Maureen Child - His By Any Means

“I don’t have the title. I don’t have the power. The only reason I would still be in charge is because you allow it.” She shook her head and bit down hard on her bottom lip before saying, “It’s not the same, Evan.”

“We’ll figure this out,” he countered, but Angelica didn’t look convinced.

Sage wondered suddenly if maybe J.D. hadn’t done all this just so he could hang around as a damn ghost and watch his family jump through the hoops he’d left behind.

“I think we’ve all had enough for one day,” Marlene announced, interrupting what looked as though it could turn into a battle. She walked over to give Angelica a hug, then smoothed a stray lock of her dark brown hair back with gentle fingers. Giving the younger woman a smile, she spoke to the room at large.

“Why don’t we all go into the kitchen? We’ll have some coffee. Something to eat. It’s been a hard day but I think we all have to remember—” she paused, letting her gaze slide around the room “—that we’re family. We’re the Lassiters. And we will come through this. Together.”

* * *

“There’s no reason to be so nervous.” Jenna Cooper took a sip of her white wine and smiled as Colleen changed clothes for the third time in a half hour.

“I’m not nervous,” she replied, “I’m just hyperalert.”

Jenna chuckled and curled up into a corner of her chair. Colleen met her friend’s amused gaze in the mirror and released a sigh. “Fine. Maybe I’m a little nervous, but there’s no reason to be. This is not a date. It’s just dinner with a family member of a patient I’ve lost.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You might sound a little more convincing when you’re placating me.”

“I’ll work on it,” her friend said, still laughing.

Jenna Cooper lived next door, with her husband and adorable three-year-old twin boys, Carter and Cade. At five foot two, Jenna looked like a pixie with very short black hair that curled around her elfin features. Her green eyes were always shining and she and Colleen had been good friends since the second week Colleen had lived in the condo complex two years before.

Knowing Colleen was a nurse, Jenna had come to her door in a panic late one night because one of the boys had had a fever seizure. Colleen had recognized it for what it was immediately and helped them lower Carter’s temperature, then she had stayed at the house with a sleeping Cade while Jenna and her husband took Carter to the E.R. to be checked out, just to be on the safe side.

Jenna took a sip of her wine and murmured, “I still can’t get over Mr. Lassiter leaving you so much money.”

Colleen’s stomach churned uneasily and she slapped one hand to her abdomen in a futile attempt to stop it. “Neither can I.”

She’d had several hours to think about it, yet it still didn’t seem real. Though everything Sage had said to her earlier kept replaying in her mind. The thought of gossip gave her cold chills, but...

“So, have you told your mother yet?”

“About the money?” She shook her head and then frowned at her reflection. Tugging at the scooped bodice, she tried to pull it a little higher, but no matter what she did, you could see cleavage. A lot of cleavage. “I never really noticed just how big my boobs are.”

“That’s because you’ve usually got them covered up under a layer of cotton and wool.” Jenna stood up, smacked Colleen’s hand away from the fabric and smiled. “You look gorgeous. Stop fussing. God, that’s an amazing dress.”

“It is.” And ordinarily, she never would have bought anything like it. But Angelica had insisted on taking Colleen shopping for the perfect dress to wear to the rehearsal dinner. Sage’s sister had picked this dress out for Colleen and she’d worn it the night Sage had first noticed her. The night...her eyes widened suddenly. “Oh, God. I can’t wear this dress tonight. I was wearing it the night Sage’s father collapsed and died. What was I thinking?”

She turned to head for her bedroom and the pitiful offerings she might find in her closet, but Jenna stopped her with one hand on her arm. “You can’t retire the dress, Colleen. For one thing, it didn’t kill Mr. Lassiter, and it’s just too amazing to be tossed into the dark abyss that is your closet.”

“Thank you.”

“And for another thing, trust me when I say that when Sage gets a look at you in this dress—” Jenna took a step back, swept her gaze up and down Colleen and whistled “—it won’t be funerals that’ll spring to mind.”

A tiny thrill dazzled Colleen before she remembered that Jenna was her friend. Of course she was going to compliment her. But, she told herself firmly, let’s be realistic. Sage Lassiter was not interested in her. Going to dinner with him meant absolutely nothing.

“This is crazy,” she said aloud. “I’m acting like this is a date and it’s not.” Colleen wrung her hands together until she realized what she was doing, then she stopped that pitiful action. “Honestly. Slacks and a sweater. That’s what I should wear.”

“If you change one more time, I’m going to tie you to a chair,” Jenna warned. “You look great, you’ve got a date—”

“Not a date—”

“—you’re going to dinner with the most gorgeous man in Wyoming, possibly the United States—”

“I wonder what Tom would say if he heard that.”

Jenna grinned. “He’s not worried. My Tom’s not gorgeous, but he has other...compensations.”

“You’re impossible.” Colleen could admit silently that she felt more than a little envy of her friend’s relationship with her very cute husband.

“Tom thinks so...” She grinned again and wiggled her eyebrows for emphasis.

If Colleen had half the confidence that Jenna had, she wouldn’t be the slightest bit nervous about her nondate. As it was though...the bats in her stomach—too big for butterflies—were flying in tighter and tighter circles. It was as if they were winding an invisible spring inside her and Colleen was terrified that it was going to snap at just the wrong moment.

Maybe the red dress would help. It was beautiful and wearing it, she couldn’t help but feel more confident. Besides, she told herself, Sage might not even remember that she was wearing this dress at the rehearsal dinner.

“Have some wine.” Jenna offered her own glass and Colleen snatched at it, taking a big gulp, hoping to drown the bats. Apparently though, they knew how to swim.

“This is a mistake,” she muttered and handed the glass back to her friend.

“No, it’s not. You’re a terrific person, Colleen. It’s about time you let some man figure that out for himself.”

“It’s not a—”

“Yes, yes.” Jenna walked back to the love seat, dropped onto the slipcovered cushions and stared up at her. “Now, tell me how my best friend becomes a millionaire and gets a date with the Sage Lassiter.”

“Weren’t you listening? It’s not a date.”

“Whatever.” She patted the cushion beside her. “So how’re you doing, really, with this crazy, world-shifting, life-altering day?”

Good question. “Actually, I think I’m feeling better about the money.”

“Yay!”

Smiling, Colleen thought about sitting down, but she didn’t want to wrinkle her dress. How did the beautiful people do this all the time? “Really, I’ve had all day to think about it, and you know, Sage was right. Even if I give up the money to charity, people will still talk. I’ll just be poor while they’re talking about me.”

“He’s obviously brilliant as well as gorgeous. I like him already.”

Colleen did, too. Which was worrying on a whole different level. Still, first things first. Now that she’d decided to accept J.D.’s amazing gift, her life was going to change. Big-time. Laughing to herself, she said, “You know this means I can quit my job.”