Free The Mighty Quinns: Jack by Kate Hoffmann Page A

and drag you into this pool with me?” He held out his hand. “Come on, Mia, the water is perfect.”
    “I’m talking about our parents,” she said.
    “What about them?”
    “You aren’t worried that they’re getting a little serious with each other?”
    “Are you?” Jack asked.
    “Yes,” she said. “I don’t want my father to make a mistake. I think he’s very vulnerable and he might misread your mother’s affections for more than they actually are. He’s a very wealthy man and there are plenty of women who’d take advantage of that.”
    Jack stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. “You think my mother is a gold digger? Is that what you’re saying?”
    “No.” She cursed softly. “But you can’t deny that marrying my father would make her life a lot easier. She’d never have to worry about money again.”
    “Well, you don’t have to worry,” Jack said. “Your father’s money is safe. My mother would never agree to marry him, anyway. She’ll never leave Chicago. And your father won’t leave California. It’s a no-win situation.”
    “You don’t seem concerned at all,” Mia said.
    “Maybe I wouldn’t mind if my mother found someone to love,” he said. “I just don’t want to see her hurt and if your dad is just playing around her, I’m not going to be happy.”
    “My father would never do that. He’s a stand-up guy.”
    “I’m not saying he isn’t. But you seem to think my mother is only interested in your dad’s money. Can’t I have some legitimate concerns about your father’s motives?”
    “No!” Mia cried. She got to her feet and paced along the edge of the pool. “You have no idea what he’s been through. Years of dealing with my mother’s illness.... He was always there, by her side, determined to make her well with just the power of his love for her.” Mia turned and walked toward the house, then stopped to say one last thing. “Your mother would be lucky if he fell in love with her!”
    “Oh, yeah?” Jack shouted. “Well, I could say the same for your father!”
    Mia strode back to the house, her temper barely in check. She’d always known there might come a day when her father would move on. And she, along with her sisters, had hoped that the day wouldn’t come at all. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her father to be happy, she just didn’t want to believe that he could put his life with her mother in the past.
    She couldn’t imagine how painful it would be to watch him lavish the same affections on another woman—a woman who wasn’t her mother. Holidays, family birthdays, family vacations would all be irrevocably different with someone else at his side.
    She was being selfish, Mia knew. But she had a right, didn’t she? She was protecting the memory of her mother. Mia opened the screen door and walked into the kitchen, then stopped short.
    But what was Jack doing? Did he really approve of a possible relationship between their parents? She’d just assumed they were on the same side. But there was no question that he was more open than she was to the notion that his mother and her father might fall in love.
    She grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and then decided it would be best to confront him about his opinions. After all, if they were going to be on opposite sides of this issue, it would be best to know it up front.
    When she got back to the pool, Jack was stretched out on a chaise, his sunglasses hiding his eyes. She wasn’t sure if he’d spotted her, but when she stood next to his chair, he turned his head. “Feeling better?” he asked.
    Mia shrugged. “I wasn’t feeling bad. Just a little...perturbed.”
    “Nice word,” he said.
    “I brought you some water.” She held out the bottle. “And I’m sorry if I got snippy with you. The subject of my father finding a new wife brings out the worst in me.”
    He reached out, but instead of grabbing the bottle, he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and