And Baby Makes Six Page 4

She fought back a smile. “I’m sorry Paige kicked you out of your side of the bed.”

  He shrugged, a motion that put his well-developed muscles in motion. “I can wait. There’s no hurry.”

  She was trying to ignore the rippling biceps and firm chest, when he suddenly moved closer and placed the back of his hand gently on her forehead.

  “What?”

  “How are you feeling this morning? Stomach still kind of queasy?”

  She blushed at the reference to her ungraceful arrival yesterday. “I’m not sick.” Sliding out from under his hand, she tried to put a safe distance between them. She had a hard time thinking straight when he touched her, even when it was impersonal. “I’m pregnant, and last night I was exhausted.”

  He didn’t appear convinced. “You shouldn’t have made that trip in one day.”

  His perusal had an unsettling effect on her nerves. She made a stab at redirecting the conversation. “If you’d like, there’s time for you to take a shower while I get lunch ready.”

  She leaned down and pulled a big bowl from the lower cupboard. Straightening, she saw Devlin’s smoldering gaze eye her gaping, loose-fitting shirt. The sea green of his gaze darkened to the passionate richness of jade.

  Warmth flooded through her body. She licked her dry lips. “Lunch should be ready in about twenty minutes.”

  His gaze zeroed in on her moist mouth. “If you say so.” He made no attempt to move away.

  Jason’s voice broke through the sensuous haze holding Abby hostage. “You two going to lock lips, or are you going to let Hulk in before he rips down the back door?”

  Abby jerked. She heard the hostility in Jason’s voice at the same time as she noticed Hulk’s howling at the back door. “I’m sorry.” Feeling awkward, she pushed her hair away from her face in a self-conscious motion. “I forgot I let the dog out. He’s probably hungry.”

  She headed toward the door, but Devlin’s arm stopped her.

  He frowned at his son. “Never mind. Jason can take care of the dog.”

  Riley, wearing slippers that were too big for him and looking as if he’d just climbed out of bed, shuffled into the room. “You guys were kissing? Why do I always miss the good stuff?”

  “What do you know about the ‘good stuff’?” Jason said, smirking, his tone rich with thirteen-year-old superiority. “You’re just a kid.”

  “I can’t help that.” Riley scowled. “They don’t let us have sex on the playground.”

  Abby burst into laughter.

  Devlin didn’t appear as amused. “Riley, go with your brother and take care of Hulk. Then you two can get dressed.”

  “Aw, Dad . . .”

  “You, too, Jason.”

  Jason gave an I-don’t-give-a-rip shrug and sauntered to the door. “Come on, brat. It’s boring in here.”

  Abby watched them leave, her amusement dying away as fast as it had risen. “Jason didn’t look too happy.”

  “It’s cool to be cynical and grumpy at that age,” Devlin said. “You get used to it after a while.”

  She nibbled on her lip, her forehead puckered with uncertainty. “Was he close to his mother?”

  Shutters descended over Devlin’s gaze. “Linda was close to her work. The rest of us were just in her way.” Before she could question him further, he turned away. “I’m going to go take my shower and get dressed.”

  She watched him leave. The house seemed very cold all of a sudden.

  While Abby added the final touches to their lunch, she heard sounds of bodies moving throughout the house. The murmur of voices could be heard occasionally.

  Three times the kitchen door opened.

  “My dad wants to know if you need any help,” Jason said, his voice expressionless. He’d showered and changed into a plain white T-shirt and jeans.

  “You could add another leaf to the table if you’d like,” she suggested.

  He let the door snap shut behind him.

  Five minutes later, Riley stood in the same spot his brother had vacated. “Dad wants to know if you need some help.” He’d tried to tame his hair with a comb but hadn’t quite succeeded.

  The tug on her heartstrings made it hard to resist the urge to reach out and smooth the helter-skelter hair into place. “How about if you put the silverware on the table?”

  He’d no sooner left the kitchen than Paige arrived towing a very tolerant Princess. “Mommy, me and Princess want to help, too.”

