The Delacourt Scandal (17 page)

When she finally poured their coffee and sat down opposite him, he slid a thick envelope across the desk toward her.

“What’s that?”

“It’s from my father. He said you’d understand.”

It was the file he’d promised her, the one she’d concluded she didn’t need to see. Maybe someday she could look at it with objectivity and try once more to understand why her father had done what he’d done, but not now. She tucked it into the back of a drawer.

Tyler seemed surprised by her action. “You’re not going to look at it?”

“I know what’s in it. The evidence of my father’s embezzlement, the proof of his gambling debts.”

“I’m sorry,” Tyler said. “That must be very painful.”

“The pain is going away. I just have to keep reminding myself that what happened was in the past.” Because she wanted to concentrate on the present, she asked him, “Are you back at work on the rig?”

“Not yet. I’ve taken some time to do some thinking.”

“About who you are?”

“That, and about what I really want.”

“Have you reached any conclusions?”

“Just one.”

She studied his face, searching for a clue, but his expression was blank. “Which is?”

“You’re too important to me for me to walk away without giving us a second chance.”

Maddie almost sagged with relief, even though he hadn’t sounded especially overjoyed about his decision. A chance was all she wanted, all she needed. For the first time in weeks she began to have hope.

“I’ve spent weeks trying to see all of this from your perspective,” Tyler said. “I think I understand your motives, but the rest of it, the way you used me, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to get past that.”

“I know,” she said, because it was true and nothing excused it. She’d been wrestling with that herself.

He regarded her evenly. “To be honest, I was hoping that when I saw you again that would be the end of it, that it would be over, that I wouldn’t feel a thing. That’s why I came here.”

Her heart began to thud dully. “And?”

“It’s not over, dammit. I look at you and I want you.” He sounded angry and confused, not at all like a man in love.

“Wanting’s not enough.”

He rubbed a hand across his face. “I know. That’s the trouble. There’s so much more. I go to sleep and there you are in my dreams. I think about those weeks we were together and I remember all the good times. Even though they were based on a pack of lies, I can’t forget about them. We had something, Maddie. I lost
Jen and my daughter. They’re dead. I can never get them back. But you’re here and very much alive. No one knows better than I do how precious and fragile love is. How can I turn my back on it without a fight?”

Maddie heard the doubts in his voice, even as he claimed to want what she wanted, a future for the two of them. “So, what are you saying, Tyler? I’ve told you that I love you. I’ve said I’m sorry. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life apologizing. Either we pick up and go on or we forget about it.”

“Can you do that? Can you forget?”

“No,” she said softly. “I’ll never forget you. No matter what happens you’ll be the man I loved with all my heart, enough to give up everything I thought mattered in my life.”

She forced herself to meet his gaze. “Do you want to know what I learned from you? I learned that family is what really matters. I thought that was a lesson I already knew. I thought it was why getting even was so important to me, but then I realized that family hadn’t mattered at all to my father. If he had cared about us, he wouldn’t have left us. He would have worked harder to make the most of the chance your father gave him by not pressing charges. It also made me realize that I need to find my brothers, mend some fences if that’s possible.”

Tears welled up as she said it, tears for the weak man she had adored, for the strong man across from her she might well be losing. Suddenly she felt Tyler’s hand close over hers.

“Don’t,” he said softly. “It’s going to be all right, Maddie. Somehow we’re going to make it right.”

She lifted her gaze to his. Hope blossomed in her heart. “We are?”

“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I’m still trying to figure out exactly who I am, how I fit in.”

“You’re a Delacourt,” she said. She was able to say it emphatically because it no longer mattered to her, but it very much mattered to him.

“So my parents keep telling me,” he said wryly. “And I guess I’ve got the Delacourt stubbornness, even if I only learned it by example. That’s what makes me believe we can make it.” He grinned. “Love and determination, Maddie—we’ve both got more than our share.”

“We do, don’t we?” she said, matching his grin, feeling her heart lighten.

“Shall we put them to the ultimate test? Just plunge in with no safety net? Will you marry me? You can’t very well nurse a grudge against the Delacourts if you’re one of us.”

“I stopped nursing a grudge against the Delacourts months ago—when I fell in love with one of them,” she admitted.

She lifted his hand and brushed a kiss across the scarred, familiar knuckles, felt the heat stir inside her. It was time, she thought, time to put the past solidly where it belonged, in the past, and take the first step into the future. This must be what it felt like to Tyler working on the rig, putting his life on the line—risky and exhilarating.

“What kind of wedding do you think we can have if your sister’s not speaking to me and your mother blames me for all of this?” she asked by way of a response.

“If you’re saying yes, they’ll be there,” he said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he grasped what she was really saying. “Mother’s actually relieved that the secret is out in the open, and Trish will come just to keep an eye on you.”

“Maybe we could elope,” she suggested half-seriously.

“Not a chance. They might forgive you for a lot of things, but not for depriving them of a wedding.”

“And you? Can you forgive me for a lot of things?”

“I think if you were to kiss me, it might be a good start,” he teased, his gaze locked with hers.

“If that’s all it takes, then we’re definitely on our way,” she said, moving into his arms.

It wouldn’t be this easy, of course. Maddie knew that. But he was willing to put his faith in the two of them, on the line. He was ready to make a commitment to her, despite everything.

And because of that she would spend the rest of her life proving to him that his faith hadn’t been misplaced.

T
he baby squalled all the way through the baptism in the small, crowded church in Los Pin˜os. Tyler glanced over at Maddie, saw the embarrassed blush in her cheeks and winked. Their son already had a mind of his own, and having water sprinkled on his forehead did not, evidently, have his approval.

“I baptize thee, Daniel Bryce Delacourt, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost,” the minister said, ignoring the baby’s bad temper to bless him, anyway.

