The Delacourt Scandal by Sherryl Woods

you live?”
    “Of course not. This will just be easier. I’d better run now.”
    Her uneasiness only fueled his suspicions. “What’s the rush?”
    “I’m…I’m meeting friends.”
    “Really?” Last he’d heard, she didn’t have any.
    “From out of town,” she said hurriedly, as if she’d read his mind. “They’re just here for the one night.”
    He nodded. “Okay, then. Have fun.”
    She bolted from the bar. Tyler stared after her, bemused. She was lying through her teeth. But why?
     
    Tyler was stilling trying to figure out Maddie’s evasiveness when he pulled up outside of O’Reilly’s on Sunday morning. To his surprise Maddie was standing by the curb waiting for him. He’d almost expected her not to turn up.
    “I have to tell you this whole thing makes me nervous,” she said as she slid into the car. “I mean these are the Delacourts.”
    Tyler chuckled. “I’m a Delacourt. Do I make you nervous?”
    “More than you know,” she retorted, then grinned,totally disarming him. “Just don’t let it go to your head.”
    “Not much chance of that. How was your evening with your friends?”
    She stared at him blankly. “What? Oh, those friends,” she said as if there were so many that his question had confused her. “They’re great. We had a wonderful time.”
    “Where’d you go?”
    “My place. We ordered pizza, gabbed the night away. You know how women are when they haven’t seen each other for a while.”
    “Did my name come up?”
    “No,” she said at once. “Why would it?”
    He gave her a bland look, then echoed her earlier comment, “I know how women are. They love to talk about the men in their lives.”
    “You aren’t…I mean it’s not as if…”
    “Isn’t it really?”
    Her gaze narrowed. “Tyler, what is it that you think we’re doing?”
    “Going to dinner with my parents at the moment.”
    “Beyond that?”
    “Getting to know each other?” he suggested.
    “Exactly. Not dating. Just getting to know each other,” she said very firmly.
    “I’m not sure I see the difference. Isn’t the purpose of dating to get to know each other?”
    “Yes, but…”
    “But what?” he asked when she didn’t finish the thought.
    “Nothing.” She fell silent.
    Tyler let it go, because they were pulling into thelong, curving drive to his parents’ home. Out of the corner of his eye he tried to gauge Maddie’s reaction to the impressive grounds and even more impressive home. She looked just a little stunned.
    By the time they went inside, though, she had gathered her composure. She greeted his mother graciously, but to his surprise she stiffened ever so slightly when she was introduced to his father. There was an unreadable expression on her face, but it was gone in a heartbeat, replaced by a smile that was polite, if clearly strained.
    The uncomfortable moment passed because his mother stepped in and took over, leading them into the library for a predinner drink and her usual inquisition. Maddie withstood all of the embarrassingly intimate questions with good grace and surprisingly few details.
    About the best Tyler could say for the endless afternoon was that Maddie’s presence kept the attention off him. For once, he and his father avoided verbal bloodshed. And his mother had apparently “uninvited” Mary Claire.
    When the torturous dinner finally ended, Tyler couldn’t wait to escape. He made their excuses, claiming a prior commitment that clearly took Maddie by surprise, but she seized the opportunity to leave with an eagerness matching his, even if he didn’t entirely understand her reasons.
    Outside again, Tyler crawled in thankfully behind the wheel of his car, then turned to meet Maddie’s gaze.
    “I am so sorry,” he said at once.
    She laughed. “Your mother is really, really anxious to see you married, isn’t she?”
    “You have no idea.”
    “I’m not sure she found me up to her usual standards,” Maddie said.
    “You’re female. You’re