Just Married...Again (21 page)

“You weren’t even going to tell me, were you? You were going to go ahead with the divorce without telling me there was a baby.”

“No, I—”

He gave a bitter laugh. “Well, I can’t say that I blame you after the way I reacted last time.” He crossed the room to stare out the window. “I can’t do anything more to show you how much I love you, Maddy. That’s why I handed in my resignation. I figured if I went out on my own, I could choose my own hours. That way I’d have more time for you and a family when we decided to start one.”

Maddy couldn’t mask her surprise. “You resigned?”

“That’s right. That’s when Smyth made me a senior partner.” He continued to stare out the window. The day looked bleak. “But that’s not good enough, is it? It doesn’t make up for the past.”

Maddy realized she had tears in her eyes. The old Michael would never have turned in his resignation, not for her, not for anybody.

He sighed. “I can’t change what happened in the past, Maddy, and I’m not going to spend my future begging your forgiveness. I’ve forgiven myself, and I suppose it’ll have to be enough.”

He turned and started for the door, and it was obvious he was having a hard time keeping his emotions under control. “I’ll check on that applesauce.”

“Michael, wait….” Maddy raised up from the couch and walked toward him.

Her eyes were liquid as she looked into his. “I’ve already forgiven you,” she said softly. “But can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?”

He hesitated briefly before hauling her up into his arms and kissing her deeply. Maddy’s kisses were just as hungry as she tried to convey all the love and devotion she felt for this wonderful husband of hers.

Michael broke the kiss briefly and stared into her face. Tears misted his eyes. “I want us to start over, Maddy. Our relationship, and our marriage.”

“Are you saying we should go on with the divorce?”

“Hell no, I’m putting a stop to that today, after I take you to the doctor. There will be no divorce in this family.”

She smiled. “So what are you suggesting?”

“I want us to go away somewhere, just the two of us, and renew our vows. It’ll be even better than the first time because we won’t have all that pomp and fuss that your parents put us through.” His look turned tender. “Will you marry me, Maddy? All over again?”

“I’d consider it an honor,” she replied.

A week later Michael and Maddy Kelly exchanged their vows in a small chapel in the North Carolina mountains, in the presence of an elderly minister, his wife, a mischievous-looking grandson, and two dachshunds whose tails thumped against the back of the front pew during the ceremony.

Maddy wore a champagne-colored suit and matching hat, and her husband was dressed in a navy suit with a white carnation at his lapel. Neither could keep their eyes off the other. And once they were pronounced husband and wife for the second time, they raced from the church, hand in hand, with the dogs following behind, to begin a two-week-long honeymoon. They laughed when they spied Michael’s car. Old shoes and tin cans were tied to the back. Written across the rear windshield were the words “Just Married … Again.” One glance at the grandson, and they instantly knew who was responsible for it.

“Does this mean I should refer to you as my second husband?” Maddy asked.

“As long as I’m the last,” Michael said, and smacked her on the bottom while the preacher and his wife looked on from the doorway of the church.

And when they reached their cabin, Michael carried his wife over the threshold, pausing inside only long enough to build a fire and give the “kids” a new steak- flavored bone while his wife put fresh sheets on the sofa bed and poured them each a toast from a grape-juice bottle. Michael undressed her in front of a roaring fire and took delight in the shadows that played across her naked body. He knelt before her and kissed her tummy, saying a silent prayer for the tiny being inside.

The moment brought tears to Maddy’s eyes, just as so many other things did these days: aftershave commercials, split ends, a wet newspaper on the doorstep.

Lying beside her, Michael gazed at his wife lovingly. Maddy’s pregnancy had brought out all of his protective instincts. Although the doctor insisted exercise was good for her, Michael absolutely objected to her teaching the advanced aerobics classes. He’d made fast friends with the new fitness instructor and asked him to make sure Maddy didn’t take any risks. So far she was behaving, probably because Michael had threatened to throw her over his shoulder and carry her out if he caught her doing anything she shouldn’t. He knew she was being cautious. She wanted this baby as much as he did.

Now, as he kissed her breasts, he took great care since they were especially tender these days. He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but they already felt heavier to him. He’d spent eighty bucks on an oversize book that covered every detail of pregnancy, and he already had a good idea what their baby looked like.

He’d even found time to read up on mood swings, just so he’d have a better understanding of what his wife was going through. He’d found it helpful when she’d burst into tears as they’d watched a sunset two days ago from the front porch of her little country house. Afterward, Michael had held her in his arms and promised to take her out for a banana split, and that seemed to make everything okay. He hoped her moods stopped swinging before they both grew as big as a barn.

He squeezed her nipples lightly, and she shivered. She stroked him while he slipped his own hand between her thighs and parted her. Their legs became entwined, his long and hair-roughened, hers silky smooth.

Their coupling was a thing of beauty. When Michael finally entered her, Maddy arched high to meet him. They climaxed together and drifted back down to earth in each other’s arms.

Some minutes later Michael raised up on one elbow and gazed down lovingly at his wife. “We’re going to have the most beautiful baby in the world,” he said. ‘But then, how could it not be beautiful, when the mother is as gorgeous as you?”

Maddy smiled and snuggled closer against his chest, enjoying the way the springy curls tickled her nose. God, how she loved this man. How had she ever managed to get through the long days and nights of their separation without talking to him or gazing into those dark eyes? She was determined to see this marriage succeed no matter what.

