Which it had, Cady thought. Avalynne’s paintings had sold worldwide.
“And she wanted you to run away with her,” Cady guessed.
“No, she wanted to go off on her own,” Jeb corrected with a disgruntled frown. “The two of us had been together since high school. Avalynne felt being with me that way had robbed her of the chance to truly experience life.”
His expression was shuttered, but Cady could imagine how much that must have hurt, at the time. “That was really brutal.”
He winced. “But honest.”
Cady studied the suppressed emotion in his eyes. She stepped closer, her footsteps echoing on the marble floor of the foyer. “Were you having doubts, too?”
Jeb walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa. “I knew something was wrong. I chalked it up to prewedding jitters, and the pressure her parents—particularly her mother—was putting on her to have the perfect wedding and an even more perfect marriage.”
Cady perched on the coffee table directly in front of him. “So you still wanted to get married.” Unlike what everyone had always thought.
Jeb nodded, lowering his guard even more. He leaned forward, his hands clasped between his spread knees. “Until I found out Avalynne couldn’t make that kind of commitment to me. Then, of course, I realized we couldn’t go through with it. The ceremony would have been a lie.”
Cady recalled the shock that had rippled through the chapel when Jeb had come out alone to address the guests that day. He had been so grim and ill at ease. Now she knew why. None of this had been his doing. Had it been up to him, he’d be happily married now, with kids.
Her heart went out to him.
Idly, she fingered the stack of magazines next to her. “So why didn’t you and Avalynne come out and tell everyone that you had jointly decided not to marry? It’s not like that’s never happened before. A lot of couples who decide not to tie the knot simply apologize to their guests, promise to return the gifts, and go on to the reception, anyway. I mean—” she lifted her hands, palms up, “—why let a party that’s already been set up and paid for go to waste?”
A sensual light gleamed in Jeb’s eyes. His lips curved ruefully. “You’re right.” He regarded her pragmatically. “That would have been my choice. To make the best of a bad situation, show everyone that even though Avalynne and I weren’t getting married that day, we had decided we could still be friends.”
“But you didn’t do that,” Cady recalled.
He sighed and sat back against the cushions. “Avalynne knew her parents would never forgive her if she told them she’d had any part in backing out of a settled, respectable life as a married woman in Laramie, Texas. And she wanted a reasonable excuse to leave immediately and jump on a plane to Europe. So,” Jeb recounted with a mixture of acceptance and regret, “she asked me if I would cover for her and take the blame.”
Oh, no, Cady thought.
He compressed his lips, admitting, “At the time, I figured it was not that big a deal. That people would be upset with me, for a time. And then it would all blow over.”
Except it hadn’t.
“So I promised her I would keep the truth about what happened a secret,” Jeb continued.
Which wasn’t a surprise, Cady knew, since—like all the McCabe men—Jeb was honorable to the core.
“And maybe all the talk would have died down,” she mused aloud, “had Avalynne’s parents not sued you for the cost of the wedding.”
Jeb let his head fall back against the cushions and ran his hands through his hair. “Yeah. That was a real mess.” He flexed the taut muscles in his broad shoulders and clasped his entwined hands behind his neck. “I had to take out a loan to pay them back.”
Cady moved over onto the sofa to sit facing him. She touched his biceps empathetically. “I can’t believe Avalynne let you take the fall for that.”
The distant look was back in Jeb’s eyes. “She didn’t know about it. She was backpacking through Europe by then.”
It upset Cady to see him letting Avalynne off the hook, even now. “You could have told everyone the truth then,” she pointed out.
Jeb stood and began to pace. “I had no interest in that kind of confrontation, with or without Avalynne present,” he said in a low, brooding tone. He stopped next to the marble fireplace, examining the photos Suki had lined up on the mantel. “It would have been a lot uglier than what happened at the church, and that was bad enough. Besides—” he turned back to Cady and exhaled deeply “—I knew Avalynne would settle up with me, when she found out what her parents had done.” He came toward Cady once again, his expression as forthright as ever. “And she did. She insisted she foot the bill for the entire botched wedding. And she’s been quietly paying me back ever since, a few thousand dollars at a time.”
