“Em, the girls are safe in their cribs. For all we know, that wasn’t even Vicki on the phone. First thing in the morning, I’ll call the PI. See if he can somehow trace the number. If it turns out this has been Vicki calling all of this time, we’ll turn the tables on her. Find out once and for all what the hell she wants—other than our children. Because make no mistake, Em, those girls are ours. Forever.”
“I—I’m so cold,” she said, clinging to his warm, solid frame. “W-what if one day we have our guard down and she takes Bea and Bronwyn? I love them so much. I don’t think I could survive losing even one more child, let alone two.”
“Pull it together, honey.” Fingers beneath her chin, he said, “Marine wives are as tough as their men. They don’t take crap from anyone. Least of all a woman who abandons two babies. You and I are smart. I’ve got a few bucks saved. We’ll hire a great attorney who’ll make Vicki wish she’d never even thought of setting foot back in this town.”
“You think she’s here? In Olive?” The very thought sent Emma to a whole new level of panic.
Chapter Thirteen
“No.” Jace tenderly kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry, hon, that came out wrong. I meant if she dares come here.”
“Promise?”
“Sure,” he said, even though there was no way in hell he could guarantee she wasn’t in town. Or, for that matter, just outside the front door, lurking in the bushes. The base should be safe, but if Vicki wanted in badly enough, she’d find a way. All he could do was calm Emma, and then, first thing in the morning launch an offensive campaign. “You must be exhausted. How about you change into a pair of your sexy PJs, and then I’ll tuck you in.”
Still clinging to him, she nodded.
At 3:17 a.m. Jace woke to find only himself in bed. “Em?”
When she didn’t answer, meaning she probably wasn’t in the master bedroom, he rose. He knew he didn’t have to look far for her.
“Emma?” he whispered on the threshold of the girls’ room. “Honey, you—”
He found her bathed in moonlight, curled up in the oversized pink rocker she’d insisted on buying, both babies in her arms. In all of his travels, he’d never seen a more beautiful sight. Or a more heartbreaking one. As much as it warmed him to know she loved his children to such a degree, it also scared him.
Mothers had a lot of rights.
What was he going to do if for some asinine reason a judge saw fit to give custody to Vicki? More important, how would he help Emma cope through such an emotional disaster?
And then there was the other matter nagging him.
The one that frightened him the way no battle ever had.
What if Granola’s instincts about Em had been right? What if she was more like Amanda than Jace cared to admit? What if the only reason she was with him wasn’t out of her love for him, but her love for his babies?
“YO, LEADFOOT,” Granola shouted, “we’re waiting on you!”
Jace had just dialed his PI for the third time on Monday morning, with still no luck in reaching him. Shading his eyes against the brutal sun, he counted to three rings and had just about given up, when the man answered.
“Foster here.”
“Glad I caught you,” Jace said, sweltering in his black flight jumpsuit. “We’ve got a situation I need you to help figure out.”
“Shoot.”
Jace outlined the scant knowledge on Vicki that he’d gained. “Can you trace her call?”
“Let me see what I can do. Give me thirty minutes and I’ll get back to you.”
“Will do.”
“What was that about?” Midway through the call, Granola had sauntered over.
“Remember me telling you about the prank calls we’ve been getting?”
“Sure. Juveniles in need of a butt-kicking, right?”
Rubbing his forehead, Jace said, “It might be Vicki behind the calls. Last night, she talked to Emma.”
“She actually told Emma who she was?”
“No, but—” Jace started the short walk toward his helicopter.
“Then how do you know it was her?” Granola trailed after him. “Ask me, you’re making too much out of a simple wrong number.”
“Could be, but what if I’m not?” Pausing, bracing his hands on his hips, Jace asked, “Haven’t we always heard it’s better to launch an effective offensive than to be forced into a defensive posture?”
“Sure, but in this case, I think you’re being premature in launching anything.”
“How so?”
“Think about it,” Granola said. “The woman abandoned her kids with a virtual stranger. Why the hell would she then turn around and want them back?”
