“Mack,” Heather said, accepting the package, “I really wish you hadn’t…”
“Can I open it, Mommy?” Melissa said, jumping up and down again. “Can I? Please?”
“May I,” Heather said absently, then sighed. “Yes, of course, go ahead and open your surprises.”
The girls sat on the floor and tore away the pretty paper.
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Melissa said, popping up to her feet again. “It’s a new baseball mitt. Look at this, Mommy. It’s a brand-new baseball mitt.” She flung her arms around Mack and gave him a big hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Can I go show Buzzy my new mitt, Mom?”
“No, honey,” Heather said quietly, “there isn’t time now. We’re going out for pizza, remember? You can show it to Buzzy in the morning.”
“’Kay.” Melissa pressed the mitt to her nose. “It smells so good. Oh, this is the bestest present I ever got in my whole life.”
“Oh-h-h,” Emma said after she’d unwrapped her gift. “A Barbie doll. A real Barbie doll.” She held it tightly, then got to her feet and hugged Mack. “Thank you, Uncle Mack. My Barbie doll is so beautiful. She’s the most beautiful doll I’ve ever had since I was borned.”
Mack chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you both like what I picked out for you. That makes me feel great, it really does.” He looked at Heather. “Aren’t you going to open your present?”
No, Heather thought, she wasn’t going to open her gift, she was going to run to her bedroom and cry for a week. Her worst nightmare was already happening. Her daughters had just declared the expensive gifts from Mack to be the very best presents they had ever received. A brand-new baseball mitt that smelled like the genuine leather that it was and a gorgeous Barbie doll. Brand-new…not used by someone else before the twins.
“Mommy?” Melissa said. “Aren’t you going to open your present?”
“What?” she said. “Oh, yes, of course, I am.” Heather sat on the sofa and a few moments later lifted a delicate crystal vase from the tissue paper inside the box. “Oh, my goodness. It’s…it’s lovely. I’ve never had anything so…” She cleared her throat. “Thank you very much, Mack.”
“Cool,” Melissa said. “Now you won’t have to put flowers in the pickle jar.”
“That’s the plan,” Mack said.
So much for Mack not noticing the dumb pickle jar, Heather thought miserably. And she had gushed over her gift just as much as the girls had…and she’d meant it. The vase was exquisite. And it probably cost more than she spent on a week’s worth of groceries.
“Get your sweaters, girls,” Heather said, placing the vase on the coffee table. “It will be chilly once the sun goes down.”
“Can I take my mitt with me to the pizza parlor?” Melissa said.
“Can I take my Barbie doll?” Emma said.
“Sure,” Heather said wearily as she got to her feet. “Why not? Run and get your sweaters.”
The twins ran from the room and Heather turned to look at Mack.
“I will never,” he said quietly, “forget what just took place here. I wish I could have captured on film the pure and innocent joy on those girls’ faces when they opened their presents. How can I thank you, Heather, for allowing me to be here, to be a part of this family, to witness such incredibly honest happiness?”
Oh, drat, Heather thought. She had been ready to deliver a stern lecture to Mack about not having asked her permission to bring the girls such expensive gifts and to tell him not, absolutely not, to do it again.
But how could she do that now? There stood Mack Marshall, choking up with emotion over the reactions of the twins to his presents. She’d be rotten to the core if she destroyed this moment for him.
“I’m glad you like your vase,” Mack said. “We all received gifts here this evening. I know I’m going to cherish the memory of mine.”
Heather produced a small smile as the girls came running back into the room.
“Let’s go eat pizza,” Heather said.
“Wait, wait,” Melissa said. “Mommy, you didn’t hug Uncle Mack to thank him for your flower vase.”
“Oh, well, I…” Heather said, feeling a flush of embarrassment stain her cheeks.
Mack opened his arms. “Melissa’s right.”
Heather looked at the twins, who were looking at her, then stared at a spot in the center of Mack’s chest as she stepped forward into his embrace.
She fluttered her hands in the air for a moment, not quite certain what to do with them, then finally splayed them lightly on Mack’s back.
