The Bachelor Pact (38 page)

"Dad was having an affair with a nurse at the hospital?" Maddie asked in disbelief.

"I didn't know about the affair." Reid looked questioningly at Lance.

"Maybe I was mistaken." Lance shrugged. "I found this letter, and in it Maria said the years knowing Dad meant a lot to her."

"Yeah, she worked at the sperm bank," Reid said.

"Sperm bank?" Maddie, Lance and Sophie all said at once.

Reid spoke slowly as if he were talking to a daft person, "Where Dad donated his sperm. Maria was a nurse there. I guess they got to be friends over the years."

"Our father donated his sperm to a sperm bank and his girlfriend worked there?" Maddie said.

"Blast it all to hell," Lance mumbled. "That's why he had that sex kit."

Maddie's eyes widened. "Dad had a sex kit?"

"It gets worse." Reid groaned. "I found a picture of him wearing women's clothes."

"Our father was a cross-dresser?" Lance asked.

"He must have been into kinky sex," Reid said.

"Maybe it was some kind of joke," Sophie suggested. "Or a Halloween costume."

"Earth to maniac brothers." Maddie waved her arms as if she were an air-traffic controller. "Tell me where you got all of these crazy ideas."

"They're not crazy, they're true," Reid said in a dark voice. "Apparently during med school, Dad needed some money to help with expenses so he started donating his sperm to this clinic. I guess he enjoyed his... activity so much he kept donating. He might have hundreds of offspring out there."

"He did this for years?" Maddie asked.

"No wonder you said we might have a lot of siblings," Lance added.

"But why did you think Sophie was our sister?" Maddie asked.

"Because she's been asking about our family," Lance said. "And she's done family reunion stories before where surprise siblings show up unexpectedly—"

Sophie raised a brow, a smile tugging at her mouth. "I thought you didn't watch my show, Lance."

"And she's getting ready to do a show on the ethics of sperm banks," Reid added.

"That's the reason you've been so rude to her?" Maddie asked.

"I've been afraid one of Dad's sperm-bank kids would come looking for us, wanting money or to be a part of the family," Reid said.

"I'm not your sister," Sophie said emphatically. "And I had no idea about your father's activities."

"Then why did you keep after me?" Lance asked.

Maddie swung her hands wildly. "Because she wanted a date with you, you moron!"

Lance swiped a hand across his face in shock.

Sophie's face twisted with hurt. "But you thought I knew something about your past and wanted to expose it or worse, that I wanted part of the Summers fortune."

"What Summers fortune?" Reid asked suspiciously.

Lance had the good sense to look contrite. "There is no Summers fortune."

"Rest assured, guys," Sophie said calmly, "hospitals and sperm banks don't give out that kind of information."

"How would you know?" Reid asked suspiciously.

"We did a show on it a year ago, that's the reason we've planned a follow-up episode. Medical files are strictly confidential."

"I know," Reid admitted. "But someone had broken into the hospital records; that's why I was worried."

"It probably has nothing to do with you," Sophie said.

"Maybe I overreacted a bit," Reid admitted.

"This is unbelievable," Maddie said. "Here I thought our family had no secrets and I was feeling guilty about keeping—" Maddie hesitated.

"Keeping what," Lance asked, his eyes narrowed.

"You knew about Dad?" Reid asked.

Maddie shook her head. "No, Mom."

"Mom?" Lance and Reid said at once.

"I have a feeling Mom knew about Dad's... habit." She held up a hand when the boys started to argue. "Mom wasn't quite as innocent as you guys thought. I heard them arguing the night before their accident. Mom wanted a career."

"Mom wanted a job?" Lance squeaked.

"Doing what? I thought she was happy being Suzy Homemaker," Reid added.

"She wanted to be a caterer—"

"Whew." Lance exhaled a heavy sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to tell me the box of sex toys belonged to her."

"It's possible," Maddie said. "She wanted to design erotic desserts."

"What are erotic desserts?" Reid asked.

