Single Mum Seeking...: A Daddy for Her Sons / Marriage for Her Baby / Single Mom Seeks...

He cringed, though he wouldn’t show it. He stuck the phone back in his pocket and didn’t answer it. He hadn’t been answering Brad’s calls all day. Why should he start now?

But he wished she hadn’t seen that.

CHAPTER EIGHT

SLEEPING ON THE couch was getting old fast. Connor stretched and hit the armrest before he had his legs out straight.

“Ouch,” he muttered grumpily, wondering why he was awake so early when he was still so tired. Then he noticed the problem. The twins were running around the furniture and yelling at the top of their lungs. He groaned. He really preferred a normal alarm clock.

He opened his eyes just enough to see them. They were pretty cute. But loud. He was going to have to give up any chance for more sleep. He stretched again.

“Great game, kids,” he told them groggily, swinging his legs over the side of the couch and sitting up with a yawn.

The boys stopped and stared at him. He stared back. Tanner pretended to bark like a puppy. Timmy made a sound like a growling monster. He shook his head. They wanted him to respond. He could tell. And he couldn’t resist.

Just like the day before, he burst up off the couch, waving the covers to make himself look huge, and gave them a monster growl they wouldn’t soon forget.

They screamed with scared happiness and charged out of the room, pushing and shoving to both fit through the door at once.

Jill came in and glared at him. “They won’t be able to eat their breakfast if you rile them up too much,” she warned.

He waved his sheet-covered arms at her and growled. She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“How come you’re not scared?” he complained.

“Because you look so ridiculous,” she told him. She laughed softly, letting her gaze slide over his beautiful body. What on earth did he do in Singapore that kept him so fit? His muscles were hard and rounded and tan and a lot of that was on display. His chest was all male and his pajama bottoms hung low on his hips. He took her breath away.

“But you do look cute as a scary monster,” she allowed, trying to avoid an overdose of his sexiness by looking away. “We might be able to use your skills at Halloween.”

“Hey, no fair,” he said as he looked her over sleepily. “You already changed out of your princess dress.”

“I’m going incognito for the day,” she told him. “They don’t let princesses bake Bundt cakes.”

“They should.”

“I know.” She smiled at him then asked with false cheerfulness, “What did Brad want last night?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t answer it.”

She stared at him for a moment, then looked away. “I just checked my email. There are already two more orders from people who had cake last night. That makes four who want their cakes today, and two more for the weekend.”

“I said you had star power. Didn’t I?”

She reached out to take the sheet from him and he leaned forward and dropped a quick kiss on her mouth before she could draw back. She looked up into his eyes and the room began to swim around her.

“They should let princesses do whatever they want,” he said softly, and then he reached out and pulled her closer and she slipped her arms around his neck and his mouth found hers.

Finally!

She’d been waiting for this kiss forever—or anyway, it seemed that way. She melted in his arms, taking in his taste and letting her body feel every hard part of him it could manage. His rounded muscles turned her on and his warm, musky smell sent her senses reeling.

And then the doorbell rang.

She collapsed against him, laughing and shaking her head. “Why does fate hate me?” she protested.

He held her close and buried his face in her hair, then let her go.

A timer went off.

“Oh, no, I’ve got to check that,” she said.

“I’ll go to the door,” he offered.

“Really?” She looked at him skeptically, wondering who was going to get a stunning view of that magnificent chest and hoping it wasn’t the church people. Then she rushed on into the kitchen to check her cake.

It definitely needed to come out. She set it on the cooling rack and looked around at the mess that still existed from yesterday. She usually made it a practice never to go to bed with a dirty pan left in the sink, but she’d broken that rule last night. Now she had a couple of counters full of pans that needed washing. She was working on that when Connor came into the kitchen.

“Who’s at the door?” she asked distractedly.

Connor made a face. “The Health Department Inspector.”

She turned to stare at him. “What? He just came last week.”

He shrugged. “I guess he’s back.”

And so he was, coming into the kitchen and looking around with massive disapproval all over his face. Tall and thin, he wore glasses and had a large, fluffy mustache, along with a pinched look, that made him look like a bureaucratic force to be reckoned with.

