“Beautiful.” His easy grin stole her breath away. Gaze locking with hers, he layered meaning upon meaning into his lone word.
She wanted more than anything to take his hand into hers. Instead, she tightened her grip on the stroller handle.
Ludwig’s, a German restaurant famous for delicious bratwurst, had sponsored a band and the upbeat Bavarian tunes set a lively tone for the night. Along with great music were heavenly smells of everything from sausages to funnel cake and caramel-laced apple pie.
“I love that game,” Brady said, stopping in front of an apple-bobbing booth. With the earnings going to Valley View Elementary School, he’d at least get soaked for a good cause.
“You just can’t stay dry, can you?” she teased when after his third attempt, he still hadn’t won.
“I’m doing this for you,” he said, eyeing a row of gaudy wooden shoes being given away for prizes. “I want to see you in that hot-pink pair.”
“At the rate you’re going, fat chance.”
Hair dripping, he grinned up at her, “Oh, them’s fightin’ words.”
She should’ve kept her mouth shut as he won the next round.
After pointing to the bedazzled pink pair featuring yellow and white polka dots, he proudly passed them along to her. “Cinderella, I believe you were missing these?”
She groaned. “You don’t really expect me to wear those?”
He nodded. “Please…I worked so hard for them.”
“You’re a hateful, hateful man. You know that, don’t you?”
“Stop the chitchat and put on the shoes.”
Not wanting to come off as a poor sport, she put on the shoes. “Joke’s on you,” she teased, doing a silly jig. “These feel great.”
“They’re looking pretty great, too.” His wink struck her as suspiciously flirty.
“Why, Mr. McGuire, you wouldn’t be flirting with me, would you?”
Hand to his chest, he feigned shock—and a thick Southern drawl. “Gracious, no, little lady. I’m just workin’ my considerable charm.”
“Uh-huh.” Elbowing him, she dragged Brady off to the concession stand.
“I CAN’T REMEMBER THE LAST time I’ve had more fun,” Brady said while helping Steph carry the girls in from the car. In order to drive, she’d traded her wooden shoes for her sneakers, but his mind’s eye recalled all too clearly how cute she’d looked wearing them. She was short, but perfectly proportioned with curves in all the right places.
“Me, too.” While unlocking the kitchen door, Melanie fussed and squirmed in Steph’s arms.
“Told you we should’ve fed them more funnel cake.”
Giving him the evil eye over her shoulder, Steph said, “Were you volunteering to stay up with them all night when they have gurgling tummies?”
He winced. “Point well-taken.”
After Steph flipped on the kitchen’s overhead lights, Brady pressed the garage-door button, sending it into a noisy descent.
With Melanie already in her high chair, Brady followed Steph’s lead by getting Michaela set up to eat.
“Your booth at the festival was amazing,” he said, making small talk while she nuked the girls’ food. “Helen scares me, but I liked how all of your cookies were leaf-shaped and colored. You’ve got skills.”
“Thanks.” As if she weren’t used to praise, she blushed. “Helen’s harmless and her humor just takes getting used to. She helped a lot. Plus my three part-time gals.”
“Maybe so, but you were the brains.”
“Stop.” Her pinched look meant business. “What’s up with you tonight?”
“What do you mean?”
She took the divided baby plates from the cabinet beside her. “Last time we hung out, it was no big deal. Casual, you know? Like friends should be. But tonight…” Reddening, she fanned her cheeks. “You seem different.”
“How?”
After a deep breath, she said, “Like you’ve forgotten that we’re not dating.”
“Oh—like you forgot? Have you seen some of the thousand-watt smiles you’ve cast my way?” She reddened.
“You do know that was a joke, don’t you?”
Hand to her chest, she finally cracked a smile. “I just…well, I never meant for you to get the wrong impression. Like I was hitting on you. Your visits mean the world to me. And I want you to keep coming. But you also need to know that I get that you’re not available. I’m not looking for some knight to charge up and save me. I’m a big girl and have already saved myself.”
