Part-Time Wife (21 page)

Chapter 12

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T
iny babies slept on, unaware of the fuss being made over them by the group of people staring at them from the other side of the glass. Craig had done this three times with Krystal, and also with Travis and Austin. He supposed he should be jaded by now, but he wasn't. The sight of the infants' innocent, scrunched-up faces always got him right in the center of his chest.

Jill pointed to one baby in a little pink stocking cap. "That's her."

He stared, amazed. "It must be true."

"What?"

"The Haynes family curse is really broken. After four generations of only boys, Kyle just had the second girl."

Jill frowned, as if in thought. "Now who had the first one?"

"Travis."

"Okay, Travis is married to
Sandy
?"

He smiled and dropped his arm over her shoulder. "No. Travis is married to
Elizabeth
."

"I'll never get this straight."

He led her to a bench on the other side of the wide corridor. This might be a hospital, but close to the nursery it didn't feel too antiseptic. When they were seated, he shifted so he was facing her.

"It's very simple," he said.

"For you. I'm an only child, and I'm not even married. Keeping track of my family is a snap."

The color had returned to Jill's face after her illness. She still tired easily – she'd slept the whole way in the car – but the fever was gone and she claimed to have most of her energy back. She wore a simple shirt tucked into black jeans. The shirt was the exact color of her eyes. Makeup emphasized their shape. Her mouth was kissably pink. Delicate gold earrings glittered in the overhead lights.

She was beautiful, and not just because of how she looked. They hadn't had a moment to talk about what had happened yesterday and last night. They'd become lovers, then their world had been turned upside down by the birth of Kyle's daughter. Most women would have been clinging, or whining, wanting to know where things stood. Not that he had an answer for that. They'd gone from friendly to intimate without much in the way of a warning. For all he knew, Jill would want to back off for a while to catch her breath. He didn't know what he wanted, yet. There hadn't been time to think. Whatever their decision, Jill wasn't pressuring him right now and he was grateful.

Their lovemaking had been more than he'd imagined, and he'd imagined a lot. But the thought of committing to anyone, even her, gave him a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The risk was too great. He only wanted a sure thing. Even Jill couldn't guarantee that.

While they couldn't talk about themselves in this public setting, he could explain the intricacies of his family.

"I'm one of four brothers," he said. "I'm the oldest. I have three boys."

She smiled. "That part I knew."

"Next comes Travis. He's the sheriff here in Glenwood. He's married to
Elizabeth
. They have two children, both girls. The oldest, Mandy, is
Elizabeth
's by a previous marriage."

Jill nodded. "Travis and Elizabeth, two girls. Got it."

"Next is
Jordan
. He's the black sheep of the family. A fire fighter instead of a cop. He's not married."

"Thank goodness! Less for me to keep track of."

"Then Kyle. He's the youngest and a deputy here in Glenwood. He married Sandy, who had three children from a previous marriage. Two girls, one boy. She's the one who just had the baby. Finally, our friend Austin is married to Rebecca. They adopted a boy and had a boy together. He owns the company we all invested in."

He leaned back. "See, very simple."

She stared at him for a moment and then started laughing. "Oh, yeah. Really simple. Why did I ever think it was a problem?"

"Once you meet everyone, you'll be able to put faces with the names."

She shook her head. "Now I know why that house looked like a day-care center when we dropped off the boys."

"Between us, we do have a lot of kids." He started to say more, then heard someone call his name. He glanced up and saw his brothers approaching.
Austin
was with them.

Craig rose to his feet. Kyle reached him first and gave him a hug that about cracked his ribs. Travis and Jordan joined the pair and added their strength to the embrace. Soon all four brothers were slapping each other on the back. As always,
Austin
hung just a little outside the circle. Kyle and Jordan parted for him and he stepped inside.

"Who's the redhead?"
Jordan
asked.

"Who wants to know?" Craig countered, grinning with pride.

The men laughed and separated. Craig held out his hand to Jill. She accepted it and rose slowly to her feet. Her mouth was hanging open slightly. She closed it, looking a little shell-shocked.

"These are my brothers," he said proudly. "And this is Jill. She's the boys' nanny."

Travis and Jordan glanced significantly at his and Jill's clasped hands, then at each other. Eyebrows rose. He knew what they were thinking. Let 'em, he told himself. Maybe he would get lucky and it would be true.

He moved behind Jill and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Starting from left to right. Kyle,
Austin
,
Jordan
and Travis."

She shook hands with each of them in turn. "I'm never going to keep you straight."

"It's easy," Kyle told her. "I'm the best looking and the smartest.
Austin
's wearing an earring. Travis is maybe an inch taller than me, and
Jordan
doesn't talk much."

Travis leaned behind the other two men and cuffed Kyle. "I'm better looking."

"I'm smarter,"
Jordan
said.

"I won't argue with the earring,"
Austin
said.

"Oh, my." Jill sounded uncertain.

"You okay?" Craig asked.

"It's a little overwhelming." She craned her neck. "You didn't tell me everyone was so tall. This is some gene pool."

Austin
looked down at her. "The Haynes brothers are short, but we put up with them."

"Short?" Jill laughed. "Maybe to you and your friends." She rotated her shoulders. "My neck already hurts from looking up."