They lay there for a long time, talking, cuddling, and sharing kisses. Michael told her what it had been like for him with her gone, and as Maddy listened she struggled to hold back her tears. She hadn’t realized how barren she’d felt inside until Michael cloaked her in his love once more.

As she drifted off to sleep Maddy remembered a time, many years before, when nannies and housekeepers had spent hours primping her so that she would be acceptable to her mother and father once they sent for her. Somehow, she never felt she measured up. And then there was the time she’d asked Yates if he would teach her a funny joke so she could amuse her weary parents when they returned from a long trip. She hadn’t been able to make them laugh.

Thankfully, it no longer mattered.

In her heart, she knew the man beside her would always love her unconditionally.

Michael pulled into the driveway of his and Maddy’s renovated farmhouse and was instantly greeted by a six-month-old chocolate Lab pup, whom he’d adopted from the animal shelter because he felt a man should have a real dog. Maddy could have her spoiled, afraid-of-their-own-shadow dachshunds; he had Jack.

“Hey, boy,” he said, stopping to pet his buddy on the head. By the size of his feet, he figured ol’ Jack would grow to be the size of a Shetland pony. And he didn’t lie around all day like those lazy hounds of Maddy’s. Jack was fast becoming a good watchdog, and Michael liked knowing his girls were being looked after while he was away. Even as protective as he was of his wife, Michael was fiercely so where his baby daughter was concerned.

As Michael started up the front walk he spied their goat, Houdini, chewing on the azalea bushes. He shook his head sadly. As much as he loved his and Maddy’s antebellum-style home, the goat was a constant annoyance. But the previous owners had insisted the creature was part of the bargain and Maddy had fallen in love with him, so there was no getting out of it. They’d also inherited a couple of horses, a dozen or so chickens, and an aging bull named Geronimo, who was spending his retirement years grazing in the far pasture and napping under a tall oak tree.

Michael wouldn’t have minded the goat so much had he been able to build a pen or fence to hold him, but none existed. This is how Henry came to be called Houdini. He could break out of anything.

“Go ahead and eat my azalea bushes, pal,” Michael said, “Because that’s going to be your last meal. I’m going to get my bow and arrow out and—”

The front door opened and Maddy stepped out onto the porch.

“Honey, who are you talking to?”

Michael had trouble swallowing these days when he saw his wife. Dressed as she was in a rose-colored, terrycloth jumpsuit, with her hair falling softly past her shoulders, one would never have guessed she’d given birth to a nine-pound daughter just six weeks prior. Except for her breasts, of course, which were pleasantly plump with breast milk. He actually became aroused thinking about them.

“Michael?”

“Huh? Oh, I was just having a little talk with Houdini, telling him about my day.”

Maddy folded her arms in front of her. “You haven’t been threatening him again? You know how crazy I am about that goat.”

“And so am I, Babe. Actually, I was just explaining there was a whole shipment of azalea bushes coming in on Saturday.”

She tried to look stern, but it wasn’t easy with her husband standing there looking sexier than any man had a right to. “You know the rules of the house.”

“Be nice to your goat and no briefcases allowed inside. The guys at the office say I’m henpecked. Well, they call it something else, but it means the same thing.”

She offered him her hand. “I say they’re jealous.”

He grinned and backed her against the door frame. “Yeah, big time.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her deeply, pressing against her so she could feel his need. When he raised up, there was a question in his eyes. “Did you go to the doctor today?” he asked, knowing she’d had an appointment for her six-week checkup.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“He says I’ve healed nicely.”

Michael’s stomach seemed to take a giant swoop. His mouth went bone-dry. “Oh, yeah?”

Maddy grabbed his tie and pulled him into the house, closing the door and locking it securely behind him. The large living room had been painted a soft mint green and trimmed in antique white. The furniture was covered in a mint, yellow, and white plaid with sprigs of ivy. She led Michael to the sofa and pushed him down.

“Now, you sit right there and relax while I finish the hors d’oeuvres. Dinner is going to be late tonight.”

He reached for her hand. “I’m not hungry.”

She pulled free. “Trust me. You’re going to need your strength.”

Michael swallowed as he watched her walk from the room. It was all he could do to keep himself from throwing her down on the floor and taking her there and then. He shook his head. The guys were right. She had him wrapped around her little finger and then some.

And he was loving every minute of it.

Unable to sit still, Michael made his way down the hall to the nursery. Very quietly, he entered the sweet-smelling room and crept softly toward the antique white crib. His six-week-old daughter was sleeping on her back, her tiny fists balled at her sides. Her cheeks were chubby and rosy, her light downy hair curling about her face. Maddy had insisted on naming her Kathleen, after his mother, but they called her Katy. Michael had never seen such perfection before, and his heart swelled with love and pride as he gazed down at her. People claimed she took after him, although Michael saw traces of Maddy in her, too. He could not believe there was a time when he hadn’t wanted children. Heck, he was already looking forward to giving little Katy a brother.

As much as he wanted to pick her up, he knew this was not the time. Later he would feed her a bottle of breast milk that Maddy pumped each day for just that reason. And when it came time for her bath, he would assist Maddy, and they would laugh at their daughter’s antics because she had not yet learned to like water.

Right now he had more pressing business.

He was going to make mad passionate love to little Katy’s mother.