Surprise! Surprise!
Tina Leonard
DADDY KNOWS LAST!San Antonio, TexasSeems one Sam Winston returned home today to discover he was a bona fide father… of twins! Was it possible that his bride, Maddie, had taken an unexpected withdrawal from Sam's Maitland Maternity sperm bank deposit? Well, two cooing newborns sure aren't going to lie! Sam's a daddy. And spittin' mad as to why his dear wife didn't let him in on the surprise nine months earlier….
Maitland Maternity Hospital
Is proud to announce the births of two sets of twins,
Born May 2, 2000
Henry and Hayden Winston
To proud
mama Maddie Winston and
surprised papa Sam
And
Lilly and Daisy Blackstone
To astounded uncle Mason and
his soon-to-be-bride, Gina Kennedy
The exciting story is just inside. Don’t miss—
Surprise! Surprise!
Tina Leonard
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To Isabel Sites, Georgina Haynes, Leesa Whitson, Olivia Holton, Suzanne Coleburn and Ken Lester, Donita Lawrence, Oleta North, Denise O’Sullivan and Natashya Wilson. Without all of the above-mentioned people, the author Tina Leonard might not exist.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tina Leonard loves to laugh, which is one of the many reasons she loves writing Harlequin American Romance books. In another lifetime, Tina thought she would be single and an East Coast fashion buyer forever. The unexpected happened when Tina met Tim again after many years—she hadn’t seen him since they’d attended school together from first through eighth grade. They married, and now Tina keeps a close eye on her school-age children’s friends! Lisa and Dean keep their mother busy with soccer, gymnastics and horseback riding. They are proud of their mom’s “kissy books” and eagerly help her any way they can. Tina hopes that readers will enjoy the love of family she writes about in her books. Recently a reviewer wrote, “Leonard has a wonderful sense of the ridiculous,” which Tina loved so much, she wants it for her epitaph. Right now, however, she’s focusing on her wonderful life and writing a lot more romance!
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Sam Winston—Went from making business deals to changing babies’ diapers.
Maddie Winston—Got tired of waiting for motherhood!
Henry and Hayden Winston—Twin baby brothers born by a miracle of love.
Virgil and Franny Brady & Severn and Sara Winston—They’d try anything to get their children back together again, especially baby-sit.
Joey Brady—Maddie’s younger brother’s near miss turns out to be a blessing in disguise.
Dr. Abby Maitland—She’s delivered hundreds of babies, but twins are her favorites.
Dr. Mitchell Maitland—He’s helped dozens of couples have the families they’ve always wanted.
Megan Maitland—The founder of Maitland Maternity has a special place in her heart for all the children born here.
Mason and Gina Blackstone—Read about their story in I Do! I Do! coming next month.
Daisy and Lilly Blackstone—Twin baby sisters born prematurely who bring together a lonely rancher and a virginal nurse, in I Do! I Do!
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Chapter One
“Without Maitland Maternity, and Dr. Mitchell Maitland, this miracle wouldn’t have happened.” Maddie Winston swallowed, her eyes glowing with soft happiness as she looked at her precious newborns. Twin boys. She still couldn’t believe it. A grateful sigh tightened her throat but she looked at the newspaper reporters and the local TV crew, forcing herself to keep her voice even so the tears wouldn’t well up and spill over. “Dr. Abby Maitland has my profound thanks for making the birth process a wonderful, spiritual one. A new mother couldn’t ask for anything more.”
“What the devil is going on in here?” a male voice roared suddenly, drying her tears and stiffening her spine. The path of crew and reporters parted to reveal her long-lost husband.
Maddie faced Sam squarely, though the shock of seeing him again after all these months—and today of all days—made her knees slightly weak. “What’s going on is a small media conference, Sam.”
“Small?” He whirled to stare at the reporters, doctors and nurses clogging the room.
“Who’s he?” an intrepid reporter called.
She stared at Sam’s angry expression and cast subtlety to the wind. “The sperm donor,” Maddie said brightly.
“The sper—” His furious eyes glared at her.
“Conference is over,” Abby called, efficiently clearing the room, in command as always. “The parents need some time alone.”
Maddie turned away. The last thing she needed was time alone with Sam. How could he have found out? She’d wanted to tell him in her own way, in her own time. When she’d known for certain everything would be all right with the babies.
The truth was that she’d procrastinated longer than she should have, not wanting to call the man who’d left her to admit she’d made a tiny withdrawal which had certainly paid astonishing dividends.
“How could you have kept this from me?” he demanded once the room emptied.
She put her hands on her hips. “How could I have told you?” Drawing herself up, she faked bravado to cover her racing heart. “You were in France. I was here in Texas. We haven’t talked in nine months. There didn’t seem to be a good time.”
Maybe it was a lame excuse, but it was best to keep the past firmly between them. A barrier neither of them wanted to cross. The marriage was over, no emotions left to feel, no ties to bind—except these two babies.
“So they are mine?” He slung a curious, possibly frightened glance at the twin bassinets. “Your brother didn’t make this up as a sick joke?”
Her stomach curled, tightening against the pain. “Are you saying Joey called you?”
“Yeah.” A tic worked in his jaw. “Why were all these reporters and people in here? Was everybody supposed to know about this except me?”
“Sam, while I’m glad you’re interested in the children—”
“Somehow you’ve made me a father. Didn’t you think I’d be interested?”
Not in loving her, of course. In duty. “I prefer to think of your concern in this to be a minor one. We’re separated. I won’t be the first single mom in history.”
“Just a mother with children she stole.”
“I did not steal them!”
“I’m pretty sure I had some legal rights in this matter. You just can’t take my…my—”
“Yes?” She raised her eyebrows, sensing his discomfort. “Sperm?”
“Stop saying that! It sounds so…clinical.”
She went to the overnight bag she’d been repacking from her stay in the hospital. “It was a clinical procedure. I never thought of it as anything else.” But she’d known he’d be unhappy, when he found out. Eventually, she would have told him.
When she’d found the right words.
“I can’t move back from France right now. We’re in the middle of a start-up project which has taken months to get into place.”
“I don’t remember asking you to return.” She told herself it didn’t hurt that he wasn’t more amazed by the miracle which had happened. She didn’t still love him. Would fight against loving him with everything in her broken heart. “Weekend visitation is all but impossible two continents apart. Don’t worry. These are my children.”
“And you expect me to walk out of their lives?”
A wheelchair was brought in. The nurse helped her into it. “Would you like to hold the babies, Ms. Brady? For the cameras?”
“Forget the cameras! This family is not going to be fodder for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, or Guinness Book, or whatever publicity stunt you’re pulling. And the last name of those infants is Winston.”
Maddie ignored the growl she remembered so well from the moment their marriage had begun to unravel. She was thirty-eight, and wanted children. He was forty-two, and hadn’t felt the need the way she had. He was happy. She had not been. “Yes, please hand me the boys.”
“Does using your maiden name not embarrass you? For them?” Glancing at the names on the ankle bands, he read, “Henry. Hayden.” He grunted. “As much as I appreciate you at least naming these boys with our fathers’ middle names, my name had better be on the birth certificates.”
She smiled down into her babies’ sleeping faces. “You’re on there, Sam. If you’ll excuse me, we need to return to filming.”
“Filming? You’re a movie star, now that you’ve robbed the bank?”
A stinging retort was on the tip of her tongue, but the nurse thrust the wheelchair handles into Sam’s hands. “Mr. Winston, the reporters said that it would be a great touch if you pushed Ms. Brady out to the curb.”
“Reporters be damned!”
“Interesting French you picked up while you were abroad,” Maddie murmured.
“How do you expect me to feel?” he gritted out.
“Like a happy father?”
“I don’t think so.”
She could practically hear him grinding his teeth as he pushed her past a throng of people, clapping and waving at them as if they had done something special. Of course they had. This whole staff had invested their hopes and future medical hopes on her and her special babies.
“You only have to put up with us until you leave again,” she said to him in a whisper, unable to hide a trace of bitterness.
“Did I say anything about leaving again?”
“I assume you will. Foreign investments and all that.” She waved to a couple of nurses who had showed her how to bathe the tiny babies. And how to feed and care for them, one at a time and sometimes both at once.