Connor made a face at her and left to put on some clothes. The inspector sniffed at him as he left, then looked back at the kitchen.

“What the hell is going on here?” he demanded, looking at the pot and pan strewn counters.

Jill had a smart-alecky answer right on the tip of her tongue, but she held it back. This was the health inspector. He could ruin her if he wanted to. Shut her down. She had to be nice to him, much as it stuck in her craw.

“Look, this is such a bad time for you to show up. Unannounced, I might add. Aren’t you supposed to make appointments?”

He glared at her. “Aren’t you supposed to be ready at all times for inspection?”

She gave him a fake smile. “Sorry about the mess. I’m in the middle of cleaning it up. We had a huge, huge day yesterday. Things will be back in order in no time.”

“That would be wise,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to have to write you up for kitchen contamination.”

She gaped at him in outrage. “There’s clutter, there’s mess, but there’s no contamination. Please!”

He shrugged, then turned as Connor reappeared, dressed in the same shirt and slacks he’d been wearing for three days now.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Moral support,” Connor responded simply. “I’m just a friend. I’m helping.”

His eyes narrowed. “Helping how?”

Connor shrugged, instinctively knowing this might be a time to be careful and wary. “Odd jobs. Deliveries.”

“Ah.” He appeared skeptical. “Let’s hope you aren’t doing any of the baking. Because if you are, you’re going to need to be screened for medical conditions. You’ll need a blood test. And more. We don’t want you touching the food if you’re not healthy. Your papers must be in order.”

Connor frowned at the man. “What papers?”

“The ones you need to qualify to do any cooking whatsoever.”

Connor sighed and looked away. “Ah, those papers.”

“Yes. Records of shots and tests, etc. Medical problems in the last ten years. You understand.”

Connor made a face, but he said as pleasantly as possible, “Of course.”

The man glared at him. “So? Where are your papers?”

“Really?” Connor said, beginning to get belligerent. “Hey, Mr. Health Inspector, let’s see your papers.”

The man produced a badge and a license and Connor stared at them, realizing he had no idea if they were authentic or not. But he was beginning to have his doubts about this guy.

Jill winced. Connor looked about ready to do something that would jeopardize her business and she had to stop him. Standing behind the inspector, she shook her head and put her finger to her lips, then jerked her thumb toward the other room. Connor hesitated, then followed her out into the hallway, leaving the inspector to poke around at will.

“Connor, don’t antagonize him, for heaven’s sake,” she whispered. “He’ll probably write me up for some little thing and then he’ll have to come back to check if I’ve fixed it. But at least he’ll go. So leave him alone.”

Connor was frowning. “How often does this guy show up here?” he asked her.

“Too much if you ask me. I almost feel like it’s harassment at this point. And the funny thing is, every time he comes, something seems to go wrong. I don’t know if it’s just that I get nervous and then I don’t keep focused on what I’m doing or what.”

Connor’s gaze narrowed. “What sort of things go wrong?”

“Oh...one time the oven wouldn’t work anymore and I had to get a repairman out. Another time somehow the refrigerator got unplugged and it was hours before we knew it. A lot of supplies spoiled and I had to throw them out.”

“No kidding.” He frowned. “Is he the same official who comes every time?”

“No. But he does come the most. And he says the goofiest things. In fact, I called the health department to complain about him a few weeks ago. They claimed they hadn’t sent anyone.”

Connor’s face was hard as stone. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“I know. But what can I do? I don’t dare confront him. What if he pulls my license?”

Connor shook his head. “Jill, I don’t buy it for a minute.”

She stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“I think he’s a phony. He’s got to go.”

“What?” She grabbed at his arm to stop him, but he pulled away and marched back into the kitchen, catching the stranger with a tiny camera in his hand.

“Get the hell out of here,” he told the inspector in a low, furious voice.

“Connor!” Jill cried, coming in behind him. “You can’t talk that way to the inspector!”

But the man seemed to take Connor quite seriously. He raised his hands as though to show he didn’t mean any harm and said, “Okay, okay. Take it easy. I’m going.”

