Orange throw pillows had Camaro emblazoned on them, and, though Molly couldn’t be positive, she suspected they’d been made from vintage car upholstery. A blue-and-yellow neon sign touting OK Used Cars hung on one wall.
The dining room was even better. A plank table rested on metal legs. And the chairs! One looked like a wooden throne, another was an office chair on casters, and a third a vinyl sixties style. All six were unique.
A battered metal desk hunkered down in one corner, with an interesting mix of items covering its top. A Corvette insignia, a bust of ET, and a framed and signed photo of Steve McQueen on a motorcycle hung out with souvenir cups holding paper clips and pens. A seriously weathered BankAmericard sign hung on the wall above it.
Again, Molly’s mind went to the pickers on TV. Wouldn’t they love to snoop around in here? The man liked things, his collection eclectic. She completely understood why the old service station had spoken to him. It was basically an extension of his house.
Now he had to pack up everything and move.
When Brant stepped into the room, Molly forgot everything else as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. When his lips touched hers, she couldn’t remember a single reason why he wasn’t the best thing that had ever happened to her.
*
Waking up with Brant was breathtaking. Warm and loose, they took a leisurely pleasure in each other’s bodies, picking up where they’d left off in the early-morning hours. When she finally made it to the shower, Brant joined her beneath the warm spray, pulling her against his hard body to shampoo her hair with his big, gentle hands.
Jax, bless his little heart, slept just long enough for her rinse.
*
At his parents’ house, Molly fixed breakfast, giving his dad a break and Brant time to chat with his folks. Scrambled eggs scattered the floor around Jax. Standing to clear the table, she said, “Why don’t you and your dad take a field trip, check on things at the shop? See if your brothers are actually working or goofing off.”
Brant met her eyes. “You sure?”
“Positive. Your mom and I can’t wait to have the house to ourselves.”
Penny, still in her nightgown and robe, smiled and nodded.
“How about I take Jax with Dad and me? About time he starts learning what guys really do.”
Molly glanced sideways at Penny. “Do you believe that?”
Brant’s mom laughed. “Three sons.”
“Yeah, you’d be the expert.”
While Brant packed up his diaper bag, Jax crawled around the room, pulling magazines off the coffee table and upending Penny’s coffee cup.
“Good thing it’s empty,” she said.
Molly stacked the last plate in the dishwasher and made a shooing sound. “Go play.”
“Okay, okay.” Brant kissed his mom’s forehead and grabbed Jax, stuffing his arms into his jacket.
Molly walked them to the door. “You boys have fun.”
Brant leaned in to give her a kiss. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Your dad needs some time away.”
Gratitude filled Brant’s eyes. “You’re the best, Mol.”
“I am, and don’t you forget it.”
The second they drove away, Penny said, “Don’t need to stay. I’m okay.”
Molly, who’d been watching out the window, took a couple of seconds before turning around. Brant’s mom was a lot like him—that pride and fierce independence, mixed with the need to prove she had plenty of both.
She liked Penny. This stroke had brought her down, made her dependent, and scraped away quite a few layers of dignity.
Mentally, Molly rolled up her sleeves. Time to do what she could to restore some of that self-esteem.
Hands on her hips, she turned, shaking her head. “Men!”
Penny frowned. “What—?” She sighed, frustrated when the right words wouldn’t come.
“They don’t get it, do they? I can see Neal and the boys are taking care of you, of the essentials, but they’re guys. They forget the important things.” She crossed to Brant’s mom and sat on the edge of her footstool. Taking Penny’s hand, she smiled mischievously. “How about a spa day—just you and me?”
“Spa?”
“You’ll have to help me, though.”
“Can’t.” Penny held up a hand. “Too shaky.”
“All I need from you is information. You have makeup?”
Penny nodded.
“Nail polish, files, hair brushes?”
Penny told her where everything was.
“Do you mind if I snoop around?”
“Help yourself,” Penny said.
Before long, Molly had collected everything they needed. They started with mani-pedis and moved on to facials and makeovers. She fixed fancy little sandwiches for lunch and served tea from a set Penny told her was a wedding gift.
“Long time ago,” she said.
“How many years have you and Neal been married?”
“Thirty-seven.” She pointed at a framed photo. “Us.”
Molly studied it. “You look so happy.”
“Still are.” The smile on the older woman’s face transformed her. “Love. All you need.”
Was it? Molly wondered.
Once lunch was finished, Molly said, “Let’s get you out of that nightgown. What’s your favorite outfit?”
Penny insisted on jewelry, too. “Might as well do it right,” she managed.
Then they settled in to watch an old favorite, Sleepless in Seattle.
*
When Brant and his father walked in, a sleeping baby in tow, both stopped in their tracks.
“Penny?” Neal grinned ear to ear. “Look at you.”
“Ready to go dancing?” she asked.
Instead of answering, he gathered her close, and the two swayed to music only they heard—the best kind of dance.
His eyes misty, he drew back to kiss her cheek. “You’re beautiful.”
She laughed like a young girl.
Molly felt Brant’s arm around her waist. When she turned, he looked near tears.
“Brant?”
