Chapter 16

16

“Oh, my God,” Tony groaned as Stasia and Heather lit into him. He held up both hands. “I’m sorry...!”

“It’s okay. I’ll protect you,” Odalie said, positioning herself in front of Tony. She flushed. “It was all my fault,” she began.

“It was not,” Tony protested. “And it’s not a fault. It’s a baby.” He looked all dreamy, his dark eyes soft with wonder as he looked at Odalie.

“Whatever happened to ‘I’m too old’ and ‘I’m a bad man’?” Stasia asked, tongue in cheek.

“When the baby’s old enough to talk, he’ll take my side,” he promised.

“He?” Stasia asked.

He sighed, smiling at Odalie. “My dad had a brother, who had a son and both my grandfathers had sons. No daughters.” He grimaced. “I’d love a little girl with long blond hair, but I’m more likely to get a tough little boy with black hair. And an attitude,” he added. He grinned. “And he’ll probably be born smoking a cigar, ordering the doctors around.”

Everybody laughed.

Except Cole. He was staring at Tony with one eye narrowed. “They had a sale on ammunition at the gun shop yesterday,” he began.

Tony held up both hands. “I don’t even need persuading.” He looked at Odalie with warm, soft eyes. “Every time I took her out, I had to fend off the competition. Wedding rings are a great deterrent,” he added with a smug grin.

Odalie laughed and pressed close to him.

“We can get a license at the courthouse and get the judge to marry us,” Tony said. “But later, I’d like us to get married in church,” he added solemnly. “Just in case you ever want to get rid of me, I want to make it as hard as I can.”

She laughed and punched him in the ribs. “As if!”

“What about the Met?” Tony asked, and he looked really upset.

“We’ll have a nice long talk about stress,” she promised.

He blinked. “About what?”

“You’ll see.”

“Can we go home now?” John asked. “I need to feed Precious.”

Tony’s eyebrows arched. “You got a dog?”

“Well, no,” John said. “Actually, he’s a...”

“Rattlesnake,” the whole family voiced at once.

Tony’s eyes almost popped out.

“Don’t do that,” John groaned. “He’s got no teeth, poor old thing, and he doesn’t even threaten to strike at people. I feed him freeze-dried things...”

“He lives in John’s room,” Heather said, shivering. “The maid won’t even go in to change the sheets!”

“She will now, honest,” John told his mother. “I put a sheet over the enclosure so she doesn’t have to look at him. Hurts his feelings, of course,” he muttered. “He can’t help being a snake.”

“Hurts his feelings.” Cole was nodding. “One of my prospective buyers for that new lot of purebred calves was looking for the bathroom. He got loose and wandered into John’s room instead.”

“Oh, come on, Dad, it was just a little bit of plate glass...” John said defensively.

“A whole picture window,” Cole translated, “plus a trip to the ER, a hospital bill and then therapy because the man has a snake phobia...!”

“I’ll paint Precious green and tell everybody he’s a tree boa,” John said.

“I’ll paint you green and tell people you’re a leprechaun if you don’t find other accommodations for your...pet!” Cole muttered. “It’s unnatural to have a rattlesnake in the house!”

“The wedding,” Heather interrupted. “The wedding?”

“We’ll get the license first thing in the morning,” Tony promised, pulling Odalie close with a sigh. “Please tell me there’s a jewelry store in town?”

“Yes. It’s a hundred years old,” Heather laughed. “And he’s got some beautiful antique sets,” she added. “Old Mr. Scott says even the best jeweler in Dallas can’t touch his inventory.”

“We’ll go ring shopping at the same time,” Tony agreed. He looked at Cole and Heather. “I may have managed things badly,” he said gently. “But nobody on earth will love your daughter more than I do or take better care of her and the baby than I will. And that’s a promise.”

Which caused Odalie to burst into tears, because Tony had never said those words to her. She curled into him and held on for dear life.

Cole shook hands with him. Heather hugged him. So did Tanner and Stasia.

John shook hands, too. “You keep that promise. Just remember,” he added with a smile and wiggled eyebrows, “I have worms.”

Everybody broke out laughing.

Three days later, a radiant Odalie in a white designer silk sheath dress with a bouquet of snow lilies and white roses was married to Tony in the local circuit court’s probate judge’s office. A photographer had been hired to immortalize the couple for future generations.

