by Ana E Ross
“What happened to him, Libby?” The depth of Kaya’s curiosity, the force of her need to know more about the man who rubbed her in all the wrong ways, surprised even her.
“I shouldn’t have said anything.” Libby shot to her feet and clasped her hands over her mouth as if to keep more gossip from spilling out.
Kaya followed her up. “But you did. And you can’t leave me hanging like this. Maybe, if I know what’s going on in his head, I could better understand his irrational behavior.”
“Would it change your mind about taking the kids to Florida with you?”
“I don’t know.”
Libby eyed her speculatively. “Just forget I said anything. When and if Bryce wants you to know about his past, he’ll tell you. Please, don’t tell him that I mentioned it. He trusts very few people in this world, and two of them just died. I don’t want to give him a reason not to trust me.”
“Okay, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t say anything.” Accepting that any more discussions about Bryce were over, Kaya walked to the fireplace and stretched her hands toward the leaping flames behind the glass-enclosed hearth. Libby was clearly concerned about ruining her relationship with Bryce. Not only was the man domineering and intimidating, he had his entourage of loyal disciples to protect and defend him.
In spite of the internal havoc he was already causing to her being, and the obstacles he could place in her path to retaining custody of the children, Kaya couldn’t help but wonder about the painful experience Bryce had suffered.
Whatever it was, she was certain that he didn’t want her pity or her sympathy. He wasn’t the kind of man to wear his heart on his sleeve, either. She’d only spent a few minutes in his presence, but she already had him figured out. Bryce Fontaine wasn’t the kind of man who would let anyone know he was hurting, emotionally or physically. He was proud.
Sensing someone was watching her, Kaya gazed across the wide open space of the first floor. Sure enough, Jason was standing in an informal dining area off the kitchen, observing her. Even from a distance, she felt the disdain in his silver-grey eyes.
He was the most light-footed child she’d ever known. She could hear Alyssa coming from a mile away, but Jason made his presence known only when he was ready. Several times yesterday, she’d caught him eyeing her like a full-bellied cat would eye a bird with a broken wing—not knowing whether or not to be bothered.
Unlike Alyssa, he’d been wary of her, but politely civil when she first arrived. But last night it all changed when she’d offered to tuck him in. He’d screamed at her, telling her that she was not his mother and to leave him alone. Then he’d slammed his bedroom door in her face.
He’d given her a glimpse of Little Kaya. After her father walked out on her, she’d become filled with rage. Nadine had tried to beat it out of her, to no avail. As Kaya thought about it, she realized that it was only after Nadine abandoned her and she was placed in foster care that her anger began to subdue. She wasn’t mad at the world; she was just mad at Nadine. It was Nadine’s fault that her father had left. Kaya wished her father had fought for her, like Bryce was prepared to fight for Jason and his sisters. Oh, to know love like that.
Jason sauntered up to Libby, ignoring Kaya altogether. “Miss Libby, when are Uncle Bryce and Mommy and Daddy coming home?”
“Soon, Jason.” Kaya gave Libby a silencing shake of the head.
“Yeah, soon,” Libby backed her up.
She didn’t want him to know that Bryce was back, not until she figured out how to deal with the man. As she watched Jason’s shoulders droop, Kaya felt like someone was snipping little pieces of her heart out with a pair of giant scissors. His moment of truth was near.
“Can I stay at your place until they come home?”
Libby rested her hands on his shoulders. “I’ll tell you what. I have to go into town to run some errands. Would you like to come along for the ride? We can stop at Mountainview Café and have a bowl of Miss Eloise’s homemade clam chowder that you love.”
“Okay, and maybe if Ethan is there, I can see him?”
“Yeah, maybe.” Libby ruffled his curly black hair.
Kaya wished she could have been the one to cause the hint of a smile that flitted across Jason’s face. She knew that deep down inside, he was a sweet kid. She wanted so much to put her arms around him, tell him that she loved him.
