The Daughter's Return Read online

  “Now that I’m here, I’ll lend a hand.”

  Ben’s smile sobered. “Before you go in, I have to tell you how proud I am to be your brother.”

  “That’s always nice to hear. Whatever did I do to deserve an accolade like that?”

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You found that eight-year-old girl. The pervert’s in custody. You’re an angel, Maggie.”

  “According to Dad, Jake Halsey’s the angel. After Wednesday’s successful capture, I agree with him. Jake’s the one who spotted them.” She almost said, “with his goggles.” But what Jake did for a living was no one else’s business, not even her family’s. In fact, she was sure his safety depended on no one finding out.

  Ben’s speculative gaze traveled over her face. “So besides being a detective and a genealogist, he’s decided to be a volunteer, too.”

  Maggie knew where this conversation was headed and she was going to stop it before Ben dug too deep. “In January he’ll return to active duty in San Diego. Until then he’s on medical leave, and is bored to tears.”

  “Your little overnight trip should have solved his problem.”

  No doubt it had for a thirty-six-hour temporary period. But their night in the forest had created a new emotional problem for Maggie that could turn into a lifetime crisis if she spent any more time with him.

  A steak dinner. Conversation. At his apartment? Maggie trembled just imagining it.

  She eyed her brother steadily. “If it didn’t, he’s a big boy and can handle it.”

  “How come he’s not married?”

  Ben was a shrewd businessman who happened to be her brother. He sensed something was going on between her and Jake. That protective instinct was in full flower.

  “His wife died nine years ago. But don’t get any ideas about my becoming her replacement. He’s never gotten over her.”

  It was true, but that wasn’t the reason Maggie wanted an end to this discussion. She would stake her life on the fact that Jake was married to the CIA. He would probably die a terrible death doing something no one knew about, with no one to mourn his death when he was gone.

  She looked down at Katy who’d been hopping around them. “Come on, honey. Let’s go find your mommy.”

  They walked back to the front of the cottage and entered the foyer. Julie and Brock were finishing up painting words on a long piece of butcher paper with red poster paint. It stretched from wall to wall. Brock’s dark blond head looked up.

  “Hi, Aunt Maggie! Do you like our sign?”

  She looked down at it.

  Welcome Home Aunt Kit and Uncle Cord!

  Not bad at all. “You’ve done a fabulous job. I love it.” She exchanged smiles with Julie. “They’ll be so excited when they see it. Where are you going to hang it?”

  “Outside across the edge of the roof.”

  “Guess what?”

  “What?” both children asked at the same time.

  “I heard rain is forecast for Sunday when they fly in.”

  “That settles it,” her blond sister-in-law declared, getting to her feet. “As soon as this dries, we’ll get your father to help us string it here in the foyer.”

  Brock’s head swiveled around. “Yeah. That’ll look okay.”

  “It’ll be more of a surprise,” Maggie interjected. “While you guys finish up, Katy’s going to help me make their bed with these new sheets.”

  “But it’s already got sheets,” Katy responded.

  “True, but these are a very special soft percale with lace trim. It’ll make Kit feel like a bride for a long time to come.”

  “Uncle Cord doesn’t like girl’s stuff like that.” This was from Brock.

  Both Julie and Maggie burst into laughter.

  “That was before he met Kit,” his mother informed him as Maggie went into the bedroom, the only one in the little house.

  “Ooh,” Katy said when Maggie shook out the top sheet. She ran her hands over the material. “I want sheets just like this.”

  “When you get married, I’ll buy you some.”

  Katy helped her make the bed and put the comforter on top. “Aren’t you ever going to get married, Aunt Maggie?”

  “Yeah, Aunt Maggie.” Her good-looking blond brother brought up the trumpet section. He stood in the doorway. Between him and Cord with his handsome features and dark brown hair, she didn’t know which one was more attractive.

  Jake was something else again. Tough, black-haired, rugged—a force in his own right.