“Guilt,” Jace said, having resumed his trek.
“Still voodoo to me. I say you’re looking for trouble where there is none. I had my doubts about Emma, but the more I see you two together, I know you’re the real deal.” Patting his friend’s back, he added, “Relax. Enjoy your new family. Everything’s going to be great.”
Jace snorted. “What’s got you full of rainbows and unicorns?”
Flashing a big, dopey grin, Granola said, “You know how Pam was too tired to stay for the fireworks?”
Grabbing his flight helmet, Jace nodded.
“Well, seeing how that’s my favorite part of the holiday, I was pretty ticked. But then she told me why she was tired, and then she made me go get a couple of those drugstore pregnancy tests, and can you believe it? We’re preggers. I’m going to be a dad, too.”
“Congratulations, man!” Jace gave his longtime friend a bear hug.
While he was thrilled for his pal, Jace was also jealous. Granola was having his baby with a woman he loved. He wouldn’t have to worry about possibly losing custody. He’d have time to focus on important things like figuring out which forbidden sweets produced the biggest baby grin.
He also would never have to wonder if Pam loved him for him, or because he came with a ready-made family.
“WELCOME HOME,” Emma called with forced cheer from her perch on the ladder. She was wallpapering the wall behind the sofa with a gorgeous floral print that made the room feel spring-like despite the fierce July heat.
“Did I give permission for this?” Jace asked, crouching to unlace his boots, and then kick them off.
“No. But I came across your housing contract, and it says you’re welcome to make any cosmetic changes as long as they’re easily reversible. I prepped the wall with some gunk that promised to make tear-down a breeze.”
“Uh-huh…” Scowling, he made a beeline for the babies who were in their playpen, gumming toys. “Why didn’t you guys call me?” he playfully asked the girls. “I would’ve come straight home to check Mommy for fever.”
Mommy. How sweet that word sounded, especially from Jace’s lips.
Having trimmed the latest strip, she asked, “You’re not really mad, are you?”
“Nah. Although you could’ve used something with manly stripes or a camo-green tank theme instead of flowers.” The way he said the word flowers made it sound like the product of something found in one of Bea or Bronwyn’s especially dirty diapers.
“The girls and I love them. They add joy to an otherwise dismal space.”
“If you say so.” He crossed the room to kiss her, and since she was on a ladder, Emma thought it was fun to be taller than him for once. “Does this mean there’s no dinner?”
“I thought we could grab burgers or a pizza.”
“But I like your cooking.”
Rubbing the spiky top of his head, she said, “Someone sounds spoiled.”
“It’s not my fault,” he reasoned. “You did it.”
“Complaining?”
“No, but—”
She kissed him quiet.
“Mmm…” he said. “Burgers, it is.”
He helped her finish the last strip, then, while Emma cleaned up, Jace got the babies ready for their outing.
Seated at a corner table at Burger Shack, the
girls in high chairs munching bite-sized pieces of fries, Emma asked the question that had worried her so all day that she’d needed the distraction of redecorating. “So…um…hear anything from your PI?”
Jace set down his triple burger and sighed. “And here I was trying so hard to keep tonight upbeat.”
“Sorry. You don’t know how many times I almost called you today, but resisted.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t get a definitive answer till right before leaving.” He rubbed his stubble-covered jaws. He seemed to take an overly long time formulating what he’d say next. “Well, actually, it’s not okay, but it’s also not like we have any choice, seeing as how Vicki’s pretty much calling the shots.”
Leaning across the table, Emma quietly asked, “Does that mean the PI tracked those calls to her?”
“The long and short of it is, using some channels I’d rather not know about, yeah, he found out the caller was Vicki.”
Emma groaned, but managed to suppress a fresh round of nervous trembling.
“Don’t worry,” Jace said, “I now have her number. And along with it…” he plucked a paper scrap from his T-shirt pocket, “her Baton Rouge address.”
“Good.”