“Ethan’s grandmother owns the café,” Libby told Kaya.
Kaya nodded. “I see.”
“Run on upstairs and put on some warm clothes.” Libby tugged on the sleeve of Jason’s T-shirt. “We don’t want you getting sick.”
He left without giving Kaya a second glance.
“I don’t mean to take over,” Libby added when they were alone again. “But he’s been cooped up in this house for two days, now. It’s school winter break, and he would have been out on the ski trails with his father every day if—” She shrugged. “You know.”
“I understand.” Kaya placed a hand on her shoulder. Nobody seemed to want to utter the words, “dead” or “died”. “You know them better than I do. I get it.”
“Auntie Kaya, me and my dollies are ready for tea,” Alyssa called from the playroom.
“I’ll be right there.”
Libby cleared her throat. “Um, my sister asked me to pick up my niece, Courtney, from daycare. She’s Alyssa’s age, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to take her with me, too. Anastasia is asleep and I’m sure you could use some rest.”
“What do I tell Bryce when he comes knocking?” She could just imagine his ire at not finding his children at home.
“Use the time to talk. Get to know him. He’s a good man, Kaya. You’ll see that once you get past his hard exterior.”
Kaya doubted that very much. “I feel awful you’re using your week off from work to help me out when you have a summer wedding to plan,” she said.
“I’ll have plenty of time for wedding plans. The kids are much more important right now.” She gave Kaya’s arm a comforting squeeze. “Jason will come around. Just give him time.”
Time? Time was one luxury Kaya didn’t have. Not with Bryce Fontaine breathing down her neck.
* * *
As she paced the nursery with a screaming Anastasia in her arms, Kaya wondered why Bryce still hadn’t shown up with the sheriff and the town’s two cops in tow.
On the other hand, she was grateful he hadn’t. With Jason and Alyssa gone, she’d used the alone time to get some important things done—like asking the undertaker to use his least expensive caskets since she now knew that the funeral cost was coming out of her pocket. She would love to give her sister and brother-in-law a more glamorous burial, but she had to watch every penny she spent from now on.
She’d also called Jack at his job, and was holding until he got off the line with a supplier when Anastasia’s whimpers came through the monitor. She’d hung up with semi-regret. She wasn’t looking forward to having a conversation about her new charges with Jack. He didn’t really like kids. Needy and annoying were his constant description of them. Dah!
She’d agreed to marry him—not because she also disliked children, but because she wasn’t planning on having any. She’d been too afraid that she’d turn out to be as despicable a mother as Nadine. But now that she’d inherited three little ones, Kaya knew she’d do everything in her power to see that they were loved and well taken care of. She could only hope that Jack’s attitude towards children would change once he met hers.
“Hush, baby,” Kaya whispered as Anastasia hit a higher note, causing a horrendous ringing in her ears. She’d changed her, tried to feed her, unsuccessfully, then sang, terribly off-key, every lullaby she could pull from her childhood memories. But Anastasia refused to be comforted. As a last resort, Kaya had finally called Dr. LaCrosse, the children’s pediatrician, only to be told that he was on his honeymoon. The physician who was filling in for him was in surgery and he would call her back when he was out. She was still waiting.
�
�Please, Stasia. Stop crying,” Kaya begged, rocking her gently in the crook of her arm. “I wish I knew what was wrong with you, but I don’t. Please—”
“Why is she screaming like that? I heard her all the way from the courtyard.”
Kaya tensed at the deep voice rising above the piercing cries. She spun around. Bryce’s imposing figure hugged the doorway. He’d shaved, and changed into jeans and a pullover shirt that lay snugly against the hard muscles of his flat stomach, wide powerful chest, and broad shoulders.
She’d told herself that nothing he did or said would shake her confidence. But as she gazed into his censuring eyes, Kaya’s heart began to pound with fear of the trouble he could cause her.
He pushed away from the door, picked up a pink blanket from the changing table and draped it over his shoulder. “You told me she’s been fussy, not that she’s been trying to start an avalanche around us. Give her to me.” He towered over Kaya, arms outstretched.
