With a final flourish, she frosted the last cupcake and laid down the bag. She lifted her finger to her lips and gently sucked the frosting from the tip.
All the blood left Cam’s head. He closed his eyes. No kissing. No kissing. No kissing.
When he opened them again, Jules was at the sink, washing the pans, and he realized she was humming to herself again and her feet were bare, showing those blasted pink toenails.
He left his coffee cup on the counter and fled the room. She was his wife, and for some weird reason thinking about that made it easier to resist her. He liked Jules. More, he respected her. He respected the friendship that was growing between them, despite all the obstacles to it.
They’d crossed that bridge, and then they’d blown it up. There was no going back now. He was just going to have to learn to live with their decision to remain friends, no matter how distracting her pink toenails were.
Chapter Thirteen
Jules was in the bedroom trying to wrestle Eleanor into a pair of tights while Cam was in the adjoining bathroom with Emma in the bathtub. He called out to her, “I think maybe it would’ve been a better idea if I got dressed after I gave Emma a bath.”
“She does love to splash.” Jules dropped Eleanor’s legs and picked up the tights’ packaging. It said 4T, but there was no way these things were the right size. Finally, she managed to stuff both of Eleanor’s legs into the tights, but when she got the waistband over the little girl’s hips, there was still a huge gap...and a hole in the waist where Jules’s thumb had poked through during the tug-of-war. “Forget it. You can wear leggings and that cute striped shirt.”
“Where we going?” Eleanor asked for the thirtieth time.
“We’re going to your school. It’s spaghetti supper night.” Another reason to go with leggings and a tunic rather than the dress she’d planned. Maybe El wouldn’t be as dressed up as some of the kids, but at least Jules wouldn’t be freaking out about how to get spaghetti stains out of a dressy dress.
“Why?”
“Because all your friends will be there. You’re going to sing, remember?”
“Miss Marla said we’re gonna sing for the mamas and daddies.” Eleanor bounced on the bed as Jules pulled the tunic over her head.
Jules imagined herself dropping a truth bomb on Eleanor’s teacher. Surely, Eleanor wasn’t the only kid without a mom who went to that preschool. In fact, Jules knew she wasn’t. A lot of Claire and Joe’s foster kids had gone to that school.
“There will be lots of other people besides mamas and daddies. There will be grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and brothers and sisters, like Emma. And all the teachers and friends. It will be so much fun. I can’t wait to hear you sing.”
“Alice has a new baby brother and she said in circle time that da baby was in her mama’s tummy.”
Oh, good gravy, where was she going with this? Jules sent up a quick prayer for patience as she tugged on Eleanor’s bright purple leggings. “Uh-huh...”
“I was in your tummy, right?”
Jules went still. It had been a month or so since Eleanor had mentioned Glory being in heaven with Jesus, but Jules had no idea she was so confused. “No, honey. You grew in your mama Glory’s tummy.”
The three-year-old scrunched her little nose up. “But babies grow in da mama’s tummy.”
Time to change tactics. Jules pulled a pair of lace-edged socks off the pile of clean clothes and slid them onto Eleanor’s feet. “Did you see me holding that little baby at the farm on Saturday?”
Eleanor nodded. “His wittle ears were so cute.”
“I knew you when you were just that little. I got to hold you when you weren’t even an hour old. Did you know that? Oh, you were so cute. I knew you were going to be special.”
Eleanor nodded. Hearing that she was special was nothing new for her. “But you’re my mom, right? I can call you Mama?”
After weeks of Jules skirting the black hole in her mind, Eleanor went and pushed her in. She felt like she was cartwheeling through darkness and there were no handholds to grab onto in order to slow her flight. She sat down on the bed beside Eleanor and took a deep breath. She might be in the darkness, but she had to be the handholds for Eleanor. “You can call me whatever you want, El. You can call me Aunt Jules or Lili or Mom or even Silly Alligator.”
Eleanor giggled. “I think I want to call you Mama. But what about Uncle Cam?”
Jules picked Eleanor up, set her on her feet and straightened her dress. “I think you should call him Boo-boo Head.”
Eleanor giggled. “Or I could call him Daddy. And then I’d have a mama and daddy to sing to at the pasketti supper at school. Can I have a snack now?”
“Sure you can. There are some oatmeal cookies on the kitchen table.”
Jules gathered the clothes that were scattered on the bed and sat for a minute, holding them all in her hands.
Cam came out of the bathroom with Emma wrapped in a yellow towel with a duck-shaped hood. “You handled that great. You made her happy and she feels secure.”
Tears gathered in Jules’s eyes. “I feel like I’m cheapening the memory of Glory being Eleanor’s mom. I don’t want to be her replacement.”
“When Eleanor gets a little older and she understands, you can tell her stories. It’ll mean a lot to her that you’ll keep her mom alive in her memory. But for now, she just wants a mama and a daddy like everyone else.”
“I guess you’re right,” Jules said slowly. “I’ll get Emma dressed if you want to go change your shirt.”
He handed Emma over and started for the door. “Won’t take me but a minute and then I’ll put Eleanor in the car. Meet you out front?”
