A Perfect Bride For Christmas (16 page)

Zoe nodded. “Let me tell them.”

“I want to be there when you do. Maybe I need

to answer some of their questions.”

“Macy will be the one to convince. She’s my

skeptic and the klutz of the three. If you notice, she has a scar in her right eyebrow. The other two follow her lead, although Michaela will stand between you and the other two if there’s trouble. Mia will keep a lot inside. She’s my sensitive one, my princess.”

“They sound like great kids.”

Alex pulled her into his arms, his hand cradling her head against his chest. His heart beat fast against her cheek. She savored the moment. It might be the last physical contact she’d ever have with the man she couldn’t get out of her heart and mind.

“Zoe,” his arms tightened, “Is there any chance in the world that we can be friends again?” He

pulled back to peer down into her eyes. “I’ve missed you so much. Not defending you was the biggest

mistake of my life. I—”

She put her fingers over his mouth, cutting off his words. “That’s in the past. Done. Gone. We can try to be friends. After this afternoon it might be hard.”

“Oh,” he pulled her close until she could feel the evidence of his arousal. “It is.”

Zoe smiled and gave him a soft push. “That’s

123

Dyann Love Barr

exactly why it will be difficult. I don’t want to be
friends with benefits
. “

He embraced her again, his words soft as his

warm breath tickling her ear. “I’ll take what I can get. I don’t deserve this much, what you’ve given me.” The sound of the front door opening made her pull away from heaven.

“We’re home,” three voices chimed in unison

from the front hall.

“Hey, you three hooligans, take off your boots

and coats,” Cherri commanded. “Coats on the rack, boots on the mat. You know the drill.”

Alex’s face turned white and tight. “I’ve faced down murderers in prison, but I think I’m close to wetting myself here.”

Zoe couldn’t hold back a soft giggle. “You’ll do fine. They don’t bite, but they can be brutally honest.” She took his hand. “Time to face the fire.”

The girls chattered away while divesting

themselves of their winter gear with Cherri’s help until Macy saw them come from the kitchen. Like an episode of Twilight Zone, all three children stopped to stare. Alex gripped her hand tighter.

“Cherri, I need to talk to the girls in private.”

Zoe made a motion with her head in the direction of the stairs. “Do you mind?”

Cherri shook her head, her eyes wide with

surprise and understanding. “No problem. There’s a book I need to finish anyway.” She gave Zoe a wink before she went up the stairs.

“Come on girls, let’s go into the living room.” Zoe gathered them in her arms to give them a big

mutual hug, then guided them to the big couch. She watched them clamber up, dressed in blue jeans, white socks and matching white sweaters with

Blue’s Clues appliqués. Three pairs of blue eyes stared at her and Alex, one questioning, one

124

A Perfect Bride for Christmas

suspicious, and the other worried.

“Do you remember Mr. King?”

They nodded at the same time.

“We have something to tell you, and we wanted

to do it together.” She sat in a deep blue chair and motioned Alex to take the butter yellow one

patterned with small blue diamonds.

Michaela reached out for Macy and Mia’s hands.

“Have we been bad?” She prepared to wage war. Her face took on the look Alex got before a trial, hot and fierce.

“No. Nothing like that.”

Mia raised her head. Her lashes fluttered, and

she piped up, “He’s our hop-on daddy.”

Zoe choked back a bubble of laughter at the

horrified look on Alex’s face.

“Hop-on daddy?” He glanced at Zoe for an

explanation, but Macy didn’t give her time.

“He doesn’t watch Animal Planet.” Macy’s snort

of disapproval said it all. It was clear she considered him a loser. “You hopped on Mommy and gave her

babies.”

If Alex had been pale before, he was waxen now.

“No!” His eyes, panicked, begged Zoe for help. “I mean, yes.” He shook his head. “It’s not like it is on television.” Alex pointed to the television’s darkened screen. “Well, kind of. Geez.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and peeked over his fingertips at her.

“If you’re our daddy, why did we have another

daddy?” Michaela frowned at both of them. “Are we illigimanate?”

This time, Zoe felt like squirming.

“Illegitimate.” Alex clasped his hands together.

