Harlequin Historical May 2021--Box Set 2 of 2

by Elizabeth Rolls

  And precious. So very, very precious.

  Jenny opened the door, and what she viewed as she pushed open the screen door was also so precious that her breath locked in her lungs.

  Connor was sitting in one of the wicker chairs as she’d assumed from seeing the back of his head through the window. Eyes closed, his head was leaning back, against the headrest of the chair, his feet were propped up on the table and William was asleep on his chest.

  Why did he have to be so handsome, so prince-like? That’s how she’d always thought of him, like a fairytale prince, which was foolish. Fairytales were just that. Tales. Made-up stories. Pretend.

  Jenny stepped onto the porch and quietly eased the screen door closed.

  Connor opened one eye and the grin he flashed her sent her already pounding heart tumbling.

  “He fell asleep right after eating lunch,” he whispered.

  “You fed him lunch?” she asked, even though he’d just said that he had.

  “Yes.” Connor rubbed William’s back as he whispered. “I wasn’t sure what he could eat with so few teeth, so I boiled him some eggs.”

  “He likes eggs,” Jenny answered, stepping closer.

  “Yes, he does.” Connor nodded toward the house. “Has the baby arrived?”

  Bliss warmed Jenny all over again. “Yes. A perfect little girl.”

  “Congratulations, I hope the mother is doing well.”

  “Thank you, and yes, both mother and baby are doing well.” She reached out. “I’ll take him, put him in his crib.”

  Connor lifted his feet off the table. “I’ll carry him, so he doesn’t wake up. Just lead the way.”

  Normally in the living room, the playpen was still in Rachel’s room, where Jenny had placed it after Rachel’s water broke. The reality of all that had happened quickly set in. Connor was sure to have questions, and she didn’t want to answer them, because she didn’t want him to know so many things. “You’ve already done so much, more than enough. Thank you. I can take him. I’m sure you have other things to do.”

  Shaking his head, he stood. “No, I don’t have anything else to do. Lead the way.”

  Although standing so close to him made her heart race, she remained where she was, blocking his way. “I’ll take him. His crib is upstairs. Thank you again for taking such good care of him. I really appreciate it.”

  “It was no problem, and carrying him upstairs won’t be a problem either.”

  He took a step forward, which was too close for comfort, forcing her to take a step back. And another. Short of attempting to pull William from Connor’s arms, a battle which she doubted she’d win and would only upset William, she opened the screen door.

  Connor held the door, while holding William securely with his other arm, and nodded for her to enter first.

  She led the way through the living room, kitchen, and up the stairs. There, she opened the door to Joyce and William’s room. Connor followed her in and carried William to the crib near the window and carefully laid him inside.

  He covered the baby with the thin blanket hanging over the edge and then turned to her.

  Jenny fought to keep her thoughts in line, as well as to avoid his gaze. His care and kindness toward William were doing funny things to her heart, to her entire body. She spun around and hurried to the door.

  Lora was in the hallway. “Both Rachel and the baby are sleeping. I’m going to make something to eat. Are you hungry?”

  Jenny knew the moment Lora saw Connor in the room behind her, because Lora blushed red.

  “I—I’ll make enough for both of you.” Turning about, Lora took off down the hallway.

  Between contractions, and to ease their worries, she had told Lora and Rachel that Connor was an old friend and that William would be perfectly safe with him. She had believed that. Completely, or would never have let him take the little boy out of the room. That had truly been a blessing.

  Jenny huffed out a sigh, knowing that Connor had smiled at Lora. She knew, because she’d just been transported back in life, to high school, where every girl that Connor had smiled at had reacted exactly as Lora just had. Including her. He had this magnetic charm that leaped forward when he flashed one of his smiles. It was hard to explain, and even harder to describe what that smile did, but it had an effect. She couldn’t deny that, and was afraid to look over her shoulder. His smile had already sent her heart tumbling on the porch, and she certainly didn’t need that again.

  Keeping her gaze straight ahead, she said, “We can leave the door open.”

  He followed her out of the room, but stepped up beside her once in the hallway. “Are you running a home for unwed mothers?”

  Her breath caught for just a moment, because of how close to the truth he’d guessed. Then, she accepted that considering what he’d seen today, that was a conclusion most people would have. “No, we offer a safe haven for girls who are pregnant.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  She huffed out a false chuckle that only those who knew the difference would understand. A seriousness overtook her, because the matter was very serious. “I would like to ask a favor, Connor.”

  He stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop and turn to look at him. “Of course. What do you need?”

  She kept her gaze on his chest, not his face. “Silence. I need you to not tell anyone.”

  “Tell anyone what?”

  “What you saw here, who lives here.”

  “Why?”

  She shook her head. “It’s important, Connor. Your silence.”

  “Are these girls runaways or something?”

  Again, he was too close for comfort. To her and to the truth. “I can’t say more, Connor.”

  “Yes, you can,” he said. “And you can trust me.”

  She shook her head and sidestepped to walk around him, but his bulk filled the hallway. “It’s none of your business, Connor.”

