by Linda Turner
Her eyes, dark with despair, lifted to his. “But no one ever thinks they’re really financially secure. Especially when they have children. You’ll want to make sure you have enough put away to take care of me and the baby if something happens to you. Then if we have another baby, you’ll need to put more away. Don’t you see? It’s a vicious circle that never ends. The next thing you know, our children will be grown and you won’t even know them. Or me.”
“You really think I would let that happen? Where was I when Sam thought you needed to get out of town for a while?”
“With me at the cabin, but—”
“That right,” he cut in. “And we weren’t just there a day or two, either. I was prepared to stay weeks, even months, if that’s what it took to keep you safe. And then today, when the restaurant went up in flames, I didn’t even think twice about it once Alice told me you were in trouble. Yes, the restaurant is important to me, but I love you. None of it means a damn without you.”
He saw the doubt in her eyes, the desperate need to believe.
Aching to kiss her, to draw her into his arms and show her that the trials they had been through had only strengthened their love, he couldn’t do anything but tighten his hold on her hand. If she didn’t know in her heart that he was sincere, all the kisses in the world wouldn’t do any good.
“If I learned anything over the last couple of months, honey, it’s how precious our time is together,” he said huskily. “We don’t know when it’s going to be snatched away from us, and I don’t want to lose any more of it than we already have. If that means compromise, then I’m all for doing whatever’s necessary. We’ll work it out together. Because I want to be there to hold you when you’re sick and rub your back when it hurts. Our baby’s going to need a brother and a sister and a full-time daddy who’s crazy about her mother. Nobody else can do that like I can. Give me a chance, sweetheart. Give us a chance.”
Her blue eyes searching his earnest brown ones, Annie didn’t doubt that he meant every word. Deep inside, her heart expanded. God, she loved this man! More now than the day she’d married him. She’d known when she left him that she was gambling everything. A successful, married man, alone and lonely, was an easy mark for any number of unscrupulous women with dollar signs in their eyes. But he was and always had been a chance worth taking.
She could trust him, she realized as a slow smile broke out on her face. With her heart, with their baby, with a future that looked more beautiful with every passing second. Her eyes shining with love, she lifted an impish eyebrow at him. “A brother and a sister, hmm? Three kids? You think you’re ready for that?”
His own grin wicked, he drawled, “Honey, as long as you’re their mama, I’m ready when you are. So are you giving us a chance or what?”
Surprised that he even had to ask, she laughed happily and launched herself into his arms. “What do you think?”
Epilogue
Five and a half months later
Twins. They had twins.
Standing-at the side of his daughters’ crib on their first night home from the hospital, Joe gazed down at the impossibly small babies and couldn’t seem to stop smiling. Lord, they were so tiny! And unbelievably beautiful. Just like their mother. And they were all his. He still couldn’t believe it. How could he have known that this was what it was like to be a daddy?
Glancing toward the bed, his heart turned over at the sight of Annie sound asleep on his pillow. Her labor hadn’t been easy, but she’d pulled through it without a word of complaint. He’d been so proud of her. She’d been in so much pain, but her only concern had been for the babies. And him. He’d been a basket case. Every time a pain had ripped through her, he was the one who’d winced. By the time he’d held his daughters for the first time, he knew why they called it labor. He’d felt like he’d been caught in the wringer of an old washing machine. Annie, on the other hand, had been as fresh as a daisy once the hard part was over with.
God, he loved her! He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to show her how much. The last six months had been like something out of a dream, but if he was dreaming, he didn’t want to ever wake up. While they’d waited for the birth of their babies, they’d made some drastic, but much needed, changes in their life. They’d opened the second Joe’s Place as planned, then rebuilt the original, but only after some structural changes in the original design. It was larger now, and included not only a nursery, but a real estate office for Annie and Phoebe. He only had to walk across the nonsmoking area to see his wife whenever he wanted. A man couldn’t ask for much more than that.
Annie was on maternity leave right now, of course, but later, she intended to put in ten or so hours a week, just to keep her hand in things until the kids were older.. When she did, Joe would keep the babies. He couldn’t wait.
Providing financial security for Annie and their children would always be important to him, and doing so in a way that both he and Annie could live with had been his one big concern. But things had a way of working out in the most unexpected ways, and no one had been more surprised than he when Drake had approached him soon after the restaurant had burned about buying into the business. He’d already proven himself to be a great manager, but he wanted something more permanent than that, more lasting, something he could help build and have the satisfaction of knowing that at least a piece of it was his.
After discussing it with Annie, they’d agreed to sell Drake twenty percent, and that had turned out to be the smartest business move he and Annie had ever made. With the money that Drake brought into the business, they were able to set up trust funds for the kids that would be worth a fortune by the time they reached adulthood. A second manager had been hired, freeing Joe from the hands-on running of either restaurant, so he spent his days overseeing everything and his evenings and nights at home. Just that easily, he and Annie had everything they’d ever wanted.
Satisfied that his children were safe and sleeping soundly, he made his way across the room in the dark and carefully climbed into bed, trying not to wake Annie as he lifted her slightly and settled her against his chest. But the second he was horizontal and holding her close to his heart, she stirred against him and pressed a kiss to his chest. “Hi, daddy,” she murmured teasingly. “How’re the kids?”
“Sleeping like angels,” he replied softly. “Which is what their mama should be doing.”
“Later,” she promised. “Right now, I’m too happy. How about you?”
“Oh, I’ll sleep later, too. Right now, there’s this beautiful woman in my arms who’s keeping me awake.”
Chuckling softly, she playfully punched him in the shoulder. “You know what I mean. Are you happy?”
The old Joe would have given her a quick, positive answer without thinking about it, but he was a far cry from the Joe Taylor who had once taken happiness and love for granted. He’d been blessed and he knew it. “I’ve got you and the kids and this funny feeling in my heart whenever I think about the three of you,” he murmured, tightening his arms around her. “I walk around with a goofy smile on my face all the time and I can’t seem to stop humming. If that’s not happiness, then I don’t know what it is.”
Love flooded Annie’s heart and brought the sting of tears to her eyes. Drawing back just far enough to see his beloved face, she gave him a watery smile. “Me, either, but I’m suffering from the same thing and it feels wonderful. Do you think it could possibly get any better than this?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a grin, tenderly wiping the tears from her cheeks. “But we’ve got the next forty or fifty years to find out. Ask me again, then.”
“You can count on it,” she promised, laughing, and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. They had decades ahead of them, where once she wouldn’t have given them weeks. Just thinking about it made her light-headed with joy. How had she gotten so lucky?
ISBN : 978-1-4592-7239-2
I’M HAVING YOUR BABY?!
Copyright © 1997 by Linda Turner
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 editorial office. Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street. New York. NY 10017 U.S.A.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
“You okay? What’s going on?”
Letter to Reader
Books by Linda Turner
About the Author
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Copyright