She reached for Liam’s hand. “I’m so sorry. He must be going through some major adjustment issues over this. I’m sure he’ll come around.”
“Adjustment issues? He doesn’t get the right. The situation is what it damned well is,” he added on a harsh whisper. “Accept it and carry on. That’s the only way to go.”
“Maybe you’re a lot stronger than he is, Liam. Maybe he just needs time.”
“I don’t care what he needs,” he snapped. He stopped, leaned his head back and let out a breath, then looked at her. “Sorry. I don’t mean to take this out on you. I need to go upstairs, put Alexander down for his nap and take a hot shower. I could use some time to myself so it’s good that you need to work. See you at closing.”
She nodded and gave him something of a commiserating smile and her heart went out to him as he trudged past her, hurt and anger so evident in his eyes.
Dammit.
An hour and forty minutes until closing. For a moment Shelby considered turning the open sign to closed and locking up for the day. Time alone or not, Liam needed her. But the Minnow sisters walked in just then.
“Missed you yesterday,” Callie said, her emerald silky scarf lovely against her hazel eyes.
“We waited a half hour, but you never opened,” Bea added. “We were so worried. I hope you’re okay.”
She smiled at the three kind elderly sisters. “I’m fine. I just had something unexpected to attend to and it went on a bit longer than I thought it would. Sorry about that. But come on in and look around. I did put some new things out. June,” she said to the only redhead among the blonde sisters, “I found a wonderful framed old map of Wyoming from the turn of the last century. I know you love old maps.”
The women excitedly began looking at the merchandise, June beelining for the art wall.
For the next fifteen minutes, she vaguely listened as the sisters talked about the history of Wedlock Creek, one eye on the cuckoo clock and the other at the door, which kept opening as post-rodeo Saturday shoppers came in.
In the next hour alone, Shelby made over four hundred dollars. Not bad at all. But nothing was worth thinking of Liam upstairs alone, stewing, hurt, angry. Finally, six o’clock chimed, and Shelby flipped the sign, grabbed Shane’s carrier and headed upstairs. It wasn’t until she’d unlocked the apartment door that she realized she’d left the music box downstairs behind the counter. Drat. She’d come back for it later. Now all she wanted was to talk to Liam.
She didn’t hear a sound when she entered the apartment. She headed into the nursery and saw Alexander sleeping in his bassinet. She lowered Shane into his crib and kissed his forehead, then began tiptoeing out, her ears straining for any sign of Liam. The apartment was dead quiet.
It was only when she was about to walk through the nursery doorway when she spotted him, again deliciously half-naked in a pair of navy sweats on the glider chair in the corner, a book about a talking pear open on his lap. He was asleep, the dim lighting casting shadows on his handsome face.
She fought the urge to curl up on his lap and listen to his heartbeat, which was what she wanted to do. Their children were in this room. Liam was in this room.
Her heart was in this room.
She was falling in love with him.
The truth hit her upside the head to the point that she had to put her hand on the doorknob to steady her legs. Yes, I’m falling in love with you, she said to his beautiful, sleeping form. You’re caring and kind and a great dad and you’ve shown me so much consideration and tenderness. And God, look at you, she thought, her gaze going from all that silky, thick, dark hair to his long eyelashes resting at the tops of his cheeks, the chiseled jawline with just a hint of five o’clock shadow, the strong neck and broad shoulders and that chest, muscular and practically hairless, the waistband of his sweats covering long legs. Even his bare feet were sexy.
She was going to marry this man? This man who didn’t believe in love and had proposed a marriage for circumstances’ sake? Try as she might not to consider his proposal, she’d thought about it constantly. It did seem like the only solution. They would be a family unit. No one would lose anything. The babies would have their parent and their biological parent, and Liam and Shelby would have their sanity.
But would she really? Or would she go absolutely bonkers? She was already feeling too much for Liam Mercer. What if she fell whole hog in love with him and he made it even more crystal clear that this wasn’t a romantic union, that love had nothing to do with it?
