The doorbell rang again, and Levi pulled D.J.’s pajama bottoms onto him. D.J. giggled and tried to kick the pj’s off. Not a great time to play that game, Levi thought.
He wrestled D.J. into the pj’s, snapping the bottoms to the tops so D.J. couldn’t push them off. He heard the rumble of an engine again. Whoever had come by was leaving.
Probably someone trying to sell something, he figured. Or someone trying to get him to sign a petition. It was nine o’clock, too late for a delivery.
He hoisted D.J. into his arms and descended the stairs. D.J. made a gobbling sound like a turkey. That morning, Martina had brought him a toy that created animal noises when he pointed an arrow to a picture and pulled a string. At least they were supposed to be animal noises. As far as Levi was concerned, the noise that emerged when the arrow was pointed at the duck sounded more like a bicycle horn than a quack. The sound that accompanied the dog sounded like a truck backfiring. But D.J. had fallen in love with the gobbling turkey.
Levi opened the door, just in case someone had left a package or a flyer.
Corinne was standing on the doorstep.
He stared at her, holding his face immobile while a series of emotions washed through him in waves: joy, fury, resentment, self-protective caution. Love. Relief. Fear.
She’d left him because she’d only loved him for D.J. Now, everything she wanted had come true, and he didn’t know whether he could forgive her.
“I’m sorry,” she said, and forgiveness began to trickle into his soul.
D.J. shrieked and reached for her, but she didn’t acknowledge him. Her gaze locked onto Levi’s. “I’m so sorry, Levi. I love you. Can I come in?”
The trickle increased to a gentle flow, but he resisted it. She’d left him. She’d broken his heart. He had to be careful.
D.J. continued to reach for her, but she looked only at Levi. “Sure. Come in. How did you get here?”
“Gerald drove me,” she said, entering the house.
Levi glanced down the empty driveway before shutting the door. “He just dumped you on the doorstep and left?”
“If you weren’t home—or you refused to let me in, I was going to call him to come and get me. But I thought it would be best if I saw you alone. He drove across town to look at his house.”
“It’s dark. I hope he doesn’t do something stupid like walk around the construction site. He could get hurt.”
“He’s too smart to do anything stupid,” she said, moving past Levi toward the living room, where a lamp filled the air with golden light. D.J. snagged a fistful of her hair as she walked past, and she yelped. “Ouch! Let go!”
D.J. laughed. Levi fought to unfurl his tight little fingers and free her. “I guess you aren’t happy to see him,” he said thoughtfully. He would have expected her to snatch D.J. out of his arms and crush him in a hug, and then to question Levi about how much longer he would have D.J. staying with him, how much longer she could spend with him before Travis took him away.
But she didn’t. In the light from the lamp he noticed that her cheeks were tear-stained, her lashes spiky with moisture. She was dressed in a well-tailored navy blue wool suit, stockings and pumps. Had she come here on business?
No. She’d just apologized and said she loved him. That didn’t sound like business.
“I was wrong,” she said. “I was wrong to leave you. I thought you were giving D.J. up. It never occurred to me that you were trying to do what was best for him, that you loved him as much as I did.”
His stores of forgiveness increased, but he only watched her and let her continue.
“I loved the way we all were when we were together. The way you and I seemed to think alike when we were doing things for D.J., the way we just knew intuitively where we were and who we were and what we were all doing. Like we belonged together.”
“Yes,” he finally said. Her eyes were filling with tears, shining with them. He had to offer her something, some encouragement so she could get through this.
“I’ve never had the kind of family I had with you, Levi. I know it wasn’t that long, but it felt so right. Just the three of us. It felt so true.”
“Yes.”
“And I was furious with you for letting it slip away. I’m sorry. Because even after D.J. is gone, you’re still the best thing that ever happened to me, and I want you in my life.”
“D.J. isn’t going to be gone,” he finally told her.
“I mean it, Levi. I want to be together with you. We can make our own two-person family, can’t we? And maybe, in time, we could have a baby of our own, and no one would ever take our baby away—”
“No one is taking D.J. away. He’s staying here.”
At last his words registered on her. “What?”
“Travis left for California yesterday. Alone.”
“Why?”
“He was scared to death. I made him sit down for a couple of hours with Allison Winslow—my Daddy School teacher—and she told him exactly what to expect when he became a full-time single parent. And he panicked. He said he didn’t think he could handle it. He broke down and cried.”
“Oh, no.” She shook her head, appearing genuinely sorry for him. “The poor man. He’d come here with the best of intentions.”
“And he left with the best of intentions. He left knowing D.J. would be better off here than in California with him.” The shimmer in her eyes was breaking down his resistance. Her nearness, her sincerity, the tremulous softness of her lips as she bared her heart to him… Forgiveness was flooding him now. She was back. She’d said she loved him.
But she still hadn’t acknowledged D.J., other than to yell at him for pulling her hair. Evidently, she’d come to Arlington prepared to love Levi alone, without the baggage of a baby. And now the baby had become a part of the deal again, just when she’d accepted that the baby was not a part of the deal.
Not only had the baby become a part of the deal, but he’d yanked her hair.
“Travis knows he’ll always be a part of D.J.’s life. He can come and visit whenever he wants, as long as he gives me a little warning. And maybe, when D.J.’s older, he can fly out to California to visit his dad. But Travis gave me full custody. He said he’d have his lawyer handle whatever paperwork is necessary.”