He was powerful and solid and warm, Heather thought. It had been years since she’d been held in a man’s strong and protective embrace. It felt so good, so—oh, gracious, it felt too good and she was ending this thank-you-for-the-vase hug right now. Well, maybe in another moment or two…or four…or— She was being consumed by a scorching heat that was sweeping through her and, dear heaven, what was happening to her?
Heather jerked, bumping Mack’s left shoulder in the process, and felt him stiffen.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, stepping back. “Did I hurt you? I know it hasn’t been that long since you were shot and I—”
“Shot?” Melissa said, her eyes widening. “With a gun? Some bad guy shot you, Uncle Mack? That’s terrible, just awful. You aren’t going to die, are you? Please, Uncle Mack, please don’t die.” She burst into tears. “I don’t want you to die the way our daddy did.”
“Melissa, honey,” Heather said, “calm down. Uncle Mack isn’t going to die. He—”
“No, no, no,” Emma said, sniffling. “He won’t die. He can’t die. He just found us and he’s part of our family now and we get to keep him forever. Right, Mommy? Please, Mommy?”
“Whoa,” Mack said. “I’m not going to die. I was hurt—okay, I was shot while I was taking pictures in a dangerous place, but I’m going to be fine. I just need a little more time for my wound to heal, that’s all. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Promise?” Melissa said.
“I promise,” Mack said.
“And we get to keep you forever and ever, Uncle Mack?” Emma said.
“I—” Mack started.
“Oh, gracious, look at the time,” Heather said. “If we don’t get going, there will be a huge crowd at the pizza parlor. Off we go. Be thinking about what kind of pizza you want, girls. Oops. I need to get my sweater, too. I’ll meet you all out front.”
As the trio left the house, Heather hurried to her bedroom and snatched up her sweater from the bed.
Do we get to keep you forever and ever, Uncle Mack? her mind echoed. No, sweet Emma, they wouldn’t get to keep Mack forever and ever. He’d be leaving soon and they’d probably never see him again. He’d be leaving soon and their lives would return to normal.
Yes, Mack Marshall would be leaving soon, and she knew without a doubt that when he left, she would miss him for a very long time.
Chapter Four
The pizza parlor was crowded and noisy, but the four Marshalls managed to find an empty booth. A discussion immediately ensued regarding what toppings should be on their pizza.
“Just cheese,” Emma said. “No other goop. Just cheese.”
“No way,” Melissa said. “It should have everything ’cept those little fishy things.”
“Yuck,” Emma said. “I only like cheese on my pizza, Melissa, and you know it.” She folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in the booth, glaring at her sister. “I don’t want to have to pick all that junk off so I can eat my cheese.”
“Aren’t they charming?” Heather said, smiling at Mack. “Ah, sisterly love.”
“And what do you like on your pizza, Heather?” Mack said.
“Anything,” Heather said, shrugging. “Everything.” She laughed. “But not those little fishy things.”
“Okay,” Mack said, nodding. “This is easily solved. Moving right along…what about drinks?”
“Can we have soda, Mom?” Melissa said. “Please? Pl
ease? Please?”
“Yes, all right,” Heather said. “Going out for pizza is a very special treat, so we might as well go for the gusto. You may have soda.”
“Yes,” Melissa said, punching one fist in the air.
“You shouldn’t do that, Melissa,” Emma said. “You’re going to hit somebody right in the nose.”
“I am not,” Melissa said.
“That’s enough, girls,” Heather said. “Uncle Mack doesn’t want to hear you squabbling any more than I do, so stop it right now.”
“’Kay,” Melissa said. “Sorry.”
“Sorry,” Emma said, “but it better not be my nose Melissa hits.”
Mack laughed. “Mine, either. I’m off to order the pizzas. Melissa, Emma, try not to do bodily harm to each other while I’m gone.”
“Let’s color our place mats, Emma,” Melissa said, reaching for a basket of crayons on the table. “I’ll let you have the red first.”
“’Kay,” Emma said.
“Thank you, girls. That’s much better behavior,” Heather said absently as she watched Mack make his way across the crowded room.