“You’ll need help. I don’t see how I can go back for a while.”
“Order your one-way ticket, Sam. Since your parents moved next door to me, I have all the help I need. Plus Joey’s almost out of college for the summer, and is planning on helping in between football camps.”
He stopped the chair at the curb, putting the brake on before stepping in front of it. “Did you say my parents moved in next to you?”
“Last month. Didn’t they tell you?”
“Not exactly. They said they were moving to a warmer climate, someplace where the winters weren’t quite as cold. I thought that was a great idea. But I was thinking South Padre, not Austin.”
“Oh, well,” she said brightly. “Austin is so much better than Amarillo, as far as they’re concerned.”
“I guess so.”
She could tell he was very nonplussed by his parents’ choice of residence. In a way she felt sorry for him. He was the last person on the planet who’d known about the babies. “My parents live on the other side, in the Reefer’s old house,” she said softly, as he helped her into the waiting limo the hospital had ordered. She had to speak softly because reporters were still running tape, the Maitlands were still smiling, blue carnations in green paper were pressed into her hand—and she so much wanted to appear like a normal family. No matter how much they weren’t.
“Anything else you’d like to enlighten me on? Maybe just when you felt like I needed to know?”
She sensed his hurt and understood. “Would you like to ride with us?”
“I may as well,” he muttered. “We’re enough of a spectacle as it is.”
“I prefer to think of it as a circus. Active, bright, colorful, cheery. That’s our family tree.”
“That’s not how I’d describe a circus.”
She stared at the babies which were securely in car seats, one next to each parent. “Wave,” she instructed. “With a big smile. Maitland Maternity has given us a future.”
She waved madly, smiling from the limo window as the car pulled away. Sam eschewed the all-is-right-with-the-world appearance. Absolutely nothing was right in his world.
He saw the delighted smile brightening his wife’s pixie face, eyes glowing with happiness and pride as she called thanks to everyone on the hospital sidewalk waving goodbye to them—and knew nothing had been right since he’d left.
He missed the hell out of her. Unfortunately it didn’t seem she felt the same way. She had everything she’d ever wanted now—and more.
“CAN YOU HEAR anything?” Sara Winston asked Franny Brady, who had her ear pressed to a glass held firmly against the closed bedroom door.
Tufts of Franny’s iron-gray hair stood up a bit wildly as she leaned close to listen. “It’s pretty quiet.”
“Oh. That doesn’t bode well.” Sara pursed her lips. “Maybe Sam doesn’t like the new decor. It’s possible we went a teensy bit overboard with the Miami look.”
Franny shook her head. “Maddie needed decorating with attitude. It lifted her spirits considerably.”
“Has he gone into the bathroom yet?”
“I haven’t heard any howls. Guaranteed if he didn’t like the bedroom, he’ll resist the oranges-and-bananas tropical wallpaper and—”
“Shh!” Sara didn’t want to think about it. The pretty fountain they’d installed on the bathroom counter might not exactly be a hit. Of course, if they’d gotten the water to flow out of the statue’s bowl instead of shooting from the woman’s mouth, it wouldn’t be so bad. “We may have some tweaking to do here and there. But all in all, I think we did a good job.”
“Sure he’ll be proud of how much we’ve tried to do in his absence.” Franny pulled away from the door, and they went up the staircase to join the rest of the family. “Not that I mean to criticize your son, Sara. My daughter was just as much at fault.”
Grandfathers Virgil Brady and Severn Winston rocked in matching white rockers.
“Where are the babies?” Franny demanded, seeing that the grandfathers weren’t holding babies as they’d been when she’d left.
“Maddie came and got them for a bath,” Virgil answered. “She said they needed a feeding and a nap. A second later, I heard the doorbell ring. Who was it?”
“Sam,” Sara said grimly. “And he barely had a word to say to us! You’d think that boy could hug his mother after being gone so long. Not so much as the courtesy of a phone call to tell us he was coming back! But as soon as Franny told him Maddie was in their, uh, her bedroom, he headed in there so fast you would have thought bees were after him.”
Maddie’s nineteen-year-old college-linebacker brother, Joey, halted in the process of stacking diapers, putting away tiny infant clothes and carefully placing numerous baby gifts, which had been delivered to the hospital, on rectangular window seats around the nursery. “I called him,” Joey confessed. “He knows what Maddie did.”
“You called Sam in France?” Franny asked with a gasp. “When?”
“Yesterday. Someone had to tell him about the babies.” Joey’s face was miserable. “I don’t think Maddie could. I think she had good intentions of telling him what she’d done, but as the months wore on, I think she got too scared.”
“We promised her,” Sara said. “Maddie’s going to be angry. She wanted to tell him herself. She asked us just this once to let her handle her life. Oh, dear,” she moaned. “And yet I do believe you have a point, too, Joey. It did seem as if she never got around to making that call. I do believe in my heart that she was so distressed she simply froze.”
“Never mind that. There’s a saying about playing the cards you’re dealt. And Sam and Maddie have been dealt a pair of sweethearts.” A pleased grin lit Franny’s face. “No wonder he was in such a hurry. I’d say that’s a good sign.”
“Nothing to do but sit and wait for the explosion,” Virgil said. “Come here, woman.” He gestured to his wife, and Franny went to sit on his lap.
Too refined to lap-sit, Sara took the window seat closest to Severn. They sat silently for a long moment, surveying the gentle decor and cheery blue and white train furnishings with pleasure. “Now, this room we did right,” Franny said.
“I agree.” It was the room Sara had enjoyed redecorating the most.
“So, how are Sam and Maddie?” Virgil wanted to know. “Did you get to see them together before the boudoir door slammed shut? Did they rush into each other’s arms?” His sun-furrowed skin creased with hopeful expectation. Like his energetic wife, he wore faded, comfortable clothes much like he’d worn on the cotton farm they’d spent their long marriage working. Just as they’d worked the farm, Virgil and Franny were putting every ounce of their effort into seeing that these grandbabies had parents who lived under the same roof—even if they hadn’t been under the same roof for nine months.
“I don’t think that’s exactly how it went,” Franny said sadly.
“A bit of tweaking is all they need,” Sara said. “I can tell our son still loves your daughter.”
“Tweaking is good. Tweaking is important.” Franny screwed up her face. “Maybe we should vacate to our houses so they can tweak.”
Sara thought about that for a moment before shaking her head. “Let’s just carry on as we planned. Sam left. Sam will have to adjust. If Maddie wants us to leave, that’s different, but she might feel we’ve abandoned her in her hour of need.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way!” Franny was aghast. “My daughter did feel deserted when Sam left the country. Although I’m sure he’d rather have stayed if they could have worked matters out. If he’d felt that she wanted him to stay.”
“For the sake of these precious grandchildren, we must act as if nothing’s changed. Even if everything has changed, from the decor to…well, you know.”
The two women shared a conspiratorial glance. “Everything could change back,” Franny said thoughtfully. “Maybe we haven’t seen the last of the Brady-Winston miracles!”
“You said that right before you turned the fountain on,” Sara reminded her. “We rigged that the wrong way.”
“Well, the second time is supposed to be the charm.” Franny brightened considerably, jade-green eyes identical to her daughter’s glowing with mischievous intent. “This time, the plumbing is sure to work just fine!”
Chapter Two
“I feel like I’ve been hit by a two-by-four,” Sam muttered as he stared at the two babies in matching bassinets in the bedroom he had once shared with his wife. “I’m a father!”
Maddie smiled as she stood beside him. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
His almost-ex wife was beautiful. The tiny, writhing potato sacks with appendages he could only call astonishing. “I don’t understand how you did this. How could you not have told me?”
He turned from the babies to the woman he’d been separated from for nine months. Was there a woman on the planet who could make him feel the emotions Maddie made him feel? Love, anger, desire, admiration—they all mixed together when he thought about her.
Unfortunately, right now anger was high on his emotional thermometer.
“Dr. Mitchell Maitland called one day to discuss a new, experimental procedure he thought might work well considering my age, and our history,” Maddie told him.
Her cheeks pinkened a bit, but Sam told himself to ignore that particular trait he’d always found charming.
“I’m sure it’s not too hard for you to understand that I leaped at the chance. And when I learned the procedure had been successful and that I was expecting, I didn’t want you to come rushing back to America just because I was pregnant.”
