“I’m confused—didn’t you say joint custody sucks?”
“For me, yeah, but you boys were my blood, not just an obligation.”
That baby is not just an obligation, not anymore. Callie had become a huge part of his life. Mack would always be there for her, even after Joe and Marisol returned.
If they found them. He shook his head. He couldn’t worry about them now. He was already doing everything in his power to find them and let them know it was safe to come home. And when they did, he and Lauren would be done. But that thought didn’t sit well with him at all.
His dad was right—he really needed to keep Lauren from getting under his skin if he was going to survive with his sanity intact.
The hostess arrived, showing Lauren to the table. Both men stood. She looked fabulous, as always, still dressed from work in her navy blue skirt suit and heels. Her long dark hair had been brushed free from its usual clip, and she’d painted her lips with something glossy that made her look right at home in the posh restaurant.
“Lauren,” his father greeted, taking her hand and kissing her European-style on both cheeks. “It’s good to see you again. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
…
“Good to see you, too,” Lauren replied, neatly ignoring his sympathies as Mack pulled her chair out for her to sit. She’d never gotten a chance to get to know Mr. Hansen, but from the little Joe had told her, he was exactly like Mack—a rich, handsome, playboy. But Mr. Hansen had been playing the field a bit too long, in her opinion.
Then again, if Joe and Marisol hadn’t disappeared, she imagined Mack might also have spent the next few decades as a bachelor, just like his father.
Mr. Hansen smiled, his straight white teeth gleaming against his tan skin. He had the same crooked incisor that Mack had. Interesting how DNA worked.
“I never would have imagined,” Mr. Hansen said, “all those times I saw you at Mack and Joe’s grand opening ceremonies, that you’d be my daughter-in-law one day.”
“I don’t think anyone could have guessed I’d be marrying Mack,” she admitted. “Not even us.”
“So how could you marry each other, if there was no attraction?” Mack’s father asked.
“No attraction?” Mack asked. “What makes you say that?”
Lauren had wondered the same thing herself—why had Mack never tried to date her, really date her, if he’d been so attracted to her? Why, in all those years, had they not been closer friends, at least?
There’d been that kiss on graduation night…but one drunken kiss didn’t count as the basis of enough attraction to marry someone.
“Actually,” Lauren said lightly, “Joe warned me away from all Hansen men. Said you were too charming for your own good.”
Mack squeezed her hand under the table and grinned at her as his father laughed deeply. Apparently she’d said the right thing, although saying that Joe had warned her away from Mack Hansen was a major understatement.
“Joe was always a smart one, all right,” Mr. Hansen said.
Her cell phone rang and she reached into her bag. “I’m sorry,” she said to the men as she stood. “I have to take this. It might be the nanny.”
Mack stood as she answered the call. “Is everything all right?” he asked. “Is Callie okay?”
The line buzzed with a bad connection, and Lauren put her hand up to silence him.
“Who is this?” she asked, not willing to hang up just in case there was an emergency at home. She kicked herself for not programming the sitter’s cell number into her own phone, since she’d figured they’d be home all night and she had the home number.
What if something happened at the penthouse and now the sitter was outside, trying to call from her cell?
“Mrs. Hansen?” a male voice asked. “Is this Mrs. Hansen?”
“Yes, this is she.” She didn’t recognize the number or even the area code. The line buzzed again, and she stood, walking toward the front of the restaurant where it would hopefully be quieter. “Hang on.”
Standing by the maître de, she glanced back at Mack and his father. Mack was standing and coming toward her, concern creasing his handsome face.
“Can you hear me?” she asked the person on the other end of the line. “Who is this?”
“Your husband wasn’t answering his phone,” the man said apologetically. “This is Captain Werner. We…we found Joe and Marisol Peters’ yacht.”
Chapter Eleven
The phone slipped through her fingers and fell to the restaurant floor just as Mack reached her side. She grabbed Mack’s shoulder for support as he bent down to pick up the phone.
“They found Joe and Marisol’s boat,” she said, her voice barely audible above the din of the other diners.
Mack took the phone outside, seemingly determined to find out what was going on. As for herself, Lauren could barely move. She watched Mack pacing the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, the cool night air making him stand with his arms crossed. Or perhaps he stood like that because he was upset.
They’d found the yacht. That’s why they’d done the search, right? To find something. But part of her had hoped Joe and Marisol were tucked away safely somewhere, still in hiding. If they’d been out on the sea all this time… The thought made a sob hitch in her tight throat.
Maybe it would have been better to keep the hope alive. To always wonder if perhaps Joe and Marisol were living happily on some desert island somewhere in the middle of the ocean, like the Swiss Family Robinson. She’d felt in her gut that they were alive. Now she knew otherwise.
Mack burst back into the door and walked past her, calling over his shoulder to her. “I’ll pay the bill and tell my father what happened. You stay there.”
She stared down at her trembling hands. The hope was gone. Unless…the captain had just said he found their boat. He didn’t say anything about finding bodies aboard. Maybe Joe and Marisol were alive, floating out in the ocean on a life raft or something…
Stop it. Stop grasping at straws.