  “Princess and I,” Abby corrected automatically. “After you put Princess back in the bedroom, wash your hands and you can put the napkins on the table, honey.”

  “Princess isn’t dirty. She licks herself all the time. Can I just lick my hands clean, too?”

  “No, you have to use real water and soap.”

  “But why?”

  “Because you’re not a cat.” Abby turned her daughter around and gently pointed her toward the door. “Now, hurry up because we’re going to eat pretty soon.”

  Paige heaved an exaggerated four-year-old sigh. “When I grow up, I’m going to be a cat.”

  “Okay, but today you’re still a little girl with dirty hands. Scoot.”

  Ten minutes later, Abby had the plates ready. Carrying them into the dining room, she set plates in front of Paige and Riley while Devlin handed out his and Jason’s. Then she carried her own small portion to the other end of the table. No one said anything as she seated herself directly across from Devlin.

  The silence was almost deafening.

  She gave Devlin a thumbs-up. “Well, shall we eat?”

  He picked up his fork. “This looks delicious, doesn’t it, boys?”

  Riley grabbed his fork and eyed the circles of pasta Abby had artfully displayed on each plate. He wrinkled his nose in confusion. “I didn’t know you could eat these things.”

  Jason glared at his plate with even more suspicion than usual. He prodded the circles with his fork but didn’t try to cut them. “What are they?”

  “Breast implants,” Riley answered before Abby could respond. “I saw them on TV.”

  Jason began to snicker as his father reached over and pulled the fork from Riley’s hands. “That’s enough, young man. You will be polite, or you can leave the table. Now, apologize to Abby.”

  Riley’s face whitened, making his freckles stand out noticeably. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, his chin almost scraping his chest.

  Abby didn’t want their first meal as a family to be ruined. “This is ravioli, but I guess it does look sort of strange, doesn’t it?”

  Devlin gave Riley and Jason a behave-yourself-or-else look. “The boys and I have only eaten it out of a can. Having home-cooked meals is going to be a welcome experience, isn’t it?”

  An uneasy feeling started in the pit of Abby’s stomach. “It’s not exactly home-cooked. I just reheated it in the microwave.” As Riley continued to stare at it dubiously, she said, “Paige loves ravioli, isn’t that right, honey?”

  Her daughter shook her head and frowned. “Not this kind. It tastes icky. I like the kind at home.”

  “May I be excused?” Jason asked. He pushed back his chair.

  “You haven’t finished the food on your plate,” his father said.

  “It’s okay if—” Abby started to say.

  Jason ignored Abby and glared at his father. “I’m not hungry.”

  “Tough.” A brick building looked more flexible than Devlin’s jaw. “Abby went to a lot of work to fix this meal, and you’ll eat it or stay in your room the rest of the day.”

  “That suits me just fine.” Jason threw his napkin on top of a plate and stood up. “I didn’t ask her to fix me anything. You don’t really think she is going to stick around, do you?” His voice dripped with derision.

  “Jason—”

  Jason stalked from the room without a backward glance.

  “Mommy?” There was a pleading note in Paige’s voice. “Can we go home now?”

  “This is our home.” Abby tried to sound more con
fident than she felt. “You can go upstairs, unpack your suitcase and put your clothes in the drawers of your new bedroom.”

  Paige’s lower lip jutted forward. “I don’t like that bedroom. I want to stay with you.”

  Biting back a sigh, Abby decided she didn’t have enough energy left for an argument. The meal was already a bust. “We can discuss this later. Why don’t you see how Princess is doing in the bedroom?”

  After Paige left the table, Riley put down his fork. “May I be excused, too?”

  Abby nodded. Scraping back his chair, he stood up and came over to where she sat. “Could we have stroganoff tonight? I really like that.”

  The wistful yearning in those big luminous eyes made her want to hug him. She hated to disappoint him. “I might not be able to fix it tonight, but I’ll see if I can later this week.” When he beamed at her, she asked. “Do you like eggs?”

