"Mmm, sounds promising." She turned her head to brush a kiss over his wrist.
"No more, woman. Remember, I'm five years older than you. I need my rest."
Cait smiled, wanting to tell him that she would take him with or without the sex. "Then give me a hug, old man, and get out of here before I remember a lady never seduces a reluctant man."
"Reluctant, hell," he muttered as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her temple. "I'm damn near numb. After all those years of celibacy, a man needs time to build up his stamina."
"You're certainly working on it," she whispered into the worn collar of his jacket. The laughter she felt rumbling in his chest warmed her almost as much as his body heat.
"Maybe tomorrow, after the party, we can work on it again."
"You're on," she murmured as she drew out of his arms.
Tyler tugged his hat over his brow and reached past her to open her front door. The air was spring soft and smelled of the daffodils in the planter box on the steps. A crescent moon was just rising over the trees.
"Drive safely," she murmured as she fussed with his collar.
Tyler glanced down at the arousal that refused to subside. "Slowly, anyway."
Cait laughed. "Come early tomorrow. I'm going to need—" She was interrupted by the sound of a child in distress.
"Kelsey!" Cait cried. "It must be another nightmare."
Tyler slammed the door and was up the stairs first, with Cait right behind him. This time Kelsey was sitting up in a tangle of covers, but the terror in her eyes was achingly familiar.
As soon as Tyler came through the door, she lifted her arms to him. "Daddy, Daddy," she wailed.
He crushed her against him. Sobbing, she buried her face in the crook between his neck and his shoulder. Tyler tossed off his hat before lowering his head to hers.
"Easy, baby," he murmured as his big hand rubbed her back. "Don't cry. I've got you." With the hand in the cast he awkwardly pulled the bright coverlet over the child's bare legs and smoothed it tight.
Kelsey shuddered. "I h-hate dreams, Daddy. I wish I'd never have another one."
"Not all dreams are bad, baby." Tyler's gaze met Cait's over the child's tousled head.
"Mine are."
"Mine were, too, for a long time. But now they're not. Not when I have you and Mama Cait to make me feel good inside."
Kelsey was crying steadily now, her tears wetting his neck. Tyler held her close and whispered soothing words. Minutes passed while, gradually, the sobs lessened to an occasional hiccup.
"Better now?" Tyler asked. She shook her head but didn't look at him. "What's bothering you, baby?" he probed gently. "Maybe I can help if you tell me what it is. That's what daddies are for, you know. To keep the bad things away."
Slowly Kelsey raised her head and looked at her father. "You'll be mad," she muttered in a low, halting tone.
Tyler smoothed her hair. "No, I won't."
"Even if it's … awful?"
"Especially if it's awful."
Kelsey ducked her head against her father and sobbed as though she were being beaten. Even as Tyler soothed her, his gaze swung to Cait's.
"Kelsey, talk to us, sweetie," Cait whispered as she sat down next to Tyler and stroked the little girl's leg.
"I c-can't. Daddy'll hate me for sure this time." Cait bit her lip and gave Tyler an agonized look.
"Please, Kelsey," Tyler said very softly. "It hurts me when you won't talk to me."
Kelsey blinked. "Please, don't make me tell," she blurted out. "Please don't. I know I should, and I want to, but I c-can't, I just can't."
She crumpled into Tyler's arms, a small shivering bundle in pink. "Tell?" he asked in a too-quiet tone. "Tell what, Button?"
"T-tell the judge and those men that I lied. Please, Daddy. I just can't."
"Then you don't have to," he said gently.
"Don't say that," Cait whispered to him. "She's just nervous. She'll be fine, won't you, Kels?"
Kelsey shook her head. "P-people who lie have terrible things happen, just like my mommy."
Cait felt a chill. Crystal was dead because she'd had too much champagne and driven recklessly. "Kels, sweetie, that's not true. Mommy's car hit a slick patch on the street. That's why she's dead."
"No, no!" Kelsey cried. "She's dead 'cause she was bad, and if I tell everyone how bad I really am, something terrible will happen to me, too. Just like Mommy."
