To Be a Family (Harlequin Superromance) (16 page)

She could travel surprisingly fast on the crutches. But not
fast enough to outrun John.

“Katie, stop!” John stepped between her and the gate, lifting
her hand away from the bolt she was trying to wriggle loose. “Why are you
running away?”

“I’m not running. I’m leaving because I’m tired and I want to
go home. Is that reason enough?”

“What was going on back there? You weren’t jealous of me
talking to Candice, were you?” He dared to sound amused.

“No,” she said automatically, because she would never admit it.
“I need to work. Excuse me.”

He didn’t budge. “You were fine until I was called away from
you. As soon as you weren’t the focus of my attention you wanted to leave.”

“Oh, come on. I’m not that immature.”

“I don’t know that it’s immature, just… What the hell, it
is
immature.”

Didn’t he know it was embarrassing for a woman when a guy she’s
with flirts with another woman? But that presumed they were a couple. And they
weren’t.

But she wanted them to be.

“If you want me to stay, then sit with me. Let someone else
organize the cricket.”
Don’t flirt with any girl who walks
by
. “Do you really want to play?”

“Well…” Again, he looked torn. And annoyed. “Why do I have to
choose? It’s like you’re testing me. And I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail. If I
haven’t already.”

“Testing you? Don’t be ridiculous.” Of course she wasn’t
testing him. But if he couldn’t even give her his undivided attention for a
couple of hours then he must not like her very much. She’d kissed him back,
leaving no doubt how much she wanted him. She’d made herself vulnerable and then
he’d…left. Not physically but he might as well have, the way he’d zoomed his
attention in on Candice.

“This is my parents’ house,” John argued. “Tuti is my daughter
and I’m a co-host. If there’s a cricket game I should be playing. It’s only
polite.”

“You’re right. I’m probably just tired. You do what you need to
do.” She tried to sound as if she didn’t care, as if she wasn’t testing him, and
that the outcome didn’t matter to her one way or the other. When in reality, it
mattered too much. “I need to work anyway.”

“You need to take it easy. To relax for a change. If you don’t
want to watch cricket, at least go home and rest.”

“Sure, I’ll do that.”

“Will you, or are you just saying that?”

“I said I would.” But of course she wouldn’t. She had
deadlines. But she hated confrontation. She wasn’t used to fighting. In her
family if people disagreed they quickly dropped the discussion. John seemed to
want
to argue. How did anyone live like that?
“Thanks for the party. Say goodbye to Tuti for me.”

He slid the bolt back and held the gate open for her. Katie
moved down the path along the side of the house and around to the front. She was
confused and upset and not entirely sure why. It wasn’t really about Candice.
She knew John was unlikely to start anything with her when he was so focused on
Tuti. Katie hadn’t exactly pried but she had her sources and the word was, John
hadn’t gone out with anyone since he’d brought his daughter home from Bali.

John was following her. “I didn’t pass, did I? Back then when
you had cancer. I failed spectacularly.”

“Yes, you did,” she said through gritted teeth as she
negotiated a couple of steps down to the driveway. “Any man who really loved a
woman would have stuck by her. You said you wanted to marry me. What are the
wedding vows again? In sickness and in health?”

“It seemed to me you were choosing sickness.”

“What nonsense.” There was no way they would resolve this
because they both thought they were right…even though she was and he wasn’t.
“Never mind. That was all a long time ago.”

“Yes, it was.” He was waiting for her at the bottom of the
steps, blocking the way to her car. “But unless we talk about it we won’t come
to an agreement.”

“You’re arguing, not talking. You seem to thrive on it.”

He gave a short laugh. “Okay, we’ll do it your way. We’ll
change the subject. Are you going to make your deadline?”

“I’ll make up for lost time on the school term break.”

“Tuti and I are going to my family’s beach cottage on Phillip
Island over the break. I’m going to teach her to surf.”

She shook her head at his abrupt change of subject. “Surf—are
you kidding? She’s only six.”

“I was four when I first got on a boogie board. Of course I’ll
keep her close to shore. Come with us.”

“I beg your pardon?” Surely she hadn’t heard that last bit
correctly.

