And since there was no man to look out for her, Ryan figured he’d just step more fully into the family role Thea had always assigned to him anyway.
Ryan thought of Emma Wallace and smiled. If he closed his eyes, he could bring up her scent even though it had been almost two years since he’d seen her. Knowing she was free now had turned him into a monk because he couldn’t even pretend to be interested in another woman when there was the possibility of her.
However, the idea of being happy when Thea wasn’t happy had seemed unfair to Ryan, so he was glad to know that some man had penetrated the shield around Thea’s heart.
Hell, maybe he could even learn something from Morgan Reed about seducing reluctant women. He’d never seen Thea as mad at Angus as she seemed to be at Reed, but it seemed the man was still sharing her bed. Angus had practically lived in the guest room at times. Reed obviously knew how to get around Thea’s anger.
Ryan headed to Gerald and Lydia’s table, where he knew an introduction would be unavoidable.
Chapter 17
After spending a pleasant half hour listening to Ryan Carmichael tell stories about Delilah and her husband Frank, Morgan suddenly noticed Thea had completely disappeared from the dining room. Amy was making another round to fill glasses and only shrugged at Morgan’s questioning look.
Ryan, who hadn’t missed the silent exchange, shook his head and smiled. “You’re pretty connected to the people here for someone who’s only been around a few months,” Ryan observed. “Do you always invest yourself this much in your work?”
Morgan grinned. “I bet you’re a damn good reporter. You’re nosy enough to be one.”
“Thanks—I think,” Ryan replied, his mouth twisting into a half grin. “So what’s the deal with you and Thea? Are you dating? You two tend to watch each other from across the room a lot, but I never saw her talk to you.”
Gerald and Lydia hid their faces behind their drinks. Morgan sighed.
“We’re—friends,” he said, finding the word didn’t feel strange or distant. It was what he hoped they were on some level.
“Friends? That’s interesting—I got a different vibe,” Ryan commented, his face all innocence. “Well, I guess I can go back to trying to get her to date me again then. You won’t mind?”
“You can try,” Morgan said easily, having to work to restrain himself from glaring at the man. “Many men have tried to date her. Isn’t she your cousin?”
“Only by marriage,” Ryan said, laughing. “I always thought she was hot. She has a bad temper though. Angus never really seemed to mind. I suppose that kind of passion translates into lots of strong emotions.”
“I wouldn’t change a thing,” Morgan said sincerely. “Life’s boring without a little spice.”
“I used to think that if Thea would ever let me kiss her, even just once, I’d win her over,” Ryan said, choking on a laugh as Morgan Reed’s gaze darkened. “Of course, I wasn’t willing to risk a bloody nose for trying to find out. I guess that’s the difference between you and me.”
Morgan looked at Gerald and Lydia, who were openly smiling at his discomfort now.
“People gossip too much in this town. I’m going to look for Thea,” he said, rising and heading to the kitchen.
“I like your son, Gerald,” Ryan said, smiling at the older man across the table. “Morgan seems like a good man.”
“He is,” Lydia replied. “His heart is a lot like his father’s.”
Gerald looked at her.
“And my son has the same good taste in women that I do,” he told her, watching yet another blush climb. “What did I say that time? Honestly, Lydia.”
Ryan laughed. “I want to be just like you when I grow up, Gerald. In fact, maybe you can help me out with this little problem I have in California.”
*** *** ***
Morgan found Thea in her office, head down on the desk. He closed the door behind him and secured the lock.
She raised her head and looked at him. “I suppose Ryan found you.”
“Oh yes,” Morgan said, nodding. “Grilled me until I broke, so I came to hide out with you. I bet he’s a hell of a reporter.”
“He is,” Thea supplied with a sniff. “Today he told me he used to be in love with me. I always thought of him as a kid. I guess he’s not. I just never considered him that way. It makes me wonder just how isolated I’ve made myself.”