“And, no, you’re not.”

“Alex is your real father. We were married

when, well when we
got
you. But don’t worry, your daddy was your real daddy as well. Does that make sense?” Zoe hoped they understood. Four-year-olds 125

Dyann Love Barr

didn’t appreciate semantics. They dealt in reality, hard reality at that, mixed with a good dose of fantasy. It was difficult for them to separate the two.

“Alex, that is Mr. King, and I were very good

friends. We were married but realized we weren’t right for each other. We got into a big fight—”

“Like me and Bryan?” Macy interrupted. “He

wouldn’t give me back the ball, and I smacked him.”

“We talked about that, Macy.” Zoe gave her a

frown.

“Something like that,” Alex interjected. A slow smile spread across his face, and he rubbed his nose.

“Very much like that. She got so mad, she told me to go away and never talk to her again. I felt really bad about hurting her feelings. I did what she asked.

That’s why I never knew about you. Don’t blame

your mother—I wasn’t very nice to her back then.

She had every
right to tell me to go away.”

“Are you nice now?” Mia cut to the chase in her quiet, clear voice.

“I hope so.”

Zoe watched the muscles in his jaw bunch. A

suspicious sheen glittered in his eyes.

“I want to get to know you. We…” He swallowed

hard.

Mia got up from the couch, followed by the other two. “Baby Jesus said we have to love each other, to hug and kiss, not hurt, push or smack.” She shot a look at Macy. She laid her hand on Alex’s knee. “You can be our daddy if you want.”

Alex squeezed his eyes shut. His breath clogged in his lungs as he held out his arms.

They girls went to him one by one, Mia first,

then the other two.

“Does this mean we can’t love our other daddy?”

Michaela asked.

“No.” Alex held them tighter. “Never. He was a

good man to love you so much. Don’t ever forget 126

A Perfect Bride for Christmas

that.”

Zoe felt the tears slide down her cheeks. She’d expected more of a fight from her children. Maybe they were hungry for another man in their lives.

Now they had one.

127

Dyann Love Barr

So many emotions zoomed through Alex he

didn’t know which one to process first. For the second time today, he’d wanted to blubber like a baby. Not very manly, but he didn’t care.

Mia stole his heart with her gentle words. The

feel of Michaela and Macy’s arms around his neck was indescribable. And the weight of responsibility that came with being a father bound him tighter than the little arms.

“Girls, let’s give Alex a chance to breathe.” Zoe’s gentle command had an immediate effect. They

stood around him, three pairs of blue eyes filled with questions he didn’t know if he could answer.

“Do we call him Alex or Daddy?”

“Daddy was Daddy.” Michaela stood with her

arms crossed over her chest, her lower lip sticking out in defiance. It might have seemed rude if Alex hadn’t seen the slight tremble. He would have to walk carefully with his warrior. That made him

smile.
His warrior
.

“What would you like to call me?”

Michaela let out a heavy sigh and dropped her

arms to her side. “I don’t know.”

“Then think about it, and we can decide later,

okay?”

“I want to call you Daddy because that’s what

you are.” Mia wrapped her hand in his. It felt so small and warm, full of life.

Macy gave him the hairy eyeball for a few

seconds and nodded. “Me, too.”

128

A Perfect Bride for Christmas

He turned to Michaela. “Whatever you decide is

fine.”

Alex glanced up to see Zoe standing there, hand over her mouth, face glowing with pride. She’d never looked so beautiful. Her eyes glittered green, gold, and amber behind the shimmer of tears.

Lust prowled through his body, begging for

release. Zoe was the only one who could assuage this particular beast. What occurred upstairs would

never happen again. She’d made that clear. Misery gave his heart a nasty twist.

Zoe came to stand behind her children. Their

children. “We will work out how to be a family, but it won’t be like the one we had. Alex won’t be living with us.”

“Why?” Macy shot him a dirty look.

“Because.” Zoe pulled the girls closer and peered over their heads at Alex. Her expression told him to let her take this one and butt out. “We’re just a different kind of family. Alex is my friend—just a friend. We,” she pointed at Alex and back to herself,

“we would have to be married.”