“Rushing back! We tried for five years to have children! Damn right I would have rushed back.”
Maddie shook her head. “But what if it had just been another disappointment?” She lowered her gaze. “I couldn’t tell you, Sam. I just couldn’t.”
He could feel his wife’s pain. He’d felt it for months himself. The worst part was wanting a child—and wondering if he was the reason it wouldn’t happen.
He reached to tip her chin up with a finger. “I would have wanted to be with you.”
“I know. But anything could have happened, Sam, anything! And I…”
Her words drifted away, but her meaning did not. Sam took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Maddie,” he said. “I should have called you. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to France.” He hesitated, knowing that wasn’t even the beginning of what needed to be said. “We should never have separated. I think these babies are a sign we should have stayed together.”
“I don’t know,” Maddie murmured. “I kind of think we needed some time apart.”
Sam grunted, reaching into a bassinet. The baby boy looking out at him had his blue eyes but Maddie’s hair color, the fiery hue of sunshine-dappled maple wood. When he touched the tiny fisted hand, the baby wrapped its fingers tightly around his, surprising him. A fierce protectiveness rushed into Sam’s chest. “I’m not leaving you again.”
“Sam.” Maddie’s tone forced him to look at her. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but…I don’t want to be the way we were.”
He didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Married?”
She nodded. “I mean, I know that technically we are, because we never actually filed with the court for divorce, but we did live apart for nine months. I feel like we aren’t married anymore.”
He held up a palm. “Don’t say divorce to me right now.”
“I’m not. But I don’t want us to live together, either.”
Shock filled him. “These are my children! You’re my wife! Where else would I live?”
“I don’t know.” Her eyes filled with pain. “You’re welcome to come by as often as you like, of course.”
He stared at her, disbelieving. “When were you going to tell me about the babies, Maddie? If your brother hadn’t called me, would I ever have known?”
“Yes!” Her face was stricken. “I would have told you. I meant to tell you.”
“I should have been there. For you. For them.” He glanced at the babies, their little heads poking out of matching blue T-shirts. “For all of us,” he murmured.
They were chubby-cheeked infants, blissful in their innocence. One had gone to sleep quite contentedly. The other sleepily blinked his eyes at his new world, which wasn’t quite in focus.
Surprise, surprise.
And now Sam and Maddie had what they’d always wanted. Actually, had what they’d wanted times two.
But she didn’t want him. Or their marriage.
Okay. Three was a crowd, but four made a family.
He was going to romance her socks off until she clearly saw that Mommy needed Daddy, babies needed Daddy—and a wife needed her husband by her side.
To love, honor and cherish, for better, for worse.
“MARTIN, LISTEN.” Sam rolled his eyes as he stared at the ceiling. Talking to his lawyer required having a better handle on the chaos that had become his life; his grip had slipped disastrously. “I know you didn’t know I was planning on having children. The point is, I have them, and I need you to draw up a will that includes them.”
“I heard you, Sam. And as your lawyer, I have to advise that you have appropriate tests run before you assume Maddie is correct about your paternity,” Martin insisted. “Don’t get your butt in a sling just because you’ve let the guilt squeeze be applied to your heart. Think with your wallet.”
“My wallet pays your salary,” Sam reminded him.
“And I earn my salary by protecting your interests,” Martin retorted. “I’ll do anything you instruct me to do, Sam. And you know how much I like Maddie. It damn near killed me to have to think about drawing up divorce papers. You know that! She’s like everybody’s kid sister.”
“Not mine.”
“Okay, half the male population sees her in a kid-sister light. The other half would kill for just five minutes to kiss the lace of her underwear.”
“I will assume you are in the first category, unless you want your head removed from your shoulders,” Sam said dryly.
“Definitely, buddy,” Martin answered hastily. “But that’s what I mean. I hated to see you lose her, especially when I know there are multitudes of clowns just waiting for a babe like her. But now I’m telling you to cover your bases. Not that Maddie’s lying. What if the test tubes got scrambled in the lab or something?”
“What are you saying? That my kids could have problems and I shouldn’t provide for them?”
“I’m saying don’t you want to know for certain that this Maitland clinic got your genes mixed with Maddie’s before you take the serious step of changing your will?”
Sam digested that for a moment. “No.”
“Why not?”
“It wouldn’t really matter to me, Martin. Maddie and I talked about adopting kids at one point, anyway. The process was long and arduous, and we didn’t make it through many of the steps before…” Before he’d snapped under the pressure of not being able to give his wife what she wanted. And now she’s done it, without me. She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved. What difference would adopted children or my test-tube results make? She loves them. And so will I. “Why should I have tests to establish paternity? Just to find out those aren’t my babies? Call me a dreamer, Martin. I don’t want to find out they’re not mine. I’d rather assume I’m just chock-full of egg-seeking, healthy, tough, indestructible sperm. Do you mind?”
Martin sighed. “You know, your ego is skewed. Most men would need to know that their money wasn’t being used to take care of another man’s progeny. You? You just want to get Maddie back.”
“I want to believe I can have progeny,” Sam growled. “Ego cost me my wife. Smart men learn from their mistakes.”
“I know,” said Martin. “That’s why I keep you on as a client, even though you don’t listen to a word I say. You’re a good man, and a lawyer ought to have one good client who isn’t looking for a loophole.”
Sam frowned. “Speaking of loopholes…”
“Oh, boy,” Martin said. “Don’t make me cry, Sam.”
“I may not be the hero you think I am. Get out the tissues. I haven’t been feeling very heroic lately.” Mainly, he felt like he’d let his sons down by not being present at their birth. I shouldn’t have left Maddie to her own devices. I let my pride overrule my heart.
“I’ve known you since high school. It’s tough to suffer any illusions about a guy who used a jock strap as a slingshot in the locker to defend me from the A-string army. I became a lawyer to protect you from any and all litigation your bad humor got you into from that day forward.”
“It was only a few overdeveloped knot-heads who needed to be taken down a peg. You could have used your own jock strap if it had been bigger.”
“Great. Always the personal jibes about the short, skinny guy,” Martin complained.
“But you don’t owe me your life from that day forward,” Sam told him gently. “I merely want one simple thing.”
“Name it,” Martin said, as always.
“I want to find out how I keep Maddie from dipping into my sperm savings in the future. I have rights in this matter, and I want them exercised. I know she wants more children. Four was always her dream number. I just don’t want my name in the father slot on her future lab experiments.”
Martin coughed, and it sounded like whatever he was drinking spewed everywhere. “You really are giving up the hero role, aren’t you, buddy?”
“Yeah. I still want it friendly and easy, the way you managed to work out the specifics of our separation.”
“Kid-glove detail.”
“Exactly.”
“Why do I have a bad feeling Maddie isn’t going to want to be my stand-in little sister after this?”
“Maddie believes I only want to be here for the sake of the children. She’s never going to be convinced that I want her for her, and that I honestly believe we belong together. Any future children are going to have to come from our physical—”
“I think I get your drift,” Martin interrupted. “I’ll get right on it.”
MADDIE STARED AT her mother and Sara, who’d come in to help her with diaper time. Then she burst into tears.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Franny demanded.
“I don’t know. I’m weepy for some reason.” Maddie touched the toes of her babies lovingly, each touch a miraculous sensation she cherished. “I think seeing Sam again has me off balance. This should be a happy day, and yet he’s angry with me. I expected him to be upset, but I didn’t realize how strained we would feel.” It had been so much better when she and Sam had enjoyed a happy marriage. To see him again after nine months had been a shock to her system. His anger had been heartbreaking.
Each grandmother took a child in her arms. Franny shooed Maddie toward the bathroom. “Take a shower. You’ll feel so much better if you do. A good warm shower will wash all those worries away.”
“All right.” Maddie sighed and went to get some fresh clothes. She was in between sizes. Her pregnancy clothes were too big now, and her regular clothes didn’t fit. She pulled out another pair of elastic shorts and a sleeveless top that would cover a nursing bra. “At least this gives me the illusion of working toward my normal body size.”
Franny eyed her over the sleeping baby in her arms. “Don’t rush yourself. I know you’re feeling tense with Sam right now, but I’m sure he finds you attractive just the way you are.”
