Three Little Words

As expected, Leonard’s legs had collapsed immediately. Unfortunately, as he’d gone down, he’d hit his head on the side of the Jeep and been knocked out cold. Which meant the 9-1-1 call had been a good idea. Only Ford had meant it to be preventive, not necessary.

“There you are!”

He turned and saw a medium-height woman with blue eyes and shoulder-length blond hair walking purposefully toward him. She was curvier than he remembered, and obviously pregnant, but otherwise pretty much the same. Except the last time he’d seen Maeve, she’d been in tears, and this time she looked as if she could spit fire.

“What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “What kind of moron goes around hitting other people?”

“I—”

“Tell me he’s okay. Damn it, Ford, I can’t believe you did this.”

“He—”

“Oh, sure. Blame it on Leonard. Do you think I don’t know why he went to see you?” She poked him in the chest. “Since you’ve been back in town, you’re all he could talk about. How he wanted to apologize and make things right. It’s been fourteen years. How on earth could anyone still be holding a grudge?”

“I—”

She glared at him. “You are over what happened, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” He paused to assess the truth of the statement. “Very.”

She raised her eyebrows.

He cleared his throat. “Not that you’re not lovely.”

She shoved him back a couple of steps. For a woman of her size and pregnancy trimester, she packed a punch. “You hit him!”

“He asked me to. He insisted. I didn’t hit him that hard. He hit his head on the way down. It wasn’t my fault.” He moved back voluntarily, thinking the more room between him and Maeve, the better.

“He’s a responsible person, unlike you,” she snapped. “The father of four and a half children. Did you think of that when you tried to kill him?”

“I didn’t try to kill him. Look, Leonard came to me.”

“Yes, and I expected you to be the adult in the situation. I see that was wrong. You’re exactly who you were when you left.”

“Hey, that’s not fair.”

She narrowed her gaze. “I’ll tell you what’s not fair. That my husband and the father of my children is in the hospital with a concussion because of what you did.”

“He hit his head,” Ford repeated helplessly.

The door to the waiting room opened and two uniformed officers walked in. The taller of the two women moved toward him. “Ford Hendrix?” she asked.

He nodded.

“We’re going to have to take a statement.”

“Serves you right,” Maeve told him. “I hope they lock you away forever.”

She stalked off. Ford followed the police officers to a quiet corner of the waiting area and knew his life couldn’t get any worse.

Only he was wrong because, just when he was explaining what had happened, his mother arrived. She hurried over to him.

“See?” she said, her voice oddly triumphant. “None of this would have happened if you’d just gotten married like I told you.”

* * *

FORD PACED THE LENGTH of Isabel’s kitchen. She watched him move, feeling a little like watching one of the powerful cats at the zoo. She was standing close enough to sense his frustration and energy, but she didn’t have to worry about him turning on her and expecting her to be dinner.

The analogy made her smile. Now that she knew her brother-in-law was going to be fine, she could see the humor in the situation. Not that Ford had gotten there yet.

“It’s not my fault,” he muttered for maybe the thousandth time since he’d arrived. “He wanted me to hit him. He begged me.”

“Next time you shouldn’t listen.”

He turned to her. “Thanks for the news flash.”

“Hey, don’t take your temper out on me. I’m not the one who coldcocked a guy six inches shorter and fifty pounds lighter. A guy who wears glasses.”

Ford groaned. “He took them off and put them in his pocket. It’s so Leonard.”

She stepped in front of him. “Look, he’s going to be fine. He explained what happened and his story matched yours. He’s not pressing charges. You’re right. It’s not your fault he hit his head.”

“Tell Maeve that.”

Isabel had heard that her sister had gone a little crazy when she’d been told what had happened.

“She and Leonard have been together a long time. She loves him. She didn’t expect her ex-fiancé to beat the crap out of him and leave him for dead.”

Ford flinched.

She grabbed him by the upper arms. “Sorry. I’m teasing. Everything is okay.”

“They’re keeping him overnight for observation.”

“A precaution.”

“Maeve is pregnant. She has four other kids.”

“I come from a long line of good breeders.”

His dark eyes remained troubled. “I could have killed him.”

“He’s going to be fine. Obviously he’s been waiting for this moment for years. You’ve given him closure and a great story. In the future, keep your bullying ways for your tough friends.”

“I know,” he muttered, then shook his head. “I thought I was making things better for Leonard. I thought...”

Not knowing what else to do, Isabel tried to pull Ford close. He was about as movable as a house, so instead she stepped close and wrapped her arms around him.