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in California, too.”
    “Yes, I know.” Her eyes were shadowed.
    “Kayla...” Damn it, this wasn’t going at all as he wanted it
to.
    She shook her head. “You don’t owe me an explanation this time,
Matt.” Lifting her chin, she gave him a small but determined smile. “You’re
leaving. I’m staying. It’s not like I’m surprised. We all knew you would be
going back to L.A. eventually.”
    Yeah, they had known that all along. But until now, he hadn’t
really let himself acknowledge that leaving without her was completely
unacceptable. How could he go back to a life without her in it? Impossible. Now
all he had to do was make her see things his way. “Let me get you some wine.” He
took her arm and steered her through the crowd toward the bar.
    “Matt, wine isn’t going to solve anything.”
    Stubborn until the end. “Sometimes a glass of wine is just a glass of wine.”
    As they crossed the room, J.D. Lassiter picked up his bottle of
water, frowned at it and instead reached for a nearby glass of champagne.
Tapping a spoon against the delicate crystal until he had everyone’s attention,
the older man let his gaze sweep the crowd before saying, “Dinner’s about to be
served, so I wanted to say a few words before we get started.”
    His nurse was close at hand and she looked worried, Matt
thought as he handed Kayla a glass of white wine. Frowning himself, he studied
J.D. and realized that the man’s skin had a gray cast to it.
    “Is he okay?” Kayla whispered, their differences set aside for
the moment.
    “I don’t know,” Matt answered, but knew that there was no way
to stop J.D. Lassiter once the man had decided on a course of action.
    “We’re all here to celebrate my girl Angelica’s upcoming
marriage.”
    Smatterings of applause broke out, before J.D. shushed them all
with a wave of his hand. “I’m a big believer in family,” he continued, his voice
going softer. “A man makes mistakes in his life, can’t avoid them. But the one
thing you should be able to count on is family.”
    Kayla glanced around the room, wondering if anyone else but she
was noticing that J.D. didn’t look too well. But the others were clearly just
listening to the words.
    “All of us gathered here tonight are family. By blood or by
choice. Doesn’t matter. The only thing that does matter is that we’re here for each other come what may. So I’ll ask you to lift
your glasses—”
    He stopped. Eyes going wide briefly, his expression vaguely
surprised, J.D. dropped the champagne flute and the fine crystal shattered on
the tile floor. He didn’t seem to notice. He took a single step, then slumped to
the floor and lay still.
    The next few minutes felt as if they’d been pulled out of time.
Kayla knew only moments went by but everything took place in such slow motion it
was as if hours were crawling past. She watched as if from a distance even
though she was right in the middle of it all.
    Chaos erupted. Angie screamed. Colleen dropped beside J.D.,
loosening his tie and collar. She checked his pulse and as Dylan and Sage
dropped to the other side of their father, she began CPR.
    Horrified whispers ran just beneath the shouts and choked,
muffled sobbing from the people gathering in a tight circle around the fallen
giant.
    Kayla moved to Angie, wrapped one arm around her and held on as
Evan dialed 911. Holding on to her friend, feeling the other woman’s tremors
wracking through her own body, Kayla watched helplessly as Colleen continued
CPR.
    Matt herded the crowd back, giving those trying to help J.D.
the room they needed. Matt’s gaze locked with Kayla’s and she knew exactly what
he was thinking. It didn’t look good. There’d been no change in J.D.’s
condition. He lay still and quiet, the only island of calm in a churning storm
of emotion.
    Sage and Dylan hovered over their father, helping Colleen as
they could, focusing on the old man as if they could use the strength of their
will to heal him.
    And