The Sassy One

20

Sam didn’t sleep. He spent the hours until midnight pacing downstairs, then around one in the morning he started walking the grounds. By the time the sun came up, he was exhausted, sore, and not completely convinced he’d handled the situation with Francesca as well as he could have.

She’d lied. He was still having trouble reconciling what she’d done with the woman he’d grown to love. If she had been anyone else, he would have dismissed her from his life and never thought of her again. That’s what he’d done with Tanya, with the other women he’d met. Even with his mother, after she’d died. He turned his back on bitter memories and had vowed never to make that mistake again.

Until now he’d succeeded. He’d kept his relationships superficial. No one had gotten under his skin, no one had mattered, and no one had betrayed him.

He’d wanted more of the same with Francesca, but that hadn’t happened. Kelly had shown up, throwing his life the kind of curve designed to show the measure of his character. He figured he’d succeeded as much as he’d failed with her. And any part of his success was due to Francesca.

Damn her hide, but she’d made him look at things he hadn’t wanted to see. He and Kelly might have a long way to go before they had something close to a normal father-daughter relationship, but if not for Francesca, they would still be spending all their time screaming at each other.

Francesca had taught him to listen, to be calm, to look at Kelly’s side of things. Francesca had given him hope that he could learn how to be a good father. She’d made him believe in himself, in her, in them.

He’d fallen in love with her. Only to find out she was just like all the rest of them.

But he couldn’t get his mind around that last thing. That she was like Tanya. Because Tanya had never cared about anyone but herself. And his mother had only been interested in manipulating those around her, using whatever means she could to manage the outcome. He’d known women who were in it for the money, the house, the family business, or the name. So what was Francesca in it for? A baby?

He shook his head. No. He would bet his soul that she hadn’t gotten pregnant on purpose. They’d used protection and it had failed. So he wasn’t angry because of the baby, but because-

He stopped in the middle of the garden, cold, damp with dew, and barely able to see straight. The first fingers of pink light had barely crept over the house. They were going to have a baby.

He’d heard the words when she’d said them, but he hadn’t internalized them. Not until that second. A baby. An infant.

His brain filled with pictures of diapers and blankets, of rocking chairs and car seats. Of a baby smile, a toddler, of a first step, a first word. All the things he’d missed with Kelly. No, not missed. All the things that had been stolen from him.

He clenched his hands into fists and raised his face to the sky. If there was one woman in the world he would have been willing to have a child with, Francesca was the one. He loved her. Had loved her. And she’d betrayed him.

Why had she kept it a secret? Five weeks. Not a couple of days or even one week. Five. She’d made love with him, knowing she carried his child. She’d laughed with him, smiled at him, held him close, all the while living a lie.

How could he reconcile what he wanted with what he knew?

There weren’t any answers. At least not here in the garden. Tired beyond words, he headed for the house and walked into the kitchen. Maybe a couple hours of sleep would make things more clear. Maybe he would wake up and find out this was all just a bad dream and that it was still okay to trust and give his heart.

Didn’t anybody on the planet carry cash anymore? Kelly wondered angrily as she tried yet another key in the door of Security International. The third one worked, the lock giving way with a loud click.

It was nearly six-thirty on Friday morning. She figured she had a couple of hours before office staff started showing up, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Not when there was so much on the line.

Sam had been up all night. She knew because she kept checking his room. Finally, just after dawn, she’d heard him go into his room. He’d been snoring when she left fifteen minutes later.

She really hated that she’d had to come to the office first, but when she’d gone through his wallet around midnight, she’d found all of twenty dollars. Not nearly enough to allow her to run away and not ever be found. Which meant she needed more cash, and she knew only one place to get it.

After carefully closing and locking the front door behind her, she made her way to Sam’s office. There she went through the key ritual again until she found the one that unlocked his desk. She pulled out the key that would open the cabinet holding the petty cash box and crept down the hall.

