Take a Chance On Me

Chapter 20 Kung Fu Fighting

She raced down the farm lane, aware of nothing but the panic and dread that churned inside her. Everything was falling apart, breaking into pieces, and if anything happened to Leelee she'd never forgive herself.

Never.

The truck cleared the last stand of trees.

And Emma screamed.

Aaron had Leelee. She was as limp as a rag doll. He dragged her, her heels cutting into the gravel as he backed toward the open door of some disgusting old car. Leelee's wrists were tied behind her back.

Emma barely stopped the truck before she jumped out and ran toward them, calling out, begging Aaron to let her go.

"Get back!" Aaron heaved Leelee onto the back seat and pointed a gun at Emma's face. She skidded to a halt.

"Please! Aaron! God! Don't-"

He shoved the gun into her side. "Come on, Em. We're taking a ride."

Emma's brain went numb from the assault of all the impossible things that were suddenly real. Aaron had a gun. He was drunk-drunk?-when she'd never seen him take a single drink in the thirteen years she'd known him. And the look in his eye was crazed, wild, empty. She tried to reason with him.

"Aaron-I'll give you anything-"

He shoved her between the shoulder blades, and as she stumbled toward the front passenger seat, Emma blinked in wonder at what she saw-Hairy had jumped from her truck and was now slinking low in the grass along the drive. She caught the dog's eye just before he skittered between the tires and jumped through the driver's side window of the old car.

Aaron leaned his back against the rusty door and poked the gun into Emma's belly. He sighed.

Emma's eyes darted to his face, and she saw that in addition to being drunk, he was exhausted. Thin. And he hadn't shaved or taken a shower in perhaps weeks.

"Aaron, please-"

"Don't make this any worse than it has to be, Em."

She flinched-Aaron was stroking her cheek with his free hand.

Through the shock and fear, she stared over his shoulder to watch Hairy in action. He snatched Aaron's wallet from the front seat, sailed out the window, and dropped the wallet under a bushy sedum by the porch. Then Hairy hopped back in the car and soared over the front seat and onto Leelee's lap.

What was the dog doing?

"I wish I didn't have to kill you, Emma."

Aaron dragged a finger along her lower lip and she moved her eyes back to him. He came closer. The choking fear and the smell of alcohol and old sweat made her want to vomit.

"You should've given me the money when I asked nice. And now I have no choice…" Aaron leaned into her, the gun jutting into her navel, and brought his lips to hers.

Emma's eyes darted back to the car, where Hairy was now nibbling on Leelee's chin, her upper lip, licking her eyelids. Leelee regained consciousness and stared silently at Emma through the window-clearly terrified.Hairy sailed out the window and hid in the grass.

Aaron ended the kiss, then pulled baling twine out of his pocket and wrapped her wrists tight in front of her, the sharp threads digging into her skin. She hissed with the pain.

"Get in." He pushed her down on the seat. "If you give me any trouble, I swear I'll shoot Becca's sewer-mouthed little bastard kid, and don't think I won't enjoy doing it. She's a pain in the ass." Aaron glanced at Leelee, who pretended to be out cold. "But damn-she's gonna be as hot as her mom. I can already see it."

Emma swallowed hard. She was going to be sick for sure.

As Aaron walked around the front of the car, Emma took a deep breath and told herself to think. Think hard. But all that came to her were the words Don't get in the car, whatever you do… How many times had she read that? Never get in the car with the assailant.

But what choice did she have? If they ran he'd shoot them-she had no doubt that Aaron was psycho enough to do it. If she tried to fight him, she'd put three lives in danger-her own, Leelee's, and the baby inside her.

At that realization, Emma began to tremble from head to toe.

The car moved. She checked the rearview mirror and through her tears saw little Hairy sitting in the lane. He'd witnessed everything-and had Aaron's wallet. Would he try to tell someone what had happened? And who would understand him if he did?

Thomas would.

But where was he?

"Thomas," she whispered, shutting her eyes, blinking back the tears. "I need you."

Aaron must have heard, because he laughed hard and poked her in the ribs with the gun.

"Ain't love a bitch?" he said, pulling out onto the road. "Nobody's there when you really need them."

Thomas put the magnetized blue flashing light on his dashboard and drove like a wild man out to Carroll County.

Emma wasn't answering any of her phones, so Thomas figured she was in the barn, saddling up Vesta for a nice ride. But maybe she shouldn't ride now because of the baby, especially on a horse as feisty as Vesta. Maybe she'd take Bud. But what if she fell? Would she be careful? Would she take Leelee with her just to be on the safe side?

