The Secret Agent's Surprises. Tina Leonard

      “No!” Priscilla frowned at him.

      “Then he was only getting warmed up. He will offer you money.”

      “It doesn’t matter, Pete,” she said firmly. “I’m not interested in getting married, I don’t want to live in Union Junction, and you’re not a man I’d consider. So it doesn’t bother me how many webs he spins. I know I’m safe.”

      “Yeah,” Pete said. “It’s only my neck in the noose.”

      “That’s true,” Priscilla agreed. “I’d be willing to bet you’ll be married in a month to some poor, un-suspecting girl who has no idea what she’ll be getting herself into.”

      “Hey!” He tried not to laugh at Priscilla’s forthright teasing. “Any woman would be lucky to have me.”

      “You forget, I’ve shared a roof with you. You’re fun, but you’re not exactly husband material.”

      Pete took that barb with a pang. “I know. I wish I was. But it’s just not me. So, about these babies, these prize lures he’s thrown out to you—”

      “Don’t ask me about them. You’ll have to get that story from your father. All he mentioned was that he met Ralph Wright and his wife when they came to buy a steer or something. There was a car accident after the quadruplets were born. That’s all I know.”

      He frowned. “Having quadruplets born in Union Junction would be quite an event.”

      “Yes. But I live in Fort Wylie, so I never heard about it. I’m sure your father is itching to tell you everything,” she reminded him. She turned toward her car to open the door. “Josiah is a cute old thing in his over-eager way.”

      “He’s a pain in the butt.”

      “How long are you off?” Priscilla asked.

      “Off?”

      “Off duty? Or whatever your break is called.”

      “I’ve served my country for many years. It’s time to chart a new course in life. And there are things here I need to do.” Pete caught himself staring at Priscilla’s long legs, toyed with some anger with his father, felt sadness for the four babies who had no parents and realized he felt a jumble of conflicting emotions. “Maybe I shouldn’t have retired so soon,” he said. “I didn’t factor in that with two boys down and Jack nowhere to be seen, I’ll now be the sole focus of Pop’s chicanery. I was hoping for some peace and quiet, to collect my million, to not think much about the old man. Now he’s got me thinking about him, and you, and the kids, and his latest scheme.”

      “Don’t think about me, ” Priscilla said, sliding into the car. “You have no idea how unavailable I am.”

      He leaned on her window. “Good. Keep reminding me of that.”

      “You bet your boots I will.” Priscilla started the engine. “Take care of your father, okay? He’s not as bad as you boys paint him.”

      “Sure he is,” Pete said. “He’s just got you buffaloed. He does it to everyone.”

      She shook her head with a smile, not believing him, and drove away.

      But it was true. “I’m going to kill him,” he muttered to himself, and went inside to have it out with the one person who had the power to drive him completely nuts.

      His father sat in his chair dozing, or pretending to. “Pop,” Pete said, “I haven’t had a real conversation with you in what, ten years?”

      “Your choice, not mine.”

      Pete took a deep breath, willing himself to be calm. “You’ve got to quit this obsession with family. You’ll have to be satisfied that Dane and Gabe succumbed to your feudal approach to matchmaking. You’re going to have to mind your own business where I’m concerned. It’ll be hard for you to quit being so manipulative, but all you’re going to do is make me mad as hell.”

      “I wasn’t thinking about you, actually,” Josiah said, opening his eyes. “I was thinking about the welfare of those children. I never even considered matching you and Priscilla until I heard those babies were going into foster care. They have no family, and no one around here is prepared to take on the care of four preemie newborns.”

      “Nor am I.” Pete couldn’t imagine what his father had been thinking. “I hope you noticed Priscilla wasn’t exactly on board with your plan. In fact, she acted like a woman who was being offered a bad deal.”

      “Yeah, she didn’t seem to like you as much as I’d heard she did.” Josiah reached for his brandy.

      His father’s words caught Pete’s attention. “What do you mean, you heard Priscilla liked me?” He wondered why his heart rate sped up; his whole body seemed to go on alert.

      Josiah shrugged. “I heard she had a hankering for you. Usually my sources are pretty good, but this time, they clearly weren’t. As far as I could tell, the lady’s not interested in you one bit.”

      That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He was, in fact, surprisingly disappointed. “I don’t know,” Pete said, “we had some good times last month. There might have been something there.”

      “Well, it’s gone now,” Josiah said. “A single woman who doesn’t jump at a man, a ring and four children isn’t in the presence of her Prince Charming.”

      “You might have overplayed your hand,” Pete suggested. “Maybe she’s not the kind of woman who wants children.”

      “Every woman wants children.”

      “Four is a lot to start off a marriage with, don’t you think?” Pete thought he couldn’t handle that many; taking care of one child would probably blow his mind. “Pop, these are little people with special needs. They need to go to a family who are prepared to deal with that.”

      “Do you know how likely it is they’ll be sent to one home?” Josiah asked. “They’ll likely be separated. I hate that.” He sighed deeply. “It doesn’t matter. As you said, Priscilla doesn’t seem to like you, so this is all moot.”

      “I never said Priscilla doesn’t like me,” Pete said. “She doesn’t even know me.”

      “She was here with you for several days last month. Clearly that was enough for her. No, I’ll have to look elsewhere to figure out how to help those babies.”

      “Jack?” Pete snorted. “Pop, you are never going to see Jack in this house. In fact, you’ll be lucky if you ever see him anywhere.”

      Josiah’s brow furrowed. “Every father wants to see his children before he dies, so don’t dash my hopes. Someone in this county surely wants four wonderful babies, although I never said Jack was the answer.”

      “Well, you’re not dying, so I’m not dashing anything. I’m merely stating what you know to be true about Jack.”

      Josiah gave him a long, considering look. “The truth is, I am dying.”

      Pete’s insides turned to stone. “You’ll have to be dragged off this earth kicking and screaming, Pop. You’re going to harass us forever. Anyway, you’d never let go with two of us unwed.”

      Josiah shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ll have to settle for a fifty percent success rate in this one thing, because the old clock of life is winding down on me.”

      Pete slowly realized his father was totally serious. The silence in the den felt heavy and somber; Pete could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he recognized that his father wasn’t trying to manipulate him. He swallowed. “What’s wrong, Pop?”

      “I’ve had a spot of trouble with some kidney issues.” Josiah shrugged. “You’re the first person I’ve told. I think Suzy guessed, but she knew I’d talk about it in my own good time.”

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