She slipped off her sandals and sat on one end of the couch with her golden legs tucked beneath her.
He sat down in the chair closest to her. “Today your lives changed forever,” he began.
“Because of you,” she whispered.
“Let’s agree we both had something to do with finding Kathryn. How does it feel?”
“There aren’t any words.”
“Tomorrow when you wake up, you’re going to wonder what to do with the rest of your life. Have you thought about that?”
She nodded slowly. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Especially about you.”
His heart began to thud. “In what regard?”
“When you came to Salt Lake, you must have wondered how you were going to handle a desk job while you waited to get back to your career. It must have seemed like a penance.”
“I won’t lie. It did. But all that changed when Wendell introduced me to Margaret McFarland. Because of you, I’ve discovered there are aspects to genealogy more exciting than hunting for illegal weapons and disposing of them.”
She lowered her head so he couldn’t quite see her face. “Not every genealogical search could be as challenging as my sister’s. Now that it’s over—”
“It’s far from over,” he broke in. “We’ve still got to track down Antonin Buric and put him behind bars. I’m going to need your help more than ever.”
“Then I hope we find him before you have to leave in January.”
“I won’t be going anywhere as long as he’s still on the loose.”
She sat forward. “I thought January was an absolute deadline for you.”
“It is if I want to stay in the CIA. But I’ve been toying with an idea I haven’t even talked to Wendell about yet.”
Her gaze searched his. “What idea?”
“To remain a genealogist who assists in criminal investigations. I don’t know if there is such an animal, but that’s what I’ve been doing for you and I’ve discovered I like it.”
“Enough to do it as a lifetime career?” The shock in her question gave him immense pleasure.
“Why not? It only makes sense. Kamila has already rented a home here she can buy. It’s a great place to raise Jared. I intend to keep the promise I made to my father to look after her.
“Of course, there’s another factor to consider. The most important one. Part of this new job would entail flying around the country to check out leads. I’d need my own private pilot I could call on when it became necessary. Can you think of anyone who might be willing to go into partnership with me?”
“Be serious, Jake.” Her voice sounded unsteady.
“You’re my first choice.” He kept speaking as if she hadn’t said anything. “But it would mean you’d have to cut down on your caseload at the firm.
“I was thinking if you hired another attorney to handle the bulk, and you only took a certain percentage of new clients, it would free you to keep up with your foundation work and still fly me around. I, in turn, would continue to volunteer my services to the foundation to help in searches.”
More silence. Another gratifying sound while she turned over his proposition in her mind. That was good.
While he had her at an advantage, Jake reached in his pocket for his wallet. After opening it, he pulled out the check she’d written him.
“Here.” He tore it up and put the pieces in her hand. She looked at them, then shot him a disbelieving glance. “Write Wendell a check for ten thousand dollars for his firm’s services. Without his willingness to let your case be my top priority, it wouldn’t have been solved as quickly. He won’t be expecting it, but no one deserves it more.
“Next, I’m going to buy a house in the area. Nothing huge or ostentatious. Just a home with maybe four bedrooms, three baths, a two-car garage. There would have to be a family room as well as a dining and living room. A fireplace of course. You know the kind of house I mean. Something charming and cozy for a family of four or five people. I haven’t lived in one since Dad and I left Florida for the Czech Republic.
“My wife and I had planned to buy one when we both got out of the navy. That dream got lost in the years that followed, but it has been resurrected since I came to Salt Lake. A home is the perfect place for two people to start out their life together.”
She scrambled off the couch. He shot out of the chair and grabbed her upper arms.
Gathering her against him he said, “I’m hoping you’ll go house hunting with me. You see I’m getting married in a month’s time and want the place ready for my bride.
“You have such impeccable taste. Besides, I’ll need a good attorney to help me with the earnest money offer and final transaction. Who better than the woman I love with every atom of my being,” he whispered against the soft skin of her neck.
“I’m madly in love with you, Maggie McFarland. I won’t be able to handle it if you turn me down…so don’t.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
FOR THE SECOND TIME today, Maggie knew an epiphany of joy that transcended all other earthly experiences.
“If you’d said anything else…”
“Is that a yes?”
The vulnerability in his voice was a revelation. The Jake Halseys of this world just weren’t like that, but she’d been given living proof she was wrong in that assumption. It was something to treasure in her heart and remember.
Maggie turned in his arms. She put her hands on his chest and slid them all the way to the back of his neck. When she looked into his eyes, she saw that a trace of uncertainty still remained.
“That’s right, darling. You like everything spelled out. Well how about this?”
She sought his mouth with uninhibited desire, no longer afraid to show him how she felt. He was waiting for her. They swayed under the sheer explosion of their long-suppressed needs.
“My answer is yes, yes, yes,” she cried when he finally allowed her breath. “I’ve wanted to be Mrs. Jake Halsey for a shamefully long time.”
His lips roved over her face and throat, thrilling her with every kiss. “How shamefully?”
She smiled. “Since the moment Wendell started telling you about my Scotch-Irish ancestor. Your gaze trapped mine and that was it.”
