Chance Meeting Read Online Free PDF Page B

I’ m not a baby. It’s not right, it’s not fair to be treated this way.”
    With any other girl, reflected Sam Brody sadly, he would have been subjected to the earsplitting strains of a young teen on the verge of a full-blown tantrum. But never with Ty. Sure, the desperation was clear in her voice, but the words came out low, their want of theatrics lending all the more power to her plea. Christ Almighty, he thought. Why wasn’t her father here to have this talk with her? But only a fool would go looking for help from that corner.
    Tyler Stannard had telephoned half an hour ago, leaving a message with the driver that his breakfast meeting had gone on too long. What with the weekend traffic, the airport was so busy he’d lost his takeoff slot, and the next one available wouldn’t get him into Lake Placid in time for Ty’s classes. He’d check on how his daughter was progressing another day. At least Tyler Stannard’s absence relieved Sam from having to inform his employer of his daughter’s dangerous escapade right away. He could use the time to figure out the best way to present the thing to her father and spare Ty as much of her father’s wrath as possible.
    Sam’s blood still ran cold each time he thought of it. He didn’t blame Ty—or Lizzie, for that matter (he knew full well the stunt had Lizzie’s fingerprints all over it). They were good kids, great kids, and they were only fourteen years old, for Christ’s sake, full of budding independence and impossible dreams. No, it was his fault. It was pathetic. Here he was, barely thirty years old, and already he’d grown soft, playing nursemaid and watchdog to Ty. The way he’d sat, minutes ticking by, waiting for her to reemerge from that goddamned portable toilet, was a far cry from the hard-nosed cop he’d been six years ago in New York. God, if she’d really been grabbed, the kidnappers would have been miles away by the time Sam wised up enough to realize she was missing. Sam cursed again.
    “I know you’re angry, Sam. But don’t you see, I have no life. I’m like a puppet on some stage; every time I want to do something, I get yanked back. Am I supposed to have a bodyguard forever? If my father prefers to be constantly surrounded by a security detail, that’s fine, it’s his money, but I don’t want to live that way.”
    “Ty, after all the years we’ve been together, you know as well as I that it’s not up to me to decide on the degree of your protection. Your father says, ‘Twenty feet back, and never out of your sight, Brody.’
    Well, then, that’s what I do. And though you may choose to ignore it, Ty, there are creeps out there who would love to get their hands on you. Ones who know down to the last shiny penny what you’re worth as Tyler Stannard’s only child and heiress to his billions, and the ones who don’t, who’ll hurt you simply because they can. Because they like to. That stupid stunt you pulled just now could have gotten you raped, kidnapped, or killed. Perhaps all three. Don’t ever do it on my watch again.”
    It was so rare to see her cry. If anything, she had a tendency to dam all her feelings up inside. He felt like an ogre for making even one tear fall, knowing he’d caused the floodgates to open. She flew into his arms, choking on a sob. “I’m sorry, Sam! I promise I won’t!”
    He enveloped her in a bear hug. “It’s okay, Ty,” he soothed gruffly. “Come on, don’t cry, you’ll be all blotchy for your class.” He looked down into her tearstreaked face, trying to coax a smile from her. “
    Remember, you’ve got to go out and win those two classes today. You won’t be able to memorize the course if your brain’s all waterlogged.” He patted her awkwardly, his strong hands seeming even larger, completely out of proportion, juxtaposed against the slenderness of Ty’s back. And though he loved Ty as though she were his kid sister, Sam knew he shouldn’t be the one doing this, his anger rekindling