The Gazebo

  “Actually, another lady friend of mine convinced me to come. She’s a real looker, too, with sensational red hair. And she’s definitely less expensive than Trula. All this lady wants is a meal.”

  Great. He had two cheap bimbos on the string. Jake Stone could be the poster boy for why Deirdre had sworn off men.

  Stone fingered the brim of his hat. “I was hoping I could get some information from you. Interview anyone who might give me a place to start.”

  “My brother. He’s the only one our mother ever spoke to about—well, about my father. He’s at the cabin.”

  Finn started to object, stopped. Deirdre figured she knew better. “I could go to the cabin and send him over here.” Finn offered. “That way no one else needs to know.” She looked more McDaniel-like than ever before—dead stubborn—and Deirdre knew who she was trying to protect. The crotchety old man whose heart Emma feared might break.

  Finn dodged out the kitchen door as quickly as her advanced pregnancy would allow. Deirdre could almost see her, hurrying through the garden, disappearing beyond the white picket gate as she headed home.

  Deirdre should have been glad she was gone, taking her reproachful eyes with her. But the kitchen seemed to shrink with Stone’s big body in it, the intensity of the P.I. sucking all the oxygen from the room. It was too easy to remember how he’d felt those few moments when he’d held her after the fight. Powerful, dangerous. Fierce and forbidden. Hot and hard and blatantly male. He’d towered over her, making her want…

  Want what? Total disaster? Jake Stone was a prime example of Mother Nature’s cunning, ready to trick an intelligent woman into spinning completely out of control. Surrendering independence to taste physical pleasure. No question Stone was temptation incarnate. Let Trula Devine and his gorgeous redhead play with Stone’s brand of fire. Deirdre wasn’t about to get burned by any man.

  Again.

  The word echoed through Deirdre’s mind. She started, suddenly aware of Stone’s cool, assessing gaze on her face. She could almost hear the gears in his head spinning, trying to figure her out. Her cheeks burned, an instinctive need to flee racing through her veins. She needed a few moments alone to compose herself, put herself back together. So she could face her brother, she told herself firmly.

  Deirdre made her excuses, and went to fetch the letter from her room. If anything had the power to drain some of Stone’s undeniable magnetism it was the prospect of seeing her brother.

  She fought down a surge of guilt. Old habits die hard, she told herself. For once, a mess wasn’t her fault. Cade was the one who’d had choices all these years. She had every right to be furious with him. All she was trying to do was find out the truth.

  By the time she got back to the kitchen, Cade was standing two steps inside the door, arms crossed over his chest as he told Stone exactly what a rotten idea he thought this search was.

  Deirdre cut him off. “Either tell him what you know, Cade, or don’t. It’s up to you. I intend to get to the bottom of this with or without your help.”

  “I’m sure you’ll run it down to the bitter end no matter who gets caught in the cross fire,” Cade said.

  “The Captain knows I’m not his daughter. So does Emma, thanks to your sending her over to the house to babysit me when I opened the hope chest yesterday. And Mom’s dead. There’s no one left to protect.”

  “There’s a sick old man over at the cabin and he’s tearing himself up inside over this—”

  “Over Mom’s affair. His sullied honor.” Deirdre kept her gaze carefully away from Stone. “Truth to tell, he’s probably relieved to know he doesn’t have to take any responsibility for my screw-ups anymore. He’s got the perfect out—”

  “You don’t believe that,” Cade insisted.

  “Don’t I?” She struggled to push down a lifetime of insecurity, hide her raw, secret places from Stone. But the words spilled out, in spite of her efforts. “If the Captain loves me so much, why didn’t he tell me so? Right then and there, in front of you and Finn? Why didn’t he say the stuff in that letter didn’t change anything?”

  “God, Dee, you should have seen your face! If you had, you’d know why he acted the way he did!”

  “What would you have done, Cade? If you had found out something horrendous like this about Amy or Will?”

  Cade scowled. “How would I know?”

  “You’d do the same thing you did when Finn was trying to be noble and call off your wedding. You’d dig in your heels and wouldn’t leave until you’d pounded the fact that you loved them into their heads. You’d tell them to hell with what that letter said. You’re their father.”

