The Family Feud: The Family Feud / Stop The Wedding?!

JAN EASED a hip on the desk when her father plunked sullenly into the chair. “Dad, I know this must’ve been a difficult month for you. I know it was hard on Mom because she couldn’t get through the telling of her side of the feud without breaking down in tears. She really misses you.”

John snorted. “Not enough to tramp over here to apologize.”

Jan smiled faintly. “What things would you like her to apologize for?”

“For starters, she could admit that buying that blasted clothing store was a mistake of gigantic proportions,” he burst out resentfully.

“You don’t think Mom deserves the sense of accomplishment that comes from owning her own store?” she asked tactfully. “Did she begrudge your successful career as a teacher? Does she begrudge all the praise you receive from moonlighting as a carpenter?”

“No, but she certainly complained that I wasn’t home to help raise you girls while I was moonlighting to make extra money when we needed it,” John replied. “I couldn’t win for losing.”

Her dad was probably right on that count. Even so, he’d opened himself up for criticism. “By objecting to the time Mom spends at her store, you’re guilty of doing the same thing you claim she did.”

John flashed her a disgruntled frown. “Maybe so, but the situation is different now. We don’t have babies underfoot. We’re in our late fifties.”

Jan swallowed a smile. Her dad wasn’t dressed like he was over the hill. He was wearing another of his trendy shirts and slacks that were better suited for college students, not a man suffering a midlife crisis.

“This should be our time together. We should be seeing the world together, not chained to that damned dress shop,” John muttered sourly.

“Couldn’t you see the world from a car seat and stay at hotels?” she asked gently. “You could still sightsee to your heart’s content.”

John slammed his fist on the desk. “No, damn it. I knew you’d take her side. The Winnebago is my idea of a vacation!”

“And your idea of fun is dining with Georgina Price when you know you’re humiliating Mom to no end? How’d you like it if Mom was seeing someone and inspiring gossip and speculation?”

John stuck out his chin stubbornly. “Fine by me. Maybe she’ll entice her boyfriend instead of ignoring him the way she’s been ignoring me.”

Jan fought valiantly to prevent a blush from creeping into her cheeks. She was trying to tiptoe around the sexual aspect of her parents’ relationship. “Er…let’s bypass that issue and focus on other problems.”

“Why? Don’t you want to know she doesn’t find me desirable anymore? Why do you think I’ve dyed my hair and bought these flashy clothes? I thought it’d gain her notice. But, you know what she did?” he asked bitterly. “She laughed at me. Well, other women have taken notice!”

Georgina Price again, Jan mused. No doubt, the woman gushed compliments to attract John’s interest and he soaked it up like a sponge.

Jan leaned forward and got right in John’s face. “Dad, what’s the real reason for this second childhood and your desire to see the world?”

John opened his mouth, slammed it shut and then glared at her for a moment. “I don’t want to talk to you about this stuff. Morgan knows how I feel and why. He’s a man and he understands where I’m coming from.”

“I’m trying to understand so I can explain your needs to Mom,” Jan replied. “She’s embarrassed about the separation and she’s humiliated because you’re lollygagging with Georgina. Mom wants you to support her new career, not force her to give up her store.”

John shook his head—not a dyed hair moved. The shiny gel held it in place like superglue. “You’re too biased and I can’t discuss things openly with you because it makes you and me uncomfortable. Since your mother appointed you as her speakpiece I’m appointing Morgan as mine.”

“Dad—”

He held up his hand like a traffic cop. “Nope, I’ve made up my mind. You girls aren’t going to gang up on me anymore. You can talk to me about this separation through Morgan, or not at all and that’s final. And by the way,” he added. “I heard gossip that your sister went on a binge last night after she cancelled the wedding. Tell her to get her act together. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to earn my wages at the store.”

“But, Daddy—” Jan’s shoulders slumped in defeat as John marched from the office. Great, now she had to play he-said-she-said with Morgan. How was she supposed to concentrate on getting down to the basic issues that kept her parents apart when last night’s mind-boggling kiss was right there between them? Just seeing him this morning, looking sinfully handsome, got her hormones all riled up again.

When Jan exited the office, Morgan and John were deep in conversation. Jan figured her dad was informing Morgan that he’d been appointed negotiator for the male side of the Mitchell feud. And here Jan had decided it was best not to spend much time alone with Morgan, considering her volatile reaction to him the previous night. Well, scratch that. For the sake of her parents’ crumbling marriage she’d have to set aside her vulnerability to Morgan and focus on getting to the crux of the problems with her parents.

