Family Ties

Then she uncorked the bottle and poured herself another healthy splash. She lifted the glass with a shaking hand and drank it straight away.

“Oh, Harold,” Anne said with an affectionate laugh, “she’s your daughter.”

“That she is.”

We picked up our plates of cake and chatted about the weather. Well, the older Carmichaels and I did. Christy was silent. Harold was pleasant and even funny once the inquisition was over. He might not like me, but I hoped I’d earned a bit of respect. Still, I wasn’t ready to let down my guard yet.

We returned to the kitchen after we finished the cake and drinks. Danny and Sabrina were there, along with two other men. They stood as soon as Harold entered the room. Habit, I decided.

“Paul,” Harold said, “this is my son Rich.”

“Paul Hughes.” I extended my hand.

“Rich Carmichael.” He took it and squeezed. His grip didn’t let up.

I squeezed back.

He was strong, but so was I, and I matched him until our knuckles turned white from the effort.

I studied him as we vied for top dog. He was shorter than his father and brothers, and wider as well, with dark hair and his father’s baby blue eyes.

The rest of him was hard and angular, the first Carmichael I’d met who wasn’t Hollywood good-looking. He wasn’t ugly, but his expression didn’t do him any favors.

I stepped in and clasped my left hand over his. I bore down hard and stared him in the eye.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.” I barely kept the strain out of my voice.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” He squeezed back, and I felt bones grind.

Harold seemed content to watch the whole thing, but Anne cleared her

throat softly.

“Paul,” she said, “this is Rich’s friend, Terry.” She waited several heartbeats and then said, “Boys…?”

Neither of us were willing to let go first.

She cleared her throat again, louder. “Boys!”

Rich released first. Or maybe I did. It was too close to call, and we both knew it.

I gave him a steady, unapologetic look before I turned to the other man like nothing had happened. “Nice to meet you. Paul Hughes.”

“Terry Aguilar.” His handshake was firm and mercifully brief.

I dropped my hand to my side and flexed my fingers to get the blood flowing again. Rich saw and abruptly stopped doing the same thing. Part of me wanted to laugh, but the rest of me was too preoccupied trying to get my heart rate and breathing under control.

“Well, that was interesting,” Danny said. “Who won?”

“Daniel,” Anne warned.

“Yes, Mother. I’ll behave.” He glanced at me. “I dunno ’bout you, but I’ve had a long day. You ready to hit the rack?”

I looked at my watch. It was almost one in the morning as far as my body was concerned.

“James and Lynne and the boys went to bed a while ago,” Sabrina said to Anne as the mood in the kitchen turned domestic. “Harry’s girls are still up, but they were getting settled when we checked on them. Grace is already out like a light.”

“Thank you, dear,” Anne said.

“I think I’m ready for bed too,” Sabrina said. She kissed Danny on the cheek. “See you in the morning. Sweet dreams.”

“You too.”

I glanced at Christy and wondered if I was ready to kiss her in front of her family. I decided I was and almost laughed at her look of relief. I kept it to a chaste kiss on the cheek, though.

“Sweet dreams,” I said softly.

Her eyes flashed at what I’d left unspoken.

“See you in the morning,” I told her with a grin. Then I smiled at her parents. “Thanks again for inviting me.”

“Our pleasure,” Harold said, and even sounded like he meant it.

I glanced at Rich and Terry. “Nice to meet you guys.”

“You too,” Rich said, but his voice was flat.

Terry nodded but seemed to dislike me on Rich’s behalf. I couldn’t really blame him, though. I would’ve followed Trip’s lead in a similar situation.

The girls smiled at Danny and me and headed toward Christy’s bedroom.

Danny and I waved to the others and went out to the porch.

“Well, that went better than I expected,” he said once we were alone.

“Are you kidding? Did you expect violence or something?”

“With Rich… who knows? Not with Mom and Dad around, but…” He shrugged. “You seemed to do okay with Dad.” He started undressing for bed.

I did the same. “I’m not so sure.”

“Did he do the whole ‘what are your intentions’ thing?”

“That’s exactly what he did.”

“I figured. What’d you say?”

“Told him to mind his own business.”

“Say what?”

“I was polite about it, but I said it’s between Christy and me.”

“And how’d he take it?”

“Better’n I thought he would, to be honest.”

“Yeah, the old man’s a politician.”

“Your mom saved me.”

“Uh-huh. You probably realized by now, but she runs the show around here. Dad wears the stars, but Mom is the commander in chief.”

I told him what she’d done with the cake.

“That’s her, all right,” he said with another laugh. He draped his clothes over the love seat, and I watched him covertly. He wore blue briefs and nothing else, and he was just as good-looking as I thought he’d be. Playgirl would have hired him on the spot.