A Man Like Morgan Kane (5 page)

"I've always loved Morgan stories," Anne Marie said, her gaze locked with his. "Nana and Ida Mae spoiled you rotten, didn't they? They spoiled you almost as badly as they have me."

When the girl laughed, every muscle in Morgan's body tensed. The sound brought back memories long forgotten, buried in the past. The laughter belonged to another girl, a shy, quiet girl with huge hazel eyes and a mane of dark, coffee brown hair. Morgan stared intoBethany's daughter's eyes, eyes an identical blue-gray to his own. She'd inherited the Morgan eyes, too.

"You sounded like your mother just then. Your laughter—" The words came out of his mouth before he realized that he'd vocalized his thoughts.

"You think so? I'm told our voices are similar. Most people can't tell us apart on the phone now that I'm older." Anne Marie shrugged. "And I think we look a little alike, except that I'm twice as big. Nana says that I'm built like the Morgans. Tall and rawboned. Good pioneer stock."

"Pioneer stock?" Morgan chuckled. "Is that what you've told her, Mother, that your ancestors were pioneers?"

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Claudia frowned at her son, then gazed past him up the brick pathway and sighed. "Ah, here comes Ida Mae with our lunch."

Morgan seated Anne Marie, then sat down directly across from his mother. Glancing back and forth from one to the other, he wondered if the fact that the child resembled her so much had anything to do with the reason Claudia was so fond of Amery's daughter.

"Have you asked him, Nana?" Anne Marie smiled at Ida Mae when she placed a green salad in front of her.

"Asked me what?" Staring at his mother, Morgan held his fork in midair.

"Not yet. I thought you and I could ask him together," Claudia said. "But let's wait until after we've enjoyed a peaceful lunch."

"What's going on?" Cocking his head backward, he looked up at Ida Mae. "Are you in on this little plot of Mother's?"

"There is no plot," Claudia said indignantly, then lifted her fork and pierced a small tomato slice in her salad. "Anne Marie simply wants to ask a favor of you."

Focusing on his mother, Morgan didn't move his gaze a fraction from her calmly composed face as he laid his fork beside his plate. "What kind of favor?"

Reaching around the edge of the table, Anne Marie grasped Morgan's arm. "Nana and I want you to be Mama's bodyguard."

He glanced down at the hand on his arm, noting the long, slender fingers—elegant Morgan fingers. "I'm sure your Nana knows that I've already turned down the job. Maxine Carson did inform you after Dane called her, didn't she, Mother?"

"Yes, I'm aware that you're reluctant to take the assignment because of the family connection, but I …

that is, Anne Marie and I think you're the only man for the job."

The girl squeezed his arm and gazed beseechingly into his eyes. "Please, Morgan. Please. Nana and I know that you're the best, that you'd take care of Mama better than anyone else. And you're so smart and brave and—"

"What the hell have you been telling this child about me?" Morgan glowered at his mother.

Ida Mae cleared her throat. "Your mother's pretty well convinced her that you're some sort of white knight."

Squeezing his arm again, Anne Marie frowned, crinkling her nose in the exact same wayBethanyused to do whenever she became upset. "Mama didn't kill Jimmy Farraday, but the police don't believe her.

We've got to have some help finding the real killer. And now that one of Jimmy's fans sent that bomb to Mama—"

Morgan grabbed Anne Marie's wrist. "Someone sent Beth a bomb? What happened? Is she all right?"

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"She's fine," Anne Marie said. "Mama didn't open the package. Lisa did, and it blew up. She's in the hospital in critical condition."

"Who is—" Morgan asked.

"Lisa Songer is the manager of one ofBethany's boutiques," Claudia said. "The package was delivered to the Galleria boutique, and Lisa took it over toBethany's house. It was addressed to her, not the shop."

"Who would want to harmBethany?" Morgan's heartbeat roared in his ears. Why should he care? Why did the very thought of someone harmingBethanyhit him so hard? She didn't mean anything to him. Not after all this time.

Suddenly realizing that he was still manacling Anne Marie's wrist, Morgan released her.

