“Of course you can,” she said. She wafted the plate of now-cold steak under his nose. “Meat will give you your strength back.”
“You can’t just toss meat at a man you’ve all but destroyed and expect him to revive like some half-starved animal,” he protested.
She grinned and set the plate aside. “You used to have more staying power, Devaney,” she scoffed.
“No, you used to be demure.”
She laughed at that. “Never. That must have been some other woman.”
He pretended to think about it. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “Must have been. I’ll have to go through that endless list and try to figure out which one it was.”
Molly smacked him with a pillow. “No more women. Not ever.”
“None,” he said, crossing his heart. He’d never wanted any other woman the way he wanted Molly.
Molly snagged his hand and met his gaze. “I’m serious. This time we’re aiming for forever, right? We’re going to do whatever it takes to make it work.”
Right this second there wasn’t a doubt in his mind. “Absolutely,” he said with confidence.
He would die before he ever let Molly down again.
Chapter Twelve
When Molly finally got back to Jess’s, she kissed Daniel goodbye in the parking lot, then walked inside to face a quartet of worried faces all lined up on bar stools. Retta’s scowl was mild compared to Patrick’s. Alice’s expression and Kendra’s were more neutral.
“What did my brother do now?” Patrick demanded, obviously assuming the worst since Molly had returned alone.
Molly fought to suppress a grin. “You want details?”
His frown deepened. “Not those details,” he said at once.
“Well, thank goodness for that,” she said. “I’m not sure I’d be comfortable sharing them with you, especially with a teenager present.”
“Where is he?” Patrick said. “Did you have a fight?”
“No,” Molly replied evenly, then pointedly looked at the others. “Anybody need a drink?”
“I could use more coffee,” Alice said in an obvious attempt to help Molly dispel the simmering tension. “Decaf, though. Can’t have this baby jittery.” She patted her stomach, which managed to divert Patrick’s attention for a split second, long enough to give her a soft smile.
Molly refilled Alice’s cup, then glanced at Kendra. “You want another soda?”
Clearly surprised at being offered soda this late in the evening, Kendra nodded eagerly. “Sure.”
Molly turned to Retta. “Tea?”
“I’m fine with what I’ve got,” Retta said tersely.
“What about you, Patrick? Another beer?”
“I’d prefer some answers. Where the hell is my brother?”
“On his way home,” she said.
“If you two didn’t fight again, why isn’t he with you?” he asked. “Why are you covering for him?”
Molly met his worried gaze. “Do I look as if I’ve spent the afternoon fighting?”
Alice chuckled. “Actually, you look as if you’ve spent the afternoon…” She caught a glimpse of Kendra’s wide-eyed expression and cut herself off. “You look happy.”
“I am happy,” she said, her gaze on Retta, who nodded slowly, then visibly relaxed.
Patrick wasn’t as easily convinced. “Why didn’t he come in here with you?”
“Because he had work to do,” she explained reasonably.
“Stuff about me?” Kendra asked, her cheeks turning pale.
“He’s going to call Joe, yes,” Molly said, reaching over to give her hand a squeeze. “He said not to worry. We’re going to work this out.”
Kendra nodded slowly. “I guess he wouldn’t want to make you mad by messing this up, would he?”
Molly chuckled. “Not a chance.”
“Okay, then.” A grin spread across her face. “Told you the guy had the hots for you.”
Molly groaned. “Kendra!”
“What? It’s not like it’s a big secret or anything. The two of you snuck off in the middle of the afternoon and went to some fancy inn. Nobody here thinks you were gone for hours just to have lunch.” She looked to the others for confirmation. “Right?”
Retta rolled her eyes. “Out of the mouths of babes. Come on, Kendra. Now that Molly’s back safe and sound, you and I have work to do.”
“It’s late. Shouldn’t I be going up to bed or something?” Kendra asked.
