Читать книгу The Marine's Babies - Laura Marie Altom - Страница 11

“That’s the official tour,” Jace said. At six-fifteen Monday morning, after having been up most of the night trying to quiet tag-team-crying twins, he was hardly at his best. It was a good thing he was scheduled for maintenance rather than flight. “Questions?”

Emma shook her head.

In the makeshift nursery, she stood alongside the crib, smoothing her hand along the nearest infant’s back. Her smile was serene. Her posture relaxed. He’d had his doubts as to whether she’d even return, but she’d been five minutes early, bearing a canvas tote loaded with what she called supplies. When she hadn’t been looking, he’d sneaked a peak. Lullaby books, DVDs, plush toys and clothes.

“Your references checked out.”

“Oh?” As if in a trance, she didn’t look up from the crib. “That’s good.”

“All four were surprised, though, by your choice of work. You used to be in finance?”

She shrugged. “In another life.”

“You’ve got a Master’s from Stanford.”

“Your point being?”

“Aren’t you kind of overqualified?” It wasn’t in his nature to pry, but the woman would be spending a lot of alone time with his kids. “I mean, most of the women I interviewed had only been to high school.”

“Is there any shame in that?” The hard look she cast over her shoulder said she didn’t appreciate getting the third degree. He didn’t care.

“Not at all, and kindly don’t put words in my mouth. College doesn’t prove a man or woman’s worth. It’s what’s in here—” he patted his chest “—that counts.”

“I agree.”

Sharply exhaling, Jace glanced at the ceiling, then back to her. “Look, the last thing I want to do is argue with you, Em.”

“My name’s Emma. I don’t think we should get too informal.”

O-kay. “All I’m trying to say is that I found it surprising how well-educated you are. I can only afford to pay minimum wage, but you clearly deserve more.”

“Did I complain?”

“No, but…” What was it about him that seemed to draw impossible women like a magnet? He glanced at his watch. Twelve minutes to get to the hangar. “Never mind. Sorry I brought it up.”

Her crossed arms and pressed lips told him she was, too. Sorry, that is, that he’d commented on her past. But hell, what had she expected?

“Is there a number you can be reached at in case of emergency?” Her tone had softened, he noted thankfully.

“Yeah. I put together a list of them and taped it to the fridge.” On his own, such a thing never would’ve occurred to him, but Pam had insisted.

“Thanks. What time should I expect you home?”

That depended. After his duty, he usually grabbed a couple of beers and shot pool with the guys. “Do I have to come straight home? With the babies and all, it’s been a while since I’ve hung with my friends.”

“Take your time,” she said, shoulders sagging as if strangely relieved he’d be late. “Have fun. I’ve got everything under control.”

Though Jace didn’t doubt that, he did wonder how exactly the MBA had earned her caretaking experience.

“IS YOUR NANNY hot?” Jace’s chief maintenance officer, “Red” Murphy asked from his stool at Jar’s Bar—their favorite hangout.

Jace—known to the guys as Leadfoot—rolled his eyes. “For the record—yeah. She’s hot. But since when do I have time for women?”

Granola butted in with, “Looks like you had plenty of time the night your kids were conceived.”

Jace gave his friend a slug. “Knock it off. For what I’ve been through, you all owe me a round.”

Red snorted. “A round of baby formula.”

“Jace, you should be home,” Pam said, swigging her beer. “You have responsibilities now.” Usually, women weren’t allowed at guys’ night, but she’d crashed. Out of respect for Granola, the guys had voted to let her stay. Although now Jace was thinking he might need to rescind his vote. “It’s not right for you to let that poor sitter work overtime just so you can be out playing. You’re being an ass.”

“Thanks,” Jace said. “I probably do resemble that statement, but I’m still kinda in shock. Tell me, Ms. Smarty Pants, what would you do if some guy suddenly dumped two kids on your lap, announcing they were yours?”

“Probably call Ripley’s Believe It or Not, seeing how last I checked, guys couldn’t give birth.”

“Burn,” Red said with a jab to Jace’s ribs. “She got you there.”

“Y’all know what I mean. Vicki has some nerve. I mean, if she’d told me about her pregnancy from day one, I’d have had a running start at this parenting thing. I hate her for that.”

“Think she doesn’t feel a tad bitter toward you?” Pam flashed him a sarcastic smile. “You’ve got a lot of nerve having slept with her, then never so much as calling her again.”

“I refuse to feel guilty.” Jace downed the rest of his beer. “It wasn’t like we weren’t both consenting adults. Besides, she had my number. She should’ve called. I would’ve liked to have known.”

