by Tina Leonard
She nearly jumped when he touched her arm. “I brought you here. I’m taking you back.”
Her insides were so tight she thought she might be ill. “Boys,” she said hurriedly, “Mr. McGarrett is going to drive us home. Can you gather up your things, please?”
They did her bidding, following Luke to his truck. After everyone was buckled in he drove away.
Ten minutes later he parked in front of their house. Pepper got out and the boys did, too, walking to the porch. Luke stood by his truck, watching to see they got safely inside but not coming close enough to be invited in. Pepper thought she’d feel relief; instead, she felt more confused. As if she’d betrayed him all over again.
The boys waved goodbye politely and went inside the house. Pepper turned to glance back at Luke—she shouldn’t have, but she couldn’t help herself—and was horrified to see him wiping away tears he didn’t want her to see.
She fled.
LUKE WENT HOME, or at least to the place he’d called home again for the past week, his steps heavy and his heart torn. He sank into the couch near his father’s recliner.
He was beyond noticing much of anything.
“Luke?” his dad said, and Luke acknowledged him with a nod.
“Something wrong?”
Luke couldn’t speak. His emotions were tangling up everything vital in his body.
“Are you ill, boy?”
Slowly, he rolled his head to the side so that he could make eye contact with his father. His dad squinted at him, then reached to flip off the television. “You look like something bit you on the ass.”
How was he going to tell his father—whom he barely knew—that there were two more people in his life that he didn’t know at all? As much as he wanted to doubt that Toby and Josh were his children, he’d known the truth from the stark, frightened look on Pepper’s face. Even if he’d doubted her, their pictures bore a startling resemblance to himself at that age. Meeting them in person was a study in similarities—he’d seen himself all over again. Twice.
Now he knew why he’d really been called home. If he’d recognized the children as his at a glance, so had any other person in Tulips who’d seen them.
“Dad,” he said slowly, “we have to talk.”
His father scowled. “I’ve already taken no for an answer. I’m talking to Holt about buying out my business. He’s always wheeling and dealing, anyway.”
Luke looked at his dad. “This isn’t about that.”
“Oh?” His father cocked his head. “Can’t imagine what else would have you looking like your dog ran off, except going into business with me.”
Luke sighed. “Dad, I’m…a father.”
His dad squinted. “A father?”
Just saying the words felt crazy. Luke couldn’t figure out how he was going to bring his two worlds together. “I have twin teenaged sons.”
His father stared at him, not sure what to make of his pronouncement. “Where?”
“Right here. In Tulips.”
“Nope.” His father leaned back in his recliner. “Son, you have no children here. I’d have seen them over the years. Believe me, I wasn’t always sitting in this chair. And nobody keeps that kind of thing quiet in Tulips.”
Luke shook his head. “I do, Dad.”
His father turned to him, frowning. “Who’s the mother, then?”
Luke could barely bring himself to say it. No wonder Duke had stared at him last night with such intensity. Pepper, the mother of his children? It was like mating a black sheep with a good unbred lamb. “Pepper Forrester,” he said after a long moment.
His dad started to laugh. “That little doc that comes around trying to make me take care of myself?” He stopped laughing after a moment when Luke didn’t say anything. Scratching his head, he said, “Well, hell, maybe she was trying to tell me something.”
Luke looked up. “Like what?”
“Like maybe I’ve got something to live for now.”
Maybe they both did. “Pepper would want you to take care of yourself no matter what. Once you’re her patient, I think it’s your will against hers.”
His dad arched a brow. “You like that girl?”
Luke sighed. “I’m too mad, too shocked, to even think about that.”
His dad shrugged, leaning back again. “If what you say is true, you might consider it.”
Luke looked up. “Why? What do you mean?”
“You have a family now. Might as well act like it. In a few years, the boys’ll go off, just like you did, and—” his father made a slashing motion through the air “—all those chances to get to know each other are gone.”
Luke’s breath caught in his chest. Did he hear regret in his father’s words?
“She’s a cute little thing,” his father continued. “You could do worse. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to do better.” He chuckled to himself. “Wonder what ol’ Sheriff Forrester thinks about his new relations?”
“He likes his nephews a lot, from what I could tell.”
“And you?”
“Me, not so much.” Luke laughed ruefully. “He doesn’t seem too sure about me yet. I wonder how long he’s known.”
“Not long, I’d bet. Probably not much longer than you, because he and that rascal brother of his would have dragged you back here kicking and screaming to marry their sister shotgun-style. If I had to guess, I’d say that’s why the big secret. She lived up north for years, you know.”
“I really don’t know much about Pepper,” Luke murmured. “We went our separate ways after high school.”
“I’d think your first reaction will be anger,” his dad said, “but you’ve gotta admit she didn’t try to tie you down.”
“That doesn’t excuse her not telling me.”
“Would it have mattered, Luke?” his dad asked. “Or would you have been angry at being tied to Tulips?”
Luke didn’t want to hear that, though the truth rang deep inside him. “I’m in too much shock to know what I would have wanted differently. What I have to do now is play the hand that’s been dealt to me.”
