“Oh, what a big girl you are,” Lila cooed, expertly slipping her arms around the baby. “You’re hungry, aren’t you? Well, the bad news is that you can’t have Andrew’s pork loin today, but the good news is that once you get in some teeth and start eating solid food, you’ll be able to eat his meals any time you want.” Holding the baby, she turned toward Toni. “Would you mind if I gave Heather her bottle?”
“Not at all.” Toni pulled out one of the three she’d packed before they left her house. “Here you go.”
“Wonderful.” Lila took the bottle in her free hand. “Go, mingle. Enjoy yourself. I’ll take care of this little charmer,” she told Toni.
Toni looked a little uncertain as she raised her eyes toward Lila. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Oh, I so don’t mind,” Lila assured her with enthusiasm. She looked at Dugan. “Give her the tour, dear. I think Toni could use the diversion.”
“You heard the lady,” Dugan said, carefully steering Toni toward the rear of the house.
Toni looked over her shoulder, still slightly concerned. But Lila looked as if she had everything under control. Satisfied that it was all right to leave Heather, at least for a bit, Toni gave herself permission to relax for a few minutes.
“You have an incredible family,” she told Dugan as they went toward the backyard.
“I know. I’ve got to admit that, at times, they can get a little overwhelming. But they all mean well,” he told her.
They were on the patio now. The backyard was unusually large, especially for the area. There were several tables set up, all with different appetizers on them. One table was devoted to beverages, both soft and hard.
“Would you like a drink? Or an appetizer?” he asked, giving her a choice.
“Appetizer,” she told him. “I’m really not much for drinking these days,” she admitted. “I had to give it up when I found out I was pregnant with Heather and for the most part, I never really got back into the habit.” She flushed a little. “I probably sound awfully dull to you, don’t I?”
“Dull? You?” he questioned with a laugh. “That is one word that I definitely wouldn’t apply to you. Besides, drinking doesn’t make someone exciting,” he told her. “It’s everything else that does.”
His eyes washed over her for a moment and she felt a tingle that had nothing to do with anything they were talking about. She told herself that she was just imagining things. It had been almost a year since she’d been with anyone and she was just experiencing a longing for a little tenderness, nothing more.
“Fortunately for you,” Dugan continued, “there’re a lot of appetizers to choose from.”
Her main concern was not food. She looked around at the gatherings of people. They seemed to be everywhere. Were they all family?
“There have to be at least fifty people here,” Toni commented.
“More, actually,” Dugan corrected. “Or, at least, more are coming,” he amended. “We don’t all come at the beginning and we don’t all stay until the end, but we do all show up for at least a little while.” When she looked at him, he explained, “Uncle Andrew’s get-togethers are just too good to pass up.”
“How can he afford to feed everyone like this?” she marveled, clearly amazed. “This kind of thing has to cost him a fortune, doesn’t it?”
“Not quite,” Dugan told her. “And we all pitch in. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but everyone foots some of the bill, giving what they can. And it’s well worth it,” he assured her. “Okay, enough background information,” Dugan declared. “Let’s get you introduced to at least some of the family.”
“I’m not expected to remember everyone’s name, am I?” she asked him. “I’m mean, I’m pretty good when it comes to names, but this is like—well, a crowd scene,” she confessed.
Dugan started to laugh. When he finally caught his breath, he said, “Hell, no. I’m not even sure I remember everyone’s name,” he told her. “Although I’m pretty sure that Uncle Andrew probably not only knows everyone’s names, he knows their middle names, as well—and probably their ages. But I don’t,” he repeated.
“That’s because Cousin Dugan has a mind that bears a lot of resemblance to a sieve,” Brianna O’Bannon told her, coming up behind the duo. She put out her hand to Toni. “Hi, I’m Detective O’Bannon,” she said. “Cavanaugh O’Bannon,” she specified. “My mother’s a Cavanaugh. Maeve,” she added for good measure, although she knew without saying that, at least for now, the journalist wasn’t going to remember that piece of information. There was just too much to take in.
Toni felt overwhelmed. “I am going to need a scoreboard,” she told Dugan.
“One will be provided for you on your way out,” he told her with a completely straight face. And then he looked at Brianna. “Please, don’t scare the woman off, Bri.”
“Hey, I hear she came willingly,” Brianna said, momentarily turning her attention back to Dugan. “Not like Jackson when it was his first time.” She rolled her eyes. “I practically had to kidnap the man to bring him to one of these things,” she confided to Toni. “The man actually had the audacity to say that he believed he was better off as a loner.” She grinned. “Until the family got a hold of him, of course, and showed him the error of his ways,” she added proudly. “That’s him over there,” she went on to say, pointing her fiancé out to the journalist. Jackson was standing over in a corner, talking to several other members of the family. “The guy with the big grin on his face.”
“He’s grinning like that because he thinks that you’re busy elsewhere, so he’s got a reprieve,” Dugan told her. He pretended to shake his head. “Poor guy doesn’t realize yet that you’re about to come swooping back in his direction at any second.”
Brianna looked at Toni. “You have my sympathy.”
