Ten Acres and Twins (19 page)

Suddenly she sounded awake and cheerful.

She grabbed her clipboard from a side table and reached up to peck all three of them on the cheek. Including him.

It was an unthinking gesture, as if they'd said years of goodbyes—except he would never let her get away with such an innocuous kiss. He would always want their goodbyes to be every bit as passionate as their hellos.

He considered putting the babies down to show her that, but instead simply stared into her face, trying to send one of those secret messages.
Don't leave me now. I need to tell you something.

She backed out the door and all the way to the edge of the porch before whirling around and vanishing around the corner of the house.

After she'd gone, he turned and glared at Zuzu. She was standing in the doorway to the living room.

“She's adorable, Jack,” she said solemnly.

Sighing, he strode back into the house and put Wyatt on the floor near the sofa.

“She is, isn't she?” he said. He sat down on the sofa with Rosie on his lap, smiling at the little girl as he bounced her on his knees.

Zuzu picked up the wandering Wyatt and reclaimed her spot at the other end of the couch. “When did you realize you were in love with her?”

Jack looked across at Zuzu, startled.

She must have been talking about Abby, not Rosie.

And was he in love?

Probably.

He scowled. “Yesterday, I guess.”

“Why doesn't she know?”

“I haven't had the chance to tell her,” he said. “We've had too many dam—
dang
interruptions.”

Zuzu swung Wyatt in the air above her head, imitating the drone of an airplane. “Don't tell her over a pan of eggs,” she advised. “Wait for a romantic moment to woo her. I'd hate to see you warp your destiny with bad karma.”

Jack turned his attention back to Rosie, but Zuzu had surprised him again. He'd always considered her a harmless kook, but she was making perfect sense now.

Abby was seeming more and more like his destiny.

A
BBY HAD NEARLY
driven past the entrance to Sharon's sprawling ranch house before she remembered she was supposed to pick her up on the way into town.

Even then she considered speeding on by.

She'd love to forget her load of baskets and travel down some country road until she was lost, just to give herself time to sort out her feelings.

Yesterday's mixture of sensuality and tenderness had been confusing enough, but seeing another of Jack's girlfriends had hurt. The revolving door hadn't just whacked her this time, it had scraped right across her bones.

As if Jack had ripped the wheel out of her hands to make the turn, she swerved into Sharon's drive at the last minute. Abby still had to deliver the baskets, and Sharon didn't deserve to be ignored.

Maybe a busy day away from the farm would help Abby put things into perspective. She'd work so hard she couldn't think about what he was doing with Zuzu.

“I thought Jack was coming along to help,” Sharon said as soon as she slid into the passenger seat.

Abby reached for the ignition. “He's baby-sitting.”

Sharon put her hand on Abby's, stopping her from turning the key. “Oh, but surely your mother would watch the babies, if Jack wants to come along.”

Abby stared at a pot of mums beside Sharon's front door. “He has a visitor,” she said quietly.

“A woman?”

Abby could feel herself being scrutinized, so she nodded.

When her friend didn't comment, she started the truck. She tuned the radio to soft rock, turned up the volume and drove straight to town, determined to forget about Jack.

But as she and Sharon delivered baskets, Abby felt his touch everywhere. Each time she lifted a box her clothes chafed her tender breasts, and each step she took brought a sweet, fluid ache to her thighs.

By the third delivery into a very heavy schedule, Abby realized work wasn't helping her escape this time. She felt languid and off-kilter, and she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened down in that cellar.

She had just parked in front of a gourmet food store and picked up her clipboard, intent on finishing her chores anyway, when Sharon's hand slammed down on top of hers.

Abby frowned across the seat, and realized Sharon was nodding toward the storefronts.

There was an exclusive ladies' apparel store next to the food shop, and a banner in the window announced a gigantic pre-holiday clearance sale.

“Let's take a break and shop for our dresses,” Sharon said as she got out. “We'll finish delivering later.”

Abby stared at the mannequins in the window display. She had said she would go to the party with Jack, but surely things had changed. Even if Zuzu's visit hadn't altered his plans, the incident in the cellar had certainly changed things for her.

It was too risky. If she walked into that party on Jack's arm, some members of her community might start pairing them up. The farm would become “Jack and Abby's place.” Invitations would be issued to the two of them.

Expectations would grow.

And the worst thing was, Abby would wish the gossip were true.

Sharon was already pulling open the shop door and beckoning with a broad sweep of her hand. “Come on,” she called. “It'll be fun.”