She didn’t want to steal. Not really. But what choice did she have? It wasn’t like she had her own credit card anymore. And not having a credit card had meant having to look up the bus routes and then take the right one to get her to the office. She’d lost a lot of time. But she had a plan. Once she had the money, she would take a bus to San Francisco. She figured a bus was really safe because Sam would assume she was taking a plane. While he was busy checking first-class reservations, she would disappear into the city.

She walked into the storeroom and opened the cabinet. She was in the process of counting out the bills when a hand dropped onto her shoulder. She screamed and the money went flying. When she turned, she found her great-grandfather standing right behind her.

“You’re up early,” he said.

She opened her mouth, closed it, then burst into tears.

Sam woke at eight-thirty. A shower and two cups of coffee later he still felt like roadkill. By nine-fifteen he decided he’d better check on Kelly. She’d been hurting last night, and he felt badly for not talking to her at the time. Francesca’s announcement had thrown him.

As he climbed the stairs, he wondered how he was going to tell Kelly about the baby. Maybe he should wait on that until he knew what was going to happen. They could discuss it-

She was gone.

Sam stood inside her room and stared at the neatly made bed. There weren’t that many things missing, but he knew in his gut that she’d left. Run away.

Panic didn’t begin to describe what he was feeling. His daughter, he thought frantically. Where would she go?

Just in case his gut was wrong, he carefully searched the house, then checked his wallet. His credit cards were all there, but the last of his cash was missing.

He grabbed the phone on his nightstand and punched in Francesca’s number. A thick, tear-filled voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Is she with you?”

Francesca cleared her throat. “What? Sam?”

“Is Kelly with you?”

“No. Of course not. What happened?”

“She’s missing. She ran away. I was up all night, so it must have been sometime this morning.”

“No. Oh, Sam, she can’t be out on her own. What are you going to do?”

“Find her.”

“Do you want me to help?”

Frustration, fear, and the need to get moving steeled his resolve. “I don’t want anything from you,” he said before hanging up.

“You’re all fired,” Sam announced at noon the following day. “Every single one of you is fired. We’re the most successful security company on the West Coast, and you’re telling me we can’t find one twelve-year-old girl?”

The portion of his security staff in town gathered in the main conference room. Sam paced in front of the dry erase boards. Gabriel sat in a chair by the door.

Jason ignored the news of his job loss. “We’ve checked all points of departure, boss. Airports, train stairs, bus depots. We’ve talked to cab companies, limo companies. Hell, even car-rental companies in case she had fake ID.”

Sam glared at him, not bothering to point out the obvious-that Kelly was twelve and unlikely to know how to drive a car.

“No one’s seen her. There aren’t any clues.” The man shifted uneasily in his seat. “It’s like she vanished.”

Sam turned his back on his staff. “Get out,” he said wearily. “All of you, get the hell out.”

There was movement behind him, then silence. He turned back to find Jason and Gabriel still in the room. He crossed to the table and sank down next to Jason.

“Now what?” he asked quietly.

Jason looked as tired and worried as Sam felt. “It’s time to talk to our liaison at the police department.”

Sam didn’t even want to admit defeat-to go to the police when he knew his people could work faster by avoiding all that messy legal protocol. But never had he felt the sharp blade of failure more acutely than today.

He stared at his friend. “We have to find her, Jason. Dear God, she’s out there by herself. Anything could happen.”

Gabriel excused himself and walked wearily from the room. His limp had gotten more pronounced over the past twenty-four hours. He was showing his age.

Sam and Jason made up a new list of plans. When they were finished, Sam covered his face with his hands.

“This is all my fault,” he said. “The last thing I said to Kelly…” Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach. “She can’t be gone. She just can’t. I missed so much with her. All those early years. I can never get them back, but I want the future we were supposed to have. I want to watch her grow up and teach her to play chess. I want to be there on her first date.” He dropped his hands. “And scare the shit out the guy.”

Jason gave him a weary smile. “You’ll do a good job at that.”

Sam nodded. “I want to help her pick out a college.” His throat got tight. “Dammit, Jason, I just want to hold her in my arms.”

“Daddy?”

The soft voice, the single word, made his heart stop in mid-beat. He turned toward the door and saw Kelly standing just inside the conference room.

