“Jarod, how dare you!”
“Oh, I dare, Sandy, I promise you!”
“After what you did today, you want to have a child—well, you just go talk to your cheerleading friend about it! That nice, sweet, bouncy little cutie would probably bounce right into—”
“Sandy!”
“What?”
“Sandy…”
He drew her to him and kissed her pouting lips with love and tenderness.
“I don’t want anybody’s baby but ours. You’re going to be my wife, and I love you. You gave me the silent treatment and I tried to make you jealous, and I’m sorry. I love you, Sandy.”
“Oh, Jarod…”
She slipped her arms around him, then leaned against him. She felt so happy. The strain between them had been terrible; this felt just like coming home. It was warm and secure and beautiful, and he really loved her. Their future was secure again. And it felt so good just to rest against him….
Except that he distractedly pushed her away, and she almost fell, she was surprised.
“Where’s your father?”
“What?”
“Where’s your father?”
“Oh, you want to apologize! He’ll be so glad, Jarod. He really likes you, you know—”
“Apologize!” Jarod exclaimed.
Sandy felt her heart sink like lead. No. Not again. She felt ill; she felt her stomach churn.
He’d already pushed past her; he was on his way into the house.
“Jarod!”
She raced after him and caught his arm, but he kept walking. “Dan! Mr. Marquette! Sir!”
Sandy shivered slightly as she saw her father come out of his office. He had one brow slightly arched, and his dark eyes were narrowed. Sandy knew her father. She could tell he hadn’t liked the tone of Jarod’s voice. Not one bit. And he was going to let Jarod come in for whatever his attack was…and then counter. Counter with such force and speed that Jarod would never know what had hit him.
“Dad, Jarod, please…” Sandy murmured.
They both ignored her, though neither of them spoke at first. Dan moved into the living room, arms crossed over his chest, and Sandy could see that her father was surprised—stunned—that after everything that had happened Jarod still had the nerve to behave this way.
“Sir!” Jarod snapped.
“What?” Dan demanded.
“How could you?”
“How could I what?”
“You—you—seducer! I asked you—I begged you!—I—”
“Jarod, what are you talking about?”
“I just hope that you intend to do something. Something honorable. You promised me, you know. When I came to ask you—”
“Damn it, Jarod—”
“I should really punch you right in the nose.”
“Jarod!” Sandy screamed, really alarmed.
“You’re the one with the experience! You’re the one who played around. You knew what you were doing! And she didn’t! I told you that! How could you? How could you have behaved with such a total lack of responsibility?”
Dan stared at Jarod blankly. What in God’s name…? “Jarod, what are you talking about?”
“She’s pregnant!” Jarod exploded. And then he started to laugh, as if it had just struck him how funny—how pathetically funny—the entire situation was. “My mother, Mr. Marquette, is pregnant.”
Dan inhaled sharply. She couldn’t be. Well, she could be, but if she was, she couldn’t know already. Could she? Well, maybe. They had all those newfangled things out on the market—you could know almost anything right away.
It felt as if something exploded in his head, and then in his heart. A cascade of stars and gunpowder, emotion so fierce that he could barely endure it.
What was she thinking?
He started to wonder just how long she had known, and why he had to hear this from Jarod and why—why the hell she hadn’t come to him!
“Sir! Did you hear me?”
Dan blinked. Jarod was still standing there, staring at him. There was suddenly a softening in that belligerent young face.
“Don’t you see, sir? Can’t you understand why I was so upset? Mom is as innocent as a babe in the woods, and you’ve been dating for almost twenty years! I was afraid of something like this. Well, not really. Not at first. I was afraid she would fall in love with you, and then you would leave her. But now…well, now you just have to make your intentions real clear to me. My mother is pregnant, expecting your child, and I want to know just what you intend to do about it.”
It was a logical question, Dan decided. But it seemed so damn strange, Jarod standing there staring at him in outrage. Telling him that Kelly was pregnant.
Kelly was pregnant.
His daughter was pregnant, and now Kelly was, too. He didn’t think there could be this much procreation going on if he’d decided to raise jackrabbits for a living.
“My God,” he murmured.
“Dad?” Sandy said.
“Are you sure?” Dan suddenly asked Jarod.
“Well, I think so.”
“Your mother told you?”
“Ah…no.”
“Dad needs a chair, I think.”
“He needs a drink, I think.”
“I’ll get him one.”
Sandy ran off. Dan kept staring at Jarod, shaking his head slightly. “How can she know? How can she be sure?”
Jarod smiled at him crookedly. “I’m not supposed to know, but I saw her, uh, test.”
Dan nodded vaguely. Kelly was pregnant.
Kelly wasn’t speaking to him.
He smiled slowly, ruefully. Did that really matter? Nothing in life was ever going to be perfect. He had a temper, she had a temper, and they were different people. They hadn’t met under the best of circumstances.
Kelly was pregnant….
