Lily paused, pleased that he seemed to like the cozy but practical interior of her home. Not that it mattered.
“You doubt your mother’s talent?” she asked.
Gannon watched Lily fill the teakettle and set it on the stove. Brawny arms folded in front of him, he tilted his head, thinking. “All I know for certain is that I don’t want to see my mom hurt by all the controversy.”
Lily brought out the tea basket and two mugs, glad they were on the same page. “I don’t, either.” She chose an apricot-vanilla blend while Gannon selected an English tea, known for its strong but mellow flavor. “But I’m afraid if we do nothing, this situation will snowball into a real travesty.” Gannon’s gaze narrowed. “Do you think I should ask her to return the commission and withdraw the statue from the chili festival of her own volition?”
“I admit that would solve a lot of problems for me and the town immediately.”
Gannon took off his jacket and looped it over the back of one of the high stools against the granite-topped island. “But...?” he asked, as he sat down.
Finding the sudden intimacy of the situation a little too intense, Lily turned her eyes to the pale blue walls of her kitchen, then admitted, “I worry what even the suggestion she take back her art would do to your mom.”
“Well, she won’t be happy about it...that’s for sure.”
As their gazes met again, Lily forged on, “And correct me if I’m wrong, but I understand this was your mother’s first serious work. It was a huge honor to even be asked by the town to do this, so to then have it poorly received and hidden away...” She shook her head, barely able to say the words, yet Gannon’s expression remained courtroom inscrutable. “Come on, even you, Mr. I’ll-Never-Compromise-Under-Any-Situation, can see that’s no solution to the dilemma!” she finished emotionally.
Sighing, Gannon shoved a hand through his hair. “You’re right about that. My mother’s art is every bit as important to her as my career is to me. She waited a long time to be able to pursue it the way she has always wanted to—with all her heart and soul.”
Gannon sobered even more. “I don’t want to see her pushed into putting her dreams on hold by the people around her any more than I would want to give up my own quest for success.”
Reminded of how truly ambitious both Montgomerys were at heart, Lily said quietly, “I don’t, either.”
Gannon moved closer, his expression intent.
“Then what is the solution?”
“I don’t know,” Lily said quietly, her heart kicking into a faster beat. She moved to the other side of the counter as the teakettle began to whistle. “But I’m sure if we take a few days to think about it, we’ll come up with something a heck of a lot better than what you’ve just suggested.”
His gaze still locked with hers, he flashed a crooked smile. “I’m all for a better solution.” He watched her add hot water to the mugs, then rummage around for cookies. “Speaking of family, is Lucas okay with all of the commotion this has caused for you personally?”
Touched to find Gannon thinking of the little boy he had yet to actually meet, Lily admitted in relief, “My parents took him to San Angelo for lunch and a movie with just the two of them. Grandparent Saturday, they call it. So luckily, he didn’t see any of it.”
Lily broke off as Gannon’s phone rang. He moved off to answer it. It didn’t take long to discern it was about work.
“So that’s what you call a vacation?” she asked some fifteen minutes later, having heard him briskly ask for updates on at least half a dozen cases before finally, finally hanging up.
His lips thinned. “I run the family-law department now. I have a lot of responsibility.”
She knew that. Respected it. And yet... “What about a life? Do you have that, too, in Forth Worth?”
And why did she care so much?
He shrugged casually. “My life is my work now.”
“But don’t you want more than that?” she asked before she could stop herself.
Didn’t everyone?
At least if they were completely honest?
Gannon favored her with a sexy half smile, seemingly glad the conversation had taken yet another personal detour. “Are you asking me if I’m currently seeing someone?” he teased.
Was she?
He glided treacherously close. “The answer is no. Not yet.”
She inhaled the brisk scent of his cologne, felt the warmth emanating from his body. Lily focused on the strong column of his throat. She splayed her hands across his chest and felt the steady beat of his heart beneath her fingertips. “Meaning there’s someone you want to go out with?” she ascertained, pushing the envelope even more.
He sifted his hands through her hair and kissed her temple. “Not there.” He looked at her steadily, as if putting it all on the line. “Here.”
He had no idea how good that sounded. How wonderful it felt to be this close to him. She drew in a breath.
“You’re being reckless again.” And, oh, so romantic. And though they were wildly attracted to each other, they remained all wrong for each other as anything but friends.
He knew that.
She knew that.
So why did she want him to pursue her again? Why did she want to wrap her arms around him and kiss him, really kiss him, so much?
Her doorbell rang.
“Saved. Again.” Gannon chuckled and stepped back. But not for long, Lily knew.
Regretfully, she went to answer the door.
This time it was Liz Cartwright-Anderson on the other side of the portal. Still clad in her vacation clothes, her blond hair piled in a messy knot on top of her head, she looked at Lily, her expression grim.
Whatever was going on, Lily knew it wasn’t good.
