To Win Her Love (6 page)

She squatted to squeeze the twins close in a group hug. Murphy squirmed close to lick every inch of exposed skin. Over giggles and a slurping tongue, Gracie’s heart settled into the joyful cadence of love.

Angel was the first to pull back from the hug. She peered at Gracie’s mouth in the low light. “That’s pretty lipstick.”

“Isn’t it great? It’s called Pomegranate Passion.”

Angel’s head bobbed in agreement. Gracie pressed her mouth to her niece’s cheek. She pulled back a moment later, leaving behind a perfectly shaped lipstick tattoo.

Angel dove for Gracie’s purse, rummaging in the side pocket to pull out her compact. She popped the top open to study her reflection critically then looked up with a wide smile. “Can I put some on my lips? I promise not to make a mess.”

Gracie laughed. A future diva, Angel already had an eye for fashion and a passion for makeup. “I don’t see why not, as long as you wash it off before going to bed.”

Angel squealed and danced from foot to foot.

Mary clucked her tongue. “It’s cold enough to freeze Hades out here!”

Charlie craned her neck to look over her shoulder at the housekeeper, framed by the open door. “Who is Hades?”

“Never you mind, Charlie girl.” Mary rolled her eyes at Gracie’s chuckle. “Come inside now, the lot of you. Before you catch your death.”

The twins raced inside with Murphy at their heels. Gracie hefted the duffle and rose to her feet. Mary bent to grab the handle of the suitcase.

Gracie followed her inside. “Have you heard anything?”

Mary shut the door, rolling the case to the foot of the stairs and turned. “Not a peep.”

A shudder of cautious hope rippled through her. No news was good news in this case. The grandfather clock in the corner of the foyer showed five eighteen. Two hours and forty-two minutes. She swallowed her nerves and glanced into the den. On their knees in the center of the antique rug with a wriggling Murphy between them, the twins competed for his attention and argued over who should unclip his leash.

“Do they know?” She shed her winter coat without looking away from the trio.

“About Jake Malone, you mean?”

She nodded and met Mary’s somber gaze.

“Aye. It was left to me to explain. They know nothing about the terms of the will concerning custody but, well, considering the circumstance, they needed to know about him.”

She chewed her lip. “How’d they take it?”

“How do you think? What little girl wouldn’t be excited to learn they have a big brother? I’m surprised they didn’t pin you down first thing and tell you about him. He’s all they’ve talked about since I told them.”

Childish giggles drew her attention. Gracie’s lungs constricted and she fought against a sudden rush of threatening tears. The warm arm slipping about her shoulders dragged her right up to the edge of losing the battle.

“You’re worrying over a situation you can’t control and, if you ask me, it’s unnecessary. From what I saw, the man isn’t interested. I’d bet a pound he doesn’t show up on our doorstep. And if I’m wrong, well, the girls may be dazzled by the idea of a big brother, but they
love
you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.” She gave Gracie’s shoulder a quick squeeze before slipping the duffle from her fingers, along with her coat, and turning toward the staircase. “Shall I be leaving your things in the blue bedroom or would you rather the master suite?”

“The blue room is fine. It’s closer to the nursery and the girls.” She shot a glance in the den and lowered her voice. “He can have the master suite. If he shows up.”

Mary nodded. “We’ve had dinner already. I left a plate for you in the kitchen if you’re hungry.” She winked and headed up the stairs.

In the den, Angel’s eyes flicked to Charlie in silent communication. They looked up to meet Gracie’s gaze across the distance. A shadow of uncertainty darkened Angel’s bluebell eyes. Older by three minutes, she had instinctively taken on the position as her twin’s protector from the time they could walk, boldly accepting responsibility for the many instances of mischief the pair created. Unfortunately, the current situation was beyond a six year old’s understanding.

“Daddy went to heaven.”

Grief tightened Gracie’s chest at the quiet comment and squeezed a bit tighter when Charlie straightened from her romp with Murphy to slip her hand into her twin’s. Gracie crossed the room to set her laptop on the coffee table before joining the girls on the floor. With an arm around each of them, she hugged them close. “Yes, he did.”

“He went to see Mommy and Jesus.” Charlie cocked her head, peeking up from beneath thick lashes. “Miss Mary said Mommy must be happy to see him. She missed him a lot. She misses us, too.”

