“I stood there in the living room like an idiot, pouring my heart out to you, telling you how difficult it was for me to say what I was saying, telling you that I’d been released by the doctor and I… I wanted to share in our gift, I wanted to make love with you and…and…and…it was of so little importance to you to find out what the doctor said that you just flopped down on the sofa and went to sleep.”
Tears filled Patty’s eyes.
“You’re…you’re a…cad, David Montgomery. An insensitive, despicable cad.” She sniffled. “Don’t talk to me.”
“Ah, Patty,” he said, reaching across the table with one hand, which Patty smacked. He snatched it back. “Listen to me. Please? The entire time I was at my doctor’s appointment I was wondering what was happening at your doctor’s appointment. I daydreamed about holding you, kissing you, making sweet, sweet love to you for hours, sharing our gift. I was counting down the minutes until you’d tell me what your doctor said.”
“Really?” Patty said dreamily, then blinked. “Oh.”
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” he said, leaning toward her. “I should never have stretched out on the sofa because I knew I was exhausted. I only got snatches of sleep last night because my leg was itching so bad under that heavy plaster cast it felt like an army of ants was crawling around in there.
“I’m so very sorry that I conked out on you. I was waiting for you to come back down that hallway. Please, Patty, forgive me for hurting your feelings. I wouldn’t do that for the world.
“I want you so much. I want to make love with you. I’d like to kick myself around the block for not hearing you say you want to make love with me, too. Don’t take our gift away from us, Patty. I’m really very sorry.”
David paused. “I didn’t know anyone still said ‘cad.’ Insensitive, despicable cad? Whew. That’s heavy stuff. But I deserve it. Do you want to call me any other names? Feel free. Go for it.”
Patty stared at David for a long moment. A very long moment that caused a chill of dread to suffuse him as he stared at her staring at him.
Then Patty burst into laughter. She laughed so hard, she had to wrap her arms around her stomach and gasp for air.
“Is this what you do,” David said tentatively, “before you slug someone you’re really ticked off at?”
“Oh, my,” Patty said, finally gaining control. “Hearing you repeat what I said made it sound so ridiculous. Insensitive, despicable cad? Cad? Oh, good grief. Don’t get me started laughing again or I’ll get the hiccups.”
“Does this mean you’re not mad anymore?” David said, raising his eyebrows.
“No, I’m not angry anymore, David,” she said, shaking her head. “I was trying to be so womanly and sophisticated and telling you I wanted to make love with you was so out of character for me because I’m not womanly and sophisticated.
“It took every bit of courage I had to tell you what I did and then I saw that you were asleep and… I’m sorry you had a bad night with your leg. Why don’t you go back to the sofa and nap while the children are asleep?”
“No way.” David planted his hands flat on the table, leveled himself to his feet and started around the table. “I want you, and you want me, and we are going to make love that will be so special, so beautiful, it will defy description. Right now.”
Patty’s heart began to race as she watched David come closer and closer and…
He stopped next to her and extended one hand toward her, palm up.
“Yes?” he said, his voice very deep, very rumbly and very, very male.
Patty lifted one hand and placed it in David’s, instantly feeling the warmth, the strength tempered with gentleness as she savored the sense of rightness about what she was about to do, what they would share. The gift.
She got to her feet and David dropped her hand to wrap his arms around her, nestling her to his rugged body as his mouth captured hers in a searing kiss that spoke of his want of her, matching the intensity of her desire for him.
He broke the kiss, and with his arm encircling her shoulders to keep her close to his side, they went down the hall to her bedroom, David closing the door behind them with a quiet click. He flipped back the blankets on the bed, then turned to Patty again.
“I’ve had two children,” Patty said, her voice trembling slightly. “There are stretch marks and—”
“Shh,” David said, framing her face in his hands. “You’re so pretty, Patty. You said you aren’t womanly or sophisticated. I don’t know about sophisticated because I’m not sure how you’re defining it, but I do know that you are very womanly, very feminine and lovely.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“No, I’m thanking you for allowing me to share our gift. I’m not getting high scores for remembering things right now, but I guarantee you that I will not forget what is about to take place between us. Ever.”
