“That’s right,” Gina said. “You once said you’re staying put now, and twenty years is way too long for two brothers to be separated.” Reaching up, she patted him on the cheek. “Be nice about this, or we’ll move in next door and spy on all your dates.”
Leaning down, West gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Is that nice enough?”
She sighed, delighted. “You Gallagher boys can be such charmers when you want to be. So you really don’t mind that we came?”
“No, I really don’t mind.” He managed a smile, because he knew the two of them expected it, but his heart was somewhere else and his mind was on the emptiness that stretched before him in his own life.
“You really look peaked,” Gina said to West. “Maybe you ought to sit down. Can I get you something to drink?”
“I should be saying that to you, shouldn’t I?” he asked. His manners had been shot to hell along with his spirit. “Look, let me get you something—”
Gina was shaking her head. “I’ll find my way to the kitchen and get my own. That will give you and Matt a chance to talk.” She dropped her purse near the wall. With another smile that came from being completely happy with her life directed at her husband, she blew him a kiss and headed off in the direction West pointed.
“Gina might not want to sit down, but I think I want to,” Matt said, stretching. “I swear that woman has more energy than a jet engine.”
West, his mind busy sorting out everything he’d
just heard, walked into his living room and plopped down in his favorite armchair. He was glad he’d be seeing Matt on a regular basis, and that Matt and Gina were setting up a great life for their child-to-be. He just wished he could understand how his brother had reconciled their past to the point where it didn’t bother him to have a child.
Apparently not as tired as he thought, Matt walked over to survey West’s model car collection. “Nice. I make model planes myself.”
West looked up at the man he barely knew. Oh, sure, Matt had filled him in on the peripheral stuff—how his brother had ended up on the streets after being labeled bad, and how he’d gone from there to marrying Gina, but only after they almost hadn’t made it. All that West knew.
But he and Matt had been strangers for twenty years, and the man Matt had become, West did not know—except for a couple important things. His loyal brother had never forgotten him, and had never stopped looking for him, and West was very glad to have his brother close again.
“So, while Gina’s busy,” Matt said, plopping down on the sofa across from West, “tell me what’s really going on.”
As his brother’s keen blue eyes surveyed him, waiting patiently, West struggled to figure out where to begin.
“I’m miserable.”
A semblance of a smile shadowed his brother’s lips. “Yeah, I can tell. You look like you used to when you thought I was going to get us in big trouble. Halfway between wanting to cry and wanting to beat somebody up.”
“I was only eight,” West said in defense, half grinning. But just as swiftly, he sobered. “I’ve gotten myself in big trouble.”
Matt sat back and crossed one ankle over his knee. “Let me guess. Since you’ve turned into a fine, upstanding citizen whom people trust with little babies, this can’t be legal trouble. You’ve already told me you wouldn’t touch booze with a ten-foot pole after what our father put us through. Gee, what’s left?” He snapped his fingers. “A woman, right? No, wait, let me narrow that down—the same Annie who’s ‘just a friend’?”
“Yeah.” West gave him an abbreviated version of what had really been going on during the past week.
“So you’re miserable without her.” Matt stood and started pacing. “But you’re afraid to marry her, because you think she’ll grow to hate you and then leave you if you don’t have children. But you don’t want kids.” He paused and switched direction. “Because you don’t want a repeat of what happened to us if you two split up. On the other hand….” He paused again and walked toward West, where he stopped. “You’d be perfectly willing to live with her, if you thought she really didn’t want kids. You’re afraid to take a chance either way.”
“That about sums it up.” West nodded.
“From the looks of it, offhand I’d say you’re in love.” Matt gave him a long look. “Either that, or you’re real confused.”
For the first time since Annie had left, West chuckled. “Hell, I figured both of those out without your help. You have any other suggestions?”
Matt shook his head. “Besides talking to Gina, who’s the smartest woman I know when it comes to stuff like this, I’m afraid I don’t.”
