she couldn't look at mack, so she turned away again and walked into the kitchen. needing to occupy her hands, she unpacked the picnic basket, setting the empty potato salad container in the kitchen sink and filling it with soapy water.

"mary jo, we're in the middle of an important decision. i think cleaning up can wait, don't you?"

she leaned against the counter. "if david refuses to sign the papers, would you still want to marry me?"

"yes." he didn't pause for an instant.

"you're sure about that?"

"yes." he sighed, obviously exasperated. "let's go back for a moment."

"to what?"

"you haven't talked to mr. harris."

she should've guessed this was coming. "no. he's been in court."

"has he gone into the office at all?"

"occasionally," she told him. "but he's had other things on his mind. the trial only wrapped up on friday, and i didn't want to distract him before that." this was true, but more than that it was an excuse, and as she offered it, mary jo realized mack saw it for what it was.

"o...kay," he said, dragging out the word. "what about next week?"

"mr. harris is on vacation." her relief tumbled out with her answer.

mack walked into the living room, picked up a few toys scattered about, then returned to the kitchen. "you don't want to deal with this, do you?"

she could lie, but mack was right. "no."

"because?" again, he waited for her to explain.

"because of all the reasons i've already brought up. nothing has changed, mack. david will do whatever he can to ruin my life. he doesn't want me or noelle, doesn't want the responsibility of a child, but he'll do everything in his power to make sure no one else can have us."

"let me talk to him," mack said through gritted teeth.

"no." she couldn't, wouldn't, allow him to get into a physical confrontation with david.

"why not?" he argued. "i'll tell him i'm marrying you and that i want to adopt noelle."

"do you really think that would help?" she cried. "you just told me how important it was that david not know our plans."

mack groaned, sounding frustrated and tired.

"listen, mack, it's really late and we're both upset. we should've waited for another time to talk about this."

"no," he countered. "let's discuss it right now, tonight. this whole thing started because you're afraid i'm more interested in adopting noelle than i am in marrying you. correct?"

reluctantly, mary jo nodded. it seemed so frivolous when he put it like that. looking at him now, his eyes soft with tenderness, she wondered how she could have doubted his feelings for her.

"you do love me."

his smile widened. "you've got it."

"okay, then let's call it a night. forget i said anything."

"okay." mack headed for the door, opening it forcefully before turning back. "would you mind waiting just a moment?"

"oh... okay, i'll wait."

mack tore out of the house and she heard him enter his own. three or four minutes passed before he came back. she'd used that time to finish cleaning up.

mary jo looked at him expectantly as he hovered in the kitchen doorway.

"i want you to know i didn't plan it like this, but i think the timing is right."

"timing? for what?"

"maybe you should sit down."

puzzled, she sank into a kitchen chair.

mack frowned and gestured at the living room. "maybe the sofa would be better."

"the sofa," she repeated. fine, she'd sit on the sofa.

as soon as she was seated, mack paced in front of her. "i love you, mary jo."

she smiled. "i believe we've established that."

"have we? are you sure? i don't want there to be a single doubt. ever."

"you've reassured me, mack. honestly, you have."

"i wanted to talk to your brother first."

"my brother?"

"to let him know my intentions-that i'm asking his sister to be my wife."

mary jo blinked back tears as she understood exactly what mack was doing. he was about to formally propose to her. her hand flew to her mouth in shock-and yet she shouldn't have been surprised.

"mary jo." she stood, and when she did, mack took her free hand in his. "will you marry me?"

not trusting her voice, she simply nodded.

mack fumbled for something in his back pocket and brought out a diamond solitaire ring. "i realize most women like to choose their own engagement bands. i picked it out myself, but if you don't like it i'll exchange it."

"it's beautiful." in truth she couldn't tell what the ring looked like because her eyes had filled with tears that blurred everything around her. mack's sweet, wonderful face swam before her.

mack slipped the diamond onto her ring finger. "okay, now we're officially engaged. come what may, mary jo, no matter what happens with david and with custody of noelle, you and i will face it together. as husband and wife."

unable to hold back her tears, mary jo threw her arms around mack and clung to him.

he drew her into his embrace. "i didn't expect you to cry."

"i can't help it," she wailed.

that was when mack started to laugh, and the only way she could stop him was to take his face in both hands and kiss him.

twenty-five

leonard bellamy stood behind his massive desk as roy mcafee was escorted into his office. he walked toward roy, extending his hand.

as they shook, roy scanned his surroundings.

the office was impeccably furnished. pieces of modern art were prominently displayed and roy guessed that none of them were reproductions.