But what about his wife? Marsha, Patty thought suddenly. David was assuming that the anger he’d felt radiating from her in his dream was directed toward him. But that might not be true. She might have been sad and angry because she knew she wasn’t going to live long and would leave the man of her heart and the baby they had created together. When David’s memory returned he would realize that and feel so guilty for making love with another woman and—
“Patty?” David said. “You’re tensing up. Ah, please don’t change your mind about this. We’re living for the moment we’re existing in. This is ours. We’ve agreed to give this to ourselves as a very precious gift.”
Patty drew a steadying breath. “You’re right. Nothing matters but this tick in time. Yes.”
“Yes,” he said, with a heartfelt sigh of relief.
He kissed her deeply, then they parted only long enough to shed their clothes and move onto the bed. Patty pushed aside the flash of embarrassment she felt about the stretch marks and her tummy that was not yet firm again after giving birth to Sophia.
Now, right now, she was beautiful, she thought, as she swept her gaze over David’s naked body. And David was glorious, so perfectly proportioned with sculpted muscles and curly dark hair on his broad chest. His arousal announced his want of her. Her. She was a woman and she was about to make love with this magnificent man.
David kissed her as he skimmed one hand along the gentle slope of her hip. Then he shifted to take one of her full breasts into his mouth, laving the nipple with his tongue. Patty closed her eyes to savor every exquisite sensation sweeping throughout her, burning a path of heated desire as it went. He moved to the other breast as Patty’s fingertips explored the bunching muscles of his back.
David’s mouth melted over hers again and he delved his tongue into the sweet darkness, finding her tongue, dueling, dancing, heightening their passion with every sensuous stroke. A soft sigh escaped from Patty’s throat. A groan rumbled deep in David’s chest.
“I’ll protect you,” he said finally, close to her lips, his voice gritty.
He left her for an eternity and she shivered with the need for him to return, to make her complete, to match so perfectly his manliness to her womanliness. He came to her, covering her body with his, then raising to catch his weight on his forearms to gaze directly into her eyes.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. “Tell me if I’m hurting you.”
“Shh. I want you. I do, David. Now.”
He entered her slowly, tentatively, watching her face for any hint of discomfort, his arms quivering from the forced restraint.
Patty slid her hands to his lower back and raised her hips. David’s control snapped and he thrust deep within her, bringing to her all that he was as a man.
“Oh…yes,” she said softly. “Yes.”
He began to move within her, slowly at first, then increasing the tempo to a pounding rhythm that Patty matched beat for beat.
It was ecstasy.
It was beautiful beyond description.
It was heat, coiling tighter and tighter, lifting them up and away
to where they needed, wanted to go…together. Building. Hotter.
And then they were there.
They were flung into wondrous oblivion seconds apart, whispering the name of the other, holding fast as rainbow colors surrounded them in the place where they had gone and nothing, no one, existed but the two of them. Waves of splendor rippled through them, one after the next, then finally stilled.
David collapsed against Patty, then mustered his last ounce of strength and rolled off her carefully. He tucked her close to his side, his lips resting on her moist forehead. Their bodies cooled and hearts returned to normal beats. Seconds became minutes, yet neither spoke.
“That was…” David said finally. “You are the most… Ah, Patty, I don’t know what to say to you except our gift is rare and beautiful. Thank you.”
“Oh, I thank you. I’ve never felt so… I don’t have the words.”
“We don’t need words. We know.”
“Yes.” Patty paused. “I’d love to stay right here with you, but in case the kids wake up I’m going to take a quick shower.”
“Mmm,” David said, his lashes drifting down.
“Sleep,” she said, smiling. “You’re so tired.”
“Mmm.”
Patty slipped off the bed and drew the sheet up over David, who was already sound asleep. She gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom. After a warm shower, she dressed, then swiped her hand over the steamed-up mirror so she could see her reflection.