Tyler and Cait exchanged agonized looks. To an adult's mind, Kelsey's reasoning was flawed. To a child's it was unerringly logical.
Tyler closed his eyes on a wave of pure rage. Crystal had won again. Without meaning to, she'd had the last word.
"Baby, listen to me," he murmured close to Kelsey's ear. "I give you my word. No one will make you testify if you don't want to. Not me or Mama Cait or Auntie Hazel."
"You won't be mad?" Kelsey mumbled haltingly.
"None of us will be mad. I give you my word."
"You won't h-hate me?"
Tyler's control nearly shattered. His chest heaved, and his jaw clenched. It took several long deep breaths before he could speak calmly. "You're the best thing that ever happened in my life, Kelsey McClane. I loved you when I saw you, and now that I know you better, I love you even more. Nothing you could do will ever change that. Nothing."
Kelsey's head rose slowly. An expression of uncertainty pinched her features, but the abject misery was gone from her eyes. "Maybe w-when I get older I could do it. Okay?"
"Sure, baby." Tyler's hand shook as he ever so gently wiped the tears from his daughter's cheeks. "Maybe in a few years. But let's not worry about that now. Right now, let's just make a deal that you won't ever have to testify. Okay?"
"Okay."
Kelsey threw trusting arms around her daddy's neck. Her daddy's arms closed around her, keeping her safe.
* * *
Chapter 14
« ^ »
The phone rang as Tyler was walking out of his apartment. Habit had him answering before the third ring. It was Dante.
"Thank God I caught you. We may have trouble."
Tyler glanced at the birthday present under his arm. It was a set of clothes for Prudence that he'd had made by a local seamstress.
"What kind of trouble?"
"I just found out that Shuffler paid Bronsky a visit in the county jail on the same day he visited you. According to one of the deputies there, he stayed over an hour and came out looking like a mangy old cat who'd just eaten his fill."
"Damn."
"My guess is that Shuffler knows everything Bronsky knows."
Tyler's mouth went dry, and his hand all but crushed the carefully wrapped package. "So why hasn't he used it against me?"
"Lots of reasons. He needs more evidence, the paperwork to order your arrest is going through channels, Bronsky is demanding some kind of deal in exchange for his testimony against you. Take your pick."
Tyler hated the way his insides were churning at the thought of going to prison again. "Thanks for the word," he told Dante tersely.
"Welcome." There was a pause before Dante added, "Watch your back, partner."
"Will do."
"Wish the kid a happy birthday for me. And give Caitlin a big kiss from her old buddy Dante."
Tyler's reply was succinct and rude. Dante hung up laughing.
* * *
"Thank God for VCRs and Walt Disney," Cait muttered as she dumped the last of the dirty paper plates into the trash. "We have almost an hour to regroup before it's time to open the presents."
Tyler finished putting the last of the milk-sticky glasses into the dishwasher and shoved the door closed. "I'm still trying to figure out how six little girls could demolish an entire cake and a half-gallon of ice cream in less than ten minutes."
Cait laughed. "Not quite all," she reminded him. "Kels insisted that you have the biggest piece."
"She's bribing me into taking her to see the circus next week."
"What do you mea
n? You told me you already have the tickets."
His grin flashed, almost as boyishly as it once had years ago. "Yeah, but she doesn't know that."
"Hmm, very devious."
"Not at all. I'm outnumbered around here, remember? Especially today, with Hazel bossing me around almost as much as you and Kels. A guy has to fight for survival any way he can."
Cait closed the lid of the trash bucket and went to him. "Poor Tyler. I thought you were enjoying it."
His fingers smoothed the hair away from her face. Because he'd told her once while they'd been making love that he loved her hair loose, she wore it that way whenever he was expected.
"I am. As soon as the birthday girl is safely in bed tonight and everyone else has gone home, I intend to let you boss me around a lot more. In bed, this time."
Cait blushed. "I'm not the demanding one," she grumbled, despite a rush of pleasure.