Thomas felt his stomach do another round of somersaults-Emma was somewhere thinking he'd turned his back on her and their baby. Wherever she was, her heart had to be breaking.

He couldn't drive fast enough. Each second that passed was time she didn't know he trusted her, believed her, loved her more than he'd ever guessed a man could love a woman. Every second cut a deeper wedge between them, ate away at their future.

Oh, Jesus, what had he done?

His car phone rang.

"Emma? Baby, is that you?"

A female snicker wafted through the earpiece. "Sorry, Tommy. It's just me."

Thomas felt his heart slide to his feet. "Ah, hell, Reg. I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now-I'm in the middle of the biggest crisis of my life, my… how did you describe me and Nina together?"

"Uh… sour-assed?"

"Bingo. This is the biggest moment in my sour-assed life. I gotta go."

"Thomas, wait. I got a voice mail from your Emma. She… she said her ex-husband, some guy named Aaron Kramer, killed Slick. Does this make any sense to you?"

"What? No! Absolutely no sense, Reg. When did she call you?"

"About an hour ago. I'm looking through Slick's computer records right now for mention of an Aaron Kramer. And listen, Emma sounded hysterical during the call and now I can't reach her. She's not at either number she left for me, and-"

"Shit," Thomas hissed.

Emma must have called Reg soon after he walked away from her. Emma was pregnant. Under stress. Maybe she'd snapped. But Emma wasn't the kind to snap.

"I don't know what the hell's going on, Reg, but if that's what the lady said, then she had a reason. Bring him in. He's got a vet practice in Annapolis. I'll deal with all this later, okay?"

"Okay. So what's going on with you? Is everything all right?"

Thomas laughed into the phone. "God no, everything's not all right. Everything's messed up. I'm an idiot. Reg, look-how does a man convince a woman that he's more sorry than he could ever say, that his life would be nothing without her?"

Regina sighed. "Lord, Tommy. What have you done now?"

"Either of you move, I start shooting."

Aaron got out of the car. He backed to the motel room door not two feet away from the parking spot, and inserted the key, never taking his eyes from them.

He ushered them quickly inside.

He locked the door and flipped on the overhead light. Then he closed the drapes, making sure there were no gaps in the folds of musty fabric.

Emma's gut tensed as she scanned the evidence of Aaron's dive off the deep end. Empty Jack Daniel's bottles were knocked over on the dresser and floor. The threadbare room was littered with chip bags and scribbled-on bits of paper-sports bets. A pair of dirty underwear was flung over the lampshade.

"Nice crib," Leelee said.

He laughed, then pointed the gun at the floor in front of the dresser and television. "You. Smart-ass. Sit down over there." He put the gun at her temple. "If you move, I kill you."

Leelee nodded, and slid down onto her bottom.

"You." Aaron grabbed a scarred wooden chair from near the window and pointed the gun at it. "Here." He held it for Emma.

"Now listen up, girlies. Here's the game plan." Aaron poured himself a drink with the gun pointed at Leelee and his eyes darting back and forth between the women. He slammed back the whiskey and hissed between his teeth.

"It's going to be your basic murder-suicide. Leelee kills you-" He pointed at Emma. "Then kills herself. And the insurance money is mine."

"Insurance?" Emma's mouth fell open. "This is about our life-insurance policies?"

"Why, yes it is!" Aaron mimicked her surprise. "Thank you again for being kind enough to keep me as your beneficiary."

"Oh, God." Emma closed her eyes. It was the only thing he'd asked for in the divorce settlement, that they'd remain beneficiaries on each other's policies for two years, a guarantee that at least one veterinary practice would thrive if anything were to happen to one of them. Since they'd gone into debt together in residency and later as business partners, she thought it was equitable.

And now he was going to kill her for it.

"You don't have to do this," Emma said calmly. "We can work something out. I won't go to the police. No one has to know-"

"Shut up!" he screamed, waving the gun in her direction. At that moment, it occurred to Emma that the man in front of her was a stranger. She knew nothing about him. Maybe she never had.

And she'd be damned if she'd let him hurt two innocent children.

"This is not going to work, you know," Leelee said from her place on the floor. "They have insurance investigators and criminalistics people like on CSI. It'd be a no-brainer to figure out you did it for the money."

"Shut… the… fuck… up," Aaron whispered. "Do you want me to blow your head off? Is that it?"

Emma was trying to get Leelee's attention-because shutting up sounded like a real good idea right about now. But Leelee wasn't looking.