When Morgan ambled toward her, Jan battled the warm sensations that rippled through her and tamped down her desire. Her female hormones needed to take a chill pill, she decided irritably. She had a relationship to salvage and it demanded her absolute concentration. She wasn’t going gaga over Morgan again.

“So,” Morgan murmured, staring at the air over her left shoulder. “I’ve been informed that I’ve been appointed as John’s spokesman. Is that going to be a problem for you?”

“Not as big a problem as walking away and letting a divorce take place,” she replied. “Dad says…” Her voice trailed off when she noticed who’d entered the store. “Well, damn.”

Morgan glanced over his shoulder and frowned darkly. “Gee, I wonder who Richard wants to plead his indefensible case to Kendra?”

Richard plastered on a high-voltage smile and moved steadily toward Jan. “Janna…” His gaze dropped to her chest. “Whoa. Word around town is that you’ve changed drastically. That’s an understatement. You look—”

“Do you have a reason for being here?” Morgan cut in. “If so, state your purpose. Jan and I are in the middle of a discussion.”

“Yeah, okay.” Richard shifted awkwardly beneath Morgan’s hard stare. “I want Jan to talk to Kendra for me.” It was a command, not a request. “I dropped by to see her this morning. She looked like hell, by the way. I tried to talk to her, but she stormed out the door and told me she’s going to see that country bumpkin rancher she was dating when I—”

“When you beat his time?” Morgan supplied helpfully.

The suave, Nordic-godlike lawyer winced. “Well, I wouldn’t put it that way. But the point is Kendra went running to Evan Gray to punish me for something that didn’t mean a thing.”

Jan wanted to wallop Richard upside the head. “You could’ve talked all day without saying that,” she snapped.

“Well, it didn’t mean anything. I went a little crazy is all.”

“Easy for you to say after a reckless tumble in the hay,” Jan said through her teeth. “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it wasn’t the first time.”

Richard had the decency—though not a lot of it, mind you—to blush sheepishly. “It’s Kendra I love and want to marry. That was just sex—”

When Jan pounced Morgan roped his arm around her waist and held her back. Damn if he didn’t admire her killer instinct. She went straight for the jugular. “You can’t kill him,” Morgan cautioned.

“Why not? He deserves to die!” Jan sputtered in outrage. She squirmed for release, but Morgan refused to let her go.

When Jan hissed and spat like an angry cat, Richard took a wary step backward. “Look, I know I made a mistake.”

“What? Getting caught in bed with your secretary? You can say that again, Richie,” Jan seethed. “Because of you, my sister was deathly ill all night. She’s been humiliated, and you want me to intercept her and talk to her before she falls into that ‘country bumpkin rancher’s’ clutches?”

“Well, yeah, I do,” Richard said, undaunted.

“So, it’s okay for you to have a premarital fling to sow your wild oats, but not Kendra?” Jan demanded hotly.

“Well, she’s a woman. Women aren’t supposed to—”

“Argh!” Jan, seeing red, launched herself forward, itching to claw out the man’s eyes, pickle them and hand them back to him in a hermetically sealed jar. Unfortunately, Morgan’s arms tightened around her like vise grips, leaving her clawing air.

“Richard, ol’ pal,” Morgan said calmly. “I advise you to skedaddle before I turn this little wildcat loose. As you can plainly see, she’s in attack mode, she’s got attitude and she’s ferociously protective of her family.”

“Just track down Kendra, okay?” Richard pleaded and retreated. “Make her talk to me so we can work this out, okay? Please? I love her.”

“You sure have a strange way of showing it,” Jan snarled. “Words are cheap and you betrayed her trust in the worst possible way. If you were my fiancé I’d have you castrated so you couldn’t cheat again—ever!”

She could feel Morgan’s massive body shaking in silent amusement, but still he wouldn’t release her. If he’d been there all through the night, while Jan listened to Kendra wretch, sob and wail, he wouldn’t think this was so damn funny.

Morgan didn’t set Jan on her feet until Richard scuttled through the door. Huffily, she rearranged her shirt that had twisted sideways while she squirmed and wriggled for release.

“That went well, didn’t it?” Morgan commented, swallowing a grin.

Jan skewered him with a glare. “You should’ve let me kill him.”

Morgan cupped her chin in his hand and stared into her bloodshot eyes. “How much sleep did you get last night?”

