Twins Under His Tree (4 page)

“Don't worry about it. I can position the cameras with the bedding on or off.”

“Do you need my help? I can come up—”

“No.” If Lily came upstairs, she would definitely be a distraction. “I brought along a toolbox and everything I might need. You drink a glass of milk and crochet or something.”

“Drink a glass of milk?” She was smiling and her question was filled with amusement.

That smile of hers packed a wallop. It turned up the corners of her very pretty mouth. It seemed to make the
few freckles across her cheeks more evident, her face actually glow.

Had he been attracted to Lily before Troy's death? If he was honest with himself, he had to say he had been. But attraction was one thing, acting on it was another. He'd shut it down when he'd learned she and Troy were to be married. He and Troy had become good friends and he'd congratulated them both at their wedding, always keeping his distance from Lily.

Being colleagues at their practice had been difficult at times. But not impossible. He kept their dealings strictly professional. They'd been cohorts, interacting on an intellectual level. He and Troy had been close. He and Lily? They'd just existed in the same universe.

Until…after Troy had died. When Mitch had hugged Lily that day after her ultrasound, he'd experienced desire and felt like an SOB because of it. That day, Mitch had realized that if he was going to keep his promise to Troy, he couldn't deny his attraction any longer. At least to himself.
She
didn't have to know about it.

But now—

Now nothing had changed. He had baggage. She had a world of grief and loss and new responsibility to deal with.

Turning away from her smile, which could affect him more than he wanted to admit, he muttered, “Milk's good for you and the babies. You've got to keep your vitamin D level up, along with your calcium. I'll go get what I need from the SUV and be right back.”

Sometimes retreat was the best part of valor. Remembering that might save them both from an awkward or embarrassing situation.

 

Lily was emptying the dishwasher when Mitch called her into the living room. She'd been aware of his footfalls upstairs, the old floors creaking as he moved about. She'd been even
more
attuned to his presence when he'd come downstairs and she'd heard him cross the living room. She'd stayed in the kitchen. Somehow that had just seemed safer…easier…less fraught with vibrations she didn't want to come to terms with.

Hearing her name on Mitch's lips was unsettling now, and she told herself she was just being silly. Yet, seconds later when she stepped into the living room and found him taking up space in his long-sleeved hoodie and jeans, she almost backed into the kitchen again.

Making herself move forward, shifting her eyes away from his, she spotted the twenty-inch monitor on a side table. One moment she glimpsed one white crib with pink trim and green bedding. The next he'd pressed a button and she spotted the other crib with its pink-and-yellow designs. She could watch both babies by changing the channel.

“The wonders of technology.” A smile shone in his voice.

She knew Mitch was good with electronics and especially computers. He was the first at the office to understand a new system, to fix glitches, to teach someone else the intricacies of a program.

“Are systems like this a side hobby for you?”

“Always have been. I'm self-taught. The skills come in handy now and then.”

As long as she'd known Mitch, he'd downplayed what he did and who he helped. “You're a good man, Mitch.”

He looked surprised for a moment.

She added, “If you can do something for someone else, you do.”

“Lily, don't make so much of setting up a monitoring system.”

Telling herself she should stay right where she was, she didn't listen to her better judgment. She advanced closer to Mitch and this time didn't look away. “You're not just helping
me.
It's sort of an attitude with you. If someone has a problem, you take time to listen.”

Maybe he could see she was serious about this topic. Maybe he could see that she was trying to determine exactly how much help she should accept from him. Maybe he could see that this conversation was important to her. Nevertheless, by his silence he seemed reluctant to give away even a little piece of himself.

“Does it have something to do with being in Iraq?” she asked softly.

The flicker of response in his eyes told her she'd hit the mark. She saw one of his hands curve into a fist and she thought he might simply tell her it was none of her business. Instead, however, he lifted his shoulders in a shrug, as if this wasn't important. As if he didn't mind her asking at all.

“I survived,” he told her calmly. “I figured there was a reason for that. I returned home with a new understanding of patience, tolerance and simple kindness.”

Although Mitch's expression gave away nothing, Lily knew he was holding back. He was giving her an edited version of what he felt and what he'd experienced.

“Have you ever talked about Iraq?”

“No.”

“Not even with your buddies?”

“They know what it was like. I don't have to talk about it.”

She supposed that was true. Yet from the tension she could sense in Mitch, she understood he had scars that were more than skin deep.

With a tap on the control sitting next to the monitor on the table, he suggested, “Let me show you the remote and what the lights mean.”

Discussion over. No matter what she thought, Mitch was finished with that topic, and he was letting her know it. She could push. But she sensed that Mitch wasn't the type of man who
could
be pushed. He would just shut down. That wouldn't get her anywhere at all. Why was she so hell-bent on convincing him that the bad stuff would only damage him if he kept it inside?

She'd let the conversation roll his way for now. For the next few minutes she let him explain the lights on the remote and how she could carry it into the kitchen with her and upstairs to her bedroom. When he handed it to her, their fingers skidded against each other and she practically jumped. She was so startled by the jolt of adrenaline it gave her, she dropped the remote.

She stooped over to retrieve it at the same time he crouched down. Their faces were so close together…close enough to kiss…

They moved apart and Lily let him grasp the control.

After Mitch picked it up, he handed it to her and quickly stepped away. “I'd better get going,” he said. “Do you want me to turn off the system?”

“I can do it.”

He nodded, crossing to the door, picking up the toolbox he'd set there.

She followed him, feeling as if something had gone
wrong, yet not knowing what. “Thank you again for the monitoring system. I really appreciate it.”

“Are you going to be alone tomorrow?”

“No. Raina's coming to visit. She's going to drive me to the hospital so I can spend time with the twins while she makes rounds.”

“That sounds like a plan. I'm glad you have friends you can count on.”

