Darcy probably should add her own good wishes, but, honestly, she wasn’t feeling that generous yet. The best she could manage was a semi-sincere, “It gets better.”
She really should have stayed home and dealt with Xander herself.
“Well, Cady.” Time to switch to distraction mode. “Looks like you had a great time smearing your food. I think we should change you into something not so disgusting.”
“Good thinking.” Moxie tapped Cady’s nose. “Your room is up the stairs, second door on the—”
“I’ll take her.”
Of course Ian and Carter showed up now. Men. Could they never time things properly?
Cady squealed and held up her arms. Ian reached, did a double take and retreated.
“Forget it, Bug. Let’s keep the mess confined to one adult for now.”
“Oh, thanks, hon. You really know how to make a girl feel pretty.”
His grin was entirely too wicked. “Don’t worry, Darce. On you, even the Hangover Special looks good.”
He was playing the part, she knew, embroidering the fabric of the farce. Still, his words left her feeling a little lighter and a lot less uncertain.
“Is there a broom handy so I can sweep up the mess?”
Moxie waved a hand. “Not to worry. Carter, get your arse in gear and clean this up. You two run along and get that girl presentable.”
Ha. Darcy bit back a snicker at the expression on Carter’s face as he took in the mess on the table and floor. Maybe there were some perks to being here after all.
* * *
“HERE YOU GO.”
Holding Cady at arm’s length, Darcy brushed past Ian and into a room that could only be described as beckoning. A white comforter atop a king-size maple bed and white eyelet curtains at the bay window were warmed by splashes of poppy red in the quilt folded at the foot of the mattress, the throw pillows resting against the mound of fluffy white ones, the cushion on the window seat.
“There’s a bathroom through there.” Ian pointed to the door to the left. “But come here, because I think...”
She followed him through a narrow space that felt like a former closet, now set up as a kitchenette with a few cupboards, a microwave and the fridge Moxie had mentioned, opening into another room that obviously had been a nursery at one point. Either that or Hank had a thing for butterflies and teddy bears.
“Wow. What a great setup.” Her gaze lingered on the rocking chair, the toddler bed, the ducky-adorned chest of drawers. “Maybe you should stay someplace else while Cady and I set up shop here. Where’s Lulu?”
“I put her on a long leash on the clothesline. Figured she should run some more.” He opened the top drawer of the dresser. “Ah, just as I thought,” he said, pulling a foam rubber pad from the drawer and setting it on top of the dresser. “Voilà. Instant changing table.”
“Perfect.” She set Cady on the softened surface. Predictable wails followed. “Shh. You’re fine. Someday you’ll learn to eat neatly and then we won’t have to change your clothes after every meal.”
Ian tapped Cady’s nose. “Don’t listen to her, Bug. Sloppy eating is one of the biggest joys in life.”
“Very funny. How long do you think Carter and Taylor will stay?”
“Honestly, Moxie’s probably going to invite them to dinner.”
“Really? On your first night home?”
He handed her a wipe. “Moxie is from the ‘rip the bandage off in one yank’ school. She won’t push anyone into anything she doesn’t think they’re ready for, but she doesn’t coddle, either.”
“I never would have guessed.” She peeled off beef-encrusted rumba pants and handed them over. “So, speaking of yanking things, how did you survive your first time alone with Carter?”
“Fine.”
Okay. Clipped tones, crossed arms—yep, someone was definitely holding back. A change of topic might be in order.
“By the way, the pregnancy cat is sort of out of the bag.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She grabbed one flailing arm and attacked it with a wipe. “I think the pretense was mostly for your benefit.”
He blew out a long breath. “I figured. Did you say anything?”
“Nope. I was too busy dodging Moxie’s questions and staying in character. Besides, that should come from you, not me.”
“I think it falls in the fake-girlfriend job description.”
“Uh-uh. I deal with my family. You deal with yours.”
“But yours is out of town.”
“Sucks to be you.”
His retort was cut off by three short beeps from her phone. She blew a kiss on Cady’s tummy, tucked her fresh clothes back in place and handed her to Ian. “Can you walk her for a minute?”
“Sure.” Her pinkie brushed his palm. The contact lasted maybe one, one and a half seconds, but it was all it took to send her tripping back to the kiss in the yard, the laughter in the car, the way his hand had curved around her waist when she launched them on this foolishness today.
For a moment or two her breath didn’t seem to want to follow its usual pattern.
She stepped back, moving toward sanity and away from areas best left unexplored, even in her mildest thoughts.
Focus, Maguire. Read the text.
But one look at the message and she was almost ready to take her chances with her runaway libido again.
“Are you frickin’ kidding me?”
“What?”
“Xander. He’s here. In Comeback Cove.”
“What?”
She showed him the message.
“‘Hi, Darce,’” he read aloud, his disbelief growing more apparent with each word. “‘I was at loose ends and didn’t want to wait to see Cady again, so here I am. Don’t want to intrude but can we set up a time to meet? And does Ian know a cheap place where I can stay?’”