Toni read between the lines. “Oh. We’re not a pair,” she quickly told Brianna.
Bri merely smiled. She wasn’t buying it. “Of course you’re not,” she answered. And with that, she went to join Jackson.
“Don’t mind her,” Dugan advised. “Ever since she and Jackson finally got together, she thinks everyone in the world should be paired off.”
“She’s right. They should be,” a tall, dark-haired man said, coming up on Dugan’s other side.
Dugan didn’t even have to look to know who it was. “Toni, meet my cousin Bryce Cavanaugh,” Dugan said. Because he knew word had gotten around about her, he jumped ahead of any question that Bryce might ask by saying, “Toni’s the journalist who was at the restaurant when Michael Oren was killed.”
“Yes, I did hear about that,” Bryce confirmed. “And you still came out here after all that?” he marveled with a laugh. “I guess Uncle Andrew’s reputation as a chef can really draw a person in. Hey, if you have any questions about anything—especially about this guy,” he said, jerking his thumb in Dugan’s direction, “Come see me. Oh, I think my wife’s looking for me. We’ll talk later,” he told Toni just before he slipped away.
“Nice talking to you,” Dugan called after his cousin, pretending to be slighted.
“Is everyone in your family this incredibly friendly?” Toni asked, amazed at how approachable everyone seemed to be. She couldn’t recall ever meeting a group of people who came close to this sort of open, friendly behavior.
“No, actually, you just met the morose members,” Dugan deadpanned. “C’mon,” he coaxed. “Let’s get you fed before everything disappears and we have to wait for the next wave of food.”
She stared at him, trying to understand what he was telling her. “There are waves?” she questioned.
Dugan grinned. “Oh, lady, you are in for one hell of a treat,” he promised her.
And she was, she discovered.
Not only was the food amazing, but she found that the conversation was even more so.
Although she had com
e here open and very willing to engage in conversation, she was amazed at the number of different conversations. There were all sorts of groups talking about all sorts of subjects. If one subject didn’t interest her, there was another one that was guaranteed to absorb her.
Time seemed to slip by at an amazing rate.
Although Toni periodically stopped what she was doing and went in search of her daughter during the course of that day, there was always someone else asking to hold Heather or feed her or even, much to Toni’s amazement, change the baby’s diaper.
There was no end to the number of different women who were willing and even eager to take care of Heather for at least a few minutes. Usually longer.
And everyone was also more than willing to not just talk to Toni, but to answer her questions about past cases and present ones. It was like sharing an incredible pool of information.
* * *
“You’re right,” Toni said much later that evening. “You really do have an incredible family and I had an absolutely wonderful time meeting them. I loved the food, too,” she quickly added as she packed up Heather’s things. “It’s hard to understand how you people aren’t all overweight, what with all this fantastic food you eat. How do you stay so fighting trim?”
“Well, for one thing, we do a lot of chasing after bad guys,” Shaw Cavanaugh, the precinct’s newest chief of police as well as Andrew’s son, said, having caught the tail end of her question. Like most of the family, he’d been introduced to her earlier. “I hope you didn’t find any of my family intimidating,” he told her.
“Intimidating?” she echoed, scoffing. “I want to find a way to be adopted by them. I always thought I was missing out by not coming from a large family, but now I’m completely convinced of it.” Shaking her head, Toni looked at Dugan. “You people don’t know how very lucky you are.”
“Oh, I think we might have a clue,” he assured her. “That’s why we make a point of bringing people here with us. To share the wealth, so to speak.”
“Was that why you had me come?” Toni asked.
“Among other reasons. But right now, I think you need to get this princess to bed,” he said, indicating the baby, “so we’d better leave.”
This, she thought as she prepared to take her leave of what was still a very crowded room, had been an experience she wasn’t about to forget anytime soon.
Chapter 16
“I really did have a very good time,” Toni said to Dugan more than an hour later as they drove back to her house.
It had taken them that much time to finally say all their goodbyes and just get into the car with the baby. Toni felt tired but happy at the same time. She really couldn’t remember the last time she had been so all-around content about anything.
Turning toward Dugan now, she said, “Thank you for asking us to come along.”
Dugan eased his car up against the curb in front of her house.
“Sure, any time,” he told her. “Uncle Andrew holds these get-togethers pretty regularly. It used to be for an occasion, now it’s just anytime he feels like getting everyone to come together. That’s usually most months. I’ll let you know the next time he decides to have one of these things.”
“I think I’d like that,” Toni told him.
There was no “think” about it. She knew she’d really like going back again. And not just for the stories or what she could eventually wind up writing about this amazing family. They had a way of making her feel completely included. It was an incredibly good feeling. It had been a long time since she’d felt as if she was part of a family. Not since her father died.
Getting out of the car, Toni began to take the baby seat out while Heather was still in it, but Dugan came around the front of the vehicle and moved her out of the way.
“Here, I’ll do that,” he told her.
She was about to say “No, I’ve got this,” but decided that maybe she should just allow him to take over, at least for now. It was nice having someone help out once in a while. She did have Lucinda helping her with the baby, but that wasn’t the same thing. Lucy did it out of a sense of gratitude, not just because she wanted to do it. It was somehow different with Dugan.
