Soon To Be Brides: The Marrying Macallister / That Blackhawk Bride

“Aha.” Caitlin pointed one finger in the air. “Down the road it’s over, ending yet another short-term affair of which I speak.”

“Would you cut that out?”

Before Caitlin could reply, a knock sounded at the door.

“Caitlin,” came Marsha’s muffled voice. “Are you ready to go down to meet the others for dinner? Caitlin?”

“Oh, good grief.” Caitlin jumped to her feet. “That’s Marsha.”

Matt grinned. “Shall I get the door while you freshen your lipstick?”

“Don’t you touch that door,” Caitlin whispered. “Marsha’s busy little mind will go nuts if she finds us in here together.”

“Caitlin?” Marsha called. “Are you in there?”

“Yes, I’m here,” Caitlin yelled. “Go on ahead, Marsha. I’ll be along in just a couple of minutes.”

“Okay. Have you seen Matt? He isn’t in his room.”

“Oh, he’s around somewhere. Maybe he already went downstairs.”

“Well, hurry up, because I am starving to death.”

“I will. I just have to comb my hair.”

“And freshen your lipstick,” Matt said with a chuckle, which earned him a glare from Caitlin.

Caitlin ignored Matt to the best of her ability as she freshened up.

Matt folded his arms loosely over his chest and leaned one shoulder against the wall as he waited. Oh, Caitlin was something, he thought. The kisses they’d shared had been sensational. She was very sensual, very womanly and obviously was comfortable with her own femininity. She had returned his kisses in total abandon and he had been instantly aroused, wanting her, aching for her with an intensity like nothing he’d known before.

And Caitlin when angry? Dynamite. Her cheeks became flushed and her eyes flashed like laser beams. She’d taken him on, toe to toe, and let him know what he could do with any ideas that he might be entertaining of a short-term affair with her.

Matt frowned.

Short-term affair. Caitlin had repeated that phrase like a broken record until he’d reached the point that he’d told her to put a cork in it. The problem was, she was right. He had nothing more than the now ever-famous short-term affair to offer her. He simply wasn’t ready for a commitment to forever, a relationship that would inch toward marriage, hearth, home and Miss M. the baby.

Yeah, sure, he’d said he’d like to know what was happening between Caitlin and him because it was definitely…different somehow from his past experiences where casual dating was the order of the day and no one got hurt. No, there was more depth, intensity between him and Caitlin. But that didn’t mean he was opening the door to a possible permanent future with her and the daughter she would see and hold for the first time tomorrow.

So, where did that leave him? Aching for Caitlin. Wanting to make love with her. Envisioning pulling her into his arms and kissing her senseless at every opportunity, which would no doubt result in her popping him right in the chops.

“Well, hell,” Matt said under his breath.

He had volunteered to stick like glue to Caitlin to be ready to assist her in any way he was needed. He was the extra pair of hands, hands that would not be allowed to touch her again. This trip was suddenly losing its appeal. Big-time.

“I’m ready,” Caitlin said, bringing Matt from his now-gloomy thoughts. “I’ll go first, then you take the elevator after me. That way we won’t arrive in the lobby at the same time and create a scenario ripe for rumor.”

“Ripe for rumor?” Matt said with a burst of laughter. “I can sure tell you write for a living. You certainly have a unique way with words.”

He paused and became serious. “Caitlin, I think you’re making far too much of this business of us being seen together. Everyone is focused on their baby, that little munchkin waiting for them to arrive tomorrow. The last thing on the minds of anyone in our group is whether or not you and I are getting it on or… Well, I could have said that nicer, but you get the drift.”

Caitlin opened her mouth to deliver a retort to Matt’s statement, then frowned and snapped it closed again. A long, silent minute passed as she stared into space, deep in thought.

“You’re right,” she said finally, looking at Matt again. “I’m acting like an idiot. It’s very self-centered of me to think that everyone would be in a twitter over what may, or may not, be going on between the two of us. I should be thinking about my daughter, too, not about how I felt when you kissed me, or how much I had wanted you to kiss me, or how long it seemed that I had been anticipating your kissing me, or…”

Caitlin’s eyes widened and a flush stained her cheeks.