“You look beautiful,” Tony told his bride as he kissed her with breathless tenderness. “And I will love you until the stars burn out.”

She smiled under his hard lips. “I’ll love you just as long.”

“That wasn’t what you said on the phone just before James’s men grabbed you,” he said sternly.

“I was having morning and evening sickness and feeling faint at the time,” she replied. “And you had thrown your girlfriend at me just before I went back to my apartment!”

“I was saving you,” he said.

“From what?” she asked.

“From me, of course.”

“I didn’t want to be saved from you,” she pointed out.

“Yes, well, you didn’t make that clear, did you?”

“I made it perfectly clear. And come to think of it...”

“Ahem.” Stasia moved between them. “We’re here to get married,” she murmured. “Not to start World War Three.”

Tony frowned. “Is that why we’re here?” he asked Odalie.

“Don’t ask me. I just came in to get directions to the restroom,” she said with a straight face.

Stasia turned to the amused probate judge. “Could you go ahead and marry them? Then they can argue about why they’re here without taking up your time.”

The probate judge burst out laughing.

They had a huge spread at the ranch for anyone in the neighborhood who wanted to stop by to see the bride and groom.

There was a full house, too. Odalie had fun bouncing Cort and Maddie Brannt’s little girl on her knee and anticipating her own child many months in the future.

Tony knelt beside her, smiling at the dark-haired, dark-eyed child. “She’s a beautiful child,” he mused, brushing his big hand over the child’s thick head of hair.

“Ours will be beautiful, too,” Odalie said, smiling at her husband.

“He will be if he looks like you,” he teased.

“You’re gorgeous yourself,” she replied and kissed him gently. Her eyes brimmed over with love.

He touched her mouth with his fingertips. “I thought I had to give you up, for your own good,” he said quietly. “It was the closest I’ve ever come to hell on earth.”

“You thought I wanted a career, and all I really wanted was you,” she said.

He brushed back her hair. “Are you sure you won’t regret this?”

“Positive. No sane person will ever regret a baby,” she whispered, smiling. “Or especially three or four of them. I like big families.”

He chuckled. “I do, too. My own was pretty small, but I cornered the market on distant relatives. That reminds me—we’re expected in Jersey next weekend for a big bash to celebrate the wedding.”

“That will be fun,” she said.

“You were a big hit with cousin Connie.”

“I liked her. She’s a firecracker.”

“I like her, too. Especially now that she’s all done matchmaking,” he added darkly.

She grinned at him.

He made a face.

It was too cold to sit on the porch after supper, so everybody sprawled around in the living room, where logs crackled and spit in the huge open fireplace.

“Have you thought about names yet?” Cole asked.

“I’ve only been pregnant a few weeks,” Odalie pointed out.

Heather hit Cole with a magazine. “He started working on names the minute we knew I was carrying Tanner,” she pointed out. “He carried baby books around in his pocket. That was before cell phones,” she reminded them with a chuckle.

“There were some great names,” Cole mused.

“Murgatroyd. Rufus. Cornwallis.” Heather was glaring at him.

“Those were unusual names,” he said.

“Very.”

“Your mother has no sense of adventure,” Cole informed them.

“Alyson.” Heather almost spat it at him.

“If you’d named me Alyson, I’d be carrying a big bat around with me and I’d hit you with it twice a day,” Tanner informed his father.

“Your mother wanted to name you Merryweather,” Cole pointed out.

Tanner glared at her. “Two bats. You’d get a turn also.”

They all laughed.

But later, after the rest of the family turned in, when Odalie and Tony were sitting together on the sofa, he looked through one of the baby-name books Cole had left.

“You know, names really are important,” he said, his voice deep and soft in the silence of the room, broken only by the snap and crackle of the wood burning in the fireplace.

“Well, we have several months to think about them,” she reminded him.

He smoothed her head against his broad chest. “At least we have baby books online,” he mused as he put the paper book down on the table.

She laughed. “Imagine dad being so wrapped up in names.”

“Men get all gooey when we think about babies,” he teased.

She looked up at him. “You really thought you were sterile?”

He nodded. “It was one reason I drew back from you. Well, that, and that beautiful voice.” He grimaced. “I still feel guilty.”