She shoved the phone into her pocket and closed her eyes, hunting for stability while the world spun around her. Ian’s hand on her shoulder wasn’t the solution she would have expected, but it helped all the same. She rested her head against his chest. Not the smartest move, she knew, but with panic building, she figured it was better to grab an anchor than let herself be swept away.
“You okay?”
“Honestly? No. This is all... I don’t know. Too much. Forty-eight hours ago he didn’t even know she existed, and now he’s following us up here and asking to see her? It’s... I know it’s probably better for him to be interested in her than to brush her off, but, really, this has me rattled.” She pushed out the rest of it. “Especially because he has every right to see her.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“I spent a lot of quality time on Google last night, Ian. He has as much right to Cady as I do.”
“Even though he wasn’t around for the first year?”
“Put it this way. I don’t think any judge would say, ‘Oh, hey, congratulations on meeting your child and you can now have her every Wednesday and alternate weekend.’ But he’s entitled to spend time with her and get to know her and work up to those regular visits.”
Ian squeezed her shoulder. “It’s only for a few days,” he said softly.
“What do you mean?”
“He said he has a job in cottage country, remember? Starting next week.”
“Oh, wow. I forgot that part. You’re right.” She stood a little straighter, peeled herself away from Ian’s side. She really had to stop touching him. “Okay. That helps. I mean, yes, this is a lifelong thing, but you’re right. All I have to do is get through this week, and then we—I—will get some breathing space.”
“Is that what you want?”
She thought it over. “You know me. I can handle anything as long as I have time to plan. So if all I have to do is muddle through these few days, then I’ll have time to sort out what happens next...”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but do you want me to talk to Carter?”
Carter?
“He doesn’t, but he probably studied family law at some point. If nothing else he’ll have a better idea of where to search than we do. Plus, he’s here.”
“Any port in a storm?”
“I wouldn’t put it that way. But Xander’s going to expect an answer soon.”
Oh, hell, Ian was right. She could only stall so long, especially as Xander needed a place to stay.
And maybe talking about her mess would be like a first stop in discussing other messes. Kind of an opening line, so to speak.
“Maybe, since Carter is still here...”
His nod was short and tight, but it was a start.
“Meanwhile, can you recommend a place for him to crash for the night?”
This was going to play hell with her plan to duck out ASAP. If she stayed someplace else, Xander probably would want to go to the same spot—unless she chose something out of his price range. Trouble was that she couldn’t afford much herself. But if she hopped the bus back home it would look as though she was trying to avoid him. Or he would offer to drive her back, which made sense on the surface, but since the mere thought made her start to hyperventilate, she figured it was probably a bad idea.
Ian snorted. “Right now my suggestion would be that he turn around and go home. But I’ll ask Moxie.”
“Ask me what?”
Darcy jerked farther away from Ian and whirled around, searching for the source of the all-too-satisfied voice.
“Damn it, Moxie.” Ian pulled Cady’s fists from his hair. “What are you, part cat? How can you sneak up on people like that?”
“What do you think? Years of practice. Now, what do you need to ask me?”
“You mean you weren’t eavesdropping through the whole conversation?”
Moxie didn’t even pretend to look innocent. “It’s my house, mister. If I want to be a good hostess and come upstairs to check on my guests, put some juice and cookies in their fridge, then I think you should be saying thank you instead of getting on your high horse.”
“The room is lovely.” That, at least, Darcy could say without lying. “I think you’ve thought of everything.”
“Is that so?”
“Here we go.” Ian’s mutter sent Darcy’s suspicion level soaring.
Moxie glared at him. “’Cause it sounds to me like you could use a hamburger or two.”
“I don’t—”
“To go with the pickle you’ve got yourself in.”
Shouldn’t those words have been said with sympathy instead of glee?
“Moxie—” Ian began, but was promptly shushed by his grandmother.
“Now listen. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, believe it or not, but I heard enough to guess that you’re having some kind of legal trouble. Leastways that’s what it sounds like if you’re looking to Carter for help.”
“It’s nothing horrible. Really.” Because in the grand scheme of things, Darcy reminded herself, it could be far, far worse.
Moxie rolled her eyes as if to say that she would be the judge of that. “I heard you talking about Xander. Is that the fella you knew back in university, Ian?”
“Right. He—”
When he hesitated and caught her eye, Darcy knew he was seeking her permission to continue. Great. Maybe they could take out a billboard that said Darcy Maguire Is Easy When She’s Drunk.
She took Cady from Ian. “How about we go downstairs, pull Carter in and do all the explanations at once.”
“This had better be good,” Moxie said. “I already missed Big Bang, and now it’s almost time for Jeopardy.”
“You’re getting the scoop before my own grandmother.”
“Is that so?” Moxie’s grin was almost frightening. “Well, then, give me a minute to grab some paper and a pen. I might have to take notes on this one.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
CRAZY AS IT had been to imagine himself coming home and talking with Carter and Taylor within the first fifteen minutes of his arrival, Ian found this even more unimaginable: sitting in Moxie’s sunporch with an untouched beer at his side, watching Darcy calmly explain the Xander predicament to his openmouthed family.