“Very damn little,” she muttered sourly.

“Breakfast?” he inquired.

“Two cups of coffee.”

Morgan nodded in pretended thoughtfulness. “I still don’t think we could’ve gotten you off a murder rap by pleading temporary insanity. Duress, insomnia, lack of nutrition and excessive caffeine probably wouldn’t hold up in court.”

Jan raked her hair from her face, sighed heavily and told herself to calm down. Morgan was right. She was weary and wired and just plain furious with Richard. Even so, she had to find Kendra before she repeated last night’s idiocy and rebounded to her former boyfriend—who, by the way, wasn’t a country bumpkin, not in Jan’s book, leastwise. Evan Gray might’ve been too old for Kendra and not nearly as handsome and sophisticated as Richard, but he’d been good to Kendra.

“May I borrow your truck to track down Kendra?” Jan asked. “I’d ask Dad, but he won’t talk to me unless I go through you.”

Morgan turned her around and guided her down the aisle. “We’ll both go. Your dad can mind the store.”

“No.” Jan put on the brakes, but Morgan uprooted her without breaking stride. “Really, Morgan, I can handle this. It’s my problem.”

“I told you last night that I’m making the Mitchells a study in family concept and interactions.”

“I don’t know why,” she mumbled as he swept her alongside him. “We’ve turned dysfunctional.”

“Regardless, I’m going along for the ride. It’s my pickup, after all. I don’t want you to run down Richard with it.” Morgan waved his arm to nab John’s attention. “I’ll be back before you leave for lunch.”

“You’re taking Janna with you? Good.” John smiled devilishly. “After lunch I’m going to test drive that flashy sports car I’ve had my eye on.”

Jan groaned. “Dad—”

“Clam up,” Morgan cut in. “He’s only baiting you so you’ll go running to Sylvia to tattle. Then she’ll be upset and the feud will fester.”

Jan swore she was near tears by the time she reached the pickup. Frustration was building inside her like molten lava, threatening to blow sky high. She needed a nutritious meal, a good night’s sleep…and a family that didn’t drive her nuts! If she had a nervous breakdown, they’d all be sorry. Who’d save them from themselves?

“I wanna go back to Tulsa,” she murmured as Morgan headed west.

“Wise idea,” he agreed. “Despite the hype, Oz isn’t the magical paradise we’d have tourists believe.”

Jan’s cell phone shrilled in her purse, contributing to the headache she felt intensifying behind her eyes. “Hello?”

“Jan, things are falling apart here,” Diane whined in a voice that reminded Jan of a mewling Siamese cat. “Nobody knows how to operate this new software program. They keep grilling me and you know I’m uncomfortable leading a meeting. I can’t do it!”

“Diane, just take a breath and calm down,” Jan ordered.

Morgan took his eyes off the road momentarily to toss her a grin that implied she shouldn’t be calling the kettle black after her little scene with Richard. Childishly, she stuck out her tongue at him. He chuckled.

“When are you coming home?” Diane wanted to know.

“I’m not sure. I have another crisis to resolve,” Jan reported.

“My gosh, boss, the company needs you. I need you. You have to come home. I’m not ready to command yet.”

“Of course, you are,” Jan encouraged as she massaged her pounding temples. The headache was increasing in intensity by the second. It felt as if elf-size carpenters were drilling holes in her skull. “You have the educational background and know-how. That’s why I hired you.”

“Well, you made a mistake. The staff keeps storming the office, firing off questions at me and interrupting each other. It’s so noisy I can’t think straight!” she yowled.

“Breathe, Diane,” Jan instructed. “Now listen very carefully. Don’t sit there making up excuses as to why you can’t handle the situation while I’m talking to you. Just listen to me. Are you listening with both ears?”

“Yes, boss,” Diane said dutifully.

Jan closed her eyes against the glaring sunlight that aggravated her headache and gave Diane the step-by-step procedure to follow, in hopes of pacifying the staff. When she finally convinced Diane that she could handle the situation, Jan disconnected and then slumped against the seat. Between her family and her assistant she felt emotionally and physically drained.

“So, maybe going back to Tulsa isn’t such a hot idea,” Morgan said.

Jan didn’t open her eyes. It took too much effort. “I’ve decided to fly off to a deserted island in the South Pacific. No forwarding address. No phone connection,” she whispered. “Nothing but uninterrupted silence.”

“I’ll help you pack.”

