A Vow to Love by Sherryl Woods

ought to be someplace where there's room enough to turn around. A man feels like he's suffocating in a space this size."
    Penny grinned at him. "Then it's a good thing no man is spending much time here, isn't it?"
    Her grandfather scowled at her. "Is that a hint?"
    "Take it however you like."
    "Okay, okay," he grumbled. "We'll get out of your hair, as long as you promise to come out to the Cape on Friday."
    "I don't have a car," she reminded him before she considered what the consequences of that remark might be. She could just envision Sam once more being drafted into duty.
    "Then we'll pick you up at the lab," her grandmother offered hurriedly just as her grandfather started to open his mouth. He glared at his wife.
    "Now, Lizzy, you know we were going to drive out early. I have the perfect solution, though..."
    Elizabeth Halloran had not held out against Brandon's wiles for months without having a well-developed stubborn streak of her own. "We will pick her up, Brandon." She patted Penny's hand. "It won't be a bit of trouble, dear. What time can you get off?"
    Oddly disappointed, Penny said, "I suppose I could arrange to leave by four."
    "Wonderful! That will be just fine, won't it, Brandon?"
    Her grandfather looked as if he wanted to protest, but he finally heaved a sigh of resignation. "If it's what you want."
    Elizabeth Halloran beamed at him as if he'd bestowed a special gift of diamonds on her. "Thank you, dear."
    He shook his head. "Don't know how you do it, woman. I'll swear my mind's made up about something and next thing you know I'm agreeing to do the exact opposite. I thought marriage was supposed to be a compromise."
    "It is," her grandmother said sweetly, linking her arm through his. "And you do it very well."

Chapter 6

    T he message at the top of the stack on Sam's desk was succinct. A weekend at the Cape. Be there by seven on Friday. Dana.
    Without glancing at his calendar or giving it a second thought, he automatically reached for the phone and called his sister at work. While he waited for her secretary to pick up, he continued shuffling through the rest of the messages. It took a dozen or more rings, but Dana finally answered herself, sounding breathless and distracted.
    Sam didn't even waste time on hello or asking why she was picking up her own phone. He just announced, "You know I can't get away from here on the weekend."
    "Hello to you, too," she retorted. "Not good enough. That's what you've said every other time I asked."
    "Because it's been true every other time you asked. Gang warfare doesn't take the weekend off. In fact, that's when things tend to really get out of hand. Something bad's coming down. I can feel it. We're barely into summer and the kids are already getting restless."
    The comment was greeted with silence. Sam knew instinctively what she was thinking. She was worried and fighting to keep from letting it show.
    "And you have to be in the middle of it?" she asked finally, wearily.
    "I have to do what I can to keep these kids from killing each other," he countered patiently.
    It was a familiar argument and they both had their parts down pat. By now they were pretty much going through the motions. He wondered why she'd even bothered with the invitation. It must have been a slow day at Halloran Industries.
    "Not this time," Dana said.
    Something in her voice alerted Sam that his big sister meant business. No matter how she worried about him, she rarely took a stand when it came to interfering with his job. When she did, she pulled out all the stops. He braced himself for whatever heavy artillery she planned to fire.
    "Your niece, your goddaughter, is celebrating her tenth birthday at her grandparents' house and she wants you at the party. You will be at her party."
    Her tone left no room for argument. The shot she'd fired was a good one, all right. Guilt sliced through him. "Hell, Dana, you know I would be if--"
    "Oh, no," she said, cutting him off. "No ifs. You missed last year and