The Pint-Sized Secret by Sherryl Woods

physical scars, but she had to deal with the emotional ones. That meant taking extra time, time she didn’t have, to distract Emma. When she thought of the work piled up at home, she almost moaned, but it would get done eventually. This was more important.
    “Why don’t we go back inside and play a game?” she suggested.
    Emma regarded her tentatively. “You can stay?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Will you play Go Fish with me?”
    “Whatever you want.” She tweaked her daughter’s nose. “I know why you want to play that, though. You always beat me.”
    Emma grinned. “I know. You don’t pay attention, Mama. You have to concentrate.”
    That impish smile, almost as perfect as it had been before the accident, was what gave Brianna strength. One day it would be back full force. One day she would have her daughter whole and her life on track. Until then, she would just have to do the best she could.
    And steer very far away from the one man who could lead her off course and quite likely straight into her own emotional disaster.

    Brianna was barely seated behind her desk on Monday morning when she was summoned to Bryce Delacourt’s office. By the time she got there, she’d imagined all sorts of dire reasons for the unscheduled meeting.
    Since his secretary wasn’t at her desk, Brianna tapped on the door, then stepped inside.
    “You wanted to see me, sir?”
    Bryce was on the phone, but he beckoned to her distractedly. She went in and took a seat across from him. Surreptitiously she tried to see what was on his desk to learn if that would give her any clue about why he had called her in at such an early hour. Unfortunately, the papers were totally innocuous, mostly business correspondence she couldn’t really read upside down.
    A few moments later, Bryce hung up and beamed at her. The smile caught her off guard. Maybe this wasn’t about some calamity, after all. There had been some in recent months, two land deals that had fallen through when competitors had stepped in and topped their bids at the last second. Bryce had taken those in stride, but he might not if there was a third. He was a man who didn’t like losing.
    “Coffee?” he asked. “It’s strong, but I can’t vouch for how good it is. I never really got the knack for making it, but my secretary won’t be in for another hour and I needed something to jump-start my day.”
    “No, thanks. I have some back in my office.”
    “Wise woman.”
    “What is this about, sir? Is there a problem?”
    He seemed startled by her assumption. “A problem? No, indeed. You’re doing a fine job, Brianna.”
    He fiddled with the papers on his desk as if he were uncomfortable. If he was, it was totally out of character. Bryce Delacourt was the most self-confident man she’d ever met, even more so than his son, and Jeb had proved over the weekend that he was no slouch in that department.
    “I hear you went out with my son on Friday night,” Bryce said finally.
    Was he objecting to the two of them being seen together? She tried to gauge his reaction but couldn’t. She phrased her response cautiously. “He took me to a charity function he had to attend, yes,” she said, curious about where this was heading.
    “Did you have a good time?”
    “It was a lovely party.”
    “And Jeb? How did the two of you get along?”
    “We enjoyed ourselves.”
    He gave a little nod of satisfaction. “Good,” he said, sounding relieved for some reason. “I was just wondering. That’s all, Brianna.”
    She stared at him, thoroughly confused by the whole encounter. “That’s all you wanted to ask me about?”
    “That was it,” he confirmed.
    Still bemused, she got to her feet and started for the door, then decided she shouldn’t mince words. If he had a problem with her seeing Jeb, he needed to know it wasn’t likely to happen again.
    “Sir, do you object to me seeing Jeb? It’s nothing to worry about, I assure you. This was a one-time thing,” she said, ignoring the