The Secret Agent's Surprises (Harlequin American Romance) by Tina Leonard Page A

fathering skills…and with them knowing I’d be keeping a firm eye on my sons’ parenting duties, those children would have more than most.”
    Priscilla wasn’t sure Josiah was selling his memory of his sons’ childhood quite the way they remembered it. They all wore pained grimaces, expressions that tickled Suzy and Laura.
    “You turned out fairly well, honey,” Laura told Gabe.
    He enjoyed the compliment but wasn’t about to credit his father.
    “You’re a catch,” Suzy told Dane. “I like you well enough, at least for the month I’ve been married to you. The jury is still out in some respects, but—”
    “But you’re crazy about me,” Dane said, stealing a kiss.
    It was all so easy, Priscilla realized. The two couples had an ease with each other that she and Pete simply didn’t have. She seemed to grow more uncomfortable around him all the time. Being a part of this gathering didn’t feel like a natural fit, either. Even though Josiah liked her, she knew she would never fit in the way he wanted her to.
    She would never be a part of this happy family.
    Suddenly she wanted to go home. It would be rude to say so, so she busied herself in the kitchen and played with the children while everyone talked in the den. She could still hear them in the other room.
    “Let’s think about it some more,” Pete said. “I’m sure there’s something we can do to help. I just haven’t hit the right idea yet.”
    “It’ll come to us,” Gabe said. “I, too, hate to think of those kids being broken up.”
    Josiah beamed at his sons. “You make me proud,” he said, and the whole room went silent.
    “Oh, hell, don’t act like I never said the words before,” Josiah said. “What a bunch of emotionally needy weenies I raised. Priscilla! I’ll have my afternoon toddy now. I need it to hang with this herd of emotional lightweights.”
    “I’ll get it,” Pete said quickly. “Pop, you can’t just bellow at Priscilla like she’s family.”
    Everyone went silent again. Priscilla hesitated.
    “I mean, Pop, look.” Pete sighed. “This bride-picking thing—Priscilla and I are friends. You can’t just assume she wants to be part of our family and expect her to wait on you hand and foot.”
    “I think I know something about women, son,” Josiah said, “and what I know is that they’re happiest when they’re married and having children. Your mother’s happiest days were when she was having babies. All women probably secretly dream of being good wives and mothers.”
    The women’s jaws dropped. The men seemed stunned, not knowing what to say to their father.
    “Well, they are,” Josiah said defensively. “Aren’t you happy, Laura? Suzy?”
    The women remained silent, staring at Josiah, amazed by his audacity.
    Josiah sniffed, not liking that he somehow wasn’t being recognized as the authority on what women wanted and what they didn’t. “If you’re implying I’m a male chauvinist, I most certainly am not. I’ve always treated women with enormous respect.”
    “Actually,” Priscilla said from the den’s entrance-way, “I’d love to get married if I were a different woman. But the truth is, I like my life just as it is. I’m happy with what I’ve done for myself. And I’ll get Josiah his toddy, not because I think he’s being chauvinistic, but because I know how to fix it better than Pete does.” Priscilla walked back into the kitchen, telling herself she was being completelyhonest about her views on marriage—when deep inside, she knew she wasn’t.
    Not entirely.
     
    P ETE DROVE Priscilla back to Fort Wylie that evening. She’d been quiet, and Pete figured her mood was appropriate. His family was pretty boisterous, as far as an outsider would see it. Plus, Pop treated her like she was his personal servant, calling on her to attend to him every now and again. Maybe he just wanted reassurance that she was still around, and he was trying to show her that he was a fairly harmless old