  “First I have to meet a man like your daddy.”

  “But there aren’t any daddies like mine. He’s the bestest!”

  “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  Maggie smiled at Ben. “There’s your answer.”

  His eyes narrowed. “As I recall, Cord wasn’t convinced there was a woman out there for him. Then this irresistible stranger appeared, knocking him sideways and upside down.”

  Sideways and upside down. What a perfect description for Maggie’s emotions since she’d first been introduced to Jake.

  “Cord was Kit’s first and only love.”

  “Nine years a widower is long enough for a man to fall madly in love all over again. Don’t let his past diminish what’s happening now.”

  “I’m not doing that,” she said in a shaken voice.

  “Aren’t you?”

  Maybe she was, a little. Maybe Maggie felt a twinge of jealousy of the woman Jake had been so crazy about. But there was another issue much more important Ben didn’t know about. One she couldn’t tell him.

  “Come on, Katy. Let’s see what else there is to do.” She hurried out of the room past her brother and headed for the kitchen.

  “I’ve already cleaned the fridge,” Julie called to her.

  So she had. Maggie shut it. “Tomorrow I’ll buy some groceries and stock it with goodies.” Speaking of goodies. “Brock, honey?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Would you come here for a minute?”

  He came running. “What is it?”

  “Remember when you hid up in the attic?”

  An embarrassed look crossed his face before he nodded.

  “Will you go up there now and bring down a bottle of wine?”

  His eyes grew as round as marbles. “You mean that’s what’s in those boxes?”

  “That’s right.”

  Maggie opened the cupboard and handed him the flashlight. He dashed off to the storeroom. Katy ran after him. They were both back in a shot. He handed Maggie the bottle.

  “What’s going on?” Ben and Julie had just appeared. The two of them looked so happy again. It took Maggie back to the early days of their marriage when her oldest brother had met Julie skiing in Deer Valley. They’d fallen hard for each other, just like Cord and Kit.

  She held up the wine and flashed them a grin. “Some of Great-great-great-grandfather McFarland’s special contraband from France for important occasions. We’ll leave it on the table with a little note, ‘To celebrate the beginning of your life together.’ I’d say their marriage is probably the most important thing to happen to this family in a long time.”

  “But not the last.” Ben drove the point home, leaving Maggie in no doubt about what he meant.

  Since Ben had decided to take life easier, he was trying to manage her love life instead of the people on his various boards. Two months ago she couldn’t have imagined it.

  Two months ago she couldn’t have imagined a man like Jake Halsey existed.

  Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Talbot

  are pleased to announce

  the marriage of their daughter

  Melissa Kit Aldridge

  to

  Richard Cordell McFarland

  son of Mr. and Mrs. Reed McFarland

  July 29, Claremont, California

  The pleasure of your company is requested

  at a reception to be held at the McFarland Home

  Federal Heights, Salt Lake City, Utah

  Monday,
August 17

  7:00 until 10:00 p.m.

  Valet parking available

  JAKE GLANCED at the invitation, then checked his watch beneath the cuff of his white dress shirt. It was 9:30 p.m. Time to make his move. He put on the jacket of his stone-gray suit. After one more adjustment to his striped tie, he tucked the wedding gift under his arm and left the apartment.

  Within five minutes he’d entered Federal Heights. As he reached the vicinity of the McFarlands’ house, he noticed cars lined up bumper to bumper on both sides of the street for several blocks.

  Because he intended to be the last guest, he was in no hurry and could afford to wait until someone much closer to the house pulled out, leaving him their parking space.

  The rain yesterday had brought down the temperature to about eighty degrees, making it a perfect summer night for an event like this. He got out of his Chevy Tahoe and walked behind a well-dressed couple rushing to get there before it was too late. Most people who’d already attended the reception were returning to their cars.

