by Lori Leger
She nodded, keeping her smile to a minimum. “Mitch. Great turn out. But then, Red and Tiffany always do have good parties.”
“He’s got the perfect location and all the connections for it. Has his own D.J. and booze.” Mitch searched the area, looking for new faces of anyone who could be the competition. “So, where’s this mystery date?”
She jutted her left hip forward. “He’s right here.”
He stared at the kid, and smiled as it dawned on him that this was her date. “Oh, hey buddy. How are ya?” He reached out to brush the dark curls back from the kid’s forehead. “Are you babysitting for a friend?” He leaned back to compare the tot’s eyes to Meagan’s, noticing a remarkable resemblance. “Or for a sibling, because his eyes are identical to yours.”
She lifted the boy and gave him big kiss on the cheek. “Yeah, I get that a lot. It turns out there’s a pretty good reason for it. Meet Buck, my son.”
“Your so…?” The breath left him before he got the entire word out.
“Yep.” Her chin lifted. “Scared yet?”
He took two deep breaths. “I’ve gotta admit, I’m surprised. You could have said something before, you know.”
“And miss out on a movie and a meal at the cost of someone else?” She emitted a low chuckle. “Not on your life.”
“Are you saying I wouldn’t have spent the time or money on you if I’d known you had a kid?”
She grinned. “Pretty much.”
Mitch opened his mouth then snapped it shut. He didn’t know whether to agree with her or be insulted.
Her gaze hardened immediately. “Ah, there’s the look I’ve come to recognize.” One side of her mouth lifted in a twisted grin. “You’re dismissed Marine. Don’t feel like you have to spend any time feeling guilty for losing my name, number, or email address.”
She walked away, leaving him standing alone and stunned. It took several seconds to realize someone was speaking to him. He turned to see his sister staring up at him.
“Hey, is that Meagan’s little boy? He’s so cute!”
“Apparently so. I went with her to the movies a few days ago, and she never mentioned him.” He shook his head. “Hell of a nice girl. Good-looking kid, too, but it would have been nice to know beforehand.”
Sarah stared after her brother as he walked off to fix himself a drink. Surely, he wouldn’t use Meagan’s child as an excuse not to see her again. Her stomach rolled at the level of hypocrisy it would take from a man with a husbandless sister raising two children. She made her way over to where Tiffany and Meagan were speaking and put her hand on Meagan’s shoulder.
“I haven’t seen you in a few weeks, Meg. I’ve seen pictures of your handsome boy, but this is the first time I get to meet him. He’s adorable!”
Meagan gave a nervous laugh as she hugged her son to her. “Thanks, he’s the only man in my life right now. Heck, the way things are going, maybe forever.”
Sarah was too used to hiding her own hurt feelings not to recognize it in another woman. “Men can be such jerks, can’t they?”
Meagan’s gaze met hers as they both sighed.
“Lots of men feel threatened by another man’s child, Sarah. I think it must be one of those ‘only the strongest survive’ instincts left over from the Neanderthals.”
“Regardless, you’d think he’d be more sensitive, considering he’s got two nieces without a father. The way things are going for me, it looks like it could also stay that way for a while.”
Meagan’s cobalt eyes sparkled with interest. “Not the way I hear it. I heard Tanner Collins is turning into the newest member of the walking dead over you not returning his phone calls.”
Sarah’s breath caught in her throat. “What? Where did you hear that?”
Meagan cocked her head toward the third woman in their group. “We were just discussing a little outburst Tanner had in that café near the hospital.”
Sarah raised her hand. “If it involves that Charley, I don’t want to hear it. I thought he had more sense than to sleep around with someone barely half his age.”
Tiffany nodded in agreement. “I’ve got to admit, it surprises me. I’m not debating the fact that he’s crazy about you, Sarah. He definitely is. I thought sure he was on the brink of growing up, but apparently, he’s unable to give up seeing other women.”
Meagan’s head popped up in interest. “Tanner is seeing other women? Where the hell have I been?”