Travis elbowed his way between Craig and Jill. "Don't monopolize the lady, brother." Travis took Jill's arm and led her down the corridor. "I'm sure my brother hasn't told you everything about the family. There are a couple of things I'd like to clarify and maybe one or two stories you'd like to hear."

Jill gave Craig a helpless look over her shoulder, but Travis insisted.

"You'll be fine," Craig told her, watching them go. He wasn't concerned. Travis might tease him, but he would never do anything mean-spirited. He turned his attention to the youngest of the Haynes brothers. "How are you feeling?"

Kyle shrugged. "I keep telling myself
Sandy
did all the hard work, but jeez, Craig, I'm still shaking."

Craig patted his brother on the back. "It gets worse for a while, but then it gets better. At least
Sandy
's had babies in the house. She'll know what to do."

"What if—" Kyle cleared his throat. "What if I'm not a good father?"

Craig glanced at him, then at
Jordan
. They all had the famous Haynes good looks. Dark hair and eyes, muscular bodies. They were intelligent, funny and caring. And they were all scared to death of screwing up the way their father had.

Travis had been through a divorce before he found
Elizabeth
. Before falling for
Sandy
, Kyle had made a practice of dumping women before they could dump him.
Jordan
seemed to go through his life avoiding emotional commitments of any kind, and no one knew why. He, Craig, had married Krystal. Enough said.

"You can do your best," he told his brother. "That's the only advice I can give you. Every day, try to do your best. Anyway, you already know how to be a dad. You're father to
Sandy
's three kids."

Kyle hunched his shoulders. Like Jordan and Austin, he was wearing jeans and a shirt. Only Craig and Travis were in uniform. "This is different.
Sandy
's kids were already grown-up enough to have personalities. I didn't think there was much I could do wrong. But this is a baby."

"A girl," Craig said. "Two miracles."

"The curse is broken,"
Jordan
said.

Craig didn't want to think about that. "Speaking of
Sandy
's kids, Jill and I can take them for a few days if you'd like. We talked about it on the way down."

"Thanks." Kyle punched him in the arm. "Austin and Rebecca have already offered. They've got the most room, and we won't have to take anyone out of school. It'll be easier staying local."

"They want to stay with us because of the upstairs playroom,"
Austin
said.

"No problem," Craig said. "Just thought I'd offer."

Kyle nodded. "I appreciate it. Everyone is pitching in. That's one of the things I like best about this family. Even Louise is going to come stay with Sandy and me for the first month."

"She's a big help," Craig said. At the mention of
Louise
,
Jordan
got the oddest look on his face. Anger and something else. Betrayal maybe? From Louise? That didn't make sense. The older woman had been working for Travis for several years. Since the brothers had started marrying and having children, she'd been helping out. Everyone liked her.

Kyle stared at the tight circle of friends. "You guys ever think it would turn out like this?"

"No," Craig said easily. "I didn't think we'd get this lucky." He was talking about them all staying friends, but Kyle meant something else.

"I never thought I would be this happy," he said, then shrugged. "I know that sounds lame."

"No, it doesn't,"
Jordan
said. "Not after what we went through."

"I never thought I'd get this lucky,"
Austin
said quietly.

Craig remembered his friend's past.
Austin
had been abandoned by his mother when he was just a kid. It was during his time at the Glenwood orphanage that he'd met and made friends with the Haynes brothers. He'd grown from a skinny, hostile kid into a successful entrepreneur. After years of holding himself apart, he'd finally found his way into a circle of love. All because of a woman named Rebecca and her unwillingness to give up on the man she loved.

Thinking about the past kept Craig from dealing with the present. He had to fight down feelings of envy as he stared at his brothers and Austin. They'd found something wonderful with someone special. They'd found love.

He glanced at
Jordan
and saw the same conflicting emotions reflected in his brother's gaze. What had the two of them done wrong? Krystal had been mistake number one for him. What was the name of
Jordan
's mistake?

Damn it, nothing was easy. He wanted what Travis, Kyle and Austin had. He wanted to believe in someone again, but it was hard. Krystal had scarred him and he wasn't sure he would ever recover. What about Jill? Was he already involved with her and just fooling himself that he wasn't? She was so different from his ex-wife. His feelings were different, too. There was less lightning and a lot more caring.

Krystal had been very high maintenance, but Jill was more concerned about taking care of others. That made him want to take care of her. He admired her, appreciated the way she looked after the boys. She was a dynamo in bed and just thinking about it made his body throb. Was that … love?

Even as he asked the question, a voice in his head reminded him that he wasn't going to do this again. Not unless there were guarantees. Besides, more than once Jill had made it clear that she wasn't interested in anything permanent. When her time was up, she would be gone.

* * *

The huge table sat twenty, and nearly every chair had been used. Jill stood up with the other two women and helped clear the table. The men made a halfhearted attempt to offer assistance.
Elizabeth
brushed them off with a good-natured, "Oh, please, we know you're lying!"

The sound of laughter accompanied Jill into the kitchen. Once there, she paused to admire the spacious room. A huge greenhouse window offered a view of the rolling grass and the forest beyond. At least that's what she'd been told. It had been dusk when they'd arrived at Rebecca and
Austin
's house.

Bleached cabinets hugged the walls. The tile was white, the appliances black, and the floor was the same bleached wood as the cabinets. Blue-and-white wallpaper added color to the large room.