Portia pursed her lips. The pistol shook in her fist.
It had been a guess. A hunch. But judging from her silence, it was a good one. “You didn’t hire him to kill only Honey, did you? You wanted him to make the twins go away, too.”
“I was Miss Texas. I could have had any man. Do you know what I gave up to have this life?”
Reed took a step toward her. If he could distract her, manage to get close enough, maybe he could take the gun away. Maybe he could stop her from hurting anyone. “Crabb is going to talk. He’s going to give the police your name. If you turn yourself in, things won’t be so bad. No one has been killed. The D.A. will go easy.”
“Do you know how humiliating it is to have your husband all over town with one young thing or another? And then to have him get one pregnant? With twins?”
Reed took another step. Then another. His whole body hummed. He could feel Josie behind him. Standing strong between the baby and Portia. Watching him. He could see every detail of the gun in Portia’s hand. A weapon that could steal all he’d been searching for in the space of a heartbeat, all Josie had given him, all he’d discovered in himself.
“When he told me I had to raise the brats, raise them so they could take a slice of my money…” Portia shook her head. “Too much. Too much. And now you want a piece of what’s mine, too?”
“I don’t want a piece of anything, Portia.”
“Everyone wants a piece. You want a piece. The babies…they want two pieces. And if I don’t shut my mouth and do what Teddy says, I don’t get any piece at all.”
“So that’s why you hired Crabb to kill Troy and his sister.” Reed inched forward. He wanted her to look at him, focus on him. Turn the gun on him and forget about Troy and Josie and Esme.
Portia didn’t waver. “Crabb wasn’t as good as he bragged he was. But that’s not surprising for these parts, is it? I mean, none of the men around here are as good as they like to think. Not the ones I’ve known. Only a woman can really do what needs to be done.”
Reed’s pulse thundered in his ears. He took another step. There was too much carpet left between them. Too much space. “You don’t want to do this, Portia.”
“Oh, I do.” Her arm moved.
Reed leaped. His body slammed into Portia, and the gun exploded in his ears.
JOSIE’S TEARS STARTED flowing the moment Reed’s eyes fluttered open.
He lay propped in the hospital bed, an IV dripping who knew what into his bloodstream. She expected him to look pale and weak, as Missy had after the attack. Even though the bullet Portia fired hadn’t hit any organs, it had left a gash in his side that had cost him a lot of blood and required many stitches to close. But he appeared as strong and gorgeous as ever. In fact, he looked as if he could take on the world.
“What are you crying about? I’m the one who was shot.”
She smiled through her tears. Leave it to him to tease her first thing. Give him another few minutes and he’d no doubt be making suggestive comments. “I thought you were dead.”
“Me, too.” He tried to sit up. Flinching with pain, he relaxed back into the bed. “Is everyone okay? Troy?”
“He’s fine. Esme, too. And Portia is in custody. You saved us, you know. You saved all our lives.”
“I done good, didn’t I?”
Her heart squeezed deep in her chest. “You sure did.”
“You know what my secret was?”
“What?”
“I wasn’t worried about dying. I was far more worried about losing you.” He lifted his hand from the bed.
She took it in hers, their fingers joining, careful to avoid the IV needle. Touching him felt so right. As it had from the beginning. Only, now she no longer fought her feelings. Now her feelings had long since won.
He looked down at their entwined fingers. “Remember when I said I didn’t need you to hold my hand?”
“Yeah.”
“I was wrong. I do. I need that more than anything.”
The room wavered, watery through her tears. “Good. Because I’m going to do it whether you want me to or not.”
He chuckled, a beautiful sound. “That’s the Josie I know.”
She leaned over him. Her hair swung down, brushing his cheeks, forming a curtain around their faces. She brushed his lips with hers. The touch was light, gentle, but it carried with it a wallop of feeling.
“I’m not broken, you know. At least my lips aren’t.”