Cady conceded that was the decent thing for his ex to do. As for the rest…
She stood, facing off with him once again. “Is that why you’ve been meeting secretly with her every time she comes to town?”
Jeb nodded. “It’d be a lot easier if she could just pay it all off in one lump sum. But her dad’s CPA firm does her taxes and there’s no way Avalynne could explain an exorbitant amount like that.” He added stoically, “So she has no choice but to keep withdrawing the money from her bank account a little at a time, and then stores the cash in a safety deposit box.”
Aware that the fragrance of his soap and skin were engendering fantasies of what it would be like to be in his arms again, Cady stepped back and sighed. “Sounds like Avalynne is still very much under her parents’ thumb.”
Jeb scrubbed a hand across his jaw. “That’s just the way it is when she’s in Texas, which may be why she is always traveling and working overseas. So she won’t have to deal with their interference.”
Cady studied the complex mix of emotions in Jeb’s eyes. Glad he was letting her be there for him, the way he had been there for her the last few days, she regarded him soberly. “And you’ve never told anyone this, not even your parents?”
“I’ve been tempted, but…” He paused, the brooding look back on his handsome face. “I know they would be disappointed to find out I ever lied about what went down that day in the first place. They would have wanted me to tell the truth and take my lumps, not have this continuing stain on my reputation.”
Cady edged nearer. “They’d be right.”
Jeb shrugged and looked down at her. “I know what we bet—that if I made it the whole two weeks you’d have to use your powers as a marketing rep to make this whole thing go away—but the truth is, aside from the occasional irritation, it hasn’t really hurt me.”
“Sure about that?” Cady responded swiftly, feeling just as protective toward Jeb as he did toward her. “It’s the fact that you supposedly left Avalynne at the altar—and hence, humiliated her in front of the entire community—that has you on the ‘Men to Avoid Getting Romantically Entangled with’ list. It’s one of the primary things that’s keeping you from attracting all the truly marriageable women in Laramie County.”
Decade-long resignation warred with irritation on his face. “And you’re worried about that?”
Maybe, Cady thought.
Sensing he needed comforting, as any friend would in this situation, she reached over and took his hand. The warmth of their entwined fingers spread up her arm as she gazed into his eyes. “Shouldn’t you be?” she murmured.
Jeb tightened his hand on hers, and let his smoldering gaze rove over her upswept hair and her face before returning, ever so slowly and deliberately, to her eyes.
“If that misconception is what is keeping you and me apart, then you’re right,” he finished huskily. “I damn well should be.”
Chapter Nine
Was Jeb right? Was this misconception what was keeping them apart? Cady wondered. Or was it more?
“First and foremost, you and I are friends, Jeb.” And she had promised herself she would never allow herself to become romantically entangled with an
y man who put her in the “just friends” category. Whether at the beginning of their relationship or the end, it didn’t matter—either way spelled doom.
Incredulity mixed with concern on Jeb’s face. “And friends can’t commit to anything beyond friendship, is that what you’re saying?” he countered, frustration curling his lips.
Of course they could, but… Still standing directly in front of him, Cady braced herself in challenge. “The only relationships I’ve seen last are ones that have a foundation of passionate, abiding love. That’s what my sister has with her husband. It’s what I want for myself,” Cady continued, determined to be honest and let him know where they stood. “I’m not going to settle, and you shouldn’t, either.” She waved a reproving finger. “Particularly since you’d be married now if Avalynne hadn’t walked out on you.”
Jeb lounged against the foyer wall. In deference to the boys sleeping just upstairs, he kept his voice low, yet there was nothing amenable about his gaze. “Married and divorced, most likely.” In his view, what might or might not have happened ten years ago changed nothing now.