"Besides, your bitchin' new ride is right outside for the world to see."

Aaron stalked toward her. Emma willed the girl to be quiet. "And what's my motive?" Leelee continued. "I'm the Carroll County Middle School Geography Bee champion, for crying out loud!"

Aaron clicked off the safety and stuck the gun to Leelee's mouth. "This will shut you up."

"I'm pregnant!" Emma screamed.

Aaron turned his head and stared at Emma. Leelee gasped and sat up straighter.

"What?" they both yelled at the same time.

"I'm going to have a baby, Aaron. Please let us go. Don't kill us. I'll give you everything I have if you just let us go."

Aaron cocked his head, as if considering her offer. "Who's the father?"

Emma swallowed, her eyes darting from Leelee's shocked face to Aaron. Then back to Leelee-the girl had begun to furiously saw her wrists against the little metal drawer pull behind her back.

"The father is Thomas, my fiancé."

"Fiancé?" they both yelled.

"Yes."

Aaron stared at her with narrow, ugly eyes, and Emma checked quickly to see that Leelee almost had her hands free.

"Pops and I will sell the farm and give you all the profit." Emma's voice was soft and steady as she held Aaron's gaze. "It's worth a fortune to developers now-millions, Aaron. Think about it. That would be so much better than whatever my insurance might be worth. And you can have it all."

As a sickening smile spread across his face, Emma knew she had never been more frightened in her life. It was eerie seeing an Aaron who wasn't Aaron-gutted out and hollow. Her stomach clenched again.

"You lying whore." With that, his open hand cracked across her mouth, and Emma's head swung around from the force.

"Buttwipe!" Leelee shot up from the floor and lunged at Aaron.

In her swimming vision, Emma watched Leelee make a single upward slice with her forearm, knocking the gun from Aaron's grip. The gun went sailing over the bed just as Leelee jumped Aaron, knocked him back on the mattress, and straddled him, hitting and punching wildly.

Emma was on her feet, ready to do whatever she could to beat Aaron to a pulp and get them out of there, when the door was bashed open and two men stumbled in. They both had guns.

"Hey-it's a party," said the uglier of the two.

Thomas raced down the lane, gravel and dust flying around the Audi like a swarm of hornets. He saw Emma's truck, and his heart soared-then sank. The driver's side door was flung open, and Beckett was standing in the driveway-in tears.

"Beck?" Thomas flew out of his car and ran to the old man. He grabbed him by the shoulders.

"They're gone. Something happened. I think he has them."

"Emma's gone? Leelee?"

"Aaron's got 'em."

"What do you mean he's-"

"Here." Beckett handed him a fine-grained black leather wallet. "Hairy had it in his teeth when I got back from the Super Fresh just a minute ago. The dog was going nuts-spinning and jumping and crying. I think Aaron has the girls."

"Did you look-?"

"House. Barn. Everywhere. They're gone."

Thomas looked down at the mishmash of tire prints in the gravel. Hell if he could tell if another car had been here. Then he saw the deep cuts in the stones, like somebody's feet had been dragged across the lane.

"I'm calling in." Thomas ran to the car, yelling over his shoulder. "How long ago, Beck? How long ago do you think?"

He shook his head. "I've been home no more than five minutes. That's all I can tell you."

Thomas dialed Reg and told her to get an APB on Aaron Kramer. He flipped open the wallet and started reading from the expired Maryland driver's license.

"White male, DOB 6-14-67, five-nine, one fifty-five. He's got brown eyes, brown hair. He's-"

Thomas stopped. He stared at the little picture at the top right corner of the license and turned it in the light. He imagined what that clean-cut man would look like in a scraggly beard and a pair of blue contact lenses.

"He's Larry. Oh, fuck."

"Who's Larry?"

Thomas dumped the contents of the wallet onto the front seat and started looking for something-anything-that might indicate where Aaron had taken them. He found two condoms, two obviously stolen credit cards, a few bucks, and a handwritten receipt for a motel room-paid up until tomorrow.

Thomas gave Reg the address to the King of Hearts Motor Court in Bowie, then gave her the physical descriptions of Leelee and Emma. "Bring in the STATE team," he said. "Get everyone in position for a possible hostage situation. I'm on my way."

"Done. Meet you there."

Beck was waiting on the other side of the car door, his face drawn in worry. Hairy was cradled in his arms.

"I swear to God I'll bring them home," Thomas said. "I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

"The hell you will!" Beckett ran around to the other side and jumped in shotgun. He tossed Hairy in the back. "We're all going. Now drive!"

