Gretchen and Angela exchanged a glance. It was clear from the pleading look in Angela’s eyes that Angela wasn’t ready to confide in her father yet. “Nothing much,” Gretchen said, and immediately felt all the more guilty for keeping something from Matt.
“You look a little flustered,” Matt observed.
“We’re just surprised to see you.” Gretchen took a deep breath. With effort, she forced herself to meet his perceptive gaze with a welcoming smile. “Why are you home so early in the day?” she asked. “I wasn’t expecting you for several hours.”
Without warning, Matt frowned unhappily. “I’ve got to go out of town. Tonight,” he specified, looking even more reluctant to leave.
Gretchen understood Matt’s ambivalence. He wanted to protect her and the baby as much as possible. Even when it wasn’t necessary. “Need any help packing?” she asked gently, already knowing she would miss him terribly, too.
“If you wouldn’t mind.” Matt looked very stressed. “I don’t have much time to catch my flight. And I’m going to need a suit, so I’ve got to iron a dress shirt, too.”
“I’ll do that for you.” Gretchen set up the ironing board as he brought out a bag. She plugged in the iron and switched it on as Angela tactfully excused herself to go downstairs and work on the hem.
“You two are getting along well,” Matt said, once he and Gretchen were alone in the master bedroom.
Gretchen nodded, her joy over that apparent. “Angela’s very sweet. She’s really welcomed me to the family with open arms.”
Matt quirked a brow. “Unlike her siblings?”
“Luke’s warming up a little every time I see him,” Gretchen said, wishing her and the new baby’s assimilation into his ready-made family had gone a little easier.
“But not Sassy,” Matt said grimly.
“She’ll come around, you’ll see. But back to your trip.” Gretchen followed Matt into the bathroom and watched him run a cordless shaver over his face. “How long will you be gone?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe a couple of nights.” Finished, Matt snapped the cover on his razor and slapped on some after-shave. He turned to her, his eyes brooding. “I wish I didn’t have to go. But there’s no help for it,” he confided sadly, laying his hands on her shoulders briefly before sliding them over her spine. “We’ve got a major contract on the line in Amarillo and the landowner won’t sign unless he meets with me personally.”
Gretchen fought for composure as she let him draw her close. She placed her head on his shoulder, savoring his warmth and his strength. She was not going to break down in sobs just because they had to sleep apart for the first time in months, although she would miss him terribly, and maybe more than she had a right to. “I understand,” she said in a muffled voice. Her fingers curled more tightly into the fabric of his shirt.
Matt drew back, but kept his arms locked around her waist. “I don’t think you do,” he said huskily as he searched her eyes. “I don’t want to be away from you at all.”
The implications of that statement had her reeling. Could it be a miracle was happening? Could it be their marriage was turning into a real one? Warning herself not to jump to any conclusions, Gretchen asked warily, “This isn’t going to be another two-and-a-half-week trip, is it?”
“No. I won’t let it. In fact,” he continued determinedly, “I plan to be back here forty-eight hours from now. So you can count on seeing me in time for dinner that evening. Meanwhile, I’ll call every night.” Matt hugged her tenderly. “And I’ll miss you,” he whispered against her hair, holding her close.
Happy tears glittered in Gretchen’s eyes. He might not love her yet, but they were getting so close. It was only a matter of time. She hugged him back and replied thickly, “I’ll miss you, too.”
* * *
“LET ME GET this straight. You’re not telling Dad you’re flying up to Dallas while he’s gone,” Angela said the following afternoon as she drove Gretchen to the Austin airport after class.
Gretchen nodded confidently as Angela maneuvered the three lanes of through traffic leading up to the terminal. “There’s no reason he needs to know at this point, particularly since my dinner with Sassy might not go all that well. If it works out, of course I’ll tell him what I’ve done.”
Angela pulled into a spot against the curb in the loading zone and shifted into park. “Is it okay for you to fly?”