He kissed away her smile until they were both trembling. “I’m afraid I was even more shameful. The first thing I noticed was a stunning pair of legs.
“When my eyes traveled up the rest of you and saw that you didn’t wear a wedding ring, I determined then and there I was going to have you no matter how long it took. If you were involved or engaged to someone else, I would find a way to break it up so you could belong to me.”
She crushed him tighter. “I was already yours before I left your office.”
His expression sobered. “No, sweetheart, you weren’t.” He gave her another long, hard kiss, as if he were afraid she might disappear on him. “In fact with everything that’s happened today, I’m not sure you know your own mind yet.”
She knew it, but it seemed this marvelous man needed more convincing.
“Come with me.” Grabbing his hand, she pulled him over to the side table where she kept her house phone and answering machine. Without explanation, she phoned her parents.
“Who are you calling this time of night?” His surprised expression was priceless.
“Darling?” sounded her mother’s voice. It resonated throughout the study.
Maggie smiled at the man she adored. “Hi, Mom. Are you and Dad still talking to Kathryn?”
“No. She’s gone to bed. Thank you for getting everything ready for her. The poor darling was exhausted and fell asleep the second her head touched the pillow. Your dad’s just locking up the house.”
For the rest of their lives Maggie’s father would view that as a grave responsibility.
Clearing her throat she said, “I know you’re the two happiest parents on the planet tonight. I hope you can stand a little more happiness because I have something to tell you that can’t wait. Coul
d you tell Dad to get on another extension?”
“Maggie—” Jake had clamped her against him. She felt his lips caressing her nape. She was melting fast.
“Of course, darling. Just a minute.”
While Maggie waited, she turned to meet Jake’s mouth. Once again he swept her away to a rapturous place.
“Hi, honey. I’m on with your mother. We’ve been waiting for your call.”
His reply astonished Maggie. She tore her lips from Jake’s.
“You have?”
Her dad started to laugh. It was the full-bodied kind that began in the belly. “The family’s been taking bets on when Jake would propose. Your brothers figured tonight was the night. How soon are we going to put on another wedding around here?”
“Why not make it sooner than later, darling,” her mother chimed in. “Your poor father about killed himself off getting the yard ready for Cord’s reception. While it’s still looking its best, let’s take advantage of it.”
Maggie’s parents had turned into different people.
Delighted, she lifted her gaze to Jake’s. “They want us to pick a date now. Since you need to keep a low profile, we’ll make it small. Just family and a few close friends. No formal invitations.”
A new light radiated from his eyes. “Two weeks? I’d rather elope with you tonight, but I think your family needs that long at least to prepare. Maybe in that amount of time, Kamila’s family can make arrangements to fly over for it.”
Maggie heard her father’s voice in her ear. She’d almost forgotten she was on the phone with her parents.
“Is that Jake I can hear in the background?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Put him on.”
“I’m right here.” Jake put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Your daughter has made me a happy man. I hope I have your blessing.”
“You can ask that after what you’ve done for this family?” Her father’s voice rang out with pure emotion. “It was evident from the first you were the one she wanted for her husband. You’ve made us very happy parents.”
“You have!” her mom cried. “We love you, Jake. Welcome to the family.”
Maggie knew there was one question her parents were holding back. “Mom? Dad? Jake’s not going back to San Diego. We’re going to buy a home here and he’s going to continue to work at the genealogical firm.”
With that news, her parents dissolved in fresh tears. “Our cup just ran over, Maggie honey.”
“Come on up to the house in the morning, darling. We’ll plan the wedding. Getting your sister involved will be the best thing that could happen to her while she’s convalescing.”
The second Maggie heard the click, her world tilted. She found herself in Jake’s arms being carried to the couch. He followed her body down.
“This is where I’ve wanted to be for a very long time. Hold me, Maggie. Love me.”
She needed no urging, not when the communion of their mouths and bodies brought her such ecstasy. Deep in the throes of passion, her phone rang. They let her machine pick up the message. It was Cord.
“Hey, Maggie— Way to go! Mom and Dad just phoned. Kit and I are overjoyed. If you’re there, Jake, just want you to know we couldn’t be happier. Until I met you, I never thought any man could be good enough for my sister. Looks like we’ll be bringing down another bottle of bubbly from the attic to celebrate. Congratulations! See you in the morning.”
“Did you hear that?” she whispered.
Jake didn’t stop covering her face with kisses. “I heard, and it’s very gratifying, but right now I have other things on my mind.”
The phone rang again. Jake’s body heaved in reaction to the interruption. Again, they didn’t pick up.
“Maggie?” It was Ben. “Your news has brought me as much happiness as finding Kathryn. You’ve sacrificed your whole life for this family. When the rest of us were overcome with sadness, you never let it dominate you.
“You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known. I love you, and I thank God a man like Jake came along. As Brock said tonight, ‘He’s a super-cool dude.’ Amen to that.