This isn’t about your love life, dope, she reminded herself. It’s about keeping Shane and raising Alexander. It’s about the babies. It’s about keeping your heart intact.
Yes, she would remember that. The whole point of marrying Liam Mercer was so that she would have both babies and not have her heart shredded. If she kept that vital point at the forefront, she would remember that that was where her heart had to lie—with the boys. Not the man.
I will marry you, Liam Mercer. If I got through that meeting on Friday morning with the Wedlock Creek Clinic administrator, I can get through anything.
She’d let him know on Monday—when the results came in.
* * *
Liam woke up just about every hour on the hour Sunday night, the anticipation of tomorrow too much for his brain to handle. He already knew, intellectually, that Alexander wasn’t his biological son and that the DNA test would reveal that Shane was. But he still couldn’t wrap his mind around it, believe it on a gut level.
He cursed and threw the blanket off and got out of bed, trying to be as quiet as possible. He needed a shot of whiskey. Something to turn his brain off and get him back to sleep.
The kitchen light was on, and he slowly approached, not sure if Shelby would want company at 3:12 in the morning. For a moment he stood in the doorway and just watched her, sitting at the round table by the window, her hands wrapped around a blue cup, steam still emanating. She wasn’t facing him, but he could see the tightness in her face, her jawline.
“You, too, huh?” he whispered.
She turned and nodded and then burst into tears.
“Shelby,” he said, rushing over to her. He leaned down and put his arms around her, and she shot up and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing full force. “I know,” he soothed. “I know exactly how you feel.” He tightened his hold on her and let her cry, resting his head on top of hers. Her hair was silky and smelled like coconuts.
Talk about getting his mind off tomorrow. Who needed whiskey when there was beautiful, sweet Shelby smelling like the beach?
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. “We’re going to make it okay. You and me. We’re going to be a family, Shelby.”
He felt her nodding her head against his chest, her sobs subsiding, her breathing ragged. She sucked in a breath and just stayed in his arms. He reached a hand to her hair and stroked the silky blond mass, then lifted her face to his.
“Everything is going to be okay,” he repeated.
She looked up at him, and he could see she was trying to believe it, to make herself believe it. “Sometimes I’ll believe anything you say, Liam.”
“Now’s the time. Because we’re going to make it okay. We just have to remember that everything we do is to keep our children. To have the children we were denied. If we remember why we’re here, why we’re doing this, we’ll keep what’s important at the forefront.”
“I want Shane and I want Alexander.”
“I want Alexander and I want Shane,” he said. “Getting married makes that happen. And it’ll make it a lot easier if we need to formally adopt the babies we’ve been raising for six months and the ones we haven’t been.”
She nodded and wiped under her eyes, and he pulled her close again. This time she just held on tightly, not saying anything.
The urge to kiss her was so overpowering that Liam loosened his
hold on her. He wanted her so bad, to let his hands fall from around her shoulders down her back to her waist and up to her breasts.
Did he not just tell Shelby they had to focus on what was important: the children? Letting himself feel more for Shelby, giving in to his attraction for her, would make for a hot night, but would end up ruining everything down the line. Romance died. Love faded. People moved on. He and Shelby couldn’t take the risk of a failed romance getting in the way of their family.
He pulled back and dropped his hold on her.
“Everything is going to be okay,” she repeated, a wobbly smile on her face.
Now suddenly he wasn’t so sure himself.
Chapter Eight
Monday was a rainy, chilly mess. Good, Liam thought, glancing out the window of the Wedlock Creek Clinic. The perfect kind of day for absolute proof that you walked out the clinic with someone else’s baby. That someone else walked out with your baby.
He glanced at Shelby sitting next to him. She sat ramrod straight, staring ahead, the strain on her face unbearable to him. He reached a hand down to squeeze hers, and she glanced at him for a moment and squeezed back, then let go.
The moment of truth had arrived.