Thomas was soon back on the road, blue light flashing, keeping the line open with Reg. The Special Tactical Assault Team Element was already on the way. Troopers from the Prince George 's County barracks were on site, awaiting orders. The motel manager was being interviewed. The rest of the motel and all nearby buildings had been cleared.

"She's pregnant," Thomas said.

The old man stared at him with startled blue eyes, then looked him up one side and down the other. He broke out into a wide smile. "And?"

"And I'd like your permission to marry her, sir."

Beckett howled with laughter. "Son, my Emma's a grown woman with a mind of her own, in case you haven't noticed. Now, I'm not saying I don't appreciate the old-fashioned courtesy, but it's her permission you need, not mine."

"Yes, sir."

"Congratulations," Beck said. His chin quivered. "Now let's go get our girls."

Thomas pressed the gas, thanked God it was past evening rush, and let the whole mess whirl around in his head. The fear he felt was desperate, potent. And he realized that he'd only felt fear like this one other time in his life, when he was just a kid. When his mother had left.

And it occurred to him that he'd spent the rest of his life making sure he never set himself up to be this afraid again, because obviously, this kind of fear was the flip side of love. When you loved people they became your whole life. And losing them became the worst fate imaginable.

He saw their faces-Emma and Leelee and a baby that was probably no bigger than a pea but was already real to him, real to his heart.

He refused to lose them.

He'd just found them.

Thomas swallowed hard. "Hang on, Pops," he said, putting the pedal to the metal.

Emma and Leelee were nicely trussed up again, this time sitting in the corner, back to back, wrists linked. There was no way she was going to get out this time, Leelee realized.

The two goons scared her more than Aaron did. They'd obviously done this sort of thing before, whereas Aaron was an amateur. She should be glad to see Aaron shaking and crying as he sat tied on the bed, but she couldn't be glad about anything.

She had a feeling she and Emma were really going to die.

"If you'd just let me follow through with the plan…" Aaron tried once more.

The ugly guy laughed again.

Man, he was ugly.

He had hair like Squiggy from Laverne amp; Shirley reruns. Leelee didn't think actual people wore their hair like that, but obviously she'd been traveling in the wrong circles. He was dressed in a mighty attractive yellow polyester golf shirt and a pair of those stretch pants men can order from the back pages of Parade magazine. He had more tattoos than the girls at the tractor pull, but fewer teeth. And he smelled bad.

His skinny friend was obviously the assistant manager of their criminal enterprise. He did whatever the ugly one told him to do, including tying her and Emma together a moment ago.

The last few minutes had been just full of surprises, and by this point, Leelee had put the whole twisted story together. Aaron had owed Scott Slick lots of money and Slick was tired of dealing with him, so he sold Aaron's debt to Goons Incorporated here for pennies on the dollar, and they'd started harassing Aaron to pay up. Aaron was royally pissed, and followed Slick home one night and tried to convince him to give him one more chance to pay his debt. Slick said no-can-do. They argued. Aaron snapped, he said, grabbed a kitchen blender, and whacked Slick in the head with it.

He swore he hadn't meant to kill him.

So there the three men were now, arguing about who they should kill and how they were going to get their hands on money.

Leelee swallowed hard. Obviously, if the goons killed Aaron they wouldn't be getting any more money from him, right? So the Ugly One must be considering Aaron's plan to kill them. That had to be why the three men were now staring at Emma and her like they were juicy T-bones laid out on ruffles of Bibb lettuce.

At least she hoped that money was the only reason they stared.

Leelee started to shake. She shoved down the fear and started talking.

"Hey, did you guys know that Scott Slick was actually an alias for a guy named Simon Slickowski, who lived in a trailer park in Smyma, Delaware, and was last year's World Canine Disco Dancing Champion?"

"What the fuck is that?" the Ugly One asked, frowning.

"Be quiet, Lee," Emma whispered through clenched teeth.

"It's where people wear funky costumes and dance around to disco music with their dogs-you know, Donna Summer, Rose Royce, Peaches and Herb."

"I've always loved Peaches and Herb," the assistant manager said, then began singing, "'We're bumping booties, havin' us a ball…'"

"This is messed up," the Ugly One said. "Everybody just shut up a minute while I think."

"And Slick has a bunch of money stashed up in Delaware," Leelee added. "We can take you to it."

The men began arguing again.

Emma twisted her fingers around to clutch at Leelee's hand.

"Lee! How in the world-? Were you listening in on a private conversation between Thomas and me? When?"

