“Nope. Never in a million years. But you know what? I love it.”
“You’re a good dad.”
“I do okay for a boneheaded jock.”
Sinead playfully hit his hand. “I never thought that.”
“Right. And I never thought you had a pole up your—butt.”
“Good catch,” Sinead whispered.
Sinead glanced back over her shoulder at Nina. She was beautiful. Perfect. Okay, maybe not perfect, especially now that she was in full-blown terrible twos mode, but still. It had been harder for Sinead to go back to work after her maternity leave than she ever could have imagined. She spent the first two weeks crying as soon as she woke up in the morning and crying the minute she left work. She was envious of Adam. But deep down, she knew she’d made the right decision. It wasn’t so much a matter of losing traction in her career as it was knowing that Adam’s assessment of her neurotic personality was dead on: if she were the parent staying home with Nina full-time, she’d probably make a basket case of their daughter.
“Oliver was wondering if he could come up for the day Saturday,” said Sinead, peeling a cucumber.
“As long as he doesn’t come bearing tons of junk food.”
“He doesn’t.”
“He does,” Adam countered. “By the time he left last time, I was sure it would take days for Nina to come down from her sugar high.”
“That’s our fault. We shouldn’t have said yes every time she asked for something.”
“It didn’t help that Uncle Ollie was slipping her goodies on the side.”
“He adores her.”
“And she adores him,” said Adam. “But no crap food.”
“Got it.”
Sinead gazed out the large kitchen window. Twilight was approaching, streaking the sky with bars of pink and gray. The leaves were starting to fall; soon it would be dark by four o’clock. But right now, there was a perfect stillness outside that matched the contentedness inside her. Sinead took in her husband’s handsome profile and felt a surge of love. She looked at her daughter and couldn’t believe it was possible to love another human being as much as she loved Nina.
It didn’t come naturally to her, but after all was said and done, she knew the reason she was so blessed: it was because she’d stopped trying to control everything, choosing instead to go with the flow. As long as she remembered that, she knew life would always be as wonderful as it was right now, no matter what challenges the future might bring.
Titles by Deirdre Martin
BODY CHECK
FAIR PLAY
TOTAL RUSH
THE PENALTY BOX
CHASING STANLEY
JUST A TASTE
POWER PLAY
WITH A TWIST
STRAIGHT UP
ICEBREAKER
Anthologies
HOT TICKET
(with Julia London, Annette Blair, and Geri Buckley)
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE
(with Lori Foster, Jacquie D’Alessandro, and Penny McCall)
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41 - THREE YEARS LATER
Icebreaker Page 26