The Trouble with Twins

by Nancy Warren

  She consoled herself, and her aching shoulders, with the thought that Seth would have more time alone with his daughters before she and her kids intruded. After all, it wasn’t like she was anything more in their lives than the temporary babysitter now.

  Except for that odd kiss, a little voice reminded her.

  That was relief, she explained it away.

  And he called you honey, the voice continued.

  It was a moment of stress, she countered.

  But she couldn’t explain away the fact that she and Seth had acted like an experienced mom-and-dad team all through the crisis. And it was a good team, too.

  “Can we go to McDonald’s house?” Alice chirped when she saw the familiar yellow M.

  “Can I have a Big Mac?” Matthew added.

  She couldn’t remember the last time they’d eaten at a place like this. “We’ll see,” she said. A lot depended on how Seth and the girls were doing.

  When they finally reached the door, it opened magically, and there was Seth, precious and familiar, standing there with an expression on his face that made her heart do a funny kind of lurch. He eased Alice out of her arms.

  “I asked for a Big Mac, but Mom said ‘we’ll see,’” Matthew informed him. He caught sight of the girls. “Hey, did you guys get arrested?” he yelled across the crowded restaurant.

  Seth laughed, looking years younger than he had an hour earlier and way too sexy for her peace of mind. “Do you mind if we eat here?”

  “No. The kids’ll love it.”

  “I had somewhere more intimate in mind for tonight, but…” He shrugged.

  More intimate? Who with? The way he was gazing at her, her first guess had to be it was her he’d hoped to spend an intimate evening with. But then, why had he given her no indication that morning when he’d barely looked her way as he’d dropped off the children?

  It was a puzzle. As was his good mood after the atrocious stunt the twins had pulled. “Where are you parked?”

  “Somewhere in Canada, I think.”

  He laughed again, shepherding her to where his daughters had Matthew enthralled with their tale of adventure. Alice insisted on sitting with the other kids and, since the table seated only four, Melissa and Seth sat at the next table, munching burgers and fries and Cokes while Seth filled her in.

  “I was so scared in the car when I saw all the drug pushers and derelicts heading this way.”

  “The band’s not exactly Megadeth, Seth. I saw lots of families and young children on our way here.”

  He licked a dab of ketchup from the corner of his mouth, looking thoughtful. “The girls have four tickets, already. I wonder, now that we’re here…”

  She nodded. “I think they were punished enough just experiencing such a fright. They’d be so thrilled to see the concert.”

  “And you?” He grinned.

  “I wish I’d brought my earplugs.”

  “Will Alice be all right?”

  “She had a long nap this afternoon. And she knows those Bravo Boy songs by heart.”

  “Right. Don’t say anything yet. I’ll run across and see if I can get two extra tickets.”

  “You know you’ll be paying scalper prices?”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  She watched him stride out, tall and confident, and a pang of sadness pierced her. He was exactly the man she would choose, if only she could be certain he was free to be hers.

  With a hopeless sigh, she drank the last of her cola and cleaned away the remains of their meals. After that, she insisted all the kids take a bathroom break and wash up. By the time they’d finished doing that, Seth had returned and given her a thumbs-up.

  He didn’t say anything, merely held the two tickets out in his hand and waited. Laura clued in first and gave a shriek that stilled conversation in the restaurant. “You mean we can go?”

  “Melissa and I decided you’ve learned your lesson. And, since we’re all here now, anyway…” The girls, then Matthew threw themselves at Seth. Alice, who hated to be left out, followed suit. He swung her up in his arms and the six of them headed out.

  “We won’t be able to sit together,” Melissa warned Seth in an undervoice. “We should decide now who—”

  He stopped her with a kiss. “Have faith.”

  She hadn’t been big on that lately. Maybe she’d give faith a try.

  And sure enough, when they got to the crowded arena and found their way to the four seats the twins had won, Seth went ahead and she saw him chatting to a couple of teenagers who obviously had the adjoining seats. By the time Melissa and the kids reached him, he had six seats together.

  “How on earth did you get those kids to change seats with you?”

  “I told them we need to be together because we’re a family,” he said, looking at her in a way that made her heart flip. “And then I gave them a hundred bucks.”

  Melissa hadn’t been to a concert in years, and, in spite of herself, got caught up in the enthusiasm. To her mind, the Bravo Boys in concert were as nauseating as they appeared on TV, only bigger. And louder. A lot louder.

  But the kids’ enthusiasm was infectious, and when “Born To Be Bravo” finally came on, they all joined in. Seth caught her eye and mimicked the movements of the lead singer, making her stop singing as a giggle choked her.

  He grinned, and behind the backs of their own singing and dancing quartet, pulled her close. Surprise widened her eyes. “Thanks for being a good sport,” he said, and kissed her.

  Her heart started banging in time to the band’s frantic percussion, and the kiss—which had started out friendly—deepened suddenly. They were grasping each other, gripping and hugging wordlessly while the music blared around them. The cacophony created a sort of intimacy, since it was impossible to be heard. “I missed you,” he yelled into her ear.

  “Me, too,” she shouted back.

  They left when Alice began to droop. The concert wasn’t over, and yet there wasn’t a peep of protest from the three older kids. They really had learned a lesson tonight.

  The walk back to the car didn’t seem so long with Seth carrying the sleepy Alice, and soon they were all buckled in and driving home. For the first little while it was almost as noisy inside the car as it had been at the concert.

  “That fireworks thing was so cool.”

  “He saw me, I know he did—I did that Bra-avo arm thing, and Benny did it right back at me.”

  “I bet they got paid a million bucks. At least.”

