The Daughter Dilemma. Ann Evans

Churchill. Good luck.”

      She lifted her chin again and took his hand. “Thank you, Mr. D’Angelo,” she replied in a tight tone that bore no warmth. Not a flicker. “I’m sure whatever happens during the rest of my stay, it can’t possibly compare to what I experienced today.”

      Nick had a feeling she was referring to more than just the accident, but he wasn’t about to comment. He nodded and made his escape.

      KARI HAD JUST SLIPPED into her jeans when the nurse came back to the room. Except for a killer headache and some stiff muscles in her back, she felt fine. Maybe a little drained from the ordeal she’d been through, but who wouldn’t be? The fact that both she and Addy D’Angelo had managed to come out of the crash in one piece was pretty amazing.

      Even more amazing was the fact that she’d kept her conversation with Nick D’Angelo semi-civil. If ever there was a man who could make a woman scream in frustration, he was it.

      Of course, she had to concede that he had some right to be angry with her. She had taken advantage of Addy, and that knowledge had left her struggling with enough guilt to choke a horse. Her mother had always complained that she was too much like her father. When Madison Churchill set his sights on something, he went barreling in and damned the consequences. Kari had certainly inherited that trait.

      The nurse who’d assisted the doctor came into the room. She handed Kari a prescription for a muscle relaxer and a mild pain reliever. “You’re all set to go,” she said. She handed Kari a third piece of paper. “Nick said to give you this. It’s the phone number for a couple of motels down by the interstate.”

      Kari slipped the prescriptions and the phone numbers into the back pocket of her jeans. She realized suddenly that the nurse, a pretty brunette about her age, had used D’Angelo’s first name. “You know Mr. D’Angelo?” she asked.

      The woman had already begun to strip the hospital gurney of its sheets. She glanced back over her shoulder. “Everyone around these parts knows Nick. He’s been baby-sitting Lightning River Lodge for his family for five years now.”

      “Has he always been so…”

      “Sexy?”

      “No!” Kari nearly gasped. That thought hadn’t entered her mind. “I was going to say…dictatorial.”

      The nurse’s eyes flickered with honest amusement. “Honey, you’d better have the doc check you over again. Make sure your brain didn’t get scrambled. Every woman in the Lightning River area would like to lasso Nick D’Angelo. Myself included.” She dumped the soiled sheets into a hamper and smiled at Kari. “I haven’t seen him look this grim since his dad had his stroke. You certainly seem to have gotten on his bad side.”

      “Oh, you mean there’s a good side?” Kari said. “I sure didn’t see it.”

      “Nick’s just protective of his family. He takes his responsibilities very seriously. But he can be a real sweetie.”

      “I must have missed the sweetness in between all the yelling and threats,” Kari said with a laugh. “In fact, are you sure we’re talking about the same Nick D’Angelo? The guy I know is the most arrogant, annoying, rock-headed man I’ve ever met.”

      “One and the same man, I’m afraid.”

      That slightly rough-voiced response came from behind Kari, and she started. She turned to find an older man in a wheelchair parked in the doorway. His features were worn and tired-looking, but a spark of vibrant life burned in his dark eyes.

      Kari swallowed hard. This had to be one of the D’Angelos. He had the same direct way of looking at a person that Nick had. The same commanding presence in spite of whatever illness had put him in that chair.

      But did they share the same temper, too?

      The man moved his chair forward, until he sat right in front of her. “I’m Sam D’Angelo,” he said in a calm voice. “Nick’s and Adriana’s father.”

      She’d been afraid of that.

      She wet her lips. “Mr. D’Angelo, you have a perfect right to be upset about what happened. I’d like to explain—”

      He held up one hand. “That isn’t really necessary. I think I have a clear picture. Adriana shouldn’t have taken you up, but she can be very…single-minded and impetuous sometimes.” He grinned. “She gets that from her mother’s side of the family, I’m afraid.”

      A little of Kari’s anxiety settled. This man wasn’t nearly the ill-tempered grouch his son was.

      But then he tilted his head at her, as though seeing a very unusual bug for the first time. “Besides, I wanted to meet the woman who has my son in such an uproar. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him like this.”

      “Like what? You mean, angry enough to drop me from the nearest cliff?”

      “Yes. That’s one emotion you seem to have brought out in him. Perhaps there are others.”

      She frowned, not sure what he meant by that. “I’m dreadfully sorry about all this. I really wish I could turn back the clock twenty-four hours. Addy told me everyone in your family is working double-time in preparation for some wedding your resort is catering. Will you be terribly short-handed without her help?”