“I didn’t just say all that,” she said, shaking her head. “Oh, tell me I didn’t say all that. This is so embarrassing and… No, this is jet lag. Yes, that’s what’s wrong with me. I’m suffering from a severe case of jet lag. Food. Maybe food will help.”

Caitlin hurried to the door and flung it open.

“Let’s go,” she said. “We’re probably holding up the whole group. I need nourishment so my brain can start functioning like something I recognize again. Where’s my key card?”

“It’s still in the slot to turn on the electricity,” Matt said, crossing the room slowly.

“I knew that,” Caitlin said, pulling the plastic card free.

“You’re sure we should ride down in the elevator together?” Matt said, pulling the door closed behind them. “I’ll do whatever makes you comfortable.”

“Of course we’ll go together,” Caitlin said as they reached the elevator. “You were the one who made me realize how silly I was being about all of this.”

“Mmm.” Matt nodded. “Well, for the record, Caitlin, I felt as though I’d waited an eternity to kiss you, too, and I’m going to remember those kisses we shared. Oh, yes, ma’am, I certainly am.”

As the elevator door swished open, Caitlin said, "The subject is closed.”

“Hold the elevator,” a man called as Caitlin and Matt stepped inside.

Matt pressed the proper button to keep the doors open, and another couple from the group hurried inside.

“Oh, I was so sure we’d kept the whole bunch waiting for us,” the woman said, “but you’re just going down, too. That makes me feel better. We wasted so much time trying to figure out how to get the electricity to work in the room.”

“Really?” Matt said. “I read all about it on the plane.”

“I was totally baffled,” Caitlin said, “if that makes you feel better. I just stood there like an idiot wondering where the phone was so I could call for help. Matt came across the hall and poked the card in the little slot.”

“Came across…” The woman paused. “Oh, that’s right. You’re not a couple, per se. It’s so difficult to keep so many new people straight at the same time. You sat together on the plane and—”

“Honey,” her husband said, smiling, “you wouldn’t keep it straight if you had a scorecard to look at, because you are thinking about the baby, and everything else is just sort of floating on by you.”

Matt looked at Caitlin with a very smug expression. She rolled her eyes heavenward.

The addition of Caitlin, Matt and the couple with them on the elevator completed the group waiting in the lobby to go to dinner, except for a missing Elizabeth Kane.

Despite their jet lag everyone was in fine spirits and the chatter was lively and quite loud.

Marsha and Bud joined Caitlin and Matt and the four agreed they were looking forward to a meal that was not airplane food. Marsha reached up and swiped her thumb over the left edge of Matt’s top lip.

“You should have freshened your lipstick before you came down here,” she said, laughing merrily. “I just removed the last dab. I mean, hey, either wear it or don’t, whatever floats your boat.”

To Caitlin’s amazement and delight, an embarrassed flush crept up Matt’s neck and onto his face.

“Marsha,” Bud said, chuckling, “give Matt and Caitlin a break, would you? It’s none of our business if they… Well, it’s just none of our business.”

“Of course it isn’t,” Marsha said. “But that doesn’t mean I can just cancel being snoopy.”

“Changing the subject now,” Bud said. “I wonder what’s keeping Elizabeth?”

As though she’d heard her name being called, Elizabeth emerged as the elevator doors swished open, and hurried across the lobby to join the others, glancing at her watch when she finally stopped.

“Only ten minutes late,” she said, “but I’ll still apologize for keeping you waiting. I was making my usual telephone call to Dr. Yang in Nanjing to confirm our plans. He’ll notify the director of the orphanage that we’re on schedule and good to go. Dr. Yang will leave a message for me at our hotel in Nanjing informing me of the time the vans will arrive to take us to the orphanage so you can meet your daughters.

“As you’ve been told, you’ll have about an hour’s visit with them tomorrow, then take them with you the next day when we go back to the orphanage to get them.” She paused and laughed. “Uh-oh, there’s no tissue box to pass around and some of you are getting weepy. Let’s head for the restaurant before we flood this lobby.”

Darkness had fallen and more neon lights had come alive when the group left the hotel and began the walk to the restaurant. The name Las Vegas was heard several times from the various conversations taking place.

Caitlin replayed in her mind the moment when Marsha had wiped the lipstick from Matt’s lips and couldn’t curb her smile. She should be totally mortified, she thought, but she wasn’t. Matt had been so endearingly embarrassed, she’d wanted to give him a hug and tell him not to worry about what anyone might be thinking about the telltale clue, and to remember that he was the one who had said that new daughters were the main focus of the entire group, not the doings of Caitlin Cunningham and Matt MacAllister.

