"If I were you, I wouldn't let her get away."

Ryan scowled. "Not you, too," he protested. "Geez, if I get any more matchmaking advice from people who hang out at the pub, I'll have to turn the place into a lonely-hearts club."

"Not a bad idea," Jack said. "And if there are any more out there like Maggie, send 'em my way." He reached for his door handle. "I think I'll catch a cab and head for home."

"You're not going to stick around to make sure I go inside?" Ryan inquired. "I thought maybe you'd nominate yourself to see to it I don't let Maggie down."

"If you let her down, you're an idiot," Jack said succinctly. "And frankly, if you're that dumb, I don't want to know about it. Right now I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy toward you for helping Lamar."

Ryan laughed. "Go. I'll give you a call once he's out of surgery."

Jack nodded. "You do that." He grinned. "Or give Maggie the honor. I wouldn't mind waking up to the sound of her voice in my ear."

"Go to h.e.l.l," Ryan said. If Maggie was going to be whispering in any man's ear, it was going to be his. And it was looking more and more as if that was going to be inevitable.

Chapter Nine.

Maggie knew precisely why Ryan had let her be the one to escort Mr. Monroe into the hospital to see his son. He hadn't wanted to be a part of an emotional family reunion, even if he was the one responsible for making it happen. Because there had been no reunion for him and his brothers, the prospect of this one made him uncomfortable.

He needed to be there, though. He needed to put his discomfort aside if he was ever to know that happy endings were possible.

As Maggie and Jamal Monroe stepped off the elevator, she turned and looked at him. "I know I have no right to ask this, especially after insisting that you get right over here, but would you mind waiting a few more minutes before you see Lamar?"

He regarded her with surprise. "You want to go in and make sure they want to see me?"

"No, I know how happy they'll be that you're here. In fact, that's the point."

He studied her knowingly. "This has something to do with Mr. Devaney, doesn't it? You seemed real anxious that he not take off. You still worried he might not show up?"

"No, I'm sure he'll be here any second, and I think he should be a part of this."

"So he gets the credit he's due for tracking me down?"

She smiled at the all-too-cynical reaction. "No, so he can see for himself the look in Lamar's eyes when you walk through the door."

At her explanation, his natural suspicion gave way. He nodded in apparent understanding. "I suppose a couple more minutes won't make any difference," he said. "And I do owe the man for his trouble."

"He doesn't want your thanks or your sense of obligation," Maggie was quick to a.s.sure him. "He just wants you and your son to be together. I can't explain why this meeting is so important to him, but it is. Trust me."

They were still standing by the elevator when Let.i.tia Monroe emerged from Lamar's room and spotted them. An entire spectrum of emotions flashed across her face, from anger to love to relief. Her husband took a few hesitant steps in her direction, then paused and waited. She hurried down the corridor and straight into his arms. Her shoulders shook with sobs as he tried ineffectively to console her.

"Jamal Monroe, I ought to slap you silly for putting us through all this worry," Let.i.tia said finally, sniffing loudly and wiping her eyes with a tissue Maggie provided. "But I'm too relieved to see you. The rest will have to wait." She glanced around. "Where's Mr. Devaney? I know he had something to do with you being here."

The elevator doors whooshed open just then, and Ryan emerged. Let.i.tia threw her arms around him in a fierce hug that almost knocked him off his feet.

"I will be indebted to you for the rest of my life," she declared. "Thank you for finding Jamal and getting him here in time."

"The truth is, he found us," Ryan said modestly. "All I did was poke around and ask a few questions."

"But I don't doubt for a minute that it was all that poking around that stirred things up and flushed him out," she said with conviction. She slipped her hand into her husband's. "Let's go see our boy."

They started down the hall, but Ryan held back. Maggie regarded him with a questioning look, but it was Let.i.tia who turned around and said impatiently, "Hurry up. Lamar's expecting you. And I imagine Father Francis has heard about all of the boy's pitiful jokes he can stand for one morning."

"I shouldn't intrude," Ryan said, looking around desperately for someplace to flee.

"Intrude, nothing. You're part of this family till the end of time," Let.i.tia said emphatically. "And I don't want to hear anyone saying otherwise, including you."