* * *
“BUT BODE CAN’T do that,” Lily sputtered, after her family-law attorney had told her what was going on. “Lucas has never spent any time alone with his dad—ever—anywhere,” she continued, upset, glad she had asked Gannon to stay to provide additional counsel if needed. “To expect Lucas to go all the way to Bode’s home in Dallas and spend the night and half of tomorrow is just ludicrous! He’s only four years old, for heaven’s sake. He doesn’t even know his father!”
Gannon lounged against the foyer wall, hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. “Has Lucas ever spent an overnight with anyone else?” he asked quietly.
“Well, yes. With my parents, and occasionally one of my sisters.”
He regarded her with a matter-of-factness that both disappointed and stung. “Then it won’t be an entirely new experience for him.”
“Whose side are you on?” Lily accused, not sure why she felt so betrayed, just knowing that she did.
“This is what you agreed to, after all, in the initial custody agreement.”
Afraid her knees would no longer support her, Lily sank down onto the sofa. “Only because I was trying to be reasonable and meet him halfway!”
Liz and Gannon exchanged skeptical glances. “And...?” Liz asked as she sat down in a wing chair opposite Lily.
Lily knew what she said was privileged—it would never leave the room. Doing her best to avoid Gannon’s lawyerly gaze, she admitted on a reluctant sigh, “I never expected Bode to actually exercise the right. Which he hasn’t, up to now.”
Liz handed over the paper copies of the demand letter sent via email. “Well, now he is. And he wants you to have his son at his Dallas home no later than six o’clock tonight.”
“And if I don’t?” Lily retorted stubbornly before she could stop herself. Although as a lawyer herself, she already knew the answer to that.
Liz confirmed her thoughts. “His attorneys have promised to alert the judge of the violation, and you’ll be held in contempt of court. And, with a change in custody a
rrangements already being requested, I would not advise you to do anything but follow the current custody agreement to the letter. Otherwise...” Her voice trailed off.
His dark brows knitting together, Gannon continued grimly, “They will most likely use your noncompliance as a reason for an emergency custody hearing. And given the fact that I happen to know that the judge who’s been assigned to hear the case is also a huge Dallas Gladiators fan...”
“Best not to take any chances. If you want to hold on to the rights you have now,” Liz agreed.
Because, Lily knew, even a request for a different judge would run the risk of having it all blow up in her face, even more than it already had. “Okay, then, I’ll do it,” she said tightly, knowing she really had no choice. How she was going to pull it off successfully, however, was something else indeed.
* * *
“YOU OKAY?” GANNON ASKED, as soon as Liz had left. Because the truth was, Lily still looked more than a little shell-shocked by this latest turn of events.
She picked up a pillow and threw it onto the sofa with as much force as she could muster. “I want to scream.”
He gave her the space she seemed to require. “Don’t blame you.”
Lily squeezed another pillow with all her might. Finally, she threw it onto a chair with equal fervor. “Cry.”
Gannon watched her strip off her shawl-collared sweater and toss it aside, too. “Understandable.”
Her face flushed with angry color. “Punch something.” He’d never seen her so overwrought or so incredibly passionately beautiful and he edged closer. Then, resisting the urge to draw her near, he looked at the mantel clock instead. “We’ve got time if you want to blow off a little steam.”
Lily blinked. She swung back to face him in a drift of freesia perfume. “We?”
He shrugged as if it were no big deal, when they both knew it was. “I figured I’d tag along, since Liz can’t go, and I need to head back to Fort Worth anyway for a day or so to check on a few things there.” Since things weren’t running as smoothly in his absence as he liked.
Lily closed the distance between them, not stopping until they were toe to toe. She stared at him in shock, asked softly, “You’d really do that for me?”
And a hell of a lot more, if you’d let me.
Knowing, however, that this wasn’t the time to put the moves on her, he offered, “Seems as though I owe you, given what you’re doing to try to protect my mother.”
Silence fell.
Slowly but surely, the walls around her heart began to go back up.
Wanting to protect her more than ever, he used the only logic he knew she would accept and put his lawyer hat back on. “You can’t really afford not to have someone go with you,” he told her reasonably. “And what better sidekick than a lawyer used to battling the scumbag attorneys responsible for such a power play?”
Lily paused. “You think there’s going to be trouble?”
Gannon met and held her gaze. “I think, in law, as in life, it’s always best to meet a show of force with another show of force. If I’m there, even just as your friend, there’s no chance they’ll try to use this situation to undermine you further. And/or attempt to pressure you into anything long term in exchange for a temporary gain.”
Lily’s posture softened in relief. “Actually, I would feel better if you were by our side.”
He smiled and reached for his jacket. “Then that settles it.” Which meant they both had to get a move on if they were going to be ready to leave in another hour and a half.
“Gannon?”
He turned to face her.
She came toward him once again and squeezed his hand warmly. “Thanks.”
* * *
“ARE YOU GOING to spend the night with my dad, too?” Lucas asked from his safety seat, for what, Lily thought on an inward sigh, seemed like the thousandth time since they had left Laramie two and a half hours ago.
Glad Gannon had offered to drive—her nerves felt frayed as it was without having to fight the freeway traffic and unfamiliar city interchanges—Lily turned around to smile encouragingly at her son. “No, honey. This is a special time for you and your dad.”