“Men always think of your body the way it was before the baby,” Sara assured her. “At least Severn always says he still sees me as the girl he fell in love with.”
“Maybe that’s the trouble. Sam’s not in love with me. He’d live with me again, to give the children a proper family. But any deep feelings we had went out the window during our marriage.” Even though this had been a fact for a long time, Maddie still found it wrenching.
“He didn’t seem angry to me awhile ago,” Franny said. “Although I did hear him raise his voice a bit when he was on the phone.”
“Must have been about the wine company merger,” Sara guessed.
“I think he was talking to Martin,” Franny said with a frown.
“Oh, well. That explains it. He always yells at Martin.” Sara shook her head as she finished diapering a baby. “It’s not a normal legal relationship those two have, that’s for sure. I don’t yell at my lawyer. He’s too…uninvolved for me to yell at. I say what I want, and he does it.”
“Well, Sam never did what anyone wanted him to,” Franny asserted. “And Martin merely does his best to advise Sam, who is usually intractable, and I mean no insult to you and Severn. Sam is Sam and I’m sure he had Martin’s head in a vise for good reason. Now, dear, I’m positive Sam is simply trying to come up to speed on the fact that he’s a father, and he’s not angry with anyone.”
Maddie wanted to believe Franny’s words, yet was painfully aware of the wounds their marriage had suffered. “Mother, haven’t you ever heard the old saying there’s no going back?”
“Nope. Haven’t heard that one. I have heard that the second time’s the charm,” Franny said brightly.
“I don’t know. Something’s not right,” Maddie murmured. “We’re not on the same track anymore. Sam and I used to be compatible. We were very comfortable with each other. We’re just awkward now.” She glanced up at Sara and Franny. “Out of whack.”
“Out of whack?” Sara repeated.
“Not on the same wavelength,” Maddie clarified. “I have a funny feeling Sam called Martin about the babies.”
“Maybe he wanted to brag,” Sara suggested.
“Not if he was yelling. And that’s what makes me nervous. Sam never yelled before. He’s a very civilized person.”
“Well, Martin could drive a body to yell,” Franny pointed out.
“Custody agreements can’t be instated at this point, can they? Since the babies came after our separation?”
“Oh, Sam wouldn’t want to take the children away from you,” Sara said. “He wouldn’t think it was right for a mother and her children to be separated.”
“Well, they’re not just her children,” Franny said slowly. “As much as she thinks she did it on her own, she did require help. And that help was Sam’s doing. Reckon he has some rights where the boys are concerned. Maybe he just wants to know for sure, and that’s why he called Martin.”
“Oh, dear,” Maddie said. “I wouldn’t want my babies going to France for their visitations.”
“I’m sure Sam would let you come along,” Sara exclaimed. “Wouldn’t that be fun? The two of you and the children in such a romantic place?”
“You’re not helping,” Maddie said gently. “Sam and I do not want to take trips together.”
“Sam and I don’t want to do what?” Sam asked as he entered the room after briefly knocking.
“Don’t want to go to France together,” Maddie explained.
“No. We wouldn’t want to do that,” he concurred. “I just told Martin to rescind the offer to Jardin Wineries. I need to be here with the boys.” He looked fondly into the baby blanket Sara held and spoke soft gibberish to his son.
Sara and Franny both sent triumphant smiles at Maddie, before quietly exiting the room.
“Glad we got that all straightened out,” Maddie grumbled, not glad at all for some reason. In fact, now she felt grouchier than ever. Sam being around all the time meant he’d be underfoot all the time. She’d expected him to pop in and then pop out of her life.
It appeared he planned on staying. Her heart rate elevated, the blood singing through her body in giddy anticipation.
“And I also instructed Martin to draw up a will that includes my children. I want to make certain they’re taken care of should anything ever happen to me.”
Maddie’s blood stopped cold. Here she’d been thinking about Sam trying to obtain custodial rights, and he’d been thinking of the children’s well-being. “Oh, Sam,” she said. “You are a good man.”
“Not really.” His expression was a trifle sheepish. “I was just explaining to Martin the difference between a louse and a hero.”
“You’re not a louse.”
“Sometimes I am. You’re just seeing everything in a rosy light because you’ve just been through the miraculous process of birth. Amazing that little fellows like these can grow from…” He shook his head in silent, awed admiration as he stared over at his sons.
“I think I’m the louse,” Maddie said sadly. “I was thinking all kinds of bad thoughts about you when they told me you’d been on the phone yelling at Martin.”
“I yell at Martin when he aggravates the hell out of me, which he does frequently. He wants me to have the babies’ DNA matched to mine, in case there was a screwup in the Maitland blender.”
“Oh.” Maddie’s brows rose. “I would be very surprised if Maitland made a mistake such as that.”
“I told him it wouldn’t matter to me, anyway. You had those children, and you love them. They have my name on the birth certificate. If they’re not born from my cells, then it’s no different than if we’d adopted. Martin understands this now.”
“Oh, Sam.” Her eyes sparkled at him. “You have no louse potential at all.”
“I do,” he assured her. “I also told him I didn’t want any more withdrawals made from my account.”
Maddie lowered her head after staring into Sam’s eyes for a moment.
“Well, I wish you felt differently, of course. But I certainly understand.”
“You do?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “And when I’m ready to have more children, I’ll have Dr. Abby help me select another appropriate donor. Of course, I doubt there’s a man alive who could give me better children than you, but I certainly—”
“Maddie!” he bellowed. “You are not running a stud farm around here!”
“Sam—”
“This entire discussion infuriates me!” He glared at her. “Pardon me for having an adverse reaction to the idea of you blithely shopping for sperm!” He took a deep breath and glared at her again.
“Well, I’m not planning to try to become pregnant for quite a while, anyway. So there’s no need to be upset.”
“Until you leave one afternoon to go shopping. I won’t be thinking Neiman Marcus, I’m sure,” he grumbled.
She put a hand on his arm, and instinctively he reached to take that hand in his. When she realized he’d done it out of habit, reacting comfortably as he had hundreds of times before, she stiffened, then relaxed. It felt right to let Sam hold her hand. Their marriage had been close and loving. He was a good man, even if he had a slick lawyer. “I’m going to take a shower. Our mothers say I need to relax.”
“You definitely need to slow down. You keep me turning in circles.”
“I don’t mean to.”
“Don’t you?” He eyed her carefully. “Somehow I thought you were enjoying torturing me.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Not torturing. Although the occasional good-humored teasing does bring to your eyes a fire I remember well.”
He sank onto the bed, his shoulders slumped. “Just don’t let me find any lists lying around for a while, unless they’re for the grocery. Okay? And even then I’ll be doing the shopping for quite some time.”
“Safer that way?” she asked with a smile.
“I was thinking of your recovery, but yes, possibly it is safer if I know you’re tucked at home recuperating.”
He was still holding her hand in his, and warmth spread through Maddie. But she wanted to make certain he understood the whole situation. “Sam, you know I want more children, don’t you? I mean, if heaven smiles on me with more babies, I would consider it a dream come true.”
He looked up at her suddenly, his eyes full of the fire she loved. “Fine. Have four. Have ten. But just let me take a crack at getting you pregnant the old-fashioned way.”
Chapter Three
Sam had no idea why he offered. What was he saying? That he accepted that Maddie wouldn’t be his true wife, but a sexual relationship designed to create more children was fine with him? “I mean, if we were to have a real marriage, of course. I would be very vigilant with practicing.”
She tipped her head to look up at him. “Practicing?”
“Well, I couldn’t shoot out any arrows that hit the bull’s-eye before. Maybe I just needed more practice.”
“One thing I can never say about you, Sam, is that you were unskilled and out of practice.”
“I may be, after nine months.”
She smiled hesitantly, her face taking on a glow that spoke of happiness. “That almost sounds like a confession.”
“A confession of what?” He stared at her, confused. “Oh…you’re asking if I’ve been totally out of practice since our separation?”
She turned away. “It’s really none of my business. I read more into your remark than I should have.”
Yeah, but it had made her glow, and he liked that. Gently, he turned her to face him. “Yes, Maddie, it was a confession, even if I didn’t realize I was making one. There has been no other woman since you.”