"i appreciate your coming here," he said, gesturing for roy to take a seat. prior business had always been done at the mcafee office, and roy was well aware that this time bellamy wanted the advantage of being in his own territory.

"that's part of the service." roy sat in the leather chair, letting his body language convey self-assurance. bellamy's assistant brought him a cup of coffee. he thanked her with a smile and took a sip.

bellamy reclaimed his seat. "i hope you did a thorough search on that freeloader."

"i did," roy said. he put the coffee on the edge of leonard's desk and balanced his briefcase on his legs.

"glad to hear it. i want to pin him to the wall. he thinks he can move into cedar cove, set up business and marry my daughter? i've got news for him. wyse is going to learn that i'm not letting him ride on my good name."

roy wondered what leonard meant. he'd seen no evidence of linc exploiting bellamy's name or influence. could the other man have information he didn't? roy doubted it.

as for a bad report on wyse...he suspected bellamy would be disappointed. he withdrew a folder and handed it to him.

bellamy eagerly took it and started flipping through the pages. he frowned, and his frown darkened as he read.

"there's nothing here," he said.

"on the contrary, i've given you a six-page report. i took extra time to do an exhaustive background check and found that lincoln wyse has no police record. he pays his bills on time. no problems with the irs. he attends church-"

"that doesn't mean anything! i go to church, too."

roy continued to outline his findings. "from everything i've gathered," he concluded, "your daughter made a good choice in the man she married."

"i don't get it," bellamy said angrily. he tossed the report aside, his look sour with disappointment. "first, my wife takes up his cause and now you."

"then your wife's met wyse?"

he nodded. "without my knowledge she invited our daughter and that gold digger to dinner at the family home-keeping it from me until the last moment. i refused to have any part of it. later, she told me how much she enjoyed meeting him. i thought kate had more sense than that, but apparently i was wrong."

roy had assumed bellamy was capable of recognizing when he'd made a mistake; he'd obviously misjudged the other man. bellamy was committed to the idea that lincoln wyse had married lori for his own selfish reasons. nothing would change his mind, not even the truth-that linc was a decent man and that he was in love with lori.

"dig deeper this time," leonard bellowed, slamming his fist on the desk. "there's got to be something. find it!"

roy had hoped the report would reassure bellamy; however, that wasn't happening. obviously the man's agenda was more complicated than he'd realized. roy had initially wondered if bellamy believed no man was good enough for his daughter. now he discounted that assumption. for whatever reason, bellamy wanted to prove he was right and lori was wrong.

to be fair, roy could understand bellamy's concerns. lori and linc hadn't known each other long before they were married. not inviting family to the wedding exacerbated the situation, and roy could appreciate that, since his own daughter had done basically the same thing. he reminded himself that he had the advantage of having spent some time with pete mason. bellamy knew next to nothing about lincoln wyse.

"go back, and bring me some facts i can use," bellamy said. he stood as though to dismiss roy.

slightly amused and yet irritated, roy remained seated. "do you think i didn't do a thorough report?"

"i don't like that man and i don't trust him. i haven't gotten this far in business without being a decent judge of character. i'd hoped you'd be able to uncover what my gut told me when i met wyse."

"as i explained, i did a complete background check. in addition to all the normal sources, i interviewed business associates and friends and investigated his finances. i found no evidence of gambling, excessive drinking or any other vice. he has good, solid values. if it were me, i'd welcome him into my family."

"i'm not you," bellamy informed him, still standing. "i'm telling you right now, lincoln wyse is not to be trusted. he's taken advantage of my daughter. lori's not only easy to fool, she's rebellious. she's defied me from the time she was five years old. well, with this, she went too far."

it seemed to roy that the real issue here wasn't linc wyse but bellamy's relationship with his daughter. his apparent contempt for lori, for her decisions in matters of work, love and who knew what else, rankled him. this was more about control than caring, more about pride than truth. he recalled how bellamy had berated lori because she'd been engaged to geoff duncan. roy felt like pointing out that duncan had fooled nearly everyone. he'd managed to deceive his employer, attorney allan harris, and that was no small thing. duncan was smart, although thankfully not smart enough to get away with his crimes. it was grossly unfair to criticize lori for being taken in by duncan when he'd misled almost everyone else in town. ironically, duncan had resorted to theft because he'd been in over his head-all in an effort to impress lori's demanding father.