Mrs. Kincaid slowly turned in her husband’s hold and looked at Madison and Steven. She sniffled softly, but was smiling. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’ve just never been so surprised...or so pleased.”
Madison went toward her with her hand held out. “Mrs. Kincaid, it’s lovely meeting you.”
The woman looked at Madison, then moved away from her husband and, ignoring the outstretched hand, she hugged Madison briefly before stepping back. “I feel as if I already know you, darling, as if you’re my friend.”
“Thank you, that’s a wonderful thing for any doctor to hear.”
“And Harvey knows how much I wanted to meet you. But I never dreamed you’d be the visitors he’s been talking about.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “I am so pleased you’re here.”
Harvey rested his hand on her shoulder. “Great present, isn’t it, dear?”
“The very best,” she said, then looked at Steven. “And you must be the doctor’s husband?”
“I’m Steven, Mrs. Kincaid.”
“Well, I’m Darla, and you’re very welcome to my home.” Then she reached to take one of Madison’s hands. “Come with me. There’s time before dinner for us to talk and get to know each other.” She glanced at Harvey. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
“You’re very welcome,” he said with a gentle smile, the corporate giant gone in favor of a man who obviously loved his wife a great deal. Harvey swiped his hands together. “Now I’ll go and check with Mrs. Henderson to make sure she’s taken care of everything. I want to make very sure there aren’t any more foul-ups.” He looked at Steven. “I couldn’t believe that the housekeeper forgot to have the phone hooked up before we came up here, so we won’t have a connection until morning.”
One more thing that hadn’t worked out the way Steven had hoped it would. Without a working phone, there was no way Bishop could call so he’d have the excuse of a business emergency to leave here tonight. He’d have to come up with another reason.
“While I check on the housekeeper, why don’t you garage your car, Steven? The space in the fourth garage is empty.”
Steven glanced at Madison. “Do you need anything besides your overnight case?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
He knew he should be acting more like a husband, so as he looked down at Madison, he did the most natural thing in the world. He reached out and touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “I won’t be long.”
He worried about surprising her with the action as much as he’d shocked himself, but she went with it. Her hand lifted to cover his and she smiled at him. “Hurry up.” Then she turned to Mrs. Kincaid and said, “You’ve got a wonderful house here.”
Steven watched Madison and Mrs. Kincaid head through the archway across the entry into a high-ceilinged room with a roaring fire in a stone fireplace and comfortable leather furniture arranged to take advantage of banks of windows at the back. Harvey went to the right into a long hallway, and Steven went out to take care of the car.
Steven went outside, drove the car into the garage and after he parked the Jaguar, he headed back to the house through the light snow being swirled by a growing breeze. The snow fell silently, while the breeze stirred the branches of the pines that framed the driveway. As he reached the bottom of the steps, carrying his bag and Madison’s, he paused when he heard the low rumble of a motor. Then lights flashed across the house and turned on the driveway to aim directly at him for a brief moment.
It wasn’t until the motor stopped and the lights were shut off that Steven realized it was a black Jeep...just like the one that Bishop drove for him. Then he saw the front license plates and knew it didn’t just look like his Jeep. It was his Jeep. Bless Bishop. He’d found that the phones weren’t working, and he’d driven all the way up here to get him.
“Above and beyond the call of duty,” he said as he dropped the bags on the bottom step. Something red caught his eye on the bag, and he saw Martin’s Santa tie had tangled in the handle of his overnight bag. He’d forgotten he’d tossed the tie into the trunk. The eye was still blinking red at him. The battery never died.
He heard the door of the Jeep open and he turned to it. But after taking only two steps he stopped. Bishop was by the driver’s door, and swinging the passenger door shut was Wyatt.
“Dad, we found you,” his son said as he ran toward Steven. “Boy, Bishop was saying we didn’t have a chance of finding this place, with the snow and all, but we found it. We did it.”
Wyatt was so excited he was almost bouncing, but Steven was stunned. He looked from Wyatt’s grinning face to Bishop by the Jeep. “What’s going on?”
