"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.

"You mentioned that you had a connection with Wyse when I hired you," Bellamy said disparagingly. "I relied on you to be objective. Knowing what I do now, I can see that was a mistake."

For Bellamy to question Wyse's integrity was one thing, but to raise doubts about Roy's went over the line. He jumped to his feet and glared at the other man. Neither spoke.

"I completed the job you hired me to do," Roy finally said. "This report will stand up, despite what you want to believe. Wyse is a decent man." He would defy anyone to come up with anything different.

"That remains to be seen."

Roy opened his briefcase and removed the envelope that contained his bill. Bellamy thrust his hand out to take it. Instead, Roy tore it in two. "In future I'd prefer if you took your business elsewhere." He didn't wait for Bellamy to respond, just grabbed his briefcase and walked out the door.

In a ten-minute conversation, Leonard Bellamy had insulted and infuriated him, to the point that Roy had actually thrown away money and lucrative future jobs-and felt good about it.

Rather than return to the office, Roy drove straight home. Corrie, as she often did, had taken Tuesday off to run errands. Checking his watch, he guessed she'd be home by now. His wife always had a calming effect on him. He decided he wouldn't mention his meeting with Bellamy; that would only rile him up again and solve nothing. Roy applauded Lori for defying her tyrant of a father.

When he walked in, Corrie was sitting in the kitchen with several bags of groceries lined up on the counter. She appeared to be deep in thought. In fact, she didn't seem to notice he was home.

Roy waved his hand playfully in front of her nose. Her face melted into a smile, and she automatically turned to him so he could kiss her, which he did. His wife's smile brought him peace and smoothed the sharp edges of his confrontation with Bellamy.

"You're home early," she commented as she slid off the stool. "How'd it go with Bellamy?"

She'd remembered. Well, no need to hide the events of the afternoon, then. He shrugged. "I won't bore you with the details, but I won't work for the man again."

She arched her brows, but if she was tempted to say I told you so, she didn't. "Oh? Why?"

"We have opposing points of view," he said simply. He gestured at the groceries. "Any reason you haven't put the milk away?"

"I was waiting for you to get home and do it for me," she teased.

Grinning, he reached for the half gallon of milk and set it inside the refrigerator. "Anything else that needs attention?"

"Ice cream," Corrie cried, and searched hurriedly through the bags until she found the carton, which she shoved in the freezer.

This scattered behavior was odd for his practical, even-keeled wife. Roy walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet to pour them each a glass of cold water. "Okay, what's wrong?"

She didn't deny that she was upset. "I ran into Gloria at the grocery store." She paused as though to collect her thoughts.

Roy knew better than to prod her. She'd tell him when she was ready.

"I know Linnette so well," she said, although Roy had no idea what Linnette had to do with this. "I would've realized in a heartbeat that she was pregnant the moment I looked at her."

"It's a bit more difficult over the phone," he agreed, although he didn't know what that had to do with meeting Gloria in the Safeway store.

"She's upset about something and-"

"Linnette is?"

"No, Gloria."

Roy was beginning to get her drift now. Corrie had talked to Gloria and couldn't read her the way she could their daughter. Except that Gloria was their daughter, too. Their first daughter.

"I asked her to dinner on Sunday."

"Good." Spending time together was the key. There were wounds to heal and relationships to build. He wanted Gloria to feel part of their family because she was family.

"She can't."

"She's working?" Roy knew that as the most recent addition to the sheriff's department, Gloria pulled the less desirable shifts. She'd been on duty over the Fourth of July, and was probably working weekends, as well.

"She didn't give me a reason." Corrie was putting away the groceries. "I suggested a weekday as an alternative and she said she'd get back to me, but I'm afraid she won't." Corrie shook her head. "She's avoiding us."

That was one possibility but his wife could be exaggerating, making unwarranted assumptions. He didn't want to say that, though. Gloria was still a sensitive subject for them.

"Do you know if she's seeing anyone?" Corrie asked him out of the blue.

"Dating, you mean?"

"Yes, dating."

"Not really. She hasn't said. Did she mention anyone to you?"

Corrie nodded. "But not his name."

"So you think this might be about relationship troubles?"

"Well, isn't it always?" she challenged.

That seemed to be the end of the conversation.

Roy spread the Cedar Cove Chronicle out on the kitchen table and opened it to the crossword puzzle.

Suddenly Corrie exclaimed, "It's that doctor!"

Roy glanced up.

"What doctor?"

"The one Linnette was so keen on. At the clinic. I remember that he seemed more interested in Gloria, and that really bothered Linnette."

Roy managed to conjure up a hazy memory of this. Linnette had liked some doctor but then given up on him and fallen for that horseman, instead. Cal Washburn, his name was.

Roy returned to his crossword as his wife washed fresh herbs and rolled them in a paper towel to store in a refrigerator bag. He had one corner of the puzzle completed when Corrie interrupted him again.

"Todd," she announced triumphantly. "No, not Todd. Tim."

"Tim?"

"Timmons," she said with a snap of her fingers. "Chad Timmons. Dr. Chad Timmons."