Maddie gestured with her hands. "Naked people decorated like ice cream sundaes, cakes—"

"Oh, God," Reid groaned.

"Blast it all hell," Lance mumbled, his own face turning scarlet.

Reid dropped his head in his hands. "I can't believe it—both our parents were perverts."

Maddie and Lance nodded miserably.

"Come on, you guys," Sophie said calmly. "Your mother may have just had that book for fun; maybe she was going to cater weddings and parties. And just because your parents enjoyed sex—"

"Our parents didn't have sex!" Lance, Reid and Maddie all exclaimed at once.

The stunned silence that followed was filled with tension. Seconds later, they all burst into laughter.

Everyone but Sophie. She simply glared at Lance. "I hate to break up this family party, but I have a show to do."

Maddie gulped. "What is the show about for real, Soph?"

"Friends," Sophie said. "Forgiving them for mistakes."

"This I gotta see," Maddie said as she turned and left the room. Reid ducked his head and followed.

Sophie moved to follow, but Lance gently grabbed her wrist. "Wait, Sophie. I—"

"This isn't a good time, Mr. Summers."

Lance winced at her icy tone. "Maybe later?"

Sophie shrugged, not meeting his eyes, making Lance feel about two feet tall. He let her wrist go.

Sophie turned her head to look up at him. "Lance, why don't you go sit in the audience? I think you'll enjoy the show, it's called 'Forgive Me, I Was a Fool.' "

Then she turned and left the room in a cloud of anger, her sweet perfume lingering behind to taunt him. Lance hurried to catch up with Maddie and Reid.

"Forgive Me, I Was a Fool"—if ever there was a show he should watch, this episode would be the one. In fact, he could play the lead.

* * *

Maddie found a seat near the front and sat down, still stunned from all her brothers had revealed—and from their misconceptions. Then Sophie emerged onstage and the camera lights began to flash, and she realized that in all the chaos, she still hadn't found out why Sophie had deceived her into coming on the show. Or why Jeff had been in the green room.

Chapter 29

"Thank you, Cynthia, I really appreciate all your help." Chase clutched the small jewelry box in his hand as he walked toward the exit of the Savings and Loan.

"I'm glad to have helped. I really want things to work out for you and Maddie."

"What?" Chase paused mid-stride. "I simply want to—"

"You don't have to explain, Mr. Holloway." Cynthia patted his hand. "Are you going to give her the necklace today?"

"Well, yes. I have a stop to make first though." For some odd reason, Sophie Lane had left a message that it was urgent she see him. Probably about her renovation project, but why would that be urgent? Unless something had happened to Maddie—

His heart thundered in his chest.

Cynthia checked her watch and frowned.

"What is it?"

"I bet she's already left."

"Left for where?"

Cynthia gnawed on her lip as if she'd said too much. "The show."

"What show?" Chase asked, trying for patience.

"Mr. Oglethorpe was going to surprise Maddie by apologizing to her on that Sophie Lane show. He wants to ask her to marry him."

Chase ground his teeth together, seeing red. Maybe that was the reason Sophie had phoned.

"The show should be starting soon." Cynthia checked her watch again, a forlorn expression on her face. "If you hurry, you might be able to catch her before..."

"Dammit." Chase glanced through the window at his car and groaned. "I'll never make it in time. I have a flat tire."

Cynthia smiled and flashed a set of keys. "Come on then, I'll drive. My car can do zero to ninety in six seconds."

* * *

"She really just wanted to date me?" Lance asked.

Maddie shot him a venomous look. "Yes."

"I guess I blew it big time."

"I'd say that's accurate."

"I still don't understand why you thought Sophie was our sister," Maddie said.

"I assumed Dad had had an affair with this Maria woman, so I thought maybe Sophie was our half-sister when she seemed so interested in our family."

"This P.I. I hired—" Reid started to say.

"You hired a P.I.?" Lance interrupted.

"Yeah, his name is Knobby Smaltz."

"KS," Lance mumbled. "That's what the notation in the book meant."

Maddie jerked Reid's hand. "You hired a P.I. to investigate my best friend?"