Mia peeked up at Zoe with a frown on her face.

“Why can’t he marry us?”

“Honey, that’s not the way it works,” Zoe

crouched next to Mia. “But Alex can still be your father.”

“Do you love Mommy?”

Ouch, this particular zinger he’d hoped to miss.

He glanced over at Zoe, silently pleading for a little help. She simply shrugged her shoulders and gave him a quizzical smile.

How did he explain the complicated twists and

turns of their relationship? His mouth was dry, his palms sweaty. “Your mother and I were best friends for a very long time. She did everything for me, and I took it for granted. Do you have a best friend? Did you ever get mad at them?”

129

Dyann Love Barr

The three nodded in unison. That was getting a

bit spooky, but he guessed it he’d have to get used to it. “So yes, I love your mother and hope we can be best friends again.”

Three pairs of eyes scanned him up and down

until he felt as if he’d landed in an episode of Star Trek and was being probed by aliens. Not far off the mark.

“Okay.” They turned to Zoe. “Can we go to

McDonald’s for supper?” ****

By the time Alex threw his keys on his mother’s hall table, he knew he had the onset of Post

Traumatic Stress Disorder. A fast food place and three kids had been an eye opener, as well as an exercise in patience.

Macy spilled her milk on his new jeans.

Michaela didn’t want the same toy as the other two, and Mia picked her hamburger apart into small

pieces before she took a bite. The meal lasted a lifetime and then some.

A headache grew from a tiny kernel to full-

blown misery. He might be a quick study, but

learning to be a father wasn’t going to happen

overnight—or in one afternoon. Today, he felt like a goddamned failure.

On the way to the kitchen, he checked his cell

phone. Sydney left five messages on his voice mail, but he wasn’t in any mood to listen to what she had to say. He couldn’t think until he got his Gordian knot of a life sorted out.

Alex felt his cell phone vibrate in his hand. He let out a groan. It had to be Sydney again. He

glanced down at the caller ID and frowned. Keeley Jacobs.

“This is Alex King.” He tried for a friendly tone, even if it felt like someone kept bouncing medicine 130

A Perfect Bride for Christmas

ball from one side of his skull to the other. He didn’t want to make nice right now. He needed a couple of aspirin and a cold beer before he could sort out his thoughts.

“Hello—Alex.” Keeley sounded a less defensive

than the last time they talked. “I’d like to take you up on the offer to come to your wedding.”

“Great.” He rubbed his forehead, willing the

headache to go away. “There’s not going to be a wedding after all but Mom wants you to come for Christmas. Does that change anything?”

“I’m sorry to hear about the wedding.”

Alex closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “Thanks.”

“Would it be possible to come on the eighteenth?

I thought it would be a good idea to get to know everyone beforehand, and well, I need to find out about the financial arrangements. I told you I have a project lined up, but I need cash, or at least

something I can say is in the works to get the

funding I need. I’m hiring a lawyer and an appraiser to go over the property.”

Alex clenched his jaw tight. His headache roared to epic proportions. “Sure, no problem.” An idea burst through the pain. “Why don’t you stay here at the house? Mom had an accident and broke her

ankle so she won’t be able to do a lot of running around.”

“I hope she’s all right.”

Her concern sounded sincere. Alex didn’t want

to think of her having compassion. She was the evil half-sister, coming to town to destroy his mother’s life. “She’ll be on crutches for a few weeks.” Alex went into the small bathroom off the kitchen and opened the medicine cabinet. A giant bottle of

aspirin sat on the top shelf. He pressed his cell phone between his cheek and shoulder, shook two into his hand, and dry swallowed them. The sharp 131

Dyann Love Barr

taste made his stomach lurch.

“I couldn’t stay with you. A hotel will work just fine.”

Alex worked his tongue to rid his mouth of the

nasty taste of the aspirin. “We have a spare room, and Mom really wanted to get to know you. I don’t want to wear her out.”

Keeley didn’t answer right away. Alex waited,

willing her to go along with his scheme.

Finally she spoke. “No, I think a hotel would be best. It’s not like you’re welcoming home the