Married to the Mom-to-Be

by Helen Lacey

  “So, we have a brother in Portland?” Kieran asked incredulously and spoke again before Liam could reply. “And you’re married to Kayla Rickard and having a baby? Well, damn. Looks like I better get my tail back home, pronto, to help you deal with all of this.”

  “I can handle it.”

  Kieran sighed. “You’re a hothead, just like Dad. So is Sean. I’m the only one with a lick of sense. I’ll take some leave from the hospital and be there in a few days. Try not to make things worse until I get there.”

  Liam ignored his brother’s sarcasm and ended the call. By the time he’d walked back outside his mother and Kayla were still deep in conversation. Their voices echoed and he caught their chatter about baby things and how much his mom liked being a grandmother. He stayed back, lingering by the gate, suddenly uneasy about interrupting them.

  “I’m always up for babysitting,” his mother said and smiled. “I so enjoy it when Grady brings the girls over for a visit. Not as often as I would like, mind you, but he’s a good father to my granddaughters. And now we have another baby coming,” she said and patted Kayla’s arm. “That makes me happy. I know things seem difficult with your parents, Kayla, but just give them some time to get used to the news and soon they’ll realize what a lovely blessing this is.”

  “I hope so,” Kayla said quietly.

  He was about to take a few steps closer when his mother spoke again.

  “I can see that my son loves you very much. I hope that you care for him as much in return. Because he’s going to need you. Liam has always had strong opinions about what’s right and wrong. As a little boy he would get indignant and worked up about injustice or unfairness, even on the playground.” She smiled and sighed. “My sons are all so different. Sean was always the troublemaker, Kieran was the peacemaker and Liam was the defender of principles. Which is why, despite how angry he is with J.D. at the moment, I know that he’s going to find it the hardest to understand why I’m divorcing his father.”

  “Really? You’ve decided?”

  “I made my decision this morning. I haven’t been truly happy for a long time. This situation has made me reevaluate things. So, I’ll talk to J.D. first and then tell my sons.”

  Polarized, Liam remained where he was for a moment and absorbed his mother’s words. Had he imagined that divorce was the inevitable outcome of his father’s betrayal? Had he believed his mother would end things? No. He definitely hadn’t been prepared for the fallout from the truth he so righteously believed was his father’s responsibility to tell.

  He turned, headed back inside and called his youngest brother. Of course, the call went to voice mail. With the one-hour time difference, it was ten thirty in Los Angeles, and on a Saturday morning Sean was likely to still be in bed, hungover and wrapped around a leggy starlet or two. He left a brief message and ended the call.

  Kayla and his mother walked inside soon after and he forced himself to stay cheerful as they chatted while preparing lunch. The conversation switched to the upcoming benefit and the hotel and despite the turmoil, there was almost a relaxed feeling in the room. Once they’d eaten, Kayla retreated to one of the bathrooms to freshen up and Liam was alone with his mother.

  “Thanks, Mom,” he said.

  “For what?” she asked, frowning a little.

  “For accepting Kayla amid this whole situation.”

  “I like Kayla,” she replied and shut the dishwasher door. “I always have. And now she’s your wife and I respect that. That’s what families do...they respect one another’s decisions.”

  For a moment he thought she was going to broach the subject of divorcing his father, but she didn’t. So he changed tack. “I don’t think Kayla’s folks feel the same way.”

  “It’s different for them,” his mother said evenly. “They have one daughter, who they had after many years of trying to have a child. It’s natural that they are protective of her.”

  “Overprotective,” he muttered.

  “Don’t be too quick to judge them,” she said and smiled. “You’re going to be a father yourself in the not-too-distant future. And once that baby is put in your arms, anything else you’ve ever experienced will seem insignificant. Then you’ll understand what it is to love this tiny, helpless and wonderful human being that you helped create.”

  Liam’s throat felt inexplicably tight and he swallowed hard. His mother’s strength had a life force of its own and he managed a wry smile. “Are you getting sentimental about being a grandmother again?”

  “Probably. When you lose a child, priorities shift,” she said quietly. “When your sister died, for a long time I never thought I would smile again, laugh again. But I did. My granddaughters helped heal the terrible loss I felt. And you helped. And Kieran and even Sean in his own way,” she said and grinned. “What I’m trying to say is that Kayla’s parents are just reacting to the hurt they feel. They’re angry at your father and by association they’re angry at you, too. Try and see this from their point of view. And Kayla’s.”

  He did. And logically, he understood Derek and Marion Rickard’s resentment. But logic wasn’t going to help fix the problem. “It still needs to be made right.”

  “Sometimes, there is no right to be made. People are people, Liam. We mess things up. We overreact. Or we don’t react at all.”

  “Mom, I heard you—”

  His cell pealed and he saw his father’s number on the screen. He ignored the call and pushed the phone back into his pocket. Kayla returned before he had a chance to say anything more and she looked so weary he figured he needed to take her home. They said goodbye to his mother and headed off a few minutes later.

  “Everything all right?” she asked once they were pulling out of the driveway.

  He nodded. “You look tired.”

  “I am,” she admitted. “Maybe it’s the baby hormones catching up with me.”