"I told you, we think it was one of Jimmy's fans," Anne Marie said. "They've been calling the house and sending letters, making threats ever since the police arrested Mama four days ago."

"It might have been one of Farraday's outraged lunatic fans," Morgan said. "But I think y'all have overlooked another possibility?"

"And what is that?" Claudia asked.

"Whoever killed Farraday might wantBethanydead and the case closed so that there's no further investigation into the murder."

"See," Anne Marie cried. "You're already figuring the different angles, considering all the possibilities.

You know all kinds of ways to track down a criminal." She breathed in deeply, then exhaled. "I wouldn't trust anyone else to take care of my mother. To make sure no one hurts her. She's the most wonderful mother in the world. You remember what a special person she is, don't you?"

Just the mention ofBethany's name stirred up deep emotions inside him. Feelings he thought long dead.

Beth—his Beth—had been special. He just hadn't had sense enough to realize how special until it was too late. "Yeah, I remember."

"Then you will take the assignment, won't you, Morgan?" Anne Marie smiled weakly, a look of pleading in her eyes.

"You can't go away and letBethanyfight this battle alone," his mother said.

Claudia's words hit a nerve. He'd leftBethanyonce, left her to fight against the will of his parents and her mother. She'd lost that fight and married Amery. A part of him did and always would feel guilty that his desertion had left her defenseless. Had she turned to Amery not only because his parents and Eileen Dow had encouraged the relationship, but because she'd known how much he hated his cousin? Had marrying Amery been an act of revenge against him?

Did he owe it toBethanyto stay inBirminghamand guard her? Maybe. Was he a fool to even consider taking the assignment? Probably.

Claudia patted Anne Marie's hand. "Would you mind running up to my room and bringing me my address book and the cards beside it? They're on my writing desk. I owe so many thank-you notes for the flowers people keep sending. It's such a lovely day, I think I may stay out here for a while after
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lunch."

"Of course, Nana." Standing, Anne Marie leaned over and caressed Claudia's shoulder. "I think I'll go through the kitchen and check out what Ida Mae fixed for dessert."

The minute Anne Marie and Ida Mae disappeared inside the house, Claudia turned to her son. "Bethany and Amery did not have a good marriage. She didn't love—"

"I don't want to hear about Bethany and Amery's marriage!" Morgan knocked over his chair in his haste to stand. Tossing down his linen napkin, he glared at his mother.

"No, don't leave. Don't run away. Not now. You leftBethanyonce when she… Please.Bethanyneeds you, and I believe you need her."

"I don't need anyone. Get that through your head right now."

"You always were so headstrong and rebellious, but you didn't used to be quite so cold and unfeeling.

What sort of life have you led that has turned you into a heartless machine?"

"You don't want to know."

"Perhaps not." Claudia ran her fingertips over the glass top of the wicker table. "We made a mistake, your father, Eileen and I, pushingBethanyinto a marriage with Amery. They were both miserable. I've felt guilty for such a long time. And ever since you told me the other day that sixteen years ago you'd actually come home, come back forBethany… If only we'd known…Things could have been so different."

"All of this is past history." Morgan reached down, grasped the back of his wicker chair and set it upright. "What does any of this have to do with my taking the job asBethany's bodyguard?"

"Bethanyis very dear to me. Over the years she has become a daughter to me," Claudia said. "And Anne Marie… I love that child as much as I ever loved you."

"All right, we've established what Bethany and her daughter mean to you, but that still doesn't—"

"In all the years you've been away, the only thing I ever asked of you was to come home to your father's funeral, but the Navy couldn't reach you in time. You were God knows where, doing God knows what.

"Well, I'm asking something of you again. Just this once. Do this one thing for me and I'll never ask anything of you again, Stay here inBirmingham. ProtectBethany. And find a way to prove her innocence."

"I can't!" Turning his back to Claudia, he gazed out at the vibrant, verdant, manicured garden surrounding the gazebo, then let his vision focus on the wide sweep of the city below them.

"You lost her once, and that was partly my fault and partly your own fault." Claudia eased back her chair, stood and walked around the table. She laid her hand on Morgan's rigid shoulder. "Don't you see?

