The Marriage Bargain

by Stephanie Dees

  “Oh, please. I’ve been working here for twenty years. There’s nothing on the menu I don’t know how to make.”

  Jules gave her a speculative look.

  “Oh, no, you don’t.” Lanna laughed. “I’m not a cook. I said I knew how to make everything on the menu, not that I wanted to. But you go home. See your babies. This will all be here Monday morning.”

  “If you’re sure.” Jules picked up her purse and keys from the desk. “Really sure?”

  “I am.” Lanna hugged her as they met in the doorway. “You’ve always been so frighteningly efficient, Jules, even as a kid. Your mom couldn’t have known how hard things would get.”

  “Things were already hard between the bakery and becoming an instant mother to an infant and a toddler.” Jules shook her head. “But I have tomorrow to figure out how to manage it all. If you hear of someone who wants to be the cook, let me know.”

  “Will do. Now, go.”

  Jules barely remembered getting in the car and driving home. She was so tired her bones ached, but somehow she had to come up with a plan for the bakery and the restaurant, when all she wanted to do was get in bed and sleep for days.

  She stepped into the kitchen expecting everyone to be asleep, or maybe to find Cam working on his laptop like he had been the past few nights. And he was sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop open, but his foot was on the rock-n-play sleeper, keeping a steady rocking motion going. The dog was sprawled on top of his other foot.

  He looked up and, as tired as she was, she couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t the only one. He had a huge mug of coffee by his computer and circles under his eyes. There were dishes on every surface of the huge kitchen. One side of the sink was full of dirty bottles.

  “Rough night?”

  Cam leaned back in his chair. “You could say that. Emma’s been fighting sleep like a champ all day. I think maybe she’s teething? To be honest, I have no idea, but that’s what the internet said.”

  She sank into the chair next to him. “I’m sorry things have been so crazy. I’m not keeping up my end of the bargain.”

  “No. I mean...I get that you’re buried, but I’m taking care of the kids all day and trying to write at night after everyone’s asleep. I’m running on something like eight hours of sleep for the whole week.”

  “I’m so sorry.” She sat back and let her arms drop to her sides. “I just fired the person I would loosely call my cook. Or he quit. I honestly can’t remember.”

  He didn’t even react. His face was set in hard, tired grooves. “So...what happens now?”

  She’d walked in here wanting only sleep. But the man across from her, incredibly, needed it even more than she did. Jules took a deep breath and dug deep down, trying to scrape up a reservoir of energy from...somewhere. “Right now, I take over for you with Emma. You get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow’s Sunday and the café and the bakery are both closed. I’ll take the girls all day and you can write.”

  “And on Monday?”

  “I’ll figure something out before then.”

  “I really hope so, Jules.” He glanced down at Emma, who’d apparently finally fallen asleep, then he picked up his laptop and walked away. His broad shoulders were slumped in exhaustion—shoulders that had been carrying his share of the workload and then some.

  He didn’t say good-night and Jules didn’t blame him. She wanted her life back, too. The life where there was a plan and everyone followed the plan. There was order.

  Predictability. Yeah. Predictability was good.

  She walked to the sink and turned on the hot water to wash out the bottles. There was nothing good in all this chaos for her or for Cam, and it was unfair to the girls, who needed them both.

  * * *

  Sleep won over writing, and when Cam stumbled into the kitchen on Sunday morning, he felt decidedly better than he had the night before. He poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot on the counter and picked up the note Jules left for him by the pot. “Gone to church and family lunch. Welcome to join in.”

  Oh, no. Not only had he slept right through church, he was missing family lunch, as well. He made record time changing clothes and jumping in his rental car to see if he could make it to the farm in time to stay out of the doghouse. Although, considering his behavior with Jules last night, he was probably already deservedly there.

  Cars still lined the driveway, so maybe he wasn’t too late. He slammed the gearshift into Park and jumped out of the car, his loafers skidding to a halt halfway to the backyard when he realized his shirt was untucked. He straightened and tucked his shirt in, then took a deep breath and blew it out. Okay.