  He scratched his head, sending the rest of his hair into disarray as he considered her question. “I like them scrambled.”

  “Good. Scrambled, it is.” She decided not to mention that any egg dish she made came out scrambled. They’d figure it out soon enough.

  After the boy left, Devlin’s gaze met hers across the table. She couldn’t quite tell whether he approved or disapproved. She broke the silence growing between them. “I’m afraid Riley’s going to be disappointed with my limited repertoire of meals.”

  “I didn’t marry you for your cooking skills.” He paused. “Look, I’m sorry, Abby. They were deliberately rude to you. I’ll have Jason apologize later.”

  She picked up Riley’s plate, using a fork to empty the rest of his food onto hers. She’d lost her own appetite. “Don’t say anything to him for now. We’ve got to give them time to adjust.”

  He shook his head. “I think it would be a good idea to hire a nanny. Someone to help you--"

  “No. We agreed that I would take care of the children.”

  “For how long?”

  Surprise kept Abby in her place. “What are you talking about?”

  “You’ve already talked to a divorce lawyer once.” His hands had curled into tight fists, cutting the blood from his knuckles and producing a stark whiteness to his skin. “How long before you decide this marriage isn’t worth the effort and contact that divorce lawyer about drawing up a different kind of contract?”

  Her mouth dried as she tried to compose her answer. “I’m not contacting a divorce lawyer. We’ll need to give the kids time to adjust.”

  “And what if they don’t?”

  She recognized the scars his wife had left behind and wanted to erase the pain, but couldn’t. Making promises she might not be able to keep would be the worst thing she could do. “I don’t know. We’ll have to take it a day at a time.”

  “For how long?”

  She grappled for an answer and found the only one that she could give honestly. “I’m not a quitter, but I don’t want the baby to be born into a family at war with each other.”

  Devlin dragged back his chair, the sound as grating to the nerves as a dentist’s drill. The tense lines in his face masked whatever emotions swirled inside him. “I’ll speak to Jason and have him apologize before dinner.”

  She flinched as the door to the house shut with a slam behind him. Utter fatigue swarmed through her, and she leaned back into her chair.

  They weren’t exactly starting out like the Brady Bunch.

  Paige didn’t like her new room. Jason believed she’d pack her bags and run at the first sign of trouble. Riley—bless his adorable freckled face—believed she’d raided the surgical ward at the hospital to prepare lunch. And her brand-new husband didn’t trust her to stay for the long run.

  How were they ever going to become a family? What kind of life would this be for her unborn child?

  She squeezed back a tear that threatened to roll down her face.

  What kind of life was this going to be for any of them?

  ***

  CHAPTER 3

  On a scale from one to ten, Devlin figured he’d just scored a minus seven. That might be on the high side. Patience had never been his long suit. He’d always chosen the most direct path to get what he wanted. But in this case, forcing the issue with Abby could have been a serious miscalculation. He refused to make the same mistakes he’d made with Linda. Abby deserved more from him.

  She probably thought she’d married a dictator. He’d certainly behaved like one.

  But before he went back inside, he needed to clear his head. He did his best thinking outdoors where he could physically work through his frustrations. Nothing uncluttered his mind better than swinging an ax or pounding a hammer.

  Heading straight for the woodpile on the south side of the shed, he covered the ground with long powerful strides.

  He didn’t flinch as a frigid blast of February air took a mean swipe at his exposed cheeks. The brutality of the weather and the starkness of the scenery fit his surly mood. The sky hung with overcast clouds, a blah backdrop to the carpet of snow covering every inch of landscape. It would be several months before spring would dare show its face. Winter still had a strong grip.

  He crossed the ice-glazed driveway and crisp snow-packed ground. Grabbing a crudely hacked log, he placed it on the old stump. He picked up his favorite ax and swung it high over his head, bringing it down with all the force he could muster. The surge of energy released his pent-up emotion.