Tyler had a feeling that with his heritage, baby Daniel was going to need all the heavenly intervention he could get. His biological grandfather and namesake and his Delacourt grandfather—also his namesake—were already engaged in a tug-of-war over who got to hold him the most. Maddie managed
to keep both of them pacified, but she had laid down the law when the gifts started arriving at their new home in Los Pin˜os.

“I will not have a nursery that looks like a branch of FAO Schwarz,” she told Tyler emphatically.

“Hey, I’m not the one doing the shopping on the Internet. Speak to Dad and Daniel. While you’re at it, you might want to speak to Grandpa Harlan, too. He’s the one who had the swing set installed in the backyard while we were still at the hospital.”

Maddie had only laughed. “I’ve already learned that Harlan Adams does what he wants around here. It would be a waste of breath to try to stop him.”

“Then you can’t very well deny Daniel and my father the same right. We’ll have a rebellion. They’ll retire and settle in Los Pin˜os right next door, and we’ll never have any peace.”

The comment had been made only partially in jest. Neither of the men were happy about his decision to leave Delacourt Oil and go to work for Jordan Adams’s oil company.

“You’re doing it to spite me,” his father had declared.

“You’re doing it to keep peace between your father and me,” Daniel had said. “Don’t you think we can manage to be civilized, especially now that the truth is out? Whether you work for him in the office or me on the rig, it’s your call.”

“I’m doing it because Maddie is happy in Los Pin˜os and I want to keep her that way,” he’d retorted to both of them.

It was evident that neither of them had believed him, but it was the truth. If Maddie had wanted to
live on an island with absolutely no natural resources that could be mined or drilled for, he would have found a way to accommodate her, especially after she had told him they were expecting their first baby. It was just a side benefit that Los Pin˜os happened to have the headquarters of a reputable oil company.

He gazed down at his son and felt his heart begin to expand in his chest. The boy was a miracle, no doubt about it. Even if his full-volume cries were disrupting the solemn ceremony. Because of him, Maddie had even reached out to her brothers, tracking them down with Dylan’s help to invite them to today’s family celebration. They had declined due to their own family obligations, but their promise to come for a visit had satisfied her for now. Tyler knew if they didn’t back up their words with action, Maddie was more than capable of going after them, now that she’d made up her mind to get them back in her life. She’d been pleased to discover that both had let go of past ill-advised behavior and settled down with wives and children of their own.

When the service ended, Maddie reached for Daniel. “I’ll take him. I need to feed him.”

She slipped out the door, while the rest of the family was busy slapping Tyler on the back.

“Hey, where’d my grandson go?” Bryce demanded.

“Maddie’s gone home to feed him,” Tyler said. “You’ll see him when we get to the house.”

“Here, you can hold your other grandson,” Dylan said, slipping his eight-month-old boy into Bryce’s arms.

“What about me?” Trish’s daughter demanded, looking up at her grandfather and pouting.

“I guess we’re just going to have to move here,” Helen Delacourt said. “That’s the only way we’ll get to spend enough time with the new generation of Delacourts. Even Michael and Jeb’s children love it over here and come to stay every chance they get.”

“No need,” Harlan Adams said slyly. “I’ll look after ’em.”

“Over my dead body,” Bryce retorted. “You’ve got your own family, old man. This crowd belongs to me.”

Tyler left them squabbling and went in search of Maddie and baby Daniel. When he walked through the front door of the house they’d built, a feeling of absolute contentment stole over him at the quiet serenity. In a few minutes, when the others arrived, chaos would erupt, but for now this was his world, his and Maddie’s.

From the moment he’d uttered his proposal, he’d felt the rightness of his decision, but never more so than when he stood in the doorway of the nursery and saw her with his son.

She seemed to feel his gaze and glanced up, a smile on her lips. “Is everyone here?”

“Not yet. I snuck out of the church while they were trying to mark their turf.”

“All of them?”

“Mainly Dad and Grandpa Harlan. It’s killing my father that so many of us have defected into Harlan’s world. Mother’s making noises about moving over here.”

“That would be wonderful,” Maddie said.

“Would it? You wouldn’t mind having Dad underfoot?”

“Of course not. I love your parents.”

He never ceased to marvel at the fact that she really did. As if she read his mind, she chided, “Tyler, I’ve put the past behind me. Thankfully, so have your parents. Can you say the same?”

He sighed. “When I look at you and little Daniel, I have everything I need. The past doesn’t matter, only the present and the future.”

She reached for his hand. “Ditto.”

The front door banged open and three masculine voices called out in unison. Tyler recognized his father and Daniel and Grandpa Harlan, all of them sounding impatient. He grinned at Maddie.

“His royal subjects await. Is he ready?”

“He is,” she said at once, laughing. “Are you?”

“If you’re coming, I’m ready for anything.”

With Daniel snuggled firmly against Tyler’s chest, he and Maddie walked hand in hand to the top of the stairs. Before they could start down, he pulled her to a stop, leaned down and kissed her.

“I love you, Maddie Delacourt.”

“Maddie Kent,” she corrected automatically.

“Are you sure it was professional reasons that kept you from taking my name?” he teased.

“You’ll just have to trust me on that.”

Tyler stared into her eyes, saw the indisputable love shining there. “I do,” he said. And he knew with every fiber of his being that by some miracle, he did. He thought of Jen and Rachel and of what Mrs. Andrews had said to him when he and Maddie had visited, that they had died for a reason, because God had
another plan for him. Maddie and his son were in his life because of that loss. They would never replace Jen and his little girl in his heart, but one thing the past months had taught him: When it came to love, there was more than enough room for everyone. And that was a lesson he and Maddie would certainly pass on to the next generation of Delacourts.