Morgan took the seat on the other side of the desk, at a safe distance where he might just be able to talk about Thea’s handsome cousin with some neutrality.
“Ryan’s not a kid,” Morgan said easily. “And he genuinely likes you. Maybe it’s not too late if you want to give it a shot with him.”
“You trying to foist me off on another man already?” Thea asked, grabbing another tissue from the desk drawer.
All she could do was cry. She dreaded going back out to the dining area and making conversation.
“I’m trying to be noble—something I don’t do very often,” Morgan told her, thinking it would scare Thea to know how less than noble he was feeling about the matter.
“Ryan is in love with a woman in California, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Thea blew her nose.
“Tom’s marrying Sylvia—finally. I’m glad about that too. I’m still as single as I ever was,” Thea declared.
Morgan laughed. “You are not single. You’re in denial.”
Thea laughed. “Oh, I’m single. Just because we’ve shared a bed a few times doesn’t mean we’re a couple.”
Morgan stood and walked around the desk. Thea stood as well because she didn’t want Morgan towering over her.
“Nice dress. You look very feminine and very touchable in it. I’m sorry you’re wearing it for such a sad reason,” Morgan told her, reaching out a hand and running it down her from shoulder to hip.
Thea shivered a bit at his touch, but told herself it didn’t matter. “Delilah Carmichael was a good woman. We had our differences, but I was happy to take care of her.”
“You’re a good woman too, Thea. And I’m a good man. If Ryan tries anything with you, I’m going to give this town enough gossip to chew on for months. We’ll double your sales again.”
Morgan took her arm, pulling her from behind the desk, while she sighed and grumbled.
“If you didn’t scream so loud during orgasm, I’d prove to you right now just how much of a couple we are,” he told her, enjoying the way her face turned pink. “But I think we’ll save that for a future fight. Timing isn’t right today.”
“I do not make that much noise,” Thea denied, laughing. “Who the hell do you think you are? You don’t own me.”
“No, I don’t own you, but I’m the only man in your life with the right to do this,” Morgan said, bending his mouth to hers with precision.
Thea grabbed his shoulders to push him off, but slid her hands up around him instead. When Morgan finally released her mouth, she was sighing deeply.
“Even if that were true—and I’m not saying it is—you’re leaving in three weeks,” Thea said, her lips tingling from his kiss.
“Yeah. That’s a problem,” Morgan agreed. “And you haven’t forgiven me for hurting you. I’m not so stupid I can’t see that. So we’ll have to see how it goes. Just—just don’t date your cousin. The idea of him touching you makes me crazy.”
Thea laughed, but with more irony than humor.
“Jealousy? I’m mourning the death of my mother-in-law. I’m crying every three seconds. And yes—God yes, I’m still really mad at you. Don’t make me talk about this today. There’s no other man,” she exclaimed, punching his arm. “Damn it Morgan, I don’t even want you.”
He nodded, licking her cinnamon flavored lip gloss from his bottom lip. Spicy. Everything about Thea was spicy. “You had me believing you right up to that last part. I know you want me, Thea.”
“Don’t be so smug. I hate that,” she said, reaching up and pulling his face to hers, slanting her mouth across
his, biting and sucking his lip as a playful reminder of their lovemaking.
They got lost in exploring mouths until Morgan drew back. He couldn’t take much more of kissing her without taking her the way he wanted.
“Is Ryan staying with you tonight?” he asked, dreading the answer.
“Yes,” Thea said, laughing genuinely for the first time in a long while. “You’re welcome to stay over too. But just for sleeping.”
“Okay,” Morgan agreed, “so long as Ryan is the one on the couch.”
Thea laughed and put her arms around Morgan, charmed that he could be so jealous of Ryan. Any woman would be flattered, she told herself. When she opened her eyes, what she saw in his was so elementally male that everything inside her came to life wanting to validate it.
“Oh God, I’m in trouble. I’m starting to like you again.” She laughed because there was nothing else she could do.