“Would you?” Eyebrows raised, Pam said, “Come on, really, Jace, I’m sorry if I’m coming down on you, but I can’t imagine trying to raise one kid, let alone two on my own. Vicki must’ve gone through hell. True, her leaving her twins wasn’t cool, but then neither is this holier-than-thou attitude of yours. Like you’ve done no wrong, and share no part of the end result of that wild night.” She drank more beer, and then snatched a tortilla chip from the basket in the table’s center, biting down hard. “At first, I felt sorry for you, but once I saw how cool you’ve been about the whole thing—mechanical, even—like your twins are machines to be figured out, well, I’m incensed.”

“Yo, Granola!” Jace shouted across the table. “Mind calling off your pit bull?”

Raising his hands in surrender, Granola returned with, “Cut me some slack. I’ve got to go home with her.”

“Glad it’s your problem,” Jace mumbled.

“Watch it,” Granola fired back.

WITH THE TWINS cooing along to a Baby Einstein video, Emma had cooked dinner. Cooking had always been a favorite hobby, but working so many hours, her time in the kitchen had been limited to weekends.

Tonight, thinking the twins were no doubt ready for solid foods, she’d made mashed potatoes and gravy to go along with oven-roasted chicken and fresh green beans. It was a good thing that she’d assumed Jace wouldn’t have thought to purchase high chairs. And bibs. And a double stroller for trips to the grocery store.

Maybe she’d gone a little overboard, but she viewed this opportunity—however long it lasted—as a vacation from her lonely life. Just like purchasing souvenirs, she’d had to grab a few items to enhance her stay.

“Whoa. What’s that incredible smell?”

Emma jumped to see Jace, a baby cradled in each arm, filling the kitchen’s entry.

“Hi,” she said shyly, dwarfed by his size in the compact space. He wore desert-camo pants, black combat boots and a beige T-shirt that hugged his shoulders and chest. Though he’d been clean-shaven that morning, already his jaw sported stubble. When he’d left, they’d been on tense terms; she hadn’t meant to be so snappy. Upon examining her feelings, it’d occurred to her just how afraid she was that he’d fire her.

“Hi, yourself. Dang, woman, you’ve been busy.”

She shrugged. “I thought you might be hungry when you got home. Also, while we can’t be sure what foods the babies have been introduced to, I’m thinking that if you start them on solids, they’ll sleep more soundly through the night.”

“Sure,” he said. Babies still in the crook of each arm, he managed to open a drawer next to the stove, remove a spoon, then help himself to a heaping sample of her potatoes. Eyes closed, he groaned. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a home-cooked meal. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Why, she couldn’t say, but his appreciation warmed her to her toes. Rick hadn’t been the overly demonstrative type. A defense attorney, he was usually as formal with her at home as he was in the courtroom.

“Well…” glancing about the kitchen, seeing that her work was done, she said, “you’re probably ready for me to go, huh?”

“You’re not staying for dinner?”

“I suppose I could. But I don’t want to intrude.”

He waved off her objection. “Mind taking one of these?” Nudging alongside her with a baby, he said, “I need to wash up. Hey—when did you get those?” He nodded to the high chairs.

“This afternoon. Hope you don’t mind.” She explained about also having the double stroller.

“Of course I don’t mind. I just haven’t yet had time to fully gear up. Thanks. I’ll pay you back. For dinner, too.”

Now, she was waving him off. “It’s not a problem. I found most everything on sale.”

“Uh-huh.”

She tucked Beatrice into a high chair, and then turned to Jace, holding out her arms for Bronwyn.

Bea started to kick and fuss. From the cabinet beside the fridge, Emma rummaged for a box of teething biscuits, giving one to each girl.

“You’ve thought of everything,” Jace said. “Unlike me.” Head bowed, he sat hard on a kitchen table chair. “Here, I’m a Marine. I pride myself in handling any situation, but after rumbling with a good friend of mine tonight, then listening to you, I’m feeling lost.”

“About what?”

“This whole fatherhood thing. I’ve got the general logistics down. My diapering is now done with precision. But I’m not sure what comes after that. You know, like the being-a-great-dad part.”

“Give yourself a break.” Emma was careful to keep her tone soft. Encouraging. The last thing she needed was for Jace to think he wasn’t up for parenthood. “You’ve only been a dad for what? A week? It takes time. Trust me, you’ll figure it out.”

