Bending the Rules

by Margaret Watson

  “How would I get hurt?”

  Harley’s voice. She wasn’t listening to her iPod any longer. Now she was leaning through the space between the bucket seats.

  “You’re not getting hurt,” Emma said. “As long as...as long as you’re careful when you’re boarding. Okay?”

  “Is that why we had to take off so early? Because you were afraid I’d, like, break something?”

  Nathan could practically hear her eyes roll.

  “Because that’s the lamest excuse ever. I was good, Emma. I was the best one in my class. Justin said I was a natural.”

  “And Justin would be...”

  “Duh, Emma.” Another eye roll. “The instructor. Who do you think?”

  As Emma and Harley bickered, Nathan turned onto the larger state road that would lead back to the tollway. He watched behind him for a while, but no one else turned off of Wilmot Road. When he was certain no one had followed them, he relaxed his death grip on the steering wheel, reached over and touched Emma’s hand.

  “We were going to tell the truth from now on,” he said softly. “Remember?”

  Harley had slumped back onto the seat and jammed the earbuds in place. Emma glanced at her, then at him. “Really? Now you want the truth? When it’s going to freak her out? I don’t think so, Nathan.”

  “I didn’t say it had to be a detailed explanation. Just an outline. But a truthful one.”

  “Fine. Let’s see you tell her what’s going on without freaking her out. Or scaring her.”

  He studied Harley in the backseat. She wasn’t listening to her iPod. The earbuds were in, but the device wasn’t on. He’d figured that ruse out when Frankie was Harley’s age.

  “Hey, Harley,” he said in a low voice.

  She ripped the earbuds out immediately. Nathan smiled to himself.

  “I want to tell you why we really left the ski area.”

  “Okay,” she said slowly. She was back to her perch between the seats.

  “After you put your seat belt back on.”

  “It is on.” She tugged on it to prove it. “I stretched it out.”

  “Unstretch it, then.”

  She flopped back against the seat with a huge sigh. He’d heard those before, too. “So? Why did we have to leave?”

  “I had some problems with the restaurant last summer,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. “Money problems. While I was watching you and Emma, something related to that came up. I have to deal with it right away. I’m sorry.”

  “Why didn’t you just say that?”

  “I was in a hurry to get going,” he said easily. “I knew I could explain in the car.”

  “It sucks that we had to leave before I could do any real boarding.”

  “Yes, it does. But we’ll go back. I promise. Maybe we’ll even go to a bigger hill.”

  “Yeah?” Harley bounced forward again. “Where?”

  “I’m not sure. It’s been a long time since I was up there, but I know there are a bunch of ski hills farther north in Wisconsin.”

  “Sweet. I’ll do some research,” Harley said eagerly. “Maybe we could go next weekend.”

  “Can’t promise that,” Nathan said. He could feel Emma’s gaze on him. “Soon, though.”

  “Okay.”

  She retreated from the spot behind the console, and a few moments later he heard music spilling from her earbuds.

  “Harley?” he said in a loud voice.

  “Yeah?” The music was louder after she’d pulled out her buds.

  “Rule of thumb—if I can hear the music coming from your iPod, it’s too loud. Turn it down, please.”

  “You sound like Emma,” Harley muttered. But the volume decreased.

  The first traffic light they’d seen turned yellow in front of him, and he slowed down, stopping as it turned red. He glanced at Emma and found her smiling. Instead of being all territorial about Harley, she liked him suggesting outings. Liked him correcting his daughter.

  Because she wanted him to get to know Harley. Really be a father. Take responsibility for his daughter. His hands tightened on the steering wheel again.

  He wasn’t sure he wanted to do that. Hard to be a parent to a kid in Chicago when he was in Italy. This was beginning to feel like a replay of what happened fifteen years ago—follow his own dreams? Or take care of his family? He couldn’t do both.

  He’d never regretted dropping out of school, taking over the restaurant and raising his siblings. He’d do it again in a heartbeat, because they’d stayed together. Grown up together. Gotten through the pain and heartache and problems together.

  He just wasn’t sure he was ready to do it all over again.

  * * *

  NATHAN’S SUV HUMMED along on the pavement, and Emma glanced over at him. Since the discussion about why they’d had to leave, and his promise of another trip, he hadn’t spoken. From the way he clenched his jaw muscles from time to time, she figured he was thinking about Chuck.

  Harley had fallen asleep in the backseat. Emma craned her neck to look at her. Her cheeks were pink and her mouth was half-open. She looked so young. So defenseless.

  Instead of making up a story about why they had to leave, Nathan had told Harley the truth. Severely edited, but a better choice than her own lame story. He’d been straightforward with Harley. And the girl had responded to him.

  He’d been responsible. And in a good way. Not the way she’d been thinking of him and his approach to Harley—all obligation, no heart. When he’d seen Chuck, he’d done what he needed to do to keep her safe. Removed them all from a potentially dangerous situation. Then promised to take her boarding again.

  Maybe she’d read him wrong. Maybe he did want to spend time with his daughter.

  At the next stoplight, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a text. When he saw her watching, he explained. “Patrick. Asking him to meet us at Mama’s.”