God…I’m just making myself crazy…
Perhaps now, if she let well enough alone, she could find the closure she needed and she could adopt Callie as her own, knowing she wasn’t infringing on Joe and Marisol. She hadn’t stayed on the phone long enough to find out, but certainly Mack knew if…
Mack came back to her, holding her arm as he escorted her outside into a waiting yellow taxi cab.
“Did—” she started, her voice catching in her throat. “Did they find Joe and Marisol?”
“They were on the yacht, Lauren,” he replied. “Didn’t the Captain tell you that?”
The tears she’d been keeping in for so long spilled down her cheeks, probably ruining her mascara, but who the hell cared. Their bodies were on the yacht.
Oh God.
“I…you took the phone from me,” she whispered.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Not really,” she admitted. “I suppose…at least this way we’ll be able to have a proper funeral. Bodies to bury. A gravestone for Callie to visit when she’s older.”
Mack grabbed her hand, surprising her with his touch. She tore her gaze away from the city lights flowing past the taxi cab’s car window and looked at him.
“You don’t understand,” Mack said. “They were found alive. They were found on the yacht—alive. Joe and Marisol are going to be okay, thanks to you. The search plane saw a signal they sent out, and alerted the search boat, who went and got them. Their yacht had been damaged and they couldn’t navigate home.”
Alive?
Lauren gasped, crying even harder now. Although these were tears of joy. She’d known they were alive, she had felt it in her soul.
“Are they…are they okay? Really okay?”
“I don’t know all the details. They’ve lost a few pounds and they’re both sporting tans, according to the Captain. He thought they seemed okay. They’re going to the closest hospital to be evaluated, anyway.”
&n
bsp; “Where were they found? What’s the closest hospital?”
“Cabo. They were out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, apparently. Over two hundred miles outside where the previous search had been.” Mack shook his head. “I don’t know the details about what happened. I feel like an idiot—I could have had them rescued so much earlier if I’d had your conviction.”
“You couldn’t have known,” she said softly. “But I’m glad you took a chance on paying for a private search.”
“Let’s go home and pack. We’ll take Callie with us, since they’ll want to see her, of course.”
“Are there flights now? Really?”
Mack grinned at her. “He’s my business partner. I’m pretty sure this counts as a business trip, and we have access to a private jet. Hope you like flying.”
She was going to have her brother back…and it was thanks to Mack believing in her enough to invest a small fortune into looking for a yacht everyone else in the world had given up on.
Mack pulled back away from her kiss.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, confused.
He looked uncomfortable. “Nothing’s wrong, but you don’t need to do that, you know. There’s…there’s no reason for us to be married anymore.”
His words hit her like a slap in the face. Of course, with Joe and Marisol able to reunite with their daughter, there was no need for her and Mack to continue with their marriage. They could get legally separated and divorced as soon as possible.
“Let’s worry about that when we have Joe and Marisol safely back home with Callie,” he said, suddenly all business again. “There’s no time to deal with paperwork right now. We have a flight to make.”
Paperwork—meaning, their marriage.
Emotions warred within her. Joy that her brother was safe. Relief that she was now free to choose who to marry. Agony that it would not, could not, be Mack.
…
Mere hours later, the jet stood waiting on the tarmac for them, seeming to glow against the dark night sky.
“She’s fueled up and ready to go,” the pilot said as Lauren stepped up the metal staircase to the small aircraft.
“Thank you,” she replied, although she imagined the update was more for Mack than for her. Still, she couldn’t help but be impressed. She’d never flown in a private jet before.
The interior reminded her more of a modern living room than a plane. Huge white leather reclining chairs with cup holders were situated facing each other, the better to run in-flight business meetings, she imagined.
One chair had an infant car seat already strapped in place for Callie.
“I’m glad you remembered,” she whispered.
She’d been so overwhelmed with packing for the impromptu excursion that she hadn’t given herself any time to think about what a great father Mack had become to Callie. Not that it mattered now—now that Callie would have her real father back.
“We’ll be in Cabo by daybreak,” the pilot said. “The weather is looking good, so I don’t anticipate much in the way of turbulence.”
“Thanks for doing this on such quick notice,” Mack said.
The pilot grinned. “You’re the boss. And I’m happy to have the privilege of bringing you to see Mr. and Mrs. Peters. Such a miracle.”
A miracle, yes. If that wonderful miracle came with the sad after-effect of leaving her on her own again, so be it. Giving Callie back to her parents was worth it.
No matter what, she was still Callie’s aunt. She’d always have a place in the baby’s life. But she no longer had any excuse to stay in Mack’s life.
And damn if that didn’t hurt.
Sunlight shone through the small windows lining the aircraft’s walls. Lauren shifted in her reclining seat and stretched, raising the seatback to be upright. They were landing.
Callie continued to sleep soundly, thank goodness. She could give her another bottle and a diaper change when they landed.
“How’d the flight treat you?” Mack asked.
“Best flight of my life, once the baby got settled,” she said, surprised at the realization. “It was so easy to sleep with these chairs lying completely flat.”
“Good,” he said, sounding pleased. “We’ll need to be well rested for the day ahead. I’ve got a limo meeting us to take us straight to the hospital.”
