My Three Girls (Harlequin Super Romance)

by Floyd, Susan

  “I guess there is one thing to say,” he grunted. His eyes traveled over her face.

  “Yes?”

  “I hope you’ll be very happy.”

  Dread crept up Dana’s spine. “What do you mean?”

  He didn’t answer.

  She pulled on his arm. “What do you mean you hope that I’ll be very happy?”

  He gave her a pained smile. “I know you’ve found your family.”

  “Found my family?” Dana didn’t know what he was talking about.

  “You’ll go wherever the girls go. I don’t blame you.” He was speaking rapidly. “Carson’s a good guy. And the girls love you already. I guess I always knew I was fixing up the house for you. That’s probably why I put so much into it.”

  “Carson?” Dana was stunned.

  Brady was jealous. Her heart soared. He thought she liked Carson. She hadn’t ruined it all. Carson was absolutely right—they were just confused. She had married Brady to save the three girls, but she wanted to stay married to him because she loved him.

  “Dana, if you don’t mind, I’ve got to go.” Brady gunned the engine. “Go back to your family.”

  Dana opened the door and started to slide out of the truck. She stopped and asked suddenly, “Do you love me?”

  “That’s not really any of your business.”

  “Loving me isn’t any of my business?”

  “I don’t know what you want from me, Dana.”

  “I want you to say you love me.”

  “If that will get you out of my truck,” he said. “Dammit. I love you. Now shut the door and go back to Carson and his three girls.”

  “We’ll talk about this more,” she promised, getting out.

  “Not if I can help it. I’ll have the divorce papers drawn up. Let’s just agree to make it as painless as possible.” He leaned over and pulled the door shut. The tires threw up gravel as he reversed his truck down the driveway.

  Divorce papers. Ridiculous. Dana smiled though she was freezing. He loved her.

  She walked back into the house, only to find Carson helping the girls put on their jackets.

  “Did he leave?”

  “He’s jealous!” Dana whooped.

  “I told you.” Carson winked at her.

  Karen came out of the bathroom. “Aunt Dana.”

  “Yes,” Dana asked.

  “You’re coming for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, right?” She looked anxious. “We’re going to get our first tree tomorrow, but we’re going to wait to trim it on Christmas Eve for Santa.” She looked significantly at Ollie and Jean.

  Karen’s eyes had a mischievous glint. “Uncle Brady’s coming.”

  “I’ll be there then. With bells on.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHRISTMAS EVE, Dana sat in the living room of Carson’s house. She was there only for Brady, and she’d formulated what she hoped was a fool proof plan. She’d spent the past few days running over Brady’s last words. She knew who her family was. It was the stubborn man who decided he knew what she wanted.

  She was married to him and a divorce was out of the question. If he wanted one, he’d have to fight for it, because she wasn’t going to give in easily.

  “I’m so glad you got here before the storm,” Carson said as he walked in with an armful of firewood.

  “Me, too. I didn’t want to disappoint the girls by getting stuck.” Dana watched Karen laugh as she opened a box of Disney ornaments. Ollie was throwing icicles over every possible surface.

  Carson grinned. “Good thing we got three packages of those. We’re going to be lucky if one gets on the tree.”

  “The lights out front look great,” Dana commented.

  Carson placed the wood into the fireplace to start a fire. “Brady came last night and helped me put them up. We’re just going to have to take them down in a week or so, but it does make the place feel homey.”

  Karen came over with scissors, a stapler and paper. “Aunt Dana, why don’t you make the paper chains like we did at school. Dad—” Karen glanced at Carson, whose face went tender at her reference to him “—bought a bunch of construction paper just for that.”

  Dana nodded as she took the supplies from the girl. It was good to have something to do.

  “Don’t make them too big,” Karen instructed. “I want this tree to be perfect. Dad said he’d make popcorn and we’re going to string them later with cranberries. Did you know you can get them fresh, not out of a can?”

  A smile found its way to Dana’s lips. “I didn’t know that.”

  Ollie and Jean giggled as they threw more icicles on each other.

  Her hands barely fitting into the scissor handles, Dana started cutting strips of construction paper and asked Carson, “How’s it going?”

  Carson rolled his eyes. “I think you know. The anticipation for Santa is very high.” He stacked the excess wood in the fireplace. The competent way he used his hands reminded her of Brady. He studied his structure and then stood up to find some matches.

  “Tomorrow will be here soon enough.”

  He nodded, striking a match, and the fire caught.

  “Should Brady be here by now?” Dana asked anxiously.

  Carson shook his head regretfully. “Sorry, Dana. He called and said he had to work tonight. Someone called in sick.” He leaned with one hand on the mantel, eyes studying the fire. “You know him. Work comes first.”

  Dana nodded. She did know him. But she also remembered a time when he put her and the girls before his work. They lapsed into silence and Dana worked diligently on her paper chain, trying not to let her disappointment ruin the evening. When the fire got going, Carson took out an old-fashioned popcorn maker. Jean, her tongue sticking out, carefully poured some popcorn into it. Then they all watched as their father shook the maker over the fire, deftly turning the basket so the kernels wouldn’t burn.