And he turned around and left as quickly as he could.

Jill stared after him, then looked at Connor. “What the heck?” she cried.

He turned and gave her a look. “Jill, that man’s not a real health inspector. Can’t you see that?”

“No.” She blinked in bewilderment. “What is he then?”

“A private investigator pretending to be a health inspector.”

“But why would...?” Her face cleared. “Brad!”

Connor nodded. “That’s my guess.”

She sank into a chair. “Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe that. Brad sent him to spy on me.”

“And to sabotage your business, I would guess.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Why didn’t I think of that? I knew there was something fishy about the way he kept showing up.” She looked up at Connor. “I should have known.”

But Connor was still thinking things over. “Okay, I’m ready to believe that was Brad at work. So the question is, what else has he been meddling in?”

She thought for a moment, then put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my gosh.” She grabbed his hand and held it tightly. “Connor, I don’t know this for sure, but I was told that Brad tried to get them to disallow my license. Right at the beginning.”

He lowered himself into the chair beside her, still holding her hand. “Why would he do that?”

“Well, he never wanted me to keep this house. He thought I ought to move to the mainland and get an apartment, put the kids in day care and get a regular job. He sort of acted like he thought I was trying to extort money from him by doing anything else.”

His face was cold as granite. “Tell me more.”

“It took a while to get started. At first, I didn’t have any of the right equipment. I used every penny I got from Brad to help pay for the commercial oven, but I still needed to buy a three-unit sink and the special refrigeration I needed. When he found out what I was doing, he was furious.”

“And stopped giving you money,” he guessed.

She nodded. “Pretty much. Which only made it more important that I find a way to grow my business.” She laced her fingers with his.

“You know, you hit a place where you can either move forward, or settle for something less, and get stuck in that great big nowhere land.” She sighed. “In order to get to where I might make some actual profit, I had to take the chance. I needed funding. So...”

She met his gaze and looked guilty. “So, yes, I took out a loan so that I could finish buying the supplies I needed.”

“What did you use to get a loan? The house?”

She nodded. “That’s why it’s so scary that this house is still underwater and they won’t give me a mortgage modification.”

“You’ve tried?”

“Countless times.”

“You’re in a tight spot.”

She nodded. “I’m standing at the edge of the cliff, you mean. And the ground is starting to crumble under my feet.”

His free hand took her chin and lifted her face toward his, then he leaned in and kissed her softly. “I’ll catch you,” he said, his voice husky. “I’m here, Jill. I won’t let you hit the rocks.”

She smiled, loving his generous spirit, but not really believing his words. How could he stop the chain of events that seemed to be overwhelming her? It wasn’t likely. They’d had a good day yesterday and he’d made that possible. But goodwill—and cake sales—could only go so far. Every step forward seemed to bring on two steps back. She was beginning to lose hope.

He hesitated, then shook his head and drew back from her. “Okay, here’s what I don’t understand. This just really gets to me. Why do you let Brad still be such a huge part of your life?”

“I...I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. You’re divorced. He’s not even giving you the money you should be getting for the kids. He doesn’t want anything to do with the children.” He frowned, searching her eyes. “Why let him affect you in any way? Why maintain any ties at all?”

She blinked. It was hard to put this in words. How to explain how alone she felt in the world? In some ways, Brad was still her only lifeline. It was too scary to cut that off.

“The only real, legal ties we still have is the business,” she said instead of trying to explain her emotional connection to her past. “I still own fifteen percent of it.”

He nodded. He knew that. “Do you have a voting position on the board?”

She shrugged. “I’m not really sure if I do or not. I think I’m supposed to but I’ve never tried to use it. I suppose I should ask a lawyer.”

“At the very least.”

“The only reason I keep it, to tell you the truth, is that emotionally, I just can’t give up on it yet. It’s still a part of my life, a part of my past, all those years we spent building it into the enterprise it is today.”

He nodded. Did that answer the question? Her ties to Brad were still too strong. But were they that way from fear...or love? Hard to pull those two apart for analysis. And the answer to that meant everything.

