The Right Thing (5 page)

Amy shrugged. “No idea. She goes out with guys occasionally, but doesn’t seem interested in men in any serious way.”

Morgan stopped to consider. “Are you saying if I had bigger breasts and estrogen she might be more interested?”

Amy laughed hard at that.

“No,” she said, laughter rolling through at the idea. “Thea is not a lesbian. She likes men. She just. . .”

Amy chose her words carefully as she wiped the bar on either side of Morgan.

“Thea talks about Angus Carmichael like her love life ended when he died. She never really even comments on other men except for teasing Gerald. She’s pretty old. Maybe that just happens when you reach a certain age.”

Morgan laughed, the sound jaded to his ears. Everyone thinks that at her age, he reminded himself.

“I have at least twenty years on you. Trust me, it doesn’t change all that much. Have you met my father?” Morgan asked, teasing.

“Sure, but Gerald is special,” Amy said easily, smiling as she shrugged. “There are no other men like him. If he were your age, I’d break it off with my boyfriend right now and convince your father to marry me.”

“Trust me, he’s not that great,” Morgan denied automatically, but he was laughing.

The girl was obviously not kidding. He felt both pride and envy. Again.

Amy looked at him. “Your father can have any woman he wants anytime he wants just by crooking his finger. Being his son, you would never understand. Take my word for it, Gerald is amazing. And he kisses really well. I don’t care if he is old enough to be my grandfather.”

Morgan snorted. “Well, he practices enough to be good at it.”

Amy laughed loudly. “He can practice on me anytime. Thea feels the same way.”

“Great,” Morgan said morosely. “I’m competing with my father.”

“Better hope you kiss as well as he does,” Amy said, teasing now. It was kind of fun to watch the man have such anxiety over his elderly father. “Do you practice as much as Gerald?”

“Are you flirting with me now?” Morgan asked.

“If you don’t know, then I guess that answers my question about how much you practice,” Amy said on a snicker. “It’s called playful teasing. Get Gerald to explain it to you. He’s an expert.”

Morgan picked up a French fry and threw it at the girl, who caught it and laughed.

He turned his head to see a frowning Thea walk through the restaurant door at that very moment, and wondered if she’d witnessed the French fry toss.

“Hi,” he said, meeting her stern gaze with his slightly guilty one.

Thea nodded, said hello quietly, and walked through the swinging doors to the kitchen.

Morgan sighed. She had obviously seen and probably thought he was coming on to the younger woman.

Sighing, he looked at Amy, who was no longer laughing. Amy was cute, but not the kind of female that ever drew Morgan’s eye. He was not into women with agendas that included babies or ambitious careers. Amy was not nearly as appealing to him as the woman who had swung through and moved on just now.

“Well, that’s a good sign,” Amy said thoughtfully, hands on hips as she stared at the doors where Thea disappeared.

Morgan looked at the swinging doors and wondered what would happen if he walked through them, chased Althea Carmichael down, and did something to prove how interested in her he was.

“That freeze-out was a good sign?” Morgan asked, wondering if by the time he was his father’s age he might have a greater understanding of the female mind.

Thea ignoring him was not a good sign, he thought sarcastically, shaking his head in disbelief.

Amy nodded yes with enough enthusiasm to have Morgan laughing again despite his frustration.

“I’ve never seen Thea jealous of anyone—not even Angus. Her daughter used to babysit me. I’ve known her all my life,” Amy informed him.

“Jealous? Seriously?” Morgan said, looking at the doors again. “You got that from Thea just walking through here and saying hi like I was a stranger she’d never spoken to before?”

Amy nodded. “That would be my take,” she said easily. “Come back tomorrow and see if I’m right.”

Morgan laughed sarcastically. “Why would I bother after that?”

“You really interested or not? Gerald would never give up that easily. Even Doug knew enough to be persistent when I wouldn’t go out with him at first. I was ignoring him because I figured he had enough groupies wanting to date him,” Amy said, shaking her head. “I didn’t want to be just one of a crowd.”

“Who’s Doug?” Morgan asked, pondering the idea of Thea being interested enough in him to be jealous, which led to pondering how he might convince her, which led to tight jeans for him.

He had learned more about Thea and the restaurant in this single conversation with Amy than he’d learned in two nights of research. It shouldn’t have surprised him. He investigated people for a living.

But finding out about Althea Carmichael was different than just normal research. Or at least it felt different. Probably because he was genuinely interested in the woman, Morgan conceded.

Admitting it had him looking at the swinging doors again with new eyes.

“I’m sorry—who’s Doug?” he asked again, thinking he might not have spoke the question aloud the first time.

“Doug? Well, Doug is my boyfriend and probably the man I’m going to marry. Gerald convinced me to give him a chance. I’m going to help you because I owe your father for being right,” Amy said, looking at Morgan with a new and critical eye. “But you’re going to have to convince Thea you’re interested in her. I can’t do everything.”

“Really? Just how do I do that?” Morgan said, frowning at the demand.

“Come in after two tomorrow,” Amy told him. “It’s my afternoon off. She’ll have to wait on you. Then you can make your move.”

Morgan couldn’t help smiling at Amy’s sincerity.

“My move?” he asked, repeating her words and looking at kitchen doors as he polished off the last of his fries.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Talk to your father if you need help. Gerald will know exactly what to do. He’s got great moves.”

Morgan laughed again and shook his head.
Great. Every woman he met thought his father was the world’s greatest lover.

He handed Amy a twenty to end the torture, figuring he’d heard enough about his father’s kissing expertise today to last a lifetime.

“Keep the change. You better be right though or I want a refund on that tip. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Amy laughed softly as she watched the man walk sadly out the door. Morgan wasn’t Gerald, but he had his own appeal.

