Chapter Fifteen
Madison
Madison rustled the papers and stuck them back into her purse.
Tomorrow, she was going to have to consult a lawyer. Helen had given her the name of one that would give her a free consultation. She didn’t have any idea how much it would cost after that, but she didn’t feel comfortable filing court papers by herself.
She had absolutely no idea what any of it meant, and the Lanes had a huge advantage over her in that regard. They had money at their disposal and they had lawyer friends at the country club.
She wouldn’t even be surprised if they knew a judge or two.
She tried to push away the feeling of doom that lingered over her head while she got the kids ready to go to Helen’s. At least she was making more money now. Even if she wouldn’t be able to buy a car right away, Helen would happily let her use hers. She had already saved up a good amount to put toward the taxes on the property too.
She would get through this.
“Aww, why can’t we go?! I want to eat snakes too,” Jackson complained as she shoved him into a polo shirt.
“Me too. I bet I could eat more than you could,” James said, giggling maniacally. “I’d eat all the poisonous ones.”
“Uh-uh. I’m older and bigger. You could probably only eat half of one, and besides…you’d probably get captured by the bad guys right away.”
She grimaced and immediately regretted telling the kids about her talk with the guys. They had been fascinated by the soldiers and wanted to know everything.
“Boys, chill out. There won’t be any snake eating today. I’m just going over there to work like I always do,” she explained, wrestling Jack’s hair into submission while Ellie tied James’s shoelaces.
“Yeah, but you’re taking the baby. She can’t even chew food and she won’t be able to talk to the soldiers. What are they going to do with her?” Jack asked indignantly. “She just lays there and poops.”
“Does not!” James shouted, defending his baby sister’s honor. “She smiles sometimes and she holds my hand. She plays with toys, too. I bet they’ll like her, right, Mommy?”
“I hope so, Jamie-bear,” she said, secretly loving the fact that he actually talked to her without a scowl on his face.
He grinned and stuck his tongue out at his brother. “See.”
Jackson rolled his eyes and stood with his hands on his hips. “Children.” He clicked his tongue in mock exasperation and pulled the diaper bag strap over his shoulder.
The thing weighed almost as much as he did, but he carried it manfully while James stood near Em’s car seat.
She pushed down the nervous jitters that made her want to call Kyle and back out. She couldn’t leave them in the lurch, but the thought of taking Emmie over there was freaking her out.
It was one thing to know intellectually that your employee had a baby, but it was another to be faced with said baby. Even if he was attracted to her a little—which he was absolutely not—being faced with her tiny child would most likely turn him right off.
Being the mother of an infant didn’t exactly scream sexy and attractive and all those other adjectives that seemed to draw men in like bees…not that she wanted to.
She sighed as she lugged the heavy seat out the door and over to Helen’s. Each time she picked it up it seemed to weigh more. If she didn’t know better, she would think Helen had been feeding Emmie donuts during the day.
The boys dashed ahead while Ellie demanded that they stop acting crazy and wait for her, their backpack of kid paraphernalia—and probably five or six books—bouncing on her back.
Meanwhile, Madison was counting in her head to calm her anxiety.
∞∞∞
“Well, Emmie-bug, this is it. The end of the line,” she said, listening to the ticking of the cooling engine.
The backyard had turned into a yard game extravaganza.
A battle line of mosquito-repelling Tiki torches edged the carefully manicured section of grass while the haze of heat from the grill baked lines into the air. The smell of charcoal and grass filled the air, reminding her of childhood summers.
Gentle baby noises from the backseat finally spurred her to get out. Em was calm now, but she wasn’t exactly patient.
She had just cracked her door when Cal glowered at her from the deck. He pushed away from the rail and strolled down the steps as she was opening up the back door of the car. She unbuckled the seat belt and lifted the handle, shifting the car seat to her elbow while grabbing the diaper bag with her other hand.
“Let me,” he growled, taking the bag without even giving her a chance to object.
He shut the door and motioned for her to go up first. She looked around, surreptitiously seeking out Kyle, but not sure that she actually wanted to see him. She was hoping to disappear into the kitchen right away and maybe stay there until the meal was finished like always.
Aiden was in the kitchen waiting for her, checking over the hamburgers that he’d shaped. He looked slightly less dour than usual, and when he saw Emmie a ghost of a smile passed his lips.
“Cute kid,” he said. “She looks like you.”
“Thanks,” she said, setting the car seat out of the way. “I pride myself on my gummy smile.”
He chuckled, the unmoving scarred side of his face a contrast to the unwounded side. She felt a wave of maternal affection for him, even though she wasn’t much older than he was. He just seemed…young.
Cal put the diaper bag in the corner and she nodded to it. “Can you hand me that baby carrier in there?”