Bishop crossed his arms on his chest and leaned against the front fender of the Jeep. He looked massive in a down jacket and a wool ski cap. “This was all his idea. I just drove the car.”
None of this made sense to him. “Your idea?” he asked as he looked back at Wyatt.
It was then he realized that Wyatt was holding something in his hand. And when he lifted it, Steven saw his briefcase. “You forgot this, and I knew you needed it for business and all.”
He looked over at Bishop who hadn’t moved. He thought the man had come to rescue him, but they’d come with the briefcase. “You came all the way up here to give me my briefcase?”
“We tried to call, but the phone wasn’t working.”
“There’s the file in it,” Wyatt cut in. “Since you’re working and all, I knew you’d need it. So I told Bishop we had to bring it to you.”
Steven glanced behind him at the closed doors to the house, then took the case. This could work out just fine, after all. The business emergency was so serious that Bishop had to drive up to get him. And he could make his escape neatly and quickly.
“I did good, didn’t I, Dad?” Wyatt asked, and Steven didn’t miss the uncertain look in his eyes.
“You sure did. You saved my bacon. I was just about ready to leave, anyway, so get back in the Jeep while I go inside and explain things to them, then we can get out of here.”
Wyatt’s face lost its smile. “Dad, it’s snowing and I was thinking that—”
“Wyatt, I’m leaving. We’re leaving.”
“But, Dad?” he said with an annoying whine in his voice.
Steven didn’t need this, not here, not now. “No. You understand that I do things undercover, and no one can know who I am, so if you’re here and I stay, it’s going to make things very complicated. Do you understand?”
“I understand. It’s going be a lot of money for York’s, isn’t it, Dad?”
Money was the last thing on his mind right now, but he nodded. “A reasonable amount. Why don’t you get in the Jeep with Bishop, and I’ll go in and—”
“Steven!”
He didn’t have to turn to know Harvey was at the door. This was even better. He wouldn’t have to go back inside to explain. He could do it now and get out of here without having to be alone with Madison again. “Come on,” he whispered to Wyatt as he put his hand on his shoulder and urged him back to where Bishop stood by the Jeep. “The two of you go along with whatever I say,” he told Bishop, “then we’ll leave as soon as we can. Understand?”
“Whatever you say,” the big man murmured.
Steven turned as Harvey approached them. “Who do we have here?” he asked, looking from Wyatt to Bishop, then at Steven.
When Steven saw Wyatt hold out his hand to Harvey, he knew he should have done one more thing. Tell Wyatt to pretend to be with Bishop. But he couldn’t do a thing as Wyatt said formally, “I’m Wyatt York, sir.”
Harvey smiled down at Wyatt and took his hand. “Well, hello there, Wyatt.” He glanced at Bishop, then to Steven. “I didn’t hear you drive up.”
He’d never told Harvey his last name was York, so maybe they had a chance of pulling this off without anyone knowing Wyatt was his son. “I’m sorry about the interruption,” he said quickly. “They tried to call, but couldn’t. They came t
o tell me about an emergency with a client of mine.”
“Yeah, my dad forgot and I knew he needed it,” Wyatt said.
“Wyatt, it’s more than that,” Steven said quickly, hoping Harvey wasn’t listening too closely, or that he wouldn’t put two and two together.
But he knew how stupid he was to underestimate a man who ran one of the largest corporate conglomerates in the country. “Steven’s your dad?”
“Yes, sir,” Wyatt said with a sharp nod.
Harvey suddenly smiled widely and clapped his hands together. “Oh, my goodness, Darla is going to be in seventh heaven. She thought she had everything with the two of you, but now she has your son and...” He looked at Bishop.
The big man didn’t hesitate. “Their housekeeper.”
Harvey smiled even wider at that. “Housekeeper?”
“My housekeeper,” Steven murmured, feeling as if he were being pulled under by an overwhelming riptide. “I was just about to tell you—”
As if Steven hadn’t begun talking, Harvey turned and yelled to the open doors, “Darla, get out here! I’ve got another surprise for you!”
“Oh, no,” Steven said quickly. “They aren’t...we aren’t staying.”