  Jean and Ollie clapped at the first pop, which was quickly followed by more. Karen hurried out with a bowl and the cranberries. As Carson emptied the basket of popcorn into her bowl, she said, “I think we’re going to need at least three more baskets.”

  Ollie and Jean sat next to Karen, eating the popcorn.

  “Don’t eat that. That’s for decorating the tree.”

  The little girls giggled and sneaked more popcorn, listening as their older sister explained the intricacies of popcorn stringing.

  Dana watched her chain get longer. “How long am I making this?” she asked Karen.

  Karen surveyed the colorful garland that Dana held up. “Oh, it’s got to be a lot longer than that. It’s got to wrap around the tree about ten times. It’s a big tree.”

  Carson looked at her sympathetically. “I’d help, but I’m on popcorn duty.”

  “I think you’ll have to make one more batch,” Karen said. “Because Jean and Ollie are eating it all!”

  Dana draped the chain around her neck and continued to cut the paper. Soon Carson’s arms were straining from his job, the girls were stringing popcorn, and Dana tried not to mind that Brady wasn’t there.

  BRADY’S TRUCK RUMBLED down the driveway to Carson’s house, outlined by the bright lights they’d hung the night before. He’d spent most of the evening trying to figure out whether he’d come or not. Even though he’d spent most of his time trying not to call Dana, her face, her smile popped into his mind every other minute. But he wanted to give her the time she wanted.

  The night he’d found her having a cozy dinner with Carson and the girls, he’d nearly grabbed her and kissed her. But he knew she wouldn’t have welcomed that, though his spirits had been buoyed by the genuine confusion on her face after he’d told her to go back to her family. Then she’d asked if he loved her. If she was in love with Carson, she wouldn’t have asked. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that her question was really about those nieces of his.

  If it wasn’t, maybe they could start over. He’d decided to give her until the new year in the hopes that by then she’d
have forgiven him.

  His pulse began to race when he saw Dana’s car.

  He yanked three four-foot teddy bears tied with bright burgundy ribbons around their necks out of the truck. He walked up to the house and peered in the window. His stomach contracted at the sight of Dana sitting on the couch wrapped in a long paper chain. The living room glinted with icicles. Carson was in front of the fire making popcorn. The three girls were clustered between Carson and Dana, stringing the popcorn and cranberries.

  So he was right. It didn’t matter if he loved her. It didn’t matter at all. Dana had found her family.

  He didn’t know how to curb the feelings of jealousy that stung him. She and Carson had a lot in common. And Carson had three things that Brady could never give her. Much as it hurt, he couldn’t tear his gaze from the image in front of him.

  He was about to turn around, when the door swung open.

  “Uncle Brady!” Karen flung her arms around him and the bears. “Dad said that you had to work!”

  “Well, it’s Christmas Eve. I figured I could take a couple of days off, but I see that you’re busy.” Shoving the bears into her arms, he started to back toward his truck, gesturing to the cozy scene in the window. “It looks like your dad has company.”

  Karen’s forehead wrinkled. “Dad has company?” She looked in the window. “Who? It’s just Aunt Dana.” Karen was bewildered. “You don’t want to see Aunt Dana?”

  “Well, she and your dad look, er, close.”

  “Where else is she going to sit?” Karen asked practically. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m not sure she wants me here.”

  Karen frowned. “You should ask her yourself.”

  “That’s okay.” He rested his hand on her head and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I just wanted to drop these off.”

  “You don’t want to say hi to everyone?”

  “N-no-o.”

  “Aunt Dana still likes you,” Karen finally said, hiking the big bears higher on her hip.

  What was the child talking about?

  “She still likes you,” Karen repeated. “Are you leaving because you don’t want to love her anymore?”

  “I never said I loved her in the first place.”

  “Yes, you did. You said it every time you looked at her. Any dummy could see that.” Karen shook her head in exasperation and went back to the house with the bears.

  Brady started heading back to his truck, when he heard Karen hollering. “Uncle Brady is here! Look what he got us!”

  The scramble out the door was amazing. Jean and Ollie leaped down the short stairs and started to run toward him.

  Brady turned the engine on. He’d just say hi and get the hell out of there.

  “Can we ride?” Ollie asked.

  “It’s dark,” Brady said.

  Ollie and Jean looked so disappointed Brady leaned over and popped open the passenger door. The two girls climbed up and in. Ollie planted herself in his lap and asked, “Can I drive?”

  Brady put the car in reverse and said, “Okay.” He tried not to be distracted by the fact that in his peripheral vision, he could see Dana on the porch. He backed up and then pushed into first, grinding the gears. Damn. He hadn’t ground the gears since he was fourteen.

  Jean tugged on his sleeve and said, “Me, too.”

  “Okay. Ollie gets to drive to the road and back, then you do.”

  He felt even more self-conscious as they rode at two miles an hour up and down the dirt driveway. Each time they returned to the house, he stole a glance in Dana’s direction. She looked wonderful, better than wonderful. She couldn’t be in love with Carson. Not really. Not after all she’d shared with Brady.

  DANA WATCHED as Brady got out of the truck with Jean and Ollie attached to him.