“But you’re not afraid of splitting with Gina and having your kid go through the agony of a broken family. Why not?”
“Because I keep in mind we aren’t our parents,” Matt said simply. “I learned not to run from what I want and need, and Gina has always been selfsufficient. No child of ours will ever have to suffer like we did.”
That was true, West thought, rising to pace the room himself as Matthew sat down.
Matt raised his eyes in sudden concern. “You have forgiven our parents, haven’t you?”
West shrugged his broad shoulders. “I was glad when I heard Gina helped them reconcile, but I don’t think we’ll ever be that close. I did send Mom a Mother’s Day card and some flowers. I want them to be happy. So, yeah, I guess I’ve forgiven them.”
“Then you realize that you and Annie aren’t them, either, and you’ll handle things differently in your marriage.”
“I know that. On the other hand—”
“On the other hand, nothing,” Matt said forcefully. “You’re making this too complicated. You say you don’t want to put any child of yours through the kind of hurt you went through, but you never will. You aren’t that kind of man. Is Annie that kind of woman?”
“No.”
“Then you should trust her.”
His back to his brother, West swallowed, stopped, and stared blankly at his classic car collection. He had to know.
“How did you do it, Matt?” he asked, turning to watch his brother’s reaction. “How did you come out of the past we had, able to go happily into a normal future, when I can’t get my act together?”
“Simple.” Matt rose as Gina joined them, carrying two glasses of ice tea. When she set them down, he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Love.”
The sudden knock on the front door caught them all by surprise, and West swore. Apparently no one was going to let him bask in misery alone today.
He pulled it open. “Gigi!”
“It ees awful,” she said, annihilating the second last word. “My Annee says she needs you to come, but she could not find your unlisted phone number, and it has something to do with that poor little babee!” Gigi swept through his door and into his living room, stopping when she saw Matt and Gina.
“Hello.”
“Hello,” Matt said. “Are you a friend of Annie’s?”
“I’m her aunt Gigi. You have met her?”
“No, not yet, but I must admit, I’m becoming really eager to. Is she French, too?” Matt turned to his wife. “You didn’t tell me Annie sounded French on the phone.”
“She didn’t.” Gina shook her head.
“That’s because she isn’t French!” West said, feeling like he was back in the Twilight Zone. “Neither is Gigi.”
“Gigi sounds French,” Matt observed. “Doesn’t she, Gina?”
“She certainly does,” Gina said, giving him her sweetest smile and taking a sip of her ice tea.
Aunt Gigi beamed at the two of them. “And you two are?”
“Matt is my brother,” West said, “and Gina is his wife.” Sighing, West put his hands on Gigi’s shoulders, hoping to focus her back on the matter at hand, even though he highly suspected most of Gigi’s persona was a huge act and she was smarter than the rest of them combined.
“I’m assuming by ‘poor little b
abee,’“ he said to Gigi, “you mean Teddy. And as far as Annee—” He stopped and corrected himself, sounding exasperated. “Annie—is she all right?”
“Oh, oui, Annie. She called from—” Gigi reached into her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. “From this shopping center on this street and said that she needs you to come. Please, please go, even if you are annoyed with Marcia for leaving poor babee Teddy on your doorstep.”
“Someone left a baby on your doorstep?” Gina asked, her mouth falling open in shock as she put both hands protectively over her stomach. “How could anyone?”
“I’ll explain later,” Matt said, grinning. “This place is better than an amusement park.”
“I’d better go find out what’s up,” West said. He needed some air anyway. “Are you coming, Gigi?”
“Please, no, she said she wanted you, not me. I will wait here in case you miss each other and she comes here.”
West wasn’t sure that made sense, but he didn’t want to take the time to figure out Aunt Gigi—assuming that was possible.
“Matt?”
“Sure, I’ll go—” Matt oomphed overdramatically as Gina lightly elbowed him.
“No,” Gina said. “The two of us need to rest for a while. But you can take our car. It’s blocking yours.”