“Why, of course you all are,” Harvey said without looking at him. “We’ve got plenty of room. Darla!”
The next instant Darla and Madison were in the entry with the light at their back, then Darla was hurrying down the stairs followed by Madison. Steven hadn’t even noticed that the snow had stopped. All he could focus on was the Kincaids and Madison and trying to pinpoint the moment when he started to lose control of his life.
It didn’t help that the only pivotal point in his life he could remember was looking down into blue eyes when he ran into a woman who had the oddest ability to create total chaos.
“Harvey, what’s going on?” Darla asked as she came across to her husband.
“Come on and meet Madison and Steven’s son.”
Steven saw Madison stop dead right behind Darla, and when he met her gaze widened with shock, he just hoped she’d be fast enough on the uptake to cover their tracks.
Madison stopped breathing in the moment Harvey said, “Madison and Steven’s son.” It had to be a joke, but one look at Steven, and she knew there wasn’t any joke going on here. Then she looked at a huge man beside a big black Jeep, and a young boy bundled in a bright blue jacket standing by Steven’s right.
The idea of a joke died completely when she looked at the boy and could see Steven in him. Maybe it was the expression, or the way his eyes were narrowed on the adults. Or the way his jaw was held. Steven’s child.
“Oh, Harvey, this is just getting better and better.” She turned and caught Madison by her forearm to tug her up beside her. “Oh, my dear, you never said you and Steven had children.”
Madison swallowed hard, trying to force words past the tightness in her throat, “Well, I...I...”
“Never mind,” Darla said, thankfully cutting off the stammering. “It’s just too wonderful. Do you have more children?”
She shook her head numbly.
“Oh,” Darla said, releasing her hold on Madison to cross to the boy. The woman was barely two or three inches taller than the boy. “And what’s your name?”
“Wyatt, ma’am.”
“Oh, call me Aunt Darla. How old are you?”
“Ten.”
She saw Steven rest his left hand on the boy’s shoulder, then he said, “I was just trying to explain to Harvey that Wyatt and I have to get going.”
Madison could barely contain a gasp at his words. They were going?
“You...you can’t be going. You just got here,” Darla said and she turned pleading eyes to Harvey. “Harvey, please, they can’t leave.”
“Of course they can’t,” Harvey said quickly as he looked at Madison. The jovial man of moments ago was replaced by the man she knew he must be in business. And he wasn’t going to let anything happen that he didn’t want to occur. And he didn’t want Darla disappointed. “You don’t have to go, do you?” It wasn’t a real question, but an order.
“I don’t see how—”
Steven cut her off. “Madison can stay. But Bishop came up to tell me about an emergency. Remember the Robinson case?”
She nodded, hoping she looked convincing. “Yes.”
“It’s in a mess. I need to get back to take care of filings so they’re at the court Monday morning.”
“Harvey, I want them all here,” Darla said, and Madison wondered if the woman was going to stamp her foot for emphasis. “I want all of them.”
“Of course, darling.” He looked at Steven. “I used to be in law before I took over the business. You can’t do a thing about filing until Monday morning, so why don’t you stay, at least until Sunday. You can work if you like, but I really want the three of you to stay. He glanced at Bishop, then back to Steven. “Your housekeeper’s invited, too.”
Housekeeper? Madison looked at the blond man who was built like a mountain. Housekeeper?
“Harvey, we can have such a good time. We can roast marshmallows and get a tree to trim, and now that it’s stopped snowing, we can go skiing tomorrow.”
“Skiing?” Wyatt said, his eyes getting wide. “Oh, wow, do you mean it?”
“Of course she does,” Harvey said to the boy. “We’ll go skiing. All of us. We’ve got lift passes and it’s going to be a glorious weekend.”
“Wyatt,” Steven said. “You’ve got Jared coming over to spend—”
“Jared wouldn’t care,” Wyatt said without looking at Steven. “Can we really go down hills and ride on those things that carry you up to the top?” he asked Darla.
“A lift? Of course, darling, as much as you want to.”
