Luck Be a Lady - Cathie Linz [6]
“No, that’s okay, really,” Logan hurriedly said. “I wasn’t feeling left out.”
“He’s a cop,” Buddy said. “Third generation. Logan isn’t all touchy-feely.” Buddy shuddered at the thought. “Not at all.”
“Then I don’t understand why he wanted to stop Faith’s wedding.” Gram paused as a thought occurred to her. “Unless you thought it was Buddy’s wedding to me. Is that what you thought?” Her expression reflected her hurt feelings. “I thought you liked me.”
“It isn’t about you. It’s about Buddy.” Logan said.
“What about Buddy?” Gram said.
“Are you going to tell her or should I?” Logan asked Buddy.
“I’ll tell her. We could use a little privacy here.”
Megan reluctantly stepped back inside but hovered near the doorway in case her grandmother needed her. Logan stood beside her. They were soon joined by Megan’s uncle Jeff and her father. Jeff was the smooth, über-workaholic and Megan’s dad, Dave, was the quiet, bookish accountant in the family. They both owned West Investigations, the largest private investigation firm in Chicago.
“Is somebody going to tell me what’s going on here?” Jeff demanded. “Why wasn’t I told that Buddy planned on proposing to my mother? I had no idea things had gotten that serious. They’ve only known each other a few months. I thought they were just . . . I don’t know . . . playing bingo together.”
“Strip bingo,” Logan muttered under his breath.
Megan elbowed him in his side.
“What was that?” Jeff said. “I didn’t hear you.”
“Nothing.”
“It was a mistake,” Buddy said in a loud voice from the terrace. “I didn’t know I was still married!”
“Still married?” Jeff’s face turned red with fury. “Did Buddy just say he was still married? The bastard. How dare he ...” he sputtered.
Megan’s dad helped him out. “Tamper with our mother’s affections?”
Jeff nodded. “Yeah, that. I’ve got a good mind to—”
“Beat up a seventy-something-year-old senior citizen?” Megan said, irritated by all the testosterone swirling around her. She hadn’t missed the smack-down looks shooting between her uncle and Logan.
Her attention was diverted when Gram came into the room, tears running down her face. Megan’s dad put his arm around her and guided her from the room.
“You.” Jeff turned his wrath on Logan. “You couldn’t have made this info public sooner? Dammit, I should have checked out the guy myself, but my mother made me swear I wouldn’t. And Faith did a preliminary check on him. Clearly she didn’t look deeply enough.”
“My grandfather thought he was free to marry Ingrid,” Logan said, sounding remarkably calm for a man who looked like he’d wanted to kill someone for a second there. Then he had his cop face back on. Megan recognized it because it was so similar to Caine’s war face.
“Does he have dementia?” Jeff demanded. “Is that it? He forgets he still has a wife?”
“No, he doesn’t have dementia.” Logan’s voice reflected his growing aggravation.
“So he’s just an old geezer who likes conning rich old women?” Jeff said.
“You take that back!” Buddy growled as he joined them. “Ingrid is notold and neither am I. I’m for sure not so old a geezer that I can’t take you, boy-o.”
Megan put her hand on her uncle’s chest, stopping him before he could do something stupid. “There will be no fighting here.”
“Let’s take it outside then,” Buddy said.
“No fighting on the terrace either,” Megan said. “No fighting anywhere, period.”
“You stay away from my mother,” Jeff told Buddy, pointing an angry finger at him. “If I catch you anywhere near her, you’ll regret it.”
Buddy pointed an angry finger right back, with one digit bent.
“Did you see that? He just gave me the finger,” Jeff bellowed. “Get him out of here before I call security and have him tossed out.”
“You and what army?” Buddy growled.
“Come on,” Logan said, putting an arm around his grandfather’s shoulders and guiding him toward the exit.
Megan’s uncle followed them to make sure of their departure, leaving Megan alone