Laughing, Toni agreed. “I worked for dad, remember? In the billing office. I know how he values his reputation. I won’t ruin it.”
She tried to hold on to that thought as they headed for the car.
pose, Zach. It probably won’t affect the men of the group, who are all lawmen themselves and know how to do their own scowling. But smile at my sisters. They’ll be your best allies.”
“Allies? You make it sound like war.”
Her brow arched. “You’re perceptive.”
If her other sister was as tough a case as J.D., he was going to have to use all the charm he could muster. As for the lawmen, J.D had already warned him about them. Well, there was nothing to do about it except dive in.
They hadn’t reached the front door when it was thrown open and Alex, Toni’s other sister, came running out. Zach knew all these people by sight because he’d seen their pictures in George’s office countless times, but he’d never managed to be around to be introduced to them.
“Toni,” Alex cried, wrapping her sister in a big hug. “How are you?” Pulling back, Alex critically eyed Toni from head to foot. “You look wonderful.” Her gaze went to Zach, and she smiled.
Lori stepped close to Zach and grasped his hand. It was the first time his daughter had ever reached out to him. A lump formed in his throat.
“Do you want to introduce me?” Alex looked at the girls, then him.
“Sis,” Rafe called from the door. “Why don’t you let Toni come inside, then she can introduce them to her entire family mstead of the neighborhood.”
“All right.” She waved him off. “He sure has become bossy. Come on, everyone, the family’s waiting.”
It had an ominous sound to it.
The entire Anderson family was gathered in the den. J.D. and her husband, Luke, and their two children; Alexandra and her husband, Derek, and their two daughters; and finally Rafe and his wife, April, who was expecting. And George, the head of the family.
They were a formidable group, but Zach had faced worse odds.
“Are they all your family?” Lisa whispered to Toni. The awe in his daughter’s voice made Zach want to smile.
“Yes, sweetie, they are,” Toni answered softly.
Lisa’s gaze returned to the group. “Wow. And are they now mine, too?” she whispered again.
His daughter’s question revealed how lonely the child had been. And Zach could identify with that feeling of isolation. He’d grown up with it.
“Yes, they are,” Toni said, bending low so her family wouldn’t hear. Lisa’s smile lit the room.
As quickly as possible, Toni introduced everyone. She didn’t mention what had happened yesterday. She wanted the girls in the other room when she told everyone.
“Well, Toni, I expect you have news for us, don’t you?” George said after the children had gone to the game room to play video games. He sat in a large leather chair beside the fireplace.
Toni glanced at J.D., who silently shook her head.
“No one spilled the beans, Toni,” George added, seeing the exchange. “But when your sisters and brother suddenly showed up, it wasn’t hard to figure out something was up. When I couldn’t get hold of you...by means of simple deduction that meant you were the news. So tell me, what is it?”
Toni opened her mouth, but Zach couldn’t let her be the one to walk into the lion’s den by herself. He said, “Toni and I flew to Vegas and got married yesterday.”
The room went deathly quiet, rather like the calm at the center of a hurricane. All eyes were trained on George, waiting.
He studied Toni. “I thought you didn’t want to get married after that fiasco of an engagement you had. You haven’t been too receptive to the men I’ve lined up for you.”
“Dad,” J.D. interjected, “we all know you meant well, but Toni wanted to pick her own husband, like the rest of us.”
“And I can just imagine who you lined up, Dad,” Alex offered. She shivered. “I had several dates that you arranged.”
George’s eyes narrowed as he studied his youngest. “That so?”
Tom walked over to her father and sat on the footstool in front of his chair. “Dad, you’ve always been there for me, particularly after my accident, pushing me and helping me. But I’m a grown woman now, and I want to live my own life. And who I marry is my choice.”
George’s gaze clashed with Zach’s. “And he’s who you want?” he demanded.
Glancing over her shoulder, Toni’s eyes softened as they rested on him. Zach read a momentary tenderness there. She faced her father. “Yes.”
That simple word shot through Zach like a 220 current, electrifying every cell in his body. Damn. Zach felt about an inch tall when faced with Toni’s reaction. He’d married again only to keep custody of the girls. Nothing more.
Liar, a voice in his head yelled.
George smiled at his child. “If that’s what you want, then you have my blessings.” Toni went into her father’s arms. Over his daughter’s shoulder, Zach read the message in the old man’s eyes. If you hurt her, I’ll make you sorry.
It seemed that the spectators were released from the invisible bonds that held them, and they each came by to congratulate Zach.
Luke was the first to shake Zach’s hand. “Don’t worry about George. He’s very protective of his daughters. We’ve all run the gauntlet. But you would understand that, since you have two little girls of your own.”
Zach was only beginning to understand and appreciate George’s feelings for his daughters. And in spite of things, Zach couldn’t blame the older man for his attitude.
He just hoped he would survive the experience.
George and Zach walked into the study and closed the door behind them.
“What have you found out about the oil field mess?” George asked him.
The question stunned Zach. He had prepared himself for George’s explosive temper. He didn’t quite know what to make of this approach. He’d expected his new father-in-law to talk to him about his marriage to Toni.
