The Case of the Missing Secretary

by Diana Palmer

  He kissed her fingers. “Isn’t it? All right.” He sighed. “I’ll work on it.”

  She smiled and reached up to kiss his square chin. “Good night, Logan.”

  “Good night.”

  The next morning, she started right out on her quest to find Tansy. But complications erupted before she’d even begun. Tess couldn’t come in, so the office was shorthanded. And when she tried to find Tansy, the trail led to a medical center on the outskirts of Houston. To top off the confusion, Emmett and his three children came careening into the office just before Logan was due to pick up Kit.

  “Emmett said we must come and see you, Kit.” Amy grinned. Polk and Guy grouped around her as well, while a smug Emmett stood beside the desk with his white Stetson in hand, looking rather elegant in a gray business suit. The children were less presentable, though. Amy was wearing a stained and wrinkled dress. The boys had on jeans with holes at the knees and their hair needed washing.

  “What are you doing here?” Kit asked, aghast.

  “We came to see Tansy. She said we were welcome anytime,” he added, his pale green eyes twinkling in his lean face, “and I’m in town for a rodeo. We thought the kids could stay with her while I work.” He frowned. “But she’s not at home.”

  “I’m looking for her,” Kit said, without mentioning the medical center. She was reasonably certain that Logan didn’t know about it, either, and until she found out what the problem was, she couldn’t tell him. She didn’t want him worried until there was something definite to worry about. Tansy might, after all, just be getting a checkup.

  “She’s done another flit, has she?” Emmett mused, pursing his firm lips.

  “Looks like it. Oh, there’s Logan!”

  Logan came in the door, saw Emmett and the kids and began scowling.

  “Hi, Cuz,” Emmett said pleasantly. He rammed his hands into his pockets. “We came to stay with Tansy, but she isn’t home.”

  “Don’t expect to stay with me,” Logan said with no hint of welcome. “I don’t have room for you.”

  “Logan!” Kit exclaimed.

  “Don’t mind him,” Emmett said imperturbably, smiling at Kit. “He’s only jealous because he hasn’t got any kids. Thought any more about marrying me, sweet thing?”

  “She’s marrying me,” Logan said with a violent glare. He moved to Kit’s side and caught her close. His sheer size was intimidating even without the black scowl he gave Emmett. “So get any thoughts in that direction right out of your mind.”

  “I was afraid it might come down to this.” Emmett grimaced. “Ever since those kids overheard you two in the bathroom, I’ve expected to hear wedding bells.”

  Kit blushed and Logan glared at the grinning, innocent-looking children.

  “Well, I’ve got to get signed up. What am I going to do with the kids?” Emmett groaned. “I was counting on being able to leave them with Tansy for the afternoon.”

  “Can’t you take them with you?” Kit asked.

  Emmett looked hunted, the kids snickered. “I did that last time I rode in a rodeo here. I’m afraid too many people remember them.”

  “I can’t imagine why,” Logan muttered darkly. “After all, having longhorn cattle standing in the middle of main street must be a common occurrence. Not to mention the two calves that invaded the local French boutique and tried on one of the designer dresses…”

  Kit hid a smile. Emmett shrugged.

  “Kids will be kids,” he said, smiling fondly at his brood.

  “Those aren’t kids,” Logan replied. “They’re a commando group!”

  “Thanks, Cousin Logan!” Guy said with a grin.

  “I have to leave them somewhere,” Emmett repeated.

  “Don’t look at me,” Logan said tautly. “I’m taking Kit to get a marriage license.”

  Emmett shrugged and looked so lost that Logan gave in. “All right. I know where we can leave them,” he said, without mentioning that he was going to volunteer poor Melody. It was probably a terrible mistake, but there really wasn’t anyone else available. Besides, Emmett had to face her sooner or later, and she had to face him. Today was a good time. “Come on.”

  “Logan…!” Kit protested squeakily.

  “Keep quiet,” he said under his breath, “or we’ll get landed with them!”

  Kit knew when to give up. She followed him out the door with the rest of them, waving discreetly to Doris as she left.

