Not again, she told herself, and shut her eyes. Never again.
Whatever she felt for Gabe, she wouldn’t allow it to change her back into that kind of woman. She had a child to protect.
The doorbell rang. Laura sent one swift look over her shoulder, then fled up the stairs.
When Gabe opened the door, he was immediately enveloped in soft fur and strong perfume. It was his mother, a woman of unwavering beauty and unwavering opinions. She didn’t believe in brushing cheeks, she believed in squeezing, hard and long.
“I’ve missed you. I didn’t know what it would take to drag you off that mountain, but I didn’t think it would be a wife and a baby.”
“Hello, Mother.” He smiled at her, giving her a quick sweeping look that took in her stubbornly blond hair and her smooth cheeks. She had Michael’s eyes. They were a darker green than his own, with touches of gray. Seeing them brought a pang and a pleasure. “You look wonderful.”
“So do you, except for the fact that you’ve lost about ten pounds and can’t afford to. Well, where are they?” With that, Amanda Bradley marched inside.
“Give the boy a chance, Mandy.” Gabe exchanged bear hugs with his father, a tall, spare man with a hangdog expression and a razor-sharp mind. “Glad you’re back. Now she’ll take to rattling your cage instead of mine.”
“I can handle you both.” She was already slipping off her gloves with short, quick little motions. “We brought a bottle of champagne over. I thought since we missed the wedding, the birth and everything else, we should at least toast the homecoming. For heaven’s sake, Gabe, don’t just stand there, I’m dying to see them.”
“Laura went up to check the baby. Why don’t we go in and sit down?”
“This way, Mandy,” Cliff Bradley said, taking his wife’s arm when she started to object.
“Very well, then. You can hold me off for five minutes by telling me how your work’s been going.”
“Well.” He watched his parents sit but couldn’t relax enough to follow suit. “I’ve already called Marion. The paintings I finished in Colorado should be delivered to her gallery by the end of the week.”
“That’s wonderful. I can’t wait to see them.”
His hands were in his pockets as he moved around the room with a restlessness both of his parents recognized. “There’s one piece in particular I’m fond of. I plan to hang it in here, over the fire.”
Amanda lifted a brow and glanced at the empty space above the mantel. Gabe had always claimed that nothing suited that spot. “It must be very special.”
“You’ll have to judge for yourself.” He drew out a cigarette, then set it down when Laura moved into the doorway.
She said nothing for a moment, just studied the couple on the couch. His parents. His mother was lovely, her smooth skin almost unlined, her hair swept back to accent her aristocratic features and fine bones. There were emeralds at her ears and at her throat. She wore a rose silk suit with a fox stole carelessly thrown over her shoulders.
His father was tall and lean, like Gabe. Laura saw a diamond wink at his pinky. He looked sad and quiet, but she saw his eyes sharpen as he studied her.
“This is my wife, Laura, and our son.”
Braced for whatever was to come, holding the baby protectively against her breasts, she stepped into the room. Amanda rose first, only because she always seemed to move quicker than anyone else.
“It’s so nice to meet you at last.” Amanda had reservations, a chestful of them, but she offered a polite smile. “Gabe didn’t mention how lovely you were.”
“Thank you.” She felt a little trip-hammer of fear in her throat. Laura knew formidable when she saw it. Instinctively she lifted her chin. “I’m glad you could come. Both of you.”
Amanda noted the little gesture of pride and defiance and approved. “We wanted to meet you at the airport, but Gabe put us off.”
“Rightly so,” Cliff added in his soothing take-your-time voice. “If I’d been able to, I’d have held Mandy off another day.”
“Nonsense. I want to see my grandchild. May I?”
Laura’s arms had tightened automatically. Then she looked at Gabe and relaxed her hold. “Of course.” With care and caution, she shifted the slight weight into Amanda’s arms.
“Oh, how beautiful.” The cool, sophisticated voice wavered. “How precious.” The scents, the baby scents of talc and mild soap and fragile skin, made her sigh. “Gabe said he was premature. No problems?”
