Corporate Daddy (12 page)

Rosita nodded sagely. “She has the Fortune will. She needs a strong but loving hand to guide, but never contain, her. She is fortunate, I think, in her father—even if he is a scamp.” She smiled then and reached up to embrace both. Logan had to bend far forward to accommodate her, and as he did so, Amanda Sue reached out and lightly touched the white streak in Rosita’s hair.

“A precious child!” Rosita gushed. “Just what your uncle needs right now. Come, all of you. He will be glad to see you.”

They followed her through the cool, antique-filled interior of the old house, crossing floors of tile and plank and, finally, carpet. Rosita pushed open the heavily carved door of the so-called library and led them inside. “More company, Mr. Ryan. Wait until you see the little
señorita!
”

Ryan was sitting on one corner of the massive old desk standing dead center of the big room. Couches and chairs were strewn about in comfortable groupings, one of which featured a television set. The walls were lined with shelves of books, leaving room only for a massive fireplace and various doors, a pair of which opened onto the courtyard.

On the leather sofa facing the desk sat none other than Lily Redgrove Cassidy, wearing a long, slender denim skirt, matching vest, embroidered long-sleeved blouse, and red, hand-tooled leather boots, her long, dark hair lying atop one shoulder in a thick braid. At fifty-something, her dark, voluptuous beauty had merely matured and ripened, leaving Logan in no quandary at all as to what drew and held his uncle’s interest. She stood even before Ryan did and moved
forward gracefully, beckoning to someone Logan hadn’t seen until that moment. Hannah, Lily’s oldest daughter, rose from a deeply cushioned armchair and smiled.

Clad in neat, pleated khakis, a classic silk shirt and a brown corduroy jacket, Hannah would never seem more than plain in her mother’s presence, which Logan found a darn shame. He knew her to be a good soul, a kind and loving woman with a quiet beauty that was too often overshadowed as it emanated from inside and cared little for outward expression. In that way, she was much like her mother, much more so, he suspected, than her younger sister Maria.

“Hannah!” Eden said. “How nice to find you here—and your mother, too, of course.”

Hannah hurried to Eden’s side, but Lily was headed straight for Amanda Sue, saying, “Oh, Ryan, she’s gorgeous! That auburn hair, and those eyes!”

“Good grief, she looks like you, Eden!” Ryan exclaimed, chuckling. “Except for that hair, which is Mary Ellen and Logan combined, I think.” He clapped Logan on the shoulder and shook his hand while Lily coaxed Amanda Sue into her arms.

“How old is she?” Lily wanted to know.

“Going on seventeen months,” Logan answered proudly.

“She’s walking, then,” Lily said.

“Running, more like,” Eden answered.

“She’s fast, all right,” Logan confirmed, “and according to Rosita she’s got the Fortune will.”

“What Logan means to say,” Eden teased, “is that she’s as stubborn as he is—and as charming and bright.”

“Brighter,” he said.

“And more charming,” Hannah teased, giggling as Amanda Sue touched a fingertip to Lily’s mouth and announced, “Mouf.”

Lily smiled and kissed her fingertip. An old hand now at showing off, Amanda Sue next touched Lily’s delicate patrician nose. “Noze.” Very carefully she touched Lily’s eyelid and other facial parts. “Eye. Ghin. Sheek. Foorhed. Eer.”
Finally she touched wisps of hair framing Lily’s face and said, “Preey herr.”

“Bright, charming,
and
she’s got good taste,” Ryan said to general laughter. He smiled down at Lily, who was making kissing sounds into Amanda Sue’s hand. “Let’s all sit down and have a chat.” Ryan suggested.

Rosita said, “I’ll bring coffee and sugar cookies. Would the baby like milk?”

“That would be great, Rosita,” Logan confirmed, moving with the others toward the largest grouping of furniture. “Just be sure it’s a plastic cup, and bring lots of napkins.”

When they were all seated, Amanda Sue crawled over into Ryan’s lap. A moment later she moved on to Eden, then Hannah, and finally her daddy, where she stayed until Rosita returned with “num-nums.” She filled Logan’s lap with cookie crumbs, spilled milk on his jeans and insisted on blowing on his coffee before every sip, while the adults touched on various topics: Amanda Sue’s mother, the kidnapping and how Ryan had been pressing the authorities for action, the ranch, Hannah’s bridal shop in San Antonio, Eden’s son Sawyer and her consulting business and, finally, the remaining members of Lily’s family, her oldest son Cole and youngest daughter Maria.