“I am, too.”

As their gazes found each other, his dark brown eyes deeply calm, Lily felt shaken up.

“If you need help when you bring the babies home, you have my number.”

Yes, she did. But the way she was feeling right now, she wasn't going to use it. She couldn't call on him again when she felt attracted to him. That's what it was, plain and simple—attraction she was trying to deny. Oh, no. She wouldn't be calling his number anytime soon. She would not feel guilty believing she was being unfaithful to her husband's memory.

Maybe Mitch realized some of that, because he left.

Even though a cold wind blew into the foyer, Lily stood there watching Mitch's charcoal SUV back out of the driveway. When his taillights finally faded into the black night, she closed the door, relieved she was alone with her memories…relieved she might not see Mitch for a while.

Then everything would go back to normal between them.

 

Over the next few weeks Mitch didn't see much of Lily, though he stopped in at the hospital NICU almost
every day. A few days ago, the twins had been moved to the regular nursery. This morning he'd run into Angie, who told him they'd gone home. Lily hadn't called him. Because she was overwhelmed with bringing the twins home and everything that entailed? Or because she wanted to prove to herself she could be a single mom and manage just fine?

He was going to find out.

When Mitch reached the Victorian, he scanned the house and grounds. Everything
seemed
normal—until he approached the front door. Although it was closed, he could hear the cries of two babies inside. New mothers had enough trouble handling one, let alone two. But where were Lily's friends?

With no response when he rang the doorbell, he knocked. When Lily still didn't answer, he turned the knob—no one in Sagebrush locked their doors—and stepped inside.

Immediately he realized the wails were coming from a room down the hall from the living room. Turning that way, he found the room that had been the women's exercise room. Now it looked like a makeshift nursery. There were two bassinets, a card table he assumed Lily used for changing the twins, and a scarred wooden rocking chair that looked as if it could be an antique. His gaze was quickly drawn to her. He knew he should look away from Lily's exposed breast as she tried to feed one baby while holding the other. Respectful of her as a new mom, he dropped his gaze to an odd-looking pillow on her lap, one of those nursing pillows advertised in baby magazines. But it didn't seem to be doing much good. Lily looked about ready to scream herself.

When she raised her head and saw him, she practically
had to yell over the squalls. “I couldn't come to the door. I can't seem to satisfy them,” she admitted, her voice catching.

Without hesitating, Mitch took Sophie from her mom's arms, trying valiantly to ignore Lily's partially disrobed condition. He had enough trouble with the visions dancing through his head at night. Concentrating for the moment on Sophie, he flipped a disposable diaper from a stack, tossed it onto his shoulder and held the infant against him. The feel of that warm little girl on his shoulder blanked out any other pictures. Taking in a whiff of her baby lotion scent, he knew nothing in the world could be as innocent and sweet as a newborn baby. His hand rubbed up and down her little back, and miraculously she began to quiet. In a few moments, her sobs subsided into hiccups.

Lily, a bit amazed, quickly composed herself and tossed a blanket over her shoulder to hide her breast. Then she helped Grace suckle once more. This time the baby seemed content.

“Did your friends desert you?” He couldn't imagine them doing that.

“No, of course not. Gina and Raina were here most of the day. When Angie got ready for work and left, Sophie and Grace were asleep.”

Mitch watched as Lily took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But they woke up, crying to be fed at the same time.”

“Do you have milk in the fridge?”

“Yes, but—”

“Breast-feeding two babies is something that's going to take practice. In the meantime, I can give Sophie a bottle.” He gestured to her lap. “Nursing pillows and
experts' advice might work for some people, but you've got to be practical. There is no right way and wrong way to do this, Lily. You just have to do what works for you and the babies.”

“How do you know so much about babies?” Lily asked in a small voice, looking down at her nursing child rather than at him.

His part in the practice was science-oriented and mostly behind the scenes. “Training,” he said simply, remembering his rotation in obstetrics years ago.

That drew her eyes to his. He added, “And…sometimes in the field, you have to learn quickly.” In Iraq, he'd helped a new mother who'd been injured, returning her and her newborn to her family.

Before Lily could ask another question, he gently laid Sophie in one of the bassinets and hurried to the kitchen to find her milk. A short time later he carried one of the kitchen chairs to the nursery and positioned it across from Lily. Then he picked up Sophie again and cradled her in his arm. They sat in silence for a few minutes as both twins took nourishment.

“What made you stop by today?” Lily finally asked.

Lily's blond hair was fixed atop her head with a wooden clip. Wavy strands floated around her face. She was dressed in a blue sweater and jeans and there was a slight flush to her cheeks. Because he was invading private moments between her and her babies?

“I was at the hospital and found out they were discharged today.”

Lily's eyes grew wider. Did she think he was merely checking up on her so he could say he had? He wished! He was in this because she'd gotten under his skin.

“Feeding these two every three hours, or more often, could get complicated. What would you have done if I hadn't arrived?”

“I would have figured something out.”

Her stubbornness almost convinced him to shock her by taking her into his arms and kissing her. Lord, where had that thought come from? “I'm sure Gina and Raina never would have left if they knew you were so overwhelmed.”

“Raina and Gina have families.”

“They also both have nannies,” he reminded her.

“They also both have—”

Mitch knew Lily had been about to say that they both had husbands. Instead, she bit her lower lip and transferred Grace to her other breast, taking care to keep herself covered with the blanket.

“I'm sorry I just walked in on you like that.” He might as well get what happened out in the open or they'd both have that moment between them for a while.

“I'm going to have to get over my privacy issues if I intend to breast-feed them for very long. I sat down with the accountant last week. I can take a leave for seven or eight months and be okay financially. My practice is important, but I really feel as if I need to be with them to give them a good start in life.”