“I haven’t unpacked,” she reminded him, then pried open one eye to glance at him. “Now, if you’ll agree to marry my sister and adopt my parents, I’ll be indebted to you for life.”

Morgan gave his raven head a shake, then smiled. “Sorry, but Kendra isn’t my type and I already have an uncontrollable mother to deal with.”

“Not your type?” Jan scoffed. “Kendra is every man’s fantasy.”

“I’m not every man,” he clarified as he hung a left and drove down the graveled road. “I’ve gotten attached to a flame-haired fireball female who tells everybody else to calm down while she tries to take her sister’s unfaithful fiancé apart with her bare hands.”

“I wasn’t going to take Richard apart,” she corrected, lips twitching. “I was only going to jerk out his eyeballs and castrate him on the spot.”

“Oh, pardon me. My mistake…Janna?”

“Yes?” She sighed tiredly and squirmed to find a more comfortable position on the seat.

“About last night’s kiss, I—”

“I liked it,” she broke in. “It was the only good thing in an otherwise hellish day.” She glanced his way, wondering how he’d reacted to her honesty. Maybe she shouldn’t have admitted any such thing, but she was suddenly wishing there was one person in Oz that she could be truthful and open with. She was tired of playing mediator for her parents, watching what she said and how she said it. She just wanted to be herself for a few minutes before she had to psych herself up to deal with Kendra’s latest shenanigan.

“So, we’re square then?” Morgan asked. “No hard feelings—except on my part, obviously. No regrets on either side of that kiss?”

Jan chuckled at his off-color play on words. “No regrets, except that I didn’t listen when you warned me not to stay at Kendra’s because I wouldn’t get any sleep.”

He waited a beat and then, without taking his eyes off the road, he said so quietly that she had to strain her ears to hear him. “You probably wouldn’t have gotten much sleep at my place, either, despite your current status.”

Jan pondered the quiet comment during the drive to Evan Gray’s ranch. Why, she wondered, was he suggesting that she could experiment with sex at his place? Because she was convenient? Because she was a challenge to him? Because one-night flings were the norm for him?

She closed her eyes, massaged her aching temples and decided this wasn’t the time to puzzle out the answer to that question. She had a killer headache and a gone-wild sister to rescue—again. No sense borrowing trouble when she already had a truckload of it.

5

MORGAN WATCHED in admiration as Janna drew herself up to full stature, cut a quick glance toward Kendra’s car, and then strode determinedly toward the two-story farmhouse. Despite the apparent exhaustion and emotional turmoil swirling around her, Janna was intent on dragging her sister from Evan’s clutches and saving Kendra from a critical mistake.

What Janna didn’t know was that Evan Gray was probably the one man in Oz who could handle Kendra and who loved her still, despite her engagement to slick Richard, the ladies’ man. Morgan well remembered Evan’s drunken binge after he’d lost Kendra to the smooth-talking lawyer. What Morgan didn’t know was whether Kendra had lingering feelings for Evan or if she was just looking for vindication. Whatever her true agenda, Morgan didn’t want to see Evan hurt again.

Morgan bit back a chuckle when Janna pounded both fists on the door, then grabbed her aching head. One look at her ashen face indicated she was operating on sheer will. When no one answered the insistent knock, Janna invited herself inside.

“That might not be a good idea,” Morgan cautioned, then sighed when she flagrantly ignored him. The woman was hell on wheels, he decided.

Morgan grimaced when he heard country music and slumberous laughter wafting down the hallway. He snagged Janna’s arm, but she shook loose and darted ahead of him. “No,” he muttered as he clamped his hands over her eyes as she rounded the corner to the bedroom.

Sure enough, Evan and Kendra were exactly where Morgan predicted they’d be and they’d done exactly what he presumed they’d done. In between a raft of four-letter words, Evan more or less told them to leave. Not that the command had any effect on Janna. She clawed Morgan’s fingers from her eyes and gasped in dismay.

“Kendra!” Janna yelped as her face turned a dozen shades of red.

To Evan’s credit, he protectively shielded Kendra with his brawny body. As Morgan suspected, this was far more than a reckless tryst to Evan. The man was in it for the love, not just for the lust. Morgan had no way of knowing Kendra’s motives, but he hoped like hell she didn’t bring this rugged rancher to his knees, leaving him holding his heart in his hands and triggering another monthlong binge.

“I said get the hell out of here!” Evan roared furiously.