Elizabeth was greeted warmly when they arrived at the restaurant, and they were soon settled at a large round table with a lazy Susan in the middle.

Three waitresses appeared and began to place steaming hot, intriguing-appearing offerings of food on the turntable. Plates were soon piled high with the fragrant food, and they dug in.

“Did Dr. Yang say anything about the babies, Elizabeth?” one of the women asked. “Anything at all?”

“Only that they would be ready and waiting for you to see and hold them,” she said, smiling.

“Oh-h-h,” the woman said. “I can hardly wait. I hope the hours between now and then pass quickly. This is torture.” She smiled at her husband. “Just think, Bill. Tomorrow we meet Emma Lin. Tomorrow.”

“Yep,” he said, matching her smile. “In the meantime, eat your dinner.”

“Tomorrow,” Caitlin whispered, staring into space.

Excited chatter erupted around the table centered on the wondrous event that would take place the next day. Matt leaned close to Caitlin so only she could hear him.

“Tomorrow,” he said, smiling at her when she met his gaze. “You’ll meet your daughter. You’ll hold her, look into her pretty eyes and know if she’s Mackenzie or Madison. It will be one of those life-changing memories that will be etched in your mind forever.”

“Yes,” Caitlin said softly.

“And you know something, Caitlin? When I realize that I’ll be right there to witness it all, I can honestly say there’s no place else on this earth I’d rather be.”

Chapter Six

Caitlin sat next to one of the windows on the rickety bus that had picked up the group at the Nanjing airport, her gaze riveted on the bustling crowds within her view.

Nanjing, she decided, was absolutely enchanting, an intriguing blend of the old and the new. There were tall, modern buildings next to small, shanty-type houses, and the number of people riding bicycles in the surging traffic seemed to outnumber those in automobiles.

Some of the people were dressed in clothes she might see in Ventura, while others were wearing traditional dark pants and boxy jackets that she’d seen so often in photographs of the Chinese populace. The weather was perfect, warm with a cooling breeze.

“Oh,” Caitlin gasped as she witnessed yet another near miss of a car colliding with a bicycle. “It’s dangerous out there. The people on those bikes are demanding equal space on the roads. Scary.”

Matt leaned forward to look out the window, then immediately settled back again in his seat with a chuckle.

“I don’t think watching that madness is good for my blood pressure. This makes driving in Los Angeles or New York City a leisurely outing. Whew.”

“There are amazingly few accidents,” Elizabeth said, overhearing what Caitlin and Matt were talking about. “It looks awful, but it’s organized chaos, or some such thing. The majority of people can’t afford cars, so the mode of transportation is most often a bike. There is a stiffer penalty for stealing a bicycle than a vehicle.”

“Fascinating,” Matt said, nodding.

“Caitlin,” Marsha said from across the aisle, “you should be taking notes on some of this. I think with your talent for writing you could do some very interesting articles for the magazine from a fashion angle, make our readers feel as though they’ve actually visited China. It would be a nice way to add to your income while you’re working at home, too.”

“In between changing Miss M.’ s diapers.” Matt chuckled.

“Babies do take naps, you know.” Marsha frowned. “But I guess that’s when you take one, too, or maybe get caught up on the laundry and what have you. I don’t have a clue.”

“We’ll find out very soon, sweetheart,” Bud said. “You know, I have to admit I’m getting nervous about meeting Grace for the first time. What if I scare the socks off her? She’s almost a year old, so I imagine she has definite opinions about things…like her father is terrifying.”

Marsha patted Bud’s knee. “We’ll just take it as it comes, give her space, time to get used to us. When we bring her back to the hotel tomorrow we’ll let her call the shots. If she doesn’t want us to hold her, we won’t push it.” She paused. “Oh, dear, now I’m getting nervous.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Just relax. If your new daughters sense that you’re uptight they’ll react accordingly. My years of making these trips allows me to say with confidence that you’ll all be pleasantly surprised at how quickly your girls adjust to you and their new environment. They’re extremely resilient little ladies.”