Leelee rolled her eyes. This was no time for another lecture from Emma. "I just overheard you one night."

Emma hissed and tightened her grip. "Well, just be quiet, would you?"

"I can't! I'm so scared!"

"It's going to be okay."

Leelee grunted. "How?"

"Thomas is coming for us," she whispered. "I can feel it."

Leelee rolled her eyes-their knight in shining Audi! God, how she wished it were true! Thomas was great, but he wasn't exactly a hero. She knew better than to believe in heroes.

"How much is up in Delaware?" the Ugly One asked.

"Over half a million," Leelee said.

"How in the hell did you know Slick anyway?"

Uh-oh. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut.

"You're making all this up, aren't you, you little bitch?"

"No! I swear! It's true!"

The Ugly One took a step closer to them while looking over his shoulder at Aaron. "How much did you say the wife was worth, Kramer?"

"Quarter of a million." Aaron slumped further onto the bed.

"Okay. Everybody hold on a minute while I do the math."

Leelee couldn't help it. "Don't hurt yourself," she said.

Emma clamped down on her fingers.

The Ugly One bent down, touched Emma's hair, then Leelee's. He chuckled. "Whatever we do, I think we're going to keep the little one alive."

Emma whipped her head around and sank her teeth into the Ugly One's arm.

"Ow! Shit! Fuck! Hell!"

Things were really starting to disintegrate.

When they reached the scene, Thomas was told that sniper surveillance showed three men inside, one of them Aaron Kramer, and at least three weapons. The women were tied in the far southwest corner of the room, directly below the front window, Emma facing out. The hostage-takers seemed disorganized and the young girl had managed to keep them off balance by not shutting up.

"Thata girl, Lee," Beckett said.

The STATE team plan was simple: create a diversion and surprise them. Five men were poised at the motel room door, weapons at the ready. Two snipers were positioned in trees in the back. A remote-controlled explosive device-designed more for noise than destruction-was in place under the bathroom window.

Thomas and Regina were right behind the STATE team, tucked into Kevlar vests. The rest of Thomas's team waited in a staging area on the service road, along with five waiting ambulances and an assortment of state police and Prince George 's County Sheriff 's Department vehicles.

Thomas knew from experience that tactical maneuvers like these could be over in seconds-it was possible that within moments he'd have Emma in his arms. That is, if she'd come anywhere near him.

Snipers reported that Emma had just bitten one of the hostage-takers, and the instant of chaos that followed was all the STATE team needed.

As the hostage-taker dropped his weapon and ran screaming to the bathroom, a loud explosion rocked the room. STATE officers crashed in the door. Two officers immediately covered the women while the other three tackled and cuffed the hostage-takers. The takedown was over almost before it had begun.

The next few moments were a blur for Thomas-he watched as Emma and Leelee were cut loose and hugged each other, crying. A STATE team member led them to sit on the edge of the bed and called for the EMTs.

They were alive. That's all that registered in his brain. They looked cut and bruised and beyond exhausted, but they were breathing.

He hadn't lost them. Now he prayed he hadn't lost them.

Emma slowly turned toward Thomas. His heart lurched. His eye squinted. And after a second that seemed to hold his entire world over his head, Emma offered him a soft smile.

"I knew you'd figure it out," she said, and held out her hand.

He got to her instantly, squatting down, his hands racing all over her body.

"Are you hurt? Where did they touch you?"

"I'm okay," she said, shaking her head.

Thomas reached over for Leelee. "Are you all right, Lee?"

She nodded, mute, her lips trembling. She had a shiner that was going to take up most of the left side of her face. Thomas took another look at Emma, and saw a swelling welt along her cheek and a split in her lower lip.

What he really wanted to do was kill Aaron with his bare hands.

What he did instead was open his arms, and the two women fell against him, sobbing with relief, shaking from the adrenaline crash, and all he could do was pull them tighter, kiss them both, tell them they would be all right-everything was going to be all right.

Then he allowed himself to believe it, too.

Thomas felt something worming its way between his feet, and Leelee pulled back enough that Hairy could jump into her arms. His little tongue licked her face and he yipped in joy, tail twirling like a propeller.

"Hairy!" Leelee screamed. "Our hero!"

Within a few moments, an EMT escorted Leelee to an ambulance and Thomas asked the crowd in the motel room for a few minutes of privacy. Once everyone left, he sat next to Emma and cupped her face in his hands.

"We need to get you checked out, too." He drank in the sight of that sweet freckled nose, those shell-shocked blue eyes, the face of the woman he loved.