Right away? They wouldn’t even have time to freshen up a bit first? She shook her head. Why was she procrastinating on seeing Joe and Marisol? She couldn’t wait to be reunited with them.
“They want to see their baby,” Mack said, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Of course.” And of course this was how it would have to end for them—she’d known that all along.
“Oh, I asked the housekeeper to water the roses for you while we’re gone,” he added.
“Thank you.” Her voice broke unexpectedly. He’d remembered.
The pilot’s voice came over the intercom into the cabin. “Welcome to beautiful Cabo San Lucas, Mr. and Mrs. Hansen. The weather is eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit and sunny. Enjoy your stay.”
I only have a few more days of being Mrs. Hansen. She had to make them count.
Lauren wished she could take Mack’s hand as they navigated down the halls of the large, Americanized hospital where Joe and Marisol had been taken, but her hands were occupied with steering Callie’s stroller. They entered the building under a sign that said Emergencia, hoping to find out where the couple was recuperating.
“Buenas dias,” Mack said to one of the nurses, his accent not bad at all, at least as far as Lauren could tell.
Since when did he speak Spanish? He said some more stuff in Spanish, but when the nurse responded, she spoke in English, as if she could tell that Lauren couldn’t understand what was going on.
“We are so pleased to be able to care for Señor and Señora Peters,” she said in heavily accented English, “their story is truly miraculous. Every newspaper is here.”
“Every…newspaper?” Lauren asked, confused.
“Si, señora,” the nurse responded. “Coming back from the dead, so to speak…it is big news.”
Mack looked over at Lauren with concern on his face, and then spoke to the nurse. “I don’t want reporters and cameras interfering with their reunion with their daughter. I need you to make sure they are nowhere near their room.”
“It is already arranged,” she replied. “We did not wish for the reporters to interfere with Señor and Señora Peters recovery as well. They have been instructed to wait outside.”
“Gracias,” Mack said.
Lauren’s pulse raced as they followed her down a maze of brightly lit hallways and up an elevator to the east wing of the hospital. Having Mack by her side felt so right. Was this the end?
Did it have to be?
“Are you ready?” Mack asked her.
“I’ve been waiting and hoping for this moment since the night you told me they’d gone missing,” she said truthfully.
“Don’t worry,” he said, his voice unnaturally cheery. “You won’t be stuck married to me much longer.”
“That’s not what I meant.” It must be what he meant, though.
They’d arrived at the right door.
They knocked and stepped inside. Joe and Marisol each lay in separate narrow hospital beds on either side of the room. The curtains had been pulled open, allowing the bright Mexican sunshine into the sterile-looking room.
A bag of IV fluid hung on a tall metal pole near Marisol, dripping clear fluid into her arm. Her skin, normally a beautiful warm but light color, had tanned deeply, but she didn’t look burnt.
She looked beautiful—because she was alive, and she was smiling at Lauren and Mack from her bed.
“Oh my God,” Marisol said, her voice raw and rusty, as if she’d injured it somehow. “You’re here. Joe, wake up. They’re here!”
Joe sat up in the hospital bed and grinned his classic huge smile, his teeth gleaming white against his overly tanned face. “Thank
God.”
“My baby,” Marisol whispered, tears rolling down her face. “Can I hold her?”
Mack lifted Callie out of her stroller and gently placed her in her mother’s arms. The baby smiled at Marisol, snuggling into the thin white hospital sheets around her.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Marisol cooed, kissing Callie’s downy head. “I thought I’d never see you again.” She burst into tears.
Joe got up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, grabbing the IV pole, and carefully brought it over to his wife’s bed to see his daughter.
Lauren looked at the IV poles skeptically. “So you’re really both okay?”
Joe was still a wall of muscle, all six foot two of him. They must have eaten well, even out on the ocean.
“Don’t worry, sis,” he said with a laugh. “They’re just rehydrating us or something while they keep us overnight for evaluation. We’re both fine.”
Tears filled her eyes and she ran to his bedside, wrapping her arms around him, being careful of the IV tubing. “I knew you were okay. We were surprised when you didn’t come back after Scorino got arrested.”
“It’s a long story—I’ll save it for another time,” he said. “We’re lucky your plane spotted us, because my nav system was screwed up and I couldn’t steer properly. It was your boat that brought us in.”
Joe picked Callie up and hugged her tightly. “And the thought of you kept us going, baby girl,” he told his daughter.
“What about Scorino?” Mack asked abruptly.
“He’s not getting out of prison anytime soon,” Joe said. “I made sure of that, for everyone’s sake. I handed some evidence from my files over to the FBI. But none of that matters now. All that matters is being back and having Callie back.”
Lauren felt completely overwhelmed with emotion. Seeing her brother and sister-in-law return was wonderful on its own, but witnessing them reunited with their daughter after being away for so long—she hastily wiped a stray tear from her cheek.
A small part deep inside her felt the acute pain of losing the instant family she’d had the chance to be a part of. She pushed that part down even deeper, hiding it beneath her joy that Joe and Marisol were alive and well and able to resume full parental duties.
The Tycoon's Convenient Bride... and Baby (Entangled Indulgence) Page 11
