How To Win (Back) a Wife (Harlequin Silhouette Desire)

by Lass Small

  “I tole you to hush yo mouth.”

  “I will.”

  “Now.”

  “Yes’um.”

  “Sit down, Tyler, and tell me wha-chur doin’.”

  “I wouldn’t interrupt your TV. Good to see you, Goldi—”

  “Hush up and sit down.”

  As with everybody else, he did as Goldilocks directed. Tyler was amused. He’d never had to buckle under for anybody else, but with Goldilocks, it just seemed obligatory. She spoke. The object obeyed.

  He was an object.

  Five

  Goldilocks sat there on a soft chair which was hers. Anybody that sat in it risked a horrific death! She wore a long, loose, boldly patterned, cotton gown with short bat sleeves. Her head was wrapped in a purple cloth. She was striking.

  She was the envy of all who saw her. Not many women had the élan to wear such dramatic dress. Goldilocks had the drama. She looked like a visiting Queen of some distant place, maybe not on this planet.

  When she had arrived, about eighteen years before, she had almost immediately taken over the entire Davie household, and since then, she had ruled. She knew every member of the extended Davie family, who they were, how they behaved, what they owned, how they lived and every single scandal.

  On occasion, Kayla’s mother would chide Goldilocks with something like, “She’s a fifth cousin!”

  And Goldilocks would mention aloofly, “She’s no real kin to you at all.” As if being a wife was an intrusion, but Goldilocks was family.

  That attitude did tick Kayla’s mother.

  From the very beginning, Goldilocks had accepted membership in the Davie family, but she would remind the head’s wife that she was an intruder by marriage.

  So, being in charge, Goldilocks grilled Kayla’s ex-husband. That was interesting to any lawyer...being grilled. Tyler was vastly amused...but only inside his head. He gave Goldilocks his attention. He talked readily, but he never told anything. He replied without ever revealing a thing.

  A lot of lawyers are like that. They appear so interested and cooperative, so kind and courteous. So helpful. But they are completely locked up. They never allow anything to actually be revealed. Age, place of birth—nothing.

  Of course, Goldilocks already knew all that about Tyler from Kayla. But she never pried anything else out of Tyler. She watched his eyes and never saw a flicker of thought or a flinch at a question. He was so—earnest. The damned tight-lipped, stuffed headed snot.

  But worse, he asked innocent questions, in turn.

  Goldilocks just about spilled her guts, until she realized what he was doing, and she shut up entirely. She told him to be quiet or run along home.

  He was shocked. Beautifully, subtly offended.

  Goldilocks apologized. She did!

  That left Kayla speechless for the first time in her entire life!

  So after Tyler accepted the apology, and even got up and kissed Goldilock’s cheek, the woman was so rattled for the first time in her whole life, that she got up, excused herself and sailed off to her room.

  Awed, Kayla asked in a whisper, “How’d you manage that?”

  And he replied casually, “I’m a good lawyer.”

  “If you can handle Goldilocks, you must be able to wither Barbara. Why does she rattle you?”

  “She isn’t Goldilocks.” Then he looked over at Kayla very seriously as he added, “Neither are you.”

  “You are mistaken, if you think for one minute that I can control Goldilocks the way you just did when she was grilling you.”

  “You and Barbara baffle me. I don’t know how to handle either of you.”

  “Ask Goldilocks.”

  He looked over at her quickly, vulnerably.

  Kayla hastened to add, “—about Barbara.”

  So Tyler rose from his chair and went down the hallway to the closed door of Goldilocks’s room. But she declined to acknowledge his tap.

  Tyler sent Goldilocks roses the next day. She pitched them.

  With hot fury, Kayla retrieved them from the trash.

  Goldilocks tilted back her head and just watched Kayla over her cheekbones. That didn’t mean she listened, she just watched, haughtily enduring.

  So it was with unusual, clear shock that Kayla called Tyler at his office.

