Resting his forehead against hers, he said, “Damn. Reed, Marsh and Sam are expecting me. Leaving you like this is getting old.”
She brought one hand to his cheek. “Your brothers are lucky to have you. You should be proud of yourself for everything you’re doing for them.”
His brown eyes widened. She was pretty sure a slap wouldn’t have surprised him more. He seemed uncomfortable with her praise. Finally, he said, “It was a lot easier being the hell-raising, no-good brother.”
“You were never no-good, but this feels good, doesn’t it?” she asked.
A certain look entered his eyes. “Are we still talking about pride?”
She pushed playfully at his shoulders. “You have a dirty mind.”
But she noticed that he was smiling. She stepped away from the door so he could open it. “I’ll see you in the morning, Lace.”
From the doorway she watched him drive away in his brother’s Mustang. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she whispered into the vast night sky.
She closed the door, eventually, and wandered through the small apartment, pinching herself. It was hard to believe that only a week ago she’d stood in the smelly exhaust fumes of a Greyhound bus, three suitcases and her camera all she had to her name. It had seemed there was little hope of happiness for the future.
Now she was driving a borrowed car and living in an uncluttered apartment that smelled like the rain-freshened air wafting through the window tonight. She had friends who cared about her, and little ones who called her Aunt Lacey.
She’d lived in Chicago for more than two years, but this felt like home. She had roots here, and now she had two jobs instead of none.
Her life had purpose here. April had shown someone else through the tavern. One of these days, it would sell, and she would pay off her debt to the hospital in Chicago.
And she had the feeling that the best part of her new life was yet to come.
Chapter Eleven
Marsh, Reed and Joey were at the kitchen table when Lacey arrived for work Monday morning. Marsh smiled absently at her after she let herself in. Moving Joey to his shoulder, he turned his attention back to Reed and whatever they were doing on his laptop.
The coffeemaker stopped gurgling while she was washing her hands at the kitchen sink. Wondering where Noah was, she poured the steaming liquid into two mugs and carried them to the table. Again, Marsh smiled absently at her.
Reed said a quick thank-you and continued typing.
She turned back to Marsh and held out her hands for Joey. “When was his last bottle?” she asked quietly.
“A little after six o’clock. He slept through the night,” Marsh said.
“We never heard a peep out of him,” Reed added without looking up from his screen.
“We don’t know what came over him. Noah, either, for that matter.”
“Noah isn’t awake yet?” she asked.
“Last I knew he was still sleeping like a baby,” Marsh answered.
Smiling warmly at Joey, she walked around the room with him, rocking him in her arms. Today she was going to give him a bath and then at least twenty minutes of tummy time to strengthen his back and arms. She was going to read to him, too. According to her library book, it was never too early to begin.
Gazing up at her, he studied her face so intently he didn’t even blink. He was a very serious baby. She’d noticed that when he smiled, he put his heart into it. Already his eyelashes were long and dark. It was too soon to tell if his eyes would stay blue, like Reed’s, or turn brown, like Marsh’s.
She looked at Marsh and Reed, searching their faces for similarities to Joey. Focusing on whatever they were doing on Reed’s computer, they were both clean-shaven, their hair, although different colors, clipped short. They had similar noses and builds. They would never be able to determine which of them was Joey’s father through appearance alone. She didn’t think it was her place to bring up the DNA test.
“How does this sound?” Reed took another sip of his hot coffee. Resting his elbows on the table, he said, “Wanted—Professional nanny for three-month-old baby boy. Weekdays from nine to five. Degree in early childhood development preferred.”
“Experience required,” Marsh said, lifting his mug to his mouth.
Evidently, they were composing an ad for a nanny.
“And references—don’t forget those,” Marsh added.
Reed typed another line then asked, “What about transportation?”
Joey grinned up at Lacey. It was as if he knew all this was for him.
“Preferably something with a good crash rating,” Marsh said.
“She can’t be too young,” Reed said.
“Just say she should wear her hair in a bun and must smell like fresh-baked bread.” Lacey, Marsh and Reed all turned as Noah sauntered into the room. Looking as if he’d just rolled out of bed, he wore his usual faded jeans and a gray T-shirt with fold marks down the center. His hair was mussed and his feet were bare.
“Very funny,” Marsh said.
Noah ignored him. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Lacey. She wasn’t sure what he was up to, but she held still as he took Joey from her. Admittedly, it was most likely an accident when the back of his hand brushed her breast in the process. It was no accident that he noticed.
He carried Joey across the room, his fingertips meeting at the baby’s sturdy back. “You can have her back in a minute, buddy,” he said to the baby, “but you have to share.”
Handing Joey to Marsh, he sauntered back to Lacey and kissed her on the mouth right there in the kitchen in front of God and everyone. Brief but powerful, it was a firm kiss, a possessive kiss, an I’ve-missed-you-and-it’s-only-been-ten-hours kiss. When it was over, he gave her a cocky grin and strolled back for Joey.
Lacey saw the look Reed and Marsh exchanged. Ah, it said. So that’s why Noah slept like a baby.
She was too familiar with them to mind. How could she mind, when they’d taken the news that they needed to find another nanny in stride the way they took everything in stride?
