Page 66 of A Family Kind of Wedding (Forever Family 3)

“I’m fine,” Katie lied.

“Dad’s right.” Bliss, ever the worrier, held the door open. “Maybe you should rest.”

“That’s a good idea.” Jarrod glared at his half sister. “And give up the ridiculous notion that you’re going to interview Ray Dean for your story.”

“Ray Dean? Laddy’s dad? He was the guy?” Josh asked, his eyes round as saucers as his estimation of his mother and her bravery soared into the stratosphere.

“Stay away from the likes of him,” John growled.

Tiffany squeezed her hand. “Oh, Katie. Jarrod and…and John are right. Ray Dean’s a criminal and you’re a mother. You can’t be taking any chances.” For once, Tiffany sided with her estranged father, and Katie saw that this family—ragtag and filled with more than its share of bitter memories, distrust and skeletons tucked away in every available closet—had come together during this crisis. Unintentionally, she’d drawn them to one another.

“Maybe everyone should hear what Katie has to say.” Luke, the outsider, finally put in his two cents’ worth. He was standing beneath a madrona tree, one shoulder propped against the trunk, his hands shoved into the back pockets of his jeans. “Seems to me that it’s her life.”

Jarrod was about to argue. He opened his mouth, snapped it shut and then lifted a hand as if in surrender. “He’s right.”

“Tell us what happened,” Bliss insisted.

“Everything,” Tiffany added. “Come on, I think we can all fit into the parlor.” She held the door open, and John urged everyone inside. There wasn’t enough of Katie’s odds and ends of eclectic furniture to hold everyone, but Stephen and Josh sat on the hearth, Christina was huddled in her mother’s arms, while Bliss and Mason stood at the windows, Brynnie sagged on to the couch, and the rest were scattered throughout the room, either seated in kitchen chairs they’d dragged into the parlor or on the floor.

At John’s insistence Katie took her place in an overstuffed wing chair, and Blue, toenails clicking, entered the room to curl into a ball at her feet. His ears twitched, and his eyes moved from one member of the family to the next while Katie launched into her story. Everyone, even her ever-restless twin brothers, listened raptly. Few questions were asked, and when she described Luke’s dramatic rescue, all eyes turned his way. He stood in the archway between parlor and foyer, his face without much expression. Aloof. And still as sexy as any man she’d ever seen. Her throat caught for a minute as his eyes held hers. In that heartbeat she forgot that he’d betrayed her; remembered only that he’d put his life on the line for her. Before anyone had noticed, she looked away.

“I guess we owe you a debt of gratitude,” John commented, eyeing Luke and sizing him up.

“No trouble.”

“Nonetheless, you should be rewarded—”

“I don’t think so.” Luke’s back stiffened in stubborn pride, and then Katie remembered that he’d probably already been paid for locating Ralph Sorenson’s grandson. Her teeth clamped together; now wasn’t the time to bring that up.

“You saved Katie’s life,” John said adamantly.

“She was doin’ okay before I got there.”

“Like hell she was,” Jarrod retorted, his lips compressed over his teeth, his eyes flashing with frustration at his half sister’s bullheaded streak. “I don’t call it ‘okay’ when you’re locked away with a known criminal who has a weapon at your throat!”

“It wasn’t like that,” Katie protested.

“Damned close.”

There was no arguing with him. She glared at Jarrod for a second, then smiled. After all, he was only angry because he cared. “So what happened on this end?” Katie asked, hoping to defuse some of the tension that lingered in the air.

“After Luke left, Tiffany called me. Explained what was goin’ on,” John clarified.

Tiffany, smoothing Christina’s curls, nodded. “I was worried. Luke had already left, and I just had this feeling that there might be trouble, so I decided your folks should know what was going on.” Her eyes met Katie’s, and a moment of understanding passed between them, a connection only t

rue sisters shared. “So, I phoned the ranch and talked to John.”

Katie couldn’t believe her ears. For Tiffany to have reached out to her estranged father was a major step. Major. Maybe there was hope for this ragtag family yet.

“Since I was there when John got the call,” Jarrod added, “I decided to find out what was going on for myself. Bliss and Mason gathered everyone together here.”

“I talked to the police,” John said. He stood behind the couch where his wife was ensconced and patted her shoulder. Brynnie reached up and grabbed his fingers in hers. “But they’d already been tipped off. Some neighbor, I think.”

“Leona.”

“Helluva way to get us all together,” Nathan joked.

Katie managed a laugh. “I promise I won’t do it again.”

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