“Did I ever say you hadn’t?” Taking the plates from her hands and setting them on the counter, he drew her into a hug. “Michael would be so proud of the way you’ve held things together.”
“Th-thank you,” she said on the heels of a sniffle.
Tipping back her chin, he asked, “You’re not going to start the waterworks again on me, are you?”
Blasting him with a smile that did naughty things below his belt, she shook her head.
Michaela kicked in her high chair.
Melanie followed up with a squeal.
Stephanie gave him one last indecipherable look before taking the plates, setting them in front of the microwave. “Guess that’s our cue to start serving.”
After feeding the girls, it was time for their bath. Kneeling in front of the tub beside Steph, Brady felt like an old pro. It was amazing how fast infant-care procedure was coming back. And the more he was around Stephanie’s twins the more he ached for his own little girl. Trouble was she wasn’t little anymore.
The bathroom was girly, like the rest of the house. The white tub and toilet were softened by a pink shower curtain. The girls sat in pink infant tubs, surrounded by plastic bowls and blocks.
“These kids need some real toys,” Brady noted, remembering Lola’s vast array of tub gear. “I don’t see any foamy soap or squirting fish.”
“They’re only ten months old,” Stephanie said, scrubbing Melanie’s wispy hair.
“You’re never too young to develop a love of squirting things.” Making a face, he added, “That came out wrong.”
Grinning, she said, “You think?”
They scrubbed in silence for a while. Passing each other the shampoo and taking lots of play-breaks. The swishing of the water and the happy gurgles from the babies filled Brady with bone-deep contentment. Not a good thing considering he had to fly out first thing in the morning.
Voice small, Steph said, “I used to dream of doing this sort of thing with Michael.”
“Clarissa was never big on bath time. That was my domain.”
“So instead of sharing Lola’s care, you two divided and conquered?”
“Guess that’s one way of looking at it.” Lifting Michaela from the tub, he wrapped her in a fluffy white towel he’d snagged from a pile on the counter. “There were some things we did together. Taking Lola on neighborhood walks. Eating meals.”
After pulling a rubber stopper from the tub, Stephanie plucked Melanie from her safety seat and wrapped her in a towel. “Sounds like you led a nice life. How did you find out Clarissa had been cheating?”
Crossing the hall to the twins’ nursery, he said, “Might be cliché, but her cell kept getting hang-up calls. Clarissa blew them off, but it irked the hell out of me that some guy was harassing my wife.”
“What’d you do?” Stephanie asked, placing Melanie on the pad of an oak changing table to lotion and diaper.
“What else? Called the number. I felt like a fool when I recognized the voice on the other end.” Absentmindedly nuzzling Michaela’s downy hair, he said, “It was my brother. Calling from a throwaway phone.”
“Oh, Brady…” She froze midway through easing Melanie’s legs into a pair of soft-looking pink pj’s. “When you told me another man was raising your daughter, I had no idea…”
“Yeah, well, it’s not something I typically brag about.” He swallowed a stupid knot in his throat.
“Still,” she said, snapping the legs of Melanie�
�s pajamas, “does it give you any comfort knowing that Lola’s at least with family?”
Snorting, he asked, “You’re kidding, right?”
“No…”
Swiping his free hand through his hair, he searched for the right place to start. How did one begin to describe how bad it hurt not only having had his younger brother steal his wife, but his daughter, too?
“Look, Brady, I’m sorry, okay? Obviously, I said the wrong thing, and—” she put Melanie in her crib, and then took Michaela from him “—the last thing I wanted to do was cause you more pain.”
“I appreciate your apology,” he managed, “but would you be particularly grateful if Michael hadn’t died, but left you for Lisa? Adding insult to injury by also snagging your kids?”
“I said, I’m sorry. What more do you want?” She lotioned and diapered Michaela and then pulled on her yellow pj’s.
What did he want? Nothing.
Because, really, what could she do? He wasn’t in the market for a girlfriend to hold him through lonely nights, and he sure as hell didn’t need another wife. So why was he even here? Clearly, this slice of domestic bliss was messing with his head. “Now that the girls are down, do you mind if I take a walk?”