  “The Captain is your father. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, damn it.”

  “That’s right,” Deirdre said, excruciatingly aware of Stone watching them, weighing them, unraveling far more than the words should have revealed. “That’s what you’ve been trying to tell me. The Captain just turned and walked away.”

  Cade looked like she’d punched him in the gut. She could see him scramble for excuses. “Dee, Dad is an old man. A proud one. And, damn it, he’s in so much pain he can’t even walk up the stairs to go to the bathroom. He’s feeling weaker than he’s ever been in his life. And you hit him with the fact that even when he was at his strongest, his most invincible, it was all an illusion.”

  “Guess even Superman had to deal with kryptonite.” She tried so hard to sound flippant. Instead she sounded cruel. And hated it. But she’d hate breaking down in tears far more, especially with Stone’s laser beam attention focused on her. Was he trying to judge what she’d say? she wondered. Or trying to figure out what she couldn’t put into words.

  “Mom lied to Dad, Dee. Can you imagine how much that must hurt?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes. I don’t have to imagine anything at all when it comes to being lied to by the person you trusted most in the whole world.” She glared at Cade, saw his face twist with pain. Direct hit. Score one for her side.

  Cade’s voice roughened. “Mom carried another man’s child. And you’re practically rolling out a banner to announce Dad’s humiliation to the whole world?”

  “That’s right! I’m supposed to be interviewed on the news at noon.”

  “Damn it, you don’t think this is a joke, no matter what you’re saying. You know how painful this is, and how damaging. Not only do you throw the past in Dad’s face, but you outright reject him right there in front of Finn and me.”

  “I rejected him?” Deirdre snorted, incredulous. “In case you failed to notice, I’m not the one who walked out of that room yesterday.”

  “Hell, no. You didn’t have to. It was perfectly clear you had already made up your mind to track down this other guy before you set foot in the cabin.”

  “Mr. McDaniel,” Stone cut in smoothly, “arguing about what happened yesterday isn’t going to get us anywhere. Deirdre’s made it clear she intends to pursue this matter. Perhaps we can agree the least painful way to settle things for all concerned is to get to the bottom of this as expediently as possible. With time—”

  “My father is seventy-six and can’t even walk up stairs,” Cade snapped. “Just how much time do you think he has?”

  Something like empathy sparked for a fleeting moment in Stone’s hooded eyes. “Whatever time is left, we’re wasting it right now.”

  Cade paced across to the sink, leaned against the white porcelain, glaring intently out the window. Deirdre stared at his profile, catching sight of a glint of moisture at the corner of her brother’s eye. “What do you want from me?”

  “Deirdre says you’re the only person Mrs. McDaniel spoke to about her relationship with the birth father. Is that true?”

  “As far as I know. I hardly think she discussed it with the wives down at the officers’ club.”

  “It’s not something I’d imagine you’d discuss with your son, either,” Stone observed. “So how did you come to know about Deirdre’s parentage?”

  Cade??
?s features darkened. “There was an accident. The doctors thought Deirdre might need a kidney transplant. I overheard the doctor telling Mom that our father was not a compatible donor. It was biologically impossible that Deirdre was his child.”

  “Your father wasn’t there to get the doctor’s report?” Stone didn’t manage to mask disapproval.

  “No. He was gone.”

  Deirdre figured Cade must have sensed some kind of censure in Stone. Cade’s temper sparked. “Dad was feeding Dee’s dog. Dad and Spot had this kind of love/hate relationship. But the old man knew the first thing out of Dee’s mouth when she regained consciousness would be asking after that damned dog. He wanted to show her he hadn’t forgotten.”

  Deirdre winced.

  Cade turned to Deirdre, gaze fiercely intense. “Don’t you call that love, Dee? He was worried sick, wanted to stay at the hospital, hear the first word when the doc reported in. But he knew what mattered most to you. He tried to—to put your mind at ease.”

