Page 34 of A Whim and a Prayer

She looked away, lips pressed white and body stiff.

Expelling a noisy breath, he gentled his hold and tucked her to his chest like usual whenever they danced. His voice was quiet with a trace of steel. “Just give me the word, kiddo, and I’ll step away—both as your chaperone and as your friend.”

The fight seemed to go out of her as she sank against his chest. “I don’t want that,” she whispered, and instantly the vice around his heart slowly released, along with the breath he’d been holding.

“Neither do I, Winnie, but you can’t have both, kiddo—a friend who cares and one who closes his eyes to something that can hurt you.”

He felt her chest rise and fall as all fight seemed to siphon out, replaced by a weariness he knew all too well when it came to McCarthy. “He’s not going to hurt me, Beck. I won’t let him.”

“Yeah? Well, neither will I, Winnie, so where does that leave us?”

She issued a grunt. “Me annoyed by an overprotective friend?”

He smiled. “Yeah, and me worn out by a reckless one.”

His heart stuttered several beats when her arms lashed around his waist, squeezing him hard. “I love you, Beck,” she whispered, “even when I don’t.”

Grinning, he pressed a gentle kiss to her head, gratitude welling within for the girl in his arms. “Me too, Pooh, even when you don’t.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Happy Birthday, dear Winnie … Happy Birthday to you!”

Winnie grinned as she looked around her mother’s gigantic dining room table, where ten of her favorite people in the whole wide world celebrated her birthday.

“Blow your heart out, sis, which should be a breeze with eighteen measly candles.” Her brother Henry leaned back in his chair with an arm around his wife, Amy, the two of them obviously newlyweds since Henry couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her.

“Yeah, Winnie, and make it quick.” Her sister Hope’s husband Bren shot her a wink. “Your older sister wouldn’t let me get thirds tonight, so I’m still hungry.”

“Because nothing was left after you and Henry got done, sweet boy,” Winnie’s mother said, teasing her favorite—and only—son-in-law with a playful arch of her brow.

“Unfortunately true.” Winnie’s sister Hope lifted to press a soft kiss to her husband’s cheek.

“Hey, Campbell didn’t exactly sit on his thumbs, you know.” Bren tossed a grin Beck’s way, her best friend such a frequent guest for dinner that everyone just treated him like one of the family.

“Beck is a neighbor and a guest,” Winnie announced with a regal raise of her chin, “so he’s allowed to eat as much as he wants.”

“And he always does.” Her father winked at Beck before giving a nod toward Winnie. “Okay, sweetheart, give it all you’ve got, because at my age, you’ll need an industrial fan to get the job done.”

“Oh, Daddy, you’re not that old,” Winnie said with a grin, thinking her father was one of the most handsome older men she’d ever seen.

Her mother ruffled the back of her father’s head. “Ah-ah-ah … keep in mind he’s only six years younger than your grandfather, sweetheart,” Charity said with a pat of Mitch’s hand, “and seventeen years older than me.”

With a slant of a smile, her father hooked an arm around her mother’s shoulders. “Which just proves I’m in great shape for my age since I can still keep this one in line when needed.”

“Which is most of the time, eh, Mitch?” Winnie’s grandfather, Patrick O’Connor, puffed on his pipe as he sent his daughter a wink.

“Dad-dy!” Charity’s jaw dropped in an open-mouthed smile. “Mother, can’t you keep him in line?”

Grandma Marcy delivered a tender smile to her daughter, her sweet and gentle tone one of the things Winnie loved best about her. “Why, sweetheart, no,” she said as she patted Julia’s hand, “not when he’s telling the truth, right, Julia?”

“Mother!”

Julia blinked in her usual sweet and sage manner as a hint of a smile tugged at her lips. “Sorry, Mama, but Grandma’s right.”

Laughter rounded the table as Charity imparted a mock smile to her youngest daughter. “Why, thank you, Julia Marie, for your ever-principled support.” Her smile took a twist as she turned back to Winnie. “Hurry up and blow, darling—we have to get rid of all this hot air.”

Grinning at Beck beside her, Winnie leaned in and blew with all her might—and unfortunately, more than a little spit—dousing all but one of the candles, which Beck discreetly handled.