She stared into his eyes, searching. Maybe she was trying to see his feelings. Surely she didn’t have to look so hard. He leaned forward to drop a soft kiss against her forehead.
“It shouldn’t make me so happy,” she said, her voice trembling as she leaned against his chest, her forehead resting at his throat. “It does, though. And that makes me so angry!”
“Why?” He held her away from him a little so he could see her face.
“I don’t want to love you anymore,” she said, sniffling. “I don’t want to sound mean, but it took my heart a long time to heal, Sam. Actually, it never has. It’s kind of hanging in my chest, a big, gaping wound that I don’t think will ever stop leaking sadness over our breakup. I just can’t go back there.”
“Back where?”
“To the hopes and dreams,” she said softly. “It was too hard when we couldn’t work things out. I learned the true meaning of heartbreak when I couldn’t give you children.”
“But I—”
“I know you didn’t want them as badly as I did. But substitute the baby issue for a different issue, Sam, and maybe I’ll let you down again. I don’t have any confidence in myself as a wife.”
“I was happy.”
“But that was the only real big issue our marriage was even tested with. What if something bigger came along?”
He wasn’t sure there was anything more momentous than not being able to get his wife pregnant when she wanted to be. “I think I see what you’re getting at. I felt the same way about not being able to give you something you desperately wanted. But just for the record, I didn’t have any complaints.”
“No, you didn’t. It was all my fault. I was the one who wanted children, and that destroyed our marriage.” She sighed and pulled slowly from his arms. “I caused us pain.”
“I have to shoulder my share of responsibility, Maddie. I shouldn’t have told you to choose between our marriage or the continual merry-go-round of fertility heartache. Those are words I can’t unsay, no matter how much I wish I could. Of course, I was expecting you to pick me.”
Maddie shook her head. “If I’d been any other woman, I would have. That’s the whole problem. I’m selfish.”
“You’re sweet, too. A man’s got to take the bitter with the sweet. Vinegar and sugar is probably a good recipe for something, isn’t it?”
“Salad dressing.” She crossed her arms thoughtfully, before meeting his gaze. “Not much nutrition in that.”
She was talking about nurturing their marriage. Sam nodded. “Guess nothing in life is perfect, Maddie. I like you just the way you are.”
“Yes, but you’re a better person than me, Sam, really. You want to have a marriage again. You’d want to try to make a baby with me. All this because I didn’t tell you I was trying to conceive without you here. It isn’t right if you’re the one who always does the compromising.”
“I’m just thinking what’s best. We’ve got two little babies to consider, and I want us to give them a good family. Two happy parents.”
“You’ve given up France, and your wine company,” she pointed out. “You’d looked for the right deal for a long time.”
“I think my life will be better in the long run if we merged Sam with Maddie in Texas. All I can think about right now is babies who need their father as well as their mother.”
“It’s so uneven,” she murmured. “Like the new shutters on the house. They’re lopsided, Sam, but only because Mom and Dad didn’t agree on what was even. She’d say up a little, he’d say no, they should be down a little, and the house ended up a little off balance.” She gave him a pain-filled glance, her delicate brows drawn together. “A little here, a little there all adds up. Somehow I think we’d end right back at square one.”
“You need some time to yourself,” Sam said softly, “and I think you said a shower might be relaxing. So I’m going out to visit with the extended family. Try to get some rest.”
She nodded slightly, her lower lip quivering, her eyes big and haunted as she watched him close the door behind him.
Outside, he hesitated, thinking about what they were doing. About what they weren’t doing.
She had never planned on him returning for good.
He wished that didn’t bother him as much as it did.
“IT’S NOT THAT WE DON’T want you here, Sam,” Sara Winston told her son as she walked him over to see her rented house. “We just aren’t set up for company. We’ve been spending all our time helping Maddie with her house. And in the final months of the pregnancy, she didn’t feel so well. In fact, she was housebound. Severn and I thought you’d want us here in Austin to help in any way we could.”
“I’m hardly company.”
She glanced away for an instant. “You know what I mean, surely. The only bed in this house is ours.”
Hard to argue with that. He was their only child, so it wasn’t like they’d ever plan for extended visits from farflung children. Except him, and clearly they had neither planned for nor expected his return. That didn’t make him feel one bit better. “You could have mentioned that your new address was next door to my ex-wife. I thought you were retiring to the coast.”
His mother adjusted her pearls. “Maddie told us this house had come up for rent, and Severn suggested we take a short lease to see how we liked the area. We weren’t certain, you know, if Maddie would get tired of having us around. To tell you the truth, Sam, it’s so much nicer being close to her. Otherwise we would be spending our time in hotels or hauling up and down the highway to visit. This way we avoid a great many sleepless nights and purposeless worrying from not knowing what was happening here. And we’ve had the time of our lives getting to know Maddie and the Bradys better. In fact, your father is seriously considering purchasing the house for our permanent retirement residence.”
“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me.”
“Maddie didn’t want us to, and we agreed, Sam. You can be angry if you like, but we did what we thought was best for you and Maddie.”
“Unfortunately, there is no Maddie and me.”
“Certainly there is. They’re named Henry and Hayden, and that’s all your father and I care about. We didn’t choose sides. We chose to live near our grandchildren and their mother.”
He kissed his mother on the cheek. “Thanks for looking after Maddie.”
“You should be next door with the children, anyway. Not over here with us.”
That wasn’t the way Maddie wanted it, and he’d decided to do things her way—for now. “It’s all going to work out, Mom. I’ll see you later.”
He left the house, intending to go back to Maddie’s.
“Sam!”
He straightened at the carrying sound of Franny Brady’s voice. “Yes, Franny?”
She gestured from the porch of what had last been the Reefers’ house. “Let me hug your neck, Sam. You haven’t given me a proper greeting.”
“Let me make up for that at once.” He sprang up onto the porch and gave her a sound, grateful hug.
“Now, you bad boy. You come inside and tell your old mother-in-law what was so pressing in France that you had to run off and leave us all in the lurch.” She went inside the comfortable one-story dwelling, leaving him to follow.
“Maddie and I agreed to separate,” he began in self-defense as she pointed him to a chair in her mahogany-paneled kitchen. “She wanted it just as much as I did.”
Franny put a paper plate on the table in front of him, loading it up with brownies and butterscotch cookies, then thumped down a glass of tea beside his plate. She stared at him from under iron-gray curls tumbling over her broad, lined forehead. Franny was from sturdy farm stock and didn’t tolerate guff in anyone. Her daughter had inherited a great deal of her head-on attitude. “You knew when you married my daughter that she wasn’t like any other woman. You always said that. Said she was original. That you wouldn’t find another like her if you hunted the world over. So, how’s the hunting?”
“I haven’t been hunting. Maddie is Maddie. One of a kind. But Franny, I couldn’t give her what she wanted, and it was difficult.”
Franny’s face softened. “I understand how hard that must be for you, Sam. But I think you jumped the gun. And damn it, I hate to lose the only man I’m positive I could stand for a son-in-law. Truly.”
That touched him. He’d gotten along very well with Franny and Virgil—once they’d accepted him. They hadn’t thought he’d be happy with their daughter, suggesting that perhaps his family was too embedded in the Silk-Stocking Row for him to know a thing of quality when he saw it. He’d known it, however. Maddie would sparkle no matter where she was, and growing up on a hundred-acre cotton farm hadn’t affected her brilliance. “I can’t change the fact that we separated. Can’t turn back the clock.”
“No. But it would be best for everyone if you cease this disastrous living arrangement here and now. The two of you belong together. And I hope you’ll remember my advice and not get all hotheaded when you discover Maddie decided to return to using her maiden name.” Franny shook her head. “I sure wish you the best of luck, Sam, but quite frankly, I fear you stayed away too long.”
MADDIE NEARLY HAD heart failure when the door to her bedroom was flung open. She instinctively tightened her hold on the baby she was nursing. “Did it ever occur to you to knock?”
“I just had a conversation with your mother.”
She frowned at her tall, way too handsome ex. “I’m trying to relax so I can breast-feed. I can’t deal with family angst right now.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze suddenly fixated on the contented newborn at her breast. Plainly uncomfortable, he diverted his gaze, fastening it to the lamb-and-lion picture on the opposite wall. “I beg your pardon.”