“No, he’s fine.”
As if to prove it, Michael opened his eyes and stared out owlishly.
“There, he looked right at me.” With emeralds glowing on her skin, Amanda grinned foolishly and cooed. “Looked right at your gran, didn’t you?”
“He looked at me.” Cliff leaned closer to chuck the baby under the chin.
“Nonsense. Why should he want to look at you? Do something useful, Cliff, like opening the champagne.” She clucked and cooed at the baby while Laura stood twisting her hands. “I hope you don’t object to the wine. I didn’t ask if you were nursing.”
“Yes, I am, but I don’t think a sip would hurt either of us.”
Approving a second time, Amanda started for the couch. Laura took an instinctive step forward, then made herself stop. This wasn’t Lorraine Eagleton, and she wasn’t the same woman who had once cowered. But as hard as she tried to dispel the image, she saw herself standing just outside the family circle.
“I’d get glasses,” she said lamely, “but I don’t know where they are.”
Saying nothing, Gabe went to a cabinet and drew out four champagne flutes.
Cliff took Laura’s arm. “Why don’t you sit down, dear? You must be tired after traveling.”
“You sound like Gabe.” Laura found herself smiling as she eased into a chair.
Glasses were passed. Amanda lifted hers. “We’ll drink to— For goodness’ sake, I don’t know the child’s name.”
“It’s Michael,” Laura offered. She saw the grief flash into Amanda’s eyes before she closed them. When she opened them again, they were wet and brilliant.
“To Michael,” she murmured, and after a sip she leaned down to kiss the baby’s cheek. Looking up, she smiled at Gabe. “Your father and I have something in the car for the baby. Would you get it?”
Though they didn’t touch, and the glance lasted only a moment, Laura saw something pass between them. “I’ll just be a minute.”
“We won’t eat her, for heaven’s sake,” Amanda muttered as her son left the room.
With a laugh, Cliff rubbed her shoulder. There was something familiar about the gesture. It was Gabe’s, Laura realized. The same casual intimacy.
“Have you been to San Francisco before?” he asked Laura, snapping her back to the present.
“No, I— No. I’d like to offer you something, but I don’t know what we have.” Or even where the kitchen is, she thought miserably.
“Don’t worry about it.” Cliff draped his arm comfortably over the back of the chair. “We don’t deserve anything after barging in on your first day home.”
“Families don’t barge,” Amanda put in.
“Ours does.” Grinning, he leaned over and chucked the baby under the chin again. “Smiled at me.”
“Grimaced, you mean.” With a laugh of her own, Amanda kissed her husband’s cheek. “Granddad.”
“I take it the cradle’s for Michael and the roses are for me.” Gabe strode in, carrying a dark pine cradle heaped with frilly sheets and topped with a spray of pink roses.
“Oh, the flowers. I completely forgot. And no, they’re certainly not for you, but for Laura.” Amanda handed the baby to her husband and rose. Though she moved to rise, Laura saw Cliff tuck the baby easily in the crook of his arm. “We’ll need some water for these,” Amanda decided. “No, no, I’ll get it myself.”
No one argued with her as she marched out of the room, carrying the flowers.
“It’s very lovely,” Laura began, bend
ing from the chair to run a finger along the smooth wood of the cradle. “We were just talking about the baby needing a bed of his own.”
“The Bradley bed,” Cliff stated. “Fix those sheets, Gabe, and let’s see how he takes to it.”
“This cradle’s a family tradition.” Obediently Gabe lifted out the extra sheets and smoothed on white linen. “My great-grandfather built it, and all the Bradley children have had their turn rocking in it.” He took the baby from his father. “Let’s see how you fit, old man.”
Laura watched Gabe set the baby down and give the cradle a gentle push. Something seemed to break inside her. “Gabe, I can’t.”
Crouched at her feet beside the cradle, he looked up. There was a dare in his eyes, a challenge, and, she was certain, a buried anger. “Can’t what?”
