The dance with B.J. had been more enjoyable than he’d expected. To fight the attraction he was feeling, he asked, “Are you sorry you didn’t catch the bouquet?”
She looked at him, surprise on her face. “No, of course not, I’m not in the market for a husband.” She chuckled as she looked across the room. “Though I can’t say Brett thinks he is, either.”
“He’ll adjust. I’ve told him it’s time he start looking around now that Pete’s married.”
“You’re rather dictatorial about your brothers, aren’t you?”
He frowned at her. “I’m the head of the family. It’s up to me to see that they’re all taken care of.”
“Don’t you think your brothers are old enough to figure things out for themselves?”
“No, I don’t! And how I handle my family’s business is none of yours.” He regretted his burst of anger, knowing he should apologize, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so.
After staring up at him in silence, she only said, quietly, “I think some of the guests are ready to leave now that Pete and Janie have gone upstairs. Perhaps you should go—”
“Yes. Thank you for reminding me of my duties.” After giving a brief nod of his head, he strode to the door. Damn the woman. She always made him feel he’d been less than a gentleman.
“LOOKS LIKE WE’RE the last couple, Meggie,” Chad whispered in her ear. “How about you? Are you exhausted?”
“It’s been a busy few days,” she said, smiling up at him. “But at least we’re not angry with each other anymore.”
“Yep. I’ve decided I’ve been pretty dense to waste even one day apart from you.” He trailed kisses down the side of her face. “I think we may have more fun tonight than Pete and Janie.”
“Do you think?” she asked, smiling at him.
“Yeah. And we could probably have triplets or quadruplets, if we tried, too.” He closed his eyes and pulled her even closer.
Megan, surprised by his words, pulled away to look at his face. “What did you say?”
He smiled down at her. “I said we could—What’s the matter? Don’t you want to have kids?”
“Of course I do, Chad. But not right away. I’m going to redo the house with Adele, remember? Once I had a baby, I couldn’t travel back to Denver or do all the work that’s involved. You know that.”
“Yeah, but I think our family is more important than a few couches.”
He knew he’d made a mistake as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and Megan’s glare confirmed his error.
“Is that what you think I do? Just buy a few couches? That interior decorating is one big shopping trip?”
“No, baby, I didn’t mean that.” Chad hurriedly retreated, whispering his words.
“‘Baby’? I don’t like being called baby.”
“Meggie, come on. We just made up.”
She sniffed, her body stiff.
“Look, I was wrong to bring up the subject tonight. I know you’ve got important work to do. We’ll talk about this stuff some other time.” Hell, he might never bring up the subject again if it meant Megan would be angry with him. He regretted the past week’s coldness between them.
Tonight he had plans to heat things up.
“Let’s go upstairs, too. We’ll leave the bachelors to say the good-nights for the Randalls.” Relief filled him when she agreed.
THE REMAINING RANDALLS, assisted by the Dawsons, bade the last of the guests goodbye and did a brief cleanup.
“Man, I forgot weddings were such an ordeal,” Brett said, flopping down on the sofa.
“Get used to it. Yours is next,” Jake said, a weary grin on his face.
“It seems to me you may be asking for trouble, Jake,” Lavinia said as she joined Brett on the sofa.
“What do you mean, Lavinia? You think there’s no woman out there insane enough to take on Brett?”
The others chuckled, as Jake intended, but Lavinia explained. “No. There’s the possibility that your brothers will decide what’s good for the gander is also good for the gander’s older brother.”
Jake pretended he didn’t understand her slightly altered version of the old saying. “I don’t think you’ve got that story right, Lavinia.”
Brett leaned forward. “I think she does. Good idea, Lavinia. If marriage is such a great idea, why isn’t Jake looking around?”
“Because I didn’t catch the bouquet.”
“That was an accident,” Brett scoffed, his cheeks turning red. “It doesn’t mean anything. You should be looking for your own woman, not one for me.”
“How do you know I’m not? Mildred Bates was flirting with me tonight.”
Again everyone laughed, except Red.
“Mildred is a very nice lady,” Lavinia said, in spite of her laughter.
“Yes, she is. Only the nice ladies will do,” Jake assured her.
“That wasn’t what you called Chloe,” Brett reminded him.
Jake wasn’t pleased to have bad memories of his ex-wife brought up. “Fortunately there aren’t too many women like Chloe around. By the way, the other day I heard she remarried.”
“Poor guy,” Brett muttered with an exaggerated shudder.
“You two are too hard on Chloe. It must’ve been difficult to move into this male bastion,” Lavinia said.
Brett burst into laughter. “Too hard on Chloe? That’s amusing, Lavinia. That’s like saying one of Pete’s bulls is just mischievous.”
Though Lavinia smiled, tears filled her eyes as she said, “I think it may be hard for both Megan and Janie. You will be kind to Janie, won’t you?”
While both Jake and Brett rushed to assure Lavinia that Janie would be treated well, Hank moved over and put his arm around his wife. “Don’t worry, boys. Lavinia knows you’ll be good to our Janie. She’s just experiencing post-wedding blues. Everything’s happened so fast, she’s just realized Janie won’t be going home with us.”
