Page 51 of Unwanted Vows

“I don’t know,” Andrew says. “But it does guarantee that he won’t enter our room just when things are getting interesting. If he really needs something, he can call us or knock on the door.”

I think about it, while I make sandwiches for all of us. Andrew checks the cabinets, pulling out chips, packaged cookies and individual fruit tubs. It wasn’t a fancy lunch, but it had some resemblance to a balanced meal when I discovered a tray of pre-cut veggies to go with it all.

I tap on Paul’s door. He emerged, somewhat paint smeared but otherwise none the worse for wear. “How are you doing?” I ask.

“Great!” he says enthusiastically. “I found The Last Air Bender on TV. I’m making a surprise while I watch it . . . so maybe, if you two could not come in until I ask you?”

“Sounds good,” Andrew says briskly, before I can say anything. “Your mother and I would also like some private time. You have our numbers, and you can always knock on the door.”

Paul looks at us and wrinkles his nose. “You aren’t going to be kissing, are you?”

Andrew grins that patented Lane grin, and I feel my face grow hot.

“Ewww!” Paul says. “I’ll be very sure to knock.”

Andrew says, “We might or might not get to kissing. But your mother and I have some catching up to do. We had one glorious week more than nine years ago. We aren’t even sure if we still like each other.”

Paul took a big bite of his sandwich and chewed. “I guess that makes sense,” he says. “Let me know what you figure out, all right?”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Andrew says solemnly. “It is always good to know where you stand with people.”

I nibble at the cuticle on my thumb and wonder. Will I be able to handle two Lane men in my family?

GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER

ANDREW

Paul doesn’t quite gobble his lunch. I can tell he is torn between keeping a protective eye on his mother and getting back to his amazing new collection of art supplies.

When he finishes eating, he gives his mother a quick hug around her shoulders, fixes me with a fierce glare, and disappears into his room. He takes a couple of juice boxes, several packages of chips, and an orange with him.

I laugh softly. “Clearly, I am not on the trusted adult list.”

Maddy sighs. “I’ve not had a lot of time to date, so he isn’t used to it. We don’t have a real protocol worked out for how he should behave.”

“That’s fine,” I say. “I’ll have to earn his trust. I suspect that good behavior is the only way I’m going to do that.”

“Probably,” she says, giving me a shy smile. I have a feeling that Paul is not the only one whose trust I must win.

“So,” I say, “Should we pick up where we left off?”

Maddy looks at me for a moment, seeming to consider the question. “I’m not sure,” she said. “Then it was almost like a dream, you coming back. Now, we’ve had someone trying to harm my son, we’ve been moved twice, I hardly know what to think.”

“Then let’s just sit down and talk for a while,” I say. It isn’t exactly what I want to say to her, but it was probably too much to ask that we instantly recapture the magic. It had been snatched from us, first by our son knocking on our door, and then by the intrusion that robbed us of privacy.

Maddy settled herself against the headboard and just looked at me for several minutes. “Why did you leave without saying goodbye?” she asks.

I think back to the morning my father and grandfather caught up with me at the airport and told me about the arranged marriage. “They threatened you,” I said. “Well, not you specifically. They told me that something bad would happen to anyone I dated or even took an interest in. They said I was already engaged to be married to a princess, and that for the sake of the family, I needed to follow through with the contract.”

She stares at me. “You are kidding.”

I shake my head. “No. I wish I were. I’m just glad you survived the encounter with my grandfather. It was a good thing that you had low-profile friends who could come get you quickly, otherwise I have no idea what might have happened.”

Maddy shudders. “I knew he gave me the creepy-crawlies, even while he was being nice. I had no idea . . .”

I sat down on the end of the bed. “Maybe he wouldn’t have done anything. But I think the reason he did not react immediately was because you were pregnant. And three months would have put it right after I was injured, so he really did think I was dead.”

Maddy pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. She drew in a deep shuddering breath. Several emotions flitted across her face, too quickly for me to read them. Then she asked, “How is Aims Corp connected to Lane Enterprises?”

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