“Stunned is more like it. If only I’d listened to him years ago, things might have been different.”
“He told you he wanted to sing years ago?”
“Once or twice. I told him it was impractical and dismissed it.” He sighed. “I think that was really behind his running off, maybe even more so than Betty Sue’s pregnancy. If only I hadn’t been so bull-headed, so certain I knew what was right for him, maybe you and I...”
Katie reached up and silenced him with a touch. “There’s no point in looking back.”
“What about forward, Katie?” he asked, searching her face. “Is there a reason to look forward?”
Katie had no ready answer for that. The future seemed so uncertain. “Let’s just concentrate on the present,” she said, moving even more tightly into his embrace.
“You can’t just live for the moment,” Luke protested. “You have to plan ahead, be responsible.”
“You’re backsliding,” she teased him gently. “This very moment is the only one we can control and I, for one, don’t want to waste it on a silly argument.”
She could feel Luke’s grin against her cheek.
“You have better things in mind?” he asked with a hopeful note in his voice.
“Much better,” she said, looping her arms around his neck so that she could snuggle closer still.
“Ah, yes,” Luke murmured with a sigh. “That is definitely much better.”
One song ended and another began. They barely noticed.
“Um, Katie, do you suppose we could plan ahead just a little? Say, maybe for an hour or two from now?”
She laughed. “You can dream, Cassidy, but you can’t plan.”
“Okay, but just so you know, I am having one very erotic dream.”
“Me, too, Cassidy. Me, too.”
* * *
Unfortunately the dream got waylaid. Just about the time they’d gotten everyone settled after the drive back to Clover, there was a tap on the front door. Luke looked as if he’d like to ignore it, but Katie knew that no one would turn up at that late hour unless it was important.
“If you don’t answer it, I will,” she said.
“Entertaining visitors was not what I had in mind,” he said, his gaze roaming over her provocatively one last time just as he opened the door. “Tommy! What are you doing here?”
“I thought we should talk.”
“Tonight? Can’t it wait until morning? Besides, I thought you’d be up until dawn celebrating.”
“The only people I want to celebrate with are here,” Tommy said, sounding wistful.
“Well, get in here, then,” Katie said. She studied Tommy’s somber expression and decided celebrating was actually the last thing on his mind. She stood and headed for the stairs. “Why don’t I leave the two of you alone?”
Tommy shook his head. “No, stay, please. This involves you, too.” He glanced toward the stairs. “Is Robby here?”
Luke shook his head. “He’s spending the night with Lucy and Max.”
“Good. Then there’s no chance he’ll overhear.”
Luke tensed at once. “Overhear what? Dammit, Tommy, tonight’s not the time to get into a custody discussion.”
Tommy faced him squarely. “I think it is.”
Katie heard the determination in his voice with a sense of amazement. Tommy had changed since his return to Clover. She could see it. It went beyond the new Western clothes, the neatly trimmed hair, his more mature face. There was a quiet resolve about him that she was forced to admire. She had a feeling that when the time came, the judge’s decision wouldn’t be an easy one. It would have been far more clear-cut if Tommy had remained the rebellious, irresponsible person who’d first run out on his pregnant lover.
Katie clenched her hands nervously and worried that Luke had seriously underestimated his brother’s determination to become a part of Robby’s life.
“I know you think I just wanted your money,” Tommy began. “You’ve said it often enough.” He met Luke’s gaze evenly. “But that was never it. I suppose a part of it was that I wanted to hurt you.”
“And you were willing to use Robby to do it,” Luke said flatly.
“I wasn’t thinking about him, not really,” Tommy said. “It was a purely selfish decision. In some sort of twisted way, I think I was jealous of him.”
Luke regarded him incredulously. “Jealous? Of a baby?”
Tommy shrugged. “Sounds ridiculous when I say it. But he had you in his life, and he came between you and me. I know I used to mess up, and you bailed me out over and over. Seemed like that was just the nature of our relationship. Then Betty Sue got pregnant and you chose her and the baby over me.”
“I chose them because of you,” Luke said, looking faintly bewildered by Tommy’s anger and hurt. “You left me no choice. One of us had to do the right thing.”
Tommy’s smile was rueful. “You never gave me time to figure that out. Just wham-bang, you took care of it. You sacrificed your feelings for Katie.” He shot her an apologetic look. “When I saw that, do you know the kind of guilt I felt? I had to stay away. There was no place for me here knowing how many lives I’d wrecked.”
“If you felt so much guilt, then how could you fight me for custody of Robby?” Luke asked, looking shaken by everything Tommy had revealed so far.
“Because I knew in my gut it would send you running back here. I hoped Katie would take you back.” He sucked in a deep breath, then admitted, “I owed you and I wanted my brother back.”
Luke stood and began to pace. He raked his fingers through his hair, before he finally turned to stare down at his brother. “You were willing to go into court and ask for Robby, to try to take him from me and you thought that would get me back?”
“No,” Tommy said quietly. “I thought it would get your attention.”
“Well, it sure as hell did that!” Luke exploded. “Of all the idiotic, selfish, harebrained schemes.” He stopped in front of Tommy. “So now what? Why the hell are you here tonight?”
Tommy flinched at his brother’s anger,
