by Jayne Castle
“I almost forgot,” she murmured. “Call your parents.”
The hand that had been moving through her hair stopped. “Any good reasons why I should?” Matt asked.
“The maid says you’ve ignored them long enough.” Sabrina nestled her head against his chest and toyed with a tuft of hair that came within her range of vision.
“When did you talk to the maid?”
“When I was trying to find out if your parents had been notified of your unfortunate accident on Buena Ventura. The accident that was supposed to have landed you in a Puerto Rican hospital.”
“Ah, yes. Griffin and Shadwell’s fairy tale. So you called my parents’ home and got the maid, hmmm? Did she explain to you the fact that I’m an embarrassment to my parents? They don’t exactly relish hearing from me.”
“People change, Matt. I think you should call.”
“I thought you were the one who was so big on independence,” he complained.
“I am. But you shouldn’t lose touch with your family, and I get the feeling you have.”
Matt was quiet for a long moment. “I lost touch with a lot of things down in Mexico. Which explains, I suppose, why I didn’t immediately follow you to Dallas.”
Sabrina decided not to pursue that. “And speaking of families …”
“Ummm?”
“As long as I’m this far, I think I’d better take a look at my new nephew.”
“Does this mean you’re going to introduce Brad and me to the Brothers Grim and your father?” Matt asked cautiously.
“Worried?”
“Just practical. Something tells me that whatever doubts you’ve got about my suitability as a husband are probably going to be multiplied a thousand times in the minds of three bankers.”
“Since we’re not going to bring up the subject of marriage, that problem shouldn’t arise, should it?” she argued logically.
On the other hand, Matt thought speculatively, a few strongly voiced objections from the three people whose advice Sabrina had been rejecting since the age of two might prove helpful. One of the things he had learned when it came to eliciting obedience was that the indirect methods occasionally worked best. It was probably half-instinctive in Sabrina now to resist advice and instructions from her father and brothers. A trait he could definitely work to his advantage.
“Hell,” Matt said aloud. Did he really want her to agree to marry him just because her father objected? He must be getting more desperate than he thought.
“What’s wrong?” Sabrina asked.
“Nothing. I’ll call my folks.” Damn it, he was getting as greedy as Sabrina, Matt decided. He wanted her to marry him because she had decided he was the right man for her, not because her family’s objections prodded her into it. But a man in his position could not be choosy, Matt reminded himself.
Sabrina’s phone call to her father’s home later that day produced astonishment, complaints about lack of warning, and the demand that she show up by six that evening.
She arrived on schedule, escorted by Matt and his son. Everyone else had arrived ahead of the out-of-town visitors, and dinner, cooked by Jeffrey’s wife, was in the oven. By seven o’clock Sabrina had admired little James Bennet Chase, reacquainted herself with the fact that she had always liked her sisters-in-law, and skirted several pointed questions about her relationship with Matt. Sabrina had an extra glass of wine before seating herself at the dinner table. She knew she was going to need a little fortification.
Until now things had been going relatively smoothly, but Sabrina knew from experience that a meal with three bankers could become a test of will. Covertly she surveyed the ring of faces around the table as Liz, Jeffrey’s wife, began organizing the serving of her perfect paella.
Bennet Chase, suitably ensconced at the head of the table, was the image of a solid, dependable banker. His silver hair was thinning rapidly, but that only added to the respectable appearance. Jeffrey and Nolan, both in their thirties, had inherited the square-jawed, sober mien of their father.
In all honesty, Sabrina had to admit, while the three men had the look of good bankers and could certainly project the temperament, they were not completely one-sided. She had seen the pleasure in her father’s eyes before dinner when he exhibited his grandson, and the satisfaction in Nolan’s face was genuine. Jeffrey even joked about getting on with the business of starting his own family.
But, then, Sabrina reminded herself, they had always been a family in most senses of the word. It was natural that her father would be pleased at seeing the next generation started.