His father shifted in his recliner. “You’ve always been a lucky man. You’ll manage.”
It was time for a question he’d always wanted to ask. “When you say I’m lucky,” Luke said, “you sound critical. Are you ashamed of me, Dad?”
His father looked at him. “At times I was.”
They were silent for a long time. And then his dad spoke again. “Of course, if you’re going to bring me grandkids, I’d probably be the proudest man on the planet.”
Luke perked up. “Really?”
“Oh, hell, yeah,” his father said. “I’m ready to get out of this damn chair. Grandkids will certainly do the trick.”
Luke nodded, welcoming the healing seeping into the cracks of their relationship.
But starting over with Pepper—that was going to take a miracle.
PEPPER CURLED UP on her bed, worrying about Luke. Worrying about her boys. How would they take the knowledge that their father lived in this town—and that they’d just met him? She’d expected a lightning strike of recognition, but the boys didn’t seem to suspect anything, and Luke hadn’t pressed the issue of his fatherhood with them, for which she was grateful. Toby and Josh were making a smooth transition to life in Tulips. To throw a surprise father into the mix right now seemed like it might be too much at one time.
But Luke wasn’t going to wait forever for them to know, and she didn’t want him to. She just hoped she’d be ready when the moment happened.
She heard the doorbell chime. Throwing on a robe, she crept cautiously downstairs, wondering who might be visiting that wouldn’t call first.
In the glow of the porch light, she could see Luke’s broad shoulders. A powerful feeling shook her, but it didn’t seem quite like relief, since she knew exactly why he was here. She opened the door. “Hi.”
He nodded, his face drawn. “Were you in bed?”
“Not exactly. I couldn
’t sleep.” She let him inside the house and closed the door before turning to face him. “Luke, thank you for not telling the boys, tonight.”
“Actually, that’s why I came by.”
She swallowed. “All right. Please have a seat in the living room.”
He went back to the floral sofa he’d found so inviting earlier, but didn’t relax any more than he had before. “Where are the boys?”
“Fast asleep. Duke wears them out on the ranch. If he doesn’t, Zach has a thousand things to occupy them with. They were worried about being bored in a small town, but that hasn’t happened yet. By the time school starts in the fall, they’ll be well-acclimated to Tulips.”
Luke looked at her. “I think we should talk.”
“All right.”
“I suppose your brothers and the gang know I’m the father.”
“I never told anyone, but…” She looked at him uncertainly. “I believe the likeness is telling. They figured it out.”
“I would like to tell them myself.”
“Of course,” Pepper said softly. “I completely understand.”
Luke nodded in appreciation. He glanced around the room slowly, noting each object before turning back to her. “I’m sorry that I didn’t know you were pregnant. You must have been very scared, felt very alone.”
Pepper didn’t want to talk about the past. She’d never let fear get the best of her. “Toby and Josh are awesome kids.”
“You’ve done a good job with them. And become a doctor. It’s a lot.”
She stared at him silently.
“I haven’t done much with my life, except be incredibly lucky,” Luke said. “I figure this is my chance to prove myself.”
“The boys won’t expect you to do that,” she said quickly. “Luke, they’ll be thrilled to know their father.”
He seemed comforted by the thought. “I hope so. Still, when they ask what I do for a living—”
“You’ll say you own your own business,” Pepper said, “and nothing else need be mentioned.”
She was right. They didn’t need a confessional; they needed a father who was there for them. That’s what Luke had always wanted in his life. Even though he’d gotten the emotional support he craved later on, it had still felt good. “I’ll try to be a good father.”
She smiled. “I know you will.”
Initially he’d been startled by his own father’s suggestion that he, Pepper and the boys needed to be a family, but as the hours went by, he knew that was true. He wanted to give his boys his name. “Pepper,” he said, “at the risk of being old school, I want to suggest something. Marry me.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“Stability.” He shrugged. “You lost your parents young, but you remember how good it felt to have a whole family. So do I.”
He’d not planned any of the words coming from his mouth, but he meant every single one of them. Suddenly, it mattered that she understand what he felt his boys needed.
“Luke, I don’t think—”
He reached to put a hand over hers. “Maybe we don’t need to talk about marriage now. The back burner might be the best place for that subject until more things are settled with the boys. But I think it’s worth considering.”
Her eyes were so wide he could tell he’d startled her. No one was more startled than he. Less than a week ago, he’d been planning to take his job back from Hawk and Jellyfish and return to floating on the jewel-colored waters of the Greek Isles.
Sons. He’d change his whole life for his boys.
Chapter Nine
Pepper let Luke out, still in shock following his astonishing proposal. He kissed her forehead and left, seeming as bemused as she was by the fact that their lives were now inextricably intertwined.
She couldn’t be sure how the boys would take it when they learned the truth. And the possibility of her marrying? She couldn’t even guess how they might feel about that. Only time would tell, and for now, she needed to slow down enough to catch her breath.