  “I’m making it my business.”

  Anger snapped inside her. She met his gaze, which was as stern as the one she was sending his way. “You don’t have that right.”

  “Right?” He folded his arms. “The only right I’m concerned about is the one in right and wrong. If something wrong is happening here, I will not remain silent. Who are these girls? Where are their husbands, the fathers of their babies? Where’s your husband?”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Although they were whispering, Jenny couldn’t take the chance of disturbing Rachel, or William. “I need to go help Lora make lunch.”

  He waved at the steps. “Fine. We’ll go downstairs. Just know I’m not leaving this house until I get the answers to those questions. And more.”

  She swallowed against the thickness in her throat and walked toward the stairs. Those questions were ones she wouldn’t answer. Couldn’t. She just had to figure out how not to, because he would persist.

  They descended the stairs silently. With him at her side every step, as if he expected her to take off running. She wouldn’t do that, even though escaping him had crossed her mind.

  Lora was at the counter, making sandwiches with the chicken left over from last night’s supper.

  Jenny walked to her side. “I’ll do this. You can sit down and rest.”

  “No, I’d rather stay busy,” Lora said, piling the chicken on slices of bread. “I do hope your friend likes mustard. I already put it on the bread.”

  Jenny’s insides flinched at Connor being called her friend.

  “Yes, I do,” Connor said, standing close.

  Lora twisted, and once again, her cheeks flushed as she caught sight of Connor. “That’s good.”

  Jenny clamped her teeth together, flustered all over again.

  “I’m Connor McCormick,” he said.

  “I—I’m Lora. Lora Bradford.”

  �
��It’s nice to meet you, Lora,” he said.

  “You, too.”

  The nervousness in Lora’s voice had Jenny rubbing her forehead. She had to get rid of him fast. Given the chance, he could soon have Lora, or Rachel or Joyce, telling him all they knew, without realizing how that could affect others. She grabbed a plate off the counter and set a sandwich on it. Spinning around, she handed it to him.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “Would you like a pickle, or some applesauce with your sandwich?” Lora asked him.

  “No, thank you, the sandwich is fine. It looks delicious.”

  “You can sit at the table,” Jenny said, not sounding as polite as Lora had, or Connor.

  “I’ll wait for you,” Connor answered. “You and I can eat our sandwiches on the front porch.”

  Jenny grabbed another sandwich, set it on another plate. “All right.”

  “Oh, here,” Lora said, lifting another sandwich off the counter and carefully holding it out to Connor. “I thought you might like two.”

  “Thank you.” He held his plate out for her to put the sandwich on. “They do look good.”

  Jenny was already on her way across the room. She held no animosity toward Lora and her thoughtfulness; she just didn’t want anyone to be nice to Connor because she didn’t want him to feel welcome. He wasn’t welcome. Not here or anywhere else in her life.

  He caught up with her in the living room, and opened both the house and screen doors for her to exit first. They’d barely sat down in the wicker chairs when Lora arrived. “Sandwiches can be dry,” Lora said, setting two glasses of water on the table.

  “Thank you, Lora, that was very thoughtful,” he said.

  “Yes, very thoughtful. Thank you,” Jenny said. “You rest for a bit after you eat.”

  “I will, but I’ll listen for Rachel, and her baby and William,” Lora said.

  Once she’d gone, Connor said, “She doesn’t appear to be very old.”

  “Seventeen,” Jenny answered.

  “Where’s the father of her baby?”

  Committed to getting this over as quickly as possible, she picked up her sandwich, and before taking a bite, said, “I have no idea.”

  Connor’s gaze never left her, causing her to need to take a drink of water because her mouth had gone so dry that she was sure to choke on the mouthful she was attempting to chew.

  “What about the girl upstairs? The one who just had a baby. Where’s the father of her baby?”

  Her mouth was still full. Jenny took another drink of water and shrugged while shaking her head.

  Connor picked up his sandwich, and ate it, while looking around as if he was scanning the lawn, sheds, and flowerbeds, for clues. Or answers.

  Jenny forced herself to eat her entire sandwich, while also refusing to allow her thoughts to tumble into the past, remember how she and Connor used to laugh and talk while eating together. They’d had fun, laughed, no matter what they’d been doing together.

  He’d finished both of his sandwiches by the time she was done with hers. She took a deep breath, watching as he leaned back, rested an elbow on the arm of the chair and his chin on the back of his knuckles.

  “I was as serious as a headstone upstairs, Jenny. I’m not leaving here until I have answers.”

  She sat back and squared her shoulders. “I was serious, too, Connor. It’s none of your business.” Without giving him time to respond, she continued, “I appreciate, very much, how you took care of William today, but that does not mean I owe you any type of explanation.”

  “What about leaving town, without a word?” he asked. “While I was gone. You just disappeared. I expected you to be there when I got home, and you weren’t. Does that justify an explanation? I think it does.”

  She shook her head. “You weren’t out of town.”

  “Yes, I was. I left the morning after I told you I was going. Took the morning train to New York City, and when I returned, two and a half months later, you were gone.”