  Melody was the only one left in Logan’s office, with Harriet in the hospital and Margo gone permanently. She was bent over the computer, her long honey-streaked hair hanging down around her flushed face, wearing a trim beige suit that was stained with coffee and newsprint from the Wall Street Journal.

  “May I help you…?” she began, lifting soft brown eyes with a smile. She saw Emmett and the world tilted on its axis. Her expression was a study in quiet shock.

  Emmett’s normally pleasant, easygoing personality went into eclipse. He glared at her. He turned and stared furiously at Logan. “What the hell do you mean, bringing me here when she’s in residence?” he demanded.

  Melody swallowed, averting her eyes. “I work here,” she said stiffly.

  “You never said she was going to be permanent,” Emmett told Logan, and there was frightening impact in those glittery green eyes when he turned to the other man. “What a hell of a relation you turned out to be, you damned turncoat!”

  Logan glowered at him. “This is my office,” Logan reminded him. “She’s bright and capable, and I appreciate her talent.”

  “Her talent for what?” Emmett asked sarcastically.

  “That isn’t fair,” Melody cried, glaring at him out of a white face. “It isn’t fair at all! I had nothing to do with your divorce!”

  “Your brother eloped with my wife!” he said through his teeth. “Do you think I can stand the sight of you?”

  So that was it. No one had told her why Emmett clammed up when Melody’s name was mentioned, but now she knew. Kit felt a surge of sympathy for Melody, who looked as if Emmett had struck her.

  “It’s hardly Melody’s fault,” Logan pointed out.

  “Did our mother leave because of you, lady?” Amy asked.

  “No!” Melody protested, coloring.

  “But it was your brother who took her away!” Guy muttered.

  “All of you, shut up,” Kit said, intervening. She glared at Emmett, a little intimidated by that hard, unyielding countenance but determined to protect Melody. “No human being is responsible for the acts of another. It’s terribly unfair of you to blame Melody for something her brother did.”

  Emmett didn’t say another word. He glared at Melody. “I won’t leave my babies with that woman.”

  “Who asked you to?” Melody asked through numb lips.

  “Let’s go, kids. You can come with me.”

  “I don’t want to go to the arena,” Polk muttered. “I hate cattle.”

  “You’re the son of a rancher,” Emmett began.

  “I like computers, not cows.” Polk went to the desk and stood beside Melody, refusing to budge. “I want to stay here.”

  “There’s a television,” Amy enthused, walking to the corner of the waiting room. She switched channels, “Look, Sesame Street!” She turned it up and sat down.

  Guy glared at his brother and sister. “Turncoats. I’ll go with you, Dad,” he said, standing beside his father.

  “That’s my boy,” Emmett said. He gave Melody a furious scowl. “Amy, Polk, let’s go!”

  Melody wanted to protest, but she could see that it wouldn’t do any good. Emmett had despised her ever since he’d discovered her with his wife, Adell, and her brother Randy. She’d helped them pack and was standing with them while they caught a plane. There had been a terrible scene. Adell had cursed Emmett, and Emmett had cursed Randy and Adell and Melody roundly, for everyone to hear. It had been terribly embarrassing, especially for eighteen-year-old Melody.

  She’d never forgotten her humiliation
or her fear of Emmett, whose temper was legendary locally. He’d beaten Randy to a pulp before he’d stormed off, leaving Adell and Melody to patch up the cuts.

  Melody hadn’t seen him since, and that was deliberate. She’d moved to Houston to get clear out of his orbit. She’d taken the job with Logan because she knew Logan and Emmett never got along and didn’t ever see each other. What a shocking development this was, to find Emmett here.

  Amy and Polk rejoined their father. They looked dangerously vindictive.

  “You’ll be sorry, Emmett,” Amy said sweetly. “I like Big Bird.”

  “You can learn to like cattle. Both of you. Let’s go.”

  Emmett didn’t put his foot down often. When he did, all three kids snapped to attention and did what was expected of them.

  Emmett glared at Melody. “How long are you going to work here?” he demanded.

  “For as long as she likes,” Logan told him, getting between them. “It’s no concern of yours. You live in San Antonio. Remember?”