  “Who cares, Matthew. You are so lame.”

  “Not as lame as gushing over some guy with dyed hair and earrings,” her stung son retorted.

  And so it went on as they drove through Seattle and headed for Lakeview. Slowly, the energy level depleted, and long before they reached home, the back of the car was silent but for the snuffling sounds of children sleeping.

  She and Seth didn’t talk much. She felt jumpy and uncertain, scared to break the mood and yet determined not to fall back into the bad old patterns. She was a strong woman, she’d discovered that. She loved Seth. She doubted she’d ever love another man as deeply, but if his heart wasn’t hers, then she couldn’t continue. It was as simple, and as painful, as that.

  But it had been nice tonight. She laid her head back and stared out the window as the streets grew more familiar. It had stopped raining hours ago, but the heavy sky threatened more drizzle.

  “You took a wrong turn, Seth. You must be getting sleepy, too.”

  “Can I take you on a little detour? There’s something I want to show you.” She noted the intense tone under the casual words as she automatically agreed.

  She was almost certain they were headed for his house. What was he planning to show her? She kept quiet and waited, her tension mounting as they neared his house. When they turned into his crescent, she looked sharply at him, but he refused to return the glance.

  He didn’t drive into his driveway but angled the car and left the engine running.

 
“What are you—”

  She gasped as she saw, illuminated in his headlights, a familiar real estate sign. Cindi’s, the same one that was featured on her brochure. A red Sold sticker was slapped across the front.

  “I love you, Melissa. I couldn’t think of a better way to show you.”

  “But where—”

  “I accepted an offer this morning. I didn’t want to tell you about it until the house was sold. It’s as close as I can come to proving what I feel.” He took her hand and his eyes shone in the dim light of the car. “Please marry me.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  He flicked the lights off. Darkness filled the car. “Then the girls and I will find a place on our own. You told me to move on. You were right. It was time. With you or without you, I’m moving on, physically and emotionally.” She heard the catch in his voice, and knew how tough it was for him to talk about this. “I loved Claire. I’d have stayed with her forever if she hadn’t died. But she did. It wasn’t until you cleared out her stuff that I realized I hadn’t let her go.” He stopped and she felt a lump form in her throat. “Now, I have.”

  “But it was her home. Your memories are there.”

  “I’ll always have my memories. They move with me. Claire will always be a part of me and of the girls, but you showed me that I can respect her memory and still live a good life.” He touched her face. “Acceptance. I finally got there.”

  “I hope you’ll share those memories with me. I owe her so much. I wish I could have known her.”

  She felt him nod. Then, after a moment of silence, he said, “Oh, one other thing.”

  “What?”

  “I’m taking you for lunch one day soon and giving you a tour of my office. You can meet everyone.”

  “Really?”

  “Mitzi’s going to kill me if she doesn’t get to meet you soon. She’s the one who recommended the restaurant I was planning to take you to tonight.”

  “And on the way we’d drive by your sold house?”

  “I’m such a man of mystery.” He paused, then said, “God, I love you.”

  He really did love her! But there was one thing she had to set him straight on. “We haven’t talked a lot, lately. I think you should know that I’m taking on a lot of work with my garden design business.” She tried to keep the pride out of her voice as she said those last four words, but it was tough. “I won’t be there every day when the kids come home from school. Sometimes there will be a sitter.”

  The lights flashed on again and he turned to face her, an amazed grin on his face. “Do you by any chance think I want to marry you to save myself your day-care fees? Because let me tell you, that was highway robbery.”

  “It was not. Where else would they get such nutritious food, a trained medical—” He shut her up by the simple method of kissing her senseless. And she was kissing him back.

  Her hand was around his neck, the lights were out again, and they were going at it like lovers who’d been apart too long. “I’m going to have to write these down,” he mused when they stopped for breath.

  “Pardon?”

  “I’m writing my own chapter on ‘Best Places to Kiss in the Pacific Northwest.’ So far tonight, I’ve got the McDonald’s parking lot, the stadium during a rock concert and the car out front of my house. What do you think?” he asked, pulling her close once more.

  “I think you’d better rebook those tickets for Hawaii right now.”

  “I never cancelled them,” he said with smug satisfaction. “And while we’re gone, the movers can take our stuff over to your place.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder. Heard a tiny snore from the direction of the backseat and smiled. “That was a broken home.”

  “Hey, I did a lot of work patching up that place.”

  “I know. Matthew said it wasn’t our home that was broken, it was our family.”

  “I’m a handyman, remember?”

  “The thing is that Cindi’s got this nice family wanting to buy my house. Maybe it’s time for all of us to move on and find our own home. For a fresh start.”

  “Do you have any idea how tough it is to find a home in this neighborhood?”

  “Follow my directions,” she said, excitement filling her as she realized she had the perfect solution.

  “I’VE ALREADY DONE THE GARDEN,” she said, as they drew up in front of the display home for the new subdivision. “All the lots are sold now, so they’ll be selling the display home.” She turned in her seat. “I’ve been inside and it’s gorgeous. Four bedrooms and a den that could be a fifth bedroom if the twins ever want their own rooms. The main floor has a big kitchen and family room, and downstairs there’s room for a playroom, even a home theater if we want one.”

  “A fresh start, for all of us.”

  “What do you think?”

  “Cindi’s going to get three commissions, is what I think.”

  She laughed and leaned over to give him a quick kiss. “Let’s wake the kids and tell them they’ve got only two days.”

  “Two days?”

  She smiled. “To pack. There’s a wedding in Hawaii to get to.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1700-3

  THE TROUBLE WITH TWINS

  Copyright © 2006 by Nancy Warren.

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