“You were wide-awake enough five minutes ago to be poking around in things that are none of your business,” Retta responded. “I think you can stay up long enough to help me get the dishes put away so everything’s ready for tomorrow.”
“Slave driver,” Kendra accused, but she grinned broadly as she followed Retta into the kitchen without further argument.
“So, it’s official?” Alice asked, when Kendra and Retta were gone. “You and Daniel are back together? Does that mean we could be sisters-in-law?”
“Whoa!” Patrick said. “Who said anything about Molly and Daniel getting married?”
Alice poked him in the ribs. “You married me, didn’t you? Surely your twin is as smart as you are. He won’t let the best thing to ever happen to him get away a second time.”
Patrick swiveled around to look Molly in the eye. “Well? Is my wife right?”
“It’s a little premature to predict how this is going to turn out,” Molly told him honestly. “But it feels right. Will you be okay with it if we do stay together?”
Patrick seemed to waver, but he finally said, “Molly, you know how I feel about you. There’s no one I’d rather see with my brother. I just wish I were as certain that he’s the perfect man for you.”
“I think he is,” Molly admitted slowly. “Even though I felt betrayed, even though I was disappointed in him, I know I never stopped loving him.”
“There you go,” Alice said triumphantly. “Now stop trying to throw a damper on things, Patrick. I predict that one of these days we’re all going to be family.”
Patrick rolled his eyes. “Some family.”
Alice frowned right back at him. “I’m happy enough with it, even if you are annoying me no end at the moment.”
He grinned then, that devilish charmer of a smile that he shared with his brother. Alice was clearly as powerless to resist it as Molly was when Daniel turned the same smile on her.
“Want to go home?” Patrick asked his wife. “Maybe I can think of something to do that won’t annoy you.”
“I imagine you can,” Alice agreed, then winked at Molly. “But you’re going to have to work really, really hard at it.”
“My pleasure,” Patrick said, scooping her off the barstool and throwing her over his shoulder.
“Put me down, you idiot,” Alice said, laughing as she pounded on his back.
“Not till I can toss you on our nice, soft, feather mattress,” he replied. “Besides, at the rate that baby’s growing, I won’t be able to do this much longer.”
“How flattering,” Alice said. “Maybe I should reconsider what we’re about to do, since you think I already look like a whale and I’m not even four months along yet.”
“Did I say that?” Patrick asked Molly. “Did you hear me say anything to suggest that I don’t find my wife absolutely gorgeous and desirable?”
“Well…” Molly teased.
“Never mind,” he replied irritably. “I guess I’ll just have to work a little harder to prove how attractive I find her.”
“In that case, your boat’s closer,” Alice pointed out.
Patrick laughed. “See why I love this woman, Molly? She’s easily won over and she has no patience.”
“And that’s a good thing?” Molly asked doubtfully.
“In this instance, yes.” With an arm clamped firmly across the back of his wife’s thighs, he leaned across the bar and kissed Molly. “I want you to be happy—you know that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
Molly watched
as Patrick carted the still-protesting Alice from the bar. She envied them the certainty of the love they’d found with each other. She believed in Daniel, believed that a future with him was possible, mostly because she wanted to so desperately. But deep in her heart, in a place she was trying hard not to go, she knew that real faith in the lasting power of their love was going to be harder to come by.
Daniel spent the better part of an hour on the phone with Joe Sutton, haggling over the next step to take in Kendra’s situation. Joe’s meeting with the Morrows hadn’t gone well. They’d insisted once again that any problems between themselves and their daughter could be worked out once she got home.
“I told them I needed to know what those problems were, but they stonewalled me,” Joe said, sounding thoroughly frustrated. “They still insist it’s a family matter.”
“Did you tell ’em it could become a court matter?” Daniel asked.
“I tried.” He sighed. “I hate to tell you this, but it gets worse. They figured out that I’d only be so interested if I had a lead on her whereabouts. They’re insisting that she be returned immediately or they’ll sue me, the department and anyone else who’s interfering in the safe return of their daughter.”