"Oh no? Could'a fooled me." Tyler's slowly arching eyebrow gave him a devilish look that Cait could never resist.
"Maybe you'll be too tired. After all, you must have helped me string miles of crepe paper."
"Not to mention all the balloons you made me blow up."
Cait's gaze lingered on his mouth. "Hmm, I hear it's good practice," she murmured in her best sultry tone. The lines around his eyes crinkled, but his eyes remained strangely watchful. "Yeah? For what?"
"Kissing, for one thing."
"Is that an order?" His tone was teasing, but Cait heard an echo of his earlier bitterness.
"No, an invitation," she murmured.
"In that case, I accept." This time the smile he gave her was also mirrored in his eyes an instant before his mouth aligned with hers.
His kiss was infinitely gentle, and yet she felt the small shudder that went through him the moment their mouths met. She had expected the kiss to deepen, to turn hungry the way his kisses invariably did.
But this time he seemed content with gently exploring her mouth with his lips and his tongue. He tasted of chocolate and the coffee he'd consumed by the gallons. She knew she tasted of orange soda.
His arms circled her waist in the possessive, masterful way that was familiar to her now. She arched closer until her breasts were pressed against his chest.
In response his hands slid lower to cup her buttocks and lift her hard against him. At the same time his tongue gently ran over her lips until she parted them eagerly.
His tongue made slow, thrusting movements until she was nearly mindless. Slowly, sweetly, she felt her body melting into the strength of his.
When he raised his head, his face was flushed and his eyes glittered. "Later," he murmured.
Dazed by the sensations running through her, Cait managed an understanding nod. "You're right, darn it. No wonder most of the parents I see in my office have a haggard look. They're always being interrupted."
She reached up to tidy the shaggy thatch from his forehead. It seemed to have a mind of its own and resisted every effort to tame its rebellion.
"You could use a haircut," she murmured with a wifely look in her eyes that sent him reeling.
"Next week."
She grinned. "Lord, you're—"
"Stubborn. I think we've already established that."
"I think you made a mistake telling Kelsey she didn't have to testify."
"We've already established that, too." This time his voice carried an edge. Cait knew she was precariously close to pushing him too far. But this time she decided to risk his cold withdrawal.
"It could be years before she's ready to testify, years you could have spent practicing medicine."
"If Jess manages a miracle, all that will be academic. In the meantime, her phobia gives Hazel an excuse to keep her in therapy and I can keep my visitation privileges."
"What if Jess is fresh out of miracles? What if my testimony and Hazel's aren't enough?"
"They will be. They have to be."
"Tyler, please listen to me."
His finger touched her mouth. "No, Cait. I need you to go along with me on this. Please."
"But—" She was interrupted by the sudden bonging of the front doorbell.
"I hope that's not one of the mothers," she murmured as she tried to slip from his arms. But his hands tightened.
"Hazel will get it."
"Yes, but—"
At that moment the kitchen door swung open. After casting an uneasy look over her shoulder, Hazel slipped inside before closing it firmly behind her again. As her gaze went from one to the other, Cait could have sworn that Hazel had just witnessed a dreadful accident.
"What is it?" she cried softly. "What's wrong?"
"That man Shuffler is at the door, with a U.S. marshal. He says he's here to arrest Tyler for violating his parole."
* * *
"I want my d-daddy," Kelsey was curled into a ball around her pillow, crying as though her heart was breaking. Prudence lay within arm's reach, clothed now in the green velvet dress and bustle Tyler had given her.
"I know, sweetie. I do, too."
Cait drew a ragged breath. Her eyes burned from lack of sleep, and her stomach was still queasy. The ice cream and cake she'd eaten over twelve hours ago were only a distant memory. Even though she'd fixed a snack for Kelsey and Hazel around supper time, she herself hadn't been able to eat more than a few bites.
Kelsey threw her pillow aside and used Cait's lap instead. "I hate that fat little man with the loud voice. He's nastier than the bad guys on TV."
Cait couldn't have agreed more heartily. Her fingers trembled as she gently wiped the tears from the little girl's hot cheeks.
