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little girl, Bernadette& she s seven.
Cecily pulled out a chair and sat down. Hard.
Tate Winthrop came into the room rubbing his long hair with a towel. He was Lakota Sioux, and
looked far more Native American than Colby. His dark eyes went from his wife to his best friend.
What s going on? he asked.
Colby s ex-wife just showed up and saw us like this, Cecily said, moving to her husband s side.
Maureen? She can t be here, she and her husband are on their way to Nassau. That s why she asked
me to give you those papers she found, Tate said obliviously.
Not Maureen, Colby said.
He has two ex-wives, apparently, Cecily told Tate, tongue-in-cheek. This one s blond and they have
a daughter.
Tate leaned against the counter. A daughter? Maybe I have a fever, he said, touching his forehead.
Maybe you do, Cecily said blithely, but he s still got a daughter. Did you know you had a
daughter? she asked Colby.
He shook his head. Not until a few days ago, he confessed. It s been a shock.
Well, go after her, Colby, Cecily insisted. You can take a photograph of the three of us and explain
things to her!
His face closed up. Not until she has time to cool down, he said. She won t listen.
Make her listen, Tate interjected.
Colby didn t soften. That s easier said than done. He hesitated. I ll give her a few minutes to get
home and think things through, he decided. Then, I ll phone her. He didn t add that he d be lucky if
she didn t slam the phone down the second she heard his voice. Cecily didn t know it, but Sarina
would be remembering that he threw her over for Maureen. She d see this as history repeating itself,
especially since he hadn t been in touch with her since their passionate night together. She d be hurt,
and afraid, and she d blame him for all the pain she d endured in the past, and today. He was already
losing her, and they d barely begun again. He d compounded the problem by being too uncertain of
his footing, and the delicate new feeling between them, to get in touch with her, too ashamed of his
blatant seduction of her. He d meant to call her today and see how things stood. But it was too late.
The look on her face told him so. She d never believe him about Cecily.
Cecily watched him covertly, seeing his reluctance to phone the woman. She wanted to tell him that he
was making a huge mistake by putting it off even just a few minutes, but he d already turned away.
Tate exchanged a speaking glance with her. Colby had a knack for self-destruction. He d stopped
drinking, but he was still on a cold path.
COLBY DID TRY PHONING Sarina just a few minutes later. As he d expected, she hung up. He tried
her cell phone, but apparently it wasn t turned on. He sent a text message, anyway, hoping it would get
through eventually.
He was hesitant to go after her because of their past. He didn t want to admit that to his two best
friends, who were leaving early the next morning. He decided that his best bet was just to go to her
apartment and make her listen to him. He was still wobbly, but he was certainly strong enough to put
his foot in her door and refuse to leave. Surely she d remember how close they d been, how much he
cared for her. Even if he hadn t said it, she must know it. Everything would be all right.
Except that fate stepped in at the worst time, it might have been. Just after lunch, he had an urgent call
from Hunter.
Are you well enough for a standoff? he asked his friend.
Colby wasn t, really, but he d been out of action too long already. Sure. What s up? he asked.
We ve had a tip that there s something going down at the warehouse tonight. We ve got a joint drug
task force set to spring the trap. I d like to have you along.
I ll be there, he said at once. Where, and when?
He listened, assured Hunter that he d be along, and hung up.
I ll have to go, he told his friends. This is a long-standing problem. We re hoping to have a
solution tonight.
Don t get shot before you make it up with Sarina, Cecily said firmly. She drew a photograph out of
her purse and handed it to him. It was of the three of them with Tate and Cecily s little boy. Show her
this. It will explain a lot.
Okay, he said, sliding it into his own wallet. Thanks.
She smiled at him. It will work out, Colby. I m sure it will, she added.
He chuckled, hugging her and then Tate. Well, at least I ve still got hopes of it, he said. He stood
back and studied them both. I didn t realize how much a child could mean until I had one of my own.
I wish you could meet Bernadette, he added sadly.
Maybe next time, Tate said gently. We ll be back this way again.
It s a deal. Now, Colby said, moving a little less strongly than usual, I d better get cracking.
There s just one more thing, Tate said, following the other man into his bedroom. I spoke with
Maureen before we left D.C.
Colby s eyes flashed. That s all over.
I know that, Tate said curtly. But there are things you have to know. We can talk while you dress,
can t we?
Colby drew in an irritated breath, but he nodded.
Tate closed the door. He put a thick envelope down on the dresser. She gave me that.
Frowning, Colby opened it and found&
The annulment papers? he exclaimed. He looked through the pages. Sarina signed them. But& but I
never did! he added, disbelieving when he saw the blank spaces where his signature should have
been.
I thought her father had managed to do it without any help from me. I must have been out of the
country when these came. I never knew about them! Maureen said she signed them for me. She lied!
Didn t you wonder why it was so easy for you to marry Maureen? Tate asked, very carefully. You
didn t even have to produce identification, did you? And there was no marriage license.
Colby felt a coldness in the pit of his stomach. Spill it! he said impatiently.
Maureen confessed that you and she were never legally married, he said heavily. There was a
clause in her first husband s will that kept her from inheriting a penny of his estate if she remarried.
She couldn t have gotten a penny of insurance because he killed himself, he said roughly. Sarina
told me.
Yes, he did, Tate agreed, but he still left several thousand dollars and a few oil stocks in a will that
named her beneficiary. She wasn t about to give those up.
Colby was trying to take it all in, and failing miserably. I m still married to Sarina.
That s right. He shrugged. Maureen didn t have the nerve to tell you herself. She said she was
sorry, but it wasn t as if she planned to stay with you forever.
I know. She liked the banker s hours and his father s fortune. He ll inherit one day.
I understand that a new grandchild was the thing that cinched the deal, Tate added coldly, because
her new fatherin-law wanted to make sure she wasn t marrying his son just for his fortune.
Colby only nodded. He didn t add that she d convinced him he was sterile. No need for Tate to know
that. Colby fingered the unsigned papers. This was a new complication. How was he going to tell
Sarina that they were still married, when she hated him all over again?
I wonder why Sarina s father didn t pursue the annulment? Tate asked.
Colby was only half-listening. I m sure he thought the attorney had taken care of it. He never
bothered with details that underlings could handle. I was out of Sarina s life. That was all he cared
about. At least, until she turned up pregnant. He threw her out and she almost lost Bernadette. She was
destitute and very ill. I never knew. She phoned me while I was in Africa, and Maureen told her to stay
out of my life, that I wanted nothing to do with her. She never even told me that Sarina called!
Tate winced.
Colby saw it. His eyes darkened. Lucky Maureen, that she didn t contact me directly.
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