“No, but…” She tucked in Michaela. “Please, Brady, accept my apology. I don’t like this angry side of you.”
“Join the club,” he whispered, not wanting to disturb the girls who were already asleep.
Chapter Ten
“Are you okay?” Stephanie asked Brady from the front porch. Baby monitor in hand, she’d wrapped a quilt around herself to ward off the cold.
“Sorry. But you pushed some buttons back there that I’m not equipped to deal with.” He stood in the spot she and Michael had dreamed of planting a Chinese maple. The glow from a streetlight showed his profile to be hard. Shut down, as if he’d emotionally checked out.
“Not to butt into your business,” she said, “but did it ever occur to you that the reason this thing with your brother and Clarissa is still such a sore point is because you refuse to deal with it?”
He held his lips clamped shut.
“In fact—small-world thing here—but you know my friends Gabby and Dane?”
Nodding, Brady asked, “What about them?”
“Dane’s not the father of Gabby’s first son—his little brother is.”
Eyes narrowed, Brady asked, “You mean to tell me that Dane broke up Gabby’s first marriage?”
“Well…” Snuggling deeper into the blanket, it occurred to Stephanie that maybe she’d used the wrong couple for an example. “Gabby wasn’t exactly married.
In fact, Dane’s younger brother left her just as soon as he found out she was pregnant.”
“That’s messed up.”
“True. Dane kinda, sorta rescued her.”
Brady spun around to face her. Gazes locking, she noted that his expression had grown darker than ever. “So then how does that in any way relate to what my brother did to me? Clarissa and I were happily married. Raising our daughter. Vince couldn’t stand the fact that I had something he didn’t, and he systematically set out to destroy it.”
Crossing to him, she stepped gingerly on the spiky grass, wishing she’d slipped on shoes. “You might not want to hear this, but in all of your ranting about how wronged you were, did you ever stop to think about the fact that if Clarissa had been so happy with you, she wouldn’t have wanted to stray?”
Brady sharply exhaled. “Have a swell life, Steph. It’s been nice knowing you.” Taking out his cell, he began to call information for the number of a cab company.
“Wait.” Before he could dial, she reached out, snagging him by his shirtsleeve. “I know that was the last thing you wanted to hear, but don’t you want to feel nor mal again, Brady? I mean, I’ve seen glimpses of the man you’re capable of being and you’re a keeper. Not the kind of guy a woman would easily toss away. Think about it. Let go of your resentment long enough to really look at your marriage. What went wrong?”
He wrenched himself free and hit the autodial but ton on his phone. “I need to go.”
“Then, go.” Softening her tone, she said, “I know it’s got to hurt, but—”
“Where do you get off? You don’t know anything about my situation. And you’re hardly in a position to play marriage counselor when you practically fall apart at the mention of Michael.”
“That’s low. Like—” she covered her stinging eyes with her hands “—I can’t even believe you just said that. You’re an ass. You’re nothing like the man I met in Miami.”
“Damn straight.” He covered the mouthpiece of his phone. “Meaning the sooner you get away from me, the better.”
BRADY HATED HIMSELF FOR WHAT he’d just done, but sometimes self-preservation was a necessary evil. He’d gone inside for his overnight bag, but then waited on the porch for his cab.
At the airport, he’d roused the sleepy caretaker to top off his tanks and then made quick work of checking the weather and filing a flight plan. Thirty minutes later, he’d been in the air, headed home—not that at the moment, Seattle felt any more welcoming than Valley View.
Having reached cruising altitude, he set the autopilot and squeezed his eyes shut. Fought off a wave of anger so great that it made him sick to his stomach. What had he done to deserve this? To meet an amazing woman like Stephanie and then be so messed up that he couldn’t even carry on a decent conversation? Her daughters were angels—as pretty as their mother.
Midway through his second bath time spent with them, warning bells had pealed. Telling him in no uncertain terms that he was in too deep. He’d never intended to tell Steph about Vince. It was not only infuriating, but embarrassing.
