And now Robin was staring him down, her mouth set in a grim line. This situation couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.
Turning to the befuddled young woman behind the desk, Jonas conjured a charming smile. “Alice,” he said. “It is Alice, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
She nodded like an eager puppy, desperate for a solution to the messy problem that had somehow developed.
“Well, Alice, it seems that Robin and I were both a little surprised by the other’s presence.”
“Oh, but I thought I mentioned both names in the letters I sent to you.” Apologetic innocence colored her statement and she searched through the papers on her desk. “Oh,” she said, looking crestfallen when she’d found her copies of said letters, “Gosh, darn it. I’m so sorry. Looks like I screwed up.”
“It’s okay,” Jonas assured her. “Since this is your first case…” he chuckled “…we’ll cut you a little slack. Won’t we, Robin?”
Robin’s smile was forced as she continued to glare at him. “Of course we will.”
“See there,” he said. “Now, if you’ll give Robin and I some time to talk...”
“That’s an excellent idea.” The clerk hopped up and almost twisted her ankle on her four-inch heels in her haste to get to the door. She pulled it open and it banged into the metal chair Jonas was sitting in, but when she turned back to them, she didn’t waste time with apologies. “Please don’t fight,” she begged. “If you get too loud I’ll have to call for security, and that wouldn’t look too good for me... seeing as how this is…”
“Your first case,” Jonas finished for her. “We’ll be on our best behavior.”
Alice shot them both a little grin that was both perky and thankful, and then she closed the door behind her.
After she was gone, Jonas swung his gaze to Robin. He wanted nothing more than to smirk at her tight, closed-off body language. The grim countenance on her face, the disapproval in her eyes, the austere set of her mouth. She was the perfect example of the frustrated female, and it was killing him not to make a comment that would bring that fact to her attention.
She opened her mouth to speak, and he dutifully remained silent, gladly handing her the shovel to dig her own hole, as he was certain she would do.
“First,” she stated flatly, “I want to make it perfectly clear my job has nothing whatsoever to do with my thinking of signing over my rights to Tony. I could call the magazine tomorrow and they’d give me a position where I didn’t have to travel.” She hesitated, then leaned forward a fraction of an inch as she continued. “I was expecting your parents, Jonas. I was thinking that I’d give them total custody, because... because...”
Because I know next to nothing about raising children. But she clamped her lips shut, unable to unburden herself to someone who would only use the information against her in some sneering joke. She didn’t see any reason to reveal to him her most personal reasons for her actions. She owed Jonas Winslow no excuses. He deserved none.
She inhaled deeply and leaned even closer to him. “I was expecting Sara and Jeff to name at least one, maybe two, mature, responsible adults.”
“Wait a minute.” He lifted his hand, palm side out. “There’s no need to insult me.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry,” she begrudgingly allowed. “Really. I don’t want to fight.”
Robin straightened her back and crossed her arms again. She hadn’t meant to hurt Jonas’s feelings. But at the same time, she had to be honest with the man. This was no time to become tongue-tied or flustered. She simply had to put her feelings on the line.
“To tell you the truth,” she said, “my finding out that you’re the other guardian changes everything. I can’t in good conscience allow you to raise my brother’s baby. Just look at you.” She pointed at him. “You’re a mess. It looks like your hair hasn’t been cut in months. Your shirt cuffs and collar are frayed.” Her gaze traveled down the length of him. “You probably have holes in your socks.”
At that moment, the silence of the tiny office was interrupted by a loud grumbling sound emanating from his stomach.
“And you probably haven’t eaten today, either.”
Hearing no rebuttal from him, Robin was overtaken with a sudden boldness that surprised her. She looked him in the eye. “And I haven’t even mentioned the fact that you never take anything seriously. You live your whole life making a big joke out of everything. I can’t allow you to influence Tony with your weird, one-sided, chauvinistic views.”
She expected him to glare at her, to jump up from his chair, to pace the room, to tell her off, to yell and shout. But he did none of those things.
His green gaze remained unflustered as he suggested, “We could do it together.”
The words stunned her. “Do what together?”
“Take care of Tony,” he said.
She had only discovered a few minutes ago that, for some reason, Sara’s parents hadn’t been named in the will. And she was only just beginning to contemplate the problems involved in raising the baby herself. The idea of spending even a short period of time with Jonas, let alone the years and years it would take until her nephew was grown, scared the bejesus out of her. She couldn’t even think about it.
“Where are your parents, Jonas?” The question came out sounding like a lamentation.
The corners of his mouth drew down. “They’ve retired to Florida. My father had a stroke six months ago. He was left partially paralyzed. His mind isn’t all that clear anymore, either.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know.”
“Mom spends all her time caring for him.”
“Oh.” The tiny exclamation left her in a breathy whisper. Hearing about Jonas’s parents’ plight brought back vivid memories of her own parents, and the reason she’d been determined all her life to be independent.
Jonas reached up to rub his neck, and Robin noticed how his coffee-colored hair fell down over the back of his hand. She’d chastised him about its length just moments ago, but now she found herself wanting to touch the silky locks, to stroke her fingers along the warm skin of his neck. In an effort to console him, of course.