  He heard the sounds of a great dance band before he came in sight of the house and grounds lit up like a magical city hovering in the air. The line of cars was only halfway down the drive now.

  A towheaded boy of about ten or eleven, dressed in a tux and already carrying one gift, started toward him. “May I take that wedding present for you, sir?” He had McFarland stamped all over him.

  Jake handed it to him with a smile. “Thanks. What’s your name?”

  “Brock.”

  “You must be Ben’s son.”

  “Yup.”

  “How about doing another favor for me?”

  The boy blinked. “What is it?”

  “Could you show me where I can find your aunt Maggie? The thing is, I want to surprise her.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Jake Halsey.”

  The boy studied him for a minute. “You were the one who helped her find that girl, huh?”

  “Yup.”

  “That was cool. Okay. Follow me.”

  Jake didn’t care if the other guests were miffed because he was getting special treatment. The end justified the means. He liked Maggie’s nephew already.

  Brock led him past the line to a private, recessed entrance, a kind of breezeway. It came out on the terrace at the back of the house where half a dozen couples were dancing around the lit rectangular swimming pool.

  He noted a dozen candlelit tables on the velvet grass surrounding a fabulous banquet table. The band played beyond the eating area, half-hidden by a sculptured hedge.

  “There she is,” Brock whispered, but Jake had already spotted her looking sensational in a full-length blue evening gown the same color as the mass of potted hydrangeas lining the terrace.

  She stood near a bank of French doors talking to some of the guests.

  “Thanks for your help, Brock. I owe you one.”

  “That’s okay. Do you want me to get her and bring her over here?”

  “I think I’ll wait until there aren’t any more guests, but I appreciate the offer.”

  “Okay. I’ve got to go. See ya.”

  Slowly Jake circled the backyard, helping himself to some finger food as he made his way toward the band. “Can you play ‘Sunshine of My Life,’ Stevie Wonder–style?” he asked the leader. The man nodded.

  Dancing was the one legitimate way to get Maggie in his arms, something he’d been wanting to do for a long time.

  As the band finished up the song they were currently playing, Jake sauntered toward her from behind. A few feet away now, he could see beyond her to the bride and groom flanked by their parents. There were only a handful of people in the room with them.

  The second he heard the first notes of his request, he approached Maggie and slid his hands to her supple waist. The mere contact sent a shock wave of delight through him. “It’s time you paid attention to me.” He whirled her around, bringing her right up against him.

  “Jake—” she whispered. Her eyes blazed with light. He could see the pulse hammering in her throat. It kept time with the thudding of his heart.

  “I’m glad to see you still remember my name.” Without asking her permission, he began dancing with her. At first she held herself stiff, as if she were afraid to get too close to him.

  That was too bad, because the mold of her tall, sylph-like body was made for him. He wanted to feel it. He wanted to feel her. Every square inch of her. Without making an apology, he crushed her to him.

  “You cheated me out of a dance in Evanston, so just go with the music and let me breathe in the divine scent of you.”

  He’d given her no quarter, but it had paid off because he suddenly felt her relax and follow his lead around the terrace.

  “You haven’t met my brother and his wife yet,” she said with a catch in her throat.

  Jake rubbed his jaw against her temple, wishing no one was around so he could run his hands through her silky hair.

  “I will another time. Right now I want to concentrate on you. If you have a problem with that, too bad because I have no intention of letting you go.” Those dynamite legs brushing against his felt so good, he never wanted the music to stop.

  “How did you get in without coming through the line?”

  “You’ve got a terrific nephew. I prevailed on him to help me out because I knew if you saw me first, you’d disappear on me.”

  She almost stumbled, but he held her fast. “That’s not true.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Maggie. You’ve behaved differently towards me since I woke you up Wednesday morning. I want an explanation, and I want it tonight. Either we go to your place or mine to talk. It’s your choice.”

  Though the piece had ended, he continued to spin her around.

  “Jake—the music’s stopped.”

