Karen Rose - Their Child?

It was that night again…

Only better.

This time, there was no masquerade. This time, Tucker wasn’t calling her Lena. This time, he knew which twin he whirled across the floor. This time, the magic was real.

And when this song ended, she promised herself, she would lead him to some quiet corner and tell him the secret she’d kept from him for so long.

Yes, it would probably go badly.

But she couldn’t lie to him—or herself—any longer. Tucker might be furious with her when he learned the truth, and rightfully so. But he wouldn’t take it out on Lena and Dirk. He wouldn’t ruin the party. He wasn’t that kind of man and she knew he wasn’t.

Yes, word would be bound to get around town eventually. But by the time that happened, Lena would at least be off on her honeymoon.

The song ended.

Lori swayed closer to Tucker. “I wonder…”

His arm tightened at her waist. He breathed in her ear, “What? Anything. Name it…”

“A few minutes. Alone…”

He chuckled. She felt the happy sound vibrate all through her. “My thoughts exactly.” He let go of her waist, but not of her hand.

The next number started up as he turned. Pulling her along, he wove through the crush of dancing couples, guiding her from the floor.

They tried the main foyer first. But most of the kids were in there, fooling around on the stairs, chasing each other in and out of the seating areas. She caught sight of Brody, playing with a couple of other boys near the front desk. His little tie had come undone and his jacket was nowhere to be seen. She opened her mouth to ask him where the jacket went, but Tucker tugged her along and all she had time for was a quick wave. Brody sent her a wide, happy grin and went back to his game.

They passed through an arch into a hallway—a nice, dim one. But not empty. People strolled up and down it, going to and from the Cottonwood Room at the far end.

Courtly old Dr. Flannigan, who’d been the Billingsworth family physician for years, came striding down the hallway toward them. He smiled his crinkly warm smile at the sight of them. “Tucker. Hello. And Lori. My, my. Aren’t you a vision? You and the lovely Lena, both.”

“Why, thank you, Doc.” She gave him a smile.

“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine.”

“Hi, Doc,” Tucker said—and kept going. He muttered something—probably a swear word—under his breath and turned a corner to another hallway, the one that led to the powder room and the men’s room. But two women, bridesmaids, emerged from the powder room. They both called greetings.

“Hey, Lori. Tucker…”

“Great party, huh?”

“Darlene, Louisa…” Tucker saluted the two pretty women in celery-green and turned to lead Lori back the way they had come.

They tried the dining room. No go. The serving staff was still busy in there with the big job of cleaning up after the wedding banquet.

One of the waiters asked, “May I help you, Mr. Bravo.”

Tucker chuckled, a wry sound. “Not unless you can all clear out of here on the double.”

The waiter frowned in bewilderment. “Clear out, Mr. Bravo?”

Tucker clapped him on the arm. “Never mind. Just a joke…”

The waiter forced a laugh. “A joke. Oh. I see…”

Tucker took pity on the poor guy. “Go ahead. Keep at it. Sorry to interrupt.”

The waiter nodded and went back to loading dirty dishes into plastic crates. From the ballroom, Lori could hear her father’s voice, amplified over the club’s PA system. He must have taken the microphone from the wedding singer.

“And now for the big moment. Time to cut the cake…”

Tucker headed back to the ballroom, pulling Lori with him. With so many guests everywhere, private corners were in short supply.

So all right, she thought. Now’s not the right moment…

But she wasn’t giving up. She would tell him that night— later that night. She’d send Brody home with her parents and she’d go with Tucker, out to the Double T, or wherever. It didn’t matter. Just as long as they went someplace where they wouldn’t be disturbed.

Yes. That would be better than trying to explain everything right now, in the middle of the wedding party, anyway. Much better with just the two of them, truly alone together, somewhere there’d be no possibility of an interruption. That was how it should be, she saw that now: the two of them, alone.

Plus, she couldn’t help thinking, if she waited until the party was over, she’d have another few hours of this magic with him, another few hours until the awful moment of truth…

And okay, she was only proving to herself, once again, that she was a coward in every last, sniveling sense of the word. But what could she do if there was no place for them to talk?

Nothing. Until later.

When she would do it. Absolutely. No backing out.

Just as she was getting used to the idea that she was off the hook for a little bit longer, they reached the ballroom.

And Tucker kept going.

He pulled her along near the back wall as the guests gathered around the stage where a green-skirted table now stood crowned with Lena’s enormous five-tiered, buttercream rose-bedecked cake. Lena and Dirk and Heck were all up there and Heck was shouting about love and forever and what a lucky man Dirk was as the wedding photographer snapped away.

Tucker kept going, toward the double doors on the side wall that led out to the veranda. Which was crazy. They couldn’t go out there. Beyond the windows, lightning flashed and thunder boomed and rolled away in a crashing rumble.

Lori dug in her heels. “Tucker, it’s wild out there.”

He hardly glanced back at her. “It’s under cover. The worst that can happen is the wind will mess up your hair…”

“Oh, Tucker…” Her heart raced and her cheeks burned and she let him continue to pull her along. Excitement and fear and anticipation swirled around inside her, a storm within to match the one outside beyond the veranda.

All at once, everything seemed to have gone crazy and wild—wild as the wind she could hear crying beyond the clubhouse walls. One of the wait staff had gone up on the stage to whisper in her father’s ear. She heard Heck say, “Folks. Folks. I need everyone’s attention. We have a little situa—”

She didn’t hear the rest. Tucker had pushed on the bar that opened the door and they were slipping through it. The door shut itself instantly, almost catching her long skirt, which she managed to tug to safety at the last possible second.

A hard gust of wind blew down the long, deep porch, lifting her skirt and then plastering it hard against her legs. Her formerly sleek hairdo pulled loose of its pins and blew in her eyes and across her mouth.

Out past the porch roof, the rain pounded, huge drops mixed with hail. The sky in the distance lay in heavy layers of gunmetal gray. Lightning slithered down out of the clouds, slicing the grayness with its hot-white gleam. Thunder roared.

Staff members had already been out there to take in the chair and sofa cushions. The bare wicker furniture skittered around in a jerky dance, dragging against the porch boards.

Lori swiped a few strands of hair from her mouth. “Tucker, I don’t know if we—”

“This way.” He led her over, out of sight of the windows, into the corner where the wall of the foyer jutted out toward the wide entrance steps. He pulled her around and backed her up against the wall so she was sheltered from the wind. Then he braced a hand on the wall to either side of her, boxing her in. “Better?”

“I…” Words deserted her. She looked up at him and she knew he was going to kiss her and she also knew that she wasn’t going to stop him. Still, she made a piddling little effort at it. “I think we should—”