Gretchen smiled. In this regard, Angela was every bit as fiercely overprotective as her father. “Marissa says it’s fine.”
Angela nodded. “So when are you coming back?”
“On the first inexpensive commuter flight out tomorrow morning. I’ll be back in time for my first class.” Trying not to feel too much like a double agent on a secret mission, that of reuniting Matt and his estranged youngest child, Gretchen thrust a folded piece of paper at Angela. “Here’s the name of the hotel where I’m staying, in case anything comes up on this end and you need to reach me.”
Angela glanced at the paper, then slipped it into her purse as a shuttle bus rolled by in the outer lane. “Is Dad supposed to call you tonight to check in?”
“No, I’m calling him. I told him I wouldn’t be in earlier because I was having dinner with his daughter.”
“And he assumed by ‘daughter’ you meant me,” Angela said.
“Right. So if he should get to you before I get ahold of him...”
Angela smiled, promising, “I’ll cover for you.”
Gretchen pushed open the passenger door with one hand and grabbed her slim carryon and her purse with the other. “I feel really guilty about this.”
Angela soothed her with a glance. “Your heart’s in the right place. Maybe Sassy will finally notice that, too.”
Gretchen sighed, knowing how much of her future happiness was staked to achieving a good result on her peacemaking mission. “I hope so,” she said earnestly.
Angela’s eyes, so like her father’s, shone encouragingly. “Have a good trip,” she said softly.
Gretchen leaned over and gave Angela a maternal hug goodbye, aware that in marrying Matt she had gained at least one friend. “See you tomorrow.”
* * *
MATT KNEW it was ridiculous for him to be worrying so much, but he couldn’t help it. He hadn’t been gone overnight since that first month they were married. If he had to be out of town, he left and came back in the same day so they wouldn’t have to spend any time apart. He had hoped Luke would be around this summer to act as his eyes and ears and to help pick up the slack, but that wasn’t happening.
In the meantime, something was going on with Angela and Gretchen. They had looked as guilty as hell and had cut off whatever it was they’d been discussing when he’d walked in unexpectedly yesterday afternoon. It was as if they had a secret...a mutual secret.
And that took him back to the waning days of his marriage to Vivian. Vivian had enlisted the kids in keeping things from him just prior to the divorce.
He knew it was wrong for him to compare the two women. They were as different as night and day. Forever restless and dissatisfied with life and with him, Vivian had wanted to get out of the house, to get away. By then, she had been cheating on him with her present husband, but the kids hadn’t known that. All the kids had known was that she needed for them to help her achieve some personal space and time away from the house and from Matt because she felt trapped by their life together.
The way Gretchen felt trapped by the baby?
No. He was being ridiculous. So what if Gretchen and Angela were spending a lot of time together. So what if every time they thought he wasn’t within earshot or eyesight lately, they bent their heads together and had whispered conferences about something they were loath to disclose to him. It meant nothing. Women did that all the time, right? They talked about feminine stuff...periods, cramps...who knows what. It meant nothing. It was just stuff they didn’t want men to hear about.
He was being ridiculous.
All he had to d
o to achieve some renewed peace of mind was to get home as soon as possible, make sure everything was all right, breathe a sigh of relief and move on, away from the heartbreak and disillusionment of the past. What had happened before was not going to happen again, he told himself firmly.
* * *
“I DON’T KNOW what you hope to gain coming here,” Sassy began cantankerously, as they met for dinner in the Galleria Mall.
“How about peace in the family?”
Gretchen’s remark was met by silence. She tried again, saying gently, “Sassy, your dad misses you so much.”
Hurt shimmered in Sassy’s eyes. “I doubt that,” she mumbled impatiently.
Gretchen winced at the accusation in her stepdaughter’s words. “Sassy—” she began as amiably as possible.
“Look, Gretchen,” Sassy interrupted, taking a sip of her iced tea. “He doesn’t need me around anymore. And why should he? He’s got a new family now. A new wife, a baby on the way.”