Daniel uttered a profanity he rarely used.
“I agree, but it’s going to get ugly if we stand in their way,” Joe told him. “I filled my boss in, and he’s bouncing off walls. He wants the girl back home yesterday.”
“Hold ’em all off for twenty-four hours,” Daniel pleaded. “Maybe I can convince Kendra to tell us everything so we’ll have some ammunition to take to a judge. We need to know where the parents intend to send her. If it’s some fancy boarding school where she’ll get an incredible education, he might not be so sympathetic.”
“And what if there is no ammunition?” Joe asked. “What if this is just a mixed-up kid? We wind up with egg on our faces and the department winds up in court.”
“Always a possibility,” Daniel agreed. “But you’ve met Kendra—do you think she’s a kid who just wants to stir up trouble?”
“No,” Joe said. “But we’re running out of time. What if she won’t open up?”
“Then maybe I can talk her into going home to confront her parents directly, with me there as mediator.” He had a hunch Molly wasn’t going to be happy with any reunion in which she didn’t get to participate to reassure herself that Kendra was in good hands. He couldn’t blame her, either.
He also knew that in some twisted way she was equating Kendra’s fate to that of their lost baby. If he failed Molly again, there was no telling how she would react.
“Hold on,” Joe said eventually. “Let me run that by the chief.”
Daniel waited impatiently for him to come back on the line. “Well?” he asked when he heard the line reconnect.
“Devaney, this is Chief Williams. Why the hell are you dragging your heels about this?”
“Gut instinct,” Daniel said at once. “I know that’s not a lot, but there is a real problem there, Chief. I’d stake my job on it.”
“You are staking your job on it,” he retorted. “And Sutton’s and mine, more than likely. That better be one helluva gut you’ve got.”
“I believe it is, sir.”
“Then take your twenty-four hours and not one second longer. This time tomorrow night, I want that girl tucked safe in her bed at home or I want one helluva reason why she’s not there.”
“Yes, sir,” Daniel said. “Thank you.”
“I’ll put Joe back on so you can work out the details,” the chief said.
Daniel sighed as he waited.
“Now what?” Joe asked.
“Leave it to me. You’ve done enough.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. Until this is resolved, we’re joined at the hip.”
Daniel thought of the way he’d spent his afternoon and felt an instant of relief that Joe hadn’t decided to shadow his every move a few hours earlier. Still, Molly wasn’t going to be much happier about this turn of events.
“I’ll call you first thing in the morning when I’m ready to head over to Jess’s,” Daniel assured him.
“You’re not going straight over there now?”
“And do what? Wake Kendra out of a sound sleep?”
“She might say more when she’s half-asleep,” Joe noted.
“Not with Molly yelling at both of us about being a couple of bullies for dragging them out of bed in the middle of the night,” Daniel said with certainty.
“You have a point,” Joe said, relenting. “But if I don’t hear from you by daybreak, I’m coming looking for you.”
“Never doubted it for a minute,” Daniel told him, then hung up.
The receiver was barely back in place before the phone rang again. He was in no mood to deal with anyone, but a guilty conscience had him reaching for the phone, anyway.
He barked out a greeting that was met by silence.
“Dammit, is anyone there?” he demanded.
“Having a bad day?” a cool male voice inquired.
“I’ve had better,” Daniel said, trying to figure out why the voice seemed so familiar.
“This is Ryan.”
“Ah,” he said, realizing then that there were faint traces of his father’s Irish brogue in Ryan’s voice even though he’d grown up in Boston. He doubted Ryan would appreciate being reminded that he carried any trait of the man he’d come to hate. “Sorry for jumping down your throat.”
“Want to talk about whatever’s bugging you?”
Oddly enough, he did. He could use the advice of a big brother right now, but it was confidential information and he wasn’t free to share it.
“I wish I could,” he said.
