by Megan Kelly
He worried over Ginger. What if no pregnant woman approved her because she lacked a husband?
He was selfish. He was tired. And, he admitted, tonight would have been a good night to cuddle up with Ginger and celebrate their family being whole again.
Except it wasn’t whole without her.
GINGER OPENED HER DOOR to Scott the next evening, sure he was on her porch to read her the riot act. She should have warned him about the ancestry project, but she didn’t know Shelby hadn’t told him. Besides, she’d listed it on the handout she sent home at the beginning of the month, before he’d told her about Shelby being adopted.
Which were just rationalizations, she admitted as she took his coat. She’d owed him a follow-up phone call when the project started. They’d just “broken up,” if that was the right term for people who’d never officially had a date.
“Sit down, okay?” he said.
She took the chair. Scott scowled as he sat, then stood and finally sat again. This was going to be bad.
“Is Shelby okay?” she asked.
“Fine. Both girls are fine. Did I thank you properly for taking care of Shelby last night?”
“She was afraid you’d spank her.”
“I should have. I just didn’t have the heart after all she’d endured alone.” He met her eyes. “But she wasn’t alone. She came to you.”
“I was surprised.”
“Now that I’ve had time to think about it,” Scott said, “it makes absolute sense. She recognized it before I did.”
Ginger’s heart beat harder at the warmth in his gaze. “Recognized what?”
“You’re like I was, a natural parent, waiting for a child to love.”
“I am.” She smiled.
“And I’m selfish to deny you a chance to adopt.”
Ginger moved to the cushion at his side, taking his hand. “No, you have to do what’s right for you, and for the girls.”
“Yes, I do. That’s why I want you to marry me.”
Shock dropped her mouth open. “You want… What?” She gathered her wits even as her heart shattered. “No. Scott, no. You’re just grateful. You’re still getting over Shelby running away, coming here. You’d propose to Lizzie Borden if she’d been the one to comfort Shelby.”
He laughed. “Give me some credit.”
“She only axed her parents, not any husband or kids.”
“Because she didn’t have a husband or kids. But I meant give me some credit over knowing what’s real and what’s gratitude.” He grinned. “I might have been thankful Lizzie showed my daughter some kindness, but I wouldn’t mistake being in love with her. I love you, Ginger.”
She couldn’t speak. Tears of sadness and joy and regret closed her throat. Scott loved her? The warmth of his eyes radiated sincerity. He believed it, anyway. For now, when it was easy.
“I wish I…” She started again. “Thank you. That means the world to me.”
He frowned. “But?”
“I can’t marry you.”
“Of course you can. You’re the mom my girls need. Just like I was right for Shelby. You proved that last night.”
She nodded and pulled her hand free. She stood and walked two steps away before turning to face him, hands clasped at her waist to still their trembling.
“I’m going to be a mother.”
His gaze shot to her stomach, then back to her face.
“No, I’m adopting. I heard yesterday.”
He surged to his feet with a grin. Grabbing her up, he swung her in the limited space of the living room.
“That’s terrific.” He set her down again. “Honey, that’s fantastic. What a roller-coaster day for you yesterday must have been.”
She stared at him. Did he not get it? She’d just done the one thing he objected to the most. Fully aware her action would keep them apart forever, she’d put her needs first. Ahead of him, ahead of Shelby and Serena.
She waited for him to understand. He smiled at her like the village idiot.
“Scott. I can’t marry you.”
His brow furrowed in a frown. “Is it a condition of the adoption that you raise the child alone?”
“Of course not.”
“Do you not love me?” He swallowed. “Do you need some time? I never did court you properly. I can do that. I want to do that.”
“I’m adopting a baby.”
“I heard you the first time.”
“You don’t want to adopt.”
“Ah.” He took her hand. “Come sit down with me for a minute, honey. While I tell you a little story.”
She didn’t see what difference words would make. The deed was done.
Nevertheless, they sat, facing one another and still holding hands. “Once there was a man who was an absolute fool.”
She smiled. “I like this story already.”
“I thought you might. This man met the ideal woman for him. And he was stupid enough to let her go. She wanted a baby and he was afraid. Afraid of a baby, can you imagine?”
Ginger shook her head, entranced. No wonder she’d fallen in love with him.
“But to him, that baby meant risking heartache. Instead, he should have been thinking of the joy and love the baby would bring. The joy and love the woman already filled his heart with.”
He raised her hand and kissed it. “I’m sorry I was a fool, honey. You were wonderful with my girls last night. Even Serena kissed you goodbye. If you need a baby, and since there’s one on the way—” He grinned. “Then we get a baby. And if you want to adopt a fourth and a fifth and a sixth, we’ll do that.”
She laughed. “Whoa.”
“I understand that you don’t need a husband to adopt, but I hope you need me. Some lucky pregnant woman was smart enough to recognize you as the perfect mom for her child.
“And,” he continued, “I think the four of us could be the perfect family for that baby. My family isn’t complete without you, Ginger. I realized that last night.”
“I come as a package deal.”
“As long as you love me.”
She kissed him, long and sweet and full of passion. “From the first. You changed my life.”
“I love you. You’ve made my life richer, even when you were driving me crazy.”
She scowled at him. Then she relented and cupped her hand against his jaw. Tears filled her eyes. “I bet my attorney I’d be a mother by the end of the year. I just didn’t know I’d be the mother of three children.”
He marveled at her. She would love his children as much as she loved any they adopted. Ginger was as ideal for his girls as she was for him, and he’d almost lost her. “I’m a fool,” he said. “But marry me anyway.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-1263-3
STAND-IN MOM
Copyright © 2011 by Peggy Hillmer
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