He looked down at the bag and back at her with a raised eyebrow. “Why?”
“Uhhh, so I can cook? I can’t just let her roll around the floor.”
He rolled his eyes. “You don’t want someone to watch her?”
“You offering?” she teased, stepping around the island to dry her hands on a towel.
“No. I can make Evans do it. Babies love him.”
She scoffed. “I’m sure they do,” she muttered under her breath. “I’m not letting Cassanova babysit my infant,” she grumbled.
“Did I hear someone mention me?” an exuberant voice called out, pushing through the door of the dining room. He stopped in the doorway as he spotted Emmie. “She’s one chunky baby,” he said, impressed. “You got her on some high-fat milk or something?” he asked, squatting down.
“Or something,” she said, shaking her head.
“Hey there, butter cheeks,” he cooed in a high-pitched voice. “Look at you! You’re all fat and cute, aren’t you?! You want a cheeseburger, mein uber chonk?”
Emmie grinned, drool leaking down her chin.
Murdock looked disgusted at Wyatt’s display, but she knew better.
Evans stood and looked at the light pink baby carrier that Murdock was studying with blatant suspicion as it dangled from his fingers. “This looks like half a parachute harness.”
“Give it here,” she said.
She snapped the waistband around her waist and then picked Em up and settled her into the pouch on the front. She adjusted the shoulder straps and turned her back to Murdock.
“Can you fasten this?”
“Is this contraption even safe for her?” Murdock grumbled. “Seems like you should have some more straps somewhere.”
She heard the door open again and even before she turned, she knew Kyle had just walked into the room.
She smelled his spicy forest scent on the air, and her entire body was tingling from head to toe. Her thoughts whirled rapidly and she wondered if it was too late to run out the door.
Why was she so nervous about this?
“Hey, Madison. Glad you came,” he said smiling. “And this must be Emma,” he said, eyes sparkling as he smiled down at Emmie in the carrier.
She looked up at him with wide eyes before smiling and shoving her fist into her mouth.
Madison knew she had about twenty minutes to work on the food before she would need to feed her.
“I’ll get these on the grill if you want to finish the other stuff, Madison,” Aiden said.
She heard the others leave the room and then it was just them.
She didn’t get a chance to reply before he was gone and Kyle was staring at her with a look so foreign and so significant that she couldn’t even comprehend it. She had no idea what it meant, and she didn’t know if she wanted to.
“Thanks for coming,” he said, washing his hands and then taking Emmie’s little waving fist.
He smiled despite himself and she wanted to melt when he caressed the baby’s little cheek, seemingly enraptured by the infant.
“Do you want kids?” she blurted out before she could think better of it.
Oh God.
Why did she ask him that? She was mortified.
He looked stricken and took his hand back, crossing his arms. He looked down at the food that she had begun preparing.
“I don’t know. Never thought about it,” he said, looking out the window.
She got the feeling that he was lying.
“I’ll let you get this going. I’d like you to come outside when you’re finished. Join us for a burger and maybe a game or two.”
She held her breath and smiled uncertainly. “Sure.”
More interaction meant more chances to screw up and get her lies all tangled up.
She whipped up a pasta salad and some summer veggies from Murdock’s garden for the grill. The men seemed to expect french fries if the two ten-pound bags of frozen curly fries on the counter were any indication.
She went over to the deep fryer and saw that someone had already turned it on. She was a bit intimidated by it, having only ever used a small-scale version at home. This was a restaurant-sized machine.
She looked down at Emmie in her carrier and felt uneasy about using a huge deep fryer with her baby on her chest.
“Hey, Mads?” Wyatt called out, shoving his head in the kitchen.
She spun around and he walked in from the deck with a beer in hand. He looked relaxed and happy, like always.
“Yeah?”
He stopped whatever he was going to say and frowned. “You shouldn’t be frying anything with her on your chest.” He set the beer down. “Let me take her.” He held out his hands and her breath caught.
Evans wanted to hold her baby? She gave him a dubious look.
He scoffed. “I was a Green Beret. I’m pretty sure I can keep a baby alive and well for half an hour or so.”
She smiled. When he put it that way…
“Okay. Here.” She lifted Em from the carrier and handed her over to Wyatt, who immediately rested her against his chest and shoulder and began patting her back.
Emmie just laid her head down and commenced chewing her fingers. She looked pretty content.
“Bring her back in twenty. I’ll need to feed her,” she said, taking the carrier off and hanging it near the aprons.
“I can give her a bottle,” he offered. “If you’re still busy.”
She felt a warm flush in her cheeks. “She doesn’t drink bottles,” she said pointedly.
He frowned. “Then what does she—oh.” His eyes dropped to her chest automatically. Instead of leering, he became uncharacteristically embarrassed. “Sorry,” he said, turning his head so fast in the other direction.
