"Huh?" Jack had been so deep in thought that the only words he'd caught were pork chops. "They're delicious." He reached over on the platter, pierced another juicy, tender chop and laid it on his plate.

Cathy eyed him quizzically. "Want to tell me what you're thinking about so hard that you stopped eating?"

The chop was so tender he was able to slice it with his fork. After eating a couple of large bites, along with some mashed potatoes and b.u.t.ter beans, he rinsed it down with iced tea.

"Seth stopped by the office today," Jack told her.

"Did he say or do anything that he shouldn't have?"

"Get that worried mother-hen look off your face. Seth behaved himself."

She sighed.

"He told me that if I hurt you, I'd have to answer to him."

Cathy's eyes widened. "He didn't." The corners of her mouth tilted upward in a hint of a smile.

"Oh, he did. You'd have been proud of him."

"I am. It's just-"

"He knows about us, about the fact that I spent the night here last night."

Cathy's lips curved into a closed-mouth smile. "Oh, yes, he knows. My guess is that everybody in Dunmore knows. It seems I have at least one nosy neighbor who thought it was her Christian duty to call my mother this morning and tell her."

"Son of a b.i.t.c.h," Jack grumbled. "Did you have to deal with your mother today?"

"Sort of. She stopped by Treasures, and before she opened her mouth, I told her, in front of several customers, that I was thirty-four years old and that my personal life was no one's business but my own, and that included her."

"Have you talked to Seth?"

"He came to see me this morning. I'm pretty sure that's why he confronted you. You see, I told him that you and I are going to be seeing quite a bit of each other and that I didn't know what the future held for us, but we had a right to find out."

Jack released a long, low whistle. "So how'd that go over?"

"He wasn't thrilled," Cathy admitted. "About our dating or...or about our sleeping together."

"You admitted to him that we-"

"He's fifteen, Jack, not five. He knew you spent the night. Besides, I told him that who I have s.e.x with is no one else's business and that I don't care if everybody in town knows you and I are lovers."

Jack let out a loud, guttural laugh. "d.a.m.n if I don't know where your son gets his bra.s.s b.a.l.l.s. Lady, you amaze me. What happened to that sweet, shy, people-pleaser you used to be?"

"She grew up. And like you said, she grew a set."

Jack shoved back his chair so quickly that he almost toppled it over. He rounded the small kitchen table where they'd been eating the delicious meal Cathy had prepared and yanked her out of her chair. Startled by his sudden, unexpected actions, she shrieked, but when he hauled her up against him and gave her a resounding kiss, she kissed him back.

They broke apart, both of them laughing.

He tugged on her hand and nodded toward the door.

"But I made banana pudding for dessert," she told him.

"It'll keep. We can have it for a midnight snack."

"Midnight snack? But it's only seven o'clock. Do you plan to keep me in bed for the next five hours?"

"Yep. We'll make love for five hours, take a break and eat banana pudding, then make love again."

She didn't hesitate another second. She followed him out of the kitchen, down the hall and straight to her bedroom.

Chapter Twenty-five

Griff had handled this situation all wrong from the very beginning. He had kept the truth from Nic, telling himself that he was protecting her. That had been as good an excuse as any, and a partial truth. He did want to protect Nic. She was the most important thing in the world to him. He'd kill to protect her. He'd die to protect her.

His first allegiance should always be to his wife, but...

Nic had known when she married him that secrets from his past haunted him, that he had shared only a small portion of the truth with her. There were things he never wanted her to know, things that he would pay any price to forget. And he had sworn an oath to Yvette and Sanders, as they had to him. He was bound by that oath, as they were, and only when the three of them were in complete agreement were they free to share any portion of their traumatic past with anyone outside their survivor's trinity.

Yvette and Sanders had allowed him to tell Nic the bare facts of the ordeal they had endured as Malcolm York's captives. He had even warned Nic that the brutal savage York had turned him into during his years on Amara still existed inside him. And now more than ever, that knowledge worried Griff, because he knew how easily he could revert to the inhuman beast he had once been.

