“What about the note? Do you know if anything’s being done about it?”
“I know it’s written on paper that can be bought in nearly any store. How’s life with Linc?”
Despite her best efforts, Maddie could feel her face warm. “I told you earlier, we rarely see him. He works a lot.”
“So why do you look like you’ve been caught with your hand down his cookie jar?”
“Ali!”
“That’s what this is really about. Not just a sweet little baby. You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”
“I’m not falling for Lincoln Swift!”
The back door opened just then and their mother hurried inside, slowing only long enough to make sure that Vivian, who was following her, made it in safely, too.
“Don’t coddle me,” Vivian said a little testily as she shrugged off Meredith’s hand. She was almost as petite as Meredith, who was only five feet tall. “I’m old. Not dead. At least not yet.”
“Don’t joke,” Meredith chided. Because it wasn’t a joke. Vivian Archer Templeton, on the high side of her eighties, had an inoperable brain tumor. So far, it was just “squatting” as Vivian liked to say. But they all knew that anything was possible. Nothing could happen with it. Or everything could happen with it.
Needless to say, they all hoped for the nothing end of that particular spectrum.
Vivian made an impatient sound. But there was still a gleam of affection in her dark brown eyes as she looked at her daughter-in-law. “Better to joke than to run around morose all the time.” She patted her stylish silver hair as she surveyed the deplorable state of the kitchen. “Would you please let me get this place finished for you?”
Meredith had spotted Layla and was greedily slipping the baby out from the carrier. “Watch your hair, Mom,” Maddie warned. Then she looked back at her grandmother. “We are not letting you pay for our refurbishing.” It was an old argument. “Want me to take your coat?” It was a fancy fur. Real, no doubt.
“No thank you, dear.” Vivian sat at the table, giving Maddie’s mug of coffee an appraising look. “We’ve just come from lunch and won’t be long. Here.” She pulled a bundle of red yarn from her pocket. “Your mother told me about the baby.”
Maddie shook out the bundle. It was a baby-size knitted cap. “Did you knit it?”
“Good Lord, no.” Vivian looked appalled at the very idea. “You should put it on her head, though. It’s very chilly in here. I suppose you’ve noticed.”
Maddie and Ali shared a look. “You could say that.”
“Meredith, your daughters are as stubborn as that son of mine you married.”
“Yes they are, Vivian,” Meredith returned equably. She was cuddling the baby, who had, despite the warning, wrapped her little hands in Meredith’s long dark ringlets. She might be in her fifties now, but their mom had more hair than all three of the triplets combined. She also got along a lot better with her mother-in-law than Carter did. “I can’t believe this is Ernestine’s great-granddaughter.”
“Possibly her great-granddaughter,” Maddie corrected. “We still don’t have proof.”
“All I’ve heard about it is bits and pieces. How is Linc?”
Maddie didn’t dare look at her mother. “Fine.” She buried her nose in the dreadful coffee.
Vivian toyed with the rings on her fingers. “He’s a handsome one, that Lincoln Swift.”
“He mentioned you’ve met,” Maddie mumbled.
“If I were thirty years younger—”
“You’d still be too old for him,” Meredith said, laughing.
“True. And handsome or not, I could never do better than my dear Arthur.” He’d been the last of her four husbands, and to hear her tell it, the great love of her life, even though she still used the name she’d gotten when she’d married Carter’s father. She looked at Ali and Maddie. “I expect both of you to bring suitable escorts to my party next week.”
“You’ll be lucky if I arrive wearing a suitable dress,” Ali warned, not in the least bit cowed.
“What about you?” Vivian caught Maddie’s eye.
“I, uh, I’ll borrow something from Hayley again.” She would need to remember to call her about it.
“And an escort?”
“Archer will do.”
Vivian sniffed derisively. “He’s your brother. He should be bringing a woman of his own.”
Ali grinned. “He’d have to throw dice to choose just one.”
“Is that why you dropped by?” Maddie had become very fond of her grandmother over the past year. But she wasn’t oblivious to Vivian’s attitudes. Admittedly, she’d made a lot of progress since moving from Pennsylvania, but she was nevertheless a duck out of water. Caviar and diamonds among cowboy beans and boots. “To make sure we don’t embarrass you at your party?”
“What would a good party be without someone getting a little embarrassed by something? You’ll bring Lincoln Swift.”
“I will?”
“You like him, don’t you? I hear you’re staying under his roof.”
“That’s temporary. And strictly because of the baby.”
Vivian waved her hand, looking unsettlingly crafty. “Bring him anyway. He’ll be an interesting addition to our evening.”
“I can’t just drag him to a party, Vivian.”
“Maybe you can ask Morton,” Ali suggested slyly.
Meredith glanced up from Layla. “Who’s Morton?”
“Nobody,” Maddie assured her. “Nobody at all.”
“I knew a Morton once,” Vivian reflected. “Pillar of salt, he was.”
Despite herself, Maddie laughed. She glanced at her mother, and wished she hadn’t. Meredith was watching her with a knowing look.