“Yes, he does,” Gretchen countered gently. “But that doesn’t erase everything he feels for you, Sassy. He still needs you and loves you, and he always will.”
Sassy stabbed at her salad with her fork. “Then why did he side with you against me?”
It was Gretchen’s turn to be silent. She didn’t know what to say without making matters worse. Pointing out Matt had merely been instructing Sassy on familial manners and courtesy when he’d reprimanded her about her behavior toward her new stepmother was not bound to help the situation any.
So Gretchen bypassed that and went on to the real issue. “In retrospect, I know we should have leveled with you about the baby earlier.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Because we could barely cope with the information ourselves, Gretchen thought as she forced herself to finish her salad. “Your dad and I were very surprised. We felt it was enough for you to get used to the idea of our being married, before tackling anything else.”
Sassy sat back, a smug look on her face. “As it turns out, we were right to regard the nuptials so suspiciously,” she said in a low voice laced with tension and anger.
“Yes, you were. There was more going on than Matt or I let on at the time.”
Sassy studied the people coming and leaving the busy restaurant. “He’d never hidden anything from us before then, were you aware of that?” she informed Gretchen resentfully.
Knowing Matt, Gretchen could have guessed that. She also felt that Matt, as a consenting adult whose grown children were almost completely out of the nest, had a right to some privacy. “I care about your dad,” she said simply. I care about him so much.
“Then why didn’t you leave him alone in the first place?” Sassy demanded, her jealousy and insecurity evident. “Why did you ever have to pick him to be the father of your child?” Sassy threw down her napkin. Her eyes were brimming with tears. “You have no idea how much he’s already been hurt. The divorce from Mom almost destroyed him. And now...now this.” She pushed away from the table.
Gretchen stood and caught her arm before she could flee. Sensing other diners were staring, she asked gently, “What do you want me to do?” Silence. “Sassy, please,” Gretchen pleaded, wanting more than anything to reunite Matt’s family, for all their sakes. “How can I make this better?”
“That’s just it. You can’t,” Sassy replied stonily. Ignoring Gretchen’s plea for peace, she spun on her heel and stomped away.
* * *
WHAT A WASTED TRIP, Gretchen thought as the cab let her out in front of the house shortly after midnight. She paid the driver the last of the cash she had withdrawn from her savings to finance the venture, then started wearily up the drive. She was going to have to call Angela first thing tomorrow morning and tell her she had decided not to stay in Dallas overnight after all. Then she was going to have to telephone Matt in Amarillo and see how his trip was going thus far and if he still expected to be home in time for dinner tomorrow night. She hoped so. Though they had only been apart thirty-six hours, she missed him terribly.
She headed up the stairs, turned the corner and walked into the master bedroom. To her surprise, Matt’s suitcase was just inside the door, to the right. Matt was lying on what she had come to think of as their bed, his hands folded behind his head. He hadn’t bothered to undress or turn down the bedcovers. The only light in the room came from the master bath.
Resisting the urge to gasp in surprise, Gretchen reached for the switch and turned on the lights. She didn’t know what it was exactly, but there was something dangerous about him tonight, something faintly predatory and overtly watchful in his manner.
Was it possible? Had he found out where she’d been and what a mess she’d made of things? Deciding to give nothing away until she absolutely had to, she carried her own bag into the room. Giving him an innocent smile that belied the sudden wobbliness of her knees and the racing of her pulse, she remarked pleasantly, “You’re home a day early.”
He took her in from head to toe, noting the undeniable dressiness of her silky new navy blue maternity dress. “I worked overtime so I could get back tonight. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you. It would appear I did,” he drawled as if there was suddenly too much at stake between them.
Gretchen unzipped her carryon and removed the bag that contained her cosmetics, and then her clothes. “How was your trip?”
Annoyance sparkled in his gaze as he fastened on the satin nightshirt and handful of clean undies in her hand. “Not as exciting as yours, I bet.” He swung off the bed in one lithe motion and strode toward her, not stopping until he stood close. “Where’ve you been?”