“Cole is well,” Lily said proudly. “His practice keeps him much too busy, but I still wish he’d find a nice girl and settle down. Maria, now…” Lily shook her head sadly and sent a speaking glance at Hannah. “I never really know what’s going on with my younger daughter or how she is. Maria prefers to keep her distance.”

Hannah sighed. “Maybe I should talk to her.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Rosita said, never shy about speaking her piece. “You should drive down to Leather Bucket now while you’re this close, and take Logan and Eden with you.”

“Yes, do that!” Lily prodded. “Ryan and I will entertain the baby.”

“Sure, we’d be glad to,” Ryan said.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Logan mumbled. “Amanda Sue doesn’t usually like me to leave her with anyone but Emily.”

Eden rolled her eyes. “Honestly! There are doting fathers, and then there are doting fathers. You always did take everything to the extreme.”

“It’s just that she’s had her world turned upside down once already, and she’s a little insecure about me disappearing on her.”

“Emily who?” Ryan wanted to know, and Logan was obliged to explain that his talented, efficient executive assistant just also happened to be the world’s leading expert on child care.

As if to bolster his assertions, Amanda Sue tapped him on the chest and said seriously, “Oan Mimy.”

“We’ll see Emily tomorrow,” he promised.

Amanda Sue pointed toward the door through which they’d entered and said, “Go!”

“All right,” he said, getting up. “Come on, girls. We’ll take my car and drive down to Leather Bucket.”

“I guess that’s that,” Rosita said briskly. “The little
señorita
knows her mind, eh?”

Laughing, everyone got up and headed out. They said goodbyes at the door, and Amanda Sue dutifully dispensed kisses to Ryan, Lily and Rosita, but her attention was on the car. Hannah got into the back with Amanda Sue, while Eden rode up front with Logan. They were leaving the drive when Logan asked, “Was it just me, or did Rosita seem anxious for Ryan and Lily to be left alone?”

Hannah smiled. “I keep telling her not to worry. Mama isn’t going to change her mind at this stage. Confidentially, we’re already planning the wedding.”

Logan craned his neck around at that. “No kidding? That’s great!”

“I hope it works out for them,” Eden said quietly.

“So do I,” Hannah added soberly. “Sophia has been
giving Mama fits, and I can tell Ryan’s losing patience with her.”

“That divorce has already dragged on too long,” Logan commented. “Someone should do something about Sophia.”

“I would welcome suggestions,” Hannah said darkly. “I just don’t understand why she’s doing this. She doesn’t love Ryan.”

“She loves his money, though,” Eden muttered wryly, and Logan couldn’t help thinking that her acerbic judgment about summed up his uncle’s spoiled, immature second wife. The whole family knew he’d made a mistake marrying her, but after having been widowed after his first wife Janine died, Ryan had been especially vulnerable. It was beginning to look, though, as if Lily Redgrove Cassidy would turn out to be the love of Ryan’s life. They both deserved this happiness. After being separated from one another for over thirty years, it was high time that their old romance was rekindled. Logan wished them well.

The rest of the drive was given over to small talk about shared experiences, children and business. Logan knew he went on too much about his daughter, but he couldn’t seem to help it. He was unaware, however, how often he mentioned Emily. He did realize that he missed her, though, even now with the chatter going back and forth so fast that he could hardly keep up with it.

They stopped in the small town of Leather Bucket for soft drinks. Amanda Sue had fallen asleep in her car seat, so Logan stayed behind in the car while Eden and Hannah went into the convenience store. Finally, Hannah directed them to the run-down trailer park where Maria was living. This time, Eden insisted on staying behind with her sleeping niece. Reluctantly, Logan got out of the car and opened Hannah’s door for her.

“Don’t be upset if Maria is rude,” Hannah whispered as they climbed the dusty sloping yard. “She’s got some kind of hang-up where you Fortunes are concerned. I think Mama
hoped that having you and Eden drop in for a visit might convince her to lighten up.”

“No problem,” Logan said. “I’ve learned to be too stupid to insult when it suits me.”

Hannah shot him a look of pure gratitude. He noticed that she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath before running up the rusty iron steps to the door of the trailer. He stepped up beside her just as she tapped on the door and thrust it open, calling out, “Maria! It’s—” The last word trailed away as Hannah took in the scene inside the trailer’s shabby little living room. Logan ducked his head and followed her inside.

