Penny refused to give it. “No, we don’t.”
She knew she was going to have to talk to Jason, that they were going to have to find a way to communicate and make plans for their baby, but not yet. Not when simply being in the same room with him made her heart ache.
“Please, Penny,” Jason said.
And her aching heart melted, just a little.
But before she could respond to his plea, Paige came to her rescue. She sailed into the kitchen and, summing up the situation in one quick glance, turned to Jason and said, “Out.”
Though Gabby had to know that her cousin wasn’t talking to her, she slipped out of the room, obviously not wanting to get caught in any cross fire.
Jason’s brows lifted. “I’m simply trying to help with the cleanup.”
Paige’s smile was forced. “You’ve done enough. Really.”
Penny knew her sister was referring to his relationship with her, rather than the state of the kitchen, and, judging by the way his eyes narrowed, Jason knew it, too.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” he said to Penny.
She nodded, accepting that it was inevitable, even while she hoped it would be much later.
“I can’t believe that man is Travis’s brother,” Paige muttered.
“Which means he’s soon going to be your brother-in-law,” Penny pointed out. “So maybe you should try being a little less hostile toward him.”
“I’m only looking out for you.”
“I know. And I appreciate it. But I need to stand on my own two feet.”
“Not an easy task when you’ve had the rug pulled right out from under you.”
“I can manage,” she assured her sister.
“Manage the dishes all by yourself?” Gabby teased, returning to the kitchen. “Because I’d much rather linger over another glass of wine than tackle the logistical nightmare of loading fourteen place settings into a dishwasher.”
“Then you’re in luck,” Penny said, squirting soap into the stream of hot water that was rapidly filling one of the sinks. “You can scrub the pots instead.”
To the sisters’ mutual surprise, Gabby didn’t balk at the directive, but moved to the sink and immersed her hands into the sudsy water.
“I wish I had a camera,” Paige murmured, heading back out to the dining room to finish clearing the tables.
“I know I’ve been spoiled and pampered most of my life,” Gabby said. “But Rafael has been encouraging me to overcome my aversion to domestic chores.”
“Still—” Penny handed her cousin a pair of rubber gloves “—the McCord spokesperson can’t be caught with dishpan hands.”
“Speaking of hands,” Gabby said, drying her own in order to don the gloves as Paige returned. “Did either of you notice, when Eleanor and Rex lifted their glasses to toast the new engagement, that they both had gold bands on the third fingers of their left hands?”
“I didn’t,” Penny admitted, frowning.
She hadn’t really been able to concentrate on anything with Jason so near, and she couldn’t help but wonder how wrapped up in him she’d been over the past few months, that she’d been so oblivious to the developing relationship between her mother and his father.
“Neither did I,” Paige said, then, “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Are you actually suggesting that our mother got married without telling her kids?”
Gabby shrugged. “Well, everyone’s been so caught up in their own lives and their own agendas lately, and with the volatile history between the two families, she probably just wanted to do it quietly.”
It made sense, sort of. “But why didn’t they tell us today?”
“Maybe they intended to,” Gabby suggested. “But didn’t want to steal the spotlight from the news that Paige is engaged to her stepbrother.”
“Well, good for Mom, I guess, though the stepbrother thing is a little disconcerting.”
“Talk about close family ties,” Gabby mused.
“A little too close,” Penny said.
“And don’t think the media won’t figure out the connection,” their cousin warned.
A former model, international jetsetter and genuine blueblood heiress, Gabriella had been the target of more than her fair share of media attention and was understandably wary.
Paige just shrugged. “At this point, any publicity for the family is good for the business.”
“Even a headline that reads: ‘Family Feud Ends with Stepsibling Wedding’?” Gabby asked, determined to ensure that her cousin understood the kind of paparazzi circus she might find herself in the midst of.
“It’s better than ‘McCord Heiress Gives Birth to Stepbrother’s Illegitimate Baby’.”
Gabby stared at Paige. “You’re pregnant?”
In response to which question Paige automatically shook her head, then winced when she realized the truth that her denial revealed.
Gabby spun around to face Penny.
Penny didn’t—couldn’t—respond. Nor could she hide the tears that sprang to her eyes.
“Good thing I swore you to secrecy on that,” she said to her sister.
Paige winced again. “Oh, honey, I wasn’t thinking.”
“Apparently, neither was I, or I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Does Jason know?” Gabby asked gently.
“Not unless he was lurking outside the doorway when Paige made her little announcement.”
“But you’re going to tell him?” her cousin pressed. “Because he seems to me like the type of guy who would step up to do the right thing.”
“What is the right thing in this situation?” Penny wondered aloud.
“To get married and give your baby a family.”
She shook her head, her throat tight. It was once what she’d wanted, more than anything else. When she’d first learned that she was carrying Jason’s baby, she’d foolishly let herself imagine that he would be thrilled by the news, that he would want to marry her and be a father to their child. Then she’d found out that their entire relationship had been a scam from the beginning, and her dream had shattered.