If it turned out that the rumors whispered in certain sections throughout Europe had any basis in fact, they were all in mortal danger: he, Sanders, Yvette and anyone they loved. Nic would be in great danger, and just the thought ignited a fierce anger inside him that he hadn't felt since she had almost died at the hands of serial killer Ross Everhart.

He had chartered a plane for Meredith Sinclair and Luke Sentell, who was acting as her bodyguard and keeper, and they had returned to Griffin's Rest before Griff. He had taken his brief stopover in San Francisco to pick up Nic and Maleah into account when planning for Meredith to return to Tennessee ahead of him. Nic would have asked far too many questions had Meredith and Luke accompanied them, questions he wasn't prepared to answer. Not yet. Not until it was absolutely necessary.

Griff had hated using Meredith the way they had, but she had cooperated of her own free will, even though they all knew that she'd done it only out of obligation to Yvette. The poor girl was cursed with an amazing ability even greater than her mentor's, an ability that a man such as York would have used in the most diabolical ways. But in this case, she was working against the kind of evil Malcolm York had inflicted on the world.

As he stood by the balcony doors, Griff glanced back at Nicole as she lay sleeping peacefully in their bed. He worshipped the ground she walked on. He had never loved anyone the way he loved her. She was his life. But because of the secrecy surrounding his actions recently, she had begun pulling away from him. And she blamed Yvette and even suspected Yvette of coming between them. How could she ever think that he would betray her with another woman, even Yvette, whom he also loved? But his love for Yvette was that of a comrade, a fellow soldier who had survived the same grueling war. She and Sanders were his best friends. They were his sister and brother of the soul. He owed them his life, and it was a debt that he intended to continue repaying for as long as he lived.

Trust me, Nic. Believe in our love. Know that whatever I do, I do to protect you.

The Ice Palace ice-cream parlor on the corner of Main and Fourth Streets in downtown Dunmore had become one of the favorite family hangouts on weekend nights, especially during the summer months. But even in the coldest weather, residents often stopped by after dinner or a movie or bowling for a cup of gourmet coffee, delicious lattes and to-die-for hot chocolate. And their home-baked desserts were favorites of adults, teens and children. This Friday night appeared to be no exception, and even with summer weekend hours extended to make closing time at eleven, there was still a line to get into the parlor.

"If they didn't have the most delicious caramel ice cream this side of heaven, I wouldn't wait in line." Lorie shifted from one foot to the other. "My feet are killing me."

"If you hadn't worn four-inch heels tonight, your feet wouldn't be bothering you," Cathy said. "You're the only woman I know who wears heels to the movies."

"I'm short, but in heels I'm tall." She sighed, and then admitted, "Well, in heels, I'm not as short."

"We could get ice cream over at the Dairy Dip a lot faster," Seth said, then looked at Cathy. "Would you let me drive? I promise that I'll be very careful. Please, Mom."

"We're not going to the Dairy Dip," Cathy told him. "Not after we've already stood in line for fifteen minutes to get in here. But maybe I'll let you drive when we leave."

"Thanks, Mom. You're the greatest."

Having gotten what he wanted, Seth scanned the waiting crowd, and his attention was quickly captured by two teenagers near the back of the long, half-block line.

"Hey, I see a couple of guys I know," Seth said. "I'm going back there to say hi." He glanced at the front door of the parlor and realized they were next in line to be seated. "It'll just take a sec. Promise."

As soon as Seth headed toward his friends, Cathy lowered her voice and asked Lorie, "So, what's the real reason we're here?"

Putting on a fake I'm-totally-innocent face, Lorie replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I don't remember your having a pa.s.sion for caramel ice cream or for any flavor of ice cream for that matter, and yet you insisted we stop by here after we left the theater. Why?"

The hostess called out "Cantrell," and when Lorie and Cathy approached, she checked the name off her list and showed them to a round table near the row of booths that circled the soda-fountain counter.