Morgan dropped his head to Thea’s shoulder, almost irrationally relieved to be in her life again, to be making her laugh once more.
“Hold on to that thought. Please.”
*** *** ***
That evening the three of them sat at Thea’s kitchen table, sharing a pizza and some beers. Morgan listened to Ryan and Thea talking about Delilah and Frank Carmichael, interspersed with glimpses of Thea’s life with Angus. It was enlightening to him.
Morgan could only hope the evening was therapeutic for Thea.
Later in bed, she sobbed quietly while Morgan held her and stroked her hair. “Delilah was in the nursing home for two years. It wasn’t like I didn’t know this was the going to be the outcome. Gerald said he was a realist. He knew it was bad when she had the heart attack. After that, her mind was never the same.”
“I can only imagine how hard it has to be to watch that happen to someone you care about,” Morgan said softly. “And I know this wasn’t your first time.”
“Angus went faster. He was in a hospice center for the last four months. I was working so hard to keep the restaurant up then, I don’t even remember how hard it was anymore,” Thea told him. “Memories fade, but there is a weariness and a sadness that never goes away.”
She sat up and reached for the tissue box, which was half empty now. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then hugged her knees. Thinking about and dealing with Delilah’s death would have been much harder without Morgan beside her.
“Gerald has borne the heaviest burden with taking care of Delilah. He truly loved her—not like he does Lydia, but in a different way. He courted Delilah for a long time. I’m talking flowers, candy, dates. Delilah wouldn’t marry him because of some weird loyalty thing to Frank. She was always concerned with what people would think about her remarrying. Gerald spent three years trying to get her to marry him. She had just said yes right before the heart attack,” Thea said sadly. “She waited too long to do the right thing, and then it was too late.”
“The one time I saw her, she and Dad talked about getting married as—as soon as she got out. She died believing that would happen. Dad loved her all her could, even until the end,” Morgan said. “I had a sense of that when I saw them together.”
Thea nodded. “Yeah. Your father is one hell of a man. After a year of taking care of Delilah in the nursing home when she didn’t even recognize him half the time, one day he visited Aunt Lydia. She told me they talked for hours. They’ve been inseparable ever since. She was Delilah’s best friend. It embarrassed her greatly to fall in love with your father, but on the other hand—life is short and very hard. Their friends shake their heads, but inside—well, they all understand.”
“It has to be difficult when you’re their age to face your potential death every moment of every waking day,” he said softly, running a hand along her back to her hips.
“Sometimes I feel that way at fifty,” Thea joked, meeting his gaze. “When the doctor told me it was just going to be a matter of weeks for Delilah, I thought of you and how you’d made me feel like a sexy woman again. I realized I was being stupid for saying no to the first real attraction I’d felt in years. Regardless of what happens in the future, I will always be grateful that you reminded me I was still a living, breathing woman in the absolute best way possible.”
“Thea—it’s important to me that you believe I really didn’t think badly of you then. I really didn’t. That first time,” Morgan paused, looking for the right words, “that first time with you was the most amazing sexual experience of my life. It literally was like starting over again. And every time since has just made me more happy to be with you.”
Thea blew her nose a final time and tossed the tissue on her nightstand. She slid down into the bed again until she was draped across Morgan’s body.
“If I promise to be very quiet, do you think we could—you know,” she asked softly.
Morgan laughed as he hugged her. Then he swept a possessive hand across her belly to her cup her breast. “I’ve changed my mind. Scream as loud as you want. I want Ryan to hear how happy you are.”
“Don’t be mean,” she chastised, “put a pillow over my face just before.”
“I can do better than a pillow,” Morgan said, snorting and attacking her neck with his mouth. His kiss absorbed Thea’s moans as they trembled in each other’s arms.
Chapter 18
“You’re leaving on Saturday? This Saturday? I thought you had another week,” Gerald said, pushing his plate away.