Liz and Mary, her sisters-in-law, were both attractive women who dressed well, paid proper respect to their husbands’ careers, and thoroughly enjoyed their roles as homemakers. They handled the business of being bankers’ wives with aplomb. And there was no doubt that they loved their husbands.
Liz and Mary had always been friendly to Sabrina, who had responded with affection. But there had always been a slight distance in her relationship to the other two women, and Sabrina knew it was caused by her sense of somehow being different. She didn’t share their deeply maternal drives. She would never have been content to play the role of a banker’s wife in a small town, and she could never have handled Jeffrey’s or Nolan’s natural male arrogance with such calm acquiescence. But Sabrina was deeply grateful to both women for having made her brothers happy. For that fact alone she would always like them enormously.
Brad had been rather quiet since arriving, conscious as only a thirteen-year-old can be of not making a social error. He eyed the paella with some trepidation, and Sabrina guessed he’d never eaten the spicy seafood-and-rice concoction.
Matt was turning into the unpredictable factor at the table. Sabrina found herself as wary of him as Brad was of the paella. She didn’t quite know what to make of him tonight. Neither did anyone else, apparently, but they were intent on finding out just where he fit into Sabrina’s life. Sabrina listened to the delicate, probing questions and decided that this was the reason she’d rarely brought any of her few high-school dates home to meet the family. Even if the dates could have endured the gauntlet, it annoyed her.
“How long have you lived in Dallas, Matt?” Bennet asked easily, helping himself to the spinach salad.
“Long enough to feel obliged to chip in on the rent.” He smirked at Sabrina and she felt her blood pressure rapidly rise.
Bennet seemed oblivious to the innuendo. “And you met Sabrina soon after you arrived?”
“I met Sabrina down in Mexico. She was on vacation in Acapulco, looking for a few souvenirs. You know how it is.”
Nolan, one eyebrow raised, glanced across the table and met Jeffrey’s disapproving gaze. “And your work, Matt? Is it in Mexico?”
“Actually, I’m unemployed at the moment. I’ll be job-hunting when we return to Dallas.”
“What’s your field?” Nolan inquired blandly.
“Books.”
“You write them?”
“I sell them.”
“I see,” Nolan nodded rigidly. “This recent adventure on, what was it called? Buena Ventura? Does that represent a, er, secondary career for you?”
The family had been given a pared-down version of the story before dinner. They had been shocked. Knowing what to expect in advance, Sabrina had ordered both Matt and Brad to stick to the bare outlines of the tale, which excluded her rather active role at the cabin. Instinct had warned her that if either her brothers or her father reached the conclusion that Matt had put her in danger, they would go through the roof. For some reason she couldn’t quite explain, she wanted her family to like Matt.
Matt, for perverse reasons known only to himself, was not cooperating. Several times during the questioning she tried to catch his eye, but he ignored her.
“My father was on a special mission down on that island,” Brad broke in defensively. Everyone turned to look at him, and Sabrina’s heart went out to the boy. He must have sensed the barely veiled hostility
being directed against Matt.
“You work for the government?” Bennet Chase asked, frowning at Matt. “In addition to selling books?”
“No.”
The lack of information was clearly driving the three bankers crazy. In the end it was Liz and Mary who stepped in to redirect the conversation. Thank God for the social skills of bankers’ wives, Sabrina thought, reaching for her wineglass.
“You three will be staying here tonight?” Liz asked politely. “We changed the beds. Matt and Brad can have Nolan’s old room and you can have your own, Sabrina. Tomorrow we’ll all have to get together for lunch. How long will you be staying?”
“Not long,” Sabrina said quickly. “I have to get back to the store. No paid vacations when you run your own business, you know.”
“When do you think you will have had enough of that souvenir stand in Dallas, Sabrina?” her father asked pointedly. “It’s time you went back to the profession for which you were trained.”
“I understand Sabrina ran into some trouble pursuing her career in California,” Matt interjected cheerfully. He ignored the hard stares that met the remark. “Getting bounced out of the state gives her something in common with me, you know.”