“Not necessary. Just please don’t barge in. This is the only place in the house I can be alone. I’m having trouble letting down.”
“Relaxing?”
“Letting down milk.”
“Oh.” He moved his gaze to a large potted palm in the corner.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the warm, sleepy baby in her arms. “Are you bothered by the breast-feeding?”
“I’m not sure what I am. Trying to give you some privacy, I think.” He stared down at his hands. “I’d like to help, though.”
“What do you want to do?”
He shrugged big shoulders, the white polo shirt he wore flexing over a broad back. “Help somehow. Hold the baby. Do something. To be honest, I’m having trouble letting down myself.”
They weren’t talking about milk now. “In what way?”
“I guess even though those are my children, I don’t feel bonded to them in any way. Connected.”
She could see the frown of concentration even with his face in profile. “You weren’t here, so you didn’t see me pregnant. And you haven’t really held them. Go ahead, Sam. Pick Henry up.”
“Where is he?” He looked around, finally spying the baby between two king-size pillows on a towel on the lace-covered bed.
The small baby lay on his stomach, sucking his fist gently, eyes blinking. “I don’t think I should pick him up. I might hurt him.”
“You won’t.” Maddie smiled. “It’s the only way to bond. You have to touch them, hold them, smell them. Change diapers.”
She stood, handing Hayden to Sam before he realized what she was doing. He was too busy trying to figure out how to settle the tiny baby in his arms to sneak a look at her breasts, and Maddie thought it an excellent sign that he was concentrating. Silently, she picked up Henry and settled him to feed.
Apparently Sam developed the knack of holding a baby with lightning speed because his gaze immediately focused on the infant latching on to her nipple. Rats. Now she was uncomfortable.
“Your breasts are so swollen. Do they hurt?”
“A little,” she admitted. “Though I think I won’t be in as much pain if you look away.”
He did, but she could see his eyes were still wide with amazement. The tingling between her legs warned her that she was still very aware of Sam as a man, not as her ex. She insisted to herself the physical sensation was only her body reacting to the baby suckling her nipple. Abby told me that breast-feeding would cause my uterus to contract. That’s all it is.
“I like holding him,” Sam said, his voice rich with pleasure.
Unexpected tears popped into Maddie’s eyes. Would miracles never cease?
“You’re kind of…sweet,” he murmured. “I mean, I think you need a diaper change, little fella, ’cause I’m pretty sure that’s not baby powder I smell, but hey, a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do, right?”
He held the baby to his chest, gazing down into the small, open eyes. “I think someone should clean your bottom, which is going to be a little cruel since you’ve had your nice warm mother comforting you with those big breasts, treatment to put any right-thinking male into a seriously relaxed trance. A wipe down to the backside won’t be near as nice, but then you can get right back inside your cozy little blanket. Quite the life of luxury, eh, little man?”
Maddie’s lips parted as Sam oh-so-carefully laid the baby on the bed.
“How do I do this?”
Her eyes widened. “Can you?” She’d expected him to hand the baby to her.
“Is there a huge difference for babies?” Sam asked. “Except less space to cover?”
“I guess not. The washcloths are stacked on the bathroom counter. Go in there and warm one up, and grab a diaper, too.”
“Okay.” He went into the master bath. “Whoa! Who installed the ugly woman spitting water? That’s frightening!”
Maddie grinned. “Our mothers.”
“Ugh!”
“It’s supposed to be soothing. They put it in there to give me an illusion of tranquility. Your mom read that the sound of water bubbling or gurgling was supposed to be calming, so my mom bought the fountain, and together they worked on it.”
“I’m sure they had the best of intentions.” He brought the warmed cloth out, and carefully peeled off the tiny diaper. “I didn’t hear any bubbling or gurgling. Just spitting. And I’ve got to tell you, that’s not a remarkably serene sound effect.”
Maddie couldn’t help laughing. At that moment, her milk let down. “Oh, my gosh!”
“What is it?” He stared at her, pausing in his diapering.
“I let down! I let down! It really works!” Grateful delight ran all through her. “I was so afraid I wouldn’t be able to breast-feed!”
“Why wouldn’t you? You’ve got more-than-satisfactory equipment.”
She let that go in her joy. “I don’t know. I just was afraid I couldn’t.” Staring at the baby suckling earnestly now that he was being rewarded for his trouble, Maddie smiled in dizzy relief. “I got nervous when I couldn’t let down. And there are all these people in the house, which I love, but it’s…”
“Hard to relax.”
“Yes! And then there’s the formula cans.”
Sam finished diapering the baby and cradled him to his chest as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Formula cans?”
“Well, there’s so much pressure, Sam! I know this will sound neurotic, but it says right on the can that ‘breast milk is best. But if you choose not to feed your baby breast milk,’ etc. etc. I mean, how is that supposed to make a woman feel?”
“Pressured?”
“Exactly! I couldn’t get pregnant the normal way. What if my other equipment failed me?”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
She missed him staring at her breast, which was free of the towel she’d draped over her shoulder. “It all just made me tense, I guess. I’m so happy I can breast-feed my babies!”
He shook his head. “I think you should kick everyone out of the house, except me. This is time you should spend relaxing.”
“I have privacy in my room, and our moms have decorated it beautifully. I’m supposed to feel like I’m in a jungle, far away from everything, among the natural elements of life.”
“It’s certainly got that primitive feel.”
She shook her head at him. “I must have relaxed when you made me laugh, enough to let down.”
“Glad I’m good for something.”
“Precisely. Because if anyone had told me you’d be the instrument of my relaxation, I would have been very concerned.”
“Stranger things have happened, I guess. Why don’t I diaper that greedy little guy if he’s through, and you three can take a nap?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why are you being so caring?”
“I was always caring, Maddie. I simply want us to go back to what we had before.” He helped her up and toward the bed, taking the baby from her. “You know, our natural element.”
Tucking Henry next to her body, she said, “Our primitive instincts.”
“Well, yeah. I mean, we’d gotten so calendar-happy. It’s tough to get passionate when you feel like you’re playing beat-the-clock. Not that I’m complaining about having sex. Just the performance thing started to weigh on me.” He glanced at her. “I knew I was letting you down. And when the doctor mentioned my potency, I knew I was holding you back from what you wanted most. That’s not what marriage should be.”
“Oh, Sam.” She stared up at him, feeling regret for everything. “I am sorry about all that.”
“Well.” He finished wiping and diapering Hayden and tucked the infant next to his mother. “Good to see that I wrung out some powerful babies, after all.”
“You did.” A slight smile curved her lips. “Dr. Maitland told me there was a major explosion in the old petri dish.”
Sam nodded at her, not believing a word but enjoying having his vanity soothed. “You know, this is the first time I think I’ve related to you how insecure I’d been.”
“Oh, Sam, I never thought you were the problem. I thought it was me! It’s terrible not to be able to give your husband a child.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “You with your breast milk hang-up and me with performance anxiety. We should do something about our neuroses.”
“We did. It’s called separation.” She closed her eyes sleepily, lulled by Sam’s deep, comforting voice.
Sam looked at his wife and the two content infants hogging the king-size bed, a threesome he wasn’t invited to join. He sighed and went to sit on one of the striped chairs. “So, Sam,” he thought to himself. “Everything’s in good working order now. What next? What’s the opposite of neurotics who separate?” He laid his head back against the chair back, pondering the ceiling. “Secure people who stayed married to each other.”
Maybe. Trouble was, Maddie had already given him a definite no to that suggestion. She was probably right. She was happy now, as she’d said, and more than anything he wanted her to be happy. “Hey, Jane,” he murmured softly, “any room in your jungle for this Tarzan?”
The phone rang, startling him into an upright position. He snatched the china floral phone, answering it so Maddie wouldn’t waken. “Hello?”
“This is Dr. Abby Maitland. May I speak to Maddie Brady, please?”
He resisted the urge to growl Maddie Winston. “She’s asleep.”
“Is this Sam?”
Well, at least Dr. Abby knew the origin of the sperm. “Yes, it is.”
“How’s my patient?”
“Doing fine.”
“How are you doing?”
He frowned at the physician’s interest. “I didn’t just give birth, so I’m not the one you should be concerned about. Maddie is. So if there’s anything you can tell me about how to make this easier on her, that would be appreciated. Any special dos or don’ts?”