“I’M PAYING you a freakin’ fortune,” Jace said into his cell the next afternoon. He was in between training runs, pacing a weary grass patch between flight hangers. The sun was brutal. Ninety-percent humidity sucking the life out of him. One brave—or stupid—strand of honeysuckle twined up the building’s corrugated metal siding. The sickeningly sweet smell made him want to retch. As did the memory of Pam’s condemning words. And Emma’s supportive kindness. “What do you mean there’s still no sign of Vicki? She can’t have just vanished.”

“Sorry,” the PI said, “my wife’s eight months pregnant and home alone while I’m out on this wild goose chase. Nobody wants to find this Vicki more than me. Trouble is, the car tag you gave me from the guard gate surveillance tape turned out to be a rental. The contract was under the assumed name of Mary Smith. She showed the proper ID, meaning she had to have been planning this a while.”

“So?” Furious didn’t begin to describe the emotions raging through Jace.

“The fact that she had enough foresight to want to stay out of touch tells me this is going to be tougher than I’d originally thought.”

“But she’s a college student,” Jace pointed out.

“Where?”

“Hell, I don’t know.” Slicing his free hand through his spiky hair, Jace lengthened his stride.

“Without a last name, I’m not even sure where to start. We’ve exhausted all easy leads.”

Jace said nothing, just silently fumed.

“With the Internet, you’d be amazed at what you can do. These days, disappearing is no big deal.”

“Great,” Jace mumbled.

“I really am sorry. You think of anything we can use to identify her—anything at all—give me a ring. Night or day.”

Having turned off his cell, Jace plucked a blossom from the honeysuckle vine. As a kid, growing up in Kentucky, he and his friends used to yank out the stamens, sucking at the sweetness. Life had been simple then. Carefree. Now, everything was a mess. He wasn’t sure where to turn.

An image flashed before his mind’s eye. Emma.

Maybe she’d know how he was supposed to be a real father to his girls when there were times he still felt like a kid himself.

“JACE?” Hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun, Emma realized it was him jogging toward her from the opposite end of his neighborhood park’s walking trail. Though the redbrick homes comprising the base’s residential sector all looked alike with their rectangular shapes and boxy front porches, the base as a whole had a kind of tranquility due in large part to the abundance of trees: pines and magnolias and ancient live oaks drizzled in Spanish moss.

“Hey,” he said, out of breath and bending at his waist to brace his hands on his knees. He wore the same uniform as he had the day before, only this time his desert-beige T-shirt clung to his chest from sweat. She’d known he had a powerful build, but when he straightened to his full height, something about seeing him in broad daylight made her mouth go dry. “When I saw you and the little ladies weren’t home, but your car was, I took a gamble you might be here.”

“Is that all right?” she asked. “It’s only three o’clock. If I’d known you planned on being home this early, I would have—”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I snuck out.”

“Why? Everything okay?” He wasn’t replacing her, was he?

“Yeah. On the job anyway.” He walked a short distance down the azalea-lined trail to park himself on a wooden bench. A light breeze rustled the Spanish moss. “Have a seat,” he said, patting the space beside him. “There’s something I want to run by you.”

Pulse erratic, she pulled the stroller off the trail, making sure the twins’ faces were in the shade, and then did as Jace had asked. Not only was it awkward being so close to him, but his unreadable tone had her worrying she’d done something wrong.

He asked, “Why are you all of a sudden so wide-eyed?”

“I don’t know,” she said, smoothing the folds of her lightweight floral cotton skirt. The day was hot, and sweat and his direct question had her pink tank top clinging in places she’d rather it would not. Truth was, today had been even better than yesterday, and she wasn’t anywhere near ready to give up the babies. Was he firing her? Had he found alternative arrangements?

“You look like someone just ran off with your ice cream cone.”

“Oh?” She cast him a faint smile.

“Relax,” he urged with a gentle shoulder nudge. “Your life can’t be anywhere near as complicated as mine.”

Wanna bet?

“Anyway, it’s like this…” He relayed his conversation with his PI, then arched his head back and sighed. “You can’t imagine how freaked out I was, hearing that the guy had no more leads. Then, making matters worse, all of my buddies had no love.”

“Love?” Emma wrinkled her nose.

“They couldn’t have cared less. Hell, one of them even came right out and said that if I’d ever just stick with one woman, this wouldn’t even have happened. Which, if you ask me, was a seriously wrong thing to say, considering what the last woman I thought I loved put me through.”

Interesting. She wouldn’t have thought a happy-go-lucky sort like Jace would have relationship issues. But then, she’d never thought her own marriage would end in a nasty divorce.