Heavens, she thought, the women in this place were practically falling off their chairs to get a good look at Mack. He didn’t seem to be paying the least bit of attention to the female gawkers, though. He was probably used to being given second, third and fourth approving glances. And with just cause.
Well, too bad, ladies, because Mack Marshall was taken for the evening. He was with her. Well, with the twins too but… They appeared, she supposed, to be a family—Mom, Dad, and cute twin daughters. They all had the same black hair and dark eyes and—yes, they most definitely looked like a family who had decided to go out for pizza on a Friday night.
Heather sighed.
That was how it should have been, how she’d hoped and dreamed it would be when she’d married Frank. She’d envisioned being part of a loving couple, then later there would be children born of that love. That dream had been shattered so quickly, it was as though it had never existed in her heart, mind and soul.
“Can I have the red now, Emma?” Melissa said.
“Sure,” she said, handing over the crayon.
Heather shifted her gaze to her daughters and smiled. Their heads were bent over their place mats, each paying careful attention to their coloring.
All the tears she’d shed, when she discovered that Frank was not the man she’d thought him to be were worth it tenfold. Her broken heart had been put back together by the birth of her two little miracles, Emma and Melissa. Just looking at them made it easy to understand why Mack wanted to bond with his newfound family.
Please, Uncle Mack, please don’t die. I don’t want you to die the way our daddy did. He can’t die. He just found us and he’s part of our family now and we get to keep him forever. Right, Mommy? Please, Mommy?
Oh, dear, Heather thought, pressing her fingertips to her temples. She had to talk to Mack. Between them they had to remind the girls that Mack would be leaving soon, slip in that fact whenever conversation made it feasible.
The twins were becoming very fond of Mack very quickly. They didn’t want to lose him the way they’d lost the father they had never even known. They wanted their mommy to tell them that they could keep Uncle Mack forever, and that yearning had to be nipped in the bud. She didn’t want her daughters’ hearts to be broken when Mack left Tucson.
And your heart, Heather? she asked herself. When she’d hugged Mack to thank him for the beautiful vase, she’d been struck by a sense of being where she belonged, encircled in his strong, protective arms. And she’d felt that heat again, that raging, burning heat of what she knew was desire, of a woman wanting a man, wanting to make love with that man. Wanting Mack.
Stop it, she admonished herself. This was ridiculous. She hardly knew Mack Marshall, but there she sat, admitting that she desired him, wanted him. That was terrible, and frightening and—
Well, it made sense in a way. It had been many years since she’d been held by a man, made to feel special and pretty and feminine.
It wasn’t Mack, she told herself, it was simply the fact that he was there, close to her, nudging awake her womanliness that had been slumbering for a very long time.
It was basic biological urges, and had nothing to do with Mack the man.
Yes, of course, she’d miss Mack when he left. What woman wouldn’t? That would be a normal reaction. But within a short while after Mack left, she and the girls would be back to their routine and the memories of the time spent with Mack would fade, then be forgotten. They’d get a Christmas card from him and remember the fun they’d shared and that would be that.
In the meantime, Heather thought, curbing a smile, she most definitely would refrain from tearing Mack’s clothes off his magnificent body in her mind and flinging him onto her bed.
Mack slid back into the booth, causing Heather to jerk in surprise as she was pulled from her thoughts.
“Here you go, girls,” Mack said. “Tokens for the video games.”
“Oh, wow,” Melissa said. “We get to play video games? Cool. Thank you, Uncle Mack. Come on, Emma.”
“Hold it,” Heather said, raising one hand. “You stay on this side of the rows of machines, where I can see you.”
“No-o-o-o problem,” Emma said. “Thank you, Uncle Mack. We never get to play video games. Take care of my Barbie doll, okay?”
“And my mitt,” Melissa said.
“No-o-o-o problem,” Mack said, laughing.
The girls hurried from the booth and Heather watched until she saw that they were staying where she could see them. She shifted her attention to Mack, who was frowning.
“What’s wrong?” Heather said.