  He strode around the corner of the house and almost slammed into Latham, who was walking toward his car, carrying a baby, a mini cooler and a diaper bag that Cam was pretty sure he could’ve backpacked through Europe with. “Ah, hey... Latham, right?”

  “Yeah.” Wynn’s husband bobbed up and down with the baby, whose face was slowly turning purplish red. “Listen, I’ve got to get her in the car before she completely loses it. She’s refusing to nap and A.J. without a nap is not anything anyone needs to experience if they don’t have to.”

  “Sure. Know where Jules is?”

  “I think they’re having a sibling powwow in the kitchen. I’ll see you around. Maybe we can get the little ones together sometime.”

  “Yeah, sure. Sounds good. Hope you guys get a nap.”

  “Me, too, man.” Latham hurried toward his truck as the baby let out a wail so shrill that Cam was surprised the car windows didn’t shatter.

  Cam rounded the corner into the backyard and once again was struck by the sight. There were kids and adults of all ages, from babies to one guy who looked like he must be eighty. The old guy was playing beanbag toss with a little girl who looked to be around eight or nine.

  He caught sight of Eleanor in the playhouse with another little girl. Penny, maybe? He was usually so good with names, but there were just so many of them.

  A bunch of boys were shooting hoops on the basketball court and he had a moment of guilt because he hadn’t made it over to throw the ball with Deke this week. There were a few more kids down by the pond digging in the mud. He wondered how Claire would deal with that, but when he looked around, he spotted her rocking in the porch swing with a fat black puppy in her lap.

  His puppy.

  He took the stairs up to the back porch and greeted Claire. “Looks like you have a new friend.”

  “She’s so sweet, Cam. I want one, but Joe would literally kill me. One of the goats is pregnant and he’s so grumpy about it.”

  Cam laughed. “I’m looking for Jules. She had the kids last night and I apparently slept straight through church and lunch.”

  “I know how that feels. There’s only so long you can go without sleep before your body gives out.” Claire had a serene look on her face, but her eyes never stopped moving, following the kids in the yard. “Jules is in the kitchen with the others. Go on in.”

  Cam didn’t really want to interrupt a “sibling powwow,” as Latham had put it, but he pulled open the screen door and stepped into the room. Four sets of blue eyes swung around. “I, uh, just wanted to let Jules know I was here. I can go back out and watch the kids, if you want me to.”

  “It’s okay—Latham’s aunt Dot is watching them. Come on in. We’re just getting started.” Jules sat at the end of the table with an untouched mug of coffee in front of her. She had deep circles under her eyes and barely looked like herself. Her tightly strung tension was the antithesis of Claire’s calm.

  Cam took one of the stools next to the huge island. It was a kitchen made for a big family, with lots of stools at the bar, a family-size farm table and a sitting area with a couch facing a huge fireplace.

  Joe cleared his throat. “Before we start, we need to agree that for the purposes of this co
nversation, we’re all happy for Mom and we think it’s great that she’s on her honeymoon with—” he rubbed his hand along his stubbly jawline “—with Mickey.”

  “We are all happy for Mom. But her leaving the café and expecting Jules to just run it, along with everything else going on? That wasn’t right.” Wynn was apparently the outspoken one.

  “There’s one thing y’all should probably know before we get started.” Jules walked over to the bar stool where she’d left her bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers, handing it over the table to Wynn.

  Wynn glanced at the papers, looked up at Jules, frowned, and squinted at the small print again. “This is the deed. Mom signed the café over to you. Did she ask you before she put all this in your name?”

  “No. But what was I going to say? I mean, come on. It’s not like I really had a choice. Mom thought she was giving me this amazing gift. I couldn’t exactly shove it back in her face.”

  Wynn tapped a manicured finger on the reclaimed-wood table and nodded at Cam. “In the meantime, neither of you is sleeping and you have two kids who really need your attention right now.”