“It isn’t right, it isn’t fair.” She drew the baby from the cradle into her arms. “They have to know.” She might have fled right then and there, but Amanda came back into the room holding a crystal vase filled with roses. Sensing tension, and intrigued by it, she continued in.
“Where would you like these, Laura?”
“I don’t know, I can’t— Gabe, please.”
“I think they’ll look nice by the window,” she said mildly, then moved over to arrange them to her satisfaction. “Now, then, don’t you three gentlemen think you could find something to occupy yourselves while Laura and I have a little talk?”
Panic leaping within, Laura looked from one to the other, then back at her husband. “Gabe, you have to tell them.”
He took the baby and settled him on his shoulder. His eyes, very clear and still sparking with anger, met hers. “I already have.” Then he left her alone with his mother.
Amanda settled herself on the sofa again. She crossed her legs and smoothed her skirts. “A pity there isn’t a fire. It’s still cool for this time of year.”
“We haven’t had a chance—”
“Oh, dear, don’t mind me.” She waved a hand vaguely at a chair. “Wouldn’t you rather sit?” When Laura did so without a word, she lifted a brow. “Are you always so amenable? I should certainly hope not, as I liked you better when you stuck your chin out at me.”
Laura folded her hands in her lap. “I don’t know what to say. I hadn’t realized Gabe had explained things to you. The way you were acting …” She let her words trail off. Then, when Amanda continued to wait patiently, she tried again. “I thought you believed that Michael was, well, biologically Gabe’s.”
“Should that make such a big difference?”
She was calm again, at least outwardly, and able to meet Amanda’s eyes levelly. “I would have expected it to, especially with a family like yours.”
Amanda drew her brows together as she thought that through. “Shall I tell you that I’m acquainted with Lorraine Eagleton?” She saw the instant, overwhelming fear and backed up. She wasn’t often a tactful woman, but she wasn’t cruel. “We’ll save talk of her for another time. Right now, I think I should explain myself instead. I’m a pushy woman, Laura, but I don’t mind being pushed back.”
“I’m not very good at that.”
“Then you’ll have to learn, won’t you? We may be friends, or we may not, I can’t tell so soon, but I love my son. When he left all those months ago, I wasn’t sure I’d ever have him back. You, for whatever reason, brought him back, and for that I’m grateful.”
“He would have come when he was ready.”
“But he might not have come back whole. Let’s leave that.” Again, the vague gesture. “And get to the point. Your son. Gabe considers the child his. Do you?”
“Yes.”
“No hesitation there, I see.” Amanda smiled at her, and Laura was reminded of Gabe. “If Gabe considers Michael his son, and you consider Michael his son, why should Cliff and I feel differently? ”
“Bloodlines.”
“Let’s leave the Eagletons out of this for the time being,” Amanda said. Laura merely stared, surprised that the mark had been hit so directly. “If Gabe had been unable to have children and had adopted one, I would love it and think of it as my grandchild. So, don’t you think you should get past this nonsense and accept it?”
“You make it sound very simple.”
“It sounds to me as though your life’s been complicated enough.” Amanda picked up the glass of champagne she’d discarded before. “Do you have any objections to our being Michael’s grandparents?”
“I don’t know.”
“An honest woman.” Amanda sipped.
“Do you have any objections to me being Gabe’s wife?”
With the slightest of smiles, Amanda raised her glass to Laura. “I don’t know. So I suppose we’ll both have to wait and see. In the meantime, I’d hate to think that I’d be discouraged from seeing Gabe or Michael because we haven’t made up our minds about each other.”
“No, of course not. I wouldn’t do that. Mrs. Bradley, no one’s ever been as kind or as generous with me as Gabe. I swear to you I won’t do anything to hurt him.”
“Do you love him?”
Uneasy, Laura cast a look toward the doorway. “We haven’t … Gabe and I haven’t talked about that. I needed help, and I think he needed to give it.”
Pursing her lips, Amanda studied her glass. “I don’t believe that’s what I asked you.”
The chin came up again. “That’s something I should discuss with Gabe before anyone else.”