“That I’m not singing at the Met? I would have spent every night of my life throwing up.”

He scowled.

“Stage fright,” she said quietly. “I have it to an alarming degree. Years of therapy, years of hiding it from my family. I love singing. But I hate singing in front of people. It’s why I didn’t do the regional competitions. I knew I’d never make it through them. One day, I might do recordings, or something like that. But life is too short to spend it going crazy over fear of performing.”

“You never told me.”

“I never told anybody,” she said. “People expected me to do great things.” She grimaced. “The only great thing I wanted to do was live with you and have babies.”

His face was a study in wonder. “Really?”

She nodded. “Really.” She reached up and kissed him. “I’m like my mother. To me, family is the most important thing in the world.”

“Next to names” came a drawl from the doorway. Cole was holding a dog-eared paperback. “Names are very important...!”

Heather had him by the arm. “You come right back here and leave them alone about names.”

“Very important!” he called back as he was half dragged down the hallway to their bedroom, “Help!” he added.

They burst out laughing.

Eventually, when they were certain that no more attempts were going to be made against Odalie, they went on a two-week long honeymoon to Tangier.

“This is the most exotic place I’ve ever been,” Odalie sighed as they lay recuperating in each other’s arms after a long, sweet night of loving. “I don’t think I’d ever get tired of it.”

“Considering how good the food is, we might live here occasionally,” he teased. “But I also have to take you to Sicily,” he added. “I’d enjoy that myself, seeing where my family came from.”

“That would be lovely,” she said, nuzzling her face against his.

“I still feel bad about the Met,” he murmured. “You might have really liked it.”

“No, I wouldn’t have.” She lifted up on one elbow to look at him. “Scared stiff all the time, sick at my stomach every day before I went onstage.” She shook her head. “Most people can be cured of it. But I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to cope, and I never have. One doctor even told me that the kind of stress I experienced could lead eventually to a heart attack. I love singing. I do have a gift. But it’s enough to share it in church or as an occasional guest artist at some venue. Just not all the time.”

“I almost ruined everything,” he said quietly. He ran his hand through her soft hair. “Almost lost you for good, and thought I was doing the right thing all along.”

“I wanted you,” she said quietly. “Only you. From the moment I met you. I fell hard.”

He smiled gently. “So did I. And spent ages fighting it. I wanted somebody better for you.”

“There isn’t anybody better,” she said simply.

He drew her down to him and kissed her with breathless tenderness. “I’ll probably drive you nuts.”

She smiled. “No, you won’t.”

He nuzzed his nose against hers and smiled. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

“Where do you want to get married?”

He stared at her. “We got married already.” He showed her his wedding ring. “Remember your dad and his new box of ammo...?”

She hit him. “In church.”

He laughed. “How about in Big Spur?”

She searched his eyes. “Where?”

“At your parents’ church.”

“But didn’t you go to...” she began.

He put his fingers over her mouth. “Faith is faith. I never had much use for it when I was younger. But now, after some of the things I’ve seen, I believe in it more and more. When the kids are older, we’ll find a church close to home up north. For now, let’s do something that will make your dad happy. So he’ll shut up about names,” he muttered darkly.

She was diverted. “What do you mean, so he’ll shut up...?”

He handed her his cell phone, opened to his messages. There, on consecutive days for at least two weeks, were suggestions for names.

She caught her breath. “I didn’t actually believe my mother when she said Dad was obsessed.” She looked up. “I’ll have to apologize to her!”

He laughed as he put the phone away. He shook his head. “I guess we’d better start thinking about what we’d like so we can keep your father away from the birth certificate.”

“Good thought,” she agreed.

He pulled her close with a long sigh and they went back to sleep.

Tony had one last secret that he’d been keeping. But late one afternoon after Mrs. Murdock had gone shopping and Ben was working with his men, Odalie heard the opening strains of Puccini’s “Nessun dorma” from the opera Turandot .

It was coming from Tony’s study, where he kept his library of books and a desk. She walked toward it, entranced. The voice was pure honey, perfectly pitched, full of emotion. Beautiful. As the beautiful melody ended in its highest tone, and that was perfectly done as well, she pushed open the door and saw Tony as his voice lingered on that last, resounding tone.