“I was just thinking about the girls’ reaction to finding out that I’d been shot,” he said. “They said they didn’t want me to die like their daddy had. Do you think they need grief counseling or something, to get closure about the death of their father?”
“No, no,” Heather said, shaking her head. “They never even met their father.” She paused. “Thank goodness. Anyway, I think what happened is that they view you as a member of the family, a male addition. The only emotional reference they have to a man in the family is the one who died. Hence, they don’t want you to die, too.”
“Oh,” Mack said, nodding. “You certainly know a great deal about child psychology, Heather.”
“No,” she said, laughing, “I was just a six-year-old girl once myself.” She frowned. “Besides, I have had a lot of experience projecting my past onto my present and making grave errors by doing so. I can understand the transference the girls made when they knew you had been hurt.”
“Back up, here,” Mack said. “You’re obviously glad the girls never met their father. Was Frank one of the errors you made?”
Heather nodded. “Mack, Frank Marshall was a selfish man, who packed up and walked out on me when I told him I was pregnant. I’m very sorry if it upsets you to learn that your brother was not what you might want to believe he was, but facts are facts.”
“Frank was my half brother,” Mack said, “and no, it doesn’t upset me to learn he was a bum, except for it causing you such hardship and pain. Why did you marry him in the first place, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“It was Basic Psychology 101,” Heather said, shrugging. “My seventeen-year-old unwed mother went to the store for milk and left me with my grandmother. That is the longest trip to the market in history, because she never came back.”
“Ah, man, that’s rotten,” Mack said, covering one of Heather’s hands with one of his on top of the table. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s old, old news. My grandmother was wonderful, but she passed away when I was fourteen and I was swept up into the foster care system, then out on my own when I was eighteen.
“When Frank Marshall came along, oozing charm, giving me his undivided attention, I grabbed hold and hung on. Here was my chance to belong to someone, to not be abando
ned again, to be loved. I was twenty years old and I suddenly saw a future that held all my hopes and dreams.
“Oh, what a joke. Six months after Frank and I were married, I found out I was pregnant and he left. Three weeks after that, he was killed while driving drunk. End of Frank. End of story.”
“Heather,” Mack said, stroking the side of her hand with his thumb. “I…”
“No, please, let me finish. I’m not telling you this sordid tale to gain your sympathy—in fact, my friend Susie is the only other person I’ve ever confided in about my past. But I need you to understand my concerns about the girls.
“We have to remind the twins that you’ll be leaving in a couple of weeks. They mustn’t believe they get to keep you forever, because the fact is you won’t be here with us. You…you will…be gone. And I don’t want their hearts broken.”
And if he didn’t let go of her hand, Heather thought frantically, didn’t stop that maddening, tantalizing, heat-evoking stroking with his thumb, her bones were going to dissolve.
“You’re wrong, Heather,” Mack said, tightening his hold on her hand. “Yes, okay, so I’ll leave when I’m due to have my shoulder checked over, but I’ll be back to visit in the future. The girls will get to keep me forever, because I’m a permanent member of the family.”
“Mack, you’re viewing this as an adult,” Heather said, shaking her head. “Try thinking like a six-year-old. To the twins, keeping you forever means that you never leave at all, don’t you see? We can’t let the girls believe that, even fantasize about it, or they’ll be heart-broken when you go. I won’t allow that to happen to them.” She paused. “May I have my hand back, please?”
“Not yet,” he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “I want to tell you that I admire and respect you very much. You were dealt some lousy cards in life, but you’ve played out the hand with class and dignity. Melissa and Emma are extremely fortunate little girls to have you for their mother.”
“Thank you,” Heather said softly. “That was a lovely thing to say.”
“I meant every word.”
Mack looked directly into Heather’s eyes as he once again began to stroke her hand with his thumb. Heather was unable to tear her gaze from Mack’s, and the people, the noise, the pizza parlor itself, seemed to fade into oblivion as they were encased in a sensuous mist. It swirled around them, seeming to pull them closer and closer together even though they hadn’t moved.
Single with Twins Page 5