“I had my secretary pull the service records on that field,” Zach began. “It should’ve been serviced six weeks ago. Accounting has a paid invoice for the work.”
“So, what’s bothering you about it?” George asked, leaning back in his chair.
“If they did the work, then why did the pump jack burn out when it had another six months to replacement? When I got reports back from the investigator about the equipment, they stated that it looked like the jack hadn’t been serviced in a long time.”
“So, there’s something rotten in this entire mess,” George mused.
“I think so. I have a feeling this isn’t the only incident. We’re going to need to look into it. I plan to send another engineer out to look at all the fields that Caprock has worked on.”
“Good idea,” George added. “I’ve got some figures on crude that’s gone to the refinery, and it doesn’t match the figures that should’ve been pumped.”
Zach rubbed his neck. The situation was going from bad to worse.
“Sure looks like it.” George studied the man before him. “I like you, Zachary Knight. You saved my bacon from those terrorists when we were in Venezuela. And I wanted to pay you back. But—” George pinned Zach with a steely-eyed expression “—that didn’t include my daughter.”
“I—”
George held up his hand. “Toni’s special. If you hurt her, Zach, I’ll make you sorry you were born. Understand?” George’s voice held a chill.
Zach looked into the steady eyes of the old man. Just because George Anderson wasn’t in his prime, it didn’t mean the man couldn’t hire someone to beat Zach to a pulp.
“Toni’s a beautiful, generous and kind woman, George. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.”
George nodded. “Good, then we understand each other.”
“We do. And if you’re worried about her inheritance, I signed a prenuptial agreement with her. I’ll never make any claim on her mone
y.”
“You’re a smart man. Then let’s go and join the others. I know my daughters are worried that I might shoot you and hide the body in the nearest dry hole.”
Zach didn’t doubt that his daughters’ worry was well-founded.
As they walked back to the living room, Zach hoped that he hadn‘t—no wouldn’t—hurt Toni. Not because of George’s threats. No, because wounding that beautiful woman was the last thing he wanted to do.
Toni breathed a sigh of relief when Zach and her father walked back into the room.
“He’s still alive,” J.D. whispered to her sister. “That’s an encouraging sign.”
Glaring at her sister, Toni murmured, “I wonder what Dad chatted with Zach about?”
“Do you really want to know?”
Toni frowned. “Of course.” She walked over to where all the men stood. “Do you mind if I borrow my father?” she asked the group.
When no one objected, Toni pulled her father into the backyard. “All right, Dad, spill the beans. What did you say to Zach?”
“We talked company business.”
“And?”
“And what?” He tried to look innocent and shocked, but she didn’t buy the routine. “What makes you think we talked about anything else?”
“Because I spent a lifetime observing you, watching how you handled J.D.’s and Alex’s marriages.” She met his gaze. “Did you threaten him?”
“Toni, the man’s an ex-soldier. I wouldn’t be fool enough to challenge him. I simply told him to make sure he did right by you, and that I’d be watching.”
It was beyond Toni to get mad at her father. They’d gone through so much together, her accident, her mother’s death, that she couldn’t resent his interference. But that didn’t mean she had to sanction his interference, either. “Dad, this is a choice I’ve made,” she repeated her earlier point. “I want you to respect that.”
He rubbed his neck. “I do, I do. Now, why don’t we go back inside and join the others?”
As they walked into the house, Toni felt as if she’d just spit into the wind.
Zach looked out the sliding glass doors and watched Toni and George on the patio.
“Don’t worry about her,” J.D. told Zach, following the direction of his gaze. “Dad has a tender spot for his youngest. Besides, if any of us could talk Dad into our way of thinking, it was Toni.”
Zach’s brow arched. “I didn’t think anyone changed your father’s mind once it was made up.”
“It’s been known to have happened. Toni and her mom were probably the only two people who could accomplish the feat.”
He nodded.
“Of course, Toni might intercede for you with Dad, but I want you to know, if you hurt my sister, I’ll make you sorry.”
Zach turned and stared at J.D. She was a chip off the old block.
“J.D., what are you saying to this man?” Luke, her husband, asked.
“We were simply exchanging congratulations.” She smiled, clasped her husband’s arm and walked away.
Zach knew he should be insulted, but he couldn’t prevent the smile that curved his lips. Apparently, his new wife had some very staunch defenders.
How would it feel to have someone love you so much they’d risk it all for you?
“Daddy, I like my new family.” Lisa sat up in her bed. “There were so many kids to play with.” Her eyes shone with excitement. “And I have a grandpa and aunts and uncles and cousins.”
“And are you happy, too, Lori?”
She smiled. “Auntie Alex told me all about Toni’s time in a cast and how she didn’t like it. Auntie Alex also told me how to take care of my cast.”
“And we get to have Sam come live with us,” Lisa chirped in.
When George had said that Sam could come home with them as a wedding present, the girls had gone crazy with elation.
Toni walked out of the bathroom, where she’d been straightening up after the girls’ bath.
Lisa smiled at her. “I’m glad we visited Grandpa. It was neat.”