“I can handle it.” Kaya tightened her hold and backed up a step. His demand to give Anastasia to him was tantamount to the one he’d made in Steven’s office to hand over custody of all the children to him. “I don’t need your help,” she said tersely.
“Oh, really?” he drawled, his eyes laced with skepticism. A humorous smile played at the corner of his mouth as he took in her petite framed swallowed up in one of Lauren’s huge sweaters.
Kaya took another backward step, only to discover he’d cornered her between the crib and a chest of drawers. Realizing he was not going to move, she pressed her bare feet into the lambskin throw rug and held her ground. As unbearable as the screams were, it would be worse if Bryce proved he was more adept than her at handling a fussy baby. It would be one more weapon he could use against her in court.
Kaya’s mind fast-forwarded. “Your Honor, when I walked into the nursery, Miss Brehna was holding the screaming infant, little Anastasia. It was clear that she had no idea what she was doing, and that the child had been crying for quite some time. If I hadn’t shown up when I did, I— I—” His voice would crack deliberately. “I tremble to think what could have happened to that baby. We’ve heard of young inexperienced mothers who have shaken their babies…” A tear would slip from his eye. “I thank God that I got there in time to prevent another tragedy.”
Bastard!
“Kaya, just give her to me. Come on.”
Kaya shook her head and rewound to the present. She glared at Bryce and tightened her hold on Anastasia
“This screaming isn’t good for her lungs, and quite frankly it’s hard on my ears.” Bryce reached out again, his dark eyes daring her to disagree with him.
Kaya glanced down at the red-faced, squirming child in her arms, wanting so much to be the one to give her comfort, to get her used to the idea that her auntie Kaya, and no one else, was now her sole provider. Pride tempted her to ignore Bryce, but sensibility pushed her to hand over the baby since all of her novice attempts at calming her had failed. “Okay. Okay. You can have her.”
As she placed Anastasia in his arms, Bryce’s scent, his nearness, and the brush of his fingertips against her arms sent a host of dizzying sensations rushing through Kaya. Their eyes locked, and somewhere in the blackness of his, Kaya detected a flash of lust. Elemental need. Unadulterated want. She knew that look. She’d encountered it many times from a multitude of men. But she’d never been this terrified of her reaction to it.
It was exciting, suffocating, and weakening, all in one. Yet, she found herself powerless or unwilling to avert her gaze. Another reason she’d agreed to marry Jack was that he never looked at her that way. Perhaps Jack never really looked at her, just through her and around her. He’d never seen her. She felt comfortable with him. Too comfortable.
Kaya let out the breath she’d been holding when Bryce took a step backward and shifted his gaze to the baby. In that spellbinding moment, Bryce had awakened something deep inside her. Curiosity? No. She told herself that it was antipathy. He was on a mission to destroy her. It would be in her best interest not to lose sight of that fact. His penetrating stare was one of intimidation. That was all it was.
She watched as he cradled Anastasia’s tiny head in one of his large hands and clasped the other around the scrawny little body. Ignoring the flailing arms and legs, he raised her close to his face and began to sing a song Kaya had never heard before.
Sweet baby child, hush, don’t you cry
Momma’s gone away for a little while
Soon she’ll be home with a bright happy smile
And she’ll hug and rock, her sweet baby child
Sweet baby child, hush, don’t you cry...
As she listened to the words that would never come to pass, tears pooled in Kaya’s eyes. Lauren was gone, not for a while, but forever. She would never kiss, nor hug, nor rock her sweet baby child again.
In the midst of her troubling thoughts, the deep, soothing rhythm of Bryce’s voice resonated through Kaya, melting away her fears and frustrations over his meddling.
She felt blessed relief.
The man could sing a fledgling from the safety and comfort of its nest, she thought, watching him pace back and forth with Anastasia in his arms. Luther Vandross had nothing on him. With a voice so beautiful, so touching, he could have been a star.