“HE LEFT JUST LIKE THAT?” Gabby asked three days later. In honor of Gabby’s birthday, Olivia was treating herself, the birthday girl and Stephanie to the works at a Little Rock spa. They currently shared a mud bath.
The babies were all with Olivia and Tag’s sitter back at their house while Helen manned the pastry shop.
“Yep,” Stephanie said, drawing rapidly dissolving smiley faces in the mud.
“He didn’t say goodbye or anything?” Olivia probed. With her long red hair piled on top of her head, she was the only woman Stephanie knew who managed to look elegant while sitting in mud.
“Nope.” Honestly, couldn’t they just leave it alone? Stephanie loved her friends, but sometimes they acted as though her personal life was as exciting as a pair of Coach shoes marked down for clearance! “Did I tell you that Melanie pulled herself up next to the sofa?”
“I was there when she did it,” Olivia said, “and nice try at changing the subject, but it’s not going to work. Lindsay Flanders told me at Junior League that your pilot won you the prize her daughter had been eyeing at the Fall Festival. She also said he was seriously hot.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Brady and I were just friends. Heavy emphasis on the were.”
“Sure,” Gabby said, flicking Stephanie with mud. Sometime during the soaking process, her ponytail holder had snapped, leaving her long black hair plastered to her neck and shoulders. “And I’m leaving Dane to become a nun.”
“I’m not surprised. Your husband can be kind of bossy,” Steph pointed out.
Gabby frowned.
“All kidding aside,” Olivia said, “did you all fight? Is that why he left so abruptly?”
“Yes, we fought. I don’t even remember what I said to tick him off, but you know how I told you his wife left him for another man?”
Her friends nodded.
“Well, turns out, that man was his brother. And he wasn’t nearly as noble as Dane was with Gabby.”
Olivia whistled. “That had to be tough. But if he volunteered the information, why was he mad at you?”
“Beats me,” Stephanie said with a shrug, hoping her friends wouldn’t notice the heat rising in her cheeks. The more she thought about it, the more ashamed she felt for pushing him too far. Had she been
a true friend, she never would’ve asked what he’d done to drive Clarissa away. Whether he’d been to blame for their marriage falling apart, or not, she’d been cruel to put the topic on the table.
“Are you going to call him?” Gabby wanted to know.
“I think not.” Cupping warm mud in her palm, she let it trickle between her fingers.
“Why?” Olivia asked.
“For starters, because he obviously wants nothing to do with me. Then there’s the fact that he lives a thousand miles away. And how about me never having time to spend with my girls, let alone some guy from my past who was better off staying there?”
“All excellent points,” Gabby said, “but you left out the most important.”
“What might that be?” Steph asked, not really wanting to know.
“Since you inquired,” she said with a wink to Olivia, “you failed to mention what everyone in our social circle is buzzing about.”
“Our social circle?” Sighing, Steph rose. “That’s my cue to get out.”
“Not so fast.” Gabby grabbed her arm. “All I was going to say is that no less than six of your friends who saw you two at the Fall Festival have called. They want to know who the guy is who brought back your smile.”
WITH THE WIND HOWLING outside the nursery, Stephanie rocked her girls to sleep that night and tried to forget Gabby’s last comment.
“Ladies,” she said, kissing the crown of Michaela’s head and then Melanie’s, “what do you think I should do?”
Big help they were—both had fallen asleep. Not that she’d expected them to be, but it would be nice when they were old enough to strike up an intelligent conversation.
Rocking and rocking, she tried getting a handle on the confusion clouding her brain.
Gingerly rising, she put each girl in her crib, kissed and tucked, and then flipped on a pink lamb nightlight before turning off the dresser lamp.
In the living room, she turned on the TV, but found nothing good to watch.
She picked up a book she’d been meaning to finish, but the biography of Lady Bird Johnson wasn’t exactly riveting.
The Baby Twins (Babies & Bachelors USA) Page 9