“Spend the holiday with us. You can do nothing but write. I’ll
make all the meals. If you have time in the evening you can spend it with Tuti
and me. Or just Tuti if you’re still mad at me.”

She stared. “Why?”

“Because Tuti would like it if you came. And because after all
you’ve done for us I’d like to give something back. Consider it a writing
retreat. You don’t even have to talk if you don’t want to.”

“I…I…”

“You see? You can’t think of a single reason why you can’t
go.”

She had plenty of emotional reasons but voicing them would be
admitting she had feelings for him. She searched for a logical reason she
couldn’t go. Damned if she could think of one. “Didn’t you just take three weeks
of holiday? How can you go away again so soon?”

“I have months of vacation time banked up. The district
commissioner is badgering me to use it.” John opened her car door. “So I’ll take
your answer as a yes.”

She was tempted. The beach cottage held so many good memories.
It was where she and Riley had shared happy holidays with the Forster family
when they were younger. Later, she and John first made love in the little
bedroom at the back to the sound of the waves pounding on the shore.

But going away with him and Tuti would open the door for her
and John to take their relationship to another stage. She wasn’t sure she was
ready.

“I’ll think about it,” she promised as she started the engine.
“And let you know.”

* * *

J
OHN
ENTERED
THE
police station through
reception the following Tuesday morning just after seven o’clock. Paula had
called him at home at six-thirty with the news that she’d arrested Nick Moresco
and was bringing him in.

Patty, her headset askew in her mass of red curls, was fielding
calls as fast as her fingers could push the buttons.

“What’s up?” John feigned ignorance, knowing Patty loved to be
the source of information.

“They got Moresco.” Her blue eyes lit up as bright as the
switchboard. “Summerside Police Department. How can I help you?” She redirected
the call and returned to John. “He’s right here in the station. A ruddy drug
lord. But he’s no ‘lord’ now. He’s looking mighty defeated.” With a satisfied
grin, she fielded more calls.

Smiling, John punched his security code into the door and
entered the inner offices. Uniformed night-duty officers milled around the bull
pen with the day shift, reluctant to go home and miss the most excitement
Summerside P.D. had seen in years.

Paula stood over her prisoner, a man in his early fifties with
thinning dark hair going silver at the temples. His olive skin was pale and
there was a cut on his right cheek. Handcuffs held his fine-boned wrists
together. Paula kept one hand on the butt of her Smith & Wesson.

“Good work, Detective Henning,” John said to Paula. He glanced
at Nick Moresco. “You’ll be transferred to Frankston P.D. as soon as the
paperwork is complete. Their holding cells are just that little bit less
comfortable.”

“Your officers have made a mistake,” Moresco said disdainfully.
“I’ll sue for false arrest.”

Paula shook her head. “No mistake.”

“Manufacturing illegal substances, namely methamphetamine,
dealing said substances, including to minors…” John ticked off the offenses.
“This will be your second conviction. You won’t see the outside of prison for a
good ten years or more.”

Moresco jerked at his handcuffs and muttered under his breath.
John ignored him to speak to Riley. “I’d like to see you in my office.”

He headed down the corridor, feeling oddly flat. Which was
wrong. His officers had captured a significant criminal, earning them and the
station recognition. More importantly, the streets of his beloved village, and
the wider community, were safer. And yet…

He gazed out the window of his office onto the main street, his
thoughts going back to that part of his conversation with Katie about his job.
She was right. He hadn’t found what he was looking for. Her insight surprised
him. They hadn’t been friends for years, yet she somehow knew he felt
unfulfilled.

Patty had left his mail on his desk. He leafed through the
latest police newsletter. Flipping to the vacant positions, an ad caught his
eye. What at first looked like a travel poster—white sand, turquoise water, palm
trees—turned out to be an ad for a command posting in Tinman Island off the
tropical north coast of Queensland. Tinman was a resort island on the Great
Barrier Reef renowned for native wildlife, outdoor sports and surfing. There
would be administrative duties but the successful applicant would also be on the
ground, doing active police work. Just the sort of dream job he’d described to
Katie.

