“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry I missed it all.”
“Me, too. Best to put it in the past, to dive into the present.”
“The present. Returning home without you.”
She touched his shirt collar. “I’m not lost for good. I’ll return for visits.”
“And bring Brett and Tess?”
“We’ll see.”
Lowell hugged her close. “If he’s the one, don’t blow it.”
She sighed hard. “Yes, Dad.”
“And just for the record.”
“Yes, Dad?”
“I had that special kind of love for your mother. It was sweet and wonderful. I’m afraid I died inside when she died, deliberately made work my focus to shut out the pain. I was too stupid to realize that I was supposed to carry on with you, keep the family love going.”
“It isn’t too late.”
“It’s very big of you to say that. Good night now.” With a pat to her head, he took the stairs.
It wasn’t until an hour later when the house was quiet that Brett coaxed Amanda out to the porch swing. He wasted no time winding an arm around her shoulders. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”
“We were only apart a day.”
“More like thirty-six hours. Hmm, to think you were engaged behind my back.”
She smacked his chest. “I broke it off before I left.”
He took her hand and kissed it. “I only wish you’d leveled with me completely from the beginning.”
“I needed time to sort out my feelings. If Dad had come rushing in too soon, who knows what I would have done.”
“Gone back to that preppy jerk?”
“Trevor’s not so bad. And yes, I may have gone back to him. You see, I did have a fear of being cut off from my legacy, losing my father’s—albeit imperfect—affection. My whole life was wrapped up in being a socialite. I didn’t know if I could survive without the Pierpont name and money.”
“So can you forgive me for my rash assumptions about your purpose in town?”
“Boy, can you bring up my temper.” She shook her head in awe. “But once I calmed down, I put myself in your place, even pretended I was Tess’s parent. Then it all became clear. Of course you would be on guard against snoops. One slipup could spoil Tess’s privacy. Her whole life.”
“I’ve lived in fear so long I guess I went a little crazy,” Brett admitted. “But the scars from my years with Sarita, battling her bid for fame, may never heal.”
“How on earth did a stable man like you get involved with her?”
“In short, she changed from the girl I fell for. We were high school sweethearts. Hollywood High. She grew up in a modest home. Her parents were servants to the stars. After all the stunts they’d witnessed from employers, they were thrilled that Sarita had found someone like me, with a calling outside showbiz. And Sarita seemed satisfied to be marrying a doctor who would treat the stars for medical ailments.
“After my residency I settled into a Hollywood clinic, began making respectable money. We were invited to some parties by patients, met famous people. We both enjoyed that, I admit. Tess was born and life was satisfying. Then one day Sarita ran into someone at a party who thought Tess should audition for a movie role. In Wizards and Wands. Nothing was ever the same again. Tessa was cast in that movie and it was a huge hit. Bit by bit Sarita was drawn into that Hollywood madness. She got Tess an agent, a manager. Eventually her life shifted to the fast lane with Tess as her ticket. By the time of her accident, I was fed up with the whole Hollywood scene, with treating spoiled people. And Tess was acting up in a way that wasn’t acceptable. Longing for normalcy I decided to pull up stakes for good and head for Fairlane to work with my old pal Jack. The only thing I brought along from that old life was my Corvette. It’s inconvenient at times, but I love it.”
“You’ve been right to try and protect Tess, Brett, even from the likes of me. Our relationship was new. I expected too much. I know that now. It was just that you’d given me my first real taste of love. I wanted to speed our relationship at any cost. It just crushed me in the end, to think you’d ever suspect I’d hurt Tess.”
“I realize now that it won’t hurt to loosen the strings on Tess a bit. I have been too protective. And I should learn to trust the people I like best a little more. My heart assured me that you could never harm us but my psyche wasn’t as swift.” He tightened his arm around her. “So, are we all good again?”
“We’re all good.”
“I do love you so very much.” He leaned over her and kissed her tenderly. As his hunger increased, so did his pressure. He would have taken things a step further if he hadn’t felt a new kind of pressure on the swing. He broke free to discover it was Tess, a pink cloud in a frilly little nightie.
“Told you, Daddy. Told you she should land on top of you.”
Amanda smothered a laugh. “Why?”
The pixie insinuated herself between them. “’Cause then you can’t get away anymore, Mandy. You like to run away too much.”
“I promise to never run away again.”
With a beautiful smile, Tess patted her knee. Then she turned to Brett. “Are we getting married pretty soon?”
“I hope so! For me it’s just a matter of reserving the church.”
A joyful Amanda squeezed Brett’s hand. “You in a hurry, silly girl?”
“Yes. Then Daddy can buy us a house like Hailey’s. And we can wear those undies on our heads.”
“What!” Brett nearly fell off the swing.
“I have some lacy lingerie that your daughter likes to wear on her head.”
“Like Della does for church.”
“Huh?”
Amanda patted his hand. “She thinks the lace looks like a veil. It’s a long story.”
“I don’t think I want to know.”
“Right,” Amanda agreed. “It’s really mommy territory. Like nail polish and buzzy-bee telephones.”
“I would like a phone,” Tess decided. “Maybe Lowell will get me one. He’ll be my grandpa.”
Brett set her down on the porch. “That’s it. Go back to bed.”
“I haven’t been to bed yet.”
“Then go now. Scoot.”
Tess popped back inside the house. Brett took Amanda back in his arms. “Now, where were we?” He began to kiss her again. This time for a good sixty seconds. Beatrice was the next to interrupt them as she moseyed up the walk.
“Oh! Excuse me!”
Brett leaned back again. “You don’t look sorry in a convincing way.”
Beatrice didn’t argue the point. “I find your father very attractive, Mandy. And his life at the newspaper most intriguing. Do you suppose he might find my writing talent intriguing?”
“There’s a good chance,” Amanda said politely.
“Oh, my, oh, gracious.”
Brett lolled his head at Amanda. “Families.”
She sighed. “Can’t escape ’em.”
“Or maybe we can.”
Popping to his feet he pulled Amanda along with him. “Bea, will you check on Tess?”
“Of course.”
He gave Amanda’s hand a tug. “We’re going for a drive in my little red Corvette.”
Beatrice was taken aback. “Going far?”
Dipping down, he brushed Amanda’s lips. “Just far enough.”
ISBN: 978-1-4603-6902-9
FLIRTING WITH TROUBLE
Copyright © 2004 by Mary Schultz.
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