Anastasia apparently thought so, too, because as Bryce chanted the chorus over and over again, her screams eventually faded to an occasional hiccup and a series of soft, throaty gurgles.
He’d succeeded where she had failed.
“Yes, that’s it, sweetheart,” he cooed, gazing into the tiny face with the most tenderness and patience Kaya had ever seen in a man. “Uncle Bryce knows just what you need, doesn’t he?”
He settled her against his wide chest, his enormous hands supporting her back, his long brown fingers wrapping around the perimeter of her body. Kaya would never have dreamed a man holding a baby could look so irresistible. Especially a man she didn’t trust with that very same baby.
“That’s my baby,” he said as Anastasia blew out a bubble and gurgled at him. “You miss your mommy and daddy, don’t you? I know, darling. I miss them, too. But Uncle Bryce is home now. He’ll take good care of you, little Stasia. I will always be here for you. I promise from the bottom of my heart.”
He came to a halt in front of Kaya, sending a pleasant combination of masculine odor and baby powder up her nostrils. “You’re not taking these children out of Granite Falls,” he warned in a low, gruff tone. “This is their home. It’s where they belong and it’s where they’ll stay. Why don’t you make it easy on everyone, Kaya, and just sign them over to me? I know what they need.”
“That’s not what their parents wanted, Bryce. They named me legal guardian in their will.”
“Where there’s a will, Miss Brehna, there’s always a way to break it.”
Kaya folded her arms and stared up at him, not knowing whether he was referring to her heart’s will to take the children to Florida, or the legal document that gave her custody of them. Perhaps a little of both. “I don’t want to argue with you again, Bryce. At least not today,” she added, remembering what Libby had said, or not said about the “something awful” in his past.
“We don’t need to argue at all, Kaya. Just do what you know is best for them.”
Kaya strode to the east window overlooking the snow-covered hills of the White Mountain National Range. Apart from an immediate abundance of love and patience, she had no idea what was best. It took a lot of money to raise kids. She could remember her mother’s constant complaints about not having enough money for one thing or the other. And Nadine only had one child, plus she was receiving a monthly child support check from Kaya’s father.
She, on the other hand, had just inherited three. With formula, diapers, after-school, and daycare added to her rent and car payments, not to mention the emergencies that were sure to pop up every so often, Kaya knew that life as she’d known it was over. No more exclusive clothes and pricey s
hoes. No more eating out at expensive restaurants. No more weekend getaways. It was work, work, and more work from here on in.
She’d have to take on more customers and work longer hours. Her career required that she live in a big city where she had access to an infinite number of wealthy people and thriving businesses. Granite Falls was a wealthy, thriving town, she had to admit, but it was small. There wasn’t room for expansion up here in the mountains, and it was bitterly cold. Even if she sold her father’s jewel and stayed in Granite Falls, the money would run out eventually, and she’d be back to square one.
Florida was her only choice. She had to make Bryce understand the position she was in, and at the same time, find a way to establish a friendship with him for the children’s sake.
CHAPTER THREE
“Where are Jason and Alyssa?”
Kaya turned around as the anticipated question broke into her thoughts. “Libby took them into town to see Ethan and Courtney. They needed some fresh air. I hope you don’t mind that they aren’t here.”
“Not at all. Freed me up for this little one. She needed special attention.” He smiled at the baby before looking Kaya up and down, quizzically. “Why are you wearing Lauren’s clothes? Don’t you have any of your own?”
Kaya pushed the oversized sleeves up her arms. “Since Anastasia’s been crying so much, Adrianna Bennett suggested I wear Lauren’s clothes to give Anastasia a sense of Lauren’s smell. She said it worked for her mother when she babysat her children.”
“Did it work for you?”
“Did it look like it was working when you barged in?” The mockery in his voice and eyes fueled her exasperation. “How did you get into the house, anyway? I know I locked the doors after Libby left.”