“I’m okay.” His voice was gruff and deep. He drew her closer. The kiss was not the quick buss he’d given her earlier in front of his parents. This was a holy-cow, curl-her-toes kiss!
“Mom looks like Mom again.”
“She’s been in there all along,” Molly whispered. Aloud, she said, “We’ve had a ball today.”
“You picked a good one, Brant,” Mom said. “Take care of her.”
“She makes that pretty tough to do.”
“That’s why I like her.” Penny grinned.
Neal sniffed the air. “What smells so good? Besides my pretty girl?”
“Scalloped potatoes. Ham,” Penny answered.
“Really?” Neal’s head whipped around to Molly. “She’s been hungry for that, and I—” He trailed off.
“You had everything I needed, so in between our beauty sessions and a movie, I popped a casserole in the oven.”
She thought Brant’s dad really would cry this time. Instead, he hugged her. Hard. “Penny’s right. You’re a good one. A darned good one.”
*
After dinner and playtime with Jax, Mrs. Wylder yawned and her eyes drooped.
“Think it’s time for bed, honey. Why don’t you tell the kids good night? We’ll see them again in the morning.”
Penny kissed Jax, then Molly and Brant both gave her a hug and a kiss in turn.
Neal walked them to the door. “Molly, I cannot thank you enough for today. You’ve made my sweetheart smile again.”
“I enjoyed every single minute.”
“Thanks for dinner, too. It was terrific.” Then he turned to his son. “Brant, if you’ve got a lick of sense in that hard head of yours, you’ll find a way to keep this one.”
Brant looked toward Molly. “Gotcha, Dad.”
The second they had Jax strapped in and their car doors closed, M
olly said, “Take me shopping.”
“What? Now?”
“Now.”
“Oh, for the love of—”
“Your mother.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your mom needs some things.”
“Oh. Okay.”
She read the doubt in his voice, but he drove her to the town’s only mall.
“It’s almost closing time, so you’ll have to hurry.”
“I can do that. Follow me and see to Jax. Oh, and keep your credit card handy,” Molly said.
She scoured the stores and picked out some new nightgowns for Penny along with some easy-to-get-in-and-out-of clothes without buttons or zippers. “There’s something about getting dressed that makes a person feel better, and your mom will appreciate being able to handle that on her own. On the days she wants to stay in bed or in her nightwear, she needs something feminine and pretty, something that reminds her she’s a woman.”
Brant stared at her so long, she grew uncomfortable.
“What?”
“We should have done this for Mom, yet none of us thought about it. I—I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”
“Your mother’s a sweetheart.”
“So are you.” Shifting Jax to one side, Brant leaned in and kissed her, right there in the middle of the department store. And she let him, her knees going weak.
When his lips left hers, she played it light. “Then you won’t mind if I add a bottle of perfume and some wicked smelling skin cream to her goodies.”
“Not at all.”
*
Thursday morning they arrived at his parents’, loaded down with shopping bags, to find Tucker and Gaven there.
“What’s all this?”
“A few things Molly—Ouch!” Brant glared at her. “You pinched me.”
“Yes, I did.” She smiled sweetly. “These are a few things we thought Penny might like.”
“Right.” Rubbing his arm, he moved to sit by his mother, still in her nightgown. He showed her a couple of the new outfits.
Penny cried and hugged her son. “Thank you. This will help so much.” Over his head, she met Molly’s gaze and mouthed another thank you.
Molly nodded, her throat too tight to speak.
“Let me at least pay for all this.” Neal reached into his back pocket for his wallet.
She shook her head. “Brant got it. An early Mother’s Day gift.”
*
Molly whipped up some pancakes while Brant fried eggs. Tucker set the table, and Gaven started a pot of coffee and poured the orange juice.
“Too bad you can’t stay longer, Molly,” Gaven said. “I could get used to this.”
“I can give you the recipe.”
He laughed. “That’s okay. How about one more day?”
“I need to get back to work. Lettie’s covering for me, but I don’t want to leave her too long.”
“Go to work for us.”
“That’s not on her list,” Brant muttered.
“List?” Tucker frowned. “What list?”
Molly smacked Brant on the back of his head.
He raised a hand to it. “Geez, you’re violent today.”
“Because you’re a jerk.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the look that passed between Brant’s brothers.
Neal and Penny chose that moment to come back into the room, Penny wearing a new outfit and with her hair neatly combed. A touch of lipstick added color to her face. Her smile said it all: she felt like a woman again.
While they ate, Penny said, “Too bad…” She stopped, then started over. “Too bad it’s not warmer. You could take the boat out. Do a little motorboatin’.”
Brant choked on his coffee. He pounded his chest, then swiped at the tears in his eyes. “What?”
His brothers laughed, and Molly turned red.
“Isn’t that what you kids call it? Heard it in a country song.”
“Yep.” When Molly met his eyes, he winked. “That’s what we call it.”
Brant offered to do the dishes. He set the infant seat way back on the counter. “Okay, kid, let’s show them how it’s done.”
