Daddy Next Door (Hometown Reunion)

by Ginger Chambers

  Raine is pregnant.

  For a dancer, that’s a disaster. Especially when the father is more interested in being in the limelight than being a daddy. So Raine has run home to her mother, and her dear friend Gabe.

  Gabe is some sort of saint. That’s what they say about him in Tyler. The handsome firefighter would give the shirt off his back…. But Raine is another story entirely.

  No one’s fooled by their marriage. Everyone knows it’s just a matter of time before Raine runs back to New York, leaving Gabe behind, hurting. Again.

  This wasn’t a brotherly kiss!

  Gabe’s kiss hardened again…then it was over and she was set free. In her shock, it was all she could do to remain standing. Raine’s heart was thundering. She tried to speak but couldn’t. Neither could she meet his gaze.

  “Raine,” he said softly, repentantly. The one thing they’d had going for them since childhood was trust, and he’d just breached it. But her lips had tasted so sweet, far sweeter than he’d imagined. “Red…I don’t know what happened just now. I…” He stopped to swallow. “We made an arrangement when we entered into this marriage and… All I can promise is that it won’t happen again.”

  “I believe you,” she said softly. As if in a dream, without looking at him, she got up and left the kitchen, walked down the hall into the bedroom and closed the door. She crossed to the bed and sat down on the edge, her knees together, her hands folded in her lap.

  Gabe had kissed her. With a passion. As a man kisses a woman he desires. He’d kissed her.

  And she’d enjoyed it.

  GINGER CHAMBERS

  has been published by Harlequin since 1983. She has written for the Harlequin Superromance, Harlequin Everlasting Love and Harlequin American Romance lines, as well as for the Harlequin Special Projects series—Welcome to Tyler and Hometown Reunion. Before writing for Harlequin, she wrote for Dell Publishing in the Candlelight Romance, Candlelight Ecstasy and Candlelight Ecstasy Supreme lines.

  Daddy Next Door

  GINGER CHAMBERS

  Around the quilting circle…

  “They looked so happy, didn’t they?” Martha Bauer smiled with satisfaction as she bent over the quilting frame. “I love weddings. I’m glad it turned out as it did. Gabe Atwood’s such a good boy, always has been.”

  “Maybe too good,” Annabelle Scanlon replied archly.

  Martha paused in the middle of a stitch. “Annabelle, stop it! You’ve known Raine Peterson all her life, just like the rest of us. It was written all over her face that she loves him.”

  “I didn’t say she didn’t!” Annabelle protested. “I just said—”

  Tessie Finklebaum interrupted. “Well, personally, I’m getting tired of hearing about it. Let the kids get on with their lives! Pretty soon the baby will be born and—”

  “That’s just it!” Annabelle broke in triumphantly. “Gabe may not mind right now that the baby’s not his, but one day…he might!”

  “Are you so certain that it’s not his?” Tessie demanded.

  Annabelle shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

  Martha spoke into the silence. “I think the next quilt we make should be for them. To commemorate their marriage, just like we do for all the other young couples. And later, we’ll make one for the baby, too. It’s the right thing to do.”

  Murmurs of agreement came from around the quilting circle, but Annabelle remained silent. When the others looked at her, she sniffed and said, “Of course…of course.” Then to move them on to another subject, she ventured, “I hear Marina’s been having some trouble with that boy of hers.”

  WELCOME TO A

  HOMETOWN REUNION

  Twelve books set in Tyler.

  Twelve unique stories. Together they form a

  colorful patchwork of triumphs and trials—

  the fabric of America’s favorite hometown.

  Unexpected Son Marisa Carroll

  The Reluctant Daddy Helen Conrad

  Love and War Peg Sutherland

  Hero in Disguise Vicki Lewis Thompson

  Those Baby Blues Helen Conrad

  Daddy Next Door Ginger Chambers

  A Touch of Texas Kristine Rolofson

  Fancy’s Baby Pamela Bauer

  Undercover Mom Muriel Jensen

  Puppy Love Ginger Chambers

  Hot Pursuit Muriel Jensen

  Mission: Children Marisa Carroll

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  WELCOME TO TYLER.

  The spring storm was so intense that even with the windshield wipers switched to their highest speed Raine could barely read the sign that marked the town’s boundary. Possibly she should have pulled over, waited out the worst of the storm, but she had come so far....

  Tyler. The town she had known all her life. The town she once had not been able to leave fast enough. It was ironic that she now was willing to risk life and limb to hasten her return.

  She might have been returning to the womb!

  A short, sharp laugh burst from her lips.

  The womb...

  Raine’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. She couldn’t let herself think about that right now. She had to concentrate on her driving. But how could she not think about it when the fact that she was pregnant controlled her life, dominating every thought, every act, every breath?

  It was because she was pregnant that she was racing home. Compelled, in a near panic, to see her mother. To be held in her mother’s arms, an inhabitant once again of that magical childhood world where wounds could be fixed with a healing kiss.