“Sure thing, Boo-boo Head.” She grinned as she heard his response drift back from the hall.
“Very funny, Silly Alligator.”
She laid Emma on the changing table and slid a diaper underneath her, still thinking about Cam and how they seemed to be building a rapport. Their relationship wasn’t nearly as guarded, although they had an unspoken agreement to avoid physical contact when they were alone.
Well, since last Saturday at least, when she’d shown him how to frost cupcakes. She’d come so close to reaching up to pull him down for a kiss. Instead she’d busied herself with the dishes. Plunging her hands in ice-cold water hadn’t helped much, but when she’d turned around, he’d been gone.
With her hand on Emma’s tummy to keep her from rolling off the table, she reached into the drawer and pulled out the matching dress to Eleanor’s. Emma screeched when Jules pulled it over her head, but Jules handed her a toy and she was soon happily chewing on it.
Jules’s phone buzzed in her back pocket. Somehow she’d missed a call or it had gone straight to voice mail. She tapped the entry and a voice she didn’t know began to speak.
“This call is for Juliet Quinn. My name is Patience Carter. I’m the attorney assigned to be the guardian ad litem for Eleanor and Emma Prentiss. I’d like to drop by in the morning for a quick visit, if that’s convenient for you. I have an hour between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., so unless I hear from you, I’ll see you then.”
She pulled little lacy socks onto Emma’s feet and lifted the baby into her arms. Eight o’clock? Tomorrow morning?
That was fifteen hours from now. This room was a mess. The whole house was a mess. Jules had been cooking and baking for days straight and there were toys and clothes and dog bones spread all over the house. Hopefully, the GAL would understand.
Oh, Lord, please help.
There was so much riding on this.
* * *
Cam’s first thought when he opened the door for the guardian ad litem was that they were in so much trouble. She had a huge bag, and was wearing a skirt suit and tennis shoes.
Practical and proper. Awesome.
“I’m Cameron Quinn. Please, c
ome in.”
“Patience Carter, the guardian ad litem. What a lovely home.”
“Thank you. We like it.”
Jules came out of the kitchen with a plate of cookies and a suddenly shy three-year-old. “I’m Juliet. It’s nice to meet you. This is Eleanor.”
Patience immediately got down on Eleanor’s level and held out her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
Eleanor hid her face in Jules’s pant leg, but held her hand out for the lady to shake.
“Emma’s napping right now. She’s trying to give up the morning nap but we’re hanging on for dear life.” Jules was babbling, the plate trembling so hard in her hands that Cam was afraid the cookies were going to slide right off. He took the plate and slid it onto the coffee table. Eleanor immediately helped herself, shyness disappearing.
“Do you like cookies, Eleanor?” Patience asked.
El nodded enthusiastically. “With choc’ate chips.”
“How about dolphins?” The GAL dug in her huge bag and came out with a small stuffed toy. “I brought this for you. My daughter is a marine biologist and she works with dolphins. She’s very smart, just like you.”
“Mama says smart is better than pretty.” Eleanor took the toy with a polite thank-you and climbed into Cam’s lap, while he tried not to laugh.
Jules buried her head in her hand before looking up at Patience with a wince. “It’s true. I did say that.”
“She calls you Mama?” Patience wrote something on her notepad.
“Yes, it’s kind of new.” She sent a help-me look to Cam.
“There was a program at the preschool last night and all the parents were there to watch. Eleanor sang with her class. She was a star.” He gave his niece a little tickle and she fell back, laughing.
“That’s great, Eleanor.” To Cam and Jules, she said, “But she’s putting you two in that role, so that’s interesting. Are there paternal grandparents?”
Jules answered this one. “Yes, Sam’s parents are living, but they have a home in a retirement community in Florida—one that doesn’t allow children. They’re planning a visit this summer, though.”
“You two are newlyweds?” She looked at Cam for this question.
He nodded, with a smile for Jules. “We are.”
Eleanor slid off his lap, pulled out a basket of blocks from under the coffee table and dumped them to the floor with a clatter.
“And do you mind me asking how you fell in love so quickly?” Patience went still, waiting for the answer, her pencil poised over her notepad, and Cam thought, This is the heart of her questions. She wants to know our motivation.
He sat back in his chair with an indulgent smile for Jules. “The last time I saw Juliet, she was a skinny six-year-old with braids and freckles, playing with my sister. You can imagine how shocked I was to see this beautiful woman walk into the room... But it was the way she tended to my nieces that really drew me. She’s got such a huge heart and she puts it on the line with everything she does. I know it seems crazy, but I don’t how I could’ve resisted.”
Cam let the moment stretch as Jules’s eyes widened, her smile trembling. He turned to Patience. “Of course, we got married so quickly so that my nieces would have a stable situation with two loving parents.”
“Right. Juliet, anything to add?”
She smiled at him. “Cam is accomplished and brilliant, which I admire. But the thing I love the most about him is that he’s kind and he cares about people. The girls and I are very lucky to have him in our lives.”
The attorney made another note on her pad as Cam tried to breathe. Jules almost sounded like a person who really knew him, really cared about him. He’d said things, too, about how beautiful she was and how he couldn’t resist her. And the funny thing was, he’d meant every word. Was it possible Jules had real feelings for him?