The administrator handed each of the attorneys, sitting on either side of them, a copy of the test results. She cleared her throat and from the way she closed and opened her eyes very quickly, he knew without a doubt what the results said.
“Ms. Ingalls, you are not the biological mother of Shane Ingalls,” Anne Parcells said. “You are the biological mother of Alexander Mercer. Mr. Mercer, you are not the biological father of Alexander Mercer. You are the biological father of Shane Ingalls. Based on the findings and discussions with the nurse on duty the night of November 5, it is our understanding that the babies were, indeed, accidentally switched.”
This time, Shelby gripped his hand and held on.
“I meant what I said,” he whispered. “It’s going to be okay. We have a plan. Let’s both remember that and we’ll get through this meeting.”
She bit her lip and nodded, her hold tightening on his hand. He couldn’t even say this was the worst moment, finding out with absolute certainty that Alexander was not his child. No, that honor went to the first meeting, in this office, when a part of his brain was trying to understand what the administrator was saying—that the two male babies born the night of November 5 had been switched. He’d never forget it, the way everything in him had seized up. There had been times in his life when the world, including his own personal one, didn’t make sense. But nothing would ever come close to how he’d felt when Anne Parcells had implied the babies had been switched.
Liam’s attorney whispered in his ear about whether or not he’d changed his mind about the lawsuit. He had not. Shelby’s attorney, whom Liam had learned on the way over was actually her sister’s new boyfriend, also whispered something in Shelby’s ear. He watched her shake her head.
Liam stood. “I speak for both myself and Shelby Ingalls. There will be no lawsuit. There be no litigation of any kind against this clinic, which serves a vital purpose to our county, or against the nurse, Kate Atwood. A mistake was made during a raging snowstorm. It wasn’t about negligence. It was about act-of-God chaos.”
“I appreciate that, Mr. Mercer,” Anne Parcells said, relief visible on her face.
“I suppose you two have some things to work out between you, then,” David Dirk said, glancing from Shelby to Liam.
“Actually, we have worked things out privately,” Shelby said.
Did that mean she would accept his marriage proposal? Liam sure hoped so.
“Very good,” Dirk said. “Shelby, please know if you need my services, just call. I’m here for you.”
Shelby nodded. “I appreciate that, David.”
With that, he left. Liam’s attorney clapped him on the back, tapped Alexander on the nose and left, too.
Liam and Shelby stood, said goodbye to the administrator and headed out, and it wasn’t until his face met the air that he realized he’d been holding his breath. Shelby stood beside him, her blond hair whipping behind her in the breeze, her expression fierce and sad and resigned.
He put his arm around her. “My son, your son, our sons. Doesn’t matter which one we’re talking about.”
He saw her eyes glisten before she nodded. “My son, your son, our sons.”
He pressed a kiss to Alexander’s forehead and held him close. Shelby was doing the same to Shane.
“I accept your proposal, Liam. The family unit marriage. I accept.”
“Good,” he said. “Good.”
“I suppose we’ll go to the town hall and have the mayor marry us? She can probably do it this week.”
“Town hall or whatever you want. Shelby. If you want a church wedding or the Wedlock Creek Chapel or the backyard at your mom’s or if you want to clear an aisle in Treasures, I’ll marry you wherever and whenever will make you happy.”
She stilled and stared at him. “Happy? That’s not really part of this.”
“This might not be the traditional kind of marriage, Shelby, but it’s legal and binding and we’re going to be saying vows. I want you to have the wedding you want. Not what feels appropriate for the situation—who even knows what kind of wedding that would be.”
She tilted her head. Not the beautiful Wedlock Creek Chapel, that was for sure. Been there, done that. “A town hall wedding. But I’ll think on it. And thank you. Once again, there you go showing me a very thoughtful, kind side of yourself.”
“I know this isn’t easy, Shelby. I know this can’t be what you dreamed of when you dreamed about your wedding day. But let’s make it as special as it deserves to be. We’re each getting a new son, six months after the fact, who happens to be our flesh and blood. That damned well deserves a parade.”
