smiles and smiles, and all the time he’s looking for a weakness.
She told herself she didn’t believe that, but Link’s suspicions affected her anyway. “She just woke up. She doesn’t feel like going to someone else just now.”
Julia stepped closer, determination in every line of her fashionably thin figure. “The baby loves Cousin Julia. She’ll come to me.”
Ridiculous, to feel menaced by the woman. Annie tried to produce a smile. “Not now. Much as I’d like to chat with you, I have a great deal to do. So if you’ll excuse me…”
“Of course, of course. I’m sure you’re busy getting packed to go back to Boston.” Frank’s smile didn’t falter. He moved closer, almost as if he and Julia were closing in on her.
Annie’s tension jacked upward. “I’m not—”
“We realize how eager a career woman like you must be to get back to your job.” Frank reached for Marcy. “So we’ve come for the baby.”
He should have known Annie wouldn’t let herself be swept along with his idea. Link swiveled his desk chair to look out the window of Conrad and Morgan, Builders. Their tiny offices were located diagonally across the town square from the house that had been “the Conrad place” for generations.
No, he should have approached Annie in a way she’d understand. She’d always had to have every detail at her fingertips.
That had come between them before, when he couldn’t explain why he was so opposed to Davis’s abrupt decision to propose to Becca, bound as he’d been by promises and obligations. Whatever had started between the two of them had come to an untimely end.
He rubbed at the tension that had taken up residence at the back of his neck since the state police call had wakened him with the news of Davis and Becca’s accident. He and Davis smiled from the silver-framed photo atop the bookcase, taken the day they’d won the tennis doubles cup. He’d never hear Davis laugh again, never enjoy the interplay of ideas as they planned a new project, never see Davis’s joy in his baby daughter.
Something steeled inside him. All he could do now for his friend was to ensure Marcy’s inheritance. All he could do to protect the life he’d built in Lakeview was to save the company. Everyone in town knew how quickly Frank had run through his inheritance from his father. He wouldn’t let that happen to the company, for Marcy’s sake and his own. If the only way to those aims was marrying Annie, so be it.
An image of Annie’s stubborn face formed in his mind. Now he had to convince the bride.
Once, he’d been intrigued by that cool exterior of hers, wanting to know what lay behind it. He’d thought he was breaking through to her until everything blew up in the face of Davis’s sudden decision to elope.
He might be able to reach Annie again, but that armor of hers was probably stronger than it had been before.
The phone rang, and he reached for it. He’d given Vera Rowland, their secretary-receptionist, the day off, assuming he’d get nothing accomplished so soon after the funeral.
“Link?”
Annie’s voice sent him bolt upright in his chair. She sounded panic-stricken, and it took a lot to panic Annie Gideon.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Frank and Julia are here—” She choked on the words. “You’d better come.”
“I’ll be right there.” He was on his feet as he said the words. “Hang on.”
He covered the small outer office in a few strides and slammed out the door. Crossing the street, he jogged diagonally across the pocket-size park that formed Lakeview’s town square. At this hour on a September afternoon the only occupants were a couple of mothers with strollers and two elderly men feeding the squirrels. The park, like the Conrad house, exuded stability, roots, belonging. All the things he hadn’t had before he’d come to Lakeview. All the things he wouldn’t give up.
The door was unlocked, and he didn’t bother to knock. Apprehension carried him into the living room.
Annie clutched Marcy, with Frank and Julia pressing in on her. Embattled, she sent him a look of appeal mingled with relief. That must be some kind of first—for Annie to feel relief at the sight of him.
He moved toward them, feeling the balance of power shifting at his presence. Frank had obviously planned some sort of preemptive strike. Well, it wasn’t going to work.
“Frank, Julia.” He’d keep a polite demeanor if it killed him. Losing his temper with Frank would only play into the man’s hands. “What are you doing here?”
Frank’s smile didn’t falter. “I told Annie there was no need to call you. This is family business.”
“And I’m an outsider, I suppose. Annie did call me, so that means she wants me here.”
Annie was putting up a good front, but fear filled her brown eyes. “They wanted Marcy.”
He moved closer, putting his arm around her and the baby. She stiffened, then relaxed as if accepting that he was on her side.
He focused on her face, intent on erasing the fear. Frank shouldn’t know she was afraid. “No one is taking Marcy. We won’t let that happen.”
“This is family business,” Frank repeated. “As Davis’s closest living relatives, my wife and I are the logical people to take care of little Marcy.”
“And take care of little Marcy’s inheritance, too, I suppose.” His anger sparked.
Frank didn’t seem affected by the accusation. “We’re family,” he repeated. “As you said, you’re the outsider.”
He tensed, but before he could say something he’d regret, Annie straightened.
“I’m Becca’s sister. I’m the one she wanted to take care of her child.” The fire was back in Annie’s eyes. “I won’t let her down.”
That fire seemed to bank Link’s fury. Frank’s attempt to take the child had wakened Annie to the danger they faced. That would work to his advantage in convincing her.
“I think a sister trumps a cousin, Frank. Maybe you and Julia better leave. You’re not going to get what you want here.”
“Choosing sides, are you? Maybe you should reconsider, Annie. We can give Marcy a real family. You want what’s best for her, don’t you?”
“I’m what’s best for her.” Her mouth set with a stubbornness he could have told Frank wouldn’t be moved.
Maybe Frank recognized that fact. He shrugged, then gestured Julia toward the door. “Fine. We’ll see you in court, then. I think you’ll find Judge Carstairs will recognize the value of what we have to offer that little girl.”
They swept out. He felt Annie sag with relief when the door closed. Then, as if she realized she was leaning against him, she took a step away.
“Down,” Marcy said