  Tyler snatched up the phone and demanded, “Kayla! Are you all right?”

  “Of course.”

  “Kayla—”

  “Hush!” And she told him, “Roses were a mistake. Goldilocks is not a wimpy woman. You need something stronger.”

  “She didn’t like the roses?”

  “She put them in the trash.”

  “Wow. She’s mad at me!”

  And irritated, Kayla explained him to himself, “You didn’t tell her anything. You evaded and slid aside and were calm, kind and organized. While you’re a superior lawyer, you’re not a communicator.”

  “There’s a difference?”

  Kayla sighed. “Yes.”

  “Oh.”

  So he then just hung up the phone. Lawyers are good lawyers but they’re not necessarily good personto-person communicators. However, they can solve just about any problem.

  Next Tyler sent Goldilocks a bouquet of shockingly expensive flowers, semirelated to Black-Eyed Susans. A good, strong, no-nonsense flower.

  Goldilocks put them on a round table in the round, tiled, marble, elegant, unused entrance hall...and she ignored them. Rejected them. But the rejection was less than that given the pink roses.

  So Tyler went to Martha, the covered-up woman at the law office who tried not to attract men. Tyler told her of his confrontation with an irate woman. And he added, “I need your help. You know lawyers. I endured a quizzing from the woman and evaded all her vocal lures to bare my soul to her.”

  “Barbara?”

  “No. Her name’s Goldilocks and she rules the Davie household of my wife...”

  Stilted, Martha corrected, “Your ex-wife.”

  “Yes,” he acknowledged. “I was astounded Goldilocks was offended and left the room when I didn’t reply openly to her.”

  “So.”

  “So I sent her roses. She trashed them. Then I sent those kind of altered Black-Eyed Susans, and she put them in the entrance hall, which was as far from her kitchen as it could be, and she ignored the flowers. What do I do now?”

  Martha didn’t even hesitate. She replied, “Tell her how you live and what you do is no one else’s business. If she asks you questions that are personal, do not reply. Instead, ask some of her.” Then she turned back to her computer.

  He was stunned. He said to the back of Martha’s head, “You don’t know Goldilocks.”

  Not even turning to him, Martha declared, “She’s known to everyone. Keep your position. She’ll respect you.”

  “Are you trying to get me in trouble?”

  She turned and looked at him coldly. “Your life is your own. You tell what you want to whom you want to know of you. If you prefer to be your own self, and it is none of anyone’s business...don’t share anything.”

  He sat in a strange vacuum. It was true. He didn’t need to share himself with anyone but those he wanted to know him. Simple.

  He smiled, and he found that Martha had already turned back to her computer, immediately rejecting him! He told the back of her head, “You’ve been a big help to me. Thank you.” And he got up and left her little office.

  So he made no further effort at all to soothe Goldilocks.

  That apparently made Kayla a little agitated and exceptionally curious. She even phoned Tyler at his office! He was very surprised. “Well, hello, Kayla. What’s wrong?” And Tyler saw that Jamie heard the name, turned and listened.

  And in Tyler’s ear, Kayla said, “You haven’t done anything to soothe Goldilocks.”

  Tyler replied, “I’ve been busy. Goldilocks doesn’t need soothing. She’s a nosy woman.”

  “We love her.”

  “who?”

  “She
takes good care of us.”

  “She rules.”

  “While that’s true, she sure looks out for us and protects us.”

  Logically, Tyler supplied, “Like any ruler. All rulers need happy underdogs.”

  “You shock me.”

  He advised in a friendly manner, “Rattle your cage.”

  “I left it.”

  He chided gently, “That was a marriage. Goldilocks has you all in her power. She’s a dictator. You all are the masses. Live your life as you would.”

  “I am.”

  And he said softly, “Good luck to you.” And he hung up.

  Jamie said, “Wow.”