With the pads of his thumbs, he brushed the tops of her hands. “If it makes you feel better, my gut feeling is that she’s missing the girls. Maybe even second-guessing her decision to leave them. The fact that she hasn’t made direct contact with us is a good thing, and—”
Jace’s cell rang. Glancing at his caller ID, he said before connecting, “It’s the PI.”
Emma’s heart caught in her throat.
“Sure,” Jace said into his phone while Emma’s pulse raced. “I understand. Thanks for the warning.”
Warning? Oh, God.
Without Jace to hold on to, Emma gripped her hands tightly together.
The girls, meanwhile, were oblivious to anything but their fries, and the freckled kid making faces in the booth across from them.
Expression grim, Jace disconnected the call.
“Well?” Emma demanded.
“Al has a contact in Baton Rouge, and called in a favor to have the guy check on Vicki. Turns out she’s not home—hasn’t been for a few days. The landlord’s a friend of hers, and is watching her two cats—indefinitely.”
Bile rose in Emma’s throat. A ball of frustration and fear knotted her chest.
“Em…” Jace gripped her hands. “I know that look, and I can tell you’re freaking out.”
“You’re not?”
“I plead the fifth. Anyway, seeing as how I’m thinking we’ve both lost our appetites, let’s pack up and head home.”
LONG AFTER Emma had fallen asleep from pure exhaustion, Jace paced the living room. Emma’s damned frilly, flowery wall wasn’t having the feel-good effect she’d promised. Or, maybe it was the still-fresh stink of wallpaper paste making his stomach queasy? Right. If only the cause of his insomnia could be so simple.
Here he was, supposedly the man of the family, a big, tough Marine, yet he had never felt more helpless. Vicki could be anywhere. Lounging on a Fort Lauderdale beach. Hiking in Colorado. Parked outside his home, staring at him through night-vision goggles.
Granted the goggles were probably going too far, but as for her lurking outside, it definitely seemed her style.
Wandering into the nursery, he sat in Emma’s big comfy chair, rocking, drinking in the sight of his girls washed in moonlight. Every so often, Bronwyn made the cutest mew. Bea, meanwhile, alternately snored or made little suckling sounds.
Lord, how he loved these angels.
Without having met Vicki, he never would’ve had them, so he’d at least credit her for that. What he’d never do was condone her childish way of dealing with her pregnancy, and their twins’ birth. From the start, she should’ve kept him in the loop. Given him the opportunity to share their first smiles and burps and cries.
He yawned.
Best thing for him to do would be try getting some rest. He had a long day of flight testing ahead of him, and God only knew what new surprises Vicki had in store.
“THANKS FOR doing this with me,” Emma said to Pam, while her friend loaded her beach bag, chair, umbrella and towel into the back of the car.
“No problemo,” Pam said, grinning as she climbed into the Volvo’s front seat. “Hey, ladies,” she crooned to the girls, tweaking the toes peeking out of their yellow sandals. “Their sundresses and hats are darling. I’ve always loved daisies.”
“Me, too,” Emma said, backing out of Pam’s drive.
“I like your sunglasses, too,” Pam crooned to the girls. “Your mommy has good taste.”
Emma winced at Pam’s words. It hurt that she wasn’t the girls’ biological mom. Which she knew was ludicrous, but—
“Stop,” Emma’s friend scolded. “Whenever you get that frown line between your eyebrows, I know you’re worrying about the twins. Right now, I’m guessing your frown is a reaction to me calling you their mother. But frowning about that is stupid, because in every sense of the word, you are their mom. And once you and Jace tie the knot, it’ll be official.
“I know,” Emma said, swallowing a lump in her throat as she approached the stop sign at the end of the shady street. “But with Vicki calling, and then—”
“What? She called you?”
“Will didn’t tell you?”
“We’ve been talking about other things.”
“Oh my gosh, are you…?” Emma nearly missed the next stop sign, glancing over to find her friend’s eyes tearing.
Pam nodded.
“I’m so sorry. Here I’ve been going on and on about—”
“Don’t you dare apologize for feelings that are a little out of your control. And besides, God willing, I’ll be pregnant for the next nine months, which will give us lots of time to focus on me.”