“It does?” Bennet asked forbiddingly.
“Got myself kicked out of the Army a couple of years ago.”
“I see.” Bennet Chase’s voice was now almost frozen solid. He rose as the meal came to an end. “Perhaps we should continue this discussion in my den while the ladies take care of the dishes.”
Sabrina was horrified. “I don’t think that’s necessary,” she began heatedly.
But Nolan and Jeffrey were already on their feet. “Stay here and talk to Liz and Mary,” Jeffrey advised. “You haven’t been home in quite a while.”
There was nothing she could do, and Matt certainly wasn’t fighting matters. He walked off to the den surrounded by the three male Chases without any sign of resistance. She’d seen films in which brave prisoners of war marched off to the firing squad with that resolute expression on their faces. She had never liked war movies.
Sabrina turned back to find Liz and Mary watching her with eloquent sympathy. “You see why I don’t come home very often?” Sabrina asked in disgust.
Liz smiled with sudden assurance. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Sabrina. Matt looks like he can take care of himself.”
Brad stirred uneasily in his chair, clearly at a loss to understand exactly what was going on but aware that it wasn’t altogether pleasant. Sabrina looked at him encouragingly. “Why don’t you go watch television in the living room?”
“Do you want some help with the dishes?” he asked doubtfully.
“No, thanks, we’ll take care of them,” Mary advised gently. The boy fled.
Liz poured some after-dinner coffee and sat back in her chair. “What the hell is going on, Sabrina?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Did you really pick him up as a souvenir of Acapulco?” Mary asked with an engaging grin.
“It’s a long story.” Sabrina sighed.
“Well, I for one want to hear every last detail.” A cry sounded from a back bedroom. “Ooops, excuse me. That will be James wanting his dinner. Don’t start until I get back, okay?”
Sabrina watched her sister-in-law hurry off to fetch the complaining baby. “When are you and Jeffrey going to start your family, Liz?”
Liz smiled serenely. “We already have.” She patted her still-slender stomach. “But we’re going to wait a bit before we make the announcement. We want Nolan and Mary to enjoy their time in the limelight.”
“Congratulations,” Sabrina said in surprise.
“Thank you. And what about you?”
“What about Sabrina?” Mary asked as she returned with the infant. She sat down at the dinner table and opened her blouse.
“I was just asking her when she intended to start a family,” Liz explained.
Mary lifted James Bennet to her breast and smiled. “It looks to me like she’s already got a head start.”
Sabrina considered that. “Do you think so? I’ve never really thought too much about forming a family of my own. It seems like I’ve spent most of my life trying to put some distance between myself and the family I was born into. I don’t know how you two stand living with Nolan and Jeffrey. I mean, I love them both, but there are so many times when I would have cheerfully strangled them. Tonight being a prime example,” she observed, wondering what was going on in the den.
“There are times when I could strangle Jeffrey, too.” Liz grinned. “But there are compensations. You must have discovered a few yourself or you wouldn’t be thinking of marrying Matt.”
“I’m not really thinking of marrying him,” Sabrina said in surprise. “At least not for a while. Not until … until I know for sure that he knows his own mind.” She lounged back in her chair. “It’s all very confusing.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you confused before, Sabrina.” Mary chuckled. “But maybe that’s because it’s always simpler and more straightforward to move away from things. When you find yourself moving toward something, complications arise.”
“I gather there are some real complications in this situation between you and Matt?” Liz pushed gently.
“A few.”
“Do you love him?” This, very casually, from Mary.
For some reason the simple question took Sabrina by surprise. She frowned thoughtfully. “Yes,” she said finally. “I do.”
“It figures.” Liz sighed melodramatically. “He’s unemployed, got himself kicked out of the Army, has an ex-wife and a kid. You found him on the beach in Acapulco—”
“A bar,” Sabrina corrected. “I found him in a hotel bar.”
