Nancy Robards - Taming A Fortune

Uh-oh. This didn’t bode well.

“It sounds like my family is doing a dinner thing tonight and they want me to bring you.”

“Why would they want me there?” Unless they thought something was going on between her and Toby. Of course, she didn’t know why his family would think that when she, herself, had no idea if there was anything going on between the two of them.

“They, uh, well, they’re just curious about you since we’ve been spending, uh, so much time together and, you know...” Was Toby nervous? His voice tripped over the words like a shy schoolboy asking her out to prom. He was usually so confident. What had happened to all his swagger and self-assuredness?

“So they want to check me out?” She actually wanted to ask if they were trying to determine if she was good enough for their Fortune Jones standards. Angie had the feeling she wouldn’t pass that test.

“It’s really not a big deal. It’s just a little family get-together. And I made Stacey promise that they wouldn’t interrogate you or anything.”

“Yeah, that’s not exactly selling me on the idea, Toby.” In fact, the implication that he probably had to wrestle the promise from his sister made it seem that much more likely that what his family had planned was a full-scale inquisition.

“Well, I figure we could either go to the dinner together and show a kind of united front, or we can sit back and wait for them to come into the Superette one by one and hound you for information.”

That was a good point. She didn’t relish being the subject of the Fortune Joneses’ scrutiny, but she’d rather it be in the privacy of their family ranch than in public at her place of employment. She didn’t mind working in the bakery on occasion, but she’d hate to have to hide back there for good.

“Plus,” Toby continued, “the kids will be there and Stacey is bringing Piper. If we stick close to at least one of the children, we should be safe, right?”

Angie didn’t know if he meant they’d be safe from the prying questions from his family or safe from their own raging hormones.

But she just wasn’t sure she should go. She wanted to spend more time with him, but would this just make things more complicated? He sounded as if he was eager to have her there, which wasn’t how a man would act if he was trying to break it off with a woman.

“Let me think about it,” she finally said.

“Fair enough. I’ll be at the baseball field most of the afternoon, so just give me a call on my cell when you decide.”

She had no more than set her phone down on the counter when a preprogrammed ringtone sounded. The foreboding theme song from Jaws indicated it was her mother.

Doris had called her twice last night, and if Angie didn’t talk to her mom now, the woman would think something was going on and make another surveillance trip into the Superette.

“Hi, Mom,” Angie finally said, ending the crescendo of doom.

“Evangeline, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you since yesterday. Where have you been? On a date?”

Did her mom suspect?

Probably not. Doris didn’t keep in touch with many people she’d known from when she’d lived in Horseback Hollow. They were too small-town for Doris’s perceived cosmopolitan lifestyle. Not that Lubbock could be considered an epicenter of sophistication by most people’s standards, but her mom liked to think she was a big deal now.

“I’ve just been really busy. Nothing new or exciting going on here.”

“Good, because if you don’t have plans tonight, there’s a dinner dance at the country club here in Lubbock, and Margie Suttelheimer’s grandson is going to be there. He’s a corporate attorney, and his second divorce was just finalized last month. Margie assured me his prenup was ironclad. His ex barely got a dime, so he’s still worth millions.”

Angie had never made a quicker decision.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I’ve already made plans for tonight.”

She’d just have to tell Toby that dinner with the Fortune Jones clan was on.

* * *

At one minute after nine, Toby went out to the barn for some privacy. Using his cell phone, he placed a call to Ms. Fisk at child services, only to reach a recording that said she was out of the office. So he left her a voice-mail message.

Next he called the Lubbock attorney who’d first contacted him about the money that the anonymous donor had given him and he’d placed in trust for the kids. Jake Gleason specialized in estate planning, so if push came to shove, Toby would retain someone else to handle the custody issue. But for right now, he needed some professional assurance that Barbara had only been blowing smoke.

Unfortunately, Jake hadn’t been able to do much to ease his worry. “It’s hard to second-guess what the court will decide in cases like yours. One judge may consider stability a priority and look at how well the kids are doing under your care and not want to move them. But another might prefer to keep kids with their family members.”

Jake did, however, give Toby the names of a couple of family-law attorneys.

As morning wore on, the only thing that had given Toby a lift had been thoughts of Angie. Her bright-eyed smile and upbeat nature had a way of making him feel as though everything would work out fine—one way or another. So he hoped she still planned to join them at his parents’ house.

By the time lunch was over and afternoon rolled around, he’d picked up the phone a couple of times to call her, just to make sure they were still on for dinner. After all, she’d been known to change her mind.

Finally, at three o’clock, he bit the bullet and called. When she answered, he asked, “Are we still on for that barbecue at my parents’ house?”

“Sure. What time did you want to go?”

“I thought I’d pick you up around four.”

“You shouldn’t have to drive all the way into town to get me when your parents live closer to you. Why don’t I drive to your place? Then I can fix Kylie’s hair.”

“That makes more sense. And Kylie would really appreciate a woman’s hand with those pigtails. I can never seem to get them to hang evenly.”

Angie laughed, and the lilt of her voice made him grip the phone tighter, as if he could draw her near and hold her close.

“While I was helping Mr. Murdock organize his closets, I found some ribbons in an old sewing basket. He said I could have them, so I’ll bring them with me. I also baked brownies to take with us. I’m ready now, so I may as well head on over to your place.”

“That sounds like a plan. I’ll round up the troops, and we’ll be ready when you get here.”

“By the way,” Angie said, “who’s going to be at that family dinner?”

“My parents, of course. My sister Delaney and my brother Galen. Stacey is the ringleader, so she and her fiancé, Colton Foster, will be there, along with her baby, Piper. I imagine my brother Jude and his fiancée, Gabriella Mendoza, will be coming. And of course Liam and Julia Tierney.”

“It’ll be fun to see Julia outside of the Superette,” Angie said. “And it will be nice to see Stacey and Delaney again.”

Toby hoped she still felt that way after his sisters began plying her with questions about their supposed relationship.

“It might be best not to mention my brother Chris,” Toby said. “Unless someone else brings him up first.”

“Why?”

He waited a beat, wondering why he felt inclined to even mention it.

“It’s not as though there’s a big family rift,” he explained, trying to downplay things and to choose his words carefully. “It’s just there were some hard feelings about him leaving Horseback Hollow and moving to Red Rock.”

“That’s really not a secret. There’s been some talk around town. And Sawyer and Laurel made a comment about it at the flight school.”