“Womanly,” she said, leaning closer. “I’m going to go back into my mother mode now, but for a while, with David, I was beautiful and so womanly. Oh, David Montgomery, thank you so much for this gift.”
David emerged from the bedroom freshly showered about five minutes after Tucker and Sarah Ann woke from their naps and came looking for a snack. Sophia was ready to eat, too, and the whole group went into the backyard to enjoy the perfect weather.
Sarah Ann and Tucker sat on the glider of the swing set and ate Popsicles while Patty settled onto a lawn chair to feed Sophia. David sat in the other lawn chair next to them.
“As corny as it might be,” he said, “I’m going to comment on the weather. What a great day.”
“Yes, it is,” Patty said. “It’s a day to remember.”
She turned her head to look at David to discover he was smiling directly at her.
“Oh, yes, ma’am,” he said. “I certainly intend to remember this day.” He chuckled. “I realize, as I said before, that I have a lousy reputation in the memory department, but today is a keeper…guaranteed.”
“That’s nice,” Patty said, matching his smile.
“Mommy,” Tucker yelled. “We’re done with our Popsicles.”
“Bring your sticks up here and put them in the trash can,” Patty said.
Tucker and Sarah Ann ran to the patio and dropped their sticky sticks in the trash can as they’d been told.
“Will you push us on the swings, Mommy?” Tucker asked. “I want to go all the way to the sky.”
“I can’t right now, Tucker,” Patty said. “I’m feeding Sophia.”
“You always feed Sophia,” Tucker said, frowning. “She just eats and eats and sleeps and sleeps, and gets stinky diapers all the time.”
Patty laughed. “Which is exactly what you did when you were this little, toughy Tucker.”
“You got stinky diapers,” Sarah Ann said in a singsong voice.
“Did not,” Tucker said.
“Did too,” Sarah Ann said. “Your mommy just said you did. So there.”
“And your daddy,” David said, “is saying that you did the same thing, Sarah Ann. In fact, I remember taking you to the park and I ran out of diapers. You really, I mean really, needed to have a fresh one and you yelled your head off all the way home. You nearly broke my ears.”
Sarah Ann covered her mouth with her hands and giggled in charming little-girl fashion.
“I’ll push you two on the swings,” David said, levering himself up.
“Yippee,” Tucker said, and the pair ran back toward the swings.
“I assume you made that story up about Sarah Ann’s diaper,” Patty said quietly.
“No, I didn’t,” David said, looking down at her. “That actually happened and I can see it in my mind as clear as a bell. There must have been a park close to where we lived because I had Sarah Ann in a rather old-fashion-style buggy, a pram, or whatever.” He nodded. “People were staring at us as I pushed the thing out of the park because she was wailing at full volume.”
“Were you…were you alone?”
“Yes. It was just me and Sarah Ann, and I was annoyed at myself for not putting enough diapers in the bag.”
“You packed the diaper bag for the outing?” Patty asked.
David nodded slowly. “I’m sure I did, but I can’t see the house where we came from and were headed back to. Well, something is better than nothing as far as my memory goes, I guess, but it isn’t exactly a momentous thing. My daughter needed her diaper changed and was not a happy camper because that demand was not being tended to immediately. Wow. Stop the presses.”
“Don’t belittle it, David,” Patty said. “Everything you remember is important because it represents your memory returning.”
“Daddy,” Sarah Ann yelled. “We’re ready to swing to the sky.”
“Yes, your highnessship,” David said, laughing as he made his way across the yard.
And everything that David remembered, Patty thought, brought him one step closer to recovering from the amnesia and being ready to return home with his daughter. Well, yes, of course, she knew that. She would miss David Montgomery when he left. She would miss him very, very much.
David suggested that they all go out for pizza to celebrate the fact that he could now drive and even had a vehicle large enough to cart them all.