When Joey was back in Lacey’s arms, Noah poured himself a cup of coffee then joined his brothers at the table. Their personalities were as different as their choices in clothing. And yet there was no denying the family resemblance. Every one of them exuded enough pheromones to be dangerous. As she carried Joey from the room to prepare for his bath, she doubted that even grandmother types would be immune.
Noah was whistling when he pushed through the back door. Letting the screen bang shut behind him, he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and descended the porch steps. His gait was loose, his stride long and sure. He’d just kissed Lacey goodbye, and although he’d thrown a change of clothes in his duffel, he was hoping he wouldn’t be gone all night. He wanted to come back and do that again as soon as possible.
For now, he was on his way to the meadow and his airplane. He cut across the side lawn where the old wooden swing swayed slightly in the gentle breeze, and started down the lane. Sam was meeting him at the airfield. From there they were flying to Dallas and what Sam hoped was a lead on the woman from Reed’s past.
Noah was halfway to the meadow when he saw the ATV parked near the cider house up ahead. Not far from the four-wheel-drive utility vehicle was a pile of mangled ivy. He didn’t see Marsh, though.
His brother had a vendetta against the invasive vine. Nobody knew who’d planted the damn nuisance, but generations of Sullivan men had been battling it ever since. Sometimes it disappeared for a year or two, only to sneak back up the stone exterior of the cider house when nobody was looking. It had become a test of wills, and so far Marsh and the ivy were neck and neck.
“How about a ride to your airplane?”
Noah turned around at the sound of Marsh’s voice, and found his brother just off the beaten path under one of the trees he’d grafted years ago.
“I’d take a ride to my plane,” Noah said.
There was something about the way Marsh strode towa
rd him that gave Noah the impression that his brother had been waiting for him. He had no idea what was going on in his older brother’s mind. Marsh was a tough nut to crack. They were alike that way.
Marsh hopped on the ATV and Noah flung a leg over the seat behind him. Within minutes, they arrived at the meadow where Noah had parked his airplane last night.
They scattered a flock of sparrows and elicited a scolding from a pair of crows. It was another warm June morning with blue skies and sunshine. The ground had softened and the grass had greened and dandelions were blooming like a thousand little suns.
As Noah climbed off the quad, he noticed that the chalk had been washed away. “Thanks, Marsh. Sam and I will let you and Reed know as soon as we find this waitress named Cookie.” Duffel bag in hand, he started toward his airplane.
“Hey, Noah, have you got a minute?”
Noah turned around, his gaze taking in his brother from head to toe. Neither of them wore sunglasses and both were squinting. They were dressed similarly, too, but moisture had wicked up the hem of Marsh’s jeans.
The morning was quiet now that the quad wasn’t running and the birds had disappeared. Marsh was quiet, too. That was nothing new. Reed was the talker in the family.
“Whatcha need?” Noah asked.
“You’ve been flying us all over kingdom come for the better part of a week.” Marsh slid his hand into his front pocket.
“You know me. I was born to fly. Besides, it feels good to pay you back.”
Marsh wore a look of genuine surprise. “Pay me back for what?”
“Oh, this and that.” Noah couldn’t quite pull off a nonchalant shrug.
Marsh folded his arms, a sign that he wasn’t going anywhere until Noah came clean. His oldest brother was like the damn ivy, tenacious and determined. “Pay me back for what?” he repeated.
“For giving up your future for me and Madeline when Mom and Dad died, for one thing.”
Suddenly Marsh was only an arm’s length away. “Why would you think I gave up my future for you?”
“Because you did.”
“The hell I did. You remind me so much of Dad sometimes I can’t believe it.”
This was news to Noah. Marsh’s genuine surprise convinced Noah that this wasn’t the reason he’d put himself in Noah’s path this morning.
“As long as we’re on the subject, thank you. If you and Reed hadn’t stepped in, Madeline and I probably would have wound up living with the judge.”
Marsh grinned, just as Noah had hoped he would. “There were times I considered threatening you with that, but for your information, I didn’t give up anything. Coming back to the orchard was what I’d always wanted to do. Keeping our family together was an honor and a privilege.”
“All the hell I put you through was a privilege? Are you crazy?”
“All this guilt you’ve been carrying around has been for nothing,” Marsh said. “Who’s the crazy one?”
They wore similar smug expressions.
“I want to talk to you about something else,” Marsh said.
“Make it quick. I’ve gotta pick Sam up and gas the plane at the airfield.”
“You and Lacey looked pretty happy this morning.”
Noah thought about the expression on Lacey’s face when he’d told her goodbye a few minutes ago. Her hands full of slippery baby, she’d smiled at him through the sprinkles Joey was sending up as he kicked his feet and flailed his arms, and Noah hadn’t wanted to leave.
“As soon as I get up the nerve,” he said, “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
“No kidding? Good for you. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Marsh reached into his pocket for something. He extended his hand toward Noah and slowly opened his fingers.
Noah stared at the treasure in his brother’s palm. Emotion thickened his voice as he said, “That was Mom’s. Reed and I think you should have it.”