“According to Mitch you had a run in with her.” At Meagan’s confused expression, Sarah continued. “He said he saw you kick her out when she showed you a fake ID.”
Meagan settled in one of the folding chairs Red brought for the three of them. “You’re not talking about the kid with the pink stripe in her hair, are you?”
“Her name is Charley,” Tiffany offered.
Meagan nodded thoughtfully, trying to remember. “Yeah, Charley. I remember that, but Tanner wasn’t with her. She tried, but he wasn’t interested.”
Sarah reached for a plastic football and handed it to Buck. “Not in front of you maybe, but he must have reconsidered. Mitchell saw them both leave in Tanner’s car right after you kicked her out.”
“Huh.” Meagan sat back heavily in her chair. “I don’t want to say your brother doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but that really surprises me. Tanner wasn’t interested in her at all. It wasn’t an act, Sarah. She was throwing herself at him. He was civil, but other than that, he barely tolerated her presence. She left. He finished his beer and left a few minutes later.”
Tiffany took Buck from Meagan and sat down with him. “I guess it’s a moot point since he’s moving back to Houston, anyway.”
The comment hadn’t fully registered over the voices in Sarah’s head screaming that maybe she’d misjudged Tanner. “Did you say he’s moving?”
“He’s going back to Houston to be closer to his parents. He turned in his resignation today.”
“But I thought this was his home.” Sarah could almost hear the desperation in her own voice as Tiffany shook her head.
“He’s been in Louisiana since going to LSU, just as I have, but he’s got a home in Houston. His parents bought a second home and his is just sitting there waiting for him to go back. I guess his dad’s illness was the deciding factor.”
Sarah nodded and hoped the smile she passed off seemed genuine to her friends. “That makes all the sense in the world.” She checked her watch and stood, feigning the need to check on her babies. She walked into the McAllister’s nursery, where her babies were asleep in two portable cribs she’d brought along.
Seated in the nursery’s rocker, she stared at her babies and asked herself how she’d feel if she never got to see Tanner again. The pounding in her chest, accompanied by the slight nausea, told her it wouldn’t be good. Considering her current situation, there wasn’t much else she could do but deal with it.
Chapter 15
Two weeks had passed since he’d relocated to Houston, and longer than that since he’d heard Sarah’s voice. It’d been an eternity since their kiss, and how the hell was he supposed to live the rest of his life without her?
He missed his friends, and his co-workers. He’d traded the easy cooperativeness of a smaller city hospital for a position at a prestigious Houston medical facility. It definitely had its own set of advantages in technological advances, but of course, also had its drawbacks. God he hated maneuvering his car in and around Houston traffic. He detested spending at least two extra hours on the road every day because of it.
Grant it, the position was only temporary. He’d turned in his post-dated resignation for two weeks from tomorrow. The surgeon he’d filled in for was due back two days after that. The hospital administrator had already approached him with an opportunity for a permanent position. The man was waiting to hear from him before broaching the subject with the board.
In short, Tanner had hit the mother lode of decisions to make.
The upside had been getting
to know his parents again. His father’s mental and physical state had much improved under Zoe’s care. After decades of Justin Collins’ attitude of self-importance, Zoe had discovered a way to knock the pretentiousness right out of him and still keep her job.
The woman had blown into that stuffy old cave of a house like a fresh spring breeze, bringing welcomed change and renewal. Both his parents had responded remarkably well to her down-to-earth treatment as well as her granny’s sensible words of wisdom. The couple laughed and joked with her as if she was an extension of their family.
Celine had taken to setting out tea for the three of them every afternoon. Tanner’s first participation in their ritual had resulted in an hour of laughter over Zoe’s stories about her granny’s antics, complete with Jamaican accents to add entertainment value.
It was a great way to spend an afternoon, the only cloud on Tanner’s horizon being that the stories usually involved children. Any thoughts of children reminded him of Sarah and the girls, and that brought on a host of regrets and sadness.
One afternoon, he recovered from the wave of sadness just as he caught his mother watching him, her face revealing a ghost of a smile.