“Wow, wait until I tell Jared! Skiing and riding on a lift. Wow. Awesome. Just what I asked for for Christmas.” He looked past Darla at Madison, and she didn’t have a clue what he was going to do as he came around Darla to her.
He shocked Madison when he suddenly hugged her tightly around the waist, then drew back to look up at her and whisper, “I know all about my dad’s job. Are you supposed to be my mother? Or are you supposed to be my dad’s girlfriend?”
Chapter Twelve
Wyatt knew everything? Madison looked into his blue eyes and managed to mumble, “Stepmother and wife.”
He winked broadly at her, a gesture that no one but she could see, then he moved back. With a slouch of his shoulders and a downcast look of his eyes, he said in a plaintive voice, “Can’t I stay up here with you and Dad? Please? I’ve always wanted to go skiing, and now I’m here.”
The child was falling into the charade with an ease that stunned Madison. Steven’s child, and he was a con man, ready to lie and affect this role without missing a beat. Before she could do or say anything, Harvey was behind the boy, touching his shoulders but looking right at Madison. “There isn’t a problem, is there, Madison?”
She looked past Harvey at Steven and all she could do was echo Harvey’s question. “There isn’t a problem, is there?”
Steven came up behind Harvey, but he never looked away from Madison. “Do you think there is?”
She glanced down at Wyatt who was standing still and looking for all the world like a lost puppy, then back at Steven. “No...I guess not.”
“Oh, Harvey, how wonderful,” Darla said, and before Madison knew what was happening Darla had Wyatt by his hand. “You come along with me and we’ll get a room fixed for you. We’ve got one that looks down on the lake and it’s got a huge bed. How does that sound?”
“Great,” Wyatt said as he went with her to the stairs and started up.
The big man who stood by the Jeep spoke for the first time since Madison had come upon the scene. “So what are we doing, sir?” he asked in a deep, rumbling voice that matched his size.
Steven closed his eyes, then turned and she heard him say, “Take the Jeep back to the city and look after things until we get back.”
“What about the boy? He doesn’t have any clothes with him.”
“We’ll see to everything,” Harvey said quickly. “Don’t you worry about that at all.”
“I’ll be leaving if you don’t need me for anything else,” Bishop said.
Steven shook his head. “Go ahead.” When the big man got into the Jeep and slowly drove away down the driveway, Harvey patted Steven on the back. “You two have made this a very special weekend for Darla. Thank you.” He exhaled and rubbed his hands together, then motioned Madison and Steven to come with him. “Now let’s get inside where it’s warm. Dinner’s going to be ready in fifteen minutes.”
Madison looked at Steven, hoping he’d tell Harvey they’d be in in a minute. Then she could find out what was going on from him. But Steven slanted her a glance, then looked at Harvey. “You practiced law?”
“That’s how I met Darla,” the man said as Steven picked up their bags and went with Harvey to the stairs.
Madison watched the two men for a moment, then followed them. Later they could talk. Tonight, she’d find out where the boy came from and why he showed up. And why Steven hadn’t mention he had a son. She saw something flashing on Steven’s bag, a tiny red light, then she realized it was the garish Santa tie she’d seen in the car before.
The single eye blinked at her as she hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. And the blink seemed to taunt her as another question hit her so hard it made her start to shiver. Where was Wyatt’s real mother?
* * *
DINNER, DRINKS and the screening, at Darla’s insistence, of a video of It’s A Wonderful Life flashed past and Steven almost felt as if he were a spectator. Wyatt fell in with the charade with shocking ease. He ate up the attention Darla and Harvey gave him, and dealt with Madison as if she had been a part of his life for longer than a few hours. Madison eased into the roll of stepmother just as smoothly. He would have almost believed that she liked Wyatt and that he liked her.
When a clock deep in the house chimed eleven, everyone was in the main room sipping hot chocolate and basking in the warmth of a fire laid in the huge stone fireplace. Steven was on the couch with Harvey while Madison sat on the throw rug with Wyatt, poring over a book of crossword puzzles. Darla was in a chair by them, watching and smiling, looking for all the world like a doting grandmother.
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