At six o’clock that evening they were in a noisy, crowded pizza restaurant, Sophia nestled in her carrier on top of the table next to the wall. Tucker was seated by Patty across from David and Sarah Ann. The pizza was delicious.
“You know, David,” Patty said, between bites. “You might give some thought to calling the Fuzzy Bunny and letting them know Sarah Ann will be returning in the future. I haven’t spoken to anyone there since the night I stayed late because you hadn’t arrived on time.
“They haven’t phoned me so I assumed they figure you were just held up in traffic. But you don’t want to lose Sarah Ann’s spot after the fees you’ve paid run out. I’ve already made arrangements to enroll Tucker in January. There’s a waiting list to get into the Fuzzy Bunny.”
“Okay,” David said, nodding. “I’ll call them tomorrow. I’ll just say I’m laid up at home and Sarah Ann is with me there. If I need to pay more tuition to keep her space reserved, I’ll have to go to my house and try to figure out where my checkbook is.”
“Can I have more soda?” Tucker said.
“May I have more soda,” Patty said, then poured two inches into his glass. “David and I were talking about the Fuzzy Bunny, Tucker. Won’t it be super when you and Sarah Ann are going there together again?”
“No,” Tucker said. “I don’t want to go without you, Mommy. Never ever.”
“Just checking,” Patty said under her breath.
A couple in their sixties stopped at the end of the table, and Patty and David looked up at them questioningly.
“We’re sorry to disturb you,” the woman said, smiling, “but my husband and I just wanted to say what a lovely family you are. Our children and grandchildren live so far away and we just soaked up the sound of your little ones’ laughter.
“You’re both so patient with them, too. In these stressful times we see so many parents who are obviously at the end of their tether when it comes to dealing with their children. It just warmed our hearts to see a mother and father who are relaxed and happy and thoroughly enjoying their children the way they should.”
“Oh, but—” Patty started.
“Thank you
,” David interrupted. “We appreciate your taking the time to tell us that. We think our munchkins are pretty special. Don’t we, Patty?”
“Yes, we do,” she said.
“We’ll let you get back to your pizza,” the woman said. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” David said, beaming. “And thanks again.”
As the couple moved away, Patty looked quickly at Tucker and Sarah Ann and saw that they were finished eating and were coloring the paper placemats that had been provided for the kids, along with a basket of crayons. She leaned forward slightly.
“Why did you allow those people to believe we are a family?” she said. “That wasn’t honest, David.”
He shrugged. “It was a lot easier than explaining the complicated truth, for crying out loud. We’re sitting here functioning as a family, so what the heck? No harm was done.”
“You’re right, I suppose.” Patty laughed. “Well, pat us on the back for being patient parents with our brood.”
“We are good parents,” David said, suddenly serious.
“Yes,” Patty said, her smile disappearing. “Being a mother is a role I perform very well. It makes up for the fact that I fall short as a… Never mind. Why don’t you eat that last slice of pizza?”
“Fall short as a what?” David said. “Not as a woman, that’s for sure. I could swear to that under oath.”
“David, hush. Someone will hear you.”
“In this noisy place? Won’t happen. That only leaves the role of a wife as far as I can tell. What makes you believe that you fall short, to quote, as a—”
“Shh. This isn’t the time or the place to discuss this. In fact, I don’t wish to discuss it at any time or in any place.” Patty shifted her gaze to Tucker and Sarah Ann. “Oh, you both are coloring inside the lines so nicely. We’ll take those placemats home and put them on the refrigerator.”
Well, damn, David thought. Even after what they’d shared, the incredibly beautiful lovemaking they’d engaged in, Patty was still buttoned up about what had happened to her marriage to Peter the jerk.
She continually made it sound as though it was her fault the sleazeball had deserted his family for another woman. That was nuts, totally insane. Any man lucky enough to have Patty Clark as his wife and the mother of his children should be saying a prayer of thanks every day of his life.
Accidental Family (The Baby Bet: MacAllisters Gifts #14) Page 12