  “To tell him what happened today?”

  “Yeah. It’s got to mean something that dirtbag was up there. Paddy and I need to figure out what.”

  “Are you going to drop Harley and me off at our place?” she asked carefully. Was he looking for an excuse to get away from them?

  “Wasn’t planning on it.” He glanced at her, then back at the road. “I thought we could get some takeout from Mama’s and go to your place. Have dinner together. Is that okay? Since I cheated you out of your day on the hill?”

  A tight fist uncurled in her chest. “I’d like that. I think Harley would, too.”

  “Good.” He flashed that smile that made her chest flutter. “I don’t want to cut our day short.”

  An hour later, they walked through the back door of Mama’s. Emma had only been in this area a couple of times, but it already felt familiar. The scents of tomatoes, baking pizza crust and cooking cheese lingered in the air. Pots clanged on the stove, voices yelled in English and Spanish and water splattered into the sink with a hollow echo.

  Nathan strode to the office and pushed open his door. “Paddy. Darcy. Glad you’re here.” He glanced at Emma and smiled. “Come meet Harley and Emma.”

  The couple emerged smiling. Patrick was a hair taller than Nathan, and he looked harder. More intense. Watchful, like other cops she’d met.

  Darcy was...familiar. Emma frowned, wondering where she’d seen Darcy before. She was shorter than Emma by a few inches, and thinner. She had dark red hair and a big smile as she walked over.


  “Harley. I’m Darcy,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m so glad to meet you. I’m engaged to your uncle Patrick.”

  Harley took her hand gingerly. “Hey. Nice to meet you.”

  “Welcome to the family,” Darcy said. “We’re all excited about getting to know you.”

  Darcy lumped herself in with the rest of the family so easily. Emma’s gaze drifted from her to the two men, whose dark heads were together as they talked quietly. What was it like to belong to a family like that? A big group of people who accepted one another. Loved one another.

  Emma swallowed and watched Harley look between Darcy and Patrick. Darcy must have noticed, because she grabbed Patrick’s hand and tugged him away from his conversation with Nathan. “Patrick, this is Harley. Your niece.”

  Patrick looked grim and serious as he turned away from Nathan.

  What had they been talking about? “Hey, Harley. Good to meet you.” He studied her for a moment. “You look like our grandmother. Spitting image.”

  “Uh, hi. Yeah, ah, Nathan said that.” Harley wiped her hands down her jeans, and Emma wanted to shake Patrick. Was that his idea of warm and fuzzy to the kid who already felt awkward?

  Patrick glanced from Emma to Nathan. “Maybe the three of us should step outside and talk for a moment. Harley, you want to hang with Marco? I heard you criticized his food. And lived. Think you could survive him for a while today?”

  “Ah, yeah. I guess.” Harley shoved her hands into her pockets. Emma glared at Patrick and slung an arm over Harley’s shoulders.

  “You two go outside. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  The two men slipped out the kitchen door, and Darcy shook her head. “Don’t mind him, Harley. He’s concentrating on a case. It’s kind of scary sometimes.”

  Harley shrugged. “Fine. Whatever.”

  The tension in Harley’s shoulders hummed through Emma’s hand, and she tugged the girl close for a moment. Harley had connected to two out of Nathan’s three siblings. Emma hoped they’d just caught Patrick at a bad time.

  As if she could read Emma’s thoughts, Darcy held out her hand. “Emma, I’m Darcy. We met once, a while ago, at the Safety Net shelter. I volunteer there, and you’d dropped a family off.”

  Emma searched her memory. “Sorry. I don’t remember.”

  “Didn’t expect you to. You were focused on the woman you dropped off. Afraid she wouldn’t stay.” Darcy’s smile faded. “And she didn’t. Kelly told me she left the next day.”

  Emma remembered now. The woman’s face was etched in her memory, along with the bruises on it. “Mary. Yeah. I was pretty upset.”

  “What happened with her?” Darcy asked.

  Emma smiled. “A happy ending, so far. She did go to stay with her sister. Her husband violated Mary’s order of protection, and he was arrested. She testified against him, and he’ll be in jail for a while. She’s getting her life together.”

  “God, that’s good news.” A shadow passed through Darcy’s eyes. “They don’t all turn out so well.”

  “No. We take our victories where we get them.” Emma squeezed Harley’s shoulder, turned to study the girl’s closed-off face. “You want to hang out with Marco?”

  “With that loser?”

  But Harley’s mouth curved up a little and some of the tension in her shoulders receded. Good. Marco would make her forget her less-than-effusive welcome from Patrick.

  As Harley hurried toward the front of the kitchen, Darcy said, “You caught Patrick at a bad time. He’s in FBI agent mode. It’s not personal.”

  “It is for Harley.” Emma wasn’t about to give Patrick a pass. “She lost her mother, then found out she has this whole other family. She’s scared. On top of her grief and sadness, she has all this information she has to process. Figure out family dynamics and where she stands.”

  “I get it, Emma,” Darcy said. “I’ll kick Patrick’s ass later, okay?”

