this. It’s so much fun,” Deirdre snapped.

“Mom said she’d had an affair with a man named Jimmy Rivermont. He was selling band instruments in the area, or something. She would leave me with another army wife while she…” Cade shrugged. “I don’t know the woman’s name. She lived next door to our parents.”

“In military housing?”

“Yes.”

“Where were they stationed?” Stone asked.

“Fort Benning, Georgia. Must have been, what? Thirty-three years ago.”

“Did this friend of your mother’s have a name?” Stone probed.

“I sure as hell never asked what it was.”

Deirdre tried to sound confident. “The Captain would know who Mom’s friends on base were, wouldn’t he?”

“You can’t ask him that!” Cade raged. “For God’s sake, Dee!”

“We’ll try other avenues first,” Stone said. “I promise you, Mr. McDaniel, I’ll try to make this inquiry as painless as possible for you and your family.”

“I’d be…grateful. Anyway, I’m out of here. I’ve told you all I know.” Cade’s jaw tipped up at that angle that always made Deirdre want to take a swing at it. “Except that Deirdre already has a father who loves her.”

“Damn it, Cade!”

“I know,” Stone said. “I mentioned that myself.”

Cade stalked to the door. Stopped. “I just have to say this one last time, then I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“Yeah, right!” Deirdre scoffed, turning her back on him and bracing herself against the counter.

“Don’t do this, Dee.”

“It’s already done.”

CHAPTER 5

CADE SLAMMED THE SCREEN on his way out. The sound reverberated through the roomy kitchen of March Winds. Deirdre and Stone stood in silence a long time. She rubbed her eyes, disgusted that she was close to tears. Damn, she wasn’t going to cry.

“So,” she said, fighting to keep her voice steady. “Is that enough to start on?” She grabbed her purse from the counter, started digging in what Emma called “theworld’s smallest landfill.”

“How much do I owe you for a retainer?”

She didn’t expect Stone to cross the room, circle her wrist with his warm fingers. Deirdre tried to keep from shaking. But Stone wasn’t buying her tough act. He slid the purse out of her reach, then stunned her by tugging her gently until her back flattened against the hard wall of his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

Oh, God, Deirdre thought, breathing in the scent of him, exotic, dangerous, deliciously male. He felt so solid, so big, as if he could hold back crumbling mountains, or crumbling lives.

For a heartbeat she wanted to stay there, safe. Protected. Not alone.

He leaned his cheek against her. “It’s all right,” he breathed against her temple, stroking her hair. “Cry if you need to.”

Damn the man! What did he think? She was going to fall apart right in front of his eyes? But then, between Trula and the redhead, he was probably inundated with feminine tears.

Indignation sizzled through Deirdre. She tried to wriggle free, but he held her, determined to what? Comfort her? She stomped hard on his foot.

Stone yelped, yanked away, glaring at her. “What did you do that for?”

“Because I—” Because it felt too good. Because you smelled heavenly. Because I was afraid part of me would be weak enough to like it. Like being held, even by a jerk like you.

“Mom?” Emma’s voice dashed like cold water over Deirdre. She wheeled to see her daughter staring wide-eyed at Stone. Did she remember him? Deirdre wondered, recalling the tumultuous period when the P.I. had first charged into the McDaniels’ lives. But if Emma had any idea Stone was a private investigator she’d be doing her finest Snow Queen imitation instead of standing there grinning like a cat who’d just swallowed Tweety Bird whole.

No. Emma didn’t have a clue who Stone was, nor why he was at March Winds. The flabbergasted expression on the girl’s face was just plain astonishment because she’d never once seen her mother in a man’s arms.

For an instant Deirdre considered blurting out the whole truth. But Emma’s world had been so badly shaken in the past twenty-four hours that the thought of wiping a genuine smile off her daughter’s face was just too miserable to handle at the moment. Defying Cade and Finn and the Captain was difficult enough. Knowing Emma would take their side hurt more than Deirdre could bear. The thought of any rift between her and her daughter terrified her, carrying her back to the wall that had separated Deirdre from her own mother for so long.

Deirdre had sworn she’d never let anything get between her and Emma again. She’d come close enough to losing her daughter six years ago.

Yet, during that upheaval, Deirdre had managed to shield Emma from Jake Stone and his business with the McDaniel family. She’d do the same thing now. Until she could find a way to make Emma understand.

As if her daughter would ever be able to understand doing anything that might hurt her beloved grandpa.

“Yo, Mom, guess you took that advice I gave you last night after all. Talk about fast work!” She might as well have broken into a chorus of “It’s Raining Men, Alleluia.” Deirdre swept to the far side of the room, cheeks burning.

“This isn’t what you think,” Deirdre cautioned. “Mr. Stone is a professional…in restoration.”

Stone regarded her silently. It wasn’t a lie, Deirdre insisted to herself. The man restored things. Like sanity to lovesick idiots, and the money he’d gotten Finn and Cade to pay. He’d restored it to the person Finn’s father had stolen it from.

Whatever Stone’s thoughts on her evasion, he took his cue from her. “Your mother and I are working together on an historical project of sorts,” he said.

Emma flashed Stone her brightest smile. “So then we’ll be seeing a lot of you? I mean, if you’re working on March Winds’ ballroom. Aunt Finn has been saying for months she wants to expand something besides her waistline, Mr.—?”