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Kenny’s attention shifted from Emma to his sister. “Why do you want to see Father Joseph?”
“I don’t want to see Father Joseph,” she replied, clearly exasperated. “I have to see him. Haven’t you been listening?”
“Apparently not well enough.”
“This thing with Dex, is all.” She fidgeted.
“The spanking?”
“No, not that! Weren’t you paying any attention? Or didn’t you hear what he said?” Her chest expanded as she drew a deep breath. “The sonovabitch is making me marry him.”
Dex regarded Kenny steadily. “I believe I did mention that.”
Torie gazed at her brother, an expression of entreaty on her face that made Emma want to hug her. Torie couldn’t quite swallow her pride enough to admit that she’d made a mistake about Dexter. She simply wanted Kenny to understand.
Long seconds ticked by. Torie’s hand crept toward Dexter’s. He covered it with his palm.
Kenny finally spoke. “Well, I guess you’ll have to go along with it, then.”
Emma smiled. Kenny wasn’t nearly as obtuse about other people’s hang-ups as he was about his own.
Torie snuggled a bit closer to Dex, whose serious eyes held a decidedly dreamy expression. She, on the other hand, gave a long-suffering sigh. “I don’t know why Dex had to fall in love with me. And I don’t know how I’ll ever hold up my head in this town again. He’s got something like a thirty-two handicap.”
“I’ve already apologized for that, Victoria. If you’re willing to work with me, I’m sure we can shave off a few strokes.”
“I s’pose. But even then, you’ll prob’ly never be much more than a hacker.”
“That’s true.” His lips curved. “And I’m sure I’ll spend the rest of my days listening to you complain about sacrificing your reputation to marry me.”
“Damn right I will.” She gave him a melty, un-Torielike smile. Then she seemed to remember her brother was watching and reddened in embarrassment.
Kenny was too much the older brother to let her off scot-free. “So what brought about this change of heart? Other than the spanking.”
“Nothing. Nothing, really. It’s just—Never mind.”
“You might as well tell me,” he said. “You know I’ll worm it out of you sooner or later.”
“Oh, all right. Dex is—he—well, he wants a kid of his own and everything, but he’s still . . . he’s still willing to take a chance on me.” Her voice began to soften. “And if things don’t work out—which I already warned him they wouldn’t—he said we could adopt.”
“I see.” Kenny wasn’t done needling her. “That’s why you’re marrying him, then? Because you’ll finally get to be a mother?”
Emma watched Torie struggle between her pride and the truth. “Can you blame me? You know how much I want a baby. And he’s—I mean, for all his faults, any fool can see that he’ll be a good father. Except when it comes to sports, but I figure between you and me, we can make up for his shortcomings in that department. And then there’s . . . there’s just something about him.” She gave an uncomfortable shrug, clearly wanting to put an end to the conversation. “Something sweet and . . . Oh, I don’t know.”
“Your sister’s fallen in love with me,” Dex said, in case Kenny had missed the point.
Torie looked up at her brother and scrunched her face in embarrassment. “He’s just so damn good. And understanding. And he’s funny. Not funny like you and me, but funny in his own strange way. And he likes my emus. I don’t know how it happened—God knows I’m embarrassed about it—but I guess there’s no figuring the human heart.”
Kenny looked thoughtful. “Tell you what, Dex. Why don’t just the two of us work on your game by ourselves. Torie’s a terrible golf coach. She cusses too much.”
Emma knew Dex had been prepared to fight Kenny to the bitter end, but it was obvious by his slow smile that he was glad he didn’t have to.
“I’d appreciate that.”
As the front door closed behind the two lovebirds, Emma turned to Kenny. He hadn’t shaved, and his hair stood up in short tufts on one side where it was beginning to dry. Even so, he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, and she had to struggle to conceal the weakness that came over her.
“That was very nice,” she said briskly. “You could have made it much more difficult for Torie, but you didn’t.”
“What did you expect me to do? Lock her in the attic?” He regarded her searchingly. “Changed your mind about moving to a hotel, did you?”