A thousand thoughts flooded his brain, but he couldn’t focus on a single one. Instead he could only stand and move around the table. Then Kelly was running toward him.

She threw herself against him just as he grabbed her and pulled her close. She was warm, alive, breathing, and crying.

“You’re okay,” he said, unable to process the information. “You’re here.”

“I’ve been here the whole time.”

Sam stroked her hair, her back, then touched her chin so she looked up at him. Her green eyes were wet with tears, but still precious to him.

“You’re all right?”

She sniffed, then nodded. “I was running away. I came here to get cash and Gabriel found me.”

Sam couldn’t feel anything but happiness. He glanced over her to where Jason sat grinning like a fool. “You know about this?”

“No way. The old man pulled one over on both of us.”

Sam remembered his grandfather showing up within minutes of being called. He’d insisted on searching the house while Sam had been on the phone calling staff members. No doubt the wily old bastard had used the time to slip the keys back into place. Sam had never noticed they were gone.

He sighed. “No one bothered to check the office, right?”

Jason shook his head. “Sorry, boss.”

He rose and left, just as Gabriel stepped into the room. The old man looked very pleased with himself. Sam noticed the limp didn’t seem so bad now.

“You fooled us all,” Sam said, too relieved to be angry.

“I only wanted to fool you.”

Sam sat down and pulled Kelly onto his lap. “I’m sorry about what I said the other night. About no one wanting to be with you. Not only was that mean of me, it was wrong. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She wrapped her thin arms around his neck.

“Kelly, you mean the world to me. I know things haven’t been easy, but I think we’re making progress. Good progress. I can’t-” He couldn’t imagine life without her. He cleared his throat. “I love you.”

She straightened. “Really?”

“With my whole heart. I’d be destroyed if you left.”

Her eyes widened. “So you don’t want to send me away?”

“No. Not ever.” He took one of her hands in his. “I can honestly tell you that never crossed my mind. Not even once.” He gave her a slight smile. “You’re stuck with me, kid.”

“That’s okay.” She looked at him, ducked her head, then blushed. “I called you Daddy before.”

“I know. I liked it.”

She sighed, then smiled. “Me, too.”

She flung herself against him and he held her close. As he rubbed her back, he glared at his grandfather.

“You and I are going to have words later, old man.”

Gabriel shrugged. “It was for a good cause.”

“You nearly gave me a heart attack. I know you needed to let Kelly know how much she mattered to me, and I’m glad she got the message, but you shouldn’t have carried things on for so long. When I thought Kelly was out there by herself…” He shook his head, not wanting to think about it.

Gabriel chuckled. “Sam, you’re such a horse’s ass.”

Sam stiffened, Kelly gasped and sat up, but Gabriel didn’t stop talking.

“You think I did this for Kelly, when the truth is, I did it for you. You’re the one who needed to figure out how much she mattered.”

Sam glared at him. “Why you meddling, old-” He stopped and leaned back in the chair. Well, hell. Gabriel had taught him a lesson and a half. The last twenty-seven hours had been a living nightmare he would never forget. If that’s what it had taken to make him realize how much he loved his daughter, then maybe it had been worth it.

“I don’t approve of your methodology,” Sam muttered as he touched Kelly’s cheek. She smiled at him.

Gabriel settled into a chair. “That’s fine with me. I’ve always been a cowboy at heart, doing my own thing.” He nodded at Kelly. “She told me a real interesting story about you and Francesca. So you’ve got another one on the way, huh?”

Gabriel sounded more proud than surprised, which was fine, because Sam was shocked enough for both of them.

“You knew?” he asked Kelly.

She nodded. “I was coming downstairs to apologize to Francesca for what I said and to you for taking your credit card.”

Gabriel chuckled. “You’ve got to admit, the kid is damned resourceful.”

Sam ignored him. “And you heard about the baby?”

“Uh-huh.” She wiped her cheeks. “That’s why I ran away. Francesca was always the one making things right with you and me. I’d been hoping the two of you would get together or something. But when I heard about the baby, I knew she wouldn’t want me anymore. Not when she was going to have one of her own.” New tears spilled down her cheeks. “Then when you told her to get out, I figured you weren’t going to get married and that I wasn’t going to be allowed to stay.”