“Ah, yes. A bar,” Liz continued. “And he followed you back to Dallas like a stray mongrel?”
Sabrina drew in a breath. “Not quite. Perhaps if he had…”
“Why did he show up in Dallas, then?” Mary demanded.
“Actually, he went to Houston to collect Brad for the summer. He was in the neighborhood, so to speak, so he dropped by.”
“And stayed,” Liz finished.
“And stayed until someone offered him a job down on Buena Ventura.”
“After which he immediately returned,” Liz pointed out.
“Sort of. I had Brad, you see, and he had to come back for his son.”
“But you’re not sure he came back because of you?” Liz murmured perceptively.
“I think I’m somewhere on his list of things he wants. I guess I’m just not sure where. I know Brad is at the top, which is only right. And I think Matt definitely is through with whiling his life away in Mexico. I know he wants me and I think he wants a home. But there are other things he wants, too.”
“Such as?” Mary asked.
“Well, he’s bitter about what happened two years ago when he had to resign his commission. Going to Buena Ventura was supposed to be a way of working that out of his system. But the job didn’t accomplish that, as far as I can tell. The job also didn’t give him the stake he thinks he needs to stay in Dallas. But I told him I don’t want him taking any more offers of work in that, uh, field.”
“You’ve given him an ultimatum?” Liz inquired curiously.
“I don’t want him chasing off on secret missions for the government whenever he gets an offer and an urge!” Sabrina exploded tightly. “I want him home where he belongs, doing the laundry and the grocery shopping.”
Liz smiled blandly. “You want a family.”
Sabrina lifted one shoulder helplessly. “I suppose you could say that. At any rate I want Matt.”
“And Brad?”
“Brad’s part of the package. I understand that. I like him and I think he’s learned to tolerate me.”
“But you don’t want marriage?”
Sabrina hesitated. “I just don’t know.”
“I think,” Mary said calmly, “that you’re scared of taki
ng the final step.”
“No. I’m just not sure enough of Matt’s feelings.”
“What do you want from him?”
Sabrina’s mouth curved wryly as her sister-in-law echoed Matt’s own question. “Something he says he can’t give. Proof that I’m the most important thing in his life. You must have had that from Nolan, Mary, or you wouldn’t have married him.”
“Nolan and I started out differently. There wasn’t the complication of a child from a previous marriage or worries about a past that hadn’t been cleared up. It was simpler for your brother and me. But even when it starts out simple it gets complicated in a hurry. Now there’s James, here, for example. And I’ve been thinking of going back to work. Nolan has plans for his career that might make it awkward for me to take a job. Lots of complications.”
“Mary’s right,” Liz agreed quietly. “Even when a relationship starts out in a simple, straightforward fashion, it doesn’t stay that way. You just got hit with all the complications right from the beginning. You didn’t have a chance to absorb them at a slower rate. No wonder you’re feeling confused!”
Sabrina turned that over in her mind. Just how confused was she? When the chips were down a lot of things had appeared very clear. She had known, for example, that she had to give Matt his chance down on Buena Ventura. She had known, too, that she had to protect his son when the threat materialized.
And there was no denying the passion in him. Whatever else he felt for her, that much was real. Furthermore, she trusted him and he said he trusted her.
For God’s sake, Sabrina thought, what more do I want?
The conversation around the table continued along different lines after that. James Bennet went back to sleep in his mother’s arms. Brad wandered in to see if there was any more pie left and Liz and Sabrina did the dishes.
The men didn’t emerge from the den until nearly eleven o’clock. The women were seated around the cleared table when the door opened. The first to appear was Matt. He was cheerfully drunk.
“You didn’t tell me your Dad and brothers liked good whiskey, honey,” he announced in a pleasantly slurred tone.
Sabrina stared at him. She realized that the last time he’d had this much to drink had been that first night in Acapulco. Warily she got to her feet. Before she could say anything, however, Bennet Chase, followed by his sons, ambled into the dining room. They appeared to be every bit as intoxicated as Matt.