She nodded. She sniffed. In a very small voice she said, "I'm glad you didn't give up on us."

Everything inside of Thomas clenched. "Forgive me, Emma. There's no excuse for the things I said to you. I went crazy. It's just… well… I'm not very used to believing in miracles, you know? It's kind of a challenge for me."

She smiled.

"I acted like a conflicted idiot."

"You did."

"But I'm a conflicted idiot who loves you with everything I am-an idiot who trusts you completely."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"And God, here's the deal, Emma-you can do whatever you want to me now-poison my cornflakes-"

She was already laughing.

"-put a bomb under the hood of my car, or ground glass in my popcorn, or booby-trap the basement steps, and baby, I'd never see it coming because I love you so much it's killing me."

Emma finished laughing and kissed his cheek. "Or, I could just put all that creative energy into loving you-did that ever occur to you, Thomas?"

He raised her scraped wrist to his lips and kissed tenderly. "It does now."

"I'm glad we've got that cleared up."

"I'm going to do my best, Emma." Thomas's voice went rough and his gaze held hers. "I might screw up again, but I'll always do my very best for you and our family."

She looked into those tortured silver eyes and knew that was all she could ask. It was all she needed-all she'd ever needed.

"I don't think love is perfect, Rugby Boy." Emma pulled his big hand to her heart and held it there. "It's messy and confusing and complicated, but what else is there? What else is there besides love?" She grinned, clutched his hand tighter. "I'll take my chances with you if you'll take yours with me."

He pulled her to him, and Emma felt herself relax, curve into his sturdy body, safe and complete.

"I want to love you every day for the rest of my life, Emma Jenkins."

She moved his hand to her belly and pressed it close. "I think we're free."

"Tommy?"

Regina Massey stood in the doorway, smiling. "I'm sorry, but we need to get back in here. We also need to get the doctor and her daughter to the hospital."

He walked Emma to a waiting ambulance, got her settled, and kissed her softly. "I'll be back in a minute. I've got a few loose ends to tie up."

Leelee sat on a stretcher, back straight, chin steady, holding a cold pack to the side of her face with one hand and clutching Hairy with the other. Two EMTs busied themselves around her in the ambulance bay.

She turned toward him, letting the cold pack fall away. She grinned.

"Hey, Thomas."

He smiled, propped a foot on the ambulance fender, and leaned toward her.

"I hear you gave the bad guys a hard time in there."

"Nerves. I talk a lot when I'm nervous."

"Thank you, Lee." She turned away.

Thomas met the gaze of one of the EMTs, and they both hopped down from the vehicle to give him a moment alone with the girl. He nodded in gratitude.

Thomas cleared his throat. Emma had been right-Leelee was never an easy crowd to work. "Do you know what I'm thanking you for?"

That got her attention. She looked down at him warily. "Sure I do. Emma got out of there alive."

He shook his head. "That's not all."

Leelee tried hard to cloak her expression in her all-purpose bored look, but was failing miserably. Her shoulders were starting to shake and her fingers trembled as they stroked Hairy's skin.

"What, then?"

"Thank you for being the smartest and bravest kid I know. Thank you for loving Emma as much as I do."

"Sure." She shrugged.

"I have something I'd like to ask you."

Leelee sighed and rolled her eyes to the ambulance ceiling. "I know. You want to marry Emma. I know she's pregnant. Nice going, by the way. Ever hear of a condom? So whatever. Go ahead. I don't care."

Thomas chuckled. "That wasn't what I wanted to ask you."

Leelee gazed down at him, shocked by the tender look in his face, the affection she saw there. And it wasn't a creepy kind of affection at all-it was just nice. Just warm and nice, and it was the weirdest thing, but the hole inside her was being filled up-filled up with whatever it was she saw in this man's eyes.

"Do you think Emma can learn to share?"

"Share what?"

Thomas grinned, raised a hand and began to fiddle with one of her errant blond curls. He let his fingers stray to her cheek. "You, Elizabeth. I was hoping Emma might be willing to share you. I was hoping you might be willing to become my daughter when Emma becomes my wife-kind of like a package deal."

There was nothing Leelee could say, because this was the single most wonderful moment of her life. Of all the men in the world who could have been her father, she'd wound up with Thomas.

She'd somehow ended up with the best.

"So what do you say, junior?"

She felt herself smile, despite her best efforts. "Sure. Whatever." Then she tossed Hairy to the stretcher and flung her arms around Thomas's neck.