All around Noah the sun-kissed meadow came to life. Birds sang and insects buzzed and the breeze combed through his hair like a mother’s hand. He had to clear his throat in order to speak. “What about Madeline?” he asked.
“It was her idea.”
A lump lodged in Noah’s throat.
As if he knew the moment called for drastic measures, Marsh shoved his hand closer and said, “Take it already. You have a plane to fuel and I have ivy to eradicate.”
Wrapping his fingers around the delicate heirloom, Noah didn’t know what to say, except, “I can’t believe you thought about dumping me at the judge’s.”
Marsh took his time smiling, and the rite of passage was complete. He climbed on the quad and Noah climbed into the cabin of his airplane. From the cockpit he watched Marsh speed back to his orchard. The lump in his throat dissolved and his heart beat a steady rhythm.
He checked gauges and radioed the airfield. The minute he was cleared for takeoff, he raced down the grass runway. As he lifted off, he’d never been more proud to be a Sullivan.
By the end of the day they should know more about the identity of this woman named Cookie. As soon as he could, he would be flying home again. And when he did, he was going to make Lacey an offer he hoped to high heaven she couldn’t refuse.
All these years Noah had been convinced that Marsh was the family man who’d given up his future for Noah and Madeline. He’d somehow believed that Reed had given up an urban lifestyle for the same reason. Now Noah realized they were all family men at heart. Wasn’t Lacey going to be surprised?
The first thing Lacey did after she let herself into her apartment at nine-thirty that night was open every window. When she’d stopped home earlier to change her clothes before going to The Hill, she’d peeked inside the tavern. The sleeping bag and bus pass lay undisturbed on the pool table where she’d left them.
The second thing she did after getting home was peel off her clothes and turn on the shower. Lathering her hair and washing the day’s grime down the drain helped, but the effects didn’t last long in the hot, airless apartment.
The third thing she did was admit that the stuffy apartment and the fact that her Houdini hadn’t returned weren’t the reasons she felt so listless. She couldn’t even blame her aching feet and the dull headache she’d brought home with her after her first shift serving up food to the supper crowd at The Hill.
Noah was still in Texas.
She’d known there was a possibility he wouldn’t make it back until tomorrow. She’d just seen him twelve hours before. There was no reason for her to feel so out of sorts.
She padded to the living room and yawned. Holding two jobs was tiring. She should just go to bed.
She aimed the remote at the television, adjusted the rabbit ears, aimed the remote at the little black digital-converter box again and repeated the process. Even with the ball of aluminum foil on the top of each ear, only three stations came in. One was a police drama, two were reality shows and all were slightly fuzzy. She had enough reality in her life, thank you very much. She turned the TV off and looked around.
Her camera sat on the end table next to the couch. She’d gotten some great shots of the alley during the stakeout a few days ago. She could always develop them now. She even went so far as to carry the camera into her darkroom, but there was no window and, consequently, no relief from the heat that had been building inside all day.
She put the camera back where she’d found it. Next, she brushed the fallen daisy petals into her hand. With a sigh, she threw the entire bouquet of wilted flowers away. She found a brass fan in her dad’s old room and plugged it in and turned it on in hers. Yawning, she flopped down on her bed in front of the artificial breeze and sighed.
She was just tired. After all, even night owls got tired.
Turning the radio on low to cover the sounds wafting through her open window, she found herself looking up at her ceiling. She missed Noah.
There, she’d allowed herself to think it. And the sky hadn’t fallen and the earth hadn’t opened up
and the oceans hadn’t swelled, as far as she knew. She loved him. There was nothing wrong with missing him. Having him nearby this past week had spoiled her. Having him gone tonight reminded her of how alone she used to feel when he was gone for weeks at a time. She’d let her guard down, and had fallen even deeper in love with him. She prayed she wouldn’t be sorry.
Heaving another sigh, she fluffed her pillow and lay back. The music played softly and the fan whirred, stirring warm air that was better than no breeze at all. Her eyes were just beginning to drift closed when her cell phone rang.
There were only three people who had her number. She hoped it was Noah but would have been happy if it was April and wouldn’t have minded if it was her new employer, Rosy Sirrine. She checked the caller ID. Rats. It listed the number as unknown. Only someone who was bored and lonely would answer, right?
She slid the phone open and said a tentative, “Hello?”
“Are you in bed?”
“Noah?” she asked more loudly than she’d intended.
“How many other men call you at night and ask if you’re in bed?”
She smiled in spite of herself. “I thought you were either a wrong number or a heavy breather. Whose phone are you using?”
“Sam’s. Mine’s dead and I forgot to pack my charger. Back to the heavy breathing.”
Lacey laughed. It sounded slightly provocative and very content.
“Did I ever tell you I like the way you laugh?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Want to know what else I like?”
She chuckled again. “Oh, no, you don’t. I’m not touching that line with a ten-foot pole.”
“Spoilsport.”
“You’ll thank me when you don’t need a cold shower.” She couldn’t help laughing again, though.
“What are you wearing?” he asked.
“If I tell you, that heavy breathing I was worried about is going to be coming from you. How’s Texas?”
A Bride Before Dawn Page 16