  Emma sighed. “Sorry. I don’t mean to take it out on you. But this has been a day, you know? Harley’s skiing trip cut short, and meeting another aunt and uncle. I know Patrick’s focused on whatever’s going on. Nathan is, too. But Harley is my first responsibility.”

  “I know. Thank God she has you.”

  Nathan stuck his head in the door. “Emma, we need to deal with this. Right now.”

  “Yeah. Sorry.” As she headed for the door, she heard Marco say, “Hey, it’s my favorite niece.”

  “I’m your only niece, jerk-face.”

  “Does your father know how disrespectful you are?” Emma heard the laughter in Marco’s voice.

  “He likes that about me.”

  “Yeah, Nate was always a sucker for your type. You should have seen Frankie when she was your age. Queen of the smart-mouths.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Let me tell you...” His voice lowered, and Emma couldn’t hear him anymore.

  She glanced at Nathan, standing less than a foot away. He was listening, too. Their eyes met, and he smiled at her slowly. “Marco’s right. Smart-asses are my weakness,” he said in a voice meant only for her. “Especially when they’re tall blondes with an attitude.”

  Her face heated, but she didn’t look away. Neither did Nathan. Unspoken messages passed between them.

  You, specifically. His mouth curved a little. His eyes heated.

  You’re not so bad yourself. Emma swallowed. Felt an answering shiver of arousal, deep inside.

  Could she and Nathan do this? Get involved?

  Should they?

  “Nate.” Patrick’s voice. Sharp. “Get Emma out here. We need to figure this out.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  AS EMMA STEPPED out the back door of Mama’s, the wind flung sharp needles of air against her face. It howled around the building, bending the bare branches of the bushes that lined the parking area. An old bird’s nest wobbled, then tumbled to the ground in a spray of dried leaves and twigs.

  Nathan put his hand on her back and kicked a doorstop into place so the door wouldn’t lock behind him. A wisp of warmth drifted through the crack in the door, and she wanted to hover close to it. But Patrick moved away from the door, into the open area where only a few cars were parked. Nathan’s fingers pressed into her back, urging her to follow.

  “Okay, I don’t think Harley’s a target,” Patrick began. “But we’re not going to take any chances, so here’s what we’ll do. We’ll move her—”

  “No.” Emma stepped away from Nathan’s hand. “This is what we’re going to do. First of all, you’re going to tell me exactly what’s happening. Exactly who this Chuck guy is and why he was at the ski lodge today. Exactly why Harley might be a target.”

  Patrick’s lips tightened as he stared at her, then he swung on Nathan. “You haven’t told her?”

  A muscle in Nathan’s jaw tightened. “Not the kind of thing you talk about in front of a kid,” Nathan said. But the red slashes on his cheekbones weren’t just because of the wind. “When we’ve been together, we’ve been with Harley.”

  Not always, Emma thought. They’d met at Oscar’s and at the school. Talked about a lot of stuff, but Nathan hadn’t told her what the situation was at Mama’s.

  She glanced at Nathan and found him watching her. In spite of the cold and the fear, heat rose inside her.

  Patrick’s gaze swung from Nathan to her. Assessing. Trying to figure out how little he could say?

  “And don’t say it’s o
n a need to know basis,” she said, recovering from the moment with Nathan. Patrick closed his mouth. “Don’t say it’s dangerous for me to know. Don’t say it’s too complicated, or that it’s classified, or that it’s too ugly. Just tell me what’s going on.”

  To her surprise, Patrick smiled. Shook his head as he gave his brother a look that was hard to interpret. “Yes, ma’am. Got it. Full disclosure.” He nodded at Nathan. “You telling her, or should I?”

  “I’ll do it.” Nathan didn’t meet Emma’s gaze as he shifted slightly away from her. “My screwup. My job to tell.”

  He was embarrassed, Emma realized with a jolt. He didn’t want to tell her about the restaurant problem because he was ashamed. Guilty. Maybe both.

  She stepped closer and hooked her arm around his elbow. It’s okay. I won’t judge you.

  He hesitated, then nodded. Took a deep breath and unclenched his fist. Fumbled for her hand and twined their fingers together.

  “The kitchen here at Mama’s needed to be remodeled a year ago. It was either bring it up to code or close the business. I couldn’t get financing from a bank—credit was a bitch back then—and ended up getting a loan through my alderman, from a guy he wouldn’t name. He had someone who would finance it privately, he said. Chuck was the guy who picked up my loan payment every week.”

  Emma frowned. “So what’s the problem? That sounds pretty straightforward.”

  “It was probably illegal,” Nathan said, his jaw clenched. “And I knew it at the time, but I was desperate. It was my last chance to save Mama’s.”

  Emma raised her eyebrows, and Patrick said, “Nate was paying usurious interest rates. His payments were in cash, so chances are the mystery man didn’t pay taxes on the interest. But until we catch the guy, we’ve got no proof.”

  “We got the alderman,” Nathan said, “but he won’t give up the money man. So we’re trying to find him ourselves.”

  “It’s an FBI case now, but Nate’s been doing stuff on his own.” Patrick scowled. “Against my advice.”