  “You hired her because of me,” Emmett accused.

  “I hired her because Tansy asked me to,” Logan replied. “She’s kin to us, you might remember, in a remote way. She was alone in Houston and needed work. I hired her.” He looked at Melody and smiled reassuringly. “As it happens, I’m glad I did. She’s an asset. Not up to Kit’s record yet, but she’s good.”

  “Words of praise from you?” Kit gasped. “I’ll faint.”

  “Not yet,” Logan chuckled. “I want your signature on a marriage license first.”

  Melody was frozen at her desk. The telephone rang and she answered it, capably if a little unsteadily.

  “It’s for you, Mr. Deverell,” she told Logan. “Mr. James.”

  “Damn,” Logan muttered. “I’ll have to take it, Kit.”

  “That’s all right.”

  He caught her hand. “Come on. I won’t say anything you can’t hear.” He led her into the office and closed the door. A minute later, Melody heard him pick up and transferred the call.

  Emmett was still glaring at her. She ignored him and went back to work, forcing her mind to the job at hand.

  But her hands were trembling. Amy, who never liked other people, saw that and shyly approached Melody. “She’s trembling,” she said softly. She studied Melody’s averted face and caught her breath. She glared at her father. “You made her cry, Emmett!”

  “I’m not crying,” Melody muttered, wiping her wet cheeks.

  “But you are!” Amy protested. “Oh, you mustn’t. Emmett didn’t mean it. Did you, Emmett?”

  “She helped your mother run away,” Emmett said icily.

  “That’s right,” Guy replied. “Come back here, Amy.”

  “But—”

  Emmett’s temper overflowed. “Damn it, I said let’s go!” he shouted, his green eyes flashing at Amy.

  Amy had never seen her parent so enraged. She obeyed him at once, a little afraid of the fierceness in his lean face.

  Melody didn’t look up as the door opened and then closed. She rested her hands on the computer keyboard and drew in deep breaths as she fought for control. She felt sick all over. The confrontation had been totally unexpected and shattering.

  Logan and Kit came back out minutes later. By then, Melody was pale but composed.

  “Mr. Deverell left,” she told Logan.

  “You know how bitter he is about Adell,” Logan said gently. “Don’t let him upset you. He’ll be back on his way to San Antonio in a few days and you won’t have to see him again. At any rate, it’s unlikely that he’ll come to the office anymore.”

  “Good,” Melody said stiffly.

  “He’s a bitter man,” Logan said. “I’m sorry he took it out on you. But it won’t happen again.”

  “It’s all right,” Melody said. “Honestly.”

  “You’re doing a good job,” Logan told her. “I hope you’ll stay.”

  “So do I,” Kit agreed. “Even when we get married, I won’t be coming back here to work. You’re stuck.”

  Melody managed a laugh. “Then I’m glad. I enjoy the job. It’s very interesting.” She glanced at the door and gnawed her lower lip. “If you’re sure that he won’t be back.”

  “I’ll guarantee it,” Logan promised. “I’ll be back about two. Can you cope?”

  “Yes, sir,” Melody promised him.

  He smiled, and escorted Kit out the door.

  “Emmett is a…” she began hotly.

  “Yes,” he said, leading her to the elevator. “I’ve never seen him be so savage with anyone like that,” he added. “Least of all someone as young as Melody. My God, what a temper!”

  “He takes after the rest of the Deverells,” she said dryly.

  He glared at her. “I don’t pick on young women.”

  Her eyebrows raised over stark open eyes. “What do you think I was when I came to work for you, you slave-driving tyrant?”

  “I am not a tyrant,” he said, pushing the down button hard. “I was terrific to work for.”

  “When?”

  He narrowed his eyes as he studied her. “Do you want to marry me or not?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Then be nice to me.”

  She moved close, glancing down the deserted hall. “How nice do I have to be?” she whispered, and suddenly plastered herself against his big body.

  He chuckled and pushed her away. “Not that nice,” he told her. “Not until it’s legal, anyway. From now on, we’re doing it by the book.”

  “Party pooper.”

  “All right, if you really want to make love on the floor of the elevator…!”

  “No!”