  A strong gust of wind pounded the car, trying to ram it sideways. Few people were out on such a horrible night. Since leaving Belton, she’d seen only five or six other cars and no pedestrians.

  She turned off the highway at Main Street, and shortly, saw the dim outline of the high school where she’d spent so many long hours dreaming of escape. Then came some of the shops and offices that clustered around the town square-the town hall, the post office, the bank. Tyler never seemed to change. Once she had held that sameness in contempt. It was so boring here! There was no life! She had to break free! Try her wings! Have room to grow! Now, seen through anguished eyes, that very sameness offered relief.

  She swung the car onto Morgan Avenue and her heart beat faster. What was she going to say? How could she explain? Ever since she’d stubbornly gone through with her plans to leave Tyler for New York City immediately after graduating from high school, a slight strain had existed between her mother and herself. Her mom hadn’t wanted her to go. From the Midwest perspective New York was a dangerous place where anything could happen, from physical injury to tainted ideals. Each time Raine came home for a short visit, she could feel her mother examining her, appraising her for change. Raine, of course, dismissed the misgivings. She was fine! She would continue to be fine! And any change in her would be for the good!

  She drew a shaky breath. Hi, Mom! Guess what? I’m home, I’m pregnant...and
I’m so afraid! Because as it stands now I’m in this all on my own. When I told the baby’s father, he... Was that what she was going to blurt out? Her mother knew nothing of Joel Hastings, or of the six months they had shared in his apartment overlooking Central Park. It was a secret Raine had kept, not because she was ashamed of Joel or of what she was doing, but because she was unsure how her mother would receive the news. Now the news was even worse.

  The final turn was coming up...into the narrow driveway of the small wood frame dwelling on the corner of Morgan Avenue and Second Street, a house Raine had known all her life.

  As the car rolled to a stop the wind gave it another hard shake. Overhead, tree limbs jerked and swayed, showering the yard with tender branches and leaves.

  No lights were on in the house, but Raine hadn’t expected any. Her mother had never been one to stay up late, and Raine doubted that four years of marriage to George Phelps had changed that. All the years of having to be up early to open the diner had formed a habit that would be nearly impossible to break, even when the bulk of that responsibility had been passed on to someone else.

  Lightning flashed and thunder cracked as Raine struggled up the sidewalk to the house, growing wetter with each step. Her dress became plastered to her body, her hair soaked, water dribbled down her legs into her shoes. The short porch roof offered some protection and she sheltered beneath it gratefully.

  A moment later, after collecting herself as best she could, she rang the bell. No one answered, so she rang it again. Still there was no answer.

  Raine swallowed, her emotions slipping ever closer to the precipice. The only thing that kept her from going over was her knowledge that on occasion the bell failed to work. She reverted to a more direct approach.

  “Mom!” she called, thumping her hand against the thick wooden door. “Mom, it’s me...Raine!”

  Nothing. No sound of bare feet padding down the hall, no lamp being switched on to chase away the bleakness of night.

  “Mom?” Raine tried again, this time lifting her voice and thumping harder. “Mom...please!”

  Tears started to mingle with the moisture already on her face. She’d come all this way—left rehearsals without telling anyone, gone back to the apartment when Joel wasn’t there in order to pack some of her things, rushed to the airport, waited standby until there was room for her on a flight to Chicago, rented a car, then driven for miles and miles through this terrible storm. Her mother had to be here. She had to!

  Raine pounded on the door with both her fists, the heavy wood shaking beneath the force of her assault. Then, moving on automatic pilot, she darted back out into the storm to go to the rear of the house.

  “Mom! Mom! It’s me. Please, Mom! Please!” she cried as she beat frantically on the back door.

  Still there was no response.

  Raindrops peppered her head and shoulders, and sobs racked her body as she sank slowly to the patio’s concrete slab. Her once sleekly styled copper-colored hair hung in short wet clumps around her fingers as she buried her face in her hands. She didn’t know what she was going to do! She couldn’t get in—she didn’t have a key anymore. Not since her mother and George had remodeled. And even if she’d been sent a key, she wouldn’t have thought to bring it. Not in the emotional state she’d been in when she was packing.

  “Raine?”

  Someone—a man—said her name in shocked surprise. Raine looked up...into the blinding beam of a flashlight. When, instinctively, she shielded her eyes, the light was withdrawn.

  “Raine?” he repeated. “Is that you? What are...” He flashed the light onto his own face. “It’s me, Raine... Gabe. You don’t have to be afraid.”

  Gabriel Atwood stood just inside the gap in the trimmed hedge that separated the neighboring yards. Tall and slim, he had the same dark brown hair, cut short, that she’d known from childhood, the same chiseled features.

  “Gabe?” she breathed.

  She struggled to stand up and he hurried over to help her. Drops of water rolled from his yellow plastic poncho onto her wet dress as he took her arm.