Cady drew a deep breath and headed for the kitchen. “The point is,” she murmured, “you wanted marriage and family before you had your heart tromped on.” He caught up with her as she passed the first floor powder room. Aware of his closeness, she tipped her gaze up to his. “You could want it all again.”
He tilted his head to study her, looking more determined than ever to make her his—at least once more—before this joint babysitting gig ended.
Ignoring the reckless warmth spiraling through her, Cady pushed aside the desire and held her ground. “All it’s going to take is you meeting the right woman, the one who’ll make you feel that anything and everything is possible again.”
Jeb shrugged, then leaned closer once again, bringing with him the tantalizing fragrance of his cologne. “Maybe I already have.”
Cady lifted a brow, waited. Suddenly, she was having trouble getting her breath.
“Being around you and the boys the last few days has caused me to do a lot of thinking.” His voice dropped a seductive notch. “It’s made me realize I do want a wife and kids.” He paused and looked deep into her eyes, adding even more softly, “Maybe more than I ever knew.”
Wanting family was different than wanting her, specifically, as his bride and the mother of his children. Regardless, Cady felt a thrill go through her. Along with the wish that somehow, some way, she would find herself in the running as the woman who would one day steal Jeb’s heart.
“Well, see, then you’re there,” she said lightly, returning to the safety of her laptop computer and the distraction it always offered. What seemed so perfect to the two of them now might not seem so ideal once they were relieved of the challenging responsibility of the three boys, and were no longer living beneath the same roof. And Cady was too smart and cautious to let either of them get swept up in false intimacy.
She glimpsed the flashing icon, sat down, and opened up her mailbox. There was a message with an attachment from TinaMatthews @ TheStorkAgency.com.
Eagerly, Cady began to read.
Hey, Cady,
The doc took this photo of Zoe today, and I figured you’d like to see it. Isn’t she AWESOME? I’m probably going to deliver in the next ten to fourteen days. I hope you’re still planning to come to the hospital and be there for the BIG MOMENT.
Luv ya,
Tina Matthews
Cady’s hands trembled as she clicked on the attachment.
Inside was a color photo of Zoe floating in a halo of light, arms folded in front of her, legs curled up against her body. She had her eyes closed tight, a slightly annoyed expression on her face, and she was the most beautiful baby Cady had ever seen.
Cady stared at the photo a second longer, then began to type a response.
Tina,
You’re right—Zoe is awesome! And yes, I am planning to be there for the birth. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. In the meantime, take care, and let me know if there is anything I can do for you. I’ll be thinking of you.
Fondly,
Cady
JEB HAD NEVER SEEN so many expressions cross Cady’s face in one minute. Caution. Wariness. Joy. And now happiness mixed with relief. “Everything okay?”
Nodding, she leaped from her chair and bounded toward the front of the house. “Come with me.” She raced down the hall and led the way to Hermann’s study. The printer was humming, a page already spitting out. Cady picked it up, smiling again, and handed it over. “Look what Zoe just sent me!”
Jeb surveyed the color photo of a baby in utero.
“It’s Zoe, Jeb. Isn’t she amazing?”
She was. So much so, in fact, that Jeb couldn’t take his eyes off the baby, who was so far along in her development she looked ready to be born right now. He found himself smiling affectionately, too, at the scowling cherub. “She looks ticked off.”
“That’s what I thought.” Cady beamed, the reality of the photo bringing an even more blissful tenor to the moment. She leaned in close to continue to study the picture, her head resting against Jeb’s shoulder. “She probably doesn’t like having her picture taken.”
He wrapped an arm around Cady’s waist and drew her closer yet. “Apparently not.”
Tears suddenly shimmered in Cady’s eyes. “I can’t believe it, Jeb,” she whispered emotionally, her slender body trembling in excitement. “I’m finally going to be able to adopt a baby. It’s really going to happen! This picture proves it!”
Did it? Jeb pushed his unease away.
“She asked me to come to the hospital and be there for the birth, too.”