  Tyler drew a deep breath. “I went to Martha and asked her what to do about Goldilocks. And she told me to do it as I wanted it. I found I didn’t want to knuckle down to anybody. I’m a free man.”

  “I’m impressed.”

  “This doesn’t mean I will rule. This only means that no one will rule me.”

  “Wow.” Jamie repeated.

  “I’m ready for Barbara.”

  “Uhhh, just how do you mean that?”

  “I can no longer be intimidated.”

  Jamie commented thoughtfully, “You’re growing up.”

  And Tyler nodded as he said staunchly, “I’ll stand taller. Can I go along with you when you go to the new firm?”

  “I’ll find out.” Jamie grinned. “Welcome to manhood.”

  “I’ll see how it fits.”

  Jamie said, “You fit already. You only need to understand exactly who you are, in what circumstances, and control it—enough.”

  And Tyler observed quietly, “Jamie, you’re a good man.”

  Jamie smiled. Their pleased eyes considered each other, and Tyler’s smile matched his partner’s.

  It was a very nice thing for them both.

  But Kayla vanished. She did not call him again. And Tyler was unable to contact her at all.

  The next assignment on Tyler’s agenda was an adoption for a childless couple.

  He met Tim and Lisa in a conference room. There, they had no interruptions. The couple had seen the baby, and he was just darling. The Social Service Agency was kind. The parents-to-be were a little older than Tyler.

  The pair needed legal advice on their adoption. A good medical report was from the Social Service, but the couple wanted the boy looked over by their own doctor.

  Having read the guidelines for such a commitment, Tyler advised them to take the child home and see how it went. They ought to adjust, but slowly.

  Tim said, “People who have children aren’t necessarily trained for such a thing. They just have the baby.”

  Tyler said gently to his first experience with an actual adoption, “This baby is a little older and a little more experienced than a newborn.”

  “How do you know that?” Tim was curious.

  Tyler grinned. “I’m an uncle, and anyway, the firm has guidelines I’m to give you. You really should listen and consider. Don’t be impulsive.”

  So the two potential parents talked a while and understood the whole commitment better. Better, actually, than Tyler. He really only knew the legal part of the adoption.

  The child had been abandoned in a mall. There was no background on the unknown parents. When found, he was such a new little child that the county doctor could say exactly how old he was.

  There was no birth certificate. It had not been a medically supervised birth. There was no clue as to parents or if there were siblings. The newspapers had carried pictures of the baby and how he’d been found. But they only said at a mall. Those who came to claim him could not say the location or describe the birthmark.

  There was no birthmark.

  The Social Service had placed the baby with a family for care. The family was one who harbored children until they could be adopted.

  The potential mother Lisa said, “He’s so precious that I wonder how the mother could have given him up...and why. The doctor said he’s in good shape.”

  Tim added, “His coordination is good. He’s got a great smile. He listens.”

  Lisa considered, “It would probably be better if we adopted two at the same time. One could be lonely after being with other kids the way he’s been.”

  Tyler asked, “Could you handle two?”

  Tom laughed. “We’re wobbled over having one!”

  So as they’d parted and Tyler had all the information he needed, he told the two he would be available for any questioning and not to hesitate to call him. They shook hands. And Tyler found he was a bit envious of them. He thoughtfully returned to his office.

  Jamie didn’t look up from his computer. He just asked, “How’d it go?”

  Tyler thoughtfully told Jamie, “They’re nice kids.”

  “Younger than you?”

  “Older.”

  “Then they’ll probably be good parents.”

  In some defense, Tyler said levelly, “I’m old enough to be a good parent!”

  Jamie still hadn’t looked up from his computer’s screen. He said readily, “I didn’t say otherwise. Only they’ve thought about kids and have come to this conclusion. I admire them for it.”

  “Me, too.” And Tyler set about the papers. But he was curious enough that he made time, a day or so later, to go and see the baby. Tyler didn’t hold the baby. He didn’t poke his stomach with a teasing finger or tickle his cheek. But Tyler looked at the baby. The little boy was sound asleep, and Tyler smiled.