“It’s time you grabbed hold of your happiness with both hands. Jake’s the person to make all your dreams come true. If you’re within hearing distance, Jake, I just want to say Julie and I are thrilled there’s going to be another brother in the family. We’ll all be there in the morning to congratulate you. If there’s anything we can do to help expedite your wedding plans, you can count on us.”
First Cord, now Ben.
Telltale tears trickled from the corners of Maggie’s eyes. She couldn’t help it after their touching words.
Jake must have tasted the moisture on her face. With a quiet groan, he rose up and pulled her onto his lap. “I think your brothers were trying to tell me something.”
“That they love you.”
“That, too.” His lips twitched. “But they knew you and I were together. It was their not-so-subtle hint to go slow and easy with their precious sister.”
“No, darling—they wouldn’t do that.”
“The hell they wouldn’t.”
She blinked. “Don’t pay any attention.”
“I’m glad they did.” He kissed her hair. “They’ve let me know you’re a prize. I already knew it, but their brotherly concern is going to keep me honest until our wedding night.”
“No, Jake. I’m not a teenager. I’ve waited my whole life for you.”
“That’s the point, sweetheart. You have waited. Since I’m going to be your one and only lover, I want to do this right and be your husband first.”
He reached in his pocket and pulled something out. She felt him grasp her left hand. “This was the engagement ring my father bought for my mother when he was only eighteen. Dad gave it to me before he died. He told me he was twice lucky in love, and hoped I would be, too.”
Jake looked deep into her eyes. “Maggie McFarland, will you wear my mother’s ring?”
“Oh Jake—” She helped him slide it on her ring finger. It was a perfect fit. “I’ll treasure it forever.”
He rocked her in his arms. “It’s a tiny diamond,” he said.
“It represented your father’s love, and now it represents yours. If you think I care about possessions…”
“I know you don’t! You’re a living miracle, Maggie. I need you so badly in my life. Morning, noon, night and every second in between.”
Jake didn’t know the half of it.
WHILE KATHRYN WAITED for Maggie to finish talking to Cheryl Cummings, who ran the volunteer desk, she walked around the foundation headquarters on her crutches.
After a week at home with the family waiting on her hand and foot, it was a relief when the doctor at North Avenues Hospital told her she could start moving around on her own. She knew those words had to be liberating for her parents as well.
Seven days after arriving in Salt Lake, she felt like the true McFarland she was. There was no strangeness. She couldn’t understand it. In fact if anything made her nervous, it was the absence of struggle. Just this morning when Milena had phoned to see how she was getting along, she’d called her Anna. Kathryn had trouble relating to her old name.
Long talks with Kit, who’d been born Melissa, had revealed she’d been able to embrace her birth family wholeheartedly, too. But she still lived with a certain amount of sorrow that the woman who’d raised her all those years had lied to her about being her mother.
The Skwarses and the Burics had never lied to Kathryn. In that regard, she would always love them for their goodness to her.
As Kathryn looked around, it struck her how amazing it was that neither she nor Kit had been murdered. Whatever the Buric brothers’ criminal activities, they hadn’t taken that final, evil step.
According to Agent Simpson, they’d never been arrested for killing anyone, yet it was a threat to kill that had earned Franz his prison sentence for armed robbery. Poor Kit’s mother had come close to death w
hen Franz had used a knife to force her to drive him away from the bank the day he kidnapped Kit. Kathryn shivered to think Antonin was still at large and might be doing that to someone else.
The history behind their two kidnappings was incredible.
Kathryn’s eyes blurred with tears to see that everything the foundation stood for had its nascence with her abduction. By the time she’d toured the room with all its displays, she felt a burning need to get involved.
Now that Maggie was getting married, Kathryn intended to take her own place on the board with the rest of the family and relieve her sister of some of her responsibilities.
Maggie had been running a law firm and helping to run the foundation for a long time. Kathryn could do the same thing while she attended the University of Utah next January. Between now and then she could give full-time to the foundation.
“Sorry I took so long,” Maggie said a few minutes later. “If you’re not too tired, I’ll show you around my office before Jake drives us up the canyon.”
“I’m anything but tired. Lead the way.”
This was what Kathryn had been waiting for. Ever since the travel agent had shown her the brochure of the Albion Basin, she’d dreamed of seeing it in full flower, just like in the photograph.
Saturday evening was finally here. Cord and Kit were fixing a barbecue for the family, a sort of combined dinner and wedding shower at their home in Alta.
Maggie could have set up her law firm anywhere, but she’d chosen to live and work at the heart of the foundation. Kathryn’s admiration for her sister continued to grow as they entered her impressive suite.
“In here is the conference room.” Kathryn poked her head inside. “And right down here is my office.” When Maggie opened the door, Kathryn glimpsed Kit’s brother Steven Talbot.
She’d met him a week ago at the pool. The third-year law student was incredibly attractive whether he was playing water polo like a professional or working in his shirt sleeves.
He looked up from the desk. Though he said hi to Maggie, his blue eyes, so identical to Kit’s, fastened on Kathryn and lingered. He stood up. “Hello again.”
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