Lost and Found (21 page)

Darcy knew that. She wasn’t sure how
to answer so she only nodded.

Madeline smiled. “I think Christian is
disappointed, but only because he likes to give his brother a run
for his money.”

That made Darcy laugh through her
tears.

Madeline reached for her and rested
her hands on Darcy’s arms. “Ed isn’t one to tell me he loves
someone when he doesn’t. When he knows what he wants, he goes after
it, and he usually gets what he wants.”

That sounded about right.

Madeline pulled Darcy to her and
wrapped her in the comfort of her motherly embrace. “I’d be
thrilled to have you as part of my family.”

Oh, God! The tears threatened
again.

Madeline pulled back. “So, everything
is okay?”

Darcy sucked back the last of her
tears. “Everything is perfect.”

Darcy walked back to her seat with
Madeline, who had wrapped her arm around her shoulders as they
approached the table.

Clara and Randy’s voices echoed over
the crowd. They had great sound and that pride she’d seen on the
faces of Clara’s family vibrated in Darcy’s chest.

Ed stood as they headed back to him,
and Madeline gave her shoulders a squeeze and then walked back
toward Carlos.

“
Everything okay? I didn’t
mean to send my mother in after you. She just…”

Darcy flung her arms around his neck
and shut him up with a kiss. She was quickly learning it was very
effective.

Ed looked over his shoulder at his
extended family, who all turned their heads as if they hadn’t been
watching.

“
You have a wonderful
mother,” Darcy said.

“
I always thought
so.”

“
Thank you for letting me
have a moment with her. Now,” she looked out at the dance floor,
“you still owe me a dance.”

Ed wasn’t sure what his mother had
said to Darcy, but he’d never seen such happiness in her eyes.
This, most certainly, was the woman of his dreams, and he had every
intention of keeping her.

With his sister’s voice in his ears
and the woman of his dreams in his arms, Ed gave some thought to
something his brother had shared with him. Her birthday was only a
few weeks away. Christian had made sure to mention it. He supposed
stranger things had happened in the world than for a man to decide
that, after only a few short weeks, he had found the woman he
wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Curtis and Simone, after
all, didn’t get married until Avery was old enough to walk down the
aisle herself. In fact, they’d gotten pregnant before they even
fell in love.

His parents loved each other so much
that divorce and marriage to others couldn’t keep them
apart.

Then there was the strange coincidence
of his meeting Darcy in much the same way that his aunt and uncle
met. Love happened when it was right, not when the people involved
were ready.

Well, he was ready. The plan was in
his head. This woman was going to be his—forever. And he’d ask her
to make that her plan, too, on her birthday. Yes, he’d bring this
family together again to celebrate the day she was born, and he’d
ask her to be his wife. Nothing would make him happier, and nothing
could possibly ruin such a wonderful plan.

Something had changed that night when
Darcy danced with Ed to his sister’s music. He’d taken her home
with him, and she’d slept in his arms, just as they had in Saint
Louis. The best part about this wonderful love affair they were
having—it was actually love.

Sex hadn’t woven its way in and ruined
what was absolutely a wonderful connection. Though, even Darcy
wondered if he’d ever make a move.

Their kisses had become more
passionate. Their caresses more desperate. At some point, one of
them was going to crack, but Eduardo Keller seemed to have a steel
trap for a mind, and like his mother said, when he made his mind up
about something that was how it was going to be.

Darcy couldn’t even begin to argue
that. What kind of man made the choice to wait to make love to the
woman he professed to love? A man like Ed Keller, that’s
who.

Darcy sat at her desk and looked over
his schedule. He’d be traveling soon, and he’d be gone for a week.
Then again for a few days. Of course, there was time marked on his
schedule to be at the hospital with Christian for his routine
surgery. She was sure someone could be with him, but if she knew
the Keller family, and she was learning that she did know them
already very well, they’d all be there.

The part that bothered her was that on
her birthday he had marked an official meeting.

She hadn’t made any comment to him
about her birthday coming up. In fact, other than mentioning the
date to Christian in conjunction with his follow-up surgery
appointment, she hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. But it would have
been nice to spend the day with him.

“
Darcy, can you come in
here for a moment?” Ed’s voice came through the intercom on her
phone.

She picked up her note pad and headed
into the office.

“
I need to plan a trip to
Florida next week,” he said without looking up from his
work.

“
You’re marked out for your
brother’s surgery.”

“
I know, but he’ll have
enough people there to take care of him. If I didn’t tell him, he
probably wouldn’t know I wasn’t there.”

Darcy made the note on her pad. “Where
exactly do I need to make your reservations for?”

“
Miami.”

She nodded. Would it be too bold to
ask if she could go with him, just to see her father? He was right
outside Miami. It wouldn’t interfere with his business at
all.

She took a breath to ask, but he
interrupted her thoughts. “Mom knows I’m going, and she’s glad
you’ll be around to help out Christian when he gets
home.”

Darcy let her shoulders drop. That was
what family was all about, and she’d been told by numerous people
that she was, indeed, part of this family.

“
I’d be happy to help him
out.”

“
Good.” Ed finally looked
up at her. “We’re free for a few hours, aren’t we?”

“
You have a conference call
at three.”

“
Let’s go get some
lunch.”

Ed noticed that Darcy was extremely
quiet as they drove to lunch. That was okay. He wasn’t going to let
her know why he was headed to Miami.