Maggie grinned at the woman's belief that she had the right to boss Ryan around. Maybe she should steal a page out of Let.i.tia's book. Ryan appeared a little sh.e.l.l-shocked.

"I guess she told you, you," Maggie teased.

Ryan seemed a little bewildered at being summarily made a part of the Monroe family, but he snagged Maggie's hand and followed Let.i.tia.

"You know," Maggie began casually. "It's an interesting thing about families."

He regarded her warily. "Oh?"

"Some people spend a lifetime surrounded by blood relatives they don't get along with much. Some have wonderful families like mine." She gave him a pointed look. "And some get to choose the people they consider family."

He gave her a wry smile. "I get it, Maggie."

"I hope so," she said softly. "I really do." She figured their future depended on it.

Ryan hesitated again once they reached Lamar's room. Despite Let.i.tia's insistence that he belonged there, he felt like an interloper at what should be a very private moment. But even if he'd wanted to hang back, there was Maggie watching him with that beseeching, hopeful expression. He couldn't let her down. And he wasn't too keen on being the recipient of one of Father Francis's disappointed looks, either, to say nothing of another outburst of Let.i.tia's temper.

"You go in first," Let.i.tia instructed. "Tell my baby you have a surprise for him."

"Me? Shouldn't you be doing that?"

She glanced at Maggie, then regarded him with a steady look. "Something tells me it's important that you do it."

Recognizing that he was defeated, Ryan sucked in a sharp breath, then walked into the room. His nervousness eased the instant he saw Lamar's face light up. Father Francis smiled at him and stepped aside to give Ryan room at the boy's bedside.

"You came!" Lamar said. "Mom said you would, but it was getting late. They've already given me some kinda shot. I'm getting real sleepy."

Ryan rubbed his knuckles over the boy's head. "Don't go to sleep just yet. I have a surprise, and you're going to want to be wide awake for it."

Lamar's eyes widened. "A surprise? For me? What is it?"

Ryan nodded toward the door. "Look over there."

Just as he said it, Jamal stepped into the room.

"Dad," Lamar whispered, reaching for Ryan's hand and gazing up at him with a grateful expression. "You found my dad. I knew you would."

As Jamal reached the side of the bed, his eyes filled with tears. "Hi, son. I'm sorry for worrying you, for letting you and your mom go through all of this alone."

"It's okay, Dad. I knew you'd come back. I just knew it."

Jamal bent down, his tears spilling onto his son's face as he hugged him. "I love you, boy. Don't you ever forget that. And once you've had this surgery and are good as new again, you and I are gonna do all the things we've always talked about. That's a promise."

Lamar looked at Ryan, his eyes shining. "And my dad never breaks his promises. Not ever." He glanced toward his mother. "Ain't that right, Mom?"

"Isn't it, right," Let.i.tia corrected. Wisely, she didn't mention the promise Jamal had made to her to be there in sickness and in health, in good times and bad. "Your daddy's here now. That's all that matters." it, right," Let.i.tia corrected. Wisely, she didn't mention the promise Jamal had made to her to be there in sickness and in health, in good times and bad. "Your daddy's here now. That's all that matters."

Just then the nurse came into the room with an orderly. "Time to go, Lamar."

He clung to his father's hand. "You'll be here after the operation, right? You're not going to go away again?"

"I'll be right by your side when you wake up," Jamal a.s.sured him.

The next few hours pa.s.sed in a blur of lousy coffee, tasteless food and pacing. There were a dozen times when Ryan would have made an excuse and escaped, but one glance at Maggie kept him right where he was. From the moment they'd met, she'd seemed to expect the best from him, the same as Father Francis. Now there were two people in his life Ryan hoped never to disappoint. He was surprised he didn't feel more pressured by it, but the truth was, it felt good to know there were people counting on him and that, so far at least, he had never let them down.

Across the room Let.i.tia and Jamal sat side by side, hand in hand, drawing comfort from each other the way they should have all these weeks.

"Looks like Let.i.tia has forgiven him already," he said to Maggie, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"Human beings make mistakes," Maggie said quietly. "Wise human beings understand that and forgive them."

"How the h.e.l.l do you forgive someone for walking out when he's needed the most?" Ryan demanded, his chin jutting forward.

Maggie regarded him with a penetrating look. "Are we talking about Jamal now, or your parents?"