The floor was strewn with baby toys. A bag of disposable diapers had been torn open and left to spill out onto the couch. A rumpled crib stood against the double window next to a small television set. Most shocking of all, Maria stood defensively at the end of a narrow hallway, a child in her arms. She was dressed in blue jeans, a dark T-shirt, running shoes, and a frilled black apron, her dark hair caught at the nape with a rubber band. The handles of both a purse and a bulging diaper bag were slung over one shoulder. Clearly, she was not happy to see them.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Dropping in on my sister,” Hannah said firmly. “Who’s baby is that?”

Frowning, Maria shrugged and pulled up the hood on the lightweight bunting the child wore. “He belongs to a neighbor. I’ve been baby-sitting for extra cash, but if she doesn’t pick him up soon I’ll be late for work. It’s almost time for the dinner rush.”

“You’re a waitress, I take it,” Logan said with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

“That’s right,” Maria retorted. “Anything wrong with that?”

Logan shook his head. “It’s hard work.”

“A Fortune wouldn’t know about that, I guess,” she said cattily. Hannah caught her breath, but Logan forestalled a
scolding with a hand clamped lightly on her forearm. Maria seemed disappointed that she hadn’t elicited an outburst from someone. She cocked one hip and said in a marginally more friendly tone, “I haven’t seen you in ages. Logan, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“Figures. I hear Holden’s married now, so the little woman probably wouldn’t be letting him out of her sight yet, not if she’s smart, anyway. The question is, what are you doing here with her?” She nodded at Hannah.

“My daughter’s in the car with my sister, Eden,” Logan said calmly. “We met Hannah and your mother at Uncle Ryan’s and thought we’d give her a ride when she said she’d like to check on you.”

“
Check
on me?” Maria tossed her head and lifted a cryptic eyebrow. “Why am I not surprised? You just can’t accept the fact that I’m perfectly capable of living my own life, can you, Hannah?”

“We only want to know that you’re okay,” Hannah said, but Maria scoffed at that.

While the sisters bickered, Logan couldn’t help comparing Maria with both her mother and her sister. She had Lily’s dark good looks, but she was a little too thin for his taste, and she completely lacked her sister’s warmth. She was, in fact, as cold and hard as ice. It was difficult to imagine her as an adequate baby-sitter. He glanced sympathetically at the infant in her arms, seeing only the impression of a plump face and waving fist. He certainly wouldn’t want to leave his Amanda Sue with the likes of Maria Cassidy, but he supposed that some parents had little choice. Still, she was sure no Emily. But then, who was?

Maria cut the visit short by insisting that she had to go. “If his mom won’t come get him, I’ll just have to take him to her,” she said.

“Let me help you,” Hannah offered, reaching for the child as Maria drew near, but Maria jerked back sharply.

“No! H-he doesn’t like strangers. I won’t have him screaming all the way down to Sandy’s.”

He didn’t seem particularly skittish to Logan, but it wasn’t any of his business. He did notice that the child seemed well cared for, and his opinion of Maria improved incrementally.

“Let me carry the diaper bag, at least,” Hannah said, but Maria spurned even that offer.

Stepping past Logan, she slipped out and down the steps, calling over her shoulder, “Just close the door behind you.”

Logan motioned for Hannah to go first and followed, pulling the door closed. “I’m going after her,” Hannah said, and he nodded.

“Take your time. I’ll wait in the car.”

He got in behind the wheel. Eden said, “I didn’t know Maria had a child.”

“Apparently he belongs to one of the neighbors.” He checked Amanda Sue, who was drooling all over her sweater in her sleep. “You think she’s cutting teeth? Emily says she could be.”

Eden smiled. “I like this version of you, Logan. You’re a good father. Has
Emily
told you that?”

“As a matter of fact, she has.”

“Emily seems to have taken quite a major role in your life lately,” Eden said.

Hoping to squelch Eden’s speculation, Logan looked into the rearview mirror, watching Hannah try to talk to her stubborn sister as they trudged down the rough street. “You have to understand,” he said. “I don’t think I could do it like you have, Eden. Emily’s great help. She’s made me a far better father than I would be on my own. And Amanda Sue deserves the very best I can give her.”

Eden reached across the seat and took his hand. “She has it.”

“I mean to see that she always does,” he told her. “Here comes Hannah.”