Mrs. Lincoln Swift.
She quickly looked back at her coffee. She wasn’t seventeen anymore, doodling dreamily on a school notebook. “So, anyone going to the Glitter and Glow parade tonight?”
“I tried talking your father into it. So far, he’s refusing,” Meredith replied. “Says he’s already put in his time sitting out in the cold watching crazies wearing Christmas lights when you girls were growing up.”
“He’ll give in. He always does when it comes to you. Which is why he’s there, every year, watching the crazies. As for me, I’ll be working, keeping the peace among them.” Ali plucked the pencil out of her hair and fluffed it out around her shoulders. “What do you all think of me trying to go blond?”
“I think you should concentrate your efforts on this house and let your hair alone,” Meredith said dryly. She handed the baby to Maddie. “Vivian, I’d better get you back to Weaver before they start closing off streets for the parade and make it impossible to reach the highway.”
“You didn’t drive yourself to Braden?” Maddie asked. Vivian had an ostentatious Rolls Royce that she tended to drive like a maniac. “Are you feeling all right?”
“I’m fine,” Vivian assured her blithely. “The Rolls is simply having a tune-up.”
In Vivian-speak, Maddie knew that could mean anything from an oil change to dent removal.
“Maybe we’ll see you at the parade,” Meredith said as they left. “Bring Linc. Ernestine used to take him and Jax every year.” She closed the door after Vivian.
Maddie exhaled. She worked the cap over Layla’s head. The baby immediately began trying to pull it back off.
“Remember when life used to be uncomplicated?”
She looked at Ali.
“Yeah,” Ali said wryly. “Me, either.”
* * *
The Glitter and Glow parade ran through the center of Braden every year. From his upstairs bedroom, Linc could probably see the lights of it if he’d wanted to.
Maddie and Layla had been gone all day. She’d left the
house early that morning and still been gone when he came home after spending the day on conference calls with his lawyers and the folks at OKF.
If it weren’t for the clothes that were still lying in a pile in the bedroom, he would have been certain that she didn’t intend to bring the baby back. That she didn’t intend to come back.
But what were a few pairs of jeans and a hank of lace, anyway? She’d told him that first night that Layla’s needs were basic. Maybe Maddie’s were equally basic. Maybe she didn’t care about leaving the clothes behind, if it meant she didn’t have to put up with Linc anymore.
He exhaled heavily and turned away from the window.
Jax’s phone was sitting on his dresser. He’d kept it charged, even though he still hadn’t figured out the password. And he could tell that multiple messages had been coming in even though he couldn’t access them.
He swiped across the photo of the sailboat blonde and jabbed in some random numbers, as unsuccessfully as all the others he’d tried. What he needed was a phone hacker. Unfortunately, Linc didn’t happen to have such a person on his speed dial.
He left the phone where it was and went down the hall. The nursery—even full of stuff—was neater than Maddie’s bedroom. He picked up one of the sleepers that were folded on top of the changing table. The elf-looking one. It was so tiny.
He’d gotten over Jax and Dana. As much as he ever would, anyway. But this—
He crumpled the sleeper in his fist.
He heard a wail from downstairs and dropped it, striding out into the hall. From the head of the stairs, he watched Maddie juggle the baby and the diaper bag and the house key as she entered the house.
She was home.
The relief was almost more than he could stand.
He closed his hand tightly over the newel post. “Where the hell have you been all day?” Good one, Linc. Just piss her off right from the start.
Her head jerked back as she looked up the staircase, her dark hair gleaming beneath the chandelier. “We spent the day with Ali.” Her voice was cool as she unwrapped the blanket around Layla and shrugged out of her coat. “Where the hell have you been all day?”
“Same place I’ve been all week. Keeping my father from selling Swift Oil out from under us all.”
Layla was still crying, but Maddie went stock-still, looking up at him. “Are you serious?”
He unlocked his grip and started down the stairs. “Is she hungry or something?”
“Since she’s always hungry, I’m guessing yes.” Maddie dumped her coat on the bottom stair alongside the diaper bag. “Unfortunately, I didn’t plan for her to go through as many bottles as she did today. Either that, or Ali was drinking formula behind my back.” She headed into the kitchen, stopping short when she spotted the high chair that had been delivered that day. “Linc.” She looked over her shoulder as he followed her. “How much more stuff are you planning to buy for her?”
“As much as she needs.”
“Then I guess you better not let Swift Oil get sold out from under you.” She sidestepped the high chair that he’d positioned near the island and carried the baby into the pantry. She came out a second later with the can of powdered formula.
He took it from her. “I’ll do it.”
Her lashes swept down, but not soon enough to hide the surprise in her eyes. While he quickly grabbed a clean bottle and started filling it, she tried distracting Layla with the usual wooden spoon, but the baby wasn’t having any of it. The only thing that quieted her was the bottle when he finally handed it to Maddie.
She slid onto one of the barstools and held the baby on her lap to feed her. “So how serious is this thing with your father? Really.”
“Couple hundred million dollars’ worth of serious.” Linc grimaced. “I’m buying him out.”