Was this fate? From Tinman Island it was a short flight to
Bali. He could make a fresh start, get out of his rut. And if Katie would come
with him—

Katie hadn’t even accepted his invitation to the cottage. She
would never leave her family, her teaching, the town she’d grown up in to move
clear across the country. She tried to be adventurous but she wasn’t, not
really. She was brave when she needed to be, but her idea of a good time was
curling up with a book. That was okay with him. He liked that she was a
homebody. Wherever she was felt like home. He would find it hard to leave
Summerside because of her, even if they were never more than friends.

Except that he wanted more than friendship. He wanted her to be
his wife and the mother of his children. She was quite simply, the love of his
life. He could no longer kid himself. Without her he was rudderless and
adrift.

Riley knocked on his open door. “Boss?”

John dragged his gaze away from the newsletter. “I’m taking off
for a week to Phillip Island with Tuti.”

“Nice.” Riley sat and leaned forward, hands on his knees. “Good
thing we got Moresco before you left.”

“Yes, it’s one less thing to worry about. I’ve already gone
over a few things with Paula.” He shuffled papers, found the file folder he’d
set aside and passed it to Riley. “This is a list of active cases and the
officers assigned to them. You’ll be acting station chief while I’m gone.”

Riley’s eyebrows shot up. “Not Paula?”

“She’s got enough on her plate liaising with the task force on
the Moresco case. Making the arrest is only the beginning.”

“Well, then, the other guys.” Riley ran a hand over his short
dark hair. “Jackson, Crucek, Delinsky—even Stan Grant has more seniority than I
do.”

“They’re not former Special Forces. You bring skills to
policing they’ll never have.” John leaned back. “Have you thought about applying
for detective?”

That brought a gleam to Riley’s dark eyes. “I have. Paula and I
talked about it. But what about the budget cutbacks?”

“We’ve got a state election in two weeks with a good chance
there’ll be a change of government. Who knows? We might even get the go-ahead to
expand the station. So, are you up for the challenge?”

Riley grinned. “Hell, yeah.”

“You’ve earned it.” John leaned back, the official portion of
their conversation over. “Guess it’ll be a relief around your house now that
Moresco’s under lock and key.”

“Paula and I will be able to get on with our lives. Set a date
for the wedding, make a decision on where to live. To me it’s a no-brainer—my
house now that I’m finished renovating it. But women these days don’t give up
their independence easily.”

“Tell me about it.” John blew a gusty sigh. “I guess we
shouldn’t complain since that’s part of what we like about them.”

Riley cocked his head. “Are you referring to anyone in
particular?”

John hesitated. “I invited Katie to come to the beach house
with Tuti and me.”

Riley’s eyebrows rose. “Did she say yes?”

“Not exactly. But she didn’t say no, either. She’s your sister.
What do you suppose that means?”

Riley laughed. “You’re asking me? I guess I’d say she’s open to
being convinced. Are you asking her so she can continue tutoring your
daughter?”

“I just think she’s got a lot going on with the deadlines and
her ankle slowing her down. I figured that I could take care of the day-to-day
stuff for a couple of weeks and she could write and relax and spend time with
Tuti. Maybe even have a little fun. I’m not going to push the schoolwork while
we’re on holiday, though. Tuti’s only six. She needs a break.”

“So it’s nothing to do with you and Katie starting up
again?”

John hesitated. This was a touchy subject with Riley. “Would
that be a bad thing, in your view?”

Riley studied him gravely. “You know you’re my best mate.”

John nodded warily, sensing there was more coming.

“And if I had anything to say about it, you’d have been my
brother-in-law years ago.” Riley looked down at his hands. “My mother died after
refusing a third round of chemo.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” John murmured. “Her death was a hard
one.”

No one understood just how hard it had been for John though,
not even Riley and Katie. He’d been the unofficial third child of the Henning
household, spending more time at their house than at his own. Mary Henning was
more nurturing than his own mother, and she’d taken him under her wing like
another of her own chicks. She’d fed him after school, helped with his homework,
driven him and Riley to soccer practice when his mother was at work.