  He asked the woman caring for the kid, “Is he okay?”

  She nodded in agreement of that and added verbally, “A nice, sparkling-eyed kid. His body functions are excellent. He breathes well. He moves everything. He is so curious. I’ve warned them of that. He’ll need to know why all the way along!”

  It was Tyler’s first adoption and it felt nice to be a part of something good. Something permanent that would grow and have interesting ramifications.

  Of course, that could be said of the businesses that were ‘born’ and grew. But this was a new little human child.

  That made Tyler thoughtful. The adoptive boy had all the needed parts. He was curious. He’d have good parents. And Tyler was satisfied. The new little person was a lucky kid.

  So Tyler spent some time phoning around for Kayla, and he finally contacted her. He said thoughtfully, “Maybe we ought to have a kid.”

  Kayla was startled. “We’re divorced!”

  “Lots of people who aren’t married have kids.”

  “And you’d come over occasionally and say to the kid whose name you’re not positive ab—”

  “I’d know his name.”

  She echoed the gender thoughtfully, “His.”

  “Her?”

  “What would you care which it was?”

  “Well, we ought to start off with a boy. He’d take care of his sister.”

  She was somewhat too emphatic. She told him in a straight, clear manner, “We’re divorced. Children should have two parents.”

  “I’d be around enough.”

  Kayla scoffed, “Mostly gone.”

  “Now, Kayla, most men work. You wouldn’t want me to quit working and hang around the house.” Then he paused before he inquired, “If neither of us worked, would your inheritance cover all that?”

  “I don’t use it—I invest it.”

  And he congratulated her, “Good thinking. When the kids grow up, we’ll be able to get them through college.”

  Again she mentioned, “We are divorced.”

  “You’re an old-fashioned girl.”

  She denied that. “I’m a current woman, and I am single. There is no way, at all, that I’d take on having a kid in this position.”

  He sighed into the phone. “So. I suppose we ought to be married.”

  “No, thank you. I’ve tried that.” And she hung up.

  Women are so strange. Their thinking was a-way off base. What man could figure a woman? She’d left him because he’d taken an interest in stretching her u
nderstanding of other people. She was a limited woman. If he was smart, he’d look around for someone else.

  He thought with the good advice the self-shielded Martha had given him, that she would be open to him. Martha was not. She replied through her teeth very negatively and walked off, leaving Tyler standing alone in the office hall. Although there were people walking in different directions and busy, Tyler was then alone in the hall.

  Women didn’t do that. They didn’t just go off and desert a man that way. They were supposed to move slightly to display themselves. So they glanced around, giving a man time to notice them and look down their bodies without the women knowing the guys were looking that way. Martha sure as hell wasn’t interested, but why couldn’t Kayla be the way a woman should be? Women were baffling.

  In San Antonio, the baseball season was almost all year long because the TEXAS weather is so great. The players didn’t have to go south for spring training. They were already there. Well, there was a short hiatus in the Christmas season. Otherwise, they played ball.

  It was good exercise. The families went and cheered and visited and ate all sorts of expensive trash. Tyler’s grandparents exclaimed over the accelerated current cost of hot dogs and beer.

  Anyone would think they’d bring their own snacks. They didn’t. They paid for the expensive hot dogs and beer, and then they groused. It gave them something to comment about. And along with the rest of his kin and friends, they cheered for Tyler.

  He continued batting well enough to bring in others, and on occasion he stole bases or was advanced by the other batters around the bases for a run, but he still did not have a home run. He tried. He swung hard, but the ball wasn’t eager enough to go far enough out of reach.

  Besides his grandparents, his parents and siblings relentlessly attended. Cousins. Aunts and uncles. Friends. The pack helped fill the bleachers. The overflow people brought folding chairs. They booed and groused at the players and cheered, but they mostly herded their kids or separated them and visited among themselves.