Ryan ground his teeth. "Jamal, of course," he said tightly.

"Ryan-"

"Don't," he said, shooting to his feet and walking away from the lecture so evidently on the tip of her tongue. He didn't need anyone, not even Maggie, telling him that there could be any possible justification for what his parents had done to him and his brothers. He certainly wasn't going to entertain the notion of forgiving them for dumping three boys into the foster care system before taking off to who-knew-where.

He moved to the window and stared outside, only halfway aware that snow was falling, leaving a coating of white on the ground. Christmas was fast approaching, and it was his second most hated holiday of the year, right after Thanksgiving. He never failed to spend the day trying to imagine where his brothers might be, what they might have endured. If their holidays had been anything like his, they must hate the season, as well.

"I take it Maggie dared to say something about your parents," Father Francis said, coming to stand beside him.

"What makes you think that?" Ryan asked.

"Little else puts such a scowl on your face," the priest replied. "Besides, it's natural for you to think of them on a day like this. Seeing Lamar reunited with his father must make you wonder a little about your own father."

"I am not thinking of my parents," Ryan insisted. "Or at least I wasn't until the two of you decided to pester me about them."

Father Francis waited until Ryan eventually turned to face him, then said, "Are you going to allow two people you claim to have no feelings for, at all, control the way you live the rest of your life?"

"What the devil are you talking about? They control nothing!" Ryan declared.

"Oh, really? Have you given one second's thought to a future with Maggie?" The priest held up a silencing hand when Ryan would have responded. "And don't waste your breath telling me you're not attracted to her, because anyone with eyes can see that you are. Yet you do nothing about it, because in your heart you know it would have to lead somewhere, to a place you won't allow yourself to go."

"Shouldn't you be praying for Lamar, instead of giving me advice on my love life?" he inquired sourly.

"I'm a modern man. I've learned to mult.i.task," Father Francis said.

Despite his irritation, Ryan bit back a laugh. "And who taught you that term? Maggie, I imagine."

"The girl's an inspiration, to be sure," Father Francis said cheerfully. "But then, even you can see that, can't you?"

Ryan sighed as the priest retreated to sit with Let.i.tia and Jamal, apparently satisfied that he'd gotten his message across. Ryan glanced over at Maggie, saw the worry in her eyes as she watched the door, then the lingering flicker of hurt when she caught him staring at her. Resigned, he went back to her side.

"I'm sorry for snapping your head off before," he said. "And I'm sorry I keep doing things that necessitate so many apologies."

"It's okay," she said with another display of that ready forgiveness she seemed willing to dispense, no matter how unreasonable he'd been. "We're all under a lot of stress this morning."

"That's no excuse." He noted the dark circles under her eyes, the strain around her mouth. "Maggie, you must be exhausted. Why not let me drive you home?"

She shook her head. "Not until we hear something."

"Okay then, at least rest for a bit." He sat beside her and slipped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a gentle tug. After a moment's resistance, she gingerly put her head on his shoulder. "That's better. Now close your eyes. If the doctor comes, I promise I'll wake you."

She didn't respond, and moments later he felt the tension in her shoulders ease. Soon after, her breathing deepened, and something inside him eased, as well. He had only the dimmest memory of feeling this protective toward anyone, quite likely because he hadn't wanted to remember that, when it was truly important, he hadn't been able to protect his brothers from the worst hurt of all.

Maggie couldn't recall when she'd ever felt so safe. In her dream, she was in a house that was being buffeted by a powerful northeast wind, but she was safe and warm, tucked in Ryan's arms in front of a cozy fire. She had the sense that as long as she was in his embrace, nothing could ever harm her.

She shifted sleepily, cuddling closer to all that strength and heat, only to hear his voice whispering urgently in her ear.

"Come on, Maggie. Wake up, darlin'. The doctor's here."

It was the last, more than the term of endearment, that penetrated. Her eyes snapped open, and she immediately spotted the surgeon in his operating room attire standing beside Let.i.tia and Jamal. Her gaze shot to Ryan.

"Have you heard what he's saying? Is it good news?"

"I can't hear from here."

"What about his expression? How did he look?"

Ryan regarded her blankly.

"Was he happy? Sad? What?" she prodded. "You read people's moods every single night at the pub. Can't you read his?"