Family Man

know it's true? What proof did she offer?”
    “We went to see Nate. He admitted the whole thing.”
    Luke was stunned. When he recovered from the shock, rage poured through him. He jerked his hands out of his pockets and clamped them around Katy's shoulders. “You went to see him? By yourself?”
    Katy bit her lip. “No. Eden was with me.”
    Luke gripped her fiercely. “I don't believe it. No, scratch that. I do believe it. Katy, are you out of your mind? What the hell got into you?” He gave her a small shake. “What did you think you were going to accomplish?”
    “I wanted to try to scare him off.”
    “Scare him off?” It was all Luke could do to keep himself under control. A terrible fear was gnawing at his guts. “How the hell did you think you were going to manage that?”
    Katy drew a deep breath. “I told him I would go to you for help if he didn't stop the blackmail and repay what he had taken.”
    “Me?” Luke felt his jaw drop. He closed his mouth with a snap. “You threatened him with me?”
    “Well, yes. I figured it was the strongest threat I had. The thing is, Luke, he didn't believe me. He didn't think I would tell you what was going on.”
    “Yeah? What made him think that?” Luke demanded. For some reason he was annoyed all over again.
    “He assumes he knows all about the Gilchrist family and how it works because he was married to Eden for a while. And he does know some stuff. He knows how hard Justine can be. He knows what she did to your parents, for example.”
    “And he's convinced Eden she'd banish Maureen and Hayden and their offspring if she found out about Maureen's past?”
    “Yes.” Katy smiled at him with relief in her eyes. “I'm so glad you understand, Luke. I knew you would. Now we've got to figure out how to handle this. I think the best policy would be to keep it quiet.”
    “You think so, huh?” He wanted to turn Katy over his knee and paddle her for being so naïve. She had gone to see Atwood . He still could not bring himself to accept that fact.
    Katy frowned intently. “I'm not saying Justine would cut off that whole side of the family if she found out about Maureen's past, but there is a risk she'd do something drastic. The news would certainly upset her. Maureen would be panic-stricken. I don't know how Hayden would handle the situation. No, I think we had better keep a lid on this.”
    “What's this ‘we’ stuff?” Luke muttered. At least she had come to him about it, he consoled himself grimly. At least she trusted him enough to bring him into the situation. He supposed he ought to be grateful for small favors.
    “I think we should try to contain it,” Katy said. “It may blow up. If it does, we'll just have to deal with Justine. But it would be best if we took care of things before it got that far. You know your family, Luke. If the story of Eden being blackmailed gets out, we'll have another Mount St. Helens explosion on our hands.”
    “I've got a news flash for you, Katy,” Luke said. “You're standing on the rim of a much bigger volcano.”
    She gave him a curious glance. “What are you talking about?”
    “I'm talking about the way I intend to explode after I decide what to do about Atwood.” He wrapped his palm around the nape of her neck and steered her back toward the cliff path.
    “You're going to handle this, aren't you? I knew you would. I told Eden everything was going to be all right.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Thank you, Luke. You don't know how much I appreciate this. I was sure you would help, but frankly, I was expecting more of an argument.”
    “I'm saving the good stuff for later,” he assured her. He whistled to Zeke, who bounded forward, dish in his jaws.
    “What are you going to do first?” Katy asked.
    “The first thing I'm going to do is take Matt down to the local gym and sign him up for a karate class.”
    “ Karate .” Katy dug her heels into the sand. “What on earth are you talking about?”
    “Matt's going to get some training in the martial arts this summer. If he likes it, he'll continue with it next fall when he goes off to college. I'm betting he'll take to it like a duck to water.”
    “Hold it right there, Luke. You can't do something like this without my permission. And I'm not at all certain I want Matt exposed to that sort of influence. Teaching someone hand-to-hand combat techniques is bound to promote a negative, violent approach to problem solving.”
    Luke looked at her. “Katy, you