They were going to have a child. It would be nice to have a boy. He’d loving having a daughter. Another daughter would be fine, too. He just wanted a healthy baby, the same way he had just wanted Sandy to be a healthy baby. But…
A boy would be nice. Of course, in a way, he already had his boy. He had Jarod. This wise-talking stud here—Kelly’s son. Dan had had a beautiful daughter, and he’d raised her to be sweet and smart and only a little bit foolish when it came to falling in love. But even in that, she’d had some sense—she’d fallen in love with Jarod McGraw. And even though Dan had been mad enough to want to punch the kid a few times, his priorities were in the right place. He knew something about responsibility; he loved Sandy.
He loved his mother.
“Dad, here’s a Scotch.”
“Sir, just what do you intend to do?”
“Oh, Jarod! I can’t believe it!” Sandy laughed suddenly. “Is she really going to have a baby? I love it!”
Dan swallowed the Scotch. He had to see her. He had to tell Kelly herself—not Jarod—that he loved her. That he wanted to stand by her, that he was thrilled, that he wanted to marry her and raise their child together.
“Sir!”
“I love your mother, Jarod,” Dan said quietly. He walked across the room to set his Scotch down on a table. “I’ve got to go see her.”
“Oh!” Jarod said suddenly. “No. Uh, no, you can’t do that.”
“What do you mean, I can’t do that?” Dan demanded darkly. “You’ve just told me—”
“Yes, I know, but I wasn’t supposed to.”
“Jarod, you didn’t just come in here talking, you came in swinging and demanding—”
“I know! I know! But I promised Mom that I wouldn’t mention her name. I, uh, I just had to know what you were feeling and what you were thinking. But she’s ready to disown me as it is. You can’t let her know I told you.”
There was silence for a moment, a silence in which Jarod stared at Dan.
“Dad?” Sandy said softly. “Shouldn’t you let her come to you?”
“Yeah, yeah, maybe I should,” Dan muttered.
He picked
his Scotch back up and drank the remainder in a single swallow. He glanced at his watch. “She should be here by now!”
“Dad,” Sandy protested, “give Kelly a chance.”
“Yeah, yeah, I guess I should.”
He started to pace the room. Jarod and Sandy sat together on the couch, their fingers entwined.
“How much of a chance?” Dan suddenly exploded.
Sandy inclined her head, reflecting on the question. “A few days, maybe. A week—”
“A week!” Dan thundered.
Jarod stood up uneasily. “Sandy, I’m not so sure that Dan should wait.” He swallowed. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you, but I did, and I guess she has a right to know. I mean, well, I only did it because I love her. But, uh, I’m…”
“What?” Dan demanded.
“I’m a little bit worried. About what she might decide to do.”
“To do?” Dan’s voice became sharper and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
“She might be thinking about, well, about not having the baby,” Jarod said in a long rush. “That’s why I had to tell you. Before she could do something like that. You can’t let her. You can’t. You have to stop her.”
Dan stared at Jarod for a long minute, then he reached for his jacket and started with long, furious strides for the door.
“Damn right, I do. Damn right.”
CHAPTER 13
Dan was relieved to see Kelly’s car in her driveway. He parked haphazardly on the lawn, slammed his door and hurried up the walk, only to discover the front door opening as he reached it.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
He hadn’t meant to shut, but it had taken him aback to see that she was going out. She was wearing a fawn skirt with a slit in the back, a soft-beige blouse, a tweed jacket, stockings and heels. High heels, the kind she never failed to wear when she wanted to feel mature—and tall.
She was also wearing a little hat, and though she quickly cast him a gaze of dismay, when she lowered her head, he could no longer see her eyes, no longer read the emotion within them.
“Kelly, where do you think you’re going?”
It was more of a growl this time, but he hadn’t meant that, either.
“Dan!” she murmured, looking up again. Dan smiled a little grimly, because he was certain that she was trying to determine whether or not he knew—whether Jarod had betrayed her to him.
“One more time, Kelly.” He blocked the doorway, hands on his hips. “Where are you going?”
“Out,” she told him boldly.
“Get back in the house.”
When she didn’t move, he glared at her and asked, “Where do you think you’re going?”
“The grocery store.”
“The hell you are!”
“I am!”
“We’re going to talk about it.”
Her blue eyes widened incredulously. “We’re going to talk about the grocery store?”
“You’re not headed for any grocery store! Not dressed like that!” He took her shoulders and steered her back into the house, following closely in her wake, then closing the door behind them with his foot.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded heatedly,
“You’re not leaving! We’re going to talk!”
She was silent for a minute, then said coldly, “Do you know, that’s one of your major problems.”
“What’s one of my major problems?”
“That temper of yours! It’s awful. It’s ridiculous that you think you can just boss everyone around. Every time you get mad, you get abusive—”
“I’m never abusive!”
“The first time I met you, you were yelling. And the next thing I knew, you were yelling at me again, because my son and your daughter chose my cabin in which to…to…”
“Damn it, Kelly, I’m sorry! I know I had no right to lay that one on you, and I apologize.”
“Then you nearly attacked my son!” Kelly said, outraged.
“The hell I did!” Dan protested furiously. “I didn’t touch the little brat—and he was being a brat, Kelly. You know,” he said thoughtfully, “that’s part of your problem.”
