"Mom!" Lola hollered after slamming the door. "I'm home!"
Stomach a mess, Stephanie rose, whispering to Clarissa, "Do I look okay?"
"Beautiful." Heading for the living room, she signaled for Stephanie to follow. To Lola she said, "Look who came for a visit."
Lola's smile faded. "You hurt my dad and I hate you!" The girl chased off to her room.
Stephanie started to follow, but Clarissa stopped her. "Give her space. I'll talk to her." Halfway up the stairs, Clarissa turned to say, "For what it's worth. I'm on your side. Nothing would make me happier than to see things between you and Brady work out."
* * *
THIRTY LONG MINUTES LATER, Stephanie still paced the kitchen, pausing every so often for a fortifying sip of coffee. What was she doing here? Obviously, she'd overestimated her importance in Lola's life. And if that was the case, what would her reception with Brady be? Did he also feel this strongly about never seeing her again?
She'd just gathered her coat and purse to quietly leave when Lola asked from the top of the stairs, "Are you leaving?"
"If that's what you want me to do…" Staring up at Brady's precious little girl, Stephanie's limbs felt frozen.
"No. Please stay." Racing down the stairs, Lola nearly toppled her with the force of her hug. "I'm sorry. Mom told me what happened to you and I didn't know your heart was sick. I thought you just stopped loving me and Dad."
"Never," Stephanie said. More like I stopped loving myself. "No matter what, pumpkin, I will always love you."
Clarissa was next racing down the stairs, only she was grabbing car keys. "Okay, gang, love, love, hug, hug, let's go." She held open the door.
"What's wrong with you, Mom?" Lola cocked her head with her hands on her hips. "Me and Steph are having a conversation."
"That's wonderful, baby, but finish in the car. I just booked her on a 5:40 p.m. flight to Chicago and in order to make it, we're going to have to hustle."
"What about my rental?"
Rolling her eyes, Clarissa held out her hand. "Give me the keys, and Vince and I will return it in the morning. Right now, let's get you on the plane."
Chapter Eighteen
For Stephanie, compared to the nightmare of possibly never having Brady in her life, flying had become no big deal—especially since Clarissa had snagged her a first-class upgrade. She was still a nervous wreck, but more out of anticipation than fear.
Upon landing at O'Hare International well past midnight, she had no problem finding a taxi to take her to the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Trouble was, did he feel the same about her?
In the Marriott's lobby, for security reasons, the check-in clerk refused to give Stephanie Brady's room number. She did, however, agree to let her talk to him on the phone.
"Brady," she said, "It's Stephanie, and before you hang up, please give me your room number. I have to see you."
"Where are you?" he asked.
"Here. In Chicago. We need to talk."
"Do you realize what time it is?" His groggy, less-than-thrilled tone told her she'd made a mistake in coming.
Her broken heart told her to stay the course.
"Please, Brady," she urged, not above begging. "Please tell me where you are."
Sighing, he said, "Nine-ten."
* * *
IN THE MINUTES IT TOOK Steph to grab an elevator and find his room, Brady was pretty sure he was going to puke. How many times had he rehearsed what he'd say in the unlikely event of this very meeting? Yet now, his mind was blank.
Like a surgeon, he'd tried so hard to cut her from his life. He tried not thinking about her. He'd even gone so far as to try throwing away all reminders of her. Key word in all of the above being try. Only to ultimately fail.
Lord help him, but he still loved her.
When she knocked, he rested his forehead against the door. Part of him wanted to see her more than anything in the world. Another part knew she'd only bring more pain.
"Brady?" she said with another knock. "Let me in."
He did, stepping aside for her to pass.
With the curtains drawn, the generic space felt tight.
Perched on the foot of the king-size bed, she set her purse on the floor.
"What?" he asked, arms folded. After closing the door, he still stood there. His feet refused to move.
"Could you please sit down?" she asked, patting the space beside her.
"I can't." To sit alongside her would only make her eventual leaving that much harder to bear.
Her lower lip quivered.
He wanted to go to her, but the gnawing ache in his chest where his heart used to be wouldn't let him. She hadn't just hurt him and Lola, but pulverized them.
"Okay…" After a deep breath, she stood, wiping her palms on the thighs of black slacks. "If you won't come to me…" When she slipped her arms around his waist, his body instinctively craved more.
No, no, no. He refused to let her in, which is why he backed a safe distance away.
"I'm sorry, Brady. I made horrible mistakes. I wasn't ready for another commitment, but I'm also not ready for you to be out of my life."
"Are you even listening to what you're saying? You left me and my little girl standing at the altar—no, wait." Marching over to her, finger in her face, he said, "You didn't even give us the dignity of just quietly telling me it was over. You freakin' ran like I'd set you on fire. Do you have any idea what that felt like? And then there was sitting around the most romantic beach house in the world with my eight-year-old, playing Monopoly and Clue."
"How many ways can I apologize?" Holding her arms out, she let them fall with a slap against her thighs. "I screwed up. Made the worst mistake of my life. I'm so, so sorry. I've been seeing a therapist, and it's been life-changing. I even flew to Seattle, and then here with out being tranquilized. I don't want to rely on pills for the rest of my life. I want to learn to deal with my pain. But I need your help. I need you to believe in me, and tell me everything's going to be okay."
Cupping her cheeks and brushing away her tears with his thumbs, he said, "Don't you think that's exactly what I want to do? What I've always wanted to do? But, Steph, I don't know if I can. Do you realize that not once during our engagement, did you tell me you loved me? I know it's a small thing. Three stupid words, but you seem incapable of saying them. I need a woman who can tell me. Not because I'm insecure, but because I'm worth it."
