[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.“Love doesn’t come along every day, Clint.When we find it I think we all go just a little crazy.Sandra needed to be with Robert.She saw no future she wanted without him, so she made a selfish choice.But can I say for sure I wouldn’t also make a selfish choice if I might lose you?” She shook her head.“No.I think I’d probably be very selfish, because the thought of a future without you makes me feel desolate.”He nodded.“Exactly, and that’s why seeing you keeps me sane.I can look at you and not feel quite so furious.If Sandra loved Robert the way I love you…” He gazed off down the hallway.Then he smiled wryly.“Can’t condemn someone else for doing what I might have done myself.” His eyes held hers for a long moment.“I couldn’t let you go.No way.I forget that when you’re not with me, and my feelings of anger take over.I don’t want to take it out on her parents—or let Trevor sense it.It’s important right now for him to know that I’m on his side.”Loni looped her arms around his neck and hugged him hard.Her shop could wait for a few more days.She had plenty of money in the bank from the sale of her Lynwood home to sustain her—and she would soon be marrying a millionaire.The thought brought a smile to her lips as she nuzzled said millionaire’s neck.Clint Harrigan definitely didn’t fit the stereotype, and, oh, how glad she was that he didn’t.She’d come to like Wranglers jeans and riding boots, and when they got married she’d be disappointed if he wasn’t wearing a dress Stetson and a Western-cut tuxedo.“I like feeling needed,” she said softly.He bent his dark head and kissed her.Not as deeply as they both might have liked, but Trevor might be watching.She felt his yearning when they drew apart and saw it etched on his dark features.“When you go downstairs, don’t let Zach give you a hard time.Tell him to stuff a sock in it.”She nodded.“And don’t let Dad give you the third degree.He’s bad about that.”She laughed.“Samantha will keep him on the straight and narrow.No worries.” As she spoke, Loni realized that was one of Clint’s favorite sayings.No worries.It felt nice to be picking up his habits.She couldn’t think of anyone she’d rather emulate.“How much longer do you plan to stay?”“Until they kick my ass out.”She understood and nodded.“I’ll be waiting with your family downstairs somewhere.”“Your family now.”She gave him a teasing look.“If I take on your family, you have to take on mine,” she warned him, “and mine is decidedly weirder.”He kissed her again, this time just a quick touch of their lips.“It’s a very nice kind of weird.”Loni spent the next two hours in the cafeteria with Clint’s family, an experience that convinced her she would never feel bored as a member of the Harrigan clan.Frank drank copious amounts of coffee, which he complained about with every sip.“I could make stronger brew if I shoved a coffee bean up a duck’s butt and ran downstream for a cup of water.” Zach was a perfect gentleman to Loni, but she was the only person he didn’t target.He tugged on Samantha’s hair, clearly determined to get a rise out of her.When she didn’t take the bait, he tried to engage his brothers in arguments.The young woman busing tables got so flustered when he flirted with her that she dropped a stack of trays, prompting Zach to get up and help her clear away the mess.Before the job was done, he’d asked her for a date and had her phone number, inspiring Parker and Quincy to rib him unmercifully about robbing the cradle.Dee Dee, whom Loni hadn’t yet met, had stayed home with a headache, and Frank called her every half hour to check on her.Loni found his concern touching but secretly wondered if Dee Dee was rolling her eyes when the phone rang.When Loni had a headache she liked to lie down in a dark room, and the last thing she wanted was to answer calls.“Damn, Dad, you need to leave the poor woman alone,” Parker suggested.“You afraid she’ll forget you’re married if you don’t ring her every five minutes?”“Just goes to show how little you know about women,” Frank popped back.“They like being fussed over.No wonder you’re still not married.”Parker snorted.“If marriage means having a phone attached to my ear, I’ll pass.”“Yeah, right,” Zach sniped.“You’d tie the knot in a minute if you could find anyone decent who’d have you.”And so it went.The Harrigans fascinated Loni.They argued more often than not, yet none of them ever seemed to get angry, and under it all there was no mistaking their love for one another.Everyone had grown hungry during the wait, so when Clint finally joined them the entire clan got in the buffet line.Quincy, the health nut, slapped his father’s hand when Frank reached for fried chicken.“Damn it, son.A man’s gotta eat real food sometimes.Dee Dee never lets me have fried chicken anymore.”“Good for her,” Quincy retorted.“The stuff will kill you.It’s not as if you peel away the skin.Hell, no, you eat every greasy morsel, clear down to the bones.”Frank grabbed for the spoon to a creamy potato dish, and Quincy redirected his reach.“Red potatoes are better for you.”On the other side of the buffet shelf, Samantha forked some salad onto her father’s plate.“There, Daddy.Fill up on that.”“What do I look like, a rabbit?”As Loni moved down the line, she was so captivated by their antics that she almost forgot to make her own choices.When she glanced up at Clint, he winked at her, his teasing expression saying more clearly than words, Can your family measure up to this?When everyone was seated at the table, a sudden solemnity overtook them.Hats came off.Heads were bowed.Hands quickly made the sign of the cross.Loni’s family didn’t usually pray over a meal at restaurants, but the Harrigans did so unabashedly, their combined voices as they recited the blessing creating a deep drone.As Loni said the familiar prayer with them, she realized that this was what she loved about Clint and enjoyed about his family.They were what they were and didn’t change their colors to please the public.Frank had just tucked into his baked chicken breast when his cell phone chirped.Excusing himself, he took the call, which was clearly from Dee Dee.“Hi, sweetheart,” he said.“How you feelin’?”He listened for a moment, then quietly said good-bye.Loni knew something was wrong when he directed a serious look at Clint.“We got trouble,” he said.Clint pocketed a bite of steak in his cheek.“What kind of trouble?”Frank wadded his napkin and tossed it on his plate.“Dee Dee was lyin’ on the sofa, watchin’ television.Sandra’s mother was just interviewed by a reporter, live.She told him all about you givin’ Trevor blood and about Loni bein’ a clairvoyant and leadin’ you to the boy.Dee Dee says our phone has started ringin’ off the hook, newshounds tryin’ to get an exclusive.They want to talk to Loni, and I reckon they’ve figured out she must still be with you.Chances are they’re callin’ every Harrigan in the phone book, tryin’ to find her.”Clint stiffened and dropped his fork onto the plate.For a long moment he didn’t speak.Then he directed an anguished look at Loni [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]