“Babe, where are you?”
“Dammit, Luke. I know I’m close this time. These houses look familiar.”
He smiled at the waspish sound of her voice. “Honey, you’re making progress. You’re only getting lost twice a week now.”
“That’s because you drove me every day for two bloody months.” He heard her curse as she shuffled the map he knew was sitting in her lap. “All right. I give up. Where am I?”
“Jimbo, where’s Mommy?”
James checked the red blip on the screen. He loved when Jillian got lost because he got to pretend she was a spy that he and Samuel were tracking. “Tell her to take her next left.” He paused while Luke directed her and watched the blip move around the corner. “Okay. She’s one street over. Next left, then right. That’s our street.”
He snapped off the screen as Luke gave Jilly the directions. “Can we go outside now?”
Luke nodded and flipped his phone closed. “Don’t forget you’ve got a ball game at six-thirty. Get your uniform on. Dinner’s almost ready.” He smiled at Sarah and ruffled her soft curls. “Wanna go wait for Mommy?”
He pushed the screen door open and strolled out into the yard. His yard. Luke Gianetti had a yard. He had a flower garden, too. Jilly had even convinced him he was capable of growing tomatoes. They spilled from their brightly colored pots on the deck out back. He had a deck. He shook his head in disbelief, something he still did at least once a week. Next, they’d probably get a dog.
His smile widened as Jilly’s car rounded the corner. The tracking software had been the best investment he’d made in recent years. The transponder worked like a charm. Even if she ever tried, she’d never be able to lose him. He watched her get out of the car, a sweet smile on her beautiful face and told himself for the hundredth time that he was the luckiest man on the planet.
“Sorry I’m late.” She kissed him, lingering a moment over the task, and he sighed with satisfaction. She scooped Sarah from his arms and nuzzled her neck, much to the little girl’s delight. They strolled up the driveway together, his hand at her back as she climbed the steps.
“Work late?”
“No. I had an appointment.”
The tone of her voice had him instantly curious. “Okay, what’s up?” She removed her sunglasses and he knew immediately that she was nervous. “What sort of appointment? You didn’t mention it this morning.”
“I, um, had a doctor’s appointment. I’ve been so bloody tired. I wanted to make sure nothing—”
“Jilly, for Pete’s sake. In the last seven months you’ve moved twice—once across the damn ocean—you’ve been shot and nearly killed, you inherited three children, started two new jobs and married me. You’ve earned the right to be tired.”
“Yes, well, I just thought—”
“What’d he say?” Luke moved closer, suddenly suspicious. “You’re all right, aren’t you?” His gut tightened to red-alert status when she refused to look at him. He promptly stepped in front of her and forced her chin up with his finger. “What the hell did he say?”
When her eyes filled with tears, he didn’t know whether to comfort her or to throw up in the kitchen sink. Sweet Jesus, something was wrong with her.
“Tell me, Jill. Whatever it is. Tell me right now!”
She nodded and took a deep breath. “He told me we’re pregnant.”
A lightning bolt zagged through him and detonated in his chest, the explosion reverberating in his ears. “That’s not p-possible,” he managed to croak. “I told you—”
She recovered quickly, her eyes flashing angrily. “I know what you bloody told me. And I’m here to tell you Linda was wrong.”
He shook his head, his brain firing too rapidly for him to form words. He’d had tests…she’d delighted in taunting him.
“The only logical answer is that she lied to you.” Jillian took a step closer, her expression worried. “I— Luke, how do you feel about this?”
“How do I feel? How do you feel?” He winced at the gritty sound of his voice and swallowed hard in an attempt to rid the lump from his throat.
“I’m…thrilled. And overwhelmed. But you…you only signed on for three children, not four.”
Sweet Jesus…he felt as though he could leap a tall building in a single bound. “Who said anything about stopping at four?” He smiled and placed his still shaking hand on her stomach. “Baby, you and me, we’re just getting started.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7358-4
FOR HER PROTECTION
Copyright © 2004 by Laurene Germano
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