"My son is with us," Cathy said. "Seth Cantrell. He'll be joining us in a couple of minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

Suddenly Lorie's motives for insisting on showing up at the Ice Palace tonight became abundantly clear. Mike Birkett and his two children sat in a booth almost directly across from their table. When Cathy saw Mike, she smiled and spoke. He lifted his eyes from his banana split and returned Cathy's warm smile. Then, when he noticed her companion, his smile vanished.

As soon as they took their seats at the small round table, Cathy leaned over and said softly, "You knew Mike would be here, didn't you?"

"Guilty as charged."

"Oh, Lorie, why do you do these things to yourself?"

"I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t. I like getting my teeth kicked in on a regular basis."

"Mike's not the only man in the world, you know."

"Yeah, sure, Ms. I-think-I'm-falling-in-love-with-Jack again. Easy for you to say when the man of your dreams has slept in your bed and curled your toes the past couple of nights."

"It takes two," Cathy reminded her. "Jack's a willing partic.i.p.ant. Mike's not. And I hate to see you keep pining away for him when it's obvious he's-"

"Shush. Here comes Seth, and he's not alone."

"What?" Cathy turned her head to see which one of his young friends Seth had invited to join them and was beyond surprised to see Jack walking alongside him.

And Seth didn't look angry or upset.

"Good evening, ladies," Jack said. "Mind if I join y'all?"

"I ran into Mr. Perdue outside, and I invited him to sit with us," Seth said as casually as if he'd said it was warm outside tonight.

"We'd love for you to join us." Lorie grinned at Jack.

"Yes, please sit down." Cathy glanced from Jack to Seth. "Both of you sit."

"Nice night." Jack sat in the chrome and vinyl diner chair to Cathy's left.

"I was out taking an evening walk and happened to notice the long line outside this place, so I stopped to see what was going on."

"That's when I saw him," Seth said. "I figured tonight was as good a time as any to show everybody that I'm okay with you two dating."

"You are?" Cathy stared at her son. "I thought you didn't approve of my seeing Jack, that you were concerned about what people might say."

Seth looked directly at Jack. "Mr. Perdue and I had a talk, and he knows how I feel about things."

"I see. Since I'm your mother, would you mind sharing how you feel with me?"

"n.o.body has the right to tell you who you should date, not even me. My dad's dead, and neither of us can change that fact. You were bound to start dating sooner or later, and I'd be a selfish brat if I expected you to spend the rest of your life alone."

Cathy reached over and squeezed Seth's hand. "When did you grow up into such a wonderful young man? The last time I looked, you were just a little boy."

He eased his hands out of Cathy's, all the while glancing around to see if anybody noticed his mother holding his hand. He was a typical teenage boy in that respect.

On the verge of crying happy tears, Cathy laughed.

Just as the waitress came to take their order, Jack said, "How about you call me Jack from now on? Mr. Perdue sounds a bit formal to me."

"Yes, sir," Seth replied in a not overly friendly but a respectful manner.

Cathy felt as if she were dreaming. Seth had shown an amazing maturity in his about-face concerning her relationship with Jack. And so quickly. She had been concerned about her son's att.i.tude, afraid that she might lose him if she stood her ground and continued seeing Jack. But what good was her hard-won independence if, when confronted with her first extremely difficult choice, she reverted back to pleasing others instead of herself, even if that other person was her own son?

"What'll it be folks?" asked the forty-something blond waitress wearing fifties-style blue jeans, white shirt and ponytail.

"A double scoop of caramel ice cream in a waffle cone," Lorie said without a moment's hesitation.

"Just a Cherry c.o.ke for me," Cathy said.

"Hot-fudge sundae," Jack and Seth replied simultaneously.

Jack grinned. "With extra walnuts."

"Yeah, me, too," Seth told the waitress.

Cathy forced a smile. "I've changed my mind. Make that three hot-fudge sundaes with extra walnuts."

Seth looked at her questioningly. "I didn't think you liked walnuts."

"Oh, you're right. Sorry. Make that pecans."

"Yes, ma'am." The waitress repeated the order and then asked Cathy, "You still want the Cherry c.o.ke, too?"