“You miss her, don’t you, Son?”
His father sat up, rapt with attention at Celine’s query.
Tanner stacked his plate onto his mother’s to avoid meeting her gaze. “It’s of no consequence. I’m here and she wants no more to do with me.”
Celine sipped from her cup of tea and set it on the table. “Did she actually tell you that?”
“She didn’t have to. She quit answering my calls.”
“You must have done something to get her good and vexed.” Zoe dipped a cookie into her hot tea. “A girl wouldn’t quit accepting calls for no good reason.”
“Look, you two can interrogate me all you want, but I seriously don’t know what the hell I did wrong. I think my tarnished reputation finally caught up with me, is all. Besides,” he looked at his mother, “I’m sure you wouldn’t approve of her. She has two children from her dead husband. He was a real loser from what I hear. I know he liked to beat the hell out of her.”
Justin Collins harrumphed in a low growl. “A man who beats on a woman isn’t a man, in my opinion.” He glanced up at Tanner. “What’s she like?”
Tanner lifted a brow at his father’s question. “She’s a real nice lady, Dad, and she’s an excellent mother to the twins—”
“Twins!” His mother bolted forward in her chair. “Boys…girls…how old…are they identical?”
“Uh, I think the girls are around ten months or so, and they are identical.”
“Twin baby girls,” Celine breathed in a near reverent whisper. “I want a granddaughter so badly.”
“Really? Well, you’ll have to keep on wanting, because these don’t come with papers. As someone informed me the other day, even dogs have pedigrees.”
Zoe jumped from her chair, her face twisted with a good mixture of shock and rage. “Rahtid! Tell me you two weren’t foolish enough to say such a thing.”
His parents both hung their heads, but Justin was the one to speak up. “I’m the one who said it, so blame me.”
Celine turned to her son. “I agreed with him, even though I didn’t say anything, but I know we were wrong for even thinking such a thing.”
Justin raised one hand. “Now, hold on. What if this girl is mentally imbalanced from everything she’s gone through?”
Zoe stood over her employer. “I’d say you know your son well enough to know he’s a better judge of character than that. Or you should by now, at least.”
“She’s been living with Tiffany’s dad and step mother for months now,” Tanner said.
His mother sat forward. “You see, Justin? Daniel LeBlanc would never take anyone into his home that he couldn’t completely trust.”
“Not only do they trust her, Mom, but they adore her and the babies. They consider Sarah’s children like their own grandchildren.”
Celine was quiet for a moment. “Well, that hardly seems fair. Daniel’s children are popping grandchildren out like rabbits.”
“Mom!”
“I’m not criticizing them, Son. I’m only saying they have two grandchildren of their own already, and they have two more living with them? I’m-I’m a little envious, that’s all.”
Justin burst into laughter. “Celine, if you were any greener, we’d have to change your name to Kermit, and fry your legs for supper.”
Her brow lined with anger. “At least I’m not still making excuses for doubting Tanner’s judgment. For once in your life, you could admit you were wrong.”
Tanner knew better than to expect his father to do something that off the wall. Justin Collins didn’t admit he was wrong. Ever.
Justin’s gaze landed on Zoe, then his wife, then Tanner. He spoke, his tone gruff and gravelly. “Son, I admit it. I was wrong to say that, and I apologize.”
Tanner fell back against his chair, stunned into silence.
“Well. Did you hear me?”
Tanner finally managed to shake himself out of his shocked stupor. “Yeah. Thanks. That means a lot.”
Justin gave him a brusque nod. “You’re welcome. Now somebody help me out of this chair. All this soul searching and enlightenment bullshit has worn me out. It’s time for my nap.”
Celine placed her hand on Zoe’s shoulder. “You stay here with Tanner, hon. I believe I’ll join him.”
Zoe raised her brows as the two of them left the room. “All right, but you all be careful back there. Remember, his doctor said no hanky-panky until Mr. Justin is released.”