“My problem?”
“That’s right, lady. Princess of Fantasy. Jarod was wrong, and you knew it. But you had to protect your child, protect him all the way. Well, Kelly, he isn’t a kid anymore, and you’d better realize that. He has to be responsible for his own actions.”
Her fingers twisted around the strap of her purse. “Jarod is a good human being. Dan Marquette, and don’t you dare try to tell me differently—”
“I’m extremely fond of Jarod. He’s a good kid, and so’s Sandy. But I can’t see rewarding either one of them for misbehaving.”
“No, you would just go into one of your famous Dan Marquette tempers!”
“Kelly—”
“Dan, let me by!”
“Not on your life, Kelly.”
“You can’t do this! Get out of my way!”
“Kelly, we’ve got to talk.”
“We just did.”
“About us, not the kids.”
She stared at him, then sighed with a great display of patience.
“Where were you going?” he asked calmly.
“To the grocery store! Oh, excuse me. If it’s any of your business, I was also going to the art shop!”
Kelly, don’t! he prayed silently. You talked about my temper and my tantrums and me thinking that I can bulldoze people into doing things my way. But don’t you see, Kelly? You have all the power.
She smiled at him suddenly.
“Excuse me, Dan, will you? I’ll be right back.”
She headed for the kitchen, and, like a total dunce, he watched her go. It wasn’t until he heard the door slam that he realized she intended to leave him standing there all the damn day—or at least until he got smart enough to realize that she had left by the back.
“Kelly!”
In a fury he went racing after her. She had already reached the lawn.
He didn’t handle things very well then.
But he couldn’t think very clearly. Damn her! She hadn’t even told him! Hadn’t even seen fit to tell him the truth!
He went flying out to the lawn after her.
Flying right into her.
He tackled her, and they lay on the lawn together. For a minute she just stared up at him in dismay and surprise, and then she brought her fists crashing against him.
“Dan Marquette, get off me! Of all the nerve—”
“Kelly, we’ve got to talk.”
“Dan, someone could see!”
“I don’t give a damn, Kelly.”
“They’ll arrest you!” she warned him fiercely.
When he didn’t answer, her fists started flying again. He caught her wrists and smiled. Of all the absurd times to see how beautiful she was! How small and fine and delicate and beautifully blond, with those immense eyes…
Those eyes were the killers. One look, and a man was lost. Forever.
“Dan, damn you—”
“I love you, Kelly!”
“Dan!”
She started to struggle again, and he stretched her hands high over her head, then leaned down and kissed her.
He held her there, loving her lips, thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth, feeling a rush of emotion wash through him, sweeping them both away.
They could have been on a deserted beach. On a mountain blanketed with spring greenery and soft flowers. They could have been anywhere, and it wouldn’t have mattered.
She ceased to struggle, and her lips softened.
He told himself that she was in love with him. That she just didn’t want to see it at the moment because she was afraid. Afraid to start over. Afraid to repeat what had happened before.
He drew away from her. She wasn’t struggling anymore. She was panting slightly, her breasts rising and falling with the exertion. He was dying to touch the, except that he wasn’t sure he w
anted to go quite that far right there on her lawn. Her eyes were slightly glazed, her lips were still parted and damp, and she was staring at him, completely confused.
“I love you, Kelly,” he said again.
“Dan, let me up—” she began, attempting to dislodge him.
“I want to marry you.”
“Dan, what—”
“Don’t do it, Kelly! I’m begging you!”
“Don’t do what?”
“I love you. I love you so much. I want us to spend our lives together. Just—please—don’t do it.”
“Dan! What are you talking about?”
“Kelly…” He looked at her sadly. She was convinced that he had finally snapped.
“Dan…?”
He stood, taking her tenderly but forcefully into his arms. Then he walked back toward the house still carrying her.
“Dan!”
He opened the door, then slammed it behind them.
“Dan?”
“I love you, Kelly.”
“What’s going on, Dan?”
“Shut up, Kelly.”
He was on the stairways by then.
“Jarod!” she exclaimed suddenly. “Why, that little brat!”
“Don’t do it, Kelly, please don’t.”
“Okay, Dan. If it means that much to you, I won’t go to the grocery store. Or to the art shop, either.”
“Kelly, damn it! I’m talking about—”
“Dan! Stop!” She couldn’t help smiling, even if a little sadly. “Dan, I don’t know what Jarod said to you, but what you’re thinking just isn’t true.”
He swallowed. “Kelly, he saw—”
“He saw a test, Dan. I—I was frightened. In fact, I was a little panicky. But I’m not pregnant. Honest.”
“Oh.”
He sat down, right on the stairway, with her in his arms.
“You—you wouldn’t lie to me?”
“No.” She smiled again and touched his lips with a light kiss. She really did adore him. Despite all the awful fights they managed to get into, she adored him. “Dan?”
“Hmm?”
“Dan, you seem…”
He kissed her back and looked at her sheepishly. “I—I’m disappointed.”
“What?”
All in the Family Page 18