*** *** ***

“You’re making too much of it,” Gerald said lightly, forking up a bite. “Great pasta, Morgan. When did you learn to cook?”

“I took lessons,” Morgan said casually. “What do you mean I’m making too much of it? The woman barely even said hello to me.”

“She was
openly
ignoring you. That just proves how interested she is,” Gerald said, waving away Morgan’s concern as he scooped up another bite. “This is really great. What’s in this?”

“I make my own sauce,” Morgan answered, simultaneously pleased his father liked the food and irritated that he wasn’t getting any straight answers from the man about Althea. “That’s what Amy said. So what do I do next—since everyone seems to think you’re the expert on women.”

“Go back and convince Thea that your interest in Amy is just friendship and your interest in her is for more. It’s not rocket science,” Gerald told his son, amused at the distress on Morgan’s face.

“How the hell do I do that?” Morgan demanded, exasperated that everyone seemed to know but him.

There was a good reason he didn’t have any experience. He had never in his life chased a woman who had given him such an obvious brush-off.

“For starters, keep showing up at the restaurant. Get in Thea’s face,” Gerald said, shrugging. “Surely you know what to do once you get that far.”

Morgan threw a roll at his father, who let it bounce off his shoulder as he laughed. “Get in her face?
That’s
your expert advice. How in the hell do you have every woman in this town falling all over you?”

“Morgan, you’re such a skeptic,” Gerald complained, pulling the pill he’d carried all day out of his shirt pocket and pushing it over to his disbelieving son.

Curious, Morgan picked it up and read the side of it to see what kind of supplement it was. Once he did, he immediately returned the pill to his father’s side of the table, his face flushing while his father laughed harder than ever.

Morgan couldn’t hold his gaze and had to look at the table as he shook his head in disbelief.

“Well, you asked to know my secret. That’s how I keep one of them very interested. Some women are more complicated,” Gerald said, grinning at the flush still on Morgan’s face. “Sorry if I embarrassed you. I thought we covered this when you were seventeen. No one told me adult kids would need a refresher course. I’d have talked to you in your thirties. At forty-four, you’re almost too old to change your ways now.”

“Damn it, Dad,” Morgan said, finally leaning his face into his hand and laughing himself. “I don’t need physical assistance, or at least not yet. I need to know how to talk to Althea right.”

Gerald leaned back in his chair and studied what appeared to be a genuine desire to know Thea being reflected in his son’s gaze. “I believe Sedona agrees with you, Morgan. You’re getting smarter every day you’re here.”

Morgan snorted in frustration. “So you going to seriously help me or not?”

“It’s common sense son. Show up at the restaurant regularly. Compliment the food. Let Thea catch you staring at her so she’s clear about your intentions,” Gerald said. “That should get the ball rolling. Hopefully, Amy will have cleared up the incident from today. Cross your fingers for timing and good luck.”

“
And these are your best suggestions?
” Morgan demanded, shaking his head in disbelief again. “It can’t be that easy, Dad.”

“
Easy?
Boy have you got a lot to learn,” Gerald said, digging into his pasta again. “Great food, Morgan. If you ever get tired of being a hard-ass investigator, you could be a great chef.”

“Dad, I know you worry about my job, but really, getting shot was just an accident. The people I usually investigate are just average people who exhibit a one-time lack in judgment. Most of them don’t pack guns or hurt anyone physically,” Morgan said, seeing concern still on his father’s face.

“Morgan, the biggest risk of your work is not the possibility of getting shot again,” Gerald told him. “I don’t want you to grow old and hard, thinking the worst of everyone you meet. I don’t want you to live without love. Life is too short.”

“If that happens to me,” Morgan said carefully, “it won’t be because you’re not setting a good example. I envy you your life, Dad. I mean that.”

“Well, stop envying,” Gerald said firmly, standing up to head to his bedroom. “You can have this kind of life any time you want. Don’t wait until you’re too old to enjoy it.”

“Yeah? How old would that be?” Morgan asked, laughing. His father waved a hand and didn’t answer as he left the kitchen. “No, really—tell me, Dad. I want to know. Eighty? Ninety? A hundred and ten? You’re seventy-two and I don’t see you slowing down yet.”

The bedroom door slammed and Morgan laughed harder.

“Get in her face,” he repeated, shaking his head in disbelief. “If I get in that woman’s face, she’ll take a swing at me. You can’t trust those quiet types.”

Still, as he did the dishes and put the remaining food away, his mind played out several scenarios of what he would do if Althea Carmichael ever let him get that close.

Chapter 5

“He was only flirting with me so he could ask questions about you,” Amy declared. “In fact, Morgan asked what I thought his chances were.”

Thea moved from table to table refilling salt and pepper, straightening the condiment racks.

“So what did you tell him?” she finally asked.

Not that she was really interested, but Thea was concerned with what Amy might have shared. Something about Gerald’s son brought her guard up.

“I told the man you didn’t date,” Amy said, shrugging at the look of shock on Thea’s face as the woman’s gaze met hers. “Well, you don’t. So why should it matter to you what I said? I doubt he’s coming back anyway. Morgan Reed didn’t strike me as the persistent sort.”

Thea went back to her task. “I date,” she said, the statement sounding more defensive than Thea would have liked. “I just don’t date-date.

Amy tilted her head and gave Thea a doubtful look.

“Morgan stares at your butt when you’re not looking. He couldn’t take his eyes off you the first day he met you. When you blew him off yesterday, after he came specifically to see you, he walked out like he’d given up on the world. You’re just too old to notice.”

“
Old?
” Thea said, offended now. “I am not too old. I’m just—picky.”

“
Picky?
What are you looking for?” Amy said with challenge. “Sure, he’s not Gerald, but I’d at least kiss the man once before I wrote him off.”