  “Home, then?”

  “Yes. Home.”

  They didn’t talk on the trip home and he remained silent when she excused herself and headed upstairs to rest. At a loose end and tired of being in his own head, Liam changed into a pair of old jeans and a blue T-shirt and took off for the boathouse. He hadn’t spent any time lately working on the old, twenty-foot wooden vessel he’d been restoring for the last couple of years. It had belonged to his grandfather, and for Liam the restoration was a labor of love. Even though most of the interior was done, it was still a long way off getting back into the water, but he usually enjoyed the solitude and time-out. Kieran thought he was nuts for attempting the rebuild, but Liam liked the challenge and wasn’t put off by the time it would take.

  He flicked on some music, grabbed the tools he needed and got to work. A couple of hours had passed when he realized he wasn’t alone. Kayla stood in the doorway, holding a couple of sodas. Liam jumped down from the stern, where he’d been sanding a length of new timber, and met her by the door.

  She looked effortlessly pretty in a pale yellow sundress, silver sandals and her hair flowing around her shoulders. She passed him a soda and he flipped off the top. “Thanks,” he said and took a long drink.

  She stepped into the boathouse and ran a hand along the edge of the boat. “It’s looking good. Your mom told me you’ve had the dream of getting this back onto the water for a long time.”

  He shrugged. “A fool’s dream, maybe.”

  “You’re no fool, Liam.”

  Just a fool for love...

  All he wanted to do was haul her into his arms and lose himself in her touch. He was tired of thinking. Tired of feuding. Tired of every damned thing that was making him feel so wretchedly unhappy. She was back with her suitcases. Her clothes were hanging in the closet upstairs. But the distance between them still felt like an almost insurmountable divide. Her parents were barely communicating with her. His parents’ marriage had imploded
. Kieran was on his way back to Cedar River to save the day and Sean was probably still sleeping with every woman he met.

  God, what a mess.

  “I had a nice talk with your mom,” she said and smiled. “About the baby.”

  “That’s not all she said, was it?”

  Kayla’s expression narrowed. “I don’t know—”

  “I heard her tell you that she’s divorcing my father.”

  “She was upset after finding out about Kathleen and Jonah.”

  “Not surprisingly. Anyway, it’s not like I can do anything about it.” He sighed heavily. “Looks like I’m a control freak without any control.”

  Her brows rose. “Are you looking for sympathy?”

  “No. Kind of ironic, though, don’t you think?”

  Her shoulders lifted. “I’m glad it was your father who told your mom about everything.”

  “Saving me from myself and my rigid principles, you mean?”

  “That’s one way of putting it. Do you really think she’ll divorce him?”

  “My mother has a strong will,” he replied and ran a hand down the edge of the boat. “But my father likes getting his own way. Whatever the outcome, I’m sure it’s going to be messy.”

  “He loved her,” she said and looked pained all of a sudden. “Your dad loved Kathleen. I wonder if he still does.”

  “He shuffled her off to Oregon, had a secret son with her and then lied his ass off to his family for years...that’s not love.”

  “You mom said he was adamant that the relationship ended when Kathleen left town, but he has kept in contact with her because of his son.” She sighed heavily. “You can’t blame him for wanting to have a relationship with Jonah.”

  Liam scowled. “Can you stop saying his name like it should mean something to me. Because it doesn’t.”

  “Sulking about it isn’t going to make the fact that you have another brother disappear.”

  “Sulking?”

  Her mouth twisted. “Isn’t that why you’re down here hammering away at this old boat?”

  Annoyance crept through his blood. “I am not sulking. I was giving you some space.” I was putting space between us. Damn, he hated it when she was right. Her brows were back up in that infuriating way and he ignored how it made his skin twitch. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes. I had a solid gold nap and now I feel great.”

  Liam drank the rest of the soda and placed the bottle on a bench. “You look beautiful.”

  Her cheeks tinged with color. “You look hot.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I mean, working hard kind of hot,” she qualified and then stammered a little. “Well, of course you’re hot...argh...you know what I mean.”

  Liam laughed again and took the unopened bottle from her hands, laying it aside and then drawing her closer. “Can we stop talking for a while?”

  “Did you have something else in mind?”

  “Yes,” he said, twisting her hair through his fingers and anchoring her head gently. “I’d like to make out with my wife.”

  “And ruin a perfectly good argument?”

  “To hell with arguments. To hell with everything and everybody. For the moment, at least.” His throat felt tight and he met her gaze. “You’re in my arms, but you feel so far away.”

  Her eyes shimmered, undoing him. “I’m right here,” she whispered.

  Liam sucked in a sharp breath. “Are you?”

  She nodded. “Right here,” she said again and her lips parted. “So, about this making-out thing?”

  “I think that can be arranged.”

  Then he kissed her. Long and deep and with blistering intensity. Her hands came to his shoulders and she clung to him, urging him closer. Her mouth tasted sweet, like mint and green apple, and he plunged deeper, coaxing her tongue to dance with his. His body responded instantly and he grasped her right hip, bringing her hard against him. He said her name on a kind of agonized whisper, running his other hand down her back. The zipper on her dress teased his fingertips and he edged it down slowly, inch by torturous inch. She moaned low in her throat when his palm splayed across her bare back and he realized she wore no bra, which drugged him senseless.