"Remember what Hazel and I told you, Kels? That man was just doing his job. Daddy was the one who broke the rules."
"But he couldn't let that guy Bronsky hurt you! Even Auntie Hazel said that, and you agreed."
"It's … complicated, sweetie. A lot like life, actually. Sometimes, no matter how much you want something, you can't seem to make it happen."
"Why not?" Kelsey's eyes were troubled.
"That's a good question, sweetie. A lot of smart people have been asking it for as many years as people have been on this earth. I'm not sure anyone has ever come up with a good answer."
"What do you think?" Kelsey persisted.
"I think your daddy needs us to be strong for him."
Curiosity flashed through the misery in Kelsey's red-rimmed eyes. "How?"
Cait drew a long breath. "By smiling when we go to visit him in the jail and by telling him we love him."
"Do you love him, too?" Kelsey asked as though the thought pleased her.
"Very much."
"Really and truly?"
Cait touched her fingertip to Kelsey's button nose. "Really and truly."
"Maybe you and him can get married, and then he could live here with us 'n' be here in the morning when I wake up 'n' be here at night to tuck me in."
Cait kept her features calm, but inside she felt a familiar sinking feeling. "I wish that were possible, Kelsey. Maybe someday it will be, but not now."
Kelsey frowned. "Why not?"
Cait tried to clear the tears from her throat. "Because it's very possible—very probable, in fact—that Daddy will have to go back to prison."
Crushing fear took the hope from the child's eyes. "Because of that man who put the handcuffs on Daddy's wrists?"
"Partly. And partly because Daddy really did break the rules."
"But that man was hurting him—"
"It isn't only that, sweetie. Daddy did something else he shouldn't have done." Cait drew Prudence closer until the prim little doll was sitting in Kelsey's lap. "Daddy gave you this doll, not Santa."
Kelsey looked both surprised and pleased. "I thought you did!" she exclaimed.
Cait smiled. "And all this time I thought you believed in Santa Claus."
Kelsey ducked her head. "Mommy said he wasn't real. She said only dumb little boys and girls believed in Santa Claus."
Anger swelled throu
gh Cait. Damn you, Crystal, she raged silently.
"She's wrong, Kels. Santa Claus might not be a real person who goes around putting presents under the tree, but he is the spirit of generosity and kindness and loving one another that Christmas is really about. Can you understand that?" Kelsey nodded, but her eyes were still wide.
Cait cleared her throat. "It was in that same spirit that your daddy came to this house on Christmas Eve to bring you Prudence, so in a sense she really did come from Santa."
Kelsey looked troubled. "That's not a bad thing, is it?"
Cait's gaze dropped to the valuable doll. Tears filled her eyes as she fingered the hem of the new clothes Tyler had had made. "Wanting to give you a present was a wonderful thing, sweetie. But Daddy shouldn't have brought it here to the house."
"Why not?"
"It's complicated, so try hard to understand, okay?"
Kelsey's head bobbed, but she looked worried.
"When the judge sent Daddy to jail, he also told him that he could never come to see you again or phone you or be in the same place where you were without permission."
It sounded brutally cruel to her now. At the time she had fervently lauded the judge's courage. "On Christmas Eve, when Daddy came here, he didn't have that permission. So even though he had a good reason, he was breaking the rules, and someone found out."
Kelsey's forehead was wrinkled in concentration, but the look in her eyes told Cait that she understood. "Who found out, that fat little man?"
"Yes, eventually. But the man who told him was the same man Daddy had a fight with. The same man who tried to burn down the place where Daddy works."
"How did he find out?"
Cait used the sheet to wipe her eyes. They still burned, but not from tears.
"Apparently he'd been following Daddy again, looking for an opportunity to hurt him. According to Mr. Dante, Daddy's attorney, Bronsky saw Daddy talking to me at the door, and so he knew who lived in this house. And since I live here, Shuffler figured out that you did, too."
"Like in the spy movies?"
"Exactly. So what Daddy did is called contempt of court, and judges usually hate it when that happens."
PAROLED! Page 21