She’d made his airline reservation and
booked him a hotel. From what he knew of the area, that would put
him within twenty minutes of her father and aunt.

All he could hope for now was that her
father wouldn’t tell her that he was coming to visit. He was sure
her father knew what the visit was about. He sounded very bright
when he’d talked to him on the phone. But some things you just
didn’t do on the phone. If you were going to ask a man for his
daughter’s hand in marriage, you went to him—even if you had to fly
to Miami to do it.

Ed reached for Darcy’s hand and laced
their fingers together. “You’re quiet.”

“
Sorry. I have been
thinking of my dad since you said you were headed to
Miami.”

“
Oh, that’s right. He lives
near there, right?”

She nodded.

It put an ache in his chest to see her
obvious pain of missing him, but he had to keep his
plans.

“
How about we go out there
after your birthday?”

Darcy’s head snapped up. “How do you
know my birthday is coming up?”

“
Christian mentioned
it.”

She nodded again. “He has an
appointment that day.”

“
Right. Well, how about
that weekend we fly out? Interested?”

“
Really? You’d go out and
meet my dad?”

“
I think it would only be
right, don’t you?”

She smiled. “It would mean a great
deal to me.”

“
Me too.” He gave her hand
a squeeze. Now his heart could ease up. But by the time they went
out to visit, they’d be engaged with his blessing.

Ed left the next morning, and the
office was quiet. Darcy had plenty of work to do, but it was always
nicer when Ed was in the office behind her.

Zach and Mary Ellen had included her
in their lunch plans, but she wasn’t sure that she was comfortable,
considering the thoughts she’d had about the couple. They had no
idea what she’d led herself to believe, but she didn’t want to
chance looking like an idiot in front of them either.

Instead, she spent lunch in the
Starbucks where she’d met Ed.

As she watched the people come and go,
she wondered if anyone else would walk through the door and have
their lives changed as she had, just weeks earlier. She came to
Nashville in search of her birth parents, and instead, she became
part of a family and fell in love with a man that she hoped she’d
spend the rest of her life with.

When the door opened again, she
couldn’t have been more pleased than to see Clara’s
face.

Clara waved, ordered her drink, and
then quickly hurried toward her with her arms out.

Darcy stood and hugged Ed’s
sister.

“
Does he know you hide out
in the coffee shop while he’s out of town?” Clara
laughed.

“
Not a lot gets past
him.”

“
That’s for
sure.”

Clara’s name was called, and she
walked to the counter to fetch her drink.

“
Can I join
you?”

“
Of course.” Darcy sat back
down, and Clara joined her.

She loosened the scarf around her
neck, which must have been hot considering the heat they’d been
having.

Clara was a free spirit, and anyone
would know that just by looking at her. Her dark hair grazed just
at her shoulders, and today, it was full of curls. She wore a pair
of cut-off shorts, a sleeveless white shirt, and worn out cowboy
boots. Darcy admired her unique fashion. She was a breath of fresh
air with a wrist full of bangles.

Darcy noticed a tattoo on her wrist.
“What’s on your wrist?”

Clara turned her arm over and moved
the bracelets so that it could be seen.

“
It’s the infinity symbol
with the word family.”

The very sentiment nearly brought
tears to Darcy’s eyes.

Clara ran her fingers over it. “We all
have one.”

“
You all have one? As in
who?”

“
My family. Mom, Dad,
Christian, and Ed.”

Darcy tried to think. Had she seen his
tattoo? No, she hadn’t.

Clara let her bracelets fall back in
place and took a sip of her drink. “We all decided when Mom got her
bill of clean health that we wanted to commemorate that journey. We
are a tight family, and we always will be. Even when Mom and Dad
weren’t married, we were tighter than most families.”

“
I’ve never seen
Ed’s.”

Clara smiled. “I thought you guys were
close—if you know what I mean.”

Darcy could feel the heat rise in her
cheeks. “Oh no, we’ve…I mean, we don’t…”

Clara sat back in her seat and crossed
her legs. “You mean to tell me you sleep in the same bed and don’t
do anything—but sleep?”

“
Yes.”

Clara bit down on her lip. “You really
are the perfect girl, aren’t you?”

Darcy wasn’t sure if she should be put
out by the accusation or pleased. “Between us, we’ve decided to
wait.”

“
I think that’s
awesome.”

“
You do?”

Clara nodded as she sipped her coffee.
“It means it’s not the most important thing to you. Too many
relationships start off with it and then…”

Darcy nodded. She understood that. She
assumed her own beginnings might have started like that,
too.

She took a sip of her coffee and
looked back up at Clara. “Where are everyone else’s tattoos?” She
had to ask. She thought she’d seen almost all of Ed, and the number
of times she’d seen Christian in nothing but a towel, she thought
she would have noticed it.

“
Dad has his on his
shoulder. Mom has hers over her heart.” She indicated the very
place with her hand. “Christian’s is intermixed with the barbed
wire around his right arm.”

Darcy gave some thought to the tattoo.
She knew it well enough, but she’d never seen the symbol. Clara
lifted her arm and pointed to the underside. Darcy nodded. That
made sense.

“
What about Ed?”

Clara laughed. “Well, it’s just proof
that you haven’t been naked with the man.” She leaned in closer to
Darcy. “It’s on his lower stomach over his appendix
scar.”

“
That’s a funny place for a
family tattoo.”

Clara sat back with her smile and
looked her over. “Not if you’re the picture-perfect professional,
and you don’t want anyone to see it, no matter what.”