  She didn’t dare show the effect his words had had on her, or Cade would hammer her forever, hoping he could make her call this whole search off. She could handle Cade furious. But pleading, sorrowful, hurting…those were a more dangerous approach.

  Deirdre tossed her head. “It’s more likely he just couldn’t stand to deviate from the schedule,” she said. “Feed dog at 0800 hours.”

  Cade swore.

  Stone cleared his throat and continued. “So you and your mother were alone in the waiting room, Mr. McDaniel. The doctor walks in and reveals something this explosive in front of you?”

  “They both thought I was asleep. Even so, the doctor asked Mom to step out of the waiting room into the hall. But I could tell from the man’s voice something had gone horribly wrong. I…thought my sister was dead.”

  Deirdre had to clench her hands into fists to keep from reaching out to Cade, touching him. The breach yawned between them, so painful it hurt to breathe. She could see Cade there, at the hospital, his body not yet filled out with a man’s muscles, his face still boyish, the scar on his chin still new. He must have been devastated, feeling responsible for anything that went wrong in the family, the way he always did. She could almost hear the litany of self-blame running through his head.

  I should have foreseen she was going to fall, stopped her from being so reckless.

  I should have hurled myself on the open toolbox so she wouldn’t have hit the sharp metal edges when she fell.

  He’d thought she was dead. He must have been going through hell. It should have been over once the doctor said she’d live, but he’d only exchanged one level of hell for an even deeper one.

  Cade blew out a steadying breath. “Mom begged the doctor not to tell our father unless it was a question of saving Deirdre’s life. She prayed Deirdre would recover without needing that kidney. Deirdre did. Mom made me promise I would never tell. I never did.”

  “So, that’s the Cliff’s Notes version,” Stone said. “Think you can add anything more?”

  “Cade, for God’s sake! I know you’re doing this under duress, okay? Your objection has been duly noted and thrown in the circular file. Now tell the man something useful or stop wasting his time.”

  “This isn’t easy, Dee. I don’t want my family hurt.”

  “Oh, yeah, and I’m just loving this. It’s so much fun,” Deirdre snapped.

  “Mom said she’d had an affair with a man named Jimmy Rivermont. He was selling band instruments in the area, or something. She would leave me with another army wife while she…” Cade shrugged. “I don’t know the woman’s name. She lived next door to our parents.”

  “In military housing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where were they stationed?” Stone asked.

  “Fort Benning, Georgia. Must have been, what? Thirty-three years ago.”

  “Did this friend of your mother’s have a name?” Stone probed.

  “I sure as hell never asked what it was.”

  Deirdre tried to sound confident. “The Captain would know who Mom’s friends on base were, wouldn’t he?”

  “You can’t ask him that!” Cade raged. “For God’s sake, Dee!”

  “We’ll try other avenues first,” Stone said. “I promise you, Mr. McDaniel, I’ll try to make this inquiry as painless as possible for you and your family.”

  “I’d be…grateful. Anyway, I’m out of here. I’ve told you all I know.” Cade’s jaw tipped up at that angle that always made Deirdre want to take a swing at it. “Except that Deirdre already has a father who loves her.”

  “Damn it, Cade!”

  “I know,” Stone said. “I mentioned that myself.”

  Cade stalked to the door. Stopped. “I just have to say this one last time, then I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

  “Yeah, right!” Deirdre scoffed, turning her back on him and bracing herself against the counter.

  “Don’t do this, Dee.”

  “It’s already done.”

  CHAPTER 5

  CADE SLAMMED THE SCREEN on his way out. The sound reverberated through the roomy kitchen of March Winds. Deirdre and Stone stood in silence a long time. She rubbed her eyes, disgusted that she was close to tears. Damn, she wasn’t going to cry.

  “So,” she said, fighting to keep her voice steady. “Is that enough to start on?” She grabbed her purse from the counter, started digging in what Emma called “theworld’s smallest landfill.”

  “How much do I owe you for a retainer?”

