And he could only hope that he didn’t fail them again.
* * *
Lauren was far tooaware of Grady sitting beside her. Why she found him attractive, she had no idea. Nelson had proven she had lousy taste in men, and she wasn’t going to go out with anyone who might be looking for easy money.
“You mentioned calling the police.” She glanced at her watch. “I think we should wait until after dinner. I’ll ask Lieutenant Olson to come here to meet with us.”
“That’s fine. In the meantime, I need you to think hard about who else might be holding a grudge against you.” Grady’s expression was grim. “It could be someone with a beef against your father since he’s the one with the money.”
“I have a trust fund, too, but you’re right in that my father is worth more than I am. And of course, he would pay a ransom to get Lucy back.” She glanced over when Clara entered the room. “I’ll make a list for you after dinner.” She rose. “Clara, this is my fiancé, Grady McFarland. Grady, I’d like you to meet Clara. She’s been with us since before Lucy was born.”
“Nice to meet you.” He rose and crossed the room to shake her hand. “Something smells good.”
“Nice to meet you too. Dinner is ready, Ms. Lauren.” Clara quickly turned to leave.
“I hope you like grilled swordfish,” she murmured, leading the way into the dining room. “If you have any food allergies or strong dislikes, you should probably let me know.”
“I’m not picky. Swordfish sounds great.” He grinned, then added, “Although I can see why Lucy wanted pepperoni pizza. I didn’t have swordfish until I was an adult.”
She sighed, knowing he was probably right. But she didn’t care. She wanted Lucy to experience a variety of healthy foods. “She had open heart surgery as a baby.”
The smile faded from his eyes. “I can only imagine how difficult that was for you.”
“Hence the healthy diet.” In the dining room, she took the seat next to her daughter, indicating Grady should sit across from them. “My father is out of town on business for the week, or he’d have joined us.”
“Okay.” Grady held her gaze for a moment, then folded his hands in his lap and bowed his head. It took a moment for her to realize he was praying. She hastily looked away, wondering if he was putting on a show for her benefit. Then she realized there was no reason for him to do that. Despite their pretend engagement, once this kidnapper was caught, they wouldn’t see each other again.
She didn’t know anyone who prayed before meals. She’d spent a lot of time in the hospital chapel while Lucy had been a baby undergoing surgery, but this was different.
Clara interrupted the moment by bringing in a tray of food. Along with the grilled swordfish, there was roasted asparagus and parmesan-crusted red potatoes. After setting the various platters on the table, Clara stepped back. “Would you like anything else, Ms. Lauren?”
“No, but thanks, Clara. Everything looks delicious.” The adults had water, while Lucy had a glass of milk. She glanced at Grady, wondering if he wanted something else. “We have soft drinks if you prefer.” She didn’t serve alcohol at meals.
“I’m fine with water. And yes, this looks amazing.” Grady smiled at Clara in a way that made the older woman blush. “Thanks.”
“I wanna go to school tomorrow,” Lucy said once they’d started eating. “I miss my friends. Especially Ariel.”
“Maybe next week.” Lauren kept the timeline vague. “Mrs. Poole sent your assignments home, so you can work on those tomorrow.”
Lucy’s lower lip trembled. “That’s not the same. I wanna go to school.”
She glanced at Grady, who had dug in to his meal with relish. His comment about pepperoni pizza aside, he appeared to be enjoying the swordfish. He surprised her by sending Lucy a stern look. “You need to listen to your mother. She’s only keeping you home from school because she’s worried about you.”
Lucy bent her head and picked at her food. “I don’t care. I’d run so fast the bad guy couldn’t get me.”
Swallowing a sigh, she gave Grady a nod of gratitude for his support. One minute Lucy was scared of the masked man, the next she made comments like that. “You can video chat with Ellie after dinner.”
Lucy stabbed a piece of fish and ate it. “Okay, but that’s not the same as going to school either.”
Tomorrow was Thursday, and the kidnapping of Ariel Turner had been on Tuesday. Keeping Lucy home wasn’t unreasonable, but logic didn’t mean much to a kid. “Grady, tell us what it’s like to live in Wyoming,” she said, anxious to change the subject. “We’ve never been there.”
“It’s cold, like it is here. We have a lot of snow too. Ours comes in from the mountains; yours is impacted by Lake Michigan. But we don’t have big skyscrapers like this.” Grady gestured to their surroundings. “Our tallest building is a hotel that’s three stories high. The windows overlooking Lake Michigan are nice, but we have a view of snowcapped mountains and forests outside our windows. They’re pretty impressive.”
“I’m sure they’re beautiful.” She’d skied down the mountains of Switzerland but hadn’t visited Wyoming. Strangely, she felt bad about that. Maybe she should make a point of taking Lucy to visit more of the states that made up their home.
“I own a small house in Cody,” Grady went on. “I’ve considered selling since I don’t spend a lot of time there, but it’s nice to have a home base.” A wry grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “My friends, the Sullivans, have been using it in my absence. They’ve kindly fixed the damage they’d inadvertently caused.”
“Damage?” Imagining wild parties, she shook her head. “That’s rude.”