She laughed and stood straight. “We’ll see what the doctor says before we let loose.” A memory flashed through her mind. “I almost forgot. I talked to that child advocate from Georgia, Samantha Corely. She’s Honey’s childhood friend, the one whose name you were trying to remember. And she and the police chief, John Wise, found Honey.”
“Is she…”
“She’s in rough shape, but she’s alive. And Sam said she was going to be okay.”
“Thank God.”
Her sentiments exactly. “You know, after all I’ve learned about Honey, I feel like I know her better than most people. I’m looking forward to actually meeting her.”
“You’ll like her. She’s sweet. And she likes children almost as much as you do.”
Josie couldn’t help but smile at that. She’d known since she’d first laid eyes on Troy that he had a mother who loved him. She just hoped Honey was able to raise the twins without interference. “Sam said Honey is planning to fight the judge for the babies’ custody.”
“Good. If I can get out of this place, maybe we can do something to help.” As if to prove his point, he levered himself up on his elbows, grimacing with the effort.
“You can start helping Honey by lying back in bed and resting.” She splayed a hand on the center of his chest and gently pressed him back into the bed. “Keep that up and you’ll never get out of here.”
“Did Sam tell you anything else? How is the baby girl?”
“She’s with Honey. She sounds adorable. Sam said her name is Emmie.”
A grin spread over his lips. “Troy and Emmie.”
“Does that mean something?”
“Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith. Really, Josie. If we’re going to be spending serious time together once we get back to San Francisco, you’re going to have to bone up on your Dallas Cowboys football trivia.”
The thought of spending serious time together made her heart beat a little faster. She arched her eyebrows and returned his cocky grin. “Really? You have a lot more studying to do than I do.”
“How’s that?”
“The Packers have a longer history. More trivia.”
“I thought the answer to every Green Bay Packer question was Brett Favre.”
“Oh, you have a lot to learn.”
“Well, I can’t wait for you to teach me.”
Josie’s chest grew tight, but not from fear or stress or mistrust. This time she was filled with so much happiness, she didn’t have room inside to accommodate it all.
There were only a couple more things hanging on her mind. “Why do you think Esme believed the judge was your father? A picture?”
“That, and she might be right about him buying my mother the ranch. From all appearances, they were an item. He might have wanted to have her close by. More convenient that way. Who knows?”
“Still, it doesn’t seem like much to go by.”
“I can’t pretend to know everything Esme was thinking, but I know my mother, and I’m sure she told a convincing story.”
Josie still didn’t understand. “Why would your mother lie?”
He shrugged a shoulder, the movement making him flinch in pain “It would have made her feel important. I’m sure she wished I was the judge’s son. It would have given her a piece of the Wexler fortune and prestige.”
She hated to bring the last thing up, but she knew she had to. “Speaking of the judge…”
The grin fell from Reed’s lips. “What about him?”
“Are you going to have a test done?”
<
br /> “No.”
“You don’t even want to know?”
“He’s not my father. I wish he was, because that would mean he has no claim on Troy and Emmie, but he’s not.”
She frowned. He seemed so sure. “How do you know?”
“It’s not the sort of thing my mother would have kept secret. Remember, she was a lot like Portia.” He squeezed her fingers in his. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned through all of this, it’s that genetics isn’t the important thing when it comes to family.”
“What’s the important thing?”
“Love. I love you, Josie Renata Dionne.”
A warm tingle spread over Josie’s skin and centered in her chest. Before she met Reed, she’d almost given up on love. It seemed too difficult. Too uncontrollable. Impossible to trust. She’d decided to get used to doing without a romance, to skip that step and move right to having a baby.
Maybe she was missing out. Maybe her brother had been right.
Now she needed to return Troy to his mother. But she couldn’t be too sad. She’d had her faith in love restored. And maybe down the road she would get everything on her list. Everything she truly wanted. “I love you, too, Reed Tanner.”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed each finger. “I know all of this has happened way too fast. We haven’t known each other long, and you haven’t always thought that much of me.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Only because I didn’t know you.”
