acceptable statement for Ty.”
“I don’t think you have to,” Seth said as he passed the baby back to Madelyn. “Ty’s been spinning this story for years. If the topic comes up, he’ll handle it beautifully.”
She took the little girl and kissed her cheek. “So, you think I should trust him?”
“Yes.”
When Madelyn looked up, Seth was smiling at her.
“You’re very good with her.”
“Thanks. I’ve had plenty of practice with babies because I have eight nieces and nephews.”
Seth laughed. “Eight nieces and nephews! Wow,” hesaid, but his smile faded. “You know, after all this talk about Cooper I just realized he’s been gone so long, he could be married. I could have a niece or nephew.”
“Or several,” Madelyn agreed.
Seth toyed with the stapler on her desk. “I tried to find him, you know.”
“Cooper?” Madelyn glanced over at him. “Really? Did Ty know?”
Seth shrugged. “I doubt it. I had a private investigator looking. I wasn’t doing the legwork myself, and the P.I. only poked around for a few weeks before I told him to stop. But he hadn’t gotten anywhere anyway, so I’m not sure we’d ever actually find Cooper, even if we looked for years.”
“Why did you tell your P.I. to stop?”
Seth swallowed, then turned away, and Madelyn’s breath caught. All this time she was worried about Cooper being the loose cannon when the real problem might be right under her nose. With Seth behaving so oddly she had to wonder if he didn’t have a secret, too. “No reason to keep looking.”
“Seth, is there something you want to tell me?”
“No.”
“Really? Because it seems like something is wrong.”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Seth laughed. “Madelyn, there’s nothing about my past that’s going to pop up and hurt my brother. Trust me. Anything I did that might potentially be embarrassing—and that’s all it would be is embarrassing—has been so tidily buried by real pros that you don’t need to worry about it.”
After he was gone, Madelyn sat Sabrina in the playyard, then stared at her closed office door with her arms crossed over her chest. She had been at Bryant Development long enough, and had spent enough time interacting with Seth that if there had been a real problem Seth would have told her. She cringed for a minute over his statement that his situation had been “buried by real pros” but kept coming back to his assertion that his past was only “embarrassing” and she could handle embarrassing.
Unfortunately, talking with Seth hadn’t sufficiently eased her mind about Cooper, and she decided she was done mollycoddling Ty. Seth’s problem might only be embarrassing, but it caused him to be moody and emotional, and Madelyn couldn’t risk him leaking something about the story of Ty’s fight with Cooper that could potentially come back to haunt them. So, tonight, whether Ty liked it or not, he was telling her the entire story.
Not wanting to rile Ty before they had the discussion about Cooper, Madelyn only stayed at the office until noon. When she opened the door to the kitchen, she found a note from her mother sitting on the table.
She slid Sabrina into the high chair and slipped out of her pink pumps as she read the missive, which told her about a slow-roasting chicken that was in the oven.
“It’s too bad you can’t eat this,” she told the baby who gurgled her response. “My mother makes the best stuffed chicken.”
“Lucky for us.”
At the sound of Ty’s voice, Madelyn spun around. “What are you doing here?”
“I saw you brought the baby to work again, so I camehome to call nannies. Almost shot Captain Bunny as an intruder.”
Madelyn dropped her head to her head. “Oh, no!”
Ty brushed off her concern. “Don’t worry. We handled it. Your mother is actually a very nice person.”
Madelyn breathed a sigh of relief. “I take it she didn’t have my dad with her.”
“No. Thank God. The Sarge must
“I don’t think you have to,” Seth said as he passed the baby back to Madelyn. “Ty’s been spinning this story for years. If the topic comes up, he’ll handle it beautifully.”
She took the little girl and kissed her cheek. “So, you think I should trust him?”
“Yes.”
When Madelyn looked up, Seth was smiling at her.
“You’re very good with her.”
“Thanks. I’ve had plenty of practice with babies because I have eight nieces and nephews.”
Seth laughed. “Eight nieces and nephews! Wow,” hesaid, but his smile faded. “You know, after all this talk about Cooper I just realized he’s been gone so long, he could be married. I could have a niece or nephew.”
“Or several,” Madelyn agreed.
Seth toyed with the stapler on her desk. “I tried to find him, you know.”
“Cooper?” Madelyn glanced over at him. “Really? Did Ty know?”
Seth shrugged. “I doubt it. I had a private investigator looking. I wasn’t doing the legwork myself, and the P.I. only poked around for a few weeks before I told him to stop. But he hadn’t gotten anywhere anyway, so I’m not sure we’d ever actually find Cooper, even if we looked for years.”
“Why did you tell your P.I. to stop?”
Seth swallowed, then turned away, and Madelyn’s breath caught. All this time she was worried about Cooper being the loose cannon when the real problem might be right under her nose. With Seth behaving so oddly she had to wonder if he didn’t have a secret, too. “No reason to keep looking.”
“Seth, is there something you want to tell me?”
“No.”
“Really? Because it seems like something is wrong.”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Seth laughed. “Madelyn, there’s nothing about my past that’s going to pop up and hurt my brother. Trust me. Anything I did that might potentially be embarrassing—and that’s all it would be is embarrassing—has been so tidily buried by real pros that you don’t need to worry about it.”
After he was gone, Madelyn sat Sabrina in the playyard, then stared at her closed office door with her arms crossed over her chest. She had been at Bryant Development long enough, and had spent enough time interacting with Seth that if there had been a real problem Seth would have told her. She cringed for a minute over his statement that his situation had been “buried by real pros” but kept coming back to his assertion that his past was only “embarrassing” and she could handle embarrassing.
Unfortunately, talking with Seth hadn’t sufficiently eased her mind about Cooper, and she decided she was done mollycoddling Ty. Seth’s problem might only be embarrassing, but it caused him to be moody and emotional, and Madelyn couldn’t risk him leaking something about the story of Ty’s fight with Cooper that could potentially come back to haunt them. So, tonight, whether Ty liked it or not, he was telling her the entire story.
Not wanting to rile Ty before they had the discussion about Cooper, Madelyn only stayed at the office until noon. When she opened the door to the kitchen, she found a note from her mother sitting on the table.
She slid Sabrina into the high chair and slipped out of her pink pumps as she read the missive, which told her about a slow-roasting chicken that was in the oven.
“It’s too bad you can’t eat this,” she told the baby who gurgled her response. “My mother makes the best stuffed chicken.”
“Lucky for us.”
At the sound of Ty’s voice, Madelyn spun around. “What are you doing here?”
“I saw you brought the baby to work again, so I camehome to call nannies. Almost shot Captain Bunny as an intruder.”
Madelyn dropped her head to her head. “Oh, no!”
Ty brushed off her concern. “Don’t worry. We handled it. Your mother is actually a very nice person.”
Madelyn breathed a sigh of relief. “I take it she didn’t have my dad with her.”
“No. Thank God. The Sarge must
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