No. Their relationship was pretend. Getting caught up in the what-ifs was a no-win prospect. He needed to put it out of his mind and focus on what he could influence. He needed to remember who he was.
The sound of Emma waking up with mumbles and whines filtered through to them from the baby monitor on the kitchen counter.
Patience looked up with a smile. “Oh, good, it sounds like our other little girl is waking up. Do you mind if I follow you back, so I can see the living arrangements?”
Jules jumped to her feet, smoothing her clothes. “Not at all.”
“I’ll start warming Emma’s bottle.” Cam cut across the room toward the kitchen, pausing to touch Jules’s elbow and say quietly, “You’re doing great. Hang in there. We’re almost done.”
If they could just make it through the next few minutes with no disasters, they’d be home free.
* * *
“It’s just back this way. There’s a Jack and Jill bath between the two rooms, but we’ve made the adjoining bedroom into a playroom so they could stay together. They shared a room before.” Jules led the way down the hall. Emma’s vocalizations were getting increasingly grumpier the longer it took them to reach her room.
She opened the door a crack and Emma let out a squeal of glee, her hands already reaching for Jules. She laughed and plucked Emma out of the crib. “Hi, baby girl!”
“What a precious baby. Hi, Emma!”
Emma hid her face in Jules’s shoulder. “She’s almost always happy. We had a rough week when she was teething and had an ear infection, but other than that, she’s an easy baby.”
“That’s great. You’re doing a wonderful job with them, Jules. It can’t have been easy, but I can tell they’re attached to you and to Cam, and that’s important.”
“I’ve been a part of their lives since they were born. I—I don’t know how much to say, but Glory and I were friends since preschool and there’s a reason she wanted the girls to be with me if something happened to her.”
“I’ll consider that, but my job is to do my own investigation and make a recommendation to the court based only on what I believe is best for the girls. I know it’s hard to trust someone you’ve never met before, but I’ve been doing this a long time. I know what I’m doing.”
“I understand.” She followed Patience out of the girls’ room and back to the living area. What she really wanted to do was find a corner and have a quiet cry. These past few months it had taken everything Jules had to survive, and every time she felt like she was coming out on the other side, something else popped up.
In the living room, Cam handed her a bottle, which Emma grabbed and voraciously attacked.
Patience cleared her throat and pointed toward the coffee table, where Eleanor was seated, happily feeding oatmeal cookies to a humongous black puppy.
“Oh, no.” Cam’s eyes widened. “Pippi, get down!”
Pippi hung her big head, her ears drooping, but she obeyed. And promptly threw up on the carpet.
The three of them—Jules, Cam and the GAL—all stood in silence for a long few seconds, their mouths hanging open.
The guardian ad litem started laughing. “I think I’m gonna go now. It was so nice meeting you all.”
She left through the front door, still giggling.
Cam closed the door and turned to look at Jules. “That went well, I think.”
Jules wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, but the laugh bubbled up before she could decide.
A little hysterical, maybe, but oh, well. “If Patience was hoping to get a real look at the inner workings of our little family, she certainly got what she wanted.”
Cam wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. “Boy, did she.”
“Aunt Ju—I mean, Mama, you wanna cookie?”
Jules started to laugh again. “Did the dog lick that one?”
Eleanor looked at it. “Uh-huh.”
“No, thank you. I think I’ll wait.” Jules dropped into a chair with Emma in her lap, still giggl
ing. “And maybe you should pick another one.”
Cam shooed the dog out the back door. “I think we’re going to have to get a new carpet.”
Emma reached up, rubbing a piece of Jules’s hair between her fingers, like she always did when she was taking a bottle or getting sleepy. And suddenly, Jules wanted to cry again, but she didn’t. Instead, she prayed.
God, please. Please protect these babies.
Jules had experienced tragedy. Her big brother Ash had gone through cancer and the treatment left him a diabetic. Her dad had died of a heart attack way too young. Her best friend had died in a car accident.
But nothing... Nothing had put her on her face on the ground, begging God for His mercy and protection. Not like this. The future of those sweet girls, and their future as a family, was in the hands of a judge who’d never met any of them.
And she was absolutely powerless.
But God wasn’t.
Chapter Fourteen
“And then, just as we were about to be home free, we walked into the living room and the dog was standing on the coffee table—with Eleanor—wolfing down the cookies.” Cam unlocked the front door to the Hilltop, his travel coffee mug in hand.
Latham’s deep laugh rolled out. “When our first guardian ad litem visited, Levi was potty training and he dropped his pants right in the front yard as we were waving goodbye to her.” Latham paused. “Jordan didn’t think it was nearly as funny as I did.”
“I had no idea what adventures were waiting for me in Red Hill Springs.” Cam laughed in turn as he walked to the bank of light switches and flipped them on one by one. Gone were the fluorescent panel lights. In their place were recessed lights and huge orb-like light fixtures that somehow managed to look simultaneously homey and chic.
A few more Saturdays and this place would be ready to open. Then what would Cam do?
The Marriage Bargain Page 12