  The back of her throat burned at how easily he lied. That’s what had gotten to her so strongly back then. How he’d lied to her. She’d never, ever, have expected that from him. Steadfast to remain strong, she said, “That was seven years ago. It’s in the past.”

  “That doesn’t mean you don’t owe me an explanation,” he said.

  “It doesn’t mean I do, either.” She pinched her lips together to keep them from trembling for a moment. “Do us both a favor, Connor. Leave. Forget what you saw here today.”

  He shook his head, and then used one hand to flip the triangle of dark hair off his forehead. “I can’t do that, Jenny. I’ve wondered what happened to you for too many years.”

  She had wondered, too. He was the very reason she never picked up a newspaper, because if she saw his name, knew where he was, she might have reacted to that knowledge.

  “Who was it?” he asked. “Or should I say is it?”

  “Who is what?” she asked.

  He gave her a look that held no charm, but was full of disdain. “The man you fell in love with, ran away with, the father of your daughter.”

  She closed her eyes at the way her insides flinched. There was no love, never had been, but she loved her daughter and would do anything to protect her. That’s what this was about, protecting Emily, and the girls here, their children, and those in the future who would need help. She had to protect each and every one of them.

  * * *

  Connor held his breath, mainly in order to keep his feelings in check. Who shouldn’t matter, he just didn’t want it to be someone he knew, or had known. That would make it easier to hate whoever she’d fallen in love with. Which was stupid, but also real. Very real.

  Jenny opened her eyes and blinked several times, and the shine he saw in her eyes, the dampness on her lashes, was from tears. Unshed ones.

  His heart constricted. “Jenny—”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter who Emily’s father is, Connor.”

  “It does to me. Where is he?”

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  Anger filled him at the man. “He deserted you and your daughter?”

  The door opened and the black-haired, brown-eyed Lora said, “Jenny, Rachel is asking for you.”

  Jenny leaped to her feet at the same time Connor did.

  As she shot toward the door, she told him, “Stay here.”

  He wasn’t about to do that, and followed her into the house, all the way to the staircase off the kitchen.

  She spun around as the younger, pregnant woman started up the steps. “I mean it, Connor. Stay here! You come up these steps and I’ll never forgive you!”

  He ran a hand through his hair. She sounded serious, looked it too, but what if she needed help upstairs? Someone to carry that new mother downstairs, and her baby, drive them to see a doctor.

  Jenny had disappeared up the stairs, and he paced the floor for a short time, hearing the soft cries of a baby. A tiny one from the sounds of it. He didn’t know much about babies or new mothers, or doctoring, but couldn’t just stand here, not doing anything.

  He grabbed the handrail, but before taking a step, he listened. There wasn’t any shouting, or hurried steps. All he really heard was the pounding of his heart. His nerves were dancing under his skin as if the woman and her baby weren’t mere strangers.

  Jenny wasn’t a mere stranger, and if that woman and her baby needed help, he had to offer it.

  He had to help Jenny, too, if her husband had deserted her and her daughter. Any man who did that was not a man. He was a piker, a coward of the worst kind. A snake that needed to be shoved back under the rock that he’d crawled out from beneath.

  Connor stared up the steps and wondered if William was still asleep in his crib. He’d had no idea what to do with the little guy when he’d first h
eld him, but had figured it out easily enough. The little guy couldn’t walk on his own, but had liked trying when they’d gone outside. Connor had held on to his tiny hands and helped William walk across the thick lawn in his chunky little white shoes.

  Willie, as Connor had called him, had also liked playing with the rag ball, and he’d really enjoyed holding on to the steering wheel in his car.

  When Willie had kept trying to chew on the steering wheel, Connor had figured he must be hungry and had brought him back inside, and looked for something to feed him. Ultimately, he’d figured boiled eggs would be safe. Easy to chew.

  The poor little chap had almost fallen asleep in his high chair, and Connor had almost fallen asleep outside after Willie had sacked out on his chest. Though his hair was blond, and Riley’s red, Willie reminded Connor of Riley, the five-year-old boy who lived with his grandparents next door to his mother’s house. Connor always brought a candy bar or chewing gum whenever he went to visit his mother, knowing Riley would see his car and come over to say hello.

  Jenny appeared at the top of the steps and his heart slammed against his ribcage with the force of a baseball landing in a catcher’s mitt. “How are they?” he asked.

  “Fine.” She walked down the steps toward him.

  “What about Willie?”

  “What about him?”

  “Is he still asleep? He might need his diaper changed.”

  Stopping on the second step up, so they were eye level, she gave him a quizzical look. “Are you offering to change his diaper?”

  He wasn’t totally offering. He was just at a loss as to what to do. “If he needed that, yes, I would.”

  The twinkle that appeared in her eyes reminded him of the old Jenny, the one that had made his heart skip a beat just like it was right now. “Really? Have you changed a diaper before?”

  “No, but it can’t be that hard.”

  She grinned and walked past him. “It’s not hard, but it doesn’t always smell very pleasant.”

  He followed her to the kitchen doorway. “What did the new mother need?”