She snorted and shook her head.
“I’ll go sit on the deck with her.” He stopped before stepping through the door again. “Sorry, I came in here to tell you there will be a few extra people over in case you need to make extra food.”
“That’s no problem,” she assured him. “Friends?”
He wiggled his eyebrows and leered. “I hope so” He crooked his head down to Emma. “Come on, Chonky Baby Ems…let’s go talk to the ladies.”
Her heart dropped.
∞∞∞
Wyatt’s—she couldn’t think of him as just Evans any more, not since he stopped hitting on her—friends turned out to be supermodels…or the closest thing Endurance, North Carolina had anyway.
The girls were in their early- to mid-twenties. They were tall, thin, and very, very fashionably dressed—if you counted the scraps they were wearing as clothes.
There were three girls, two blonds and a brunette, and they had shorts so short that Madison was pretty sure they were illegal in some places. Their tops were midriff-baring, and she felt a pang of envy for a moment.
She would never be able to wear something like that. Even when she managed to lose the extra weight, her stomach was never going to be the same after having the kids, and the way things were going, her boobs would never be perky enough to stay in a top like that without some seriously wide straps.
She watched from the window as the women started fawning over Wyatt and Emmie. She caught his gesture and they all turned toward her, seeing her peering at them from the window over the sink like a Peeping Tom.
She quickly looked down and started pretending to do something with her hands.
A moment later, she looked back up and felt a surge of possessiveness as the brunette took Kyle’s hand and held it a little too long.
He was smiling and saying something to make the girl laugh and Madison knew that she had no right to feel the jealousy and pain that was now filling her chest. Her eyes started to burn as the memories flooded her.
It was irrational. She was irrational.
Crackling from behind her drew her attention and she went to check the deep fryer. She pulled the first batch of fries from the oil and saw that they needed a bit longer. She put them back and winced as some of the water from her hands dripped into the vat and the grease jumped and sputtered, hitting her forearm.
“Damn it!” she hissed.
She snatched her arm back and covered the spot with her hand, thankful for the pain that drew her out of her misery somewhat.
She sniffed and peeked at the burn. It wasn’t too bad. It was small and would probably scar, but it could have been much worse.
She was walking toward the sink when Kyle came in abruptly with a smile on his face. He immediately saw the moisture in her eyes and the way she was holding her arm. He probably drew the wrong conclusion about her tears, which was just fine with her.
“What happened?” he asked, suddenly alert and taking her arm and leading her to the sink.
“It’s nothing, just a little burn from the grease,” she said, surreptitiously wiping her eyes while he examined her arm.
“This isn’t nothing. It’s already blistering. It has to hurt,” he said, looking down at her face.
“It stings,” she conceded. “I’ll be fine. You can’t be a cook and not expect to get burned now and then.”
He sighed and smiled a little. “I guess there are more dangerous jobs,” he allowed.
She grinned as he ran cool water over the burn, gently clasping supporting her arm over the sink. “One or two, I guess.”
He chuckled.
“So, who are your friends?” she asked, once again wishing she had some kind of brain-to-mouth filter around him. She just hoped she wasn’t being as obvious as she thought she was.
They looked out the window to where one of the blondes was attempting to talk to Murdock, who was sullen and inching farther and farther away from her.
Another half a minute, and he’d be in the woods.
She snorted. “He’s trying to escape,” she pointed out.
Kyle laughed and grimaced. “I don’t blame him. It’s tough to have a serious conversation with Malibu Barbie.”
“That was mean!” she said, incredulously. It was, but she couldn’t help the secret pleasure his comment caused. “They could be really nice people.”
“You haven’t talked to them yet,” he pointed out with a grimace. “It’s bad. I don’t even know where Evan’s picked them up from.”
“The mall?” she joked.
“Or the neon pink building behind the mall,” he laughed and shut off the water before inspecting the burn again. She didn’t fail to notice that he hadn’t released her arm. “Better?”
She nodded. “I’m fine.”
“I know you are,” he said, studying her intently. “You’re always fine.”
She looked away. “Not always.”
“If you ever need to talk…ever need anything…”
“I know,” she assured him. “I appreciate it.”
He was gently rubbing small circles over her wrist with his thumb, and she wasn’t sure if he even realized it. She swallowed hard against the burgeoning feelings that sparked between them.
She jumped as she remembered the fryer and tried to pull away. “The fries!”
He stopped her, gripping her wrist and holding her in place. “I’ll do it. Stay away from the fryer.”
“It’s my job,” she reminded him.
He turned back and gave her a grin that had her wanting to do many things with him, none of which were appropriate.
“I’m the boss remember?” he said. “I can do whatever I want and I want to cook the fries.”