“Okay, then promise me this. When we go back to San Francisco, let’s spend time getting to know each other. A lot of time. Every day.”
“That’s a deal.” Josie’s heart danced. She felt dizzy, giddy and downright drunk. She leaned her head down and claimed his lips in a kiss.
And she didn’t hold back.
Epilogue
Reed had underestimated how relieved he would be to see Honey alive and well, though he would have preferred their reunion had happened somewhere else.
He engulfed her in a hug, trying to ignore the tension buzzing in the air around them. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Honey nodded. Pulling back from the hug, she gave him a little smile. “Thank you for taking care of Troy. I knew I could count on you to keep him safe.”
Funny—she’d known it when he hadn’t known it himself. “I had help. Someone I want you to meet.”
He nodded to John Wise and Sam Corely, who had walked into the law-office lobby behind Honey. A skinny man in a suit, who Reed presumed was Honey’s lawyer, tagged along behind.
“Nice to see you, Tanner,” Wise said. He offered his hand.
Reed gripped his hand firmly and shook. “I’m glad circumstances are a little better than the last time we met.”
Wise shifted a nervous glance at the conference-room door. “Let’s hope circumstances keep improving.”
So the cop…check that…police chief of Honey’s hometown, Butterville, Georgia, was as apprehensive about this meeting as he was. Next to him, Honey fidgeted, twining her fingers together and shifting her feet on the marble floor. Behind her, Sam rubbed her hand over the pink bundle she held to her shoulder.
Reed grinned despite the tension. “Is this…”
Honey and Sam beamed in tandem. Honey gestured to the baby. “Reed, meet my daughter, Emmie.”
He stepped around Samantha and peered over her shoulder. “Hello, Emmie.”
The little face was delicate and angelic, yet she had a strength about her that made Reed smile. Her mouth stretched into a giant yawn.
In the hospital he’d gotten a chance to talk to Sam and John on the phone, and they’d told him Emmie and Honey had been through a lot. He couldn’t help but wonder what challenges they’d faced. And what further challenges all of them would have to deal with once they walked through that conference-room door.
“You have Troy?” Honey asked.
Reed motioned to the conference room. “He’s inside, along with that special person I want you to meet.”
He led Honey, Sam, John and the lawyer into the conference room.
The judge sat at one side of the huge conference table, his lawyers flanking him. Glaring at Honey, he crossed his arms over his chest.
Honey looked straight ahead.
Smart woman. Reed focused on the far side of the room.
Josie sat in a high-backed conference chair. A clean diaper thrown over one shoulder, she held Troy against her heart and patted his back. When she spotted the group coming toward her, she broke into a tense smile.
Honey raced for Josie and Troy and covered her baby boy’s face in kisses.
Reed introduced them. After much oohing and aahing, and Honey’s tears over being reunited with Troy, Reed slipped an arm around Josie. “If you want to thank someone for taking care of Troy and keeping him safe, Honey, this is who you need to talk to. I couldn’t have done it without her—found out who was trying to hurt him or taken care of a baby. Hell, I didn’t even know I had it in me.”
“Thank you.” Honey gave Josie a hug. “He’s a good guy.”
“I know.” Josie nodded. She nodded toward the baby, now lifting his head shakily from her shoulder and looking at all the people in the room with googly eyes. “Do you want to hold him?”
Honey patted her arm. “You can for now. I can tell you want to. It’s okay.”
Josie mouthed a thank-you, tears pooling in her eyes.
Reed shifted his feet on the low carpet. It was going to be a tough day. No matter how this meeting turned out, Josie and he would have to say goodbye to Troy. The best they could hope for was that he’d go home with Honey for good, with no more threat from the judge.
A prospect that didn’t seem likely.
“Ticktock. Ticktock,” the judge called out.