The tinkle of his mother’s laughter faded until the door closed, shutting it out completely.
Tanner’s gaze fell on his father’s nurse. “Hiring you was the smartest thing I’ve ever done in my life, Zoe.”
“Ach, I didn’t do so much.”
“That’s not how I see it. My God, it’s actually pleasant being around those two. They even went to visit Aunt Betsy, my dad’s black sheep sister last week. How the hell do you do it?”
“Aw, Doctor Collins, I only shamed them a couple of times when their own consciences were sleeping on the job. Timing is everything though. At first you have to convince them it’s their idea to begin with, or they get offended.”
Tanner’s bellow of laughter echoed throughout the living room. He finally caught his breath long enough to comment. “You’re a trip, Zoe. That’s for damn sure!”
“Yeah, that’s what my mom always said, too.” She cocked her head to the side, squinted her eyes. “And now I’m going to be fass, that’s how my granny says nosey, and ask if you plan to swallow your pride and pay that lady a visit?”
“What lady?”
“Na mek mi vex, mon! Don’t make me lose my temper. You know very well I’m talking about the mother of those twins.”
“She obviously can’t handle the man I used to be, and she shouldn’t have to. She’s much better than that.”
“Don’t you think you should make sure? What if it’s all some big misunderstanding? What if she’s just waiting for you to fight for her?
Tanner stood, shoving his hands in the pockets of his slacks to jingle a handful of change and keys. “It’s no misunderstanding, Zoe, and this isn’t a romance novel. She doesn’t want me in her life, and I’ve got to figure out a way to live without her.”
Zoe exited the room, taking all traces of enthusiastic optimism with her. Left alone in the space, completely void of hopelessness, Tanner stared out through the front windows. Instead of manicured lawns and spring blooms, he saw watery images of Sarah and her twins. The words “live without her” cut through the image like a Broadway marquee. He rubbed his eyes to clear the vision and then placed his hand over his aching heart.
Even if it kills me.
Chapter 16
Six weeks.
It had been six long, miserable weeks since she’d seen Tanner. Since the kiss. Dear God, that kiss. The pain had
faded to a dull ache in the pit of her stomach. She’d tried like hell to forget him, had even gone on a date with someone she met through a co-worker. What should have been a pleasant night out with a good-looking, perfectly nice guy, had turned into an entire evening of struggling to focus on their decidedly one-sided conversation.
She attempted to pay attention to her date’s monologues, but her thoughts inevitably wandered to Tanner. What he was doing with himself? Was he practicing yet? Was he seeing anyone? Stupid, of course he was. Then Richard would ask her a question pertaining to their discussion, and she’d realize she hadn’t heard a word he’d said. She ended the date at ten p.m. with a profuse apology, a half-ass explanation, and a promise to give him a call if she ever returned to her senses.
By lunchtime, her growling stomach reminded her that she’d skipped breakfast. Her head throbbed due to a combination of stress from the non-stop morning, and caffeine withdrawal from the single cup of coffee she hadn’t had a chance to finish. She pressed her hand to her forehead, digging in her purse for an ibuprofen. A sharp rap at her door, and it swung open to reveal Barb, standing there with her purse slung over one shoulder.
“We’re doing lunch at the diner across the street, Sarah. You in?”
“Absolutely. I’m famished.”
She grabbed her purse and joined the throng leaving the office for the walk across the street. Sunshine escaped in spotty patches through a sky heavily overcast from yet another approaching frontal system. It had rained for five days straight, causing rivers and bayous in the area to push at their banks. Drainage ditches overflowing onto streets and roadways caused flash flooding in lower elevated areas. “Are we going to get rained on?”
Someone called from the front of the group. “The rain won’t move in until later, around six p.m.”
“Wonderful.” Sarah stepped around a puddle of water to enter the diner’s driveway. “Just around the time I have to pick up the twins from Annie and Drake LeBlanc’s place.”
Once they’d been seated at the two tables pushed together, Barb turned to Sarah. “Leah and Daniel should be coming back from Montana soon, right?”