Code Name: Nanny (SEAL and Code Name #5)(115)

“Greg, you don’t have to—”

“Just listen, please. I was wrong about you, Cara. I was certain you wouldn’t stay the course. You were busy, you had a demanding career, and you already had a family.” Greg Winslow frowned down at his empty glass. “I told Tate he was making a big mistake, that you’d hurt him, professionally and personally. I was a damned fool for that.”

Cara took Greg’s arm gently. “That’s very nice of you to say.”

“I’m afraid there’s more.” Greg looked warily at Tate. “About a year ago Mother came to talk to me, Tate. She said she was worried about Cara distracting you from your career. I—I’m afraid I gave her a little encouragement in that view.”

Tate’s mouth flattened. “You did what?”

“I . . . told her you were working too hard, passing up crucial meetings so that you could fit in time with Cara and the girls. I wanted her support if it ever came down to a family discussion.”

“You mean a showdown,” Tate snapped.

“I didn’t know she had been medicating herself in Mexico.” Greg looked pale. “The guilt has been killing me, Tate, ever since I heard about what she did. I want to make amends.”

The senator didn’t speak, his eyes dark with anger, and it was Cara who finally broke the tense silence. “I love you both. I loved Amanda, too, strange as that may seem now. I think it’s because you’re all so intense, committed two hundred percent to the things you think are right. You did what you thought was right, Greg, and Amanda . . . well, Amanda was not in her right mind.”

After a long time Tate shrugged. “Hell, Greg, if Cara can forgive you, I can, too. So how about you handle the pleasantries here so Cara and I can leave? Bud fixed up the guesthouse. There’s champagne on ice and a fire going . . .”

“Get lost.” Greg grinned. “If anyone asks, I’ll say you had an urgent call from Washington.”

Cara stared anxiously around the crowded room. “But the girls—”

“Between your Mr. Morgan and your ex-nanny, the girls are in excellent shape. Bud and Ellie have promised them a Monopoly marathon later. I believe I’ll sit in, too.”

Tate crossed his arms. “Excellent planning. Now I know why I hired you as my chief policy advisor.”

“You hired me because I came dirt cheap,” Greg said wryly. “Now get moving before someone else decides to offer their congratulations. Here comes Audra, and I intend to ask her to dance. She looks a little wistful.”

“She’s missing her friends, I expect. Tate, maybe we should stay a while longer.”

“Hit the trail, Counselor. The bases are covered here.” Greg Winslow straightened his tie. “If I can handle the devious, underhanded power brokers of Capitol Hill, I guess I can handle two young girls.”

“You might be surprised,” Cara murmured as Greg wandered off. She looked up at Tate. “What are you looking so cat’s-got-the-canary about?”

“You and your sister.” Tate waited, studying Cara’s face. “You’ve kept the secret very well.”

“What do you mean?”

Tate spoke very quietly. “I figured it out while you were in the hospital and Melody came to stay with you. You didn’t have an abortion that day in Mexico. Jordan is a very handsome young man, and he happens to have your eyes.”

Cara took a sharp breath. “Tate, you haven’t told—”

“Nothing to no one, and I never will. The secret is yours and Melody’s alone, honey. And if I didn’t love you already more than I can bear, I’d definitely be a goner now.” Tate took her hand. “You’re lucky to have Melody—and Jordan’s lucky to have you both.”

Cara stared at the child she’d given up years before to a sister who had despaired of ever being able to conceive. “He’s wonderful, isn’t he?” Cara whispered. “Mel’s going to tell him next summer. We agreed on that, and I had to keep my promise. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, Tate.”

“You are one thickheaded, stubborn woman. Fortunately, stubborn women are a major turn-on for me.” Tate’s eyes narrowed. “Your room or mine?” he whispered.

“We’re staying down in the cabin, remember?”

“Right. Then your bed or mine?”

“There’s only one bed.”

“Better and better.”

Cara pulled him down for a hungry kiss that involved a healthy amount of tongue. “But first we try out the floor in front of that roaring fire.”

Tate was dragging her toward the door before she finished the sentence.



Wind whispered over the windowpanes and snow dusted the meadow. Music from a string quartet filled the magnificent log house, mingled with the sound of noisy toasts to the bride and groom, who were largely oblivious to everything but each other.

It was nice to know that life could still dole out happy endings, Summer thought. As she sipped her second glass of champagne, she realized that the sight of this newly formed family filled some deep part of her heart that she hadn’t known was empty.

Her own memories of home and family were far from inspiring. But her marriages didn’t always crumble into resentment and pain. The living, breathing proof was in front of Summer now.