He stared at her. “We could do it, Robin.”
“No... I’m not sure...” She shook her head dubiously. “I really don’t feel that we…”
“It wouldn’t have to be forever.” He placed the palms of his hands flat on the arms of the chair. “We could do it for, say... eight or ten months. By then, we’d know each other better. We’d know which one of us is more capable of raising Tony.”
“I don’t know.” The words came slowly, definite evidence of her uncertainty. There was so much they hadn’t talked about, so many things that needed to be discussed. But she found herself saying, “Eight or ten months?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he said, smiling. “We could handle that, couldn’t we?”
He was being so nice, she thought, so different. So charming. Almost as though he was up to something...
Just then the door was pushed open, nudging into Jonas’s chair. He hopped up and pulled open the door and a tall, chubby blonde walked into the small office. On her hip was perched a toddler with flame-red curls atop his head. The baby grinned and clapped gleefully at the sight of Jonas.
“Unka, Unka,” he called.
“Hey, buddy!” Jonas took the child from the woman. “How ya doing, big guy? Hi there, Amy.”
The woman nodded bashfully. “Sorry I’m late. Tony fell asleep during the service, so I took him home for a nap and he just woke up not too long ago.”
“I wondered where you’d gone off to,” Jonas told her.
“I had no idea what you were talking about this morning,” she said. “The kids were running around and Tony needed to be changed. I wasn’t sure what meeting you meant. I just figured you needed me to bring Tony down here.”
Robin listened to the two of them as Jonas tried to explain the misunderstanding. Evidently he had thought that this woma
n was going to be named as Tony’s guardian. Their conversation became muffled as Robin focused on her nephew.
Tony was beautiful. He’d gotten so big. Robin hadn’t seen him since he was about six weeks old. The boy was the spitting image of her brother, Jeff, and Robin felt tears spring to her eyes.
“I’d like you to meet Robin Hampstead,” she heard Jonas say. “Robin, this is Amy Lane. She was Sara’s best friend, and she’s been keeping an eye on Tony for the past... few days.”
“Nice to meet you,” Robin said.
Again, Amy’s nod was bashful, her blond hair falling into her eyes. She looked up at Jonas. “Listen, I really have to go. I left the kids in the car with Ray and it won’t take long for them to drive him stark raving mad.”
Jonas chuckled. “Sure. And thanks again for everything, Amy.”
After Amy gave Tony a good-bye kiss, Jonas closed the door behind her.
“Hey there, Tony,” Robin said.
The baby laughed.
“You want to come to Aunt Robin?”
Tony leaned into Jonas’s shoulder and plunked his tiny thumb in his mouth.
“It’s all right,” Jonas assured her. “He’ll get to know you quickly.”
Alice came into the office. “Well, did we get everything worked out?”
She scooted around Jonas and sat behind her desk. Jonas sat back down and placed the baby on his knee. “We think so,” he said.
Looking at Robin, Alice asked, “You’re going to sign over rights?”
“Oh, no,” Jonas said in a rush. “We’re going to do this. Together.” He smiled at Robin for confirmation and she made a valiant effort to smile back, but her lips felt quivery. How could he be so bright and chipper about this sudden turn of events? She was having difficulty dealing with the way her plans kept bending and twisting with such unpredictability. She wasn’t at all certain this was the right thing to do. The idea of being responsible for her nephew was a lot like visiting a foreign land where she didn’t know the language, wasn’t privy to the customs.
Alice heaved a sigh. “Then we do have a problem, because the judge won’t appoint you both. I mean, she would have if you were married to each other, but... There will be money issues to be addressed, and decisions about the child’s welfare. His schooling and such. What if the two of you didn’t agree?” She shrugged. “Whose opinion would, or should, hold more weight?”
Robin didn’t know whether to feel disappointed or elated. But Jonas’s frustration was as clear as the frown knitting his brow.
Alice was shaking her head as she eased back into her chair. “It’s just too bad you two aren’t married.”
Sensing Jonas’s mischievous gaze on her, Robin swiveled her head in his direction. “Oh, no,” she said after seeing the blatant message in his twinkling green eyes. “Don’t you look at me like that.”
Chapter Two
“That had to rate as the tackiest wedding in history.” Robin crossed her arms over her stomach and stared out the small, oval window of the plane, but the inky blackness of night kept her from seeing anything. She’d spent so much of her time over the past two days traveling in the air that she was almost becoming accustomed to the constant ringing in her ears from the vibration of the huge jet engines.
“Hey,” Jonas said, pausing long enough to chuckle, “our nuptials may have been as gaudy as a plaid tuxedo, but it solved my problem.”
His choice of words had her swinging her gaze in his direction.
“Our problem,” he amended. “Don’t you agree?”
Robin sighed. “But a drive-through wedding chapel?” She arched her brows. “I felt like I was going to the bank.”
Again, he laughed. “Fly to Vegas, deposit a fee into a slot and withdraw a marriage license. Pretty convenient.”