“Goodness,” Caitlin said. “I never gave a thought to the idea that Miss M. might not…well, like me right off the bat. We’ve all fallen in love with our daughters by just looking at their pictures but…oh dear.”

“Don’t get tense,” Matt said. “Miss M. will take one look at you and it will be love at first sight, Caitlin, you’ll see. I don’t believe in that stuff when it comes to adults, but babies? They know when they’re connected to someone special. Everything will be just fine.”

As conversations started throughout the bus about what they were seeing out the windows, Caitlin cocked her head to one side and studied Matt, who looked at her questioningly.

“What?” he said.

“You believe that babies are capable of experiencing love at first sight, but adults aren’t?” Caitlin asked. “At what point in their lives do they change their view on the subject?”

“Well…” Matt shrugged. “I don’t know. When we grow up and get worldly and wise, I suppose. Love at first sight? Give me a break. Love…adult, man-and-woman love…is something that grows over time, has to be nurtured, tended to, sort of like a garden that eventually produces beautiful flowers and… Jeez, I’m getting corny here.”

“No, you’re not,” Caitlin said quietly, looking directly into Matt’s eyes. “I think you expressed that very nicely, and I agree with you.”

“Which is why,” Matt observed, switching his gaze to the scene beyond the window, “I don’t see falling in love in my near future because I don’t have time for the nurturing, doing my part in tending to the…well, to the garden.”

“I know,” Caitlin said, then stared out the window again.

Well, Matt thought, he covered that topic very thoroughly, right on the mark. And for some unexplainable reason it had caused his ulcer to start burning with a hot pain as though voicing displeasure at what he had said.

Matt reached in his pocket, retrieved an antacid tablet and popped it into his mouth, frowning as he chewed the chalky circle.

“I saw that, MacAllister,” Bud said. “Whatever you’re talking about over there, change the subject. Your doctor has spoken.”

“Cork it, Mathis.” Matt glared at Bud.

The bus driver made a sudden sharp turn, and moments later they rattled to a stop in the circular driveway in front of a modern high-rise hotel.

“We have arrived,” Elizabeth said. “This is a lovely hotel, and you’ll be very comfortable here. I’ll check us in as a group again and hand out the key cards. It would be best if you’d wait in the lobby, though, while I telephone Dr. Yang and find out what time the vans are coming to take us to the orphanage. That will save me having to call each of your rooms to let you know. Okay?”

Elizabeth received quick, affirmative and excited answers to her request. The group was soon standing in the spacious, nicely furnished lobby with luggage at their feet and key cards in their hands as they waited to hear the outcome of her call.

They were all booked into the fourth floor, Elizabeth explaining that it kept crying babies from disturbing other guests. Matt glanced at Caitlin’s key card, then his own, and nodded in approval that they were in side-by-side rooms.

Good, he thought. He’d be close at hand if Caitlin needed help with Miss M. She didn’t have any experience with babies, while he had years of it due to being a MacAllister.

A MacAllister. Ah, yes, the powerful and well-known family of Ventura, the movers and shakers, the overachievers, who seemed to excel in whatever career choices they made. As each new generation came along, the pattern was repeated. Pick a subject? There was a MacAllister who did it…extremely well. Lawyers, doctors, architects, police officers, the list was endless. If you were a MacAllister, by damn, you’d better be top-notch at whatever you did or…

Whoa. Halt. Enough, he thought, frowning. Where was all this coming from? He was standing in a hotel lobby halfway around the world from Ventura and his clan. Why was he suddenly focusing on something that had hovered over him from the time he was a kid? A kid who wasn’t good at sports in school, who had been an average student not a super brain, a kid who looked at the Mac-Allisters surrounding him and continually wondered why he fell short time after time after…

“Matt?” Caitlin said.

“What?” he said, looking at her.

“Do you have a headache? You’re frowning and rubbing your forehead. Are you okay?”

“Oh, sure, sure, I’m fine.” He forced a smile. “Just suffering from a bit of jet lag like everyone else.” He paused. “Maybe I should figure out the time difference between here and Ventura and decide when I can call the hospital and see if everything is running smoothly.”

Caitlin sighed. “I wondered how long it would take before you felt the need to do that. You’re not focused on a new daughter like the rest of us. You’re centered on your work.”