Jeb watched Cady go back to the printer for a second page. “When is Tina due?”
“In ten to fourteen days.”
“In other words, right after Suki and Hermann get back,” he stated.
Cady rushed back to his side. “Pretty much.” She handed over the second page. “She sent me this message, too.” She pointed where she wanted him to read. “There’s my reply.”
Jeb scanned both emails, the niggling uncertainty deep inside him increasing. Aware Cady wanted him to say something, he tried to be as circumspect as possible. “She seems very excited.”
“Most new moms are. But not…” Cady frowned as her next thought hit “…ones who are about to give up their baby.” Abruptly, she sat down on the edge of Hermann’s heavy mahogany desk.
Jeb put the photo and correspondence aside. He rested a comforting hand on Cady’s slender shoulder and forced himself to look at the situation in another way. “It could be all bravura. Tina Matthews is a teenager. And teens like to act as if they have it all together, even when they don’t. Or maybe,” he added with a crooked smile, “especially when they don’t.”
Cady sagged in relief. She gazed up at him, comforted by the thought. “You’re right,” she replied sagely, getting up off the desk once again. She picked up the pages and brushed by him. “Tina’s had months to speak to the counselors and think about what she’s doing. No doubt this email she sent me is just another way of coping, of telling herself what she is doing is all for the best.”
CADY FELL ASLEEP with Zoe’s ultrasound photo in her hands, and awakened with a toddler curled up beside her. Micah had climbed in bed with her during the night. Knowing how much he missed his mom, she’d let him stay.
Contentment flowed through her as Micah snuggled even closer. Cady wondered if this was how it would be when she adopted Zoe. If the little girl would seek her out in the middle of the night, too.
“Here he is!” Dalton shouted in glee.
“Our Friend Jeb! We found our baby brother!” Finn added. He barreled in next, and together, the two boys zipped across the room and hopped onto the foot of Cady’s bed.
Jeb appeared in the doorway, looking as if he’d just awakened. “Sorry,” he said. “The boys told me Micah wasn’t in his bed. They were a little panicked.”
Cady tore her eyes from h
is low slung pajama pants and bare chest. Damn, but he was attractive. “That’s perfectly understandable.” The sight of his sculpted pecs and the mat of sexy golden hair arrowing past his navel made her pulse pound and her throat go dry.
“How come he gets to sleep in here?” Dalton pouted.
“Yeah, I want to sleep in here,” Finn declared as he snuggled up to Cady, too.
She thanked heaven for little chaperones who would keep her on track. Watching over them, Jeb smiled fondly.
“What about you, Jeb?” Dalton piped up, joining the group cuddle session with Cady.
Mischief glimmered in Jeb’s eyes. “I wouldn’t mind.”
Cady imagined he wouldn’t….
Oblivious to the sudden, sexy detour of the adults’ thoughts, the two older boys bounced on the bed. “Hey, wake up, Micah!” they shouted with typical exuberance.
The toddler slowly and reluctantly opened his eyes, then scrambled upright as if he had never been asleep. “Hungry,” he said.
“We’re hungry, too,” his brothers complained in unison.
Once again, Jeb swooped in to the rescue. “How about I change Micah’s diaper and get all three of them breakfast?”
Was he doing this because he was kind, or because it was her birthday? Cady couldn’t tell. The only thing she knew for sure was that no one had mentioned it was her big day. Thus far, anyway.
She was being silly to feel even the slightest bit disappointed, she thought minutes later, as she stood in the shower, letting the warm water sluice over her.
She had asked everyone—including her friends back in Houston—to let her birthday go unnoticed this year.
No parties. No gifts, either—although Suki and Hermann had already ignored that entreaty with the package they’d had delivered the other day.
And no mention of it until she had adopted her baby and was ready to celebrate turning thirty-four.
She’d gotten exactly what she had told Jeb that she wanted, Cady realized, as she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a luxurious bath towel.
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