She hugged him with her free arm, and he was glad he made her feel better.
“What kind of wedding do you want?” she asked.
“As long as I’m marrying you, I don’t much care otherwise.”
She bit her lip and turned away. “Well, I’m going to see my family, to let them know the results. They’re waiting on pins and needles.”
She hurried away and he wanted her to come back. Her and Shane. “I’ll see you at home in about an hour, okay? We’ll plan it all out.”
He nodded and he watched her as she settled Shane in her little silver car, then got in and drove off, taking two big pieces of himself with her.
* * *
“Wait,” Norah said, forkful of Shelby’s mocha chip pie in midair. “He said ‘As long as I’m marrying you, I don’t much care otherwise’?”
Shelby sat in the cushioned booth of her family’s Pie Diner, Norah next to her, her mother and aunt Cheyenne across. The café was pretty busy but the moment the three women heard the words I’m getting married come out of Shelby’s mouth, they rushed around to fill orders and coffee cups and slap down checks, then slid in, her sister stealing bites of her pie.
“But that sounds like he has feelings for you,” Erin Ingalls said. “Are you sure he doesn’t?”
“Very sure. He meant it as in, you’re Alexander’s biological mother and Shane’s mother in all ways that matter. He didn’t mean in the romantic sense. For a man who doesn’t believe in love, I’m the only logical woman to marry based on the circumstances.”
“Men who don’t believe in love wouldn’t marry at all,” Aunt Cheyenne put in on a whisper, pointing to the two huge gossips who slid into the booth behind Shelby’s.
“Well, the marriage won’t be about love,” Shelby reminded them. “Except the love of two six-month-old babies. We’re joining as a family for our sakes and theirs.”
“Don’t tell me he’s jetting you off to Vegas for a quick ceremony,” Shelby’s mom said. “This may be a marriage of circumstance but if my
girl is getting married, I don’t want to miss it.”
Shelby smiled but it took some doing. “The whole thing is just so... I don’t even know the right word. It’s not a sham marriage. It’s not a real marriage. It’s just the only thing we can do. I don’t know that a big celebration is in order.”
“Well, it’s certainly not temporary, either,” Norah said. “Church wedding? Wedlock Creek Chapel? Reception in the backyard?”
Shelby did love her mother’s backyard with its woods and trees and the pretty white lights hung across the deck railing. But a church wedding and a reception at home? No. That was just going too far. She thought again about the gorgeous Wedlock Creek Chapel where she’d married Morgan after their whirlwind courtship. She’d dreamed of marrying there and that dream had been spit on.
Huh. Maybe she could take back the dream. Get married at the chapel again. It wasn’t as if she and Liam would be having sex, so the old legend about newlyweds being blessed with multiples wouldn’t even have a chance to come true.
Her mind made up, Shelby finally dug into her pie. Mocha whip-chip pie—delicious. “I think the Wedlock Creek Chapel, and afterward we can take the boys to the park.”
“I’m so glad you didn’t choose the town hall,” her mother said. “I know the marriage is just about paperwork and legalities. But it’s still a ceremony. And there’s no more beautiful place to marry than the chapel.”
Shelby nodded. “Agreed. The marriage is definitely only about the legality. And then we’ll start the paperwork to each adopt our biological baby. Liam is looking into whether we need to legally adopt the boys we took home, too.”
Aunt Cheyenne shook her head. “What a thing.” She rested her hand on Shelby’s. “It may not be a love marriage, but Liam Mercer sounds like a good man, and you’ll both have both boys.”
Shelby nodded. “That’s what’s important. Not my love life. And we’re both entering this marriage knowing what’s what. So it’s not like anyone can get hurt.”
She caught her mother, aunt and sister glance at one another. Who was she kidding? Someone was going to get hurt and that someone was Shelby. Because she was falling in love with her fiancé. Getting married, living together as husband and wife, watching him be a father to their children, would only make her love him more.
The Baby Switch! Page 9