  “Hi,” he said with a quick smile directed at her, but he wasn’t really looking at her. Jean and Ollie swung on each of his arms as they tugged at him.

  When he smiled like that, he was hard to resist. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he was nervous. Part of her wanted to fling herself into his arms and the other part of her wanted to run and have him chase her.

  “Hi,” he repeated.

  “Uncle Brady?” Ollie tugged at his sleeve.

  “Yes?” He looked down at the little girl.

  “Let’s go in to wait for Santa.”

  Brady stopped, his eyes on Dana. Yes, he would go in. If Dana thought she wanted Carson, Brady would just have to remind her that she loved him. He had no idea how he was going to do that. But it was Christmas Eve. Anything could happen on Christmas Eve—even miracles.

  Dana raised a quick hand and ducked inside the house, taking the garland off her neck. Why was it so hard to talk to the man she’d made love to?

  “You’re not thinking about leaving, are you?” Karen came up.

  Dana looked down and realized that she had her purse in her hand.

  “I thought you were going to stay and help us decorate the tree.”

  Dana put the purse down. “I am. I just wanted to move it. That’s all.” She had a plan and she was going to stick to it. Not that it was subtle. If she had to tackle the man and kiss him to death, she would.

  “Good. I’m glad you’re not going to start freaking out about how much time you spend with Dad.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Uncle Brady. He thinks you like Dad. Why would he care? It’s not like you’re going to love Dad over him, right? You still love Uncle Brady.”

  “Yes.”

  “You can even spend the night. Since Jean and Ollie are too little to have their own room, we have a spare one. You can both stay!” Karen said. “It’s Christmas Eve and we’ve got a lot to do if we’re going to get that huge tree done by the time Santa arrives.”

  “You might have to spend the night, Dana,” Carson said. “That storm is going to be here soon. You won’t be able to get back home.”

  “Yes, Dana. Spend the night,” Brady said right behind her ear.

  His voice seeped into her soul like brandy into her bloodstream.

  “What about you? You have the longer drive.” Dana felt herself flush from his intent gaze.

  He shrugged. “There’s the couch.”

  “Good!” Karen said, pleased with herself. “Uncle Brady, you can help Aunt Dana with the paper chain.” She all but pushed them together on the couch, then rustled around and found both ends. She handed one to each of them. “It’ll go faster if you work together.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Brady saluted his niece and Karen gave him a disapproving stare.

  “I’ll cut, you staple,” Dana said. She held up the little scissors. “Unless you want to cut.”

  Brady gave a quick chuckle. “I don’t think I could get a finger into those.”

  They worked in earnest silence.

  Karen came up behind them and put her hand over their heads.

  “What are you doing, Karen?” Dana asked.

  “What do you think I’m doing?” she teased. “It’s mistletoe. If I hold it over your head, it means Uncle Brady has to kiss you.”

  “I’m sure Uncle Brady doesn’t want to—”

  Brady’s mouth descended on hers, muffling her protest. Dana went still, and closed her eyes, letting his lips explore hers. This wasn’t the kiss of a man who’d decided to give up on his marriage. She might not have to tackle him after all.

  “Take it to the porch,” Carson interrupted, his eyes shining with approval. “We have minors in the room.”

  Brady leisurely pulled away, and Dana moaned in protest. He angled his head toward the front door. “So what do you think? Would you come to the porch with me?”

  With her hand over her mouth, her cheeks bright pink, Dana nodded. She would go to the depths of hell with him. She’d promised for better or for worse. They’d already been through the worst. She sighed with pure pleasure when Brady led her to the front door. He grabbed his coat and put it over her shou
lders before he pulled her into his arms. She laid her cheek on his chest and could hear his heart beating erratically.

  “I’m not going to let you do it,” he muttered. “You don’t belong with him. You belong with me. And if it takes forever to prove it, I will, even if that means I have to give you three girls of our own.”

  She smiled as she rubbed her head against his chest. “I am so sorry for everything I said. I’m not sorry I ever met you. I’m not sorry I married you. I’m just sorry that we’ve had to spend these last weeks not being with each other.”

  Brady was completely still and Dana wondered what he was thinking. Then she realized that it didn’t matter. She had things to say to him. “You were right. I was wrong. These girls need their father. And I need you. Only you.”

  Brady put his hands on her face. “I’m going to miss the girls, too, but not as much as I’ve missed you.” He dropped a feather-light kiss on her lips. “But I don’t know if I’m enough for you.”

  “You are more than I could wish for. You’re magic.” She reached up behind his ear and as if by magic, produced her house key. “I think you’re going to need this.”

  He grasped the key, then returned his arms to the position around her waist. “I was going to wait until New Year’s. If you hadn’t changed your mind about me, about us, by then, I was going to put you in a headlock until you agreed.”

  Dana smiled. “You can put me in a headlock later. Now I just want you to kiss me.”

  He lowered his head and whispered, “We need to make it good. We have an audience.”

  Dana didn’t see the delighted faces peering out of the window at them because she had already closed her eyes. Love was magic.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-4061-2

  MY THREE GIRLS

  Copyright © 2002 by Susan Kimoto.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.