Matt tossed West the keys, and West headed outside, leaving the door open. Gigi left the room to shut it.
Grinning at his wife, Matt said, “I have to admit, Gina, I’m almost feeling sorry for West. I don’t think even I had to go through this much for love.”
“What about when the whole neighborhood was watching us in the treehouse?” Gina asked, watching Annie’s aunt as she rejoined them.
“Peanuts compared to this,” Matt said, giving her a quick kiss. “But worth every minute. Now tell me why you didn’t want me to go with West.”
“Because it’s a chance for West and Annie to be alone—if she really is there.”
“Huh?” Matt asked. But Gina’s keen eyes watched Gigi, who merely smiled and didn’t comment.
“Just as I thought!” Gina said triumphantly. “West may be so lovestruck he isn’t thinking straight, and Matt’s a man, so he would never suspect a setup here—”
“Hey, I resent that,” he said, ruffling his fingers through Gina’s short, dark brown hair.
Gina shot him a fond smile and turned to Gigi. “But you can’t fool me. What’s really going on? And please tell me it’s nothing we’re going to have to stand up for, because really, my feet are starting to kill me.”
Aunt Gigi’s mouth curved into a smile. She’d been taken aback at their presence when she’d arrived, but now—well, since they so obviously cared about West’s happiness, Gigi thought they might come in handy.
“I’ll explain everything,” Gigi told them. “Only I have to hurry, because we don’t have a whole lot of time.”
“Her accent’s gone,” Matt whispered.
“Oh, I only do that around West,” Gigi said, sitting next to Gina. “He expects it as part of eccentric Aunt Gigi.”
Gina and Matt grinned and sat back to listen.
Well over an hour later, just after dark fell, West turned onto his street, vacillating between feeling furious at Gigi, confused as hell, and depressed. There had been no sign of Teddy or Annie, and he couldn’t figure out why on earth Gigi would send him on a wild-goose chase. He supposed Annie might really have sent for him and then needed to leave before he got there, but hell, it was hard to believe.
While he’d been waiting and looking for her, he’d thought about nothing but a future that looked pretty bleak to him, and about what his brother had said. He wanted to go to Annie, tell her he was ready to try with her, but he thought she might turn him away just like he’d driven her out of his life. He wouldn’t blame her one bit.
Parking Matt’s car in the driveway, West got out, shut the door and rounded the hood to head up the walk to the front entrance. He was halfway there when he looked up at his porch.and stopped where he was, his every limb freezing when he saw it.
Another large-size wicker basket. Another blanket over the top. Another note attached by tape to the handle, flapping in the breeze.
Oh, no, West thought, everything inside him telling him to run away. He didn’t deserve this. He’d stopped writing checks with his name and address on them at the market. He hadn’t even done his infomercial yet. This couldn’t be happening again.
He took a few tentative steps forward. The blanket moved, and he groaned inwardly. Why him? This time, he was whining, and he no longer cared. But this time, he thought he knew the answer to the question.
Why him? Because he was being cursed for not accepting love into his life when he’d had a chance. This was fate’s way of getting even, teaching him to accept love in his life by making him relive the same lesson over and over again.
“Okay,” he said loudly to whoever it was who was in control of his life, because it sure wasn’t him anymore. “I’m giving up here. I want Annie Robicheaux back in my life for as long as she can stand me—just please, whoever left this basket, come and take it back!”
“Too late.” Annie’s soft voice came from amid the tall shrubbery. She stepped out into the warm, glowing circle of the porch light where he could see her.
Their eyes met, and he lost his fear. “You weren’t waiting for me at the supermarket, and there was never any problem, was there, Annie?”
“Oh, but there was,” Annie corrected, nodding her head. “Maybe not the kind Gigi told you, but yes, if you and I were going to remain apart, I would say there was a big problem. But I heard what you said just now, and I think maybe we’ve both found our solutions. Go ahead, read the note.”