Jax jabbered while Brant washed two dishes, then rinsed them. When he turned to put them in the drainer, the baby waved his arms. Brant leaned in and gave him a big, noisy kiss. Jax giggled. Two more dishes, more giggling and wiggling, and another kiss. Every time Brant turned, the baby, anticipating another kiss, grew louder, giggled harder, and had everyone laughing.
When he dropped the final fork in the drainer and the final kiss on Jax’s cheek, Brant plucked him out of his seat, and together they bowed low.
“And that, family, is how you manage to wash dishes with a baby.”
Penny smiled. “Lainey would be proud. I am.”
“That means the world to me, Mom.” He crossed the room with the baby in his arms and dropped a kiss on her cheek, not as loud as the ones he’d given Jax but with lots of heart.
Grabbing Molly’s hand, he said, “Take a walk with me. Tucker and Gaven can keep an eye on the baby.”
Jax, who’d been planted in the center of a spread blanket, banged a rattle on the floor and talked to himself. Drool dripped from his lower lip and soaked his bib, now a constant accessory.
“He won’t sit there long, Tuck, so watch him.”
“I will.”
“Button up, Mol,” Brant said as they stepped outside. “The temperature’s dropped, and the breeze off the water’s nasty.”
Molly shivered, and he draped an arm around her.
In the backyard, he partially uncovered a boat. “My brothers and I practically grew up on this thing. We were either in the garage or on the water. Wish I could take you out today, but that’s not going to happen.” Even as he eyed the storm clouds, the first snowflake drifted down.
Molly squealed and held out a hand, then watched in wonder as the flakes melted on contact. “My first snow!” Sticking out her tongue, she caught a snowflake on the tip.
He laughed. “My Southern girl!”
He waited for her to call him out and did a mental fist pump when she didn’t.
Chapter 24
“We should make it to Misty Bottoms just in time for Jax’s doctor’s appointment. You still up for going with me?”
The goodbyes had been difficult, and they’d been a little late leaving his folks’ house.
She studied his face—those deep dimples, that sexy mouth, and those mind-blowing eyes. Maybe she should have sucker tattooed across her forehead, but she had indeed promised. “Absolutely.”
“Great. While I’ve got you captive, there’s another problem you might be able to help with.”
“Oh?”
“I need to slap some paint on the shop walls, but I keep changing my mind about the office color. Since that’s where we’ll actually sit down with clients, it matters.”
“Yes, it does.” She chewed at her lip. “Do you have a special color, one that makes you happy?”
“Like your blue?”
“Actually, I had a tough time with that. I played with the idea of an all-white shop but worried that both the bride and my gowns would get lost. My next thought was pink, which seemed too shopworn.”
“How’d you end up with that particular shade of blue?”
“I’ve always loved blue, but to be honest? When it came time to decide, all those little paint chips at Beck’s made my head swim. I couldn’t pull the trigger.”
“Yet you did.”
“With Beck’s help. He asked if I had anything I really loved for its color. I said yes, the dress I had on, and that was that. He matched the paint to it.”
“You picked your shop’s color based on the dress you were wearing?”
She shrugged. “You asked.”
“I did.”
“So, Brant, what one thing do you love the color of?”
“Your eyes.”
She raised a hand to her throat. “Brant—”
<
br /> “You asked.”
*
They reached the city limits and headed straight to the pediatrician’s. Molly flipped down the sun visor and glanced at the happy baby. Poor little tyke had no idea what was in store.
Did Brant? Had he checked today’s agenda? She’d Googled it, and it didn’t look pretty.
After they signed in, Molly played with the baby while Brant sprawled in a chair, reading an article in Sports Illustrated about baseball’s upcoming spring training.
Not five minutes later, the nurse called them back, and surprisingly, the doctor walked into the exam room right behind them.
“I’m Dr. Yancy.” He held out a hand to Molly, then Brant. “You’ve got yourselves one cute baby, Mr. and Mrs. Wylder.”
Brant cleared his throat. “We’re not married.”
This stopped the doctor for only a second. “The important thing is you’re both here for your child.”
“Jax isn’t…” Brant glanced at Molly. “Help me.”
Men. “Dr. Yancy, Brant’s sister, the baby’s mother, was injured in a car accident. She, uh, she—”
Brant nodded. “It’s okay. Tell him.”
“Why don’t you?”
The doctor looked from one to the other.
“It’s easier for you,” Brant said.
“Oh, for—His sister’s out of the hospital now, but she’s in rehab for an alcohol problem. Brant’s caring for his nephew while she’s there. I’m just a friend who’s helping out.”
Brant frowned. What was with this “just a friend” thing? Of course she was a friend. Anybody could see that. But just? No, she wasn’t just a friend. Nobody kissed her friend the way she kissed him! And he sure as heck had never kissed a friend the way he kissed her!
That conversation would wait till they were alone, though.
He compromised and slid a hand over hers, interlacing their fingers. Then, his eyes on hers, he raised her hand to his lips, kissed the palm.
The expression on her face was priceless.
Then those incomparable eyes darkened. Oh yeah, there’ll be hell to pay later.
He grinned, actually looking forward to it.
The doctor broke into his thoughts. “That explains the situation very well, Miss…”
Must Love Babies Page 29