“Oh, honey.”

Gabriel making a tisking sound. “You’re going to have some groveling to do, boy.”

Before Sam could respond, there was a loud commotion outside.

Gabriel glanced at his watch. “Right on time.”

“Who is that?” Kelly asked.

“The Marcelli family. I called them when you went missing.” The old man chuckled. “They’ve been worried and wanted to know what to do. I suggested they show up here this morning.” He winked at Sam. “I figured you’d be at your breaking point about now, and Kelly and I would take pity on you.”

Kelly jumped off Sam’s lap and hurried toward the door. “They were really worried about me?” she asked, sounding delighted. “Wow. That’s so cool.”

When she’d stepped out of the room, Gabriel looked at Sam. “It seems they all know about Francesca’s bun in the oven. Lorenzo’s not taking it well. He was expecting an engagement announcement, followed by a quickie wedding.”

Sam rose. “They knew? Did everyone know but me?”

Gabriel shrugged. “Looks that way.”

Sam headed into the hallway. Sure enough, the Grands, Grandpa Lorenzo, and Colleen and Marcus stood around talking with various staff members. He supposed he should be pleased that Katie and Brenna hadn’t tagged along.

His daughter was being hugged, squeezed, and cheek-pinched by the Grands. The pleasure on her pretty face eased some of the tightness in his chest. It had been a hell of a morning, and it didn’t seem to be getting any less stressful.

“Thanks for stopping by,” he said above the din. “As you can see, Kelly is fine.”

Conversation ceased. Five adults looked at him. Five pairs of eyes turned reproachful. Sam suddenly felt as if he were eight and had just hit a baseball through the church window.

He tried to smile and somehow couldn’t make his mouth move. Grandpa Lorenzo stepped toward him.

“You dishonor my granddaughter. We have a word for men like you.”

Sam didn’t want to know what it was. Nor did he know how to defend himself against the much older man. While he knew enough moves to take out Lorenzo twenty times over, it seemed in bad form to use them against a soon-to-be great-grandfather.

Lorenzo started muttering in Italian. The Grands didn’t look any more friendly. He didn’t want to know what Francesca’s parents were thinking.

“You’re going to marry her,” the old man said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“No, he’s not.”

Everyone turned and saw Francesca walking down the hallway. She walked over to Lorenzo and got between him and Sam.

“Leave him alone.”

Her grandfather roared. “You’re pregnant. He’s the father. He should do the right thing.”

Sam turned and saw Gabriel leaning against a wall. “Did you call her, too?”

“Sure. She needed to be here.”

“Any more surprises?”

“That’s up to you.”

Great.

Francesca glared right back at Lorenzo. “Sam and I will do what is right for us. Not what you want, not what my parents want, not what anyone else wants.”

“But the baby-”

“Will be fine. I’ve already married one man I didn’t love. I’m not doing it again.”

She didn’t love him? The words burned deep. “You don’t love me?” he asked without thinking.

She whirled on him. “Do you really want to have this conversation right here?”

He glanced around at her family, at Gabriel and Kelly and most of his staff hovering in the background.

“I thought I’d fired all of them,” he muttered, then motioned to the conference room. “How about in there?”

“Fine.”

She swept past him.

He followed and closed the door, all the while trying not to think about everyone out there pressing close and listening.

Francesca paced the length of the room. When she reached the far end, she turned back to him but didn’t speak.

Sam studied her-the long brown hair that swayed with each movement. The shape of her greenish-hazel eyes. The set of her mouth. He remembered the first time they’d met. She’d been seriously pregnant. Maybe it had been a sign.

She was having his baby. He recalled being furious with her just a couple of days ago. He’d said a lot of things he now regretted. After the last couple of days, he understood why she’d kept the truth from him. He’d been reeling from dealing with Kelly. She’d wanted to give him time. She hadn’t acted anything like his ex-wife. He-

“You have a lot to answer for,” she said, her voice thick with tension. “You were a real bastard, Sam. And you don’t fight fair.”