  “I’m aware of that. I’ll let you go when you give me your answer.”

  She lowered her head, avoiding his eyes. “You can follow me to my condo. I’ll have to get my purse first.”

  Those were the words he’d been waiting to hear. “We’ll leave the same way I came.”

  When he released her, she looked flushed and out of sorts. “I have to tell someone I’m going.”

  “Brock’s over at the banquet table. We’ll ask him to make your excuses. Come on.” He grasped her hand and pulled her along. “Hey, sport?”

  The boy looked up. “Hi, Jake. Hi, Aunt Maggie.”

  “Hi, honey. Have you been having a good time?”

  “Yeah. This cake is yummy.”

  “I agree,” Jake concurred. “Do us another favor and find your aunt’s purse?”

  “Where is it?”

  Jake turned to her, waiting for her answer.

  “I-It’s upstairs in my old bedroom on the bed.”

  “I’ll find it.”

  Jake put a hand on his shoulder. “Meet us at her car.”

  “Are you guys sneaking out?”

  “Yes. After we leave, tell your family so they won’t worry about her.”

  “Okay.” He shoved another piece of cake in his mouth, then took off.

  Jake slid a hand to the nape of Maggie’s neck and guided her down the breezeway passage. “I take it your car is in the garage.”

  “Yes. Through here.” She indicated the second door on the right. He opened it and waited for her to enter first. The garage was deep enough to hold four vehicles.

  When Brock returned with Maggie’s purse, Jake was ready for him and handed him a five-dollar bill. “You did good work tonight.”

  “Thanks. I’m saving for a new video game.”

  Maggie bent down to kiss her nephew. “Don’t forget to tell Grandma and Grandpa that I’ve left.”

  “I won’t.”

  Once Brock left, Jake climbed in the passenger seat. “My car’s about a block and a half away. I’ll show you where, then I’ll follow you.”

  She opened the garage door with a remote, then backed down the long drive with the same expertise
she flew a plane. Only a few cars remained parked on the street.

  He glanced at her lovely profile. “How are the honeymooners, by the way?”

  “More in love than ever. Kit has transformed my brother. She’s brought him out of himself.”

  Jake heard the affection for her brother in her voice. The kidnapping had to have forged a special bond between the McFarland children. “The right kind of love has that kind of power.”

  “Both my brothers are lucky.” When they reached the next block, she said, “I see your car. If we get separated in traffic, I live in the McFarland Towers. You enter the underground parking from the west side of the plaza. There are guest stalls next to mine on the first level.” She stopped the car so he could step out, but she refused to look at him.

  “I’ll see you in a minute.” He closed the door and got in his car.

  This was progress. He was finally going to see inside the place where she lived.

  The Daughter’s Return

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “COME THROUGH TO MY STUDY, Jake.”

  For days, Maggie had been working nonstop. By nine tonight, she’d been completely exhausted. Her fatigue, combined with the desolation she’d felt because Jake hadn’t made an appearance at the reception, had made her seriously consider leaving her brother’s party early to go home to bed.

  She crossed the room to switch on a lamp, and remembered the sensuous feel of Jake’s hands sliding over her hips to her waist to announce his presence. She was frightened to think his electrifying touch had the power to bring her back to life instantly. She’d felt no more fatigue, mental or physical.

  Dancing in his strong arms had become much more than a turn around the terrace with an attractive man. It had underlined the sure knowledge that he’d become more important to her than she’d dared dream.

  When he went away in January, he wouldn’t be back. She didn’t want to revel in four months of ecstasy with him, only to have it be over, perhaps forever. She couldn’t bear the loss.

  Maggie had seen what loss had done to her parents. To lose someone you loved with your very heart and soul was too horrible, too unbearable to contemplate. Tonight had to be the last time she saw Jake. She would keep their conversation brief.

  “From this vantage point, I’m beginning to understand the importance of a penthouse view. What a spectacular panorama.”