“She needs lots of rest and TLC,” Abby said. “A healthy diet, lots of fluids. No lifting except for the babies, of course, and no sexual intercourse for six weeks.”
“Ah.” Six weeks! “I’m so happy I asked.”
“I’ll just bet you are.” Abby laughed. “Don’t hesitate to call me if you have any other questions. Please mention to Maddie when she wakes up that I’d like to speak with her.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
He heard the laughter not concealed by her professional tone, and hung up the phone, highly disgruntled. Maddie turned over on the bed, her legs smooth and gleaming in the afternoon sunshine lighting the room. He bit his lips and drummed on the sides of the chair.
Six weeks! Thank goodness he’d already warned himself that until he and Maddie worked things out, she was hands-off to him. But oh boy. There was no question he was still desperately attracted to her.
Sam was an old-fashioned guy. If any more of his children were destined to be born, they weren’t going to be stirred in a petri dish or shaken in a tube!
The only way future babies were going to be whipped up would be by him and Maddie finally getting together—naked, skin-to-skin and primally synchronized.
Made the old-fashioned way.
Hide in your jungle, Jane, because Tarzan has no intention of being left out again!
Chapter Four
“You’re taking care of yourself, Maddie?” Abby asked.
Sam had given Maddie a message to call her doctor after she’d awakened from her nap. He’d been pretty careful not to so much as touch Maddie’s fingers when he handed her the portable phone. She sighed, remembering days when Sam had never avoided her. “Even if I weren’t, there’s an army here to make certain I take care of myself.”
“How is Sam coping?”
“Sam is Sam,” Maddie said, her voice even. “Always the gentleman.”
“Hmm. Annoying, is it?”
Maddie laughed. “Maybe a little. Him being a gentleman makes me feel like a witch. I’ve brought all of this turmoil on myself and him, too, but he’s so nice about it that I’ve got guilt growing like a weed.”
“As your doctor, I must advise you to stop thinking like that, Maddie. It’s not healthy. You can’t relax if you’re letting yourself have it all the time. Sam is trying to help.”
“I know. But I can’t help thinking that if he were just a bit less of a prince, I wouldn’t feel quite so witchy.”
“It’s not normal,” Abby said with a sigh, “for a man to be so much more prince than frog, is it?”
“No! It’s not!” Maddie laughed, thankful for Abby’s insight. “And I don’t like feeling as if I’m the frog in the story. But that’s it. I’m an overweight, warty frog.”
“I suspect that’s very contrary to Sam’s way of thinking. If a man gives a woman all the love and kindness and consideration he can, shouldn’t she be happy? Shouldn’t she feel like a princess?” Laughter colored Abby’s tone. “Mix that with after-pregnancy hormones, and you’ve got a real emotional cocktail for Sam.”
Maddie smiled. “Do you know any man who offers to change diapers? Go grocery shopping?”
“Not many. But maybe—maybe, Maddie—you deserve this handsome prince.”
“We weren’t happy before.”
“Then don’t think about getting back together just yet. Play it by ear. You’ll have no expectations to meet. Goodbye, guilt. Pfft! Just like that.”
“That won’t make Sam happy. He wants a traditional family. And he doesn’t want me hitting the test tubes again,” Maddie said slowly. “He wants to try to have children the, um, coital way.”
“Sometimes the floodgates open after a pregnancy, Maddie.”
Her heart lifted at that piece of good news. “Do they really?”
“Oddly enough, yes. In fact, many women get pregnant after giving birth much more quickly than they would like.”
“Oh, my.” Maddie’s heart started pounding at the thought of her big, handsome husband inside her again. Lovemaking with Sam was wonderfully addicting. Pleasurable memories gave her skin goose pimples. “Sam has princely tendencies in that area, too,” she said, her tone wistful.
“Doesn’t feel so bad when you think about those good old days, does it?” Abby asked with a laugh. “Six weeks, please. And I’ll need to see you in two.”
“But what if it doesn’t take?” Maddie asked. “What if my floodgates don’t open?”
“I can’t assure you that they will,” Abby said, “but two babies are enough if it means you and Sam are happy together. Everybody’s got to compromise a little. I’ll see you in two weeks, and in the meantime, let that gorgeous husband of yours pamper you. The nurses here have talked about nothing else since they laid eyes on him the day the twins were born. Just like that Mason Blackstone. My goodness, he’s certainly turned the place upside down. I believe he could get raffled off among the nurses.”
“Those twins are fine, then?”
“Yes, thriving, I’m happy to say. Mason’s a lot like Sam, just as devoted. There’re a lot of disappointed ladies around here. Too bad Sam only had eyes for his wife,” she said. “We should all be so plagued. Ta-ta, dear.”
The line went dead as Abby’s cheery voice faded. “Goodbye,” Maddie said slowly, turning off the portable phone. Maybe Abby was right. “Maybe I’m really not a frog,” she murmured. Perhaps just overly cautious. Neither she nor Sam had been happy at the end. But her soul had twisted when Sam said he’d expected her to choose him.
She hadn’t expected him to actually walk out of their marriage. And then leave the country.
For nine months.
It had hurt so much. He didn’t have to go so far away. She had thought their marriage was finished. And now he wanted to walk back into her life. She understood he was motivated by the babies, but it hit an off note in her heart that he’d had no intention of coming back for her.
She thought about Mason Blackstone, and his vigilant care of the twins he’d found himself unexpectedly fathering. They’d been born a scant two hours after Maddie’s, so she’d followed their progress with interest. Mason had been with those babies every second upon discovering he was their sole guardian. Sam was reacting the same way Mason Blackstone had upon finding himself in a paternal role. He was being protective. Caring. Sheltering.
It was an instinct she appreciated but selfishly, she wanted more. She wanted Sam to have returned to her without knowing about the children. She wanted Sam to have never walked out that door. She wanted him to have stayed in America.
She wanted all the doubt to go away. She wanted forgiveness to rush into her soul, instead of guilt.
No matter how hard she tried to keep him at arm’s length, he was determined to sneak back into her heart. Yet the equation was lopsided.
Secretly, she was hurt that he’d talked to Martin about keeping her from using his DNA. She wouldn’t have hit the sperm bank again without discussing it with Sam, and she felt he should have known that. Or talked to her about it. They were running on different tracks, or maybe she expected his trust when she didn’t deserve it.
But a real fear underlay the hurt she was hiding behind. Walking into the bathroom, she stared at the water fountain their mothers had tried so hard to build. Despite their best intentions, it hadn’t quite worked out right.
“Okay,” she said to the curvaceous metal woman that adorned the fountain. “Say that Sam and I put the past behind us. But then we can’t get pregnant again. I don’t think that would be good for Sam’s ego, especially since I’ve conceived without him.”
She dabbled her finger in the water that pooled at the bottom of the statue’s skirt. “I could compromise. I could say that two babies are all I want, although Sam probably wouldn’t believe me at this point. And he’s already ruled out any further lab experiments, as he puts it.” She sighed, wondering if she could trim the picture of the large family she’d always dreamed of down to two. “Maybe my skin is green and warty,” she said to the spitting woman.
The water fitz-fitzed unabated.
“Suck it up, sister,” Maddie told her. “You’re not exactly perfect yourself.”
THE PHONE RANG as Maddie stepped from the shower. She picked up the portable she’d left on the bathroom counter. “Hello?”
“May I speak to Mrs. Sam Winston, please?”
Puzzled, Maddie frowned at the foreign accent. “This is Maddie Winston.”
“Maddie, my name is Vivi Jardin. I hope you will not mind my phone call.”
Her stomach dropped; her heart began an uncomfortable pounding in her throat. “I hope I don’t, either.”
“I would not have called, except you are the only person who can possibly help me with my problem,” Vivi said.
Maddie pulled her towel more closely to her. “What problem would that be?”
“I do not know if you are aware of this, but your husband has canceled his plan to buy our company, Jardin Wineries. Did he mention that to you?”
“Briefly.” Maddie wasn’t going to discuss Sam’s business dealings—but she wasn’t going to correct Vivi’s use of the term “husband,” either.