“You’re tougher than you look. Thank God for that.” Finishing off the sparkling beverage, she set down the empty glass. “I might just like you at that, Laura. Or, of course, we might end up detesting each other. But whatever is between the two of us doesn’t change the fact that Gabe has committed himself to you and the child. You’re family.” She sat back, lifting both brows, but inside she felt a faint twist of sympathy. “From the look on your face, that doesn’t thrill the life out of you.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not used to being in a family.”
“You’ve had a very rough time, haven’t you?” There was compassion there, but not so much that it made Laura uncomfortable. Mentally Amanda made a note to do a little digging on the Eagletons.
“I’m trying to put that behind me.”
“I hope you succeed. Some things in the past need to be remembered. Others are best forgotten.”
“Mrs. Bradley, may I ask you something?”
“Yes. On the condition that after this question call me Amanda or Mandy or anything—except, please God, Mother Bradley.”
“All right. Who was Michael named for?”
Amanda’s gaze drifted to the empty cradle and lingered there. There was a softening, a saddening, in her face that compelled Laura to touch her hand. “My son, Gabe’s younger brother. He died just over a year ago.” With a long sigh, she rose. “It’s time we left you to settle in.”
“Thank you for coming.” She hesitated because she was never quite sure what people expected. Then listening to her heart, she kissed Amanda’s cheek. “Thank you for the cradle. It means a great deal to me.”
“And to me.” She brushed her hand over it before she left the room. “Clifton, aren’t you the one who said we shouldn’t stay more than a half hour?”
His voice carried, muffled, from upstairs. Clucking her tongue, Amanda pulled on her gloves. “Always poking around in Gabe’s studio. The poor dear doesn’t know a Monet from a Picasso, but he loves to look over Gabe’s work.”
“He did some beautiful things in Colorado. You must be so proud of him.”
“More every day.” She heard her husband coming and glanced upstairs. “Do let me know if you want any help setting up the nursery or finding a good pediatrician. I also expect you’ll understand if I buy out the baby boutiques.”
“I don’t—”
“Not understand, then, but you’ll have to tolerate. Kiss your new daughter-in-law goodbye, Cliff.”
“You don’t have to tell me that.” Rather than the formal, meaningless kiss
she was expecting, Laura received a hearty hug that left her dazed and smiling. “Welcome to the Bradleys, Laura.”
“Thank you.” She had an urge to hug him back, to just throw her arms around his neck and breath in that nice, spicy aftershave she’d caught on his throat. Feeling foolish, she folded her hands instead. “I hope you’ll come back, maybe next week for dinner, when I’ve had a chance to find things.”
“Cooks, too?” He pinched Laura’s cheek. “Nice work, Gabe.”
When they were gone, she stood in the foyer, rubbing a finger over her cheek. “They’re very nice.”
“Yes, I’ve always thought so.”
The sting was still in his voice, so she steadied herself and looked at him. “I owe you an apology.”
“Forget it.” He started to stride back into the library, then stopped and turned around. He’d be damned if he’d forget it. “Did you think I would lie to them about Michael? That I would have to?”
She accepted his anger without flinching. “Yes.”
He opened his mouth, rage boiling on his tongue. Her answer had him shutting it again. “Well, you shoot straight from the hip.”
“I did think so, and I’m glad I was wrong. Your mother was very kind to me, and your father.
“What about my father?”
He hugged me, she wanted to say, but she didn’t believe he could possibly understand how much that had affected her. “He’s so much like you. I’ll try not to disappoint them, or you.”
“You’d do better not to disappoint yourself.” Gabe dragged a hand through his hair. It fell in a tumble of dark blond disorder, the way she liked it best. “Damn it, Laura, you’re not on trial here. You’re my wife, this is your home, and for better or worse the Bradleys are your family.”
She set her teeth. “You’ll have to give me time to get used to it,” she said evenly. “The only families I’ve ever known barely tolerated me. I’m through with that.” She swung away to start up the stairs, then called over her shoulder, “And I’m painting Michael’s nursery myself.”
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