Held by the hazel warmth of her eyes, he leaned over and grabbed the note, holding it up to where he could read it. Only then did he break eye contact.
Dear West,
Aunt Gigi suggested I find the biggest fear you have about the dream you want and eliminate it, and then maybe we would be free to be happy together. We both know we want each other, but you were afraid I would leave you-and then, last Saturday, I made a big mistake by doing exactly that.
But I’m back to fix it. I hope you adore the baby in this basket, and me, because you’re stuck with the both of us. We will both remain loyal to the end, I promise. And don’t worry. If you’ll only trust in the power of love, there’s nothing in this basket the two of us can’t handle together. I love you.
Annie had signed it. Taking a deep breath, West leaned over and pulled the blanket off the basket. There, on top of a heap of old cushions, was a puppy, a small, golden cocker spaniel, curled up and sleeping peacefully.
Straightening, a whisper of a smile curving his mouth, West folded the note into fourths and stuck it in the inside pocket of his blazer, next to his heart. Then he opened his arms to Annie, who half ran into them, and sighed as he pulled her close.
“He’s perfect, Annie,” he uttered throatily. “And so are you.”
“It’s going to be all right, West,” she said softly, with all her heart. “I promise.”
“I might not have known that before, but I know it now.”
She pulled back and gave him a questioning look.
“I know it will, because when Gigi told me you needed me, I rushed to help you like you were tied to train tracks and the express was coming through. I know, because when you weren’t at the supermarket, I wanted to go to you, but then I thought about how I’d driven you out and thought I’d lost you forever.” He smiled. “And if that isn’t enough, I know…. because I love you, and I want to make your other dream come true—for both of us.”
“A baby?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“A baby,” he confirmed. “Besides, dogs need children around them, don’t they?”
Laughing, she curled her arms around his neck and kissed him, a kiss to seal their love, a kiss that made West realize that whatever had happened to him before, and whatever was to come, Annie wo
uld be his, forever.
They were kissing again when they heard a thump at the window. Breaking the kiss, West kept his arms around Annie. “That was Aunt Gigi. I guess we should go inside and let them know what’s going on,” he suggested reluctantly.
“I think they can wait,” Annie said, pulling him closer. “Besides, I have something to warn you about before you go in.”
“Am I going to like it?”
“I don’t know,” she said, finding it awfully hard to think with his lips dotting kisses near her ear. She pulled back from him just a little. “Your sister-in-law and Aunt Gigi sure thought what I did was great—but then, it was Gigi’s idea. That’s why she got you out of the house, so I would have time to pull it off. Now your brother, on the other hand, just sort of stood around looking outnumbered.”
The unflappable Matt? His fighter-pilot brother? “This must be really interesting if it fazed him. I like it already.”
“Good. Because either you’ll have to accept it, or you’ll have to formally evict me and throw my furniture out on your front lawn. I’m not leaving you again.”
“You moved in?”
“Lock, stock, and a negligee picked out by Aunt Gigi.” She smiled when his eyes lit up. “A little housewarming present.”
“Another dream come true.” He pulled her against him for another long kiss. “And as for evicting you…”
She nodded.
“Who am I to fight the system?”
Epilogue
“Christmas card catch-up, and then I’ll give you your present,” Annie announced to West, who was holding their eight-month-old son Zach and dodging his curious fingers, which were exploring West’s ear. They were at the kitchen table, waiting for Gina and Matt to change their own son, two-year-old Wyatt, into dress clothes so they could take family Christmas Eve pictures.
“Am I going to like this present?”
“I think so. Aunt Gigi had nothing to do with this one, I promise you.”
“That’s too bad,” West said, meaning it. Even though she was very busy singing and being happily married to Nigel, the maitre d’ who had chased West through the Café Lauree that long-ago night, Gigi still liked to “keep zee love tingling” for West and Annie, as she put it. by giving them a negligee on every special occasion. He loved Aunt Gigi’s presents.
The One-Week Baby (Yours Truly) Page 14