“I don’t mean to pry,” she said, “but what does any of this have to do with me?” Because honestly, all she wanted from this job was a chance to prove herself as a mother. Yet the longer she sat alongside Jace, studying the sweat rivulet grazing his temple, the harder it was not to brush it gently away.

“Technically, nothing.” He angled still closer, landing his camo-covered thigh against hers. “But I’m glad you asked the question, because nutty as it sounds, at the height of my rage over Vicki, the only person I could think to come to for advice was you. Here I barely even know you, but judging by how the babies instantly took a liking to you, you seem like a trustworthy gal.”

Gal?

“All of my friends are too close. I need an outsider’s view on this whole mess. That’s where you come in.”

“For starters,” she said, inching away from him to give herself room to think, “suddenly having two gorgeous, healthy babies land on your lap is far from a mess, but more in the realm of blessing. Second, if you’re looking for me to give you absolution—as though you’re the innocent in all of this, you’ve come to the wrong person.”

“Damn.” His lips turned into a slow, sexy smile that threw her completely off balance. How was she supposed to stay mad at him when he looked at her like that? His lazy Southern drawl wasn’t helping much, either. “You’ve got a temper like a riled-up drill sergeant.”

Beatrice grew fidgety.

Emma moved to get her, but Jace beat her to it. “You’ve had them all day,” he said. “Let me handle this for you.” He held the baby a little too far away. In her short time with Henry, she’d learned that babies like to snuggle as close as possible. They like to feel sheltered. And apparently, since the baby was growing ever more fitful, Jace wasn’t doing such a great job.

With an exasperated sigh, she said, “Let me.”

The baby quiet, she said, “You asked what you should do, and though this may not be what you want to hear, for starters, you need to be not so afraid of them. They won’t break.”

“Who said I was afraid? I fight wars.”

“Great. As a U.S. citizen, I’m in awe of your sacrifice, but Jace, we’re not talking about battle. We’re talking about babies. Here—” She handed Bea right back to him.

He held the squirming infant like a cross between a priceless porcelain vase and a net filled with smelly, wriggling fish.

“First, really hold her. Babies need to feel your heartbeat. At her current distance from you, she probably can’t even tell who you are.”

“Like this?” He scooted forward on the park bench, giving himself room to lean back. He rested Bea on his chest, but didn’t wrap his arms around her.

“Not at all,” Emma chastised. “Hold her like you mean it. That’s how she knows she’s loved.”

“Huh?” He scowled while making a few obligatory pats.

“Let’s try it another way. When you were a kid, did you ever have a favorite pet?”

“My hamster, Buzzy.”

“Great. So how did you hold him?”

“I stuck him in my hoodie pocket.” He grinned.

Emma frowned.

Licking her lips, trying with everything in her to be patient, she said, “How would you hold a woman? Someone you genuinely care about?”

“Hell…” He scratched his head. “It’s been a while. And anyway, what does holding a baby have to do with a girlfriend?”

“Technically, nothing. But inside, everything. It’s the same general idea in that the way you hold someone shows how you feel about them. Don’t you think that when you hold Bea in a standoffish way, she can tell you don’t like her?”

“Hey,” Jace said, straightening into a defensive pose. “She’s my kid. Of course I like her.”

“I know. All I’m saying is that you should display your affection not just through words, but actions. Like this.” Leaning close enough to Jace that she caught the leathery scent of his masculine deodorant and soap, she gently positioned Bea against the natural curve of Jace’s chest. She next urged his arms around the infant so that rather than merely supporting her, he held her. Sheltered her. Gave her the security a baby girl deserved from her father.

“Wow,” he said, nuzzling the crown of Bea’s head. “I get it. That really does make a difference. It feels like she’s connected to me.”

“See?” Emma said, heart swelling. All too well, she remembered holding Henry close. Feeling that as long as she held him he’d feel safe and loved. “I told you so.”

“And I’ve gotta say that this is one time I don’t mind being put in my place. Thanks.” Jace smiled, and the sincerity behind his eyes stole Emma’s breath.

In that instant, not only had Jace connected with Bea, but with Emma, and the realization was somehow exhilarating and appalling.

Sharply, Emma looked away.

“I was just thinking,” he said, “since I’m home early, we might—”

“Sorry,” she said, standing, “but I just remembered that I have an appointment. Think you can handle getting the girls home on your own?”

“Yeah, but—”

Fighting a queer tightness in her throat, a panicky need to be free of his piercing green stare, she started off down the winding trail. “Really, I have to go.”