Maybe it had been a mistake to come.
Jason considered this possibility as he made his way down the hall.
It had definitely been a mistake to think that he could resolve anything with Penny while there were so many other people around, one of whom was her overprotective twin sister. But it was the first opportunity he’d had to see her and talk to her face-to-face since she canceled their dinner plans and stopped taking his calls almost three weeks earlier, and he’d prematurely jumped at the opportunity. And blown it.
Frustrated with himself as much as the situation, he pushed open the door and stepped out onto the porch, nearly tripping over Olivia, his six-year-old niece, in the process. His oldest brother, Livie’s father, was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
“Where are you rushing off to?” Zane asked him.
“I was just coming out to get some air,” Jason replied.
“We’re going to see the kittens,” Olivia announced.
“Kittens?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Uncle Travis said Matilda had a letter of six.”
“A litter,” Zane corrected his daughter.
“Six kittens,” Olivia said, refocusing her attention on the most important piece of information. “They’re in the barn.”
“Then we should definitely go take a look,” Jason agreed, and his response was rewarded with a brilliant smile from his niece.
Olivia skipped ahead. Zane and Jason followed at a more leisurely pace, a few steps behind.
“Good thing it’s a clear night,” Zane noted. “Living in the city, I forget how dark it can get out here.”
“I don’t know that I could ever live out in the middle of nowhere, but it seems to suit Travis.”
“Hopefully, it will suit Paige, too.”
Jason nodded.
“It’s kind of fun
ny how things work out, isn’t it? I mean, Paige came out here to basically steal the diamond from under our brother’s nose, and somehow they ended up falling in love.”
“Funny? Seems like falling in love has become an epidemic.”
Zane chuckled. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
“In that case, you must be pleased that Travis and Paige found the diamond.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, it gets you off the hook, so far as things with Penny McCord are concerned.”
“Yeah, it does that,” Jason said, with a decided lack of enthusiasm.
“Imagine how awkward it would be for everyone if Eleanor found out you were dating her daughter to get information about the McCords’ search for the diamond. Especially now that our father seems to have hooked up with her mother.”
“What do you mean—Dad has hooked up with Eleanor?”
Zane stared at him. “You didn’t notice that they arrived together?”
Jason shook his head. “I thought they just happened to show up at the same time.”
“Did you see the two of them at dinner?”
He shook his head again.
“They could hardly take their eyes off of one another. And they were the first to leave after the meal, as if they couldn’t wait to be alone together.”
“Please—” Jason held up a hand, halting any further explanation “—there are some things I don’t need to know.”
“It’s funny, isn’t it? They apparently fell in love when they were teenagers, but went their separate ways, and have now rediscovered one another so many years later.”
“Apparently they rediscovered one another quite a few years ago,” Jason said, a not-so-veiled reference to the existence of Charlie McCord, Eleanor’s youngest son, who was recently revealed to be their half-brother, the result of a brief affair she had with their father during a period of separation from her husband.
“Still, it’s good to see him happy again. To know that he has someone to spend his life with, that he’s not alone anymore.”
“If that’s what makes him happy,” Jason agreed.
“Come on,” Olivia said impatiently, already at the door of the barn.
“We’re coming,” her father assured her.
Satisfied with that response, she disappeared inside the building.
“What’s it going to take to make you happy?” Zane asked.
Jason followed his brother into the barn. “I am happy.”
“Yeah, that’s why you’ve practically been living at the office over the past couple of weeks.”
“There’s been a lot going on at Foley Industries. Big deals that need a lot of work and personal attention from the COO.”
“Is that really it?” his brother pressed. “Or is it that you have no one to go home to?”
“I never wanted anyone to go home to,” he said, keeping his voice low, in the hope that his niece wouldn’t overhear.
“You should have a kitten,” Olivia decided, proving that she had excellent hearing. “That would be someone to go home to.”
Jason managed a smile. “A kitten would be very lonely at my apartment, because I’m not there very much.”
“Maybe you could take the kitten to work with you.”
“She doesn’t give up, does she?” Jason asked his brother.
“Never,” Zane agreed. “I must have told her a thousand times that we aren’t going to take one of Travis’s kittens home with us, yet here we are, and you can bet she’s already picked out the one she wants.”
“There was a time when I knew what I wanted, too,” Jason admitted.
“And now?”
“I don’t seem to have a clue.”
“I think you do,” Zane told him. “I think you know exactly what you want—or maybe it would be more appropriate to say who you want.”
Jason couldn’t deny it. “I screwed up, Zane.”
“I never really approved of your plan to get close to Penny McCord in order to get information about the Santa Magdalena Diamond—”
“Yes, you made that abundantly clear.”