Connor was so angry inside, both at Brad and at himself, he couldn’t stay near her for now. Instead he went out and walked down to the ferry and then around the quaint little village and back again. He finally had something he wanted to say to Brad, but when he tried calling him, he found his old pal had turned the tables, and now he wasn’t taking calls from Connor.

Voice mail was his only recourse. He waited for the beep.

“Hey, Brad. I just wanted to let you know that I know the health inspector is a phony. He’s someone who works for you. If he comes here again, I’ll have him arrested for impersonating a government employee.

“About those shares. If you really want them so badly, why don’t you come and ask her for them like a man? Why don’t you face her? And why don’t you offer her something real? You never know what might happen.

“In the meantime, other than that, leave Jill alone. Go live your own life and forget about hers.”

He clicked off and tried to tame the rage that roiled in him. Jill didn’t deserve any of this. He only hoped she would let him stay here to help her get out from under all this. He knew she couldn’t get Brad out of her system, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. He didn’t care about his own emotional involvement anymore. So, he was probably going to get his heart broken. So what? His love for Jill was too strong to try to deny any longer. And all he wanted was what was good for her. He had to stay.

When he walked into the house, he heard Jill singing in the kitchen. He had to stop for a moment and listen, marveling at her. What was she, some kind of angel? Whatever—she was everything he knew he wanted. And would probably never have.

“Hey,” he told her as he came up behind her, putting his arms around her. She leaned back into him and smiled. “I’m getting pretty funky in these clothes,” he said. “I think I’ll run into town and get some fresh things from the hotel room. Can I bring anything back for you?”

She turned in his embrace and kissed him. “Just bring yourself back. That’s all I need,” she said.

He kissed her again and the kiss deepened. The way he felt about her grew every time he touched her. Right now, it seemed like fireworks going off in his chest. This was the way he wished it could always be.

* * *

Jill stood at the sliding glass door looking out at the grassy hill that was her backyard. Connor was outside playing with the twins, chasing them up and down the hill, laughing, picking up one and then the other to whirl about and land gently again. Her heart was full of bittersweet joy. Tears trembled in her eyes.

If only Brad could be this way. If he really met the boys, if he tried to get to know them, wouldn’t he realize how wonderful they were? Wouldn’t he have to love them? Wouldn’t that make everything better?

As she watched, Connor fell, iron-cross style, into a huge bed of leaves, and the boys raced each other to jump on top of him. She could hear the laughter from where she was behind glass and it answered her own questions.

No. Brad would never love the boys, because he didn’t want to. He wouldn’t let himself. It was time she faced facts.

She heard the front door open and she turned that way.

“Jill!”

“In here, Sara.” She frowned. Her sister’s voice sounded high and strained. What had happened now?

Sara appeared, looking a little wild. “Did you get the letter?”

“What letter?”

“From Social Services.” She waved an official-looking envelope. “Did you get one, too?”

“I don’t know. Connor brought in the mail. I think he left it on the entryway table. Let me get it.”

She stepped into the foyer and found the envelope Sara was talking about. Connor and the boys were coming back into the family room as she returned to it. The boys were jumping around him like puppies.

“I promised them ice cream,” he said after nodding at Sara. “I’m hoping you actually have some.”

“Don’t worry.” Jill put the envelope down and went into the kitchen. They all followed her and she pulled two Popsicles out of the freezer for them. “They’ll accept this as a substitute,” she said. “Now go on out and play in the sunroom. I don’t care if you drip all over that floor.”

They did as they were told, dancing happily on their toes. Connor laughed as he watched them go, then looked at Jill. They shared a secret smile.

Sara groaned. “Come on. Open the mail. You won’t believe this.”

“What does it say?”

“You need to read it for yourself. Go ahead. Read it. I’ll wait.”

Connor looked at Sara and said, “Hey, you look really upset.”

Her eyes flashed his way. “Did Jill tell you about our stepsister? She died in a car accident last week.”

“Yes, she did tell me. I’m sorry.”

Sara nodded, then looked at Jill, waiting.