Stop analyzing things. Just enjoy it, for heaven’s sake.
“Okay, got her,” Dugan announced.
She took that as her cue and led the way to the front door. Pausing, she hit the keypad to disarm the lock. Opening the front door, she stepped inside and then, turning around to face him, took both the baby and the baby seat from Dugan.
Her eyes met his, but instead of telling him that he was free to go, she asked, “Would you like to come inside for a minute?”
Dugan looked at her for a long moment. She thought that he was going to take her up on her suggestion and come in.
Especially when he answered, “Yes.”
She flashed a smile at him. “Good. I’ll be right back. I’m just going to put the baby down for the night,” she told him as she started to turn away.
“Which is why I’d better not,” Dugan concluded honestly. She looked at him in surprise. “Don’t get me wrong,” he went on. “I want to, but that’s exactly why I shouldn’t. I don’t think that would be such a good idea right now. We’re working together and I don’t want anything to compromise that,” he explained.
That wasn’t the real reason, but it was the simplest reason he could give her without making her realize that he was developing feelings for her. Real feelings.
She felt oddly deflated. “You’re right,” Toni agreed, forcing herself to sound as if she actually meant what she was saying. “Not that anything was going to happen,” she added quickly, wanting him to understand that. “Two friends can have a drink and enjoy each other’s company without anything having to happen,” she told him firmly. “I’m sure that kind of thing goes on all the time—drinks between friends.”
“All the time,” he echoed. He had a feeling that she didn’t believe that any more than he did. But that still didn’t change the fact that he didn’t want to get ahead of himself and do something that would cause either one of them—or both—to lose their focus—or get any further involved with each other. “I’ll see you Monday.”
“Monday,” she echoed. “Oh, Dugan, wait a second,” she called after him. As he turned back around to face her again, Toni placed the car seat on the floor. Heather mercifully continued sleeping.
“Yes?” he asked, waiting.
“Good night,” she told him just a second before she caught hold of his lapels and kissed him.
Hard.
Just as he was about to succumb to his feelings and take her into his arms, she stepped back, laughter in her eyes. “See you Monday,” she echoed. The next second, she’d eased him out the door and begun to re-arm her security system.
Dugan stood there for a moment, still feeling the imprint of her lips on his and the ripple effect it had had on his soul. He debated knocking on the door, asking her to let him back in.
And then he laughed, shaking his head to himself. That would really mess things up.
“Good night, O’Keefe,” he said as he walked back to his car.
Oh, wow, Toni thought, her back against the wall. She slid down against it.
That had been hard.
As if on cue, Heather stirred, then began to wake up. The next second, she was making her displeasure known by crying. Toni recognized the sound. That was the baby’s hungry cry.
Good, Toni thought. She needed something to take her mind off the evening that just might have been.
* * *
“So, how was it?” Lucinda asked her the following day as she came into the kitchen for coffee. “Should I stay in the guest room until he leaves?”
“No need,” Toni told her as she made herself a slice of white toast. “The ‘he’ you’re referring to left last night.”
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Lucinda was disappointed. “What happened?” she asked.
“Nothing happened,” Toni answered. “I mean, not in the way you mean,” she said, assuming that the young woman was referring to something having gone badly. “I had a great time,” she stressed. “There was fantastic food and fabulous conversation and when it got late, Dugan brought us home.”
Lucinda looked at her, trying to understand what Toni was telling her. “And then he left?”
“And then he left,” Toni confirmed.
Lucinda frowned. Something was definitely off. “Tell me everything so I can tell you what you did wrong,” she told Toni.
She loved the young woman dearly and at times really thought of her as family. But she didn’t like anyone butting into her business.
“Lucy—”
“No, really,” Lucinda insisted. “Something had to have gone wrong. He was really into you. I could see it in his eyes. You really need to get out there again. You don’t want to wind up being just a career woman your whole life, do you?” Lucinda asked. “That’s just living half a life.”
“I’m not just a career woman,” Toni reminded her. “I’m a mother. I have Heather, remember?”
“Which is another thing,” Lucinda brought up. “Heather needs a dad. It doesn’t have to be her own. Actually, she’s probably better off if it’s not her own. Any guy who’ll walk out on you the second he finds out that you’re pregnant—”
“Lucy, I appreciate your loyalty, but we’re not having this conversation again,” Toni informed her solemnly. She wasn’t angry, but she was very serious. This was her business and it was not something she intended to hold an open forum about.
“You’re right,” Lucinda agreed. “We’re not. We’re going to talk about you going out with Mister Tall-dark-and-handsome,” she insisted. “You’ve got to get your feet wet again—as well as other parts of your body,” Lucinda added with a big grin.
Toni gave her a very serious warning look. “Lucy...”
But Lucinda took no heed. “The next time he brings you home, I’ll just take Heather with me to my place. That way, you can have a mommy’s night out—or in if you’d prefer,” she added with a smile that needed no interpretation.
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