Her mouth fell open. He grinned at her as he turned off the speaker. “You know my great-great-grandfather sang opera. But I didn’t tell you that I inherited his voice.”

“Wow,” she said, spellbound, as she went into his arms. “You are incredibly talented! Why didn’t you ever tell me?!”

“A man has to have a few secrets.” He bent and kissed her tenderly. “So now we can sing duets in the shower,” he whispered.

She laughed and kissed his chin. “I’ll love that. So will the baby,” she added gently. “We can sing lullabies to him.”

“You said him!” he accused.

“Her,” she corrected. Her eyes twinkled. “There’s one set of twins on Mama’s side of the family.”

“My great-grandfather and his brother were twins,” he said. “Do you think...?” His smile was radiant.

“We’ll have to wait and see. But wouldn’t it be awesome?” she exclaimed.

He kissed her hungrily. “Awesome,” he whispered, and kissed her again.

Several weeks later, Tony and Odalie were having dessert and coffee at Tony’s cousin’s restaurant when Dane Hunter walked in.

He ordered cappuccino and joined them at their table.

“It’s been an age,” Tony chuckled, shaking hands.

“At least!” He smiled at Odalie. “And I believe double congratulations are in order?”

“Exactly,” she said with a grin. “We’re on the way to becoming parents!”

“Any word on what’s happened over at Justice?” Tony asked.

“Just that Phillip James is trying every trick in the book to keep off the investigations roster.”

“Is he having any luck?”

Hunter grinned. “Not so far.”

“Good.” He pursed his lips. “Any news on Agent Peters?”

Hunter stirred his cappuccino. “Now, how would I know about that?” he asked innocently.

“Just a wild thought. You do work for the US Marshal’s office. Although I sincerely hope he’ll be willing to testify when James finally has to answer for Iraq.”

“I have no knowledge,” Hunter said. “However, I might be willing to bet that he will. If I were a betting man.”

“How’s your phone?”

Odalie glanced curiously from one to the other.

“Government salaries aren’t what they should be,” Hunter said sadly. He pulled out his phone with the battered case and the still-cracked screen.

“You should ask them for a replacement,” Tony pointed out.

“If I did, they’d refer me to anger-management classes. I’m not going,” he said belligerently. “I only threw it twice and I had ample justification.”

“You could mention that.”

“I could,” Hunter said, his dark eyes twinkling. “Except that my boss was the reason I threw it. Both times.” He put the phone away. “I’ll just plug along until it wears out. Maybe by then I can retire and go fishing.”

“Let me know when you retire,” Tony chuckled. “I’ll go with you.”

Hunter raised his cup in a toast.

Later, Tony called Teddy to let him know that he’d been keeping company with the fed.

Odalie, holding hands with him, laughed softly as they walked down the sidewalk in the chilly air. “It’s like being on probation.”

He leaned down and kissed her. “Exactly.”

“I like your friend the marshal.”

“He’s not so bad,” he agreed. “But you can’t mention that I said that around the family. Ever.”

She wrinkled her nose at him and smiled. “I promise,” she said.

“Listen, where are we having Christmas?”

She stopped sipping cappuccino and looked up at him. “Oh, dear.”

“Oh, dear is right.”

She bit her lower lip. “How about Christmas Eve at Connie’s and Christmas Day at my folks’?”

He smiled. “You’re good,” he teased.

She laughed. “But when the babies come along, we have to spend Christmas Day at home.”

“Agreed.” He groaned. “Then we’ll have to split things up again!”

“Don’t rush your fences,” she said softly. “We’ll jump them as we come to them.”

He smiled. “Okay.”

She sighed, looking up at him. “I’ve never been so happy in my whole life,” she said softly.

He traced her lips. “Neither have I.”

“We started out so badly,” she laughed.

“Self-defense on my part,” he told her. “I wanted you the minute I saw you, and I spent the rest of the time telling myself you were my mortal enemy.”

“Because I wanted to sing at the Met.”

He shook his head. “Because I wanted you, even then.”

“And here we are,” she added, her voice soft with emotion.

He smiled slowly. “And here we are.”

He pulled her close and kissed her, right there on the street. She reached up and slid her arms around his neck, and sighed, and smiled. So did he.

A neighborhood kid on a bicycle whistled loudly as he flew by them. But they didn’t notice.