“I’ll tell him that you think he’s neat.”
“Naw, all the people were neat,” Lisa commented. “I like having cousins.”
Toni settled the girls under the covers and after both Zach and Toni kissed the children, they walked into the living room.
“Toni, we need to talk,” Zach said.
She turned to him. “About what?”
“Our sleeping arrangements.”
“Why don’t we go into the kitchen, and have something to drink. We don’t want the girls overhearing us.”
He nodded.
Toni got each of them a soft drink and she set a tin of homemade chocolate chip cookies in the center of the table. She pushed the open tin toward him. He took one look, grabbed a cookie and bit into it.
“Did you make these?” he asked.
She nodded.
She made a mean cookie. Damn. He didn’t need to know any more of her virtues when he was already in over his head and sinking.
“What happened this morning when we woke up like we did was an—”
“Accident,” she supplied.
The corner of his mouth kicked up. If that was an accident, he didn’t want to encounter their conscious actions. “I guess that’s the best way to describe it. But it can’t happened again.”
She looked wounded and relieved at the same time.
“If this thing—a platonic relationship—is to work, then we’ll have to be more careful.”
“So what exactly are you saying, Zach? Are you asking for separate bedrooms?”
“That would be the easiest way, but I think until the custody hearing, we shouldn’t give the court any reason to doubt our marriage.”
She frowned. “Then what are you suggesting?”
“I was wondering what kind of bed you have in your room. By any chance, you wouldn’t have twin beds?” He couldn’t prevent the hopeful note in his voice.
“No, I don’t. But my mattress is a king. That will give us plenty of room.”
Well, if he couldn’t have a separate bed, at least he would have the most room between them that modern bedding could provide. He thought of sleeping in the third bedroom, or a daybed in her room if she had one, or even on the floor, but that left them in the same position as before, vulnerable to prying eyes and his sister-in-law’s lawsuit. And he wasn’t going to lose.
He took the last swig of his drink. “Why don’t you show me where I need to put my things?”
She pursed her lips. “I didn’t clear out any room in my dresser, but it won’t take long for me to do that.”
Zach followed her down the hall into her bedroom. He had his hanging bag over one shoulder and his nylon tote in the other hand.
Toni’s bedroom was large, with French doors that led out onto a patio. The main color in the room was peach, with green and yellow accents. Her bed was one of those massive things with a mirror in the headboard and drawers and shelves on either side.
Opening the closet, she pushed aside her things for him to hang his suits. “How many drawers do you think you’ll need?”
“One is plenty.”
She gave him a skeptical look, then gathered her sweaters from a drawer in the dresser. “I’ll put these in the spare room.”
While she was gone, Zach unloaded his bag. He set his shaving kit in the bathroom. Bottles of colored something or other sat on the counter. He lifted the top of one cut crystal perfume bottle and smelled it. The fragrance was delicate and floral, reminding him of Toni.
Although her room and bathroom were overwhelmingly feminine, it was oddly comforting to Zach. By the time he returned to the bedroom, Toni stood by the bed frowning.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Do you want the first chance at the bathroom, or should I go first?”
“Why don’t you go first?” Zach replied. “While you’re doing that, I thought I’d check the doors and windows.”
She gave him
an odd look, then shrugged and went into the bathroom. For Zach, securing the perimeter was always something he wanted to do while on a mission. It had spilt over into his personal life by making sure that all the doors and windows were secure.
As he finished up his tour of the house, he stopped in the doorway of the girls’ room. Sam, who had hopped up on the bed and stretched out between the girls, lifted his head. Zach smiled and shook his head. The changes one month had brought to his life were stunning. Sometimes he wondered if he had fallen into an alternate universe, where nothing was as it seemed, and he was groping to find his balance.
The harder he fought fate, the farther he slipped down into that open pit of no return. What was wrong with him?
As he walked into Toni’s bedroom, she was coming out of the bathroom, wrapped in a soft, body-hugging robe that made Zach remember exactly what she felt like in his arms this morning.
She smiled at him, and the sight of her, freshly washed and glowing, her figure clearly outlined by the thin fabric of her gown and robe, nearly knocked him to his knees.
“I’m done in the bathroom. It’s yours.”
He nodded, praying that he had the strength to make it through the night. Several of the missions that he’d gone on in Special Forces were looking like picnics in the park compared to the torture he was about to endure.
Toni glanced at Zach, who sat next to her in the pew. He’d had the oddest expression on his face when she started to get the girls ready for church. When she asked him to accompany them, he looked as if she’d asked him to jump over the house. After she’d explained it would probably be the easiest way to introduce their marriage to the community, she didn’t have any problems. He’d reluctantly agreed to come with her.
The surprise on several longtime members’ faces made Toni want to smile.
Lisa squirmed on the pew next to Toni.
“Are we finished, yet?” Lisa whispered in the dead silence after the sermon. Several heads turned.
Toni glanced at Zach, whose expression said she’d asked for this by bringing them. Her father, who sat beside them, choked back a laugh. Other members of her family shifted with their silent chuckles.
Suddenly a Family Page 10
