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      “Of course. Why not?”

      She shook her head. “I think you still have a lot to learn,” she said, regarding him narrowly.

      Okay, she finally had a plan. She would think things over tonight, develop a method of attack, and give it to him in the morning. It would probably be best to do that somewhere outside of work. After all, she had no idea how he was going to react, but she did have a feeling it was going to be messy.

      “Tell you what,” she said, turning to go. “Meet me tomorrow morning at The Jumpin’ Bean. You remember where that is, don’t you? Seven-thirty. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

      He frowned, rising to see her out, his gaze suddenly alert. “What is it?”

      She shook her head. “Tomorrow,” she said. “Will you meet me?”

      He shrugged. “Of course.”

      She nodded. “Okay. See you tomorrow.”

      And she left his office feeling a little better about the future. At least she had a plan.

      “Look at that, boys,” Mimi Foster announced in her slow Texas drawl. “Your mama’s home!”

      Darcy swept her two toddlers up in her arms, laughing as they babbled at her happily and Sparky, Mimi’s little white fluffy dog, danced around her, barking noisily.

      “Oh hush, Sparky,” she said, and to her babies, “My little ducks, I’m so glad to see you.” She cooed, kissing one and then the other and holding both tightly. “Have you been good for Mimi today?”

      “They’ve been perfect angels, both of them,” Mimi lied kindly. A tall, slender woman, she favored exotic caftans and chandelier earrings.

      “Right. I’ll just bet they have.” Darcy sighed as she put them back down in the playpen. Looking around the tidy front room of the modest Spanish-style house she’d been sharing with Jimmy’s mother since she’d come back to Terra Dulce in the San Antonio area, she shook her head. “Oh, Mimi, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

      “Darcy, darlin',” the older woman said, rising and giving her friend a hug. “You know the three of you are my family now. Without y’all I would just wither up and blow away.”

      Mimi and her mother had been best friends, and though they lived in cities hundreds of miles apart, there had been plenty of visits and vacations spent together. For years her mother and Mimi had planned and plotted, trying to conjure up a romance between Darcy and Jimmy that just never quite panned out. Jimmy had always been more interested in cars than he had in girls. And Darcy … well, Darcy had seen Mitch.

      The first time she’d noticed him, she must have been about eleven. He was probably fourteen and full of teenage swagger. He’d stopped by the Foster house to help Jimmy work on an old car Jimmy’s dad had in the driveway. Darcy’s family had been there on their usual summer visit and she’d watched from the window. She thought most boys were “icky” at that point in her life. But Mitch was different. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. From then on, Mitch was her standard for male excellence.

      And now he was here and she was finally going to have to tell Mimi that he was the father of her children. She knew Mimi had hoped that Jimmy was their father at first. She’d let her know that wasn’t the case, but she hadn’t gone any further than that and Mimi hadn’t tried to pry it out of her. The rest of the world, especially those she worked with, assumed Jimmy had been the father, and she hadn’t done anything to counter that. When you came right down to it, she