She looked shocked. “Just like that.” She snapped her fingers.
“It’s a little more complicated than that, but essentially. Money’s what matters to my father, so money’s what he’ll get.”
“And Jax? Doesn’t he have any say?”
“If he were here in the first place, it wouldn’t even be necessary. I wouldn’t have to sell off some of my own holdings just to keep the entire damned company safe.”
“My brain doesn’t even understand numbers that high,” she murmured. “I don’t know why I keep forgetting that you’re rich.”
“Not as rich as I was when I woke up this morning. And fortunately, my lawyers do understand.”
She was silent for a moment, looking down at Layla. She tenderly smoothed the baby’s hair that looked blonder than ever against the dark red sweater Maddie wore. Then she seemed to take a deep breath. “Justin called me when we were on our way back here,” she said quickly. “Your DNA profile is finished.”
His muscles tightened. “And?”
“And nothing. Layla’s test isn’t complete yet.”
He almost wished she hadn’t told him. His stomach burned and he grabbed the milk from the fridge.
“He said he’d let me know the second they’re able to compare them.”
“Before the hearing on Tuesday?”
She was chewing her lip. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
He swore under his breath. “Give me lawyers and my old man any day of the week.” He flipped the cap off the glass milk bottle and drank straight from it. When he finally capped it again, Maddie was watching him.
Her eyes were dark. “If you have an ulcer, you shouldn’t have been drinking whiskey last night.”
“I don’t have an ulcer.” He grimaced. “I did, but it’s healed.”
She raised an eyebrow, looking pointedly at the milk.
“Call it prevention.” He shoved the bottle back into the fridge. “We need to take her to the parade,” he said abruptly.
Her mouth rounded slightly. “It’s already started. That’s why it took me so long to get here. Trying to navigate around all the closed-off streets.”
“I still want her to see it.”
“She’s only three—” Maddie shrugged. “Okay.” She slid off the barstool. “Bring the formula. Just in case.”
He grabbed the canister and the only clean bottle sitting in the rack and shoved them into the diaper bag.
“Where are we going to watch from? The stroller’s in my trunk.” She wrapped Layla into a tiny white coat.
He hadn’t even known they made coats for babies her size.
“She seems to prefer the carrier, though.” Maddie was still talking as she maneuvered her arms into her own coat while still holding the bundled baby and the bottle. “Can’t say I blame her. Body contact and all. She shouldn’t really know that she was left the way she was, but who is to say for sure?” She flipped her hair out from the collar of her coat and glanced up at Linc.
Everything about her seemed to still, except for those deep, expressive eyes. “What?”
He stepped closer. Leaned down and kissed her.
She gave a startled jerk, followed immediately by the heady softening of her lips. Followed just as immediately by her hand on his chest, shoving him away.
Then she scrambled from him for good measure, clutching the baby against her. Even Layla was giving him a wide-eyed look, momentarily disinterested in the bottle that Maddie had also seemed to forget. “What on earth are you thinking?”
That she was right. A marriage of convenience had been a stupid idea. “That you should marry me before Tuesday. Then when we get to court next week, it’ll be a done deal.”
She turned away from him, giving the bottle once more to the baby. “You’re out of your tree.”
“We both want Layla.”
“Linc—”
“And I want you.”
She froze. “You’re only saying that because of the situat
ion.”
“The situation being that you turn me on the same way you always have?”
She huffed. Her cheeks flushed. “Cut it out. You’re just panicking.”
“Over...?”
“You know. The DNA test being done. The hearing getting closer. The—”
“—fact that you were gone the entire day and I wasn’t sure you’d come back?”
She blinked. Layla blinked.
Then Maddie cleared her throat. “As long as the judge lets me keep Layla, I’m not going anywhere,” she said huskily. “Just, um, just stop proposing.”
“Or what?”
Her lips compressed. Her eyes were suddenly filled with ire. “Or I might accept just to spite you. And then where would we be?”
In bed, he thought immediately.
Fortunately, he managed to have the good sense not to say it.
Chapter Twelve
“What do you think?”
Maddie stared up at the enormous tree. “I think it’s probably illegal to cut down a tree like this.”
Linc’s smile flashed. “Not if I own the land it’s on.”
It was Sunday morning and they were standing in the middle of nowhere. All because Maddie had evidently lost her mind where Linc was concerned.
It wasn’t even the proposals, which she resolutely refused to take seriously. Yes, she’d lost all hope of objectivity where Layla and Linc were concerned. But she hadn’t lost every shred of her common sense. And common sense dictated there were solutions to be found that didn’t involve saying vows that weren’t true.
No, it wasn’t the proposals.
It wasn’t even the kiss that had rocked her back on her heels despite its brevity.
It was the parade.
And the fact that Linc had found a spot, right on the curb in front of the Swift Oil office, where they’d sat and watched all of the cars and trucks and even people, wrapped in Christmas lights, progress along the street while Christmas carols played from loudspeakers, sometimes warring with the high school band and the choral groups who passed.
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