  She didn’t expect Stone to cross the room, circle her wrist with his warm fingers. Deirdre tried to keep from shaking. But Stone wasn’t buying her tough act. He slid the purse out of her reach, then stunned her by tugging her gently until her back flattened against the hard wall of his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

  Oh, God, Deirdre thought, breathing in the scent of him, exotic, dangerous, deliciously male. He felt so solid, so big, as if he could hold back crumbling mountains, or crumbling lives.

  For a heartbeat she wanted to stay there, safe. Protected. Not alone.

  He leaned his cheek against her. “It’s all right,” he breathed against her temple, stroking her hair. “Cry if you need to.”

  Damn the man! What did he think? She was going to fall apart right in front of his eyes? But then, between Trula and the redhead, he was probably inundated with feminine tears.

  Indignation sizzled through Deirdre. She tried to wriggle free, but he held her, determined to what? Comfort her? She stomped hard on his foot.

  Stone yelped, yanked away, glaring at her. “What did you do that for?”

  “Because I—” Because it felt too good. Because you smelled heavenly. Because I was afraid part of me would be weak enough to like it. Like being held, even by a jerk like you.

  “Mom?” Emma’s voice dashed like cold water over Deirdre. She wheeled to see her daughter staring wide-eyed at Stone. Did she remember him? Deirdre wondered, recalling the tumultuous period when the P.I. had first charged into the McDaniels’ lives. But if Emma had any idea Stone was a private investigator she’d be doing her finest Snow Queen imitation instead of standing there grinning like a cat who’d just swallowed Tweety Bird whole.

  No. Emma didn’t have a clue who Stone was, nor why he was at March Winds. The flabbergasted expression on the girl’s face was just plain astonishment because she’d never once seen her mother in a man’s arms.

  For an instant Deirdre considered blurting out the whole truth. But Emma’s world had been so badly shaken in the past twenty-four hours that the thought of wiping a genuine smile off her daughter’s face was just too miserable to handle at the moment. Defying Cade and Finn and the Captain was difficult enough. Knowing Emma would take their side hurt more than Deirdre could bear. The thought of any rift between her and her daughter terrified her, carrying her back to the wall that had separated Deirdre from her own mother for so long.

  Deirdre had sworn she’d never let anything get between her and Emma again. She’d come
close enough to losing her daughter six years ago.

  Yet, during that upheaval, Deirdre had managed to shield Emma from Jake Stone and his business with the McDaniel family. She’d do the same thing now. Until she could find a way to make Emma understand.

  As if her daughter would ever be able to understand doing anything that might hurt her beloved grandpa.

  “Yo, Mom, guess you took that advice I gave you last night after all. Talk about fast work!” She might as well have broken into a chorus of “It’s Raining Men, Alleluia.” Deirdre swept to the far side of the room, cheeks burning.

  “This isn’t what you think,” Deirdre cautioned. “Mr. Stone is a professional…in restoration.”

  Stone regarded her silently. It wasn’t a lie, Deirdre insisted to herself. The man restored things. Like sanity to lovesick idiots, and the money he’d gotten Finn and Cade to pay. He’d restored it to the person Finn’s father had stolen it from.

  Whatever Stone’s thoughts on her evasion, he took his cue from her. “Your mother and I are working together on an historical project of sorts,” he said.

  Emma flashed Stone her brightest smile. “So then we’ll be seeing a lot of you? I mean, if you’re working on March Winds’ ballroom. Aunt Finn has been saying for months she wants to expand something besides her waistline, Mr.—?”

  “Stone. Jake Stone.” He extended his hand. Emma intentionally misunderstood and took both his hands to shake instead of the one. Deirdre died of embarrassment as her daughter none too subtly inspected the ring finger of Stone’s left hand.

  Emma fluttered her lashes at him. “Awesome name. You should be an actor. And you’ve got a great face. All rugged and rough, like you’ve lived real hard. Not too pretty, know what I mean? Nothing more boring than a pretty man, right, Mom?”

  Deirdre made a garbled sound that might be assent as she considered ways to throttle her daughter.

  Stone ate the praise up. “Thank you,” he said. “You must be Emma. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Emma beamed. “Mom’s been talking about me again, huh? I promise she gets off the subject of how wonderful I am eventually. Then she’s a real crack-up.”