"You are," she said, taking him by his wrists and kissing his palms and fingers. "I love you—and Lola—so much. I'm sorry for not saying it sooner, but I was afraid. Losing Michael changed me. I was so scared—of everything."
"Don't you think I'm scared? What if, like Clarissa, you leave me, taking the twins with you? Life doesn't come with guarantees."
Laughing and crying at the same time, she said, "My therapist tells me that."
"She—or he—is right."
"She."
"Whatever." Kissing her full on her beautiful mouth, he said, "You have to realize that all we can do is surround ourselves with people we love and hope for the best. And, Stephanie, if you'd just open your heart, you'd see that's what we were—could be—together. The best."
Holding on to him for dear life, Stephanie couldn't have agreed more.
Epilogue
"Steph!" Brady shouted in front of the hall closet. It was their six-month wedding anniversary and movers would be there any minute.
Toddlers, Michaela and Melanie, had hold of his legs and they were covered in something sticky and red.
"Ladies…" he said with a groan "…did your sister leave the strawberry jam out again?"
"Uh-huh," they said in unison with identical mischievous grins. "Lola in twouble." The phrase was their favorite.
As for their older sister, she didn't much like it.
"Steph!" he repeated. "Nobody packed the hall closet!"
"Go for it," she said, leaving their bedroom with a box in her arms only to enter the nursery.
"What have you been doing?" he asked, trailing after her with the twins attached to his legs like cherubic leeches.
"What's it look like?" She flashed him the contents of her box. Shoes. He should've known. When they'd first met, she couldn't have cared less about fashion, but since Lola's first summer with them, she'd turned into a mall rat just like his daughter.
"Eeeuw," she said, looking at the girls. "Did Lola by chance leave out the jam?"
"Lola in twouble," the twins said again.
Shaking his head, Brady asked, "Think they were more fun before learning to talk?"
Steph kissed him before tackling the girls' dresser. Their new house was in Seattle. Only a mile from Clarissa and Vince's. Brady and Steph both wanted to spend as much time as possible with Lola. With the twins not anywhere near starting school, this was the logical time for the move. Helen bought the pastry shop and when the girls did enter kindergarten, Steph planned on starting a new store that also featured homemade candy. In the meantime, she seemed excited about spending loads of time with all of their girls and working on their modern monstrosity of a fixer-upper.
"Sweetie," Steph said once she'd finished, giving him the smile he was never strong enough to resist. "Would you please pack the closet? You don't even have to be neat. Just throw it all in a box."
With a good-natured groan, he molded his fingers to twin blond heads. "Come on, kiddos. Looks like Mom's putting us to work."
"Thank you!" Stephanie hollered from the nursery.
"What's this?" Lola asked, making more of a mess in the closet than there had already been.
"What's what?" he asked.
She'd found a blue gift box and removed the lid. After peeking at the contents, she said, "Oops. Think I might've found your Christmas and birthday gift."
"Let me see." He easily took the box.
"Momma Steph's gonna be mad at you," she said.
"I'll just take a quick look. Don't tell."
"Don't tell what?" Steph asked, emerging from the nursery.
"Nothing." Brady hid the box behind his back.
"Let me see."
Wrestling for it, he finally resorted to holding it over his wife's head. "You're awful!"
Laughing, he said, "I'd rather be awful than stubby."
"Now, you're gonna get it." She gave his chest a playful pummel.
"Lola in twouble!" The laughing twins jumped up and down. "Lola in twouble!"
"What'd I do?" the preteen complained. To the twins, she said, "You two need psychiatric help." Rolling her eyes at her dad and stepmother's antics, she put her iPod's earbuds back in and headed for the kitchen.
When Brady finally lowered the box, Stephanie gasped. "Where did you find that?"
He shrugged. "Lola fished it out of the closet."
"I looked everywhere…"
"Since I found it, can I keep it?" he asked, hoping she'd agree.
"At least sit down," she urged, leading him to the sofa. "It's a pretty big deal."
"Now I'm really excited." To the twins, he said, "How about letting Daddy go? Then you can find Lola and see if she's getting in trouble."
"I heard that!" Lola shouted from the kitchen.
The twins took off in that direction.
Seated beside Steph, Brady finally removed the box's lid, and got his first look inside. After reading the inscription, "Love is the Greatest Adventure," he looked to Stephanie. "Is this for real?"
Tears shining in her eyes, she nodded. "Like it?"
He clutched the autographed, leather-bound book to his heart. "Like doesn't come close to describing how amazing this is. Where did you get it?"
"Remember our first Christmas? When I dragged you back to my room to give you a present I'd bought at auction?"
"This was it?"
She nodded. "After the wedding, I found it, but then it somehow got misplaced again."
"Sweetheart," he said, still clutching the gift, "I can't begin to tell you what this means. That all the way back then, you loved me enough to remember something so insignificant as my idolizing Amelia Earhart."
"Don't you get it?" she asked, kissing him square on his lips. "When it comes to you, Mr. McGuire, there's nothing insignificant. You're my world. And I love you."
Though he may have had his doubts in the beginning, the more he was with Stephanie, the more crazy in love he fell. Only in their house, with goldfish and at least part of the year, three kids, and an always hiding kitten, heavy emphasis needed to be placed on crazy!
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5553-5
THE BABY TWINS
Copyright © 2010 by Laura Marie Altom.
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 publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
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Table of Contents
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
The Baby Twins Page 17