“Job-related?” Ryan guessed.
“Yes.”
“That runaway who’s been staying with Molly?”
“You know about that?” he asked, surprised.
“Patrick filled me in.”
“Oh?”
“Only the basics, Daniel. He didn’t share the details of your personal or professional business, though I gather there are some old, unresolved issues between you and Molly.”
“We’re working on that,” Daniel said.
“Good. I liked her the first time I met her. For a bit, there, I wasn’t sure if she was the one Patrick had his eye on or if it was Alice.”
Daniel didn’t know what to say to that. It felt strange to realize that Ryan knew so much about Patrick’s life, that they’d begun to create a bond where none existed between Daniel and his big brother. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that Ryan knew more about Patrick these days than Daniel did, given the long-standing tensions between himself and his twin.
Feeling more than a little disgruntled about that, he said stiffly, “I’m sure you didn’t call to talk about my life.”
“Actually, I’d like to know more about your life,” Ryan said. “So would Sean and Michael. It’s the folks we’re a little gun-shy about seeing again.”
“Yeah, it’s not like the last time went so well,” Daniel said, unable to keep the sarcastic edge out of his voice. If his brother took offense at that, so be it.
“More like a disaster,” Ryan agreed. “But Patrick believes there’s hope. He thinks you can bring Mom and Dad around and make them talk to us.”
“I told him I’d try,” Daniel said. “To be honest, though, I haven’t had time to do much about it. Are you planning to come back up here soon?”
“Well, you see, here’s the thing,” Ryan said. “If it were up to me, I could wait till hell freezes over, but I have this very precocious child in the house who wants to meet her grandparents. Once she found out that I know where they are, she’s been relentless. Sean’s son is curious, too. Being a bachelor, you may not be aware that there is nothing that can motivate a man quicker than a kid on a mission.”
Daniel wondered if thrusting a couple of kids into the midst of all that tension would be wise. Then again, the grandchildren could p
rovide exactly what the situation needed—a bridge. They had no axes to grind with Connor and Kathleen Devaney.
“Daniel, you still there?”
“I’m here.”
“What do you think? Should we come up?”
“When did you have in mind?”
“This has dragged on entirely too long already. We need to get this over and done with,” Ryan said flatly. “How’s tomorrow for you?”
Daniel muttered that same rarely used profanity for the second time in less than an hour.
“Not good?” Ryan asked at once.
“It’s just that I have a situation that needs to be resolved by this time tomorrow. It can’t be put off.” But neither could this, he told himself. “Look, I’ll work something out. I’ll make some hotel reservations for all of you. I’ll do everything I can to get this other situation straightened out early in the day and set things up for a meeting between you and the folks for tomorrow night. If not, we’ll do it first thing on Sunday. Will that work? Can you be a little flexible?”
“We’ll make it work,” Ryan said.
“You mentioned Sean and the kids,” Daniel said. “Will Michael come, as well?” He recalled how bitter the youngest of the three had been.
“We’ll all be there,” Ryan said. “Even if I have to butt heads with a few people to make it happen. Our wives, too.”
At Ryan’s words, Daniel’s heart began to beat a little harder. It was the reunion he’d dreamed of from the moment he’d found out about his brothers. For so many years now, even after he’d had his own all-too-brief reunion with them, he’d thought the odds were too long for all of the Devaneys ever getting together peacefully in the same room. To his astonishment, it was actually close to happening now. He intended to make sure that nothing went awry.
“When you get here, meet me at Molly’s. You know the place, right? On the waterfront?”
“I know it,” Ryan said.
“I’ll be there all day, and I’ll be able to tell you what I’ve set up. We’ll probably get together with everyone there, too. I think it might be better if we do this on neutral turf.”
“Makes sense to me. Barging in at the house last time was damned awkward,” Ryan said. “And, Daniel, I really am looking forward to getting to know you, no matter how things turn out with the folks.”
Daniel's Desire Page 15