  “What are you doing here like this?” he asked, frowning. “Marge wasn’t expecting you, was she? She and Doc Phelps aren’t here. They’re... Hell, this isn’t doing you any good, is it? Come on over to our place. We’ll talk there, after we get you dried off.”

  “My suitcase...in the car.” Rain motioned to the front of the house.

  “I’ll get you safe and sound, then take care of that. All right? Are you ready?”

  Raine nodded, but when she stepped forward, her foot slipped on a slick portion of concrete, and Gabe ended up swinging her into his arms.

  He carried her along the path she’d traveled many times before. Four years of age separated the two of them. Four years that had never seemed to matter. They’d been great friends all their lives, their relationship shifting and changing many times along the way, but never dissolving. Strong, wonderful, dependable Gabe. Steady as the sun rising each morning.

  He didn’t put her down until they were inside his house. Raine’s sore spirit drank in the familiar sights that greeted her. It was a masculine house, shared by father and son, but it still reflected facets of the woman who’d been Gabe’s mother. Raine remembered only small bits about her, mostly that she had passed on her sweet, shy smile to her son, as well as her dark brown hair and clear blue eyes.

  “I’m dripping,” Raine said apologetically when she saw the water collecting on the rug.

  “Just a second,” Gabe answered. He pulled his poncho over his head, and after securing it on a hook by the door, disappeared down the hall. He came back unfurling a blanket. “You’re freezing,” he exclaimed as he wrapped the cover around her.

  Raine hadn’t been aware that she was shivering. She pushed a thick string of hair out of her face and tried to smile. “It’s not so bad,” she said.

  Gabe looked at her for several long seconds before he drew her to a chair, tucked the blanket cozily around her feet, turned on the television set and went into the kitchen to fill a kettle with water. When he returned he went directly to the front door and shrugged back into his poncho. “I’ll need your car keys, won’t I?” he said.

  Raine dug in her pocket. “The case is on the back seat,” she said.

  “I won’t be a minute.”

  Raine stared at the television screen once he’d again braved the storm. A weather advisory was being issued through the Madison station. It warned of continued storm activity on and off throughout the night.

  Leave it to her to pick the worst night of the season to decide to come home. And also a night when her mother was away. She should have called ahead, as was her habit...but this time, everything was different. So very different!

  The front door opened and Gabe came inside, carrying her rain-splattered suitcase. The smile he flashed her conjured up many warm memories. “Got it,” he said. “Now, why don’t you change into some dry clothes while I fix the tea? You’re soaked to the skin and we need to get you warmed up. Do you think you can make it to a bedroom? If not, I can carry you again.”

  Raine’s smile was more like her old self. “I think I can manage,” she said wryly. “I’m not a delicate flower. I slipped earlier. That’s why—”

  “You look like a delicate flower,” he interrupted.

  “I’m five foot eight, Gabe. And I weigh...well, never mind what I weigh. It’s more than I look.”

  “Is that the way it is with dancers?”

  “That’s the way it is with me.”

  “Let’s see you do it, then...walk,” he explained when she looked at him blankly.

  Raine cast the blanket aside and took several steps forward. “Your room?” she asked. They had spent countless hours in his room as children, playing favorite board games, building plastic models and later listening to reco
rds and talking. He’d always had time for her, even when he was busy with sports and numerous other friends his own age.

  “Sure,” he said. “Or Dad’s. He’s not here right now, either. I’ll tell you about that later, too.”

  “Are you the only person left in town?”

  “I hope not,” Gabe said with a laugh. He placed the suitcase on his bed, leaned into the bathroom down the hall and ended by throwing her a couple of large towels. “If you need more, you know where they are.” He paused. “Don’t dillydally, okay? The tea will be ready in five minutes.”

  “Since when have you become top sergeant?” she teased.

  “Since I found you looking like a drowned rat.”

  He managed to get the door closed before she could hurl something at him.

  Raine’s fond smile faded seconds later. With Gabe, it was easy to forget her troubles. He was the closest she would ever get to having a brother. He was always looking out for her. Always taking care.

  Tears pooled in her eyes. But not even Gabe could fix the mess she was in right now—pregnant with the child of a man who claimed to love her but didn’t want her to keep their baby.

  A tap sounded on the door, making her jump.

  “I don’t hear any movement!” Gabe called from the other side.

  “I’m hurrying!” she called back, starting to peel off the layers of wet clothing.

  A little less than ten minutes later, after hanging her things in the bathroom, she presented herself in the kitchen. She had changed into warm slacks, a pullover sweater and thick wool socks.

  “Have you eaten anything lately?” Gabe asked, his eyes narrowing as he inspected her.

  Raine sat at the table where a steeping pot of tea and two mugs waited. “No,” she said.

  “Do you even remember the last time you ate?”

  “They served something on the plane.”

  “Which you didn’t touch.”

  She looked down. “No.”

  Gabe settled a skillet on a burner. “Drink some tea and I’ll scramble you an egg.”