Gretchen crushed the satin-and-lace undies in her palm. “I went to Dallas this afternoon.”
He lifted a brow and said softly, “And conveniently forgot to mention it to me?”
Gretchen wet her lips and instinctively stepped back, only to find herself up against the armoire containing his clothes. “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision.” One she’d since had occasion to lament a hundred times over.
“I see.” Matt closed in until she was pinned between him and the armoire. “What did you do there?”
Gretchen paused, torn between her desire to make him suffer for thinking her capable of who only knows what in Dallas and her even stronger desire to protect him from the slings and arrows of those closest to him. Should she tell him she’d gone to see Sassy, against his wishes and advice, and in the process likely made his estrangement with his daughter worse? Or just let him think she’d gone all that way to shop...while she continued to try to work things out with Sassy. Because she was unsure, it seemed wise to be cautious. “I went to the Galleria Mall,” she replied calmly, revealing as little as possible as she sucked in her tummy and sidled past him.
“And took a suitcase?” he asked incredulously, following her into the master bath.
Gretchen shrugged, aware of his eyes upon her as she took off her pearl necklace and earrings, then headed back out into the bedroom in search of her jewelry case. “I thought I might stay overnight.” If things with Sassy had gone well, which they hadn’t.
“What did you need in Dallas that you couldn’t get at one of the malls here?” Matt asked, watching as she rifled through her travel bag, finally emerging with her velvet-lined case.
“Nothing, really.” Gretchen breezed back to retrieve her jewelry and put it away, then closed the case with a snap. “I just thought I’d see what they had there in Dallas for me that might be more exciting than what was here in Austin.” Too late, she realized that hadn’t come out exactly right.
He reminded her tersely, “When I called last night, you told me you were having dinner with Angela tonight.”
No, what she’d said was that she was having dinner with his daughter. She hadn’t mentioned which daughter. It did not seem politic to admit that. “I know I didn’t tell you in advance, but I—” followed my heart and, she added silently “—acted on the spur of the moment.”
“And flew to Dallas with a suitcase, and checked into a hotel—for the afternoon—instead,” Matt stated grimly, bracing his hands on his hips and drawing himself up to his full six feet two inches.
Okay, so on the surface that looked bad, Gretchen admitted reluctantly to herself as she caught a glimpse of her pink-cheeked countenance in the mirror. Used to total freedom all her adult life, she found she resented being checked up on now—a lot.
Maybe it was time they established a few ground rules on that score, too, Gretchen thought. She arched a brow, asked suspiciously, “How do you know about that?”
He regarded her grimly and refrained from touching her in any way. “You left a note beside the kitchen phone, with the hotel confirmation number on it. A quick call to the hotel this evening when I got home established that you had indeed checked in at four p.m. and checked out again at eight-thirty this evening. Which quite naturally led me to wonder why anyone would check in and out of a hotel for a period of four and a half hours. Of course, I know the usual reasons for such actions—at least in the afternoon.”
Her heart raced at both the ludicrousness of his suggestion and the implication in his tone. “As though I’m in any shape for a hot love affair,” she scoffed.
His eyes slid over the inviting curves of her breasts, the swell of her tummy and slim, sexy legs, before returning to her tousled hair, softly glossed lips and wide blue eyes. “I find you very desirable,” he said in a husky voice that vibrated with suppressed emotion. “It follows other men would, too.”
When he looked at her that way, she felt very sexy. She sucked in a breath and pivoted away from him. “Careful, Matt, you’re beginning to sound jealous,” she warned.
He followed her back into the bedroom. “Ticked off is more like it. And having just found my wife deliberately deceived me, flew to Dallas and spent the afternoon cavorting in a hotel room doing who knows what, I have every right to be ticked off.” He glared at her, desire and a wealth of feeling glimmering in his eyes, as he waited for her to defend herself.
Daddy Christmas Page 18