His parents had arrived home as he’d carried Cady downstairs. Once they finished staring, they had fallen all over themselves to welcome Darcy and Cady, especially after Carter made a crack about Moxie getting racy in her old age and putting them all in Hank’s suite. Ian thought his mother had been close to whiplash with the way her head had swung back and forth, looking from him to Moxie to Darcy to Carter to Taylor and back again. Then she had taken a deep breath, focused on Cady and broken into the most hopeful smile he had seen in years.
Of course, that would have been a lot easier to enjoy if he hadn’t known it was based on a lie.
Ma was already three-quarters of the way in love with Cady. As for Darcy, that was harder to tell, but from the growing respect on his mother’s face as Darcy spelled out the situation, he predicted she would be in Ma’s good books before sundown. By the end of the visit, Ma would have the wedding planned and be picking out new colors for Hank’s old rooms in preparation for the future grandchildren she would saddle with nicknames from her favorite country music singers. She was going to be crushed when the truth came out.
Dad would nod and carry on. Disappointed? Most likely. Like any parent he wanted his sons to be happy. But it wouldn’t hit him where he lived.
Ma was a different story.
After Taylor had broken their engagement, after Ian had picked himself up only to be slammed by the second wave of Carter’s involvement, after he’d made the decision to come back to Canada instead of staying in Tanzania—after all that he had come back to this house. He’d walked in, Ma had taken one look, and for the first time in his life, he had seen Janice North fall apart. Not for herself. For him.
Ian had thought he couldn’t find any new way to hurt, but watching his mother crying over him had pulled new bits of his heart forward to be ripped and freshened his desire to beat the living shit out of his brother. If Carter had walked in at that moment Ian couldn’t have guaranteed they both would have walked out alive. It had been the ugliest moment of his life.
And now Ian was going to hurt her.
It wouldn’t be as bad this time. She would understand once everything came out. But he felt like ten kinds of wrong to sit and watch and listen silently, knowing what was coming down the pike.
Darcy had stopped talking. At some point in the conversation she had slipped her hand into his. Or maybe it had been the other way around? It didn’t matter. It was all part of the act, the story Darcy had instigated to ease him back into his family. Her heart had been in the right place, but he had to stop it before things got out of control. Before anyone else got hurt. Before he let himself get too familiar with the feel of her hand in his.
“So let me get this straight.” Moxie, as always, was the first to speak. “You had a pity party with Xander, you got pregnant, he went to jail and now he’s back stirring up a hornet’s nest.”
“That’s about it,” Darcy said.
“Talk about a smelly kettle of fish.” Moxie leveled a finger in Ian’s direction. He wouldn’t have been surprised if a lightning bolt had shot out. “Where do you stand in all this, mister?”
This was his chance. But even as he loosened his grip on Darcy’s hand, Carter spoke.
“Legally, Ian has no say. It’s all between Darcy and Xander.”
“What about Lulu?” Darcy said, and before he had the chance to second-guess himself, he squeezed her fingers. Only she would remember the dog in the middle of this.
“Whole different issue.” Carter frowned. “Since Xander doesn’t seem to be pressing that at the moment, I suggest we focus on the fact that he’s here and wants to see Cady.”
“He can’t just walk in and start making demands, can he?” Taylor scooped Cady’s rattle from the floor and held it out to her. “Surely Darcy is entitled to wa
nt some time for everyone to get to know each other.”
“He can’t expect to take her for solo visits immediately, no. But he has the right to spend time with her.”
Funny how, even though Ian had known that, it was like a fresh kick in the gut to hear it coming from someone speaking from the perspective of the law. Though maybe that was because of the way Darcy’s fingernails were cutting into his palm.
“Xander hasn’t done anything to make you think he would be a danger to the child,” Carter said. “Correct?”
“No,” Darcy said slowly. “And to be clear, I don’t want to stand in the way of him getting to know her, especially since he’ll be a good distance away from her soon. But the way he followed us up here...part of me says, ‘Oh, good. He’s excited to be part of her life.’ Part of me is kind of leery.”
Moxie snorted. “You and me both, sister.”
“Ian?” Carter focused on him. “You’ve known him longer than anyone else. What do you think?”
He picked his words carefully, trying to remain objective.
“When he showed up, he insisted that Lulu was the key to his new life. Now I think that’s what he sees in Cady. He said himself, he doesn’t know a lot about kids, so I think right now she’s more a symbol to him than anything else.”
Ma scowled. “Not that every parent doesn’t think that way at times, but that’s no way to begin. He should want to be with her because she’s wonderful and amazing and he can’t wait to learn everything about her.” She bent down to smile at Cady. “Isn’t that right, baby girl?”
“Yeah, well, in fairness,” Ian continued. “He only found out about her yesterday. It’s not like he’s had time to get to know her for herself. His showing up here could be just because he wants to do that.”
“You said he’ll be leaving Stratford next week?” Carter asked.
“Right. At least, I think so.” Darcy bumped her shoulder against his. “You were more coherent than I was. That is what he said, right...hon?”
She had added the endearment as an afterthought, he could tell, but it still sent unanticipated warmth humming through him—warmth that couldn’t be stopped no matter how sternly he reminded himself this was all for show.
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