Thinking of Morgan leaving made him lose some of his appetite. He was going to miss his son more than he’d imagined he would when Morgan had first arrived in Sedona.
“There’s a time-sensitive case starting next week that my boss wants me to handle personally. I have to go to Boulder City and maybe Reno. It’s going to take me six weeks just to do the investigation. I’m hoping to finish it and come back at the end of October for a couple weeks,” Morgan said, frowning at the thought of not seeing Thea for six weeks, not holding her, not kissing her.
Gerald nodded. “You have to do what you need to do, I suppose. What about Thea? Have you told her you’re leaving early?”
“Not yet,” Morgan said, sighing. “There’s still a lot we haven’t figured out. I do love her, Dad.”
“Everyone knows that,” Gerald said, watching the emotion play across Morgan’s face. “People around here like you, Morgan. Thea likes you. After what you did to her, that was probably harder than enjoying you in bed. I think she has a soft spot for you that she never had for her husband.”
Morgan stood and carried their dinner plates to the sink.
“You really do know a lot about women,” he told his father. “Thea has never said she loves me. I think she does, but I don’t think she wants to.”
“She’s fifty-four, Morgan. You’re the first guy in ten years, and now you’re leaving. Can you blame her for holding back a piece of her heart?” Gerald asked.
“No,” Morgan, said rinsing the plates. “No, I guess not. Hell, I don’t even know if she’s forgiven me or not.”
“If she let you back into her bed, she’s forgiven you,” Gerald said wisely. “Women close down with a man they don’t trust.”
“Thea never holds back, whether it’s anger or love,” Morgan said on a laugh, coming back to the table. “I care about her. What the hell am I supposed to do, Dad?”
Gerald snorted. “Live your life and make your own decisions. It’s between you and Thea. I have my own problems. Lydia won’t marry me. What is with these women who don’t want to commit?”
Morgan burst out laughing. “So the local Don Juan wants to settle down, but the woman who has caught his fancy won’t. Maybe your timing’s off. You were all but engaged to someone else the whole time you were sleeping with her for the last year. I imagine she needs to adjust to the new situation between you.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t understand it,” Gerald said. “I just don’t like it. I’m tired of sleeping alone more often than not. If I kick off in my bed, I’d rather it be next to Lydia.”
“You think she needs to be courted—after all this time?” Gerald asked, biting his lip in thought.
“Probably,” Morgan said, laughing. “Lydia loves you. She just doesn’t want to look bad to her friends or yours by being too eager. Court her. Openly. Publicly. You’ll be engaged by the time I get back in October.”
“Sedona agrees with you, Morgan,” Gerald said as he headed to bed alone. “Thea’s not the only one who’s going to miss you when you’re gone.”
Morgan sat alone at the kitchen table after his father went to bed, thinking and wondering how he could possibly make it all work out.
*** *** ***
By Thursday, Morgan couldn’t put off telling Thea any longer. It was three o’clock, the lunch rush had passed, and they were sitting in a booth sharing a plate of fries.
“I have a present for you,” Morgan told her, pulling a paper out of his pocket and passing it across the table.
Thea unfolded the paper and held it out where she could mostly focus on it. She kept her reading glasses by the cash register, but it didn’t take much to see it was a recipe. It took less to know what recipe it was.
“This is your pasta sauce,” she said sadly. “I guess this means you’re leaving soon.”
“Pete already knows how to make it. He’s doing the cooking tomorrow night and I’m assisting. You’ll be fine after I’m gone,” Morgan told her.
“By that, you mean that pasta night will be possible without you,” Thea concluded. “I appreciate this Morgan. You’ve helped me move the restaurant from the red into the black with just this one idea.”
“I wanted to help you succeed, Thea. You work hard and you deserve it,” Morgan told her.
“Just think, a few weeks ago I thought you were my enemy, and here you turned out to be my rescuer,” she joked, hoping it hid her sinking heart. “But you never said—when exactly are you leaving?”
The Right Thing Page 17