  He’d bought this place after Linda left. The chic house he and his ex-wife had bought when they first moved to Humphrey had pleased Linda more than it ever suited him. He had always preferred to live in the wide-open spaces, where a man rose and went to bed with the sun.

  When he was in college, he tried to adjust to city life as he attended the required courses for an architecture major. By the end of his third year, he’d had enough. He knew there was no way he could face working in glassy-towered buildings where fluorescent lights were the natural source of light. He needed more. He needed more freedom and more fresh air.

  For him, living in this area of the country was as close to heaven as a man could get. He was a man who hungered for the physical connections with the environment and with those around him. That’s why he’d chosen to become a contractor. He could be a part of Wisconsin’s four seasons. He’d visited other areas of the country and found their insipid seasons draining. The challenge of Mother Nature’s midwestern mood swings invigorated him. The merciless punch of winter could be as potent as a boxer’s left hook. And the summers could wring dry one’s sweat pores, but he never tired of the transitions.

  Not the way he had tired of his marriage.

  When it came to family life, he craved predictability and tranquility.

  Linda had stayed eight years. A lifetime of conflict, strain and tiptoeing around each other. When she’d left, he’d struggled to put his life back together again.

  Building this house had helped him deal with his anger and rid him of his sense of failure. Each nail he sank into the wood represented a future for his sons. Here they could thrive without the hostility that had become a constant in the fabric of his marriage.

  There had been several years after the divorce when life had been good for all of them. They were getting along. The boys were growing. They didn’t have a fancy life, but they had each other. They had him.

  However, during the past year, both boys had gone through some rough patches. Devlin had tried to deal with each of Riley’s scrapes with an honest and forthright discussion. The school counselor had insisted Riley was acting out his need for more attention. But Devlin couldn’t always be there when his kids needed him most. He had to work. And as a result, he couldn’t fill that void in his sons’ lives.

  They needed a mother figure. A nurturer. Someone who would be there when they came home from school and who could bridge the empty spaces.

  Still, Devlin resisted the idea of getting married again. He’d already failed at marriage once.

  He didn’t believe i
n love, an emotion that lasted about as long as one of those melodramatic soap-opera relationships. There was no way he’d get caught up in that kind of emotional roller coaster again, and yet that’s what most of the women he met wanted. They expected things from him he couldn’t provide.

  What he had needed was a woman who could be a mother to his kids. Someone with staying power. Someone who wasn’t looking to make a name for herself in the business world.

  Meeting Abby at his sister’s house had seemed like a gift from above. It didn’t take long to pry all the pertinent information from Gayle about her attractive neighbor. It took him even less time to come to a decision.

  Marrying Abby had seemed as logical as donning a comfortable pair of work boots. She was the perfect fit and met all his basic requirements. Most important, she liked kids. She didn’t have any grandiose desire to be a superwoman, juggling a family with a job. He liked her old-fashioned family values and the fact that she wanted to stay home.

  Yep, he’d found a woman of pure gold all right.

  He had everything under control. Or so he thought.

  As he took another whack with his ax, an image of Abby on their wedding night formed in his mind.

  Perspiration slicked his palms and suddenly the ax flew from Devlin’s hand and stabbed the ground.

  Astounded, he glared at the tool.

  You’ve got to keep your mind on what’s important and your pants zipped from now on, Hamilton. It was no wonder Abby was trying to lay down new rules. You screwed up, big time.

  He had to honor his word if he was going to make this marriage work.

  He’d already had one woman leave his sons high and dry. But he also realized he’d have to trust Abby on certain matters with regard to his sons. That wouldn’t be easy since he’d been the chief decision maker for the past five years.

  Today’s meal hadn’t been a promising beginning for the future. Even a woman like Abby was bound to have her limits. She grew up as an only child. Would she eventually get tired of the novelty of living in a makeshift blended family? Jason certainly wasn’t going to cut her any slack. As for Riley, he appeared to like Abby and she him. But who knew how long that could last?