“On the other hand, if Alex fails to smoke out any skeletons in our closet, Harper’ll have to eat crow. Rather than do that, he’ll boot Alex out. And we’ll be there with open arms to catch her when she falls,” he said, jabbing the air for emphasis.
“I see you’ve got it all worked out,” Junior remarked dryly.
Angus made a grunting sound. “Damn right I do. One of us better be concentrating on more than the fine way she fills out a sweater.”
“I thought that’s what you wanted me to do.”
“You gotta do more than gawk and lust from afar. A love affair would be the best thing that could happen to Alex.”
“How do you know she’s not involved in one?”
“Because unlike you, I don’t leave things to chance. I made it my business to find out. I’ve had her checked out.”
“You cagey old bastard,” Junior whispered with grudging admiration.
“Humph. You gotta know what cards the other guy’s holding, son, or it does you no good to have a winning hand.”
While the fire in the grate popped cheerfully, Junior contemplated all that Angus had said. Then, focusing a narrow gaze on his father, he asked, “Where would you have this love affair lead? To marriage?”
Angus slapped Junior’s knee and chortled. “Would that be so bad?”
“Would you approve?”
“Why not?”
Junior wasn’t sharing the laugh. He moved to the fire, away from his father’s touch and conniving smile. Absently, he poked at the burning logs.
“I’m surprised,” he said softly. “You didn’t think Celina would make a suitable wife for me. I remember the ruckus you raised when I told you I wanted to marry her.”
“You were eighteen then, boy!” Angus shouted. “Celina was a widow with a baby.”
“Yes. Alex. And look how fine she turned out. She could have been my stepdaughter.”
Angus’s brows drew together over the bridge of his nose. They were a dependable gauge of his temper. The steeper the vee, the angrier he was. “There were other considerations.”
Junior spun around. “Like what?”
“That was twenty-five years ago, another time, another person. Alex isn’t her mother. She’s got more beauty, and a hell of a lot more brains. If you were half the man you’re supposed to be—if, for once, you’d think with your head instead of your pecker—you’d see how valuable it’d be to have her standing by your side.”
Junior blushed with anger. “I can see all that. I just wanted to make damn certain before I started a courtship that you would approve of it this time. Whether you want to believe it or not, I loved Celina. And if I start romancing Alex, I might just fall in love with her, too. For real. Not for you, not for the corporation, but for myself.”
He stamped toward the door. Angus called his name sharply. Out of habit, Junior stopped and turned around. “You resent this lecture, don’t you, boy?”
“Yes,” he stormed. “I’m a grown man, not a boy. I don’t need your coaching. I know how to handle Alex, or any other woman you can name.”
“Oh, you do?” Angus asked silkily.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then why did Alex leave you today and go off with Reede?”
Upstairs, Sarah Joe eavesdropped on the raging conversation. When Junior slunk into the living room and she heard the clatter of glassware, she silently closed the door to her sanctum and leaned back against it. Her chest rose and fell with a heavy, despairing sigh.
It was happening again.
There seemed to be no escaping this nightmare. Junior was going to have his heart broken again, this time by Celina’s daughter because she would come between Junior and his father and his best friend. History was repeating itself. The house was in an uproar, and all because of that girl.
Sarah Jo knew she wouldn’t be able to stand it. No, she was quite sure she wouldn’t. The first time, she had failed to protect Junior from heartache. She wouldn’t be able to protect him this time, either.