Stand-In Mom. Megan Kelly

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СКАЧАТЬ sleeping together? Would he call the number and reach a pizza joint?

      Would he even call the number to find out?

      He ran a hand over his jaw as he glanced at the bed, feeling slightly sick at the warm, rumpled sheets with their scent of sex. He’d cheated on his wife. Not in actuality, considering the circumstances, but guilt churned in his gut anyway. He hadn’t so much as kissed anyone except Samantha since they’d met over six years before.

      He’d enjoyed the time spent with Ginger and wanted to take her to bed again. Both feelings intensified his shame.

      His hand crumpled the notepaper into a ball. The next weeks’ obligations made it impossible to call her anyway. First, he’d be in Georgia, packing up and trying to celebrate one last Christmas with the girls in the only home they knew. He wanted to make this year special, despite the confusion and grief and awkwardness of their changed circumstances. He’d do his best to make it seem normal, to continue the traditions he’d never paid much attention to. Samantha had always handled it, just as she had done everything where the girls were concerned.

      Then he would bring his daughters to their new home with him here in Missouri. He’d just enrolled Shelby in second grade and Serena in the day care his boss’s mother owned. He’d endure their tears and tantrums, and Shelby declaring him “the worst father ever” for making her leave her friends in Powder Hill. His kid had a smart mouth for a seven-year-old, he thought with a smile. No doubt her teenage babysitter, whom the girls had spent too much time with during the past several months, had been a poor influence. But that would change now. Everything would change now.

      God help them, every one!

      “SO, WHO WAS HE?”

      Ginger rolled her eyes at Lisa’s question, the smell of yeast making her stomach rumble. Her friend kneaded bread dough in her bakery kitchen, looking like a fifties mom in her patterned apron. She’d scraped her blond hair back into a ponytail that made her appear closer to seventeen than twenty-seven.

      Lisa had made a success catering sweets and desserts for parties and special events. The kitchen she’d built in her basement declared it as a place of business: clean, efficient and utilitarian. Stainless steel appliances stood in sleek lines, but touches of Lisa’s personality showed in the bright yellow walls with stenciled cherry stems.

      Ginger stood on the outside of the wraparound counter and watched Lisa move with unconscious grace and skill. The question didn’t surprise her; after leaving the party the night before, she owed her friend an explanation and reassurance. That didn’t mean Ginger had to like it. “What makes you think there was a ‘he’?”

      “Joe told me.”

      Of course he had. Ginger had expected no less. “It was the new guy in Dylan’s department. Scott.”

      “I figured, since that’s who you’d set your sights on.” Lisa punched the dough with a strong fist. “And? What’s he like?”

      “Really, Lisa. Comparing notes this early in your marriage? I doubt Joe would thank me for telling you.”

      “Don’t be snotty.”

      “You know I don’t kiss and tell.”

      Lisa peered at her. “Did you do more than kiss him?”

      Ginger didn’t speak as memories flooded her: Scott’s strong, tanned hands caressing her body, his lips delighting every nerve ending, his careful tending to her needs before his and his gentle ways of loving.

      Lisa stilled. “Ginger, I worry about you. It was no big deal when you took home guys you’ve known all your life. But this …”

      “It’s my own business who I go home with.”

      Lisa glared at her. “I’m your friend. I love you enough to make you mad at me. Even to lose your friendship if it’ll keep you safe.”

      “I’m safe.”

      “I’m not talking about safe sex, although I’m glad to hear you haven’t completely lost your mind.”

      “Gee, thanks.” Ginger would be angrier if she hadn’t been thinking the same thing. Especially since sleeping with Scott a few hours before. That had been a huge mistake, although she didn’t regret having earth-shattering sex. But the shattering of her peace of mind since then worried her. She didn’t want him to know about the guys she’d been with in the past year, trying to appease her loneliness. Being with someone occasionally had helped her get through Kyle’s leaving.

      They had been married, happily she’d thought, for four years. Now she was alone. If hooking up with a nice, single guy once or twice a month alleviated her melancholy for a few hours, who did it hurt?

      But being with Scott changed that. She cringed to think he’d find out she’d been what her mother would call “loose with her affections.” Not that she had. She’d kept a tight rein on her heart, or rather, the pieces of it she had left after Kyle rejected her.

      Because she couldn’t have children.

      Ginger tried to suppress the constant ache the thought produced. She couldn’t forget. Her infertility was as much a part of her as her arm. Sometimes when she was with a man, she could shove the reminder from the forefront of her mind. The guys she spent time with didn’t care. They desired her, laughed with her and appreciated her as a woman.

      She scowled at Lisa. “You couldn’t possibly understand.”

      Lisa raised an eyebrow. “My first husband left me, in case you’d forgotten. For a younger babe he’d been sleeping with since she turned legal.”

      “But you have Joe now.”

      Her face softened. “Yes, I got extremely lucky.”

      “And you’ve got Abby and Bobby and can have more kids.”

      Lisa’s wide gaze darted to Ginger’s at the mention of another baby.

      “Don’t wait,” Ginger said, watching her friend read her expression. It never failed—at the mention of babies, Lisa walked on eggshells around her. “I know Joe loves Abby and Bobby, but he’ll want his own children.”

      “He’s not like that. He’s a great father already.”

      Ginger nodded. “But men like their own genes passed on. That’s why Kyle wouldn’t even talk about adopting.”

      The instant she mentioned the word, Ginger realized her mistake. Lisa would ask.

      “Have you heard anything from the adoption agency?”

      Ginger looked away. She knew she’d have to tell Lisa eventually, but saying it out loud would make it more real.

      “Oh, no,” Lisa said, obviously reading her face. “What happened?”

      “I got turned down for a home visit.”

      “When?”

      “Yesterday afternoon. Before the party.” She could almost hear Lisa’s thought process: So that’s why you went looking for comfort with СКАЧАТЬ