Lucas squinted in confusion. “How come?”
“Because he hasn’t spent enough time with you recently.”
“How come?”
Lily tried not to tense. “Because he was busy playing football.” And doing a million other things.
Lucas’s lower lip shot out. He hugged his stuffed horse and blanket close. “I don’t want to go.”
Oh, sweetheart, I know. Pretending not to notice the look of fear in his eyes, Lily smiled again. “I’m sure you’ll have fun.”
If there was one thing Bode knew, it was how to have fun. Plus, her ex was still half kid himself.
Gannon stopped at the gate surrounding Bode’s Dallas mansion. The guard checked IDs and waved them through.
By the time they reached the elegant portico of the sprawling abode, Bode was coming down the steps. A professional photographer and a videographer, obviously hired to document the occasion, both lingered nearby, ready to capture the first precious moment.
Gannon parked. Lily got her son out while he retrieved the overnight bag, from the rear seat of his luxury pickup truck.
“Hey there, sport,” Bode said jovially. Lucas turned his head away from his father and hid his face in his stuffed horse and blue security blanket.
“Lily.” Bode nodded at her stiffly.
Noticing her ex seemed to think her son’s reticence was her fault, Lily nodded back. “Bode.”
Gannon returned with the bag. He handed it over to Lucas, then extended his hand.
For a brief moment, Lily thought Bode was not going to return the gesture. But eventually—maybe because there was an audience and cameras nearby, Bode shook hands.
“Montgomery,” he growled.
“Daniels,” Gannon returned with professional cool.
Clearly, Lily thought, there was no love lost between the two men. Never had been, and judging from the looks of things now, never would be. An awkward silence fell. Lucas maintained his death grip on her hand, his little body pressed to right side. Gannon was to her left, his presence as steady—and reassuring—as ever.
Even so, it was all Lily could do not to say to hell with everything, grab her son, take Gannon’s hand in hers and run far, far away.
Away from her past.
And what scarily looked like her future.
The professional photographer and videographer continued taking in the scene.
Thus prompted, Bode hunkered down in front of Lucas, all macho charm, his voice unutterably gentle. “Want to come inside the house and say hello to your little sisters and Viviana?”
Lucas shook his head and did not look up.
Before Bode could say anything more, the front door opened. His sleek, gorgeous Venezuelan wife appeared. In a belly-baring halter top and flowing pants ensemble, she looked every inch the perennially entitled and pissed-off supermodel she was known to be. She stared at Bode, then lifted her hands as if to say, What are we waiting for? And with a last long withering look at Lily and a toss of her wavy golden-brown mane, she disappeared back inside. The door slammed behind her.
The photographer looked at Bode expectantly.
Straightening, he took another look at the door his wife had just gone in, then somberly turned back toward Lily. “Maybe it is a little much to just drop the little buddy off,” he said finally.
Gee. You think?
Gannon nodded, in support of Bode’s conclusion.
Paternal tenderness suddenly in his eyes, Bode looked at Gannon, man-to-man, then turned and gave Lily a beseeching glance. “How about you and Gannon come inside and stay awhile, and see if we c
an’t all work together to get Lucas settled?”
Chapter Five
Lily thought she knew what to expect from the luxurious interior of Bode’s multimillion-dollar home. After all, it had been featured in both Architectural Digest and Personalities! Magazine.
But nothing could have prepared her for what lay inside.
The elegant white sofas in the formal living room had been pushed to the edges of the huge space. In the center were four separate stations—each sporting an elaborate little-boy birthday cake with a number on top—and a heap of gaily wrapped presents. Bunches of balloons added to the festive atmosphere.
A banner proclaimed Welcome Home, Lucas!
Lucas’s eyes lit with interest, while Viviana and her two daughters, ages one and three, watched nearby from the arms of their nannies. His complete PR team and Bode’s sports-management agent, as well as his attorneys, were also there—this time dressed as if attending a children’s birthday party.
Turning on the charm, Bode knelt down in front of Lucas once again. “I know I missed your first four birthdays, champ,” he said. “I’m going to make up for that, starting now.”
He rose and, seeming to understand that Lucas would not yet take his hand, motioned for the little boy to follow him. “Want to check out the presents?”
Lucas turned to his mother for permission. She nodded. “Go ahead, honey.” It would have been cruel to deny him this, when he had already been deprived of so much where his father was concerned.
Lucas handed Lily his blanket and his stuffed horse for safekeeping. And then cautiously made his way over to the bounty.
The next several hours were a blur of gifts, photos, cakes and song. It seemed every cake had to be lit, “Happy Birthday to You” sung again and again—to Lucas’s delight. His two little half sisters eventually joined in the joyful melee.
Lucas’s normal bedtime came and went. And still he played happily while Lily and Gannon watched the festivities from the sidelines and photo after photo was taken. Some of which were uploaded to Bode’s Twitter feed and transmitted, along with a number of carefully crafted seemingly spontaneous messages, from the star quarterback himself.
Lone Star Valentine (McCabe Multiples) Page 6
