“I was thinking maybe I’d slip away and take a nap,”Jessie said wistfully.
“Resting up before the big battle,” Luke noted. “A goodidea.”
“You could do the same,” she suggested daringly, casting a slylook up at him. If the way his jaw was working was any indication, he did not mistakethe seductive intent of the invitation.
“Darlin’, believe me, that would be a declaration ofwar,” he advised her.
Jessie was up for it. And Luke, she knew with every fiber of her being,was tempted. She winked at him. “One of these days you’re going to take meup on it,” she taunted him.
“Not in this lifetime,” he said emphatically.
Jessie just grinned. She had a feeling deep inside that he was wrong. Hewas going to cave in far sooner than he thought. She could hardly wait.
Chapter Thirteen
With Jessie resting in her suite, Luke pacedup and down in his own, trying to cool off before confronting his father with whathe’d discovered. Walking into a room and hurling accusations after months ofseparation would hardly get their relationship back on track. Still, he couldn’thelp wondering if Harlan made a habit of investigating any woman with whom any of hissons were involved. If that were the case, Jordan and Cody would probably send him intobankruptcy. Luke took a sort of grim pleasure in the prospect. He’d often wonderedif his father would ever have to pay the price for his attempted control of hissons.
When he finally considered his temper calm and his approach reasonable, hebounded down the stairs two at a time and headed straight for Harlan’s office.
He found his father seated behind a massive desk piled high with files andspread sheets. Wearing a pair of reading glasses, he was squinting at a computer screen,a sour expression on his once-rugged face. Except for the glasses and perhaps a newwrinkle or two, the scene of his father engrossed in work was so familiar that it madeLuke’s heart ache.
The glasses and the faint signs of aging, though, reminded him of just howlong he’d been away. It wasn’t just since Erik’s death, but all theyears since he’d declared his independence from Harlan’s manipulations andmoved to his own ranch. He wondered how many other subtle changes there had been sincehe’d gone.
Harlan glanced up at Luke’s entrance. “So, there youare,” he said.
His pleasure at seeing Luke was betrayed by his eyes, even though his tonewas neutral. He almost sounded uncertain, Luke thought with surprise. It was a far cryfrom the usual arrogance. He couldn’t help welcoming the change.
“About time,” Harlan grumbled, his tone more in character.“I wondered where the hell you’d disappeared to. Your mother didn’teven know you’d arrived. Wouldn’t have known it myself except one of thetrucks was missing.”
“I had an errand in town. Jessie came along and we had lunch,”he added with his usual touch of defiance. Even after all this time, it was a knee-jerkreaction, he realized with a sense of chagrin. If his father commented on the weather,Luke found some reason to counter his claim.
His father nodded, ignoring the testiness. “Fresh air probably didher good. She looked a mite peaked to me last night.”
“She just had a baby,” Luke reminded him.
His father’s expression finally shifted to permit a small hint ofapproval. “Cute little thing, isn’t she?” he said with a note ofpride. “Looks like an Adams.”
“I was thinking she looked like Jessie,” Luke countered, justto be contrary…again.
Harlan shrugged, not rising to the bait. “Who can tell at thatage?” he admitted. “You boys all looked exactly alike when you wereborn.” His expression turned thoughtful. “Not a one of you turned out thesame, though, in looks or personality. I never could make sense of how thathappened.”
“We all got your stubborn streak, though,” Luke remindedhim.
Harlan chuckled at that. “I like to blame that particular trait onyour mama. Makes her crazy.”
“I can imagine.”
Harlan settled back in his chair and studied Luke intently. “Youlook tired. Why’d you really come home, son? You have something on yourmind?”
“I just thought it was about time for a visit,” Luke repliednoncommittally.
“Your mother’s going to be mighty glad to see you.”
Luke doubted it. Mary Adams was too caught up in her own social whirl andin her husband to pay much mind to the comings and goings of her sons. He was moreinterested in his father’s reaction. They had never parted without some sort ofpetty squabble, probably just the clash of two strong wills. Since Erik’s deaththe tension had been greater than ever.
“And you?” he asked, watching his father’s expressionclosely.
His father seemed taken aback by the question. “That goes withoutsaying,” he said at once. “This is your home, boy. Always willbe.”
Luke sighed, relieved yet still incapable of fully believing the easyanswer. “I wasn’t so sure you felt that way after the way Erik died,”he said cautiously. “It’s understandable that you might blame me for whathappened.”
“Is that what’s kept you away from here?”
Luke shrugged. “Part of it.”
“Well, you were wrong. Your brother died because he was a recklessfool,” his father snapped angrily, “not because of anything youdid.”
Luke was startled by the depth of emotion. He suspected there was a heavymeasure of guilt behind the anger, but hell would freeze over before Harlan would admitto it. Still, the reaction worked to his advantage. With his father’s usualcontrol snapped, it seemed like the perfect moment to get an honest answer from him.
“I wonder how he would have felt if he’d known you had Jessieinvestigated,” Luke inquired casually, his gaze pinned to his father’s face.“It might have given him the gumption to go after the life he reallywanted.”
Harlan’s skin turned ashen. “What the devil do you know aboutthat?” he demanded indignantly, unsuspectingly confirming Luke’s suspicions.“And what business is it of yours, if I did?”
Luke refused to be drawn into an argument over ethics, morality or justplain trust. He had his own agenda here. “Find out anything interesting?” heinquired lightly.
“Nothing worth stopping the wedding over, which you obviously knewalready.” He leveled a look at Luke. “Like I asked before, what business isthis of yours? It happened a long time