The judge’s lawyer, who had come to Reed’s ranch what seemed like forever ago among the television news cameras, checked his watch and stood. “If everyone will take a seat, we need to get started.”
They shuffled into seats. Honey placed her baby bag in the chair beside her.
“As you all know,” the lawyer droned, “we’re here to see if we can reach an agreement about the custody of the children known as Troy James Dawson and Emmie Samantha Dawson. My client has been very patient in this matter, but he is eager to have contact with his twins.”
A knock sounded on the door. It opened, and Jimmy stepped inside. “Sorry to interrupt, but I—”
“What are you doing here?” the judge asked in a loud voice.
“Jimmy!” Honey sprang from her seat and catapulted across the room. Even from this angle, Reed could see tears streaming down her cheeks. She hugged Jimmy and gave him a big smack on the lips.
The judge scoffed. “This is outrageous. We’re in the middle of a meeting here. Sit down.”
If Honey noticed the judge, she didn’t react. When the kiss ended, she peered into Jimmy’s eyes. “Oh, Jimmy. All those nights when I thought I was a goner, I kept seeing your face. Of all the people I wished I could see one last time before I died, I wanted to see you the most. I have something I need to tell you.”
Jimmy lifted a hand. He wiped the tears from her cheek with gentle fingers, then cupped her face as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“I love you, Jimmy.”
He looked at her as if he was afraid to believe her words.
“It’s true. I know I always said you were my friend, my buddy. But you’re more than that. I just didn’t see it. I was so stupid.”
“You love me?”
“With all my heart. If you’ll have me.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you.”
“Blah, blah, blah,” the judge boomed. “All these hearts and flowers are real nice, but you’re wasting my lawyers’ time. Do you have any idea how much they charge? For God’s sake, sit down.”
Honey wrinkled her nose at the judge. Taking Jimmy’s hand, she led him to t
he chair next to hers. She removed the baby bag and set it on the floor.
Jimmy looked over at Reed and gave him a civil nod.
Reed returned the gesture. So miracles did happen.
“Now, where were we?” the lawyer said.
“We were getting my kids,” the judge snapped.
Reed leaned back in his chair. A headache pounded at the back of his neck. His side and chest ached, and he knew the pain wasn’t just from his still-healing injury. He didn’t want to listen to one word. Didn’t want to sit here one more second. He thrust his chair back from the table and stood.
The judge made a growling sound low in his chest. “What do you think you’re doing, Tanner?”
Reed leveled a look at the judge. “The baby needs changing. Do you think you’re up to it, Judge?”
A muscle twitched in the judge’s cheek.
“Didn’t think so.”
Honey stood. “I can—”
Reed held up a hand. “It’s okay. I’ll get it. One last time?” He’d just learned how to perform the procedure and wasn’t ready to give up his new skill yet.
Honey gave him an understanding smile. “Knock yourself out.”
He held out his hands, and Josie peeled Troy off her shoulder. Shutting out the twinge from his still-healing bullet wound, he carried the baby to a small sofa behind Honey and Jimmy. Josie followed with the baby bag she’d packed.
Doing his best to ignore the droning voice of the judge’s lawyer, Reed worked as a team with Josie. She laid down the changing pad, and he placed the baby on top. He took off the dirty diaper while she unfolded a clean one and handed him the package of wipes. Strange. Just a short time ago, he would have walked across coals to avoid changing a baby’s diaper. Now he was going to miss it. He wiped Troy’s little bottom for the last time.
“Oh my God.” Jimmy pushed back his chair and sprang to his feet. He stepped over to the sofa where Reed and Josie were changing Troy and knelt next to the baby.
Honey followed. “What is it?”
“For the love of…” The judge exploded. “What’s going on around here? Can’t we get through a simple meeting?”
Jimmy extended a finger and pointed to a small darkened patch on the baby’s left hip. He looked up at Honey and stuttered, as if he couldn’t find the words he wanted to say.
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