  He laughed delightedly as she backed away from him. “Well, what did you expect? I’m pretty vulnerable with you.”

  “So I noticed.” She fanned herself with her hand. “And you a respectable stockbroker, too.”

  “I’m an engaged man. Damn this sluggish elevator…!”

  The door opened finally, and a broody, muttering Emmett and three red-faced children stared out of it at Kit and Logan.

  “Now what?” Logan asked curtly.

  “Big Bird,” Emmett said through his teeth.

  “What?”

  “She incited them.” He gestured toward the other two. “They’re in it all together. They stood in the middle of the sidewalk and told God and the rest of the world that I was stunting their natural development by denying them educational programming. Then,” he added viciously, “they overturned a fajita stand and dumped salsa on a fat lady.”

  Kit leaned against the wall, laughing so hard that she could barely stand.

  “Well, you needn’t look at me,” Logan told his furious cousin. “I’m not keeping them for you. And if I were you, I wouldn’t go near Melody. She’ll probably throw a keyboard at you if you so much as stick your head in the door!”

  “I’m not stupid,” Emmett replied. “Go on,” he told the kids. “I hope she stuffs you into a drawer!”

  “I don’t want to go!” Guy muttered. “She stole our mother!”

  “This isn’t the time or the place,” Logan said. “Go on, Guy. Try not to upset Melody anymore, if you please. Your father’s done a great job on her nerves already.”

  “All right,” Guy muttered. He glanced back at his father. “But I’m on your side, Dad.”

  “I know that,” Emmett replied quietly. “Go on. Don’t…give her any trouble.” He shrugged. “I guess I was pretty obnoxious.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Logan said as he got into the elevator with Kit and a subdued Emmett. “She’s terrified of you, couldn’t you tell? Two years have passed since you beat her brother to his knees and verbally assaulted her, and she still starts shaking the minute she sees you. Quite a feat, cousin,” he added venomously, watching Emmett shift his eyes. “You didn’t use to stoop to terrorizing children.”

  “She isn’t a child,” Emmett said stiffly.

  “But she is. She’s barely t
wenty,” Kit said quietly. “And she isn’t worldly at all.”

  Emmett scowled. “Twenty?”

  “You didn’t know?” Kit asked, staring up at him curiously.

  His broad shoulders rose and fell. “I never thought about it.” He went broody, avoiding Logan’s sudden stare.

  They left him on the sidewalk and went to get into Logan’s sleek Lincoln.

  “Is Emmett really like that?” Kit asked. “He seemed so easygoing and kind….”

  “He’s a hell-raiser,” Logan told her as he put her into the car and got in beside her. “He always was wild, even as a boy. He married Adell just days after his mother died and he insisted that they start a family right away. She seemed to care about him, and we thought he’d settled down. But he took off rodeoing and left her there alone with babies and cattle, and she was never suited to either. She met Randy, fell in love for real and just took off. Emmett blamed her, blamed Melody, blamed the kids, blamed everybody except the real guilty party—himself. He hated marriage and responsibility. He was trying to find a way out when Adell presented him with one. His pride was bruised, but he never loved her.”

  “He got married because of what happened to his mother?”

  “Yes, I think he did. He was lonely and Adell thought she loved him. It was only infatuation, though.” He stopped at a traffic light and looked at Kit worriedly. “Do you love me?” he asked suddenly. “Do you love me enough, Kit?”

  Her lips parted as she studied his broad, leonine face. “I’d do anything in this world for you,” she said quietly. “Anything, Logan.”

  That didn’t sound like infatuation, and combined with the look in her eyes he was convinced. He took her hand in his as the light changed and wrapped it in his fingers. “That’s all I wanted to know.”

  Which told Kit very little about his own feelings. It was impossible not to know how much he wanted her. As he’d said, they did get along well together. But what if he discovered one day that what he felt for Kit was only a physical infatuation? What if he fell in love with someone else and took off?

  “Stop brooding,” he said, smiling at her. “We’ve got plenty going for us. We’ll make it, Kit. I promise you, we will.”

  Her long fingers curled into his. “Okay. I won’t worry.”