“—but despite that,” Zane continued, as if Jason hadn’t spoken, “I think the time you spent with her was good for you. I think she was good for you.”
Jason couldn’t deny that assessment, either. Penny had been good for him, but he hadn’t returned the favor. He’d lied to her and used her, and she had every right to be furious with him. Now the only question that remained in his mind was: did he have any right to try to fix things, or should he just let her go?
Penny followed her sister up to the second floor. “Are you sure it’s okay that I’m staying here? Because I could get a room at the hotel where the others are staying.”
“Of course it’s okay. The whole point of you coming for the weekend was so that we could spend some time together.”
“I’d think you’d be more anxious to spend the time with your new fiancé.” She opened the duffel bag that Travis had earlier taken up to the bedroom for her, and pulled out her nightgown.
“I would rather sleep with him than with you,” Paige admitted with a smile. “But that would mean you sharing a room with Jason, which neither of us thought was a good idea, all things considered.”
“Thank you for that.”
“Although I’m starting to think that we might have been wrong. If you were sharing a room, you’d have the perfect opportunity to tell him about the baby.”
“I will tell Jason about the baby,” Penny agreed. “When I’m ready, not when you think I should be.”
“When will that be?”
“Not now. Not here,” Penny said.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not ready.”
“You can’t keep your pregnancy a secret forever,” her sister pointed out logically.
“I don’t want to keep it a secret forever.”
“Just for the next seven and a half months?” Paige guessed.
“Why are you so anxious for me to tell him?” Penny countered. “He never even wanted me—what makes you think he’ll want this baby?”
“Actually, I might have been wrong about that.”
Penny tugged her nightgown over her head. “Wrong about what?”
“That Jason was only using you to get information about the Santa Magdalena Diamond.”
Penny stared at her sister.
“He was definitely using you,” Paige hastened to explain. “Which still makes him scum of the earth, as far as I’m concerned. But the way he was looking at you all through dinner makes me suspect that his feelings for you might not have been entirely manufactured.”
“That possibility makes me feel so much better,” Penny said dryly.
“I’m not about to join the Jason Foley fan club,” her sister assured her. “But I do believe in admitting when I’m wrong, and it’s possible that I was wrong about him.”
“It’s also possible that your relationship with his brother has clouded your judgment with respect to other members of the family.”
“My loyalty is—and will always be—to you.”
“You’re going to marry Travis Foley.”
“You’re still going to be my sister.”
Penny had to look away, so Paige wouldn’t see the tears that had filled her eyes.
Everything was changing—her sister had been lucky enough to find a man she could love and who loved her back. Penny was happy for her—and all too aware that she, too, was embarking on a new phase of her life, but that she would do so alone.
“If he never wanted you, he really is an idiot,” Paige said loyally. “But he will want this baby, because it’s his child—his heir to the Foley empire.”
Her sister’s warning lingered in her mind long after they turned out the lights. And though Penny was emotionally and physically exhausted, sleep continued to elude her, the words echoing in her head.
&
nbsp; Or maybe it was the rumbling of her tummy that was keeping her awake.
She’d found it difficult to concentrate on the meal with Jason at the same dinner table, and almost impossible to force food into her churning stomach. That same stomach was sounding its protest now.
Penny glanced at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock: 11:47 p.m. Could she hold out until the morning? But if she did, chances were she’d be sitting at a table with Jason again, and not manage to eat anything.
With a silent oath, she pushed back the covers and headed out into the hall.
She hadn’t packed a robe, but the quiet house assured her that everyone else was settled in for the night. The growling in her stomach seemed to intensify as she padded down the stairs. The second one from the bottom creaked when she stepped on it, but the rest of the house remained silent, except for the peanut butter sandwich calling her name.
Upstairs, in the guest room that he was sharing with Travis, because his brother had given up the master bedroom to his fiancée, it wasn’t silent, though Jason was careful to keep his voice pitched low so as not to disturb the other guests.
“It all makes sense now,” Jason said.
“What makes sense?” Travis had long ago settled on the narrow twin bed, on the opposite side of the room from the one his brother had claimed, and was flipping through channels on the television with the remote control.
“Why Penny doesn’t even want to talk to me anymore.” Jason paced the length of the room. “It was because of you. You told Paige about my plan to get information from Penny and she told her sister.”
“I couldn’t lie to her.” Travis kept his eyes on the television, evading his brother’s.
“Did you tell her that you were in agreement with the plan?” Jason challenged.
“The plan was to get information from her,” Travis reminded him. “No one told you to seduce her.”
“Maybe she seduced me.”
His brother snorted his disbelief. “Regardless of who seduced whom—you slept with her, and that wasn’t part of the plan.”
“Nothing of what happened with Penny was part of the plan,” he admitted.
Travis stopped scrolling through channels on the television, to give his brother his full attention. “Then you really do have feelings for her?”
The Texas Tycoon’s Christmas Baby Page 3