Quietly, she went into the bedroom the boys had decided to share, each of them in a sleeping bag because she hadn’t yet bought beds for their room. Duke had said she could take some from the Triple F, but they’d need beds there, too, so Pepper had decided to take the boys into Dallas soon and let them choose their own beds. Hopefully, decorating their room would help them feel that they had some control over their lives.
It seemed silly to think that painting a room and choosing furniture might help them feel more secure about the move, when she was about to spring their father on them.
They slept deeply, unworried by the concerns plaguing her.
She left their room and went upstairs to lie down again, though she knew she wouldn’t sleep. Marry Luke? The thought sent a delicious shiver up her spine in spite of herself. She told herself sternly that they’d never work as a married couple. They were too different. It would be stressful on Toby and Josh because they would want to see their parents get along.
Though the picture Luke had painted was a pretty one—a complete family—she reluctantly admitted she wanted to marry for love. Maybe that was an unlikely dream, but her heart demanded it. Otherwise, marriage for her would just be signing another contract, as she had for this house and her clinic.
Love. That was the only reason she would marry.
And she knew too well that Luke McGarrett was not in love with her.
“IT’S A START,” Helen said to Pansy as they examined a drawing for a giant cake that Valentine from Union Junction proposed to make for them. “It could certainly feed a hundred hungry bachelors.” She glanced up as Pepper walked in carrying a box of pink plastic glasses. “Check out this cake, Pepper. Valentine has offered to bake a celebratory kickoff cake for our upcoming Fishing For Bachelors extravaganza.”
Pepper smiled as she looked at the sketch. “Beautiful as always, Valentine.”
Helen thought Pepper hadn’t looked too hard at the cake or she might have noticed it seemed a bit phallic in structure. Pansy was no help in this matter due to her macular degeneration—hard to see the whole drawing, Helen figured—so she was counting on Pepper to perhaps suggest Valentine could scale the design a bit differently.
Or maybe she was simply being too hypercritical of an artistic vision. She did so want everything to go well for their first big town project, especially since Duke had put up so many objections. Bug was looking forward to his parade; Hiram was anticipating his many sundry jobs. Helen thought Pepper’s boys might get a real boost out of seeing folks in a small town working together on something fun.
She worried about those boys.
“I think the cake is beautiful,” Pepper said, looking at the drawing more carefully, “though I wonder if maybe a wide rectangle shape might be better.”
Valentine nodded. “I could do that. Or even round with tulips on it.”
Helen smiled. “You’re a genius, Valentine. That would be a cake to remember.” She was definitely getting old, she decided, if cakes were taking on puzzling shapes.
“I believe the Malfunction Junction brothers who are in town want to be included in the fun,” Valentine said. “As helping hands, of course, not fishers of women.”
“Funny,” Helen said. “By the way, thank your husband for offering up his brothers. We sure could use the help with organizing boats and things. Weigh-in could be tricky, too.” The big day was only two weeks away. She wanted everything to go as smooth as a ribbon. Some towns had tractor pulls, some had pumpkin-growing contests, some even had weed-whacker races and town fairs. All she wanted was one afternoon where lots of available fellows could see Tulips and its talented, special ladies.
She planned to ask someone to take Toby and Josh out to cast a few lures for fish, though not women. The boys would enjoy an afternoon on a lake with a role model. Of course, the obvious choice was Luke, but she daren’t meddle, she told herself with a glance at Pepper.
Valentine and Pepper laughed at something Helen hadn’
t heard, and then Valentine left with her drawing, excited to get home and redo her design.
Pepper looked at Helen and Pansy, and it seemed all the joy went out of her eyes. “I could really use some advice,” she said.
Pansy wheeled the tea tray over. “Have some fortifying tea,” she offered. “Valentine brought us some new scones she’s trying out.”
Helen sat, feeling the skin on her arm begin to itch, in that one place that always bothered her whenever she felt nervous. “We’re not much good with advice, but we’re happy to listen.”
Pepper didn’t touch the scone or the tea, although the tempting treats sat in front of her just in case. “Luke knows.”
“Knows what, dear?” Pansy said.
“That he is Toby’s and Josh’s father.” Pepper sighed. “And you don’t have to act like you didn’t know, because I know you guessed.”
“Do the boys know?” Helen asked.
“I don’t think so,” Pepper said slowly. “They seemed fine this morning, didn’t mention Luke at all. Didn’t even ask why I’d introduced him to them.”
“I think that’s strange right there,” Helen said. “Kids always ask questions, usually at the most inconvenient times.”
Pepper considered that. “We’re pretty close. I feel they would have said something.”
“Maybe not, if they were afraid of scaring Luke off,” Pansy mused. “They’re twins. They would think deeply and discuss the matter and try to make things easier on everyone.”
“I never thought about that,” Pepper said slowly.
“So what do you need our advice on, dear?” Helen asked. “It seems you already have everything in hand.”
“I don’t,” she said. “I was trying to think of the best way Luke and I could tell the boys without upsetting them. There’s no book on this subject, no body of research to refer to.”
Helen nodded. “Not everything is as cut-and-dried as looking in a medical journal.”