She shook her head. “Maybe,” she muttered under her breath. “But it’s also a little on the sleazy side. I can’t believe there are enough people who do it to keep that place afloat.” But judging from the line of cars that had been waiting behind them at the chapel, business was booming. “And really… was the Elvis impersonator necessary?” A man in a shimmery white jumpsuit complete with fringe had crooned Love Me Tender while they waited for their official wedding certificate to be signed and framed.
Jonas shrugged. “He came with the deluxe package. I figured we might as well enjoy the complete experience.”
Suddenly Robin felt more tired than she’d ever felt in her life. Resting her elbow on the narrow window ledge, she closed her eyes and rubbed her fingers lightly across her forehead.
“You must be exhausted.”
The usually teasing lilt in Jonas’s voice was replaced with genuine concern.
“It’ll be dawn soon. Why don’t you lean your head back and take a nap? I’ll wake you before we land.”
She nodded and tried to comply with his suggestion. So much had happened over the past two days. And there was something about traveling thousands of miles to attend a memorial service only to be whisked off once again to travel yet more thousands of miles to be wed that made a person just a little restless. She tried to count the hours she’d been awake, but she lost track.
She couldn’t believe everything that had happened. Just yesterday, or had it been the day before, she’d been sitting in a plush hotel suite preparing notes for the article she was writing about several restaurants in the Hawaiian tropics. She’d enjoyed ocean breezes, fabulous sunsets, delicious food and wine. Who would have thought that she’d become guardian of her fourteen-month-old nephew and wife to the child’s uncle? It was ludicrous! Bizarre! It would have been laughable if she were the type of person who found the twists and turns of fate a laughing matter.
A sigh escaped her. Jonas was just such a person. She’d bet her last dollar that he was dying to let loose an uproarious guffaw. Hell, he had been nothing but smiles and light-hearted banter throughout the trip. She was beginning to think that nothing could faze the man.
Mrs. Jonas Winslow! This whole business was so... weird.
But what else could she have done? she asked herself. She couldn’t have let him raise Tony on his own. No way! She couldn’t have allowed that to happen.
No, she’d simply stick to Jonas’s plan; remain his wife for eight months, ten at the most, he’d said, and in that time she’d take a crash course in baby rearing. With Jonas there to give what help he could, Robin was a little more confident that she could learn the basics. She felt the tiniest twinge of guilt about using him this way. And using him was exactly what she was doing. Because she would never, ever agree to give him full custody of Tony. She’d have given it to his parents, but not to him. Strong conviction had her shaking her head.
Her future might be a little out-of-focus fuzzy right now regarding her career and where she and Tony would finally make their home, but she had plenty of time to work out all those details.
The plane engine hummed. One would think the passengers on this red-eye flight would be snoozing, but plenty of them chatted, laughed. A set of teen twins seated in the row behind them snapped and snarled at one another over some hand-held video game. Sleep eluded her, and there was nothing to read except the complimentary magazine published by the airline. The only thing left to do was talk.
“Will we be picking Tony up when we get in?” she asked Jonas.
“I think we should. I mean, Amy’s had him for... let’s see... at least five days now.” He absently rubbed the back of his neck. “She was babysitting for Jeff and Sara when they... left for their long weekend in the mountains.” He heaved a sigh. “This was the first time they’d left him.”
She lifted her head and focused on Jonas’s clear, green gaze. “What happened to them, Jonas?” she asked, the words barely a whisper. The fact that the all-important question had completely slipped her mind was proof of the magnitude of her exhaustion. “What happened to Jeff and Sara?”
There was anguish in his green gaze when he looked at her. “Carbon monoxide poisoning,�
�� he told her. “The cabin they were renting had a gas furnace, and it hadn’t been cleaned properly, I guess. Spring nights in the Allegheny Mountains can get a little chilly.” His eyes shifted to the small window. “Either Sara or Jeff turned up the heat before they went to bed.” He cleared his throat and focused on her face as he finished, “And they didn’t wake up. The police are still investigating.”
Sadness swelled in her throat and her eyes prickled with emotion. Who would have thought that the purely innocent act of turning the thermostat dial could kill Jeff and Sara, two people who were…
Who were what? she wondered. At today’s memorial service she’d made the painful discovery that she didn’t know her brother and his wife. Didn’t know them at all.
The yawning emptiness that had threatened her so fiercely this afternoon at the church now returned with a vengeance.
She’d thought she’d pushed it aside, buried it along with her grief, until she could take care of the meeting at family court. Then that meeting had gone haywire and here she was on an airplane with a thin gold band around the third finger of her left hand. The turmoil of the day had helped her to forget the hollowness inside her that should have been filled with warm, happy memories of growing up with Jeff, glittering reminiscences of her brother, his wife and his baby son. But she had none. There was nothing to fill the ugly void inside her. And the barren feeling grew.
Robin felt the overwhelming urge to flee. As she had this afternoon when she’d left the service to walk in the rain. And walk, and walk. Until she’d outdistanced the vacuity, at least for a while. But in the close confines of the airplane, there was no place for her to go.
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