LITMIR.BIZ

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worriedly when he leaned his head back against the seat. “I live on the fourth floor.”

      “I’m all right. I’m just groggy.”

      “I hope so,” she murmured. She put the car in gear and reversed it.

      Guy helped him into the elevator and upstairs. Amy and Polk got on the other side, and between them, they maneuvered him into Melody’s apartment and onto her sofa.

      The sleeping arrangements were going to be interesting, she thought. She could put Emmett and the boys in her bedroom and she and Amy could share the sleeper sofa. It wasn’t ideal, but it would be adequate. What wouldn’t was managing some pajamas for Emmett.

      “I don’t wear pajamas,” he muttered. “You aren’t going to be in the bedroom, so it won’t concern you,” he added with a glittery green stare.

      She turned away to keep him from seeing the color in her cheeks. “All right. I’ll see about getting something together for sandwiches.”

      At least, he wasn’t picky about what he ate. That was a mixed blessing. Perhaps it was the concussion, making him so agreeable.

      “This isn’t bad,” he murmured when he’d finished off two egg salad sandwiches.

      “Thank you,” she replied.

      “I hate eggs,” Guy remarked, but he was still eating his sandwich as he said it. He didn’t look at Melody.

      “And me,” Melody added for him. He looked up, surprised, and her steady gaze told him that she knew exactly how her cat had managed to get out the door and lost.

      He flushed and put down the rest of his sandwich. “I’m not hungry.” He got up and went into the living room with Amy and Polk, who were eating on TV tables.

      Emmett ran a big hand through his dark hair. “I’m sorry about your cat,” he said.

      “So am I.” She got up and cleared away the dishes. “There’s coffee if you’d like some.”

      “I would. Black.”

      “I’ll bet you don’t eat catsup on steak, either,” she murmured.

      He smiled at her as she put a mug of steaming coffee beside his hand. “Smart girl.”

      “Why do you ride in rodeos?” she asked when she was sitting down.

      The question surprised him. He leaned back in his chair fingering the hot mug, and considered it. “I always have,” he began.

      “It must be hard on the children, having you away from home so much,” she continued. “Even if your housekeeper does look after them.”

      “They’re resourceful,” he said noncommittally.

      “They’re ruined,” she returned. “And you know it. Especially Guy.”

      His eyes narrowed as they met hers. “They’re my kids,” he said quietly. “And how I raise them is none of your business.”

      “They’re my nephews and niece,” she pointed out.

      His face went taut under its dark tan. “Don’t bring that up.”

      “Why do you have to keep hiding from it?” she asked miserably. “Randy’s my brother. I love him. But he couldn’t have taken Adell if she hadn’t wanted to go with him…!”

      “My God, don’t you think I know that?” he asked with bridled fury.

      She saw the pain in his face, in his eyes, and she understood. “But, it wasn’t because something was lacking in you,” she said softly, trying to make him understand. “It was because she found something in Randy that she needed. Don’t you see, it wasn’t your fault!”

      His whole body clenched. He grimaced and lifted the cup, burning his lips as he forced coffee between them. “It’s none of your business,” he said gruffly. “Let it alone.”

      She wanted to pursue the subject, but it wouldn’t be wise. She let it go.

      “There’s a little ice cream,” she told him.

      He shook his head. “I don’t like sweets.”

      Just like Guy, but she didn’t say it. Guy hated her. He hated her enough to let her cat out the door and into the street. Her eyes closed on a wave of pain. It was just as well she wasn’t mooning over Emmett, because she was certain that Guy wouldn’t let that situation develop.

      “You should be in bed,” she told Emmett after a tense minute.

      “Yes,” he agreed without heat and then stood up slowly. “Tomorrow I’ll take the kids back to the hotel, and we’ll get a flight out to San Antonio. We’ll all be out of your hair.”

      She didn’t argue. There was nothing to say.

      Chapter 3

      Earlier in the day, Melody had telephoned the nearest veterinarian’s office and animal shelter, hoping that Alistair might turn up there. But the veterinarian’s receptionist hadn’t heard of any lost cats, and there was only a new part-time girl at the animal shelter who wasn’t very knowledgeable about recent acquisitions. In fact, she’d confided, they’d had a fire the week before, and everything was mixed up. The lady who usually ran the shelter was in the hospital, having suffered smoke inhalation trying to get the animals out. She was very sorry, but she didn’t know which cats were new acquisitions and which were old ones.

      Melody was sorry about the fire, but she was even more worried about her cat. She went out into the hall one last time to call Alistair, in vain because he didn’t appear. She just had to accept that he was gone. It wasn’t easy. It was going to be similar to losing a member of her family, and part of her blamed Guy for that. He might hate her, but why had he taken out that hatred on her cat? Alistair had done nothing to hurt him.

      Melody slept fitfully, and not only because she was worried about Alistair. The couch was comfortable, as a rule, but Amy was a restless sleeper and it was hard to dodge little flailing arms and legs and not wake up.

      Just before daylight, she gave up. She covered the sleeping child, her eyes tender on the little oval face with its light brown hair and straight nose so reminiscent of Adell. Amy’s eyes, though, were her father’s. All the kids had green eyes, every single one. Adell’s were blue, and her hair was light brown. Amy was the one who most resembled her mother, despite her tomboy ways and the temper that matched her father’s. That physical resemblance to her mother must have been very painful to Emmett when Adell first left him. Guy seemed to be his favorite, and it wasn’t surprising. Guy looked and acted the most like him. Polk was just himself, bespectacled and slight, with no real distinguishing feature except his brain. He seemed to be far and away the brains of the bunch.

      She pulled on her quilted robe, her long hair disheveled from sleep, and went slowly into the bathroom, yawning as she opened the door.

      Emmett’s dark eyebrows levered up when she stopped dead and turned scarlet.

      “Sorry!” she gasped, jerking the door back shut.

      She went into the living room and sat down in a chair, very quickly. It was disconcerting to find a naked man stepping out of her shower, even if he did have a body that would grace a centerfold in any women’s magazine.

      He came out a minute later with a towel wrapped around his lean hips. He had an athlete’s body, wide shouldered and narrow hipped, and his legs were incredible, Melody thought. She stared at him pie-eyed, trying to act sophisticated when she was just short of starstruck.

      “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think to lock the door. I assumed this was a little early for you to be up, and I needed a shower.”

      “Of course.”

      He frowned as he stared down at her. She was doing her best not to look at him, and her cheeks were flaming.

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