“Thank you,” Emma said, tearing up along with Pam, “for being such a wonderful friend.”
“Ditto, sweetie. Now, let’s stop blubbering and enjoy our ladies’ day out.”
Though the Olive Municipal Beach was crowded, everyone seemed to be in such good cheer Emma found their smiles contagious. Pam was right. She’d worried enough lately.
Today, she was stealing for herself.
After staking their claim by setting out their chairs, shade umbrellas and gear, then slathering coconut-scented lotion on themselves and the girls, Emma and Pam each took a baby, then sat in the surf.
“Aren’t these new waterproof diapers amazing?” Emma asked. “A huge improvement over the old puffy kind.”
Pam wrinkled her nose. “Were you a nanny before taking on these cuties?”
“Um, no,” Emma said, her stomach seizing at her near mistake. She might’ve shared her past’s truth with Jace, but she wasn’t yet ready to tell anyone else about her lost child. “My, um, cousin’s baby used to wear the old kind.” The one time she and Rick had taken Henry to the beach, his diaper had swollen so beneath his tiny swimsuit that they’d taken it off.
Hot sun kissing her shoulders, cool surf licking her legs, Emma lost herself in the giddy pleasure of sharing what was most likely the girls’ first foray into the Gulf.
Bronwyn giggled when wet sand dribbled between her fingers.
Bea tried catching the foam.
“I can’t wait to do this with my own son or daughter,” Pam said. “Will’s so excited.”
“I’ll bet. At first, Jace was terrified of fatherhood, but now he dotes on his girls. I think if he’d had nine months to prepare himself, he’d have been ready from the start.”
“You’re probably right,” Pam mused. “Hungry?”
“A little.”
“I’m starved. Let’s grab the turkey sandwiches.”
Emma laughed. “Just wait until you’re a few more months along. I’ve heard the cravings can be rough.”
“Lucky for me Will’s a sweetheart,” Pam said, plunking Bea onto the blanket in a patch of the umbrella’s shade.
“Even when I wasn’t pregnant, he always indulged my late-night ice cream or pizza cravings.”
Laughing, Emma said, “I’ve seen how fast Will downs pizza. Those were probably his cravings, too.”
“Oh, but to hear him talk, you’d think—”
“Excuse me,” a woman said, standing just outside of Emma’s line of sight, “I don’t mean to intrude, but do you think your twins might need more sunscreen?”
“I appreciate your concern,” Emma said, “but I applied waterproof lotion less than thirty minutes ago. I’m keeping track of their exposure time.”
“Oh,” the woman said, still lingering. “Sorry. I’m…um…on vacation and missing my twins.”
She knelt, fingering the fringe on Bronwyn’s green, yellow and white daisy-themed swimsuit. “They’re adorable.”
“Thanks,” Emma said, fighting a vague uneasiness that worsened the longer the woman hung around.
Bea was usually shy around strangers, but her wide-eyed stare at the stranger now gripping her hand didn’t show the least bit of fear.
“May I hold her?”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Emma said.
“Why don’t you just move along?” Pam said, never one to mince words.
“I will. Just give me a…minute.” The woman lifted Bea into her arms.
Emma stood, prepared to do battle. But then tears streamed down the woman’s cheeks. Trembling, she clung to Bea with an intensity only a fellow mother would see. Dawning was initially slow to come, but then Emma understood.
Summoning her every ounce of nerve, she asked, “Vicki?”
Chapter Fourteen
While Emma felt paralyzed with fear that Vicki would bolt with one or both babies, Pam rose, adopting a fighting stance. “You need to hand over Beatrice, and get out of here, before I call for help.”
Vicki said, “Bea is my child. I have every right to hold her. Bronwyn, too.”
Pam snorted. “You should’ve thought of that before you abandoned them with a man they didn’t even know.”
“I—I had no other choice,” Vicki said. “Rent was due, and tuition and we had no food in the fridge.”
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