  “Kayla,” he said raggedly against her lips. “Let’s go back to the house. If I don’t make love to you soon I think I’ll go crazy.”

  “No,” she said and pressed against him, drawing his mouth to hers again.

  “No?” he queried, confused by the mixed signals.

  “Let’s stay here,” she replied, breathless. “I want this. Now.”

  The urgency and longing in her voice in that moment made it impossible for Liam to deny her anything. He kissed her again. Hotter and harder, over and over, until he could take no more and he scooped her up into his arms and lifted her into the boat and laid her down on the small bed in the cabin. He chucked off his shirt and shoes and pulled the sandals from her feet in about twenty of the longest seconds of his life.

  Then he kissed her again. And again. And gently tugged the dress straps off her shoulders, exposing her perfect breasts. He cupped them softly, rubbing the hard, rosy nipples with his thumbs and she groaned with a kind of heady pleasure that fueled his longing for her like gasoline on a bonfire. Her hands were at his nape, in his hair, on his shoulders, each touch more encouraging than the last. He bent his head and kissed her breasts, first one, then the other, taking each nipple into his mouth in turn, circling the hard peaks with his tongue. She arched and moaned again, pressing closer, gripping tighter, running her hands over him everywhere she could reach.

  Liam managed to peel the dress off in between possessing her beautiful mouth and when he stripped her lace briefs down her hips he realized his hands were shaking. Crazy. He’d seen her naked countless times. He’d stroked and loved every inch of her smooth skin. But she still had the power to make him mindless. He trailed his mouth over her breasts, down her rib cage and across her belly. He lingered there for a moment, scrolling his tongue around the edge of her navel in the way he knew she liked. Then he went lower, encouraged by her soft moans, and kissed her intimately. Her thighs quivered and he held her steady, taking his time to draw every ounce of response from her. The taste of her pushed his desire, drove him on to make her come apart. She groaned, she writhed, she said his name over and then Liam felt her tip over the edge. Driven by the onslaught of his mouth and hands, she climaxed in a white-hot rush that was blisteringly erotic and like an addictive, narcotic high to every sense he possessed.

  * * *

  Kayla came back down to earth, shattered and so gratified she couldn’t manage to do anything for a moment but lie limp and try to recapture her breath. He moved up beside her, his hands sliding over her skin in a way that was sinfully sensual and heightened her need to feel him above her, around her and then inside her.

  She reached for him, tugging at the waistband of his jeans. “Take these off,” she said and rolled a little, pressing her mouth to his chest.

  “I guess we don’t need to worry about birth control,” he said, chuckling as he dragged off the rest of his clothes.

  Kayla gripped his shoulders. “Not for a while.”

  “Just as well, since it’s up at the house,” he said and pressed one leg between her thighs.

  Kayla smiled and lifted her hips in silent invitation. He complied immediately, entering her, possessing her lips in a demanding kiss as he possessed her body. She moved, accepting him inside, and then wrapped her legs around him. Locked together in the most intimate way possible, he began to move. She matched him, met him, felt the way he filled her and completed her like no other man ever had. And he took his time, back and forth, creating an erotic, steady rhythm in between deep, wet kisses that rendered her breathless and then utterly and completely his.

 
; They came within moments of each other. Kayla first, up and over an incredible high of pleasure, her entire body pulsing with an orgasm that was so torturously intense it almost numbed her senses. When he followed she gripped his hips, holding on, feeling every shudder, every muscle he possessed tense and burn like an inferno as release claimed him.

  When their breathing returned to normal he rolled off her and lay at her side on the small bed. It was a cramped space, but she didn’t mind. He took hold of her hand and brought her knuckles to his mouth, kissing her softly.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” she breathed contentedly. “It was perfect.”

  He chuckled. “You’re easy on me. We’ll try this again later,” he promised. “I’ll take more time and use a little more finesse.”

  “I’m the one who didn’t want to waste time going back to the house,” she reminded him and traced her fingers over his ribcage. His hand covered hers and she felt the cool gold wedding band slide across her knuckles. “You wear this all the time now,” she said and rubbed the band with one finger.

  His chest expanded. “I’ve kept it on since we found out about the baby.”

  Kayla glanced guiltily at her bare left hand. It was exactly the sort of thing he would do. The right thing. Typically Liam. Honor and truth above all else. His wedding band was a way of honoring the child she carried. “I’m sorry... I haven’t made much of an effort at this marriage.”

  “No, you haven’t.”

  She laughed humorlessly. “God, Liam, don’t you ever lie...not even to make me feel better?”

  She heard his chest rumble. “Nope. Not ever.”

  “Don’t I know it,” Kayla said and sat up, suddenly and foolishly conscious of her nudity. “Can you pass me my clothes?”

  He reached across the small bed to retrieve her dress and briefs and was back in his jeans and T-shirt before she’d managed to slip the dress over her head. “Now who’s sulking,” he remarked as she huffed when the zipper got caught.