  Ash leaned back in his seat, his arm stretched out across the back of the chair next to him. “We need to pitch in and help, Jules. This is too much for you to handle. It would be too much for any one of us to handle. So, I’m off work on Wednesday afternoons. I usually have Levi, but I can figure something out.”

  Joe nodded. “I’m sure there’s at least one day a week when I can break away.”

  “Or...” Jules looked down at the table. “We can put a sign on the door that they’re on their honeymoon and close the café.”

  Cam wasn’t expecting that, and by the way the others swiveled to look at her, they weren’t, either.

  The silence stretched.

  She shrugged and looked from one sibling to another. “I can’t do it. Won’t do it. Cam and I are stretched as thin as we can stretch. I didn’t see the girls for five days straight last week.”

  Joe gave a single definitive nod. “That settles it, then.”

  Wynn grabbed her hand. “No one could do it, Jules. It’s all right.”

  A tear hung precariously on Jules’s lower lashes. Cam stared at it in stupefaction. He didn’t know Jules well, but he knew her well enough to know she didn’t admit defeat.

  “I’m not saying it’s going to be closed forever, but for now, it’s what I need to do. Cam was a trouper this week, but the girls need both of us.” Jules swallowed hard and her voice broke. “Mom’s going to be so disappointed in me.”

  “No. She’s not.” Cam slid off the stool before he even knew he was planning to move. He stood behind Jules and slid his hands over her shoulders. “She loves you and choosing to do this is not the easy choice.”

  “Cam’s right. Don’t worry about Mom.” Ash glanced down at his phone as it buzzed in his hand. “And I’ve gotta run. I’m on call this weekend. But, Jules, listen. You painted my exam rooms when I was getting ready to open the practice and was too in debt to pay someone to do it. You’ve done the same kind of thing for all of us. Whatever you need, I’m here for it.”

  Her shoulders trembled underneath Cam’s fingers. “Thank you. All of you. I don’t even know what to say.”

  “Say you’ll call when you need help.” Joe pushed away from the table. “I’ve gotta get going, too.”

  “I’m proud of you, sis. Life’s beat you down a bit lately, but instead of letting it get to you, you’re punching it in the mouth and taking charge. I wouldn’t expect anything else.” Wynn met Cam’s eyes before stepping outside and letting the screen door slam behind her.

  Cam stood in the same place behind Jules for a minute, quiet falling around them. Random shouts and squeals of laughter from the backyard filtered in through the open windows, along with the spring breeze.

  Finally, she sighed. “The more we talked about what to do, the more I knew I couldn’t do it. I just don’t know where to go from here.”

  She stood and faced him, traces of her inner struggle still on her face, and Cam wondered if this was the first time he’d truly seen her, without a plan, without the walls that she had erected so carefully to protect herself. “We’ll figure it out, Jules. Together. As long as we’re not going in two different directions, it’s gonna be okay.”

  He hesitated—because despite everything, he didn’t know if he had the right—then pulled her into his arms, anyway, and with her head nestled just under his chin, held her. “I promise we’ll make it okay.”

  It was still new—this fledgling relationship they were building. Somewhere in the back of his mind he’d wondered how long Jules thought this marriage was going to last. Was it just a temporary fix until custody of the girls was assured? Was it forever? Did she even know?

  For today, anyway, she was in his arms. And that would have to be enough.

  Chapter Eight

  Jules piped frosting into her signature swirl on a row of cupcakes. The aroma that wafted toward her was classic birthday cake, and with its cotton candy–blue frosting and multicolored sprinkles, this cupcake was a bestseller in the bakery. And with each one she frosted, she could feel her blood pressure returning to normal.

  At the early-morning staff meeting, she’d filled her employees in on the new plan. With the café temporarily closed, April would be opening up the bakery for now. Lanna was moving over from the Hilltop to work the afternoon-to-evening shift at the bakery, and Jules would come in midday while the girls were at day care. A couple of the part-timers from the café would be filling in on the weekends.