“Go away!” Kendra wailed, covering her head with the sheet.

“No. If you aren’t in the living room in five minutes I’m coming back for you,” Janna insisted, her face still pulsing beet-red, her back ramrod stiff. “I don’t care if I have to go through Evan to get to you. Got it, sis?”

“Yes,” Kendra simpered, still cowering under the sheet.

When Janna wheeled around and stalked off, Morgan tarried in the hall. After Kendra dashed past him, her blouse inside out, her jeans sagging on her hips, Morgan stepped into the bedroom to meet Evan’s menacing scowl. “Sorry about that. I tried to stop her, I really did.”

Evan zipped his jeans and snatched up his work shirt. “Right, you couldn’t manhandle that shrimp of a female,” he bit off sarcastically.

“Right, just like you couldn’t tell a rebounding blonde no and you couldn’t fight her off when she had her way with you,” Morgan retaliated with equal sarcasm.

Evan’s hands stalled over the buttons of his shirt, and then he smiled wryly when Morgan arched a challenging brow. Evan’s smile evaporated as he fastened his shirt. “I never got over her,” he confided. “I’ll take her back any way I can get her—in a red-hot minute.”

“Obviously,” Morgan murmured. “But what if she’s only using you, Evan? What if she’s here today and gone tomorrow?”

Evan crammed his shirttail in his jeans, refusing to meet Morgan’s steady gaze. “Doesn’t matter. I love her. Always have. Always will. You know that. Hell, who in town doesn’t know it?”

“Fine, it’s public knowledge,” Morgan agreed. “But, damn it, I consider you a friend and I don’t want to see you hurt again.”

Evan smiled faintly. “Thanks, Morgan. I appreciate your concern. But Kendra needs me. She may be too distraught to realize it yet, but today was a milestone.” He sent Morgan a meaningful glance. “Ever been in love so deep that you couldn’t let a day go by without driving by her place, catching sight of her on the street and wishing she was still yours?”

“No, can’t say that I have,” Morgan admitted truthfully.

“Then don’t judge me until you’ve stood in my boots and wanted someone so badly that you ache with it. Hell, I know I don’t have Richard’s cash flow, his social connections or his dashing good looks, but I’d sure as hell never do to Kendra what Richard did to her. I’m not gonna cower in the bedroom while her sister—and damn, does she look like a fox these days. When did that happen?”

Morgan shrugged and waited for Evan to finish his comment.

“Anyway, I’m offering Kendra moral support and I want Janna to know this isn’t a fly-by-night fling on my part.”

Morgan sighed as he followed Evan down the hall. Love, he decided, was hell—and then some. If he ever found himself in as deep as Evan Gray he might just shoot himself and avoid the misery.

By the time Morgan reentered the living room Kendra was blubbering in tears and Janna was trying to shuffle her out the door. Morgan intercepted the looks bouncing back and forth between Evan and Kendra and he rolled his eyes. He’d never had much appreciation for melodrama. How did Janna deal with this stuff on a regular basis while growing up in her household?

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you, Evan,” Kendra murmured as Janna tugged her toward the door. “Janna says I should leave now.”

Evan nodded, his gaze locked on Kendra. “I’ll be here if you need me. I’m just a phone call away…always…” Although Janna glared mutinously at him, Evan didn’t flinch. “I mean it, Kendra. If you need me, just call me and I’ll be there for you.”

Morgan watched Janna haul her sobbing sister away, then turned back to Evan. “You wanna grab a beer tonight…oh say, eightish?”

Evan nodded his tousled brown head. “Yeah, thanks, Morgan.”

Morgan ambled outside to see Janna, behind the wheel of Kendra’s car, chauffeuring her sister home. Well, he supposed his mission here had been accomplished. He might as well head back to town. He wanted to be on hand to see how many more dragons Janna planned to slay in her quest to put the Humpty-Dumpty Mitchell family back together again. Damn, that woman was something, wasn’t she? She’d go to amazing extremes to protect her family.

He couldn’t believe Janna was the same bashful duckling he’d known in high school. No wonder the town was in an uproar and bachelors were crawling from the woodwork to take a gander at her.

JAN DROVE Kendra’s car toward Morgan’s home so she could retrieve her own car and suitcase. Kendra stared straight ahead, her arms crossed hostilely over her chest, her backbone rigid.

“I really wish you hadn’t interfered,” Kendra ground out bitterly. “You embarrassed Evan and me to no end.”