But when Peter glided by with Susan Templeton, Thomas saw his daughter’s eyes go soft and dreamy. How could he have predicted, he thought, when he brought the man out to California, that Ridgeway would take his little girl away?

When the music ended, Thomas had to admire the smooth skill with which Peter changed partners and circled away with Laura.

“You shouldn’t look at the man as though you’d like to flog him, Tommy,” Susan murmured.

“She’s just a girl.”

“She knows what she wants. She’s always seemed to know.” She sighed herself. “Apparently it’s Peter Ridgeway.”

Thomas looked into his wife’s eyes. They were wise, always had been wise. She might be small and delicate-framed like her daughter, and perhaps she gave the illusion of fragility. But he knew just how strong she was.

“What do you think of him?”

“He’s competent,” she said slowly. “He’s well bred, well mannered. God knows, he’s attractive.” Her soft mouth hardened. “And I wish he was a thousand miles away from her. That’s a mother talking,” she admitted. “One who’s afraid she’s losing her little girl.”

“We could transfer him to Europe.” He warmed to the idea. “No—Tokyo, or Sydney.”

Laughing, she patted her husband’s cheek. “The way Laura looks at him, she’d follow him. Better to keep him close.” Struggling to accept, she shrugged her shoulders. “She could have fallen for one of Josh’s wilder friends, or a gigolo, a fortune hunter, an ex-con.”

He laughed himself. “Laura? Never.”

Susan merely raised an eyebrow. A man wouldn’t understand, she knew. Romantic natures like Laura’s most usually were drawn to the wild. “Well, Tommy, we’ll just have to see where it goes. And be there for her.”

“Aren’t you going to dance with me?” Margo slid into Josh’s arms, fit there, before he had a chance to agree or evade. “Or would you rather just stand there brooding?”

“I wasn’t brooding. I was thinking.”

“You’re worried about Laura.” Even as her fingers skimmed flirtatiously up the nape of his neck, Margo shot a concerned glance toward Laura. “She’s mad for him. And bound and determined to marry him.”

“She’s too young to be thinking of marriage.”

“She’s been thinking of marriage since she was four,” Margo muttered. “Now she’s found what she thinks is the man of her dreams. No one’s going to stop her.”

“I could kill him,” Josh considered. “Then we could hide the body.”

She chuckled, smiled into his eyes. “Kate and I would be happy to help you toss his lifeless corpse off the cliffs. But hell, Josh, maybe he’s right for her. He’s attentive, intelligent, apparently patient in certain hormonal areas.”

“Don’t start that.” Josh’s eyes went dark. “I don’t want to think about it.”