Her sharp words were so at odds with the warm and friendly thoughts he’d been having that it took him a second to switch gears. “Me?”

She planted her hands on her hips. “You. If we’re going to fight, we’re going to fight fair. No name-calling and no walking out. We stay here until it’s settled. No matter how long it takes.”

She was right, he thought. “Fine. I’m sorry I called you a liar. I was stunned and wounded and I lashed out, but it’s not an excuse. It won’t happen again.”

She didn’t looked convinced, but she nodded. “I’m sorry I walked out. I should have stayed and fought with you, no matter how upset I was. And just to make things clear, I didn’t keep the information from you just to entertain myself. I found out about the baby right before the Fourth of July. I didn’t want to tell you then because I didn’t believe it myself. Then I learned about my brother and there was all that. Then there were problems with Kelly. I wanted to give you time.”

“You shouldn’t have made that decision for me. It wasn’t yours to make.”

“I know that. I was wrong and I apologize.” She sucked in a breath. “But that’s not the only reason I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d get upset, and I didn’t want things between us to change.”

What? “We’re having a baby. Of course they’re going to change.” He couldn’t believe that he loved her and wanted to yell at her in equal measures. “How could things not change?”

“I knew they would be different,” she said, her voice rising. “That’s the point. I liked being with you. I liked what we had. I was starting to care about you, which not only broke the rules, but scared the crap out of me. So I hid the truth. And I felt really guilty.”

He matched her volume with volume. “You should have trusted me.”

“Don’t yell at me.”

“You started it.”

She stomped her foot. “Dammit, Sam, I am a calm, rational person. Not a screamer.”

“You seem to be a screamer with me.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Don’t you dare bring up sex right now.”

“I meant when we fight. You yell.”

“I do not.”

“You’re yelling right now.”

“I’m-” She pressed her lips together, then dropped her voice. “You bring out the worst in me.”

Color stained her cheeks. She was breathing hard and standing her ground. In that second, he knew she would always go toe-to-toe with him. If she thought he was wrong, she would tell him. Whether it was about Kelly, their baby, or any other part of their lives.

He circled around the large table and walked toward her. “I love you, Francesca Marcelli.”

In the silence that followed, he heard not only her gasp, but a sigh from outside.

She shook her head. “You can’t. I lied. I knew how much you hated deception, and I did it anyway.”

He walked closer and took her hands. “Tell me why.”

“Because.” She blinked back tears. “I didn’t want to lose you and I thought I might. I… I love you, Sam.”

His heart did a double beat. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Even when you make me crazy. You don’t treat me like I’m stupid. With you I’m an equal. You listen to me, you trust me. At least you did.”

He leaned forward and kissed her. “I still do. How could I not? You do the right thing, even when it hurts. No matter what happens, you keep showing up.”

She sniffed. “You do, too. Having Kelly appear without warning really messed with your world. But even when you were angry and frustrated and backed into a corner, you kept trying.”

He glanced at the door behind them, then lowered his voice. “I said some things I regret. About being sorry she was around.”

Francesca nodded. “But you said them to me. In private. It’s okay to have doubts. We’re judged by what we do with those doubts. You kept on trying. Working the program. Falling for her.”

He smiled. “I love her.” He pulled her close. “I love you, too. I want us to be a family, Francesca. I’m still in shock about the baby, but I’m excited, too. I want you to marry me. Not because it’s the right thing to do or because of pressures outside this room, but because you want to. Because you can’t imagine life without me.”

Francesca kissed him. If she’d had any doubts about her feelings for Sam, the last twenty-four hours had destroyed them. She’d been more than miserable: she’d been lost.

“I need you,” she whispered.

He chuckled. “Not half so much as I need you. Say you’ll marry me. Promise to love me forever, which is almost as long as I’m going to love you.”

She held him and sighed. “I do love you, Sam. With my whole heart. And yes, I’ll marry you.”

There was a loud cheer from the hallway.

“So we don’t have to make a formal announcement,” he murmured.

“My family doesn’t exactly stand on ceremony.”

“Neither do I,” he said and kissed her.