"Oww, Maddie, you're hurting me."

"Good, you deserve to be in pain—"

"Shh," several people behind them hissed.

"What did he learn?" Lance asked.

Maddie fumed at him. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves. Don't you dare ask him what he found out about Sophie. She would be devastated if she knew you were snooping into her private life!"

"I'm sorry, Maddie, I guess I overreacted," Reid said.

"Promise me you won't say anything about the P.I. to Sophie," Maddie whispered.

"All right," Reid agreed.

"How could I? She's not even talking to me," Lance muttered.

Maddie pinched his arm. "Promise me, Lance."

"Okay, I promise. If she ever speaks to me again, I won't tell her about the P.I."

Maddie released his arm. "Thank you. And you'd better mean it."

"But the P.I. thinks Chase may be right about Oglethorpe," Reid whispered.

"What about Jeff?" Maddie asked.

"Chase thinks he's responsible for our problems at the sites," Lance explained. "He wanted revenge on us for scaring him that night after you dumped him on TV."

"Or maybe he wanted you to fail, Maddie, so you'd come running back to him," Reid suggested.

Maddie wanted to scream. She would kill Jeffrey Oglethorpe. The sneaky creep had actually taken her mother's heirloom from her, wanted her to fail, then sent her all those flowers and gifts, pleading with her to come back to him. And to think, once she'd wanted to marry him! "This is unbelievable."

Lance and Reid patted her hand sympathetically.

"I have a request," Maddie said.

"What now?" Reid massaged his aching wrist.

"Could we please not keep any more secrets from one another?"

Both her brothers stared at her, then broke into grins. "Fine by me," Lance said.

"Gladly," Reid mumbled.

"Either be quiet or leave, the show's beginning!" a lady with helmet hair hissed behind them.

"Here's our host, Miss Sophie Lane," the director announced. Music floated through the speakers, and Sophie pranced in front of the audience. The stage lit up, and Maddie gaped at the title of the show—"Forgive Me, I Was a Fool."

"You guys all need to be in this one," Maddie muttered.

"Shh!" several people whispered.

Off to the side, she saw Jeff Oglethorpe hiding behind a screen. Reid and Lance both sat up straighter, looking nervous. Her stomach clenched. They obviously knew the reason she'd been asked to appear on the show, and it had something to do with Jeff.

She should have known better than to trust them. No more secrets? Ha!

Next time she asked for a promise, she'd make them sign their names in blood the way they'd done the bachelor pact. So far, it was the only promise they'd kept.

* * *

Chase slipped into the audience, his nerves tied in knots. A wide sweep of the crowd, and he spotted Maddie sitting between her brothers. A glance at the stage, and he read the title of the program and instantly knew Cynthia's suspicions had been right. Oglethorpe intended to propose.

A sick feeling rose in Chase's throat. His father's words haunted him—"The day the judge sentenced me to prison for life, I lost a lot more than my freedom. I also lost my son." Could he stand by and lose his chance for happiness, the chance for a life with the woman he loved, the chance for a son of his own?

He pulled out the bachelor pact he kept in his wallet and stared at it, his hands shaking.

"Today we have a special guest with us, Jeff Oglethorpe, one of Savannah's prominent bankers. Mr. Oglethorpe, would you like to tell us why you're here?"

Oglethorpe stood in the limelight, his perfect suit and perfect hair and perfect manicure probably intoxicating half the female population watching. Oglethorpe had no scars or ghosts in his past to deal with.

He'd also never slept with Maddie.

That had to mean something, didn't it?

Hell, yes, it did.

Oglethorpe pasted on a charming smile. "I'd like to talk to someone in the audience. Maddie Summers, will you come up here, please?"

The beam of light focused on Maddie. Chase watched her stand, saw her hands trembling by her side as she slowly walked up to the stage. She looked absolutely breathtaking in that shiny blue dress, every stitch of fabric molding to her curves, her long, wild hair curling around her face. And damn if her cleavage wasn't showing and the wuss was staring right at it.