Gracie smiled even as her heart wept for Sarah’s girls. “That’s exactly right. She misses you both terribly, but she’ll have to wait a long time to see you. It’s nice your daddy is there to keep her company, don’t you think?”

Identical heads of inky black curls bobbed in agreement against her chest.

“Timmy said we’re orphans.”

“What?” Gracie broke the hug to look down at Angel.

“Orphans are kids who don’t have mommies and daddies because they went to heaven. Timmy said orphans live in,” she scrunched her nose in concentration, “an orpha… an orphan jij.”

Of all the…”Oh, baby. Who is Timmy?”

“We had a sleepover at Hanna’s house,” Charlie supplied. “Timmy is her big brother. He’s nine.”

“Well, don’t listen to him. You have me and Miss Mary, and you’ll live right here on the farm.”

“With you?” they asked in tandem.

Oh, God. She didn’t want to give them false hope when she didn’t know what would happen in the next three hours, much less at the end of three months, but they needed reassurance.

“Would you like that?”

“Oh, yes!” A bright smile spread over Charlie’s face.

Angel’s smile came more slowly and was more wary than bright. “
We
have a big brother, too.”

“His name is Jake,” Charlie added, “and he’s not little like Timmy. He’s big.”

Very big.

“Big brothers are supposed to live with their sisters. How come he doesn’t live with us?” Angel’s grumbled question came across as more of a complaint.

A tricky question Gracie would have a better idea how to answer in—she glanced at the clock—two hours and thirty-eight minutes. She pasted on a smile she didn’t feel. “Well, he’s a grownup. Grownup brothers don’t always live with their sisters.”

“Can we go visit him?” Charlie jumped to her feet to race to the coffee table in the center of the room. Murphy scrambled after her. Giggling at the dog’s interference, she shoved his nose aside to pull a sheet of paper from the drawer. She returned to hold out a crayon drawing. Primary colors depicted two little girls with a larger boy between them. “I drew him a picture.”

Gracie pretended to study the drawing with interest, a difficult task with tears threatening. The evidence of Charlie’s fascination with the brother she’d yet to meet didn’t bode well for Gracie’s chances if Jake chose to meet Pete’s demands. As for taking the girls to see him if he didn’t… She wasn’t sure that would be a good idea. Jake hadn’t exactly been thrilled to learn of the existence of his “rugrat” half siblings.

“We’ll see.”

A frown wrinkled Charlie’s brow. “We’ll see means no.”

“No, we’ll see means maybe. He’s a busy man, Charlie.”

The frown morphed into a scowl and jolted Gracie. A facsimile of that scowl had been on the front page of
Sports Daily
on Monday morning and again in the formal living room across the hall yesterday. Other than their eyes, so like Sarah’s, the twins were pure Pete, with jet-black hair and warm complexions. Their uncanny resemblance to Jake was unnerving.

“Maybe we can get him to come here to the farm for a visit sometime.”

Charlie’s scowl blinked out, replaced with excitement. She skipped from foot to foot. “We can show him our room, Angel, and he can see how fast I ride my bike. I want to take off my training wheels. Miss Mary says I’m ready. So, can I?”

“If Miss Mary thinks you’re ready, sure.”

Charlie immediately ran for the closet tucked beneath the staircase.

“Wait, baby. Not tonight. It’s dark outside.”

She skidded to a stop and turned. “I’m not afraid of the dark. I don’t even have a night-light anymore.”

Gracie smiled and rose to her feet. “You’re getting so big, both of you. But your bike’s in the barn and there’s snow on the ground.”

Charlie cocked her head and pursed her lips. Her eyes brightened. “Then we could go sledding. Miss Mary took us shopping for new snowsuits ’cause our old ones are too small. They’re pink! Do you think he has a snowsuit?”

The incongruous vision of the Outlaw Tight End zipped into a shiny, pink snowsuit loosened the knot of tension and made her chuckle. “Oh, I sure hope so. In the meantime, why don’t we go upstairs? I could use some help unpacking.”

“I get to try your lipstick.”

Gracie grinned down at Angel, still on her knees at her side. “Of course.”

A happy smile met her reply. Angel hopped to her feet in a flash and raced for the stairs. Murphy bounded after her. Gracie laughed, her heart lighter than it had been since the reading of Pete’s will. Charlie might be dazzled by the idea of a new big brother, but Angel’s support was literally in the bag. The makeup bag.