  Not one person complained about the changes, which told her they’d all been fully aware of how awful things were last week.

  Heat rose in her face just thinking about it. What a tumble she’d taken from perfection—and what a relief today to be able to focus on the bakery. Well, the bakery, her two babies, a new husband, a waterlogged house that had taken the water mitigators weeks to dry out and the mother of all stressors—a custody battle.

  She couldn’t think about any of that too much or she couldn’t breathe.

  “Hey, sis.” Wynn stepped through the door into the kitchen, wearing a suit and heels, her long blond hair corralled into a sleek ponytail. “I just stopped by to make sure you were okay. Yesterday, you looked like you were ready to keel over. So, how are you?”

  “Better.” Jules went back to her cupcakes. “A little embarrassed that I couldn’t handle the pressure.”

  “It’s not worth killing yourself just so you meet everyone else’s expectations.”

  “It’s not everyone else’s expectations that are the problem.” Jules valued excellence. It was why every single one of her cupcakes had the exact same swirl, why she liked the kitchen to be sparkling every night before she went to bed. Why she did a million other things she did. And she was rationalizing again. “I’m learning. Give me time.”

  “I will if you give me one of those cupcakes to take back to the office.”

  Jules laughed. “Take one for Garrett, too.”

  “Speaking of Garrett, he asked me to give this to you.” Wynn pulled an envelope out of her bag. “He said he emailed it to you, also.”

  “Give me that.” Jules dropped the piping bag as her stomach bottomed out. So much for not thinking about it. If Garrett was sending her something, it had to do with custody of the girls. She ripped open the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. “It’s an order from the judge, but I don’t know what it means.”

  Wynn took the paper and skimmed it. “Looks like the judge issued an order assigning a guardian ad litem, a lawyer to represent Emma and Eleanor’s best interests. That’s usually a good thing, hon. Don’t worry.”

  “I need to tell Cam about this. You sticking around?”

  “Nope. I have court this afternoon, hence the killer suit, so I’m taking my cupcakes to-go.”

>   “Thanks for bringing that by. I’ll see you later.” Jules grabbed her phone from the desk in her office, realizing as she did that she’d left it on Silent after her staff meeting this morning. Oh, no. She had two missed calls from the preschool and one from Cam.

  She dialed the preschool back first. “This is Jules Shee—Quinn. Jules Quinn. You called me a little while ago?”

  There was some shuffling and what sounded like someone slamming the phone on the desk before the director picked up the line. “Hey, Jules. It’s Caroline. Emma had a fever this morning, so we were calling you to come and pick her up. We were able to get Mr. Quinn on the phone, though, and he picked her up around forty-five minutes ago.”

  “Thank you.” She hung up the phone. Emma had been fussy for the past few days, but Jules and Cam both thought it was just teething. Clearly, her parenting skills were on point. Her stomach sinking, she scrolled through her missed texts until she saw the one from Cam: I’ve got Emma. Taking her to see Ash. Don’t worry—I’ve got this.

  Of course she was going to worry. Jules grabbed her purse from the back of her office chair and started for the door, stopping briefly to tell April she was leaving before hitting the street at a run. Finishing the cupcakes didn’t matter.

  Nothing did when stacked against the fact that her baby was sick.

  * * *

  Cam paced the floor in the pediatrician’s office with a red-faced, fussy Emma, his heart racing. He felt marginally better now that he was actually in the doctor’s office. When he’d picked Emma up at day care, he’d felt a little bit like he was carrying a ticking time bomb that could go off at any minute.

  There were any number of horrible things that could happen to a kid with a fever, the least of which was projectile vomiting, something that Cam knew for a fact he wasn’t at all prepared for.

  A soft knock at the door preceded Ash, wearing a crisp white coat and a startlingly red polka-dot bow tie. “I wasn’t expecting to see you two again so soon after our family lunch yesterday. It says here that Emma has a fever. Any details?”