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Lucy regarded their exchange with curiosity, but he wasn’t offering any more explanations right now.
“Lucy ran away with Button,” Nealy said slowly. “She took Mabel.”
He’d figured out that much. At the same time, he realized Nealy hadn’t hesitated to rush to the two federal agents for help, even though she’d known it would blow her cover forever.
He turned to Lucy, who was trying to make herself smaller by creeping farther down into the chair. “Why?”
She lifted her chin, ready to take him on. “I’m not giving Button to strangers!”
“So you risked her life instead.”
“I know how to drive,” she said sullenly.
“No, you don’t,” Nealy countered. “That motor home was all over the road.”
His chest grew even tighter. “This is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”
She didn’t have the courage to take him on, so she turned on Nealy. “This is all your fault! If you hadn’t been Mrs. Case, you and Mat could have gotten married!”
“Stop it,” he snapped. “You’re not going to deflect the blame on this. Not only did you risk your own life, but you risked your sister’s as well.”
“What do you care? You’re giving her away!”
Something tight clutched at his chest. The baby rolled to her side and went for her thumb. He’d already noticed she wasn’t much of a thumb-sucker, so she must need some extra comfort. God, she was a great baby. World class. She was smart, bighearted, and gutsy—exactly the qualities that were going to help her get ahead in the world . . . if she could just catch a break.
“There’s something else you should know.” Nealy’s lips tightened. “When I got inside the motor home, I slapped Lucy. Not hard. But I definitely slapped her.”
“It’s no big deal, “ Lucy grumbled. “I don’t know why you had to tell him.”
Mat didn’t like the idea of anybody hitting the little delinquent, not even Nealy, but he understood.
“It is a big deal,” Nealy insisted. “Nobody deserves to be hit.” She turned to Mat. “I need to talk to Lucy alone.”
Her starchy manner got his back up. “Whatever you have to say to her, you say in front of me.”
“That’s pretty much like saying it in front of the whole world, isn’t it?”
“I don’t deserve that.”
“All that and more.”
“You’re the one who started the secret-keeping business.”
“Don’t fight,” Lucy said in a small voice.
Lucy had heard them argue before, but she seemed to know that something fundamental had changed between them. He realized he had to tell her the truth, too.
“Nealy wasn’t the only one holding back on you, Luce.”
Lucy stared at him, and then her forehead crumbled. “Shit. You’re married.”
“No, I’m not married! What is it with you two? And I thought you were going to watch your language.”
Button made a low mewing sound, unhappy to have her slumber interrupted by his gruff voice. He rubbed her back. She lifted one heavy eyelid, saw it was him, and, reassured, closed it again. His chest grew even tighter.
“I told Nealy I worked in a steel mill, but it’s not true. I’m a journalist.”
“Journalist? You write for newspapers?”