“It puts my brother, Jean-Luc, and me in a terrible position, to be honest. We can’t find another buyer on such short notice, and as much as I hate to say this, we find ourselves financially embarrassed. We were counting on Sam to buy our company so we could pay off creditors, you see.”
“I think you should speak to Sam about this.”
“Well, that’s the problem. According to his lawyer, Sam wants to concentrate on matters at home, specifically his two children.” Vivi’s voice lowered silkily. “We understand that. We wonder if perhaps we could lure you into having a honeymoon vacation in our country, where you could see our wonderful vineyards, and perhaps get an idea of everything Sam is giving up?”
Maddie stiffened. Giving up. During their separation, Sam had told his parents this winery was the chance of a lifetime. Now he’d given up his dream, when she had selfishly coerced him into hers. She hadn’t meant for that to happen.
If Joey had waited one more day to call, Sam would have what he’d worked so hard for. His dream.
No, that was all wrong, too. Sam had the right to know about his children.
“It is not uncommon for companies to woo the family of the prospective buyer,” Vivi continued. “We are aware that Sam has a family with needs that must be considered, and we are prepared to work with you, if there is any chance at all you believe Sam might still be interested in purchasing us.”
Oh, there was no question he’d be interested. Sara had said that Sam was like a kid in a candy store over the possibility.
“This deal is important to us because Sam is an interested foreign buyer, you see. And he has the financial resources, as well as an international reputation for his business acumen and knowledge of the industry. Jean-Luc and I were only too happy to have an American buyer who would help us with our cash flow problem, and yet allow us to maintain our name and company position.”
“I see,” Maddie said slowly.
“Is this something you might consider? We would be more than happy to arrange a vacation here in lovely France for you and Sam, and a tour of our vineyards.”
“I could mention your idea to Sam,” she said reluctantly. “I don’t know that I have any sway with him.”
“Thank you,” Vivi said. “You would like France.”
“Oh, I couldn’t come, though I appreciate the invitation,” Maddie replied, distracted. Her nipples started to tingle and burn, surprising her. She was letting down on her own! It was time to nurse her babies. “I’m afraid that’s too far for me to travel right now.”
“What a shame,” Vivi said softly. “France is such a wonderful country. So romantic.”
“Yes, I’ve heard. Goodbye.” She switched off the phone and hurried to the audio baby monitor, which she snapped on. The sound of crying reached her ears. “Mom?”
“No, it’s Sam. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, but I think the babies need to…need me.”
“I think you’re right. I’ll bring in the troops.”
By the time Sam entered with two wailing babies, Maddie was seated in a striped chair. She took one from Sam, cooing to it as she put it to her breast. The baby latched on with no problem, sucking hungrily. Maddie beamed with joy. “Did you see that?”
“Uh, yes I did.” Sam shifted, keeping his finger tucked into Hayden’s mouth so the baby would be pacified long enough for his brother to feed. “Pretty amazing.”
“Yes, it is.” Maddie felt like she sparkled all over with pride. “What good boys they are!”
“Their mom’s pretty amazing herself.”
Amazing? Not really, when she had so many doubts about almost everything these days! But she could push herself, for Sam’s sake. “I just received a very surprising phone call.”
“Oh?” He looked at her, and Maddie thought he was so handsome. The truth was, she wanted him all to herself, but that wasn’t right.
“Vivi Jardin called.”
“Vivi!”
He didn’t look pleased. Maddie pushed away the jealousy and reminded herself to be amazing. “She is upset that you rescinded your offer.”
“Then she needs to discuss it with me.”
“I told her that.” She swallowed, brushing her baby’s cheek with a light finger. “She said that she and her brother wanted to bring me over there to see the vineyards. Apparently, the Jardins are in some financial difficulty, and want to hang on to you as a buyer. She made no bones about wanting to romance me as part of the package.”
“If I want you romanced, I’ll take you to France myself.” His frown deepened.
“I don’t want to poke my nose into your business, Sam. But wasn’t this something you wanted?”
“Past tense.”
“The only reason you changed your mind was the babies, right?”
“Not exactly.”
His eyes shifted, and she knew he wasn’t telling the truth. Her heart felt as if it were turning inside out. “I’d like to see you achieve something you want,” she said softly. “I know how much it means to finally have what I always hoped for.” She stared down at the pretty baby, her soft, plump dream come true. “I’d like that for you, too.”
“Maddie, I’m focusing on you and the children right now. Everything else is peripheral.”
I cost him that. Selfishly. He’d had no choice in fatherhood. “Sam, it’s too uneven.”
“I’m happy, Maddie.” He stared at her. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”
She closed her eyes. Sure you are. You’re just thrilled that I stole your dream.
Chapter Five
“I’d just like to know what Maddie’s supposed to do with all this wine,” Franny complained to Sara. She stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the growing collection of French wine bottles. Severn and Virgil each held a bottle, examining them with longing. Joey sat at the kitchen table drinking beer and playing solitaire.
“Boo-jo-lay,” Virgil read. “Sure is a pretty bottle. Don’t believe I’ve ever had any Boo-jo-lay.”
Sara shook her head. “Now is not the time to start. Maddie said we couldn’t open the wine because she feels funny about accepting gifts that are designed to get her to try to change Sam’s mind. We need to respect her feelings.”
“That was when it was only one bottle,” Severn pointed out. “Now there’s two weeks’ worth. I say it’s a shameful waste of good grapes to let them sit. Why don’t we open a bottle, just to let it breathe? Maybe Maddie would be tempted then.”
“Maddie’s nursing,” Franny said. “I don’t think all this romancing from Jardin is going to do any good, since Maddie can’t drink this much wine. But don’t try to excuse yourself by saying the wine shouldn’t stay in the bottle, because everyone knows wine gets better with age.”
“Yeah, but not me. I’m feeling puckish.” Virgil set the bottle down, sighing. “We’d better get started building a wine rack,” he said to Severn. “Fourteen bottles of wine, delivered at the rate of one a day…how big do you consider the rack ought to be? We could end up with enough to have a block party if that Jardin woman keeps trying to convince Maddie to help her out with Sam.”
Severn squinted at the ceiling. “Let’s go with a floor-to-ceiling job, about four slots wide. If that doesn’t cover it, we’ll plead with Maddie to let us drink the overflow.”
Franny sighed. “I don’t think it will do any good. She’s determined to stay out of Sam’s business. Matters have been very strained since that Frenchwoman called.”
“Nah. Matters got strained when Sam started sleeping on the couch in the nursery,” Severn said.
“It was hard to tell my own son he couldn’t stay with us,” Sara said, her voice trembling. “Are you sure we’re going about this the right way, Franny? I know the plan was to try to squeeze them together, but it seems that Sam and Maddie are further apart than when he was in France.”
Franny plunked down on a stool. “They were together at her two-week checkup, weren’t they? I thought it was a good sign she allowed him to take her.”
“Only because he said he’d ride on the back of the car if she let Joey drive her to her appointment!”
Franny looked at her friend. “She doesn’t want to be beholden to Sam, but that was carrying it a bit too far. I don’t know why my daughter’s got herself in knots over that wine company. If Sam wanted it, he’d buy it. Wouldn’t he?”
“Well, yes, but he wanted it before he found out that Maddie needed him. Of course, she doesn’t think she needs him, and that’s the problem. Or maybe she doesn’t want to need him, so he’ll go back to France. Actually, I don’t think I understand Maddie at all. And I wish she would have left the babies with us. That’s what we’re here for. To help her. And so is Sam. But she hardly lets anyone do anything for her, and I think it’s very unappreciative of her!”
Franny thought Sara might be about to cry. “It does seem that the situation is a bit out of kilter.”
“I’m sorry to say this, Franny, but I think Sam’s jumped through plenty of hoops to please Maddie. Now, you know I love her as if she were my very own daughter, but I think she needs a good talking to!”
“You offering?” Franny asked. “I hope you are.”
“You’re her mother!”
“That doesn’t mean I’ve ever been able to make her see sense once she had her mind made up. Maddie’s always had to learn from her mistakes.”
“I think she’s making a big mistake now.”
“Can’t make a gal do something just because he wants her to. It’s never worked that way with love before, Sara.” Franny tried to be reasonable, but her lid was starting to jump from the steam building up inside her head. “Just because he wants it don’t mean she’s gotta do it.”
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