Hank pulled Lavinia up from the couch. “Time for us to go home, sweetheart. At least Janie’s close, and you can come see her whenever you want.”
“Yes, of course. Sorry, Jake, Brett. We’ll—we’ll call tomorrow. Thanks for all your work, Red.”
“Happy to do it, Lavinia.”
After the Dawsons had driven away, Brett looked at the other two men. “I’m glad Hank knew what to do when Lavinia started crying. I sure didn’t.”
“Well, I hope you paid attention,” Jake warned him, “because the Randalls include two ladies now. And it’s up to us to keep them happy.”
Brett looked up the stairs. “Naw, Jake. It’s up to Pete and Chad to keep them happy. Speaking of which, I hope you remembered to have that discussion with them about the birds and the bees.”
Chapter Ten
The door was open to their bedroom when Pete reached it with Janie in his arms. A good thing, he decided, since he thought Janie had gone to sleep on the way up the stairs.
He’d kept her at their reception too long, and he felt guilty because of it. She’d been tired an hour ago. But he’d loved holding her against him, kissing her to everyone’s applause.
And he’d known when they came upstairs she would withdraw.
Her eyes fluttered open as he laid her down on the large bed. “Pete?”
“Hi, honey. We’re home.” His grin invited her to find the humor.
She rose up and looked around her, her bright blue eyes wide as they lit on several vases full of flowers.
“Megan and B.J. brought in the flowers. They said it made the room look more romantic.” He hadn’t told them the only thing the room needed was Janie for him to think it was romantic. “They also left the negligee as a gift.”
Janie’s eyes widened even farther as she looked over her shoulder to the other side of the bed. There, spread out in all its glory, was a silvery silk negligee, in material that would only cast a shadow over the wearer’s charms.
“I—I can’t wear that.”
“Good.”
&n
bsp; “You don’t like it?” she demanded, sitting straighter.
“Don’t like it? Am I alive? Honey, any man would like to see his woman wearing something like that, especially if she looks like you.” He paused, but she continued to stare at him, waiting for an explanation. “Unless he promised not to make love to her.”
She dropped her gaze. “Oh.”
“You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”
His heart stopped beating while she considered her answer.
Then she whispered, “No.”
“That’s what I figured. So I hope you brought something a little less, uh, maybe I should say a little more…unsexy.”
With a weary smile, she stood. “I did. Are—are my bags here?”
He pointed them out beside the closet door. “Just get out what you need tonight. You can unpack tomorrow, after you’ve rested. I’m going down for a late-night snack while you get ready for bed.” The relief on her face didn’t make him feel good, but he tried to ignore his disappointment. “Don’t wait up for me.”
She nodded, avoiding his gaze.
Pete stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him. Then he collapsed against it and breathed deeply.
Man, keeping his hands off Janie was going to be tough. Especially when she slept in his bed. He’d better stay gone until she’d fallen asleep. With a sigh, he loosened his tie, took off his coat to hang it on the doorknob, shoved his hands in his pants pockets and strolled to the stairs.
Hearing voices still in the living room, he came to an abrupt halt. Hell, he’d completely forgotten that everyone else hadn’t gone to bed already. Now what was he going to do?
Every bedroom in the house was filled with guests spending the night. His old bedroom was off-limits. Their second room was filled with Great-Aunt Henrietta.
As he stood there thinking, he heard someone near the bottom of the stairs say, “I think we’ll go on up to bed, now, Jake. We’re too old for such late-night shenanigans.”
Pete didn’t know who was speaking, and it didn’t matter. He didn’t want anyone to see him lingering in the hall on his wedding night. He sprinted back to his bedroom door. Grabbing his jacket, he opened the door, slipped in and quietly shut it behind him.
Then he turned around in time to discover Janie coming out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. A very brief towel.
“Pete!” she gasped.
“Janie!” he yelped at the same time.
She backed toward the bathroom, clasping the towel tightly around her. “I thought you wouldn’t be back yet.”
“I wasn’t—I didn’t mean to—I couldn’t get to the kitchen without everyone downstairs seeing me. I didn’t want them to know—”
She interrupted him, her cheeks red. “I’m through in the bathroom if you need it. My pajamas are in here.”
He edged his way past, avoiding touching her, but he couldn’t keep his gaze from tracing every inch of her pale flesh. He was panting by the time he closed the door behind him.
Deciding a shower was in order, he turned on the water, all cold, and stripped down. When he finally dried off a few minutes later, he felt a little more in control. As long as the door was closed.
When he finally got up the nerve to open the bathroom door, he discovered only a small lamp burning on his side of the big bed. Janie was curled into a tight little ball on the other side, almost falling off the edge.
“Janie?” he whispered.
No answer. Could she already be asleep? It would make life easier for him if she was. He crept over to gaze down at her beautiful face, pale with exhaustion but relaxed in sleep.
He reached down to caress her cheek, longing filling him. The desire to hold her against him, to protect her, to love her, filled him. Groaning, he stepped back and rounded the bed. Lifting the cover, he got in and pulled the blankets to his chin.
After several minutes of trying to ignore Janie’s presence, he made a decision.