“That’s not true. I’m really eager to see Miss M., Caitlin, I told you that. Remember? I said there was nowhere else I’d rather be than—”

“Calling the hospital in Ventura,” she interrupted, lifting her chin and meeting his gaze.

“Forget the call. I’m not going to do it. I’m not telephoning the hospital and checking up on things.”

“Right.” Caitlin rolled her eyes.

“I mean it. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. Oh, hey, here comes Eliza beth.”

No one spoke as Elizabeth rejoined the group.

“Okay, we’re on target,” she said. “It’s four o’clock. Go unpack and be back down here at five ready to go to the orphanage.”

“Oh,” Caitlin whispered. “Oh, my goodness.”

Three new mommies-to-be burst into tears.

“Shoo, shoo,” Elizabeth said, laughing and flapping her hands at them. “Go to your rooms. There. I sound like a stern old auntie. I’ll see you all back down here in an hour.”

Everyone collected their luggage, and Caitlin and Matt headed to their rooms.

Matt stopped as Caitlin poked the key card in the slot when they reached her room, then opened the door when the green light blinked on. She stepped inside the room far enough to hold the door open with her bottom and look back at Matt.

“I see the gizmo on the wall for the card so I can turn on the lights,” she said, laughing. “I’m a quick study.”

“Good for you, but maybe you should turn around and see what they’ve put in your room.”

Caitlin frowned slightly in confusion, turned, then a gasp escaped from her lips.

“Oh. Oh, Matt, look. It’s a crib. A port-a-crib. It’s Miss M.’ s crib where she’ll sleep after I bring her back here tomorrow. Isn’t that the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”

Matt’s gaze was riveted on Caitlin as he heard the awe, the wonder, the heartfelt emotion ringing in her voice.

“Yes, I’m looking at one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen.” He cleared his throat as he heard the rasp of building emotions in his voice. “I’ll knock on your door when it’s time to go back downstairs. Okay?”

“’Kay,” Caitlin said absently, starting toward the crib.

The door swung free and closed in Matt’s face with a thud. He stood statue still for a long moment, attempting to visualize Caitlin inside the room, maybe running her hand over the rail of the crib, or across the soft sheet on the tiny mattress, or perhaps just gazing into the crib and envisioning Miss M. sleeping peacefully there, where she belonged, with her mother watching over her.

He looked quickly in both directions to be certain that no one had seen him standing there like an idiot who was attempting to carry on a conversation with a closed door before trudging back to his room.

Everyone in the group was fifteen minutes early arriving in the lobby, but no one settled onto the comfortable-looking chairs and sofas, not having the patience to sit still.

“What time is it?” Marsha said to Bud.

“One minute later than when you last asked me,” he said, smiling. “Chill, pretty wife, or you’re going to pass out cold on your nose.”

“Oh, right,” Marsha said, frowning at him. “Like you’re Mr. Cool, huh? Might I mention that you forgot to tie your shoelaces?”

“Well, cripe,” Bud said, looking down at his feet.

Matt whopped Bud on the back as he bent over to tend to his laces.

“Little shook up, Daddy?” Matt said. “Mmm. Maybe we should check your blood pressure, Doctor. You’re in a high-stress mode.”

“Can it, MacAllister,” Bud said, straightening and glaring at Matt. “Caitlin, do something about this man.”

“Me? What man?” she said, laughing. “I’m such a wreck I’m having trouble remembering my own name.”

“The vans are here,” a woman said, more in the form of a squeal.

“So they are,” Elizabeth agreed, joining the group. “Is everyone ready? Let me count noses.” She did a quick perusal of the gathered people. “Right on the money. Let’s go meet some new baby daughters.”

The fifteen-minute ride to the orphanage was a total blur to Caitlin until they suddenly turned onto a narrow street lined with small, shabby houses made of a variety of nonmatching material. At the end of the street a tall, seven-story building could be partially seen.

“That’s the orphanage,” Elizabeth said. “It’s big, as you can see, and filled to the brim with kids. There are infant floors, where the little ones sleep two and three to a crib at times, toddler floors, then older children have several floors where they sleep dorm-fashion until they are fostered out to work in the fields in rural areas.

“There is no heat in that building. They have to layer the kids in lots of clothes in the winter to keep them warm. A portion of the fees you paid for this trip will go directly to the orphanage for food, clothes, medical supplies, what have you.