Moments later, Jill handed the letter to Connor and he noticed right away that her fingers were trembling. She turned and looked at her sister, wide-eyed. “I don’t believe it.”

Sara nodded, looking flushed. “Told you.”

Connor glanced at the letter. It seemed to be about someone named Kelly Darling. Then he connected the name. It was the stepsister who had died the week before. Kelly Darling. It seemed that Kelly had a baby. A three-month-old baby. Jill and Sara were her only living relatives that could be found. Would either of them care to claim the child?

“A baby,” he said. “And you didn’t know?”

“No.” Jill shook her head. “I guess she wasn’t married. We hadn’t heard from her for so long.”

Sara nodded mournfully. “And now, a baby.”

Jill felt tears threatening again. “Poor little thing.”

Sara flashed her a look. “Kelly’s baby.” She shook her head. “I don’t think we’ve seen Kelly more than three times in the last fifteen years.”

“And that’s our fault,” Jill said mournfully. “We should have made more of an effort.”

Sara shrugged. “Why? She never liked us. The last time I saw her, she was furious with me.”

Jill looked surprised. “What happened?”

“She wanted to borrow five thousand dollars to help pay for a certification class she wanted to take.”

“Some kind of computer class?”

“No. It was to qualify as a professional dog trainer. When I pointed out that I didn’t see how she was going to be able to pay me back on the salaries beginning dog trainers make, she told me I was ruining her life and she never wanted to see me again.”

Jill sighed. “Well, she was an awfully cute little baby.”

Sara looked at Jill and bit her lip. “I’m sure they’ll find some relative we don’t even know about to take the child.”

Jill frowned. “Maybe. But...”

“Jill!” Sara cried. “Don’t you dare! There is no way you can take on another baby.”

Jill looked pained. “What about you?” she asked.

“Me?” Sara’s face registered shock. It was obvious that option hadn’t even entered her mind. “Me?” She shook her head strenuously. “I don’t do babies. I can barely manage to watch your little angels for more than an hour without going mad.”

“Sara, she’s our flesh and blood. She’s our responsibility.”

“How do you figure that? I don’t see it. She was Kelly’s responsibility, and now they’ll find someone to adopt her. Tons of people want babies that age.”

Jill was shaking her head. “I don’t know....”

Sara groaned and looked tortured. Stepping closer, she took her sister’s hands in her own. “Jill, I haven’t come right out and told you this. I’ve tried to hint it, just to prepare you, but... I’m going to be moving down to Los Angeles. And my job is going to include almost constant travel, especially to New York. There’s no room for a baby in that scenario.” She had tears sliding down her cheeks. “And that also means I won’t be here to help you. You can’t even begin to think of taking this baby.”

Jill looked at her and didn’t say a thing.

Connor watched her. She was going to take the baby. He could tell. He tried to understand the dynamics here. This was another blow to Jill, another obstacle in her struggle to survive. And yet, that wasn’t the way she was taking it. She didn’t look at it as the end of her hopes and dreams, a financial and emotional disaster. She was seeing it as another burdensome responsibility, but one that she would accept. He’d known her for years but he’d never realized how deep her strength went. Where had that come from? Where had she found the capacity to take on everyone else’s problems? Was being the oldest sister the key? Or was it just the way her soul was put together?

“They’ll find a good home for the baby somewhere, I’m sure,” Sara was insisting. “Don’t they have agencies to do things like that?”

Jill frowned. That just wasn’t right and she knew it. “Sara...”

Sara closed her eyes and turned away.

“I’ve got to go. I’m expecting half a dozen calls and I’ve got to prepare myself.” She looked back and hesitated, then said with fierce intensity, “Jill, you can’t be considering taking that baby. I won’t let you.”

Jill winced. She knew what was going to happen. It was inevitable. She couldn’t expect Sara to understand. Babies...life...family—that was what she’d been put on earth to deal with. So Brad hadn’t worked out. Too bad. So her cake business was trembling on the brink and might just crumble. Okay. But turn down taking care of a baby? Her father’s grandchild? Her own niece? No. Impossible. If Sara couldn’t face it, that baby had only one chance.