“He must have been disappointed.”
“Disappointed and relieved, both.”
“And you?”
“Mostly relieved,” Levi admitted.
Her face blossomed into a smile, the first real smile he’d seen on her face since she’d arrived—in fact, the first real smile since her last visit, when she’d been tense and worried about Travis’s presence in Arlington.
She was smiling because Levi had D.J. Which meant she had D.J., too.
“I love you,” she murmured, her eyes overflowing. She’d already told him that, but he would gladly listen to her tell him again and again. She opened her arms, wrapped one around him and one around D.J., and rested her head against Levi’s shoulder. “I love you both.”
He touched his lips to her soft, silky hair. “Welcome home, Corinne,” he whispered.
*
SHE WAS BACK. She was hugging them, and he knew from the way her arms felt, the way her body pressed close, that she wasn’t going to leave anymore.
He wasn’t sure exactly what “home” meant, but he believed it had something to do with being held, being safe and being loved. He felt safe right now. He felt loved. He was surrounded by the man and the woman, by strength and softness, and neither of them seemed likely to let go.
This must be home, D.J. thought with a happy sigh.
***
About the Author
Judith Arnold is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than ninety published novels. A New York native, she currently lives in New England, where she indulges in her passions for jogging, dark chocolate, good music, good wine and good books. She is married and the mother of two sons.
You can find out about Judith’s
other books, contact her, and sign up for her newsletter by visiting her website.
About The Daddy School
The Daddy School is an award-winning series of contemporary romances about heroes, the children they love, and the women who love those men and their children. Founded by best friends Allison Winslow, a neonatal nurse, and Molly Saunders, the director of a preschool, the Daddy School offers classes on how to become a better father. The first three books of the series tell how the school was founded and celebrate the love stories of Allison, Molly, and Molly’s sister, Gail. Those first three books were so beloved by readers, I just kept writing more Daddy School books. Enjoy them all!
Father Found
Jamie McCoy is the ultimate guy. His syndicated column, “Guy Stuff,” keeps thousands of men in a macho frame of mind. But the day Jamie finds Samantha on his doorstep, his life changes drastically. Samantha is a baby and Samantha is a girl. Jamie knows nothing about babies and girls. More important, Samantha is his daughter, so he phones Allison Winslow, a nurse who runs the Daddy School, for advice. But when he actually meets Allison, he finds he wants much more than her assistance.
Father Christmas
Police detective John Russo is responsible to a fault. When his girlfriend got pregnant, he married her. When she walked out on the marriage, he committed himself to raising their son himself. But when his baby-sitter has a family emergency and must fly to California, John's carefully rigged existence comes crashing down. He needs help, and fast. Molly Saunders co-founded the Daddy School to help men become better fathers. When it comes to learning the skills he needs to raise his son well, John is an A student. But Molly's lessons in love prove much more challenging.
Father of Two
Dennis Murphy’s rambunctious seven-year-old twins swear he’s the best lawyer in Arlington, Connecticut. They don’t make his job easy, however. When the nanny he hires to watch the twins walks out on them one afternoon, Dennis is forced to bring his work home with him. A lawyer in the public defender’s office, Gail Saunders agrees to represent a former client suing the city’s newspaper for libel, even if it means going up against Murphy and his prestigious, wealthy law firm, and even if it means she has to deal with his wild children once their nanny goes AWOL. Being the sister of one of the founders of the Daddy School, Gail believes Murphy could use a few lessons in how to be a better father. But she’s got a few things to learn, too, and Dennis Murphy might just be the man to teach her.
Somebody’s Dad
Fund manager Brett Stockton wants love, commitment, maybe even marriage—but no kids, period. Falling in love with photographer Sharon Bartell is easy. She’s everything he could possibly want in a woman…except that she’s the single mother of a two-year-old son. Can Brett learn to love Max? Or for both Max and Sharon’s sakes, should he walk away?
Hush, Little Baby
When Levi Holt’s single-mom sister dies and he learns he’s the guardian of her six-month-old baby, he needs a crash course in fatherhood. Juggling child care with his demanding career as an architect, he has trouble conducting business with Corinne Lanier, who wants him to alter his design for her boss’s new house. Corinne has no time or patience for a frazzled dad and a cranky baby—until both Levi and D.J. start working their magic on her. With love, lullabies and a few desperately needed classes at the Daddy School, Levi might figure out how to put the fragmented pieces of his life back together. But will there be room in it for Corinne? And can he be certain Corinne loves him for himself and not for his precious little baby?
Almost an Angel
Widower Conor Malone wants Christmas to be joyous for his daughter. But Amy believes Santa is going to bring her mother back to her. How can Conor make the holiday bright for Amy when he can’t give her the one gift she wants? With a little help from Eliza Powell, the new school psychologist—and the Daddy School.
Daddy’s Girl
As a court-appointed guardian for Alix Medina, Hayley Baines has only one job: to represent the best interests of the little girl at the center of a difficult custody battle between the child’s widowed father, Kevin Medina, and Kevin’s in-laws. That Kevin is a working-class guy who runs a lawn service and the Porters are outrageously wealthy, able to provide Alix with everything she could ever want, doesn’t influence Hayley. That Kevin is strong and sexy and irresistibly attractive shouldn’t influence her. But how objective can she be when talking to him, gazing at him, simply being with him turns her on in a crazy way?
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