This could be a second chance for you and Bethany. Aren't you the least bit curious to find out if—"

"Don't do this!" Stepping hurriedly away from his mother, Morgan leaned forward, grasped the top of the banister railing and clenched his teeth tightly. Was he curious aboutBethany? About what kind of woman she had become? About whether or not that same sizzling chemistry existed between them?

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Hell, yes, he was curious. And scared. He hadn't wanted or needed anyone in a long, long time. And he liked it that way. People came and went in his life. But there had been no oneand nothing permanent. Not caring about someone made life easier. If you didn't care, then no one could hurt you. If nothing and no one mattered, then no one could disappoint you, no one could let you down.

He did his job atDundee's with the same controlled, unemotional professionalism that had seen him safely through over a dozen years as a SEAL. Could he becomeBethany's personal bodyguard and remain uninvolved? It wasn't that he still loved her. Hell, he wasn't sure he'd ever loved her or anyone else for that matter. He hadn't been taught how to love, only to succeed. And he had succeeded. Not by following family tradition and becoming a lawyer, but by becoming one ofAmerica's elite warriors.

But he
had
cared deeply forBethany. More than he'd ever cared about anyone else. She'd been a sweet innocent, whose passionate nature had surprised and delighted him. He'd never been able to forget her, no matter how hard he'd tried, and God knows he'd tried.

"I'll consider taking the job," Morgan said, damning himself to hell with his own words. "But only if Bethanywants me."

* * *

Turning down the volume on the radio,Bethanyquieted the soft, soothing sound of Yanni at the piano.

She glanced at the digital clock on the control panel in her Mercedes. It was already afternoon. Her growling stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten since dinner last night. But in the hours she'd stayed at the hospital while Lisa hovered between life and death, food had been the last thing on her mind. Her major concern was whether or not Lisa would live, but the nagging thought that wouldn't leave her mind was that she, and not Lisa, had been the intended victim.

Keeping her gaze focused on the road ahead,Bethanyscrambled in her purse, grasped her cellular phone and punched her mother's number. When one of the new maids, whose nameBethanycouldn't even remember, answered,Bethanyidentified herself and asked to speak to Eileen.

"Darling, are you still at the hospital?" Eileen asked.

"No, Mother, I'm on my way to your house right now."

"How is poor little Lisa? She didn't die, did she?"

"No, Lisa is still alive. The doctors think she's going to make it. They performed microsurgery on her right hand for vascular reattachment, but there's still a chance she could lose the hand."

"Who would do such a horrible thing? Perhaps the person who killed my Jimmy." Eileen's genteel Southern voice rose slightly in anger, then she immediately lowered it again. "What do you think?"

"I don't know. I'll leave the detective work to the police."Bethanyhad missed too much sleep, left too many meals uneaten and undergone too many shocks in the past few days to be able to think rationally.

She was tired. So very tired. All she wanted was to pick up Anne Marie, go home, take a bath and sleep for at least twelve hours. "Let me speak to Anne Marie for a minute, please."

"I can't let you speak to her."

"Why not? Is something wrong? Is Anne—"

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"She's not here, darling," Eileen said. "Claudia called and invited her over for lunch."

"And you let her go?"

"Well, yes, of course. She wanted to go, and I saw no reason not to—

"Dammit, Mother!" Tightening her hold on the phone,Bethanygroaned. "How could you have let Anne Marie go over to Claudia's alone when there's some lunatic out there trying to kill me? Did you ever stop to think that she, too, might be in danger?"

"You should know I wouldn't send her over there alone. James drove her over and made sure she got in safe and sound," Eileen said. "My goodness, you act as if whoever sent you that bomb might try to hurt Anne Marie."

"We never know, do we? Jimmy seemed to draw a lot of fans from the fringe element in society."

"I'm sorry, Bethy. Really I am. It's just that Claudia and Anne Marie thought they could persuade Morgan to accept the assignment as your bodyguard. After all, he's highly trained. He was some sort of commando for years before he joined that—"