Gracie would bet a million dollars Jake Malone didn’t own a single tube of lipstick.

Gracie leaned with her hips propped against the kitchen counter. The glass of wine Mary handed her ten minutes earlier rested forgotten by her elbow. The girls and Murphy were upstairs, hopefully settled for the night and blissfully unaware of the waiting game underway. She glared at the clock. Less than half an hour remained until the deadline.

“The clock hands won’t spin any faster by watching them.” Her back to Gracie, Mary set out the makings for her nightly cup of tea.

Gracie picked up her glass then set it aside again without drinking. “I can’t stand it. He may have no interest in a ready-made family, but with the value of Pete’s estate in the balance…” She shrugged. “Only a fool would turn down that kind of money.”

Mary glanced over her shoulder. “Jake Malone didn’t strike me a fool.”

She groaned.

“Then again, he doesn’t need the money.”

There was that. Manhattan’s fifty-five-million-dollar man had scored dozens of endorsement deals in addition to his multi-year contract. He might be twenty-five thousand dollars poorer, thanks to her and her blog, but the Marauders’ number one tight end wasn’t exactly hurting for cash. Still…

The teakettle sent out a shrill whistle. With a twist of her wrist, Mary shut off the burner. “If you want to go on up, I’ll make myself comfortable in the den and wait.”

Tempting
. She shook her head. “I don’t think I could—”

They both spun to stare down the hallway at the solid knock on the front door.

Oh, God.

After a long moment, Mary rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Go open the door, child.”

She would if she could get her legs to move. They’d frozen in place.

Mary gave her a gentle nudge, shooing her toward the hallway. “Problems are more easily solved when faced head on.”

She grimaced, wanting to argue
this
particular problem was more complicated than anyone knew and wouldn’t be easily solved, but what was the point? No one else would be knocking on the farmhouse door at this time of night. Jake had arrived.

The outrageous requirements in Pete’s will set in motion potential consequences he couldn’t have foreseen, and she had no choice but to play out the resulting train wreck. With a fortifying breath, she stalked down the hallway and opened the door.

Sure enough, Jake’s large frame filled the opening, typically gorgeous in faded jeans and a leather bomber jacket. The fingers of one gloved hand were wrapped around the strap of a large duffle bag slung over one wide shoulder. He held a briefcase in the other.

No expression showed on his face, but the lines of strain bracketing his mouth gave him away. So much for the flirtatious and friendly man from this afternoon. The angry giant was back. He was here but wasn’t happy about it. Her dwindling hope sparked on a tiny ember. Ninety days was a long time to put up with an arrangement with which a person wanted no part.

“Hello, Jake.”

“Gracie.”

“I didn’t think you were going to show.”

His lips thinned in a sneer. “Don’t you mean you
hoped
I wouldn’t?”

She blinked. After their charmingly congenial conversation this morning, his coldly furious comment was a sharp slap of reality. She straightened her shoulders and braced herself against the snarling predator who’d managed a direct hit. “I made no secret about the fact I want the girls.”

His eyes narrowed along with his sharp snort. “And Pete’s estate doesn’t exactly represent pocket change.”

“Excuse me?” Her jaw wanted to drop. How dare he infer she wanted the girls because of Pete’s money? Sure, she’d recently assigned that exact agenda to him, but she never would’ve made the accusation out loud. Not to him, anyway. Jake, it appeared, didn’t suffer from the affliction of tact.

She snapped her mouth shut and met his challenging regard with a disdainful glare. With his hands full, she could knee him in the balls and slam the door in his face. Sorely tempted to follow through on the tempting fantasy, she didn’t get the chance.

He shook his head and sighed. “Shit. I didn’t mean that.”

She crossed her arms.

Guilty frustration blazed in his eyes. “Sorry. I don’t react well when I’m pissed.”

“I imagine that must be quite a problem for you. From what I’ve seen, you’re pissed more often than not.”

His brows shot up.

She bared her teeth in a blatantly false smile. “Sorry. I don’t react well when I’m insulted.”

She blinked, thrown off balance when the angry giant suddenly disappeared.

He dipped his chin and the bad boy Outlaw, adept at charming the masses
off
the field, deployed one of his many secret weapons. The brackets of strain softened into dimples with his pained smile. “I can tell. You look like you’re fantasizing about landing a fist to my nose.”