He’d promised not to make love to her. But he hadn’t promised not to hold her. Turning, he reached out and slid her next to him. Though he feared she would awaken, he was delighted when she cuddled against him, her eyes closed.
With a sigh, he shut his eyes, too. He was tired. But he loved the feel of her against him. And, in spite of his promise, he was experiencing something new on his wedding night. He would wake up in the morning next to Janie.
Not a bad way to start the day.
JANIE WOKE the next morning slowly. Must’ve turned off the alarm. She struggled to open her eyes. When she did finally manage that simple task, she stared around her, the events of the past day slowly reinstating themselves.
She was pregnant.
She was married.
She’d shared the bed with Pete.
At that thought, her head whipped around to be sure she was alone. During their affair, they’d never spent an entire night together.
With a mixture of disappointment and relief, she discovered Pete was nowhere to be seen. She relaxed against the pillow…until she realized her pillow was in the middle of the bed. She distinctly recalled clutching the side of the bed last night.
The indentation in the pillow next to hers showed Pete hadn’t sought the far reaches of the big bed, either. Had they spent the night together wrapped in each other’s arms…and she’d missed it?
She groaned and swung back the covers. No use thinking about such a thing. It couldn’t happen again. As soon as the other room was abandoned, she’d move in. Discreetly, of course, as she’d promised Pete, but she couldn’t risk the temptation of sleeping with him again.
Fortunately her stomach seemed settled this morning. She set about getting ready to face the world, including her new family.
When she started down the stairs, the nervous tension in her stomach surprised her. She’d known the Randalls all her life. But things were different this morning.
Red stood by the sink and Megan sat at the table, working on a sketch, when Janie entered the kitchen. “Good morning.”
Megan smiled and Red rushed to her side to take her arm as if she were unstable. “Here, Janie, come sit down,” he urged.
She looked at him in surprise.
Megan chuckled. “You didn’t know you’d suddenly become an invalid, did you?”
“Now, Megan, don’t go talkin’ that way,” Red ordered. “We’re just tryin’ to be careful.”
“About what?” Janie asked, still puzzled.
“Why, about you and the babies. Pete warned us all this morning.”
“Pete warned you about what?” Janie asked.
They’d reached the table, and Janie sat down across from Megan as she asked her question. Red didn’t answer, because he was hurrying across the room to the stove.
“Now, Janie, do you want eggs and bacon with flapjacks, or—?”
“Red, it’s ten o’clock. Lunch is in two hours. All I need is a piece of toast, a cup of coffee and, I suppose, a glass of milk.”
“But Pete said—”
“Yes, what exactly did Pete say?” she demanded, irritation building in her.
“That we were to take care of you,” Megan explained. “He laid down the law to all of us that you weren’t to lift a finger, and we were to feed you every time your mouth opened.” Her grin told Janie she would understand her reaction.
Janie shook her head, a rueful smile on her face. “Red, just toast, coffee and milk.”
“Are you sure you should have coffee? I read—”
“One cup won’t hurt me.”
“But Pete—”
Janie got up from the table and crossed to the coffeepot, reaching for the mugs stored just above it.
“I coulda done that, Janie,” Red insisted.
On the way back to the table, she kissed his cheek. “I know, Red, but I’m not an invalid, in spite of Pete’s warnings. But I will let you fix me some toast, just this once.”
Though Red grumbled under his breath, he set about fixing her toast, a
nd Janie sat back down across from Megan.
“I’m going to have problems here, aren’t I?”
“Only if you want to do anything except breathe,” Megan agreed. “The Randall men aren’t used to having women around, much less a pregnant one. Pete envisions keeping you seated on a satin pillow, being waited on hand and foot, until the babies are born.”
“I’d go out of my mind.”
Megan nodded in sympathy.
Red brought over the toast and a glass of milk before refilling his own coffee cup and joining them at the table. “Anything else I can get for you? Megan, you need more coffee?”
“No, Red, thanks. Besides, I’m not pregnant. I can get my own coffee.” Megan’s grin took the sting out of her words.
“As far as I know, being pregnant hasn’t impaired my legs, either,” Janie protested.
“Now, Janie, don’t get all hot and bothered. Pete just wants to take care of you because of…well, past history,” Red said, and then looked alarmed.
“I suppose he warned you not to talk about my mother’s problems…or his mother’s? Does he think I don’t know?” Janie stared at the other two in disgust.
“He doesn’t want you to dwell on bad things,” Megan assured her.
Again Janie rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised he even let me out of bed.”
“Oh!” Red jumped up as if something had bitten him. “I forgot. He left you a note in case you got up before he got back.” He hurried across the kitchen to the desk where he stored everything from recipes to receipts. He returned to hand Janie a folded piece of paper.
Prop your feet up and take it easy. Red will get you whatever you want.
Pete
Janie folded the paper and put it in her jeans pocket. Not exactly romantic, but she hadn’t had too many notes from Pete. Unconsciously she sighed after sipping her coffee.
“Bad news?” Megan asked.
“No. Just orders to do nothing.”
“You should give yourself time to adjust. You’ve had several big changes in your life recently.”
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