Abby sighed. Sharon's acceptance of her frantic pace and brooding mood today had been big-hearted. She'd been a trouper, and Abby had promised she would help her shop for a dress. She dropped the clipboard and got out.

As she entered the shop, she looked around curiously.

She'd never let herself venture into this sort of place, figuring her style ran more to discount stores and department store clearance racks, at best.

These clothes were gorgeous. As she and Sharon browsed toward the back, they passed rows and rows of exquisite and trendy styles. Before long, Sharon disappeared behind a pair of swinging doors with an armful of dresses, and Abby waited near a floor-length mirror so she could offer a yea or nay when Sharon came out to model each one.

A silver-haired saleslady handed Abby a hanger holding a strappy bit of material in ripe-tomato-red. Abby shook her head and handed it back. “This isn't her size,” she said. “But thanks, anyway. It's wonderful.”

The woman forced it back into her hands. “No, it's for you,” she said. “Your friend said you needed something special, for a party.”

“I doubt that I'm even going,” Abby said, but she held the dress out to admire it, and couldn't help smiling a little as she imagined Jack's reaction to her wearing it.

The woman smiled back. “This dress is classically designed. It would work for any festive event.”

“Oh! No, thanks.” Abby hung the dress on a rack and stepped away. She couldn't let herself think about going to the party.

It was a horrible idea.

Sharon came out wearing a sparkling sea-green sheath that left her ample bosom spilling out the top. “Try on that dress,” she said with her usual grin as she splayed a hand over her exposed chest and looked in the mirror. “For fun.”

“Oh, do! Just for fun,” urged the clerk, clapping her hands almost gleefully.

Abby crossed her arms and stared at Sharon. Once again her friend seemed to be cheering for the wrong team.

“Wise decision, Abby,” Sharon said on her way back to the dressing room. “That dress would probably get your handsome roommate too worked up, anyway. Leave it alone.”

Five minutes later, Abby stared in the mirror at a sultry version of herself she'd never known existed. The gown fit her curves so perfectly it was as if someone had made it for her. “If I was going, I'd want to wear this,” she whispered, turning her hips to make the skirt swing around her thighs.

The door opened, and the clerk peeped in. “Your friend was right,” she stated. “That's your dress.”

Sharon crowded in behind the clerk, and her smile turned gargantuan.

“It's too expensive,” Abby said, to both of them. She might have let herself fall for Sharon's obvious psychological ploy, but the price tag made resisting easier.

“I'll give you a thirty percent discount on this dress and any other item in the store,” the clerk announced.

Abby squinted at her.

“Fifty percent, for you and your friend,” the woman said. “Two items apiece, at fifty percent off.”

Abby looked past the clerk's shoulder at Sharon, who was nodding forcefully and pointing to the pretty ocean-blue dress she was wearing.

Abby sighed. “Do you carry overalls?”

 

S
HE FOUND
J
ACK
on the kitchen floor several hours later. He was lying flat on his back next to the high chairs, with his knees bent into twin arches and his hands cradled underneath his head. His eyes were closed.

She tiptoed up and put her shopping bag on the counter next to where he lay. “I'm home,” she said quietly, in case he was asleep.

“Mmm-hmm.”

She stood over him, looking for signs of trouble. Although
his eyes were still shut, he was breathing evenly, and it didn't look as if he'd fallen.

A quick scan of the room didn't reveal too much amiss, either, unless you counted the fact that his elbow was resting next to a bucket of gray water with a yellow sponge floating in it.

“Jack? Are you okay?” she asked, a little louder.

“Um-hmm.”

“Where are Rosie and Wyatt?”

At last he opened his mouth, so she knew he was awake. But it took a few seconds for the sound to come out. “Naps,” he said, and breathed a couple of times. “Finally.”

“It's almost five o'clock! Did they start late?”

“Oh, yeah.”

She surveyed the room again, starting to smile, and tittered when she saw the array of baby food jars stacked next to the sink. “I hadn't introduced them to baby food meats yet,” she said, hunkering down. “Did they like it?”

“Not a bit.” Finally, he opened his eyes. And stared at her hair.

“Where's your company?” she asked.

“Company?”

“Zuzu.”

“Oh. Well, Zuzu left right after you did, about a hundred years ago. She said she only came to meet you.”

“You're kidding.” Abby bit her lip to keep from chuckling, but a sigh escaped when she felt her entire body relax and a hundred taut nerves and muscles untangle themselves.

“I'm not kidding at all,” Jack answered, springing to his feet.

She followed him up, and he stood before her, whistling under his breath at her new hairstyle.

She ignored the whistle.

She'd tried desperately to pull her hair back into a braid after Sharon's daredevil stylist had finished snipping. The
scores of layers kept falling out of the band to curl softly around her face. She'd had to leave it down.

“Why would she want to meet me?” Abby asked, just noticing
his
hair. It was actually wilder than usual, with bits of pinkish food strewn among the curls. She bit down on her lip again.

“Zuzu has her own way of doing things,” Jack explained, circling her slowly and with intense interest.

“I noticed that.”

As he came back around in front of her, she noticed his shirt, too. She would have thought the pretty chestnut shade would camouflage most flavors of baby goop, but the evidence of his ill fortune was visible in the crusty smears.

She thought he'd never looked sexier.

“Did you have a good day?” she asked sweetly. She tried to keep a straight face, but wound up bursting into a fit of giggles.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels, smiling at her enjoyment. “Oh, the twins did,” he said. Then he added, “Your new hairstyle is phenomenal.”

She ignored the comment. “What did they do?”

He rubbed his chin. “Let's see. They crawled around the living room and had a diaper change. They played in their room and had a diaper change. A late lunch, a bath and an eternity of play. And that brings them around to their nap.”

“Sounds like a long day.”

“Did I mention the word
eternity?
” His smile was huge.

She grabbed her shopping bag from the counter behind him. “You look wiped out,” she said. “I'll repay the favor when I can, but I still have a few deliveries to make in the morning.”

His comment was interrupted by a faint, husky cry.

One of the babies was awake. Abby headed up, and only realized Jack was following when she was nearing the landing.

“You didn't get finished?” he asked from two steps down.

“No.” Abby glanced back at him and ran a finger across her shortened bangs. “Sharon was in a makeover mood.”

“You look as sexy as you-know-what,” he said, lowering his voice as they entered the nursery. “I can't wait to show up at that party with you on my arm.”

Abby picked up Wyatt, who was sidestepping along the rail of his crib. “I'll probably feel like staying home to rest tomorrow night,” she whispered. “You go have fun.”

At first Jack seemed dismayed by this news, but he recovered quickly. “You agreed to go to the party
with
me,” he whispered back.

“I seem to remember being bullied into it.”

Jack stepped in close and put his lips near her ear to murmur, “Agreed—bullied or dragged along by the elbow—the results are the same. I'm collecting my favor.”

 

T
HIS YEAR'S HARVEST PARTY
was being held at the stately home of Art and Nancy Klein, who had propped up a scarecrow between the sculpted shrubs of their front lawn and pointed one of his grassy fingers toward their back terrace. The simulated usher was dressed to the nines, with a crisp white shirt and a black bow tie. His only concession to scarecrow tradition was the tattered straw hat that threatened to fly off in the wind.

Abby grinned at the Kleins' flair for whimsy as she pulled Rosie from her car seat and paused on the lawn to let the baby girl chatter at the scarecrow's inked-in face.

“We just got here, and already you're eyeing some other man,” Jack said as he walked up with Wyatt. “Have you no discretion?”

“I was only thinking about swiping his hat,” Abby said as they started together down a pumpkin lined path to the back. “Do you think anyone would notice?”

A movement in the front window caught their attention, and they both waved at several party guests who were watching their arrival.

Jack didn't respond to her question until they reached a secluded spot beside the house. Then he swooped his free arm around her shoulders, turning her to face him. “You'd manage to make that raggedy old hat look sexy,” he said, and pressed a firm kiss against her lips. “Before we join the party, I want to thank you for giving in.”

“Giving in?”

“Agreeing to be my date.”

“Well, there's still time to escape,” she teased, looking back toward his car.

He chuckled, but his grip tightened as he piloted her on along the walkway. “We've already been spotted,” he argued. “And your mother's probably waiting to show off the babies.”

“All right,” Abby said with a sigh. “But only if you agree that we're attending as platonic roommates. No repeats of that kiss in front of the others.”

He stopped again. “No repeats?” He slipped a palm under a strap of her dress to turn her around again.

She started to protest but he was ready with a kiss that, despite its brevity, managed to melt her defenses. The heat of it reminded her of his middle-of-the-night visit to her bed last night. It had begun soon after Wyatt had cried and been calmed, and hadn't ended until hours later when both babies woke for their breakfast.

“I suppose that one will have to tide me over,” Jack said gruffly, just before he winked and let go of her.

Abby shifted Rosie higher on her hip as they rounded the corner to the terrace, and waited for her stomach muscles to clench when she saw the crowd. She'd always felt out of place at parties.