Paula Riggs - The Parent Plan

“Aren’t you two done yet?” Vicki called with audible impatience.

Cassidy raked one hand through his hair and straightened his spine. Though he tried, he couldn’t seem to get enough air in his lungs, and his body was still rock hard.

“Talk about rotten timing,” he said in a rasping voice.

“I’ll say.” Lifting her head, Karen smiled up at him, her eyes still passion-glazed and her lips rosy.

Feeling as though he had his boots on solid ground for the first time in months, he slipped his arm around her waist and guided her toward the entrance. Later, he promised himself as they reached the open door. As soon as Vicki was tucked safely into bed, he would close their bedroom door, lose the suit and make slow love to his wife.

They crossed the threshold into the cavernous hall and walked into a wall of noise and a blur of colors. From the look of things, Cassidy figured it had taken an army of eager volunteers to string thousands of tiny twinkle lights from the rafters, giving the place the effect of a star-studded summer night. According to the signs displayed prominently on sandwich boards near the entrance, local florists had donated enough flowers to turn the drab and drafty building into a perfumed garden, a perfect setting for a good old-fashioned Western fandango.

“Wow!” Vicki exclaimed, her face upturned to the fairy-tale sky overhead. Her mouth hung open and her brown eyes shone with a wonder he hoped would never desert her.

As he shepherded his ladies and Rags through the outer edges of the crowd, Cassidy checked the bars on his cell. Later, when things calmed down, he’d give Billy Russell a quick call.

It wasn’t that he was worried, he told himself. Vicki’s mare, Golden Girl, wasn’t due to deliver for another few days. Still, this was the dainty palomino’s first foal and he’d felt uneasy enough to stop by the Russells’ trailer in order to ask Billy to check on her a time or two during the evening.

“I’m gonna go find Elizabeth, okay?” Vicki murmured as they elbowed their way through the exuberant celebrants.

Cassidy surveyed the mingling throng before nodding. “Just be sure to check in with your mom or me once in a while.”

“Okay.”

“Wait, sweetie, let me fix your sash.” Karen bent to give the wide purple ribbon a quick tug. “There. Now you’re perfect,” she whispered. “And you look gorgeous.”

Vicki’s cheeks turned as delicately pink as a ripe peach. “Really and truly?”

“Really and truly,” Karen said, straightening. “If you don’t believe me, ask Daddy.”

Obediently, Vicki swung her gaze upward to Cassidy’s face. “Really, Daddy?”

His heart hammered at the absolute trust he saw shimmering in her big brown eyes. Karen’s eyes had had that same beautiful sheen when she’d repeated her wedding vows.

“Trust me, sweetheart, you’re a knockout,” he said when he had control of his voice again.

“Even without lipstick and stuff?”

“Especially without stuff.” He had to work hard to keep a straight face. “You and your mom are the two prettiest ladies in the place.”

Still beaming, Vicki wrapped another length of leash around her wrist and turned away. “Let’s go, Rags. Find Elizabeth for me.”

With an exuberant “woof” that drew a variety of stares their way, Rags charged into the crowd, pulling Vicki along behind.

“It’s a disgrace, bringing a filthy, slobbering animal into a public gathering,” a woman’s shrill voice declared loudly.

Instantly on alert, Cassidy whipped his head around to discover a prune-faced matron eyeing his daughter with obvious disapproval.

“Don’t you dare,” Karen muttered in a low voice while at the same time tightening her grip on his arm.

“Whose idea was it to bring the dog, anyway?” he asked, watching the crowd swallow the woman whole.

Karen bit the corner of her mouth in the cute way she had whenever she wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. “His name was on the invitation,” she said. “The woman I called to RSVP said that Rags is getting a certificate of appreciation along with the rest of us. For leading you to the cave.”

“Guess that makes sense,” he conceded, shoving down the memories that tore at him whenever he was reminded of those interminable hours in June.

Karen slipped her shawl from her shoulders and folded it over her arm. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were the color of shiny pewter, reminding him of the first time they’d made love.

“Come with me, Kari. Let me finish what we started outside.” The words were out before he could call them back.

Karen slanted him a startled look before glancing around at the hustle and bustle of the people bent on enjoying themselves. “Come with you where?” she asked when her gaze returned to his face.

Cassidy shot a fast look at the oversized man in an undersized suit bearing down on them through the crowd, a purposeful glint in his heavy-lidded eyes. Though he didn’t recall the man’s name, he recognized him as a member of the city council. Part of the official welcoming committee, he guessed, his jaw tightening.

“Let’s get out of here,” he urged, slipping a hand under her elbow to turn her away from the councilman.

“But the ceremony—”

“Forget the ceremony. We’ll have our own celebration, just you and me, naked on clean sheets.”

A tiny shiver ran through her, and he felt his expectations soar. Moving closer, he let her feel the hard evidence of his almost violent need jutting against her thigh.

“Oh, Cassidy,” she exclaimed softly. “You’re shameless.”

“No, I’m horny for my wife.”

The quick nervous swipe of her tongue over her bottom lip had his body throbbing. For good measure he moved to shield her and at the same time rubbed against her.

“Find your mom and tell her to take Vicki home for the night. We’ll drive over to that little inn in Toponas and get a room with a fireplace and one of those canopied beds you like so much.”

The sudden delight in her eyes made his heart leap. He had a notion to kiss her again, right then and there, before she could think of a reason to turn him down. Just as he’d resolved to do just that, however, he caught a movement from the corner of his eye and straightened.

“There you are, Dr. Sloane.” The councilman had reached them, his hand extended and his florid face wreathed in smiles. “Name’s Friendly, Bill Friendly. ‘Friendly’s my name, friendly’s my aim.’”

Karen blinked up at him, an uncertain smile on her face. “I…see.”

Friendly chuckled, the braying sound all but lost in the noise from the other people around them. “I represent the part of town where Vanderbilt Memorial is located, which makes you one of my constituents—part-time, anyway.”

“Hell,” Cassidy muttered under his breath as he dropped Karen’s arm an instant before her hand was clasped between the councilman’s sausage fingers.

Karen shot him an apologetic look before acknowledging the man’s greeting. “Mr. Friendly, I wonder if—”

“Call me Bill,” he boomed over the drone of surrounding conversations.

“Bill, we, my husband and I, were—”

“No need to introduce your husband, Doctor,” Friendly barreled on, his politician’s grin at the ready. “I recognized both of you from the picture in the Herald after those gallant boys from the fire department hauled your daughter outta that pit. Nearly tore this old man’s heart out, thinkin’ about what you two nice people went through.”

Cassidy bit down hard as he reluctantly shook the man’s sweaty hand.

“Glad to meet you, Mr. Sloane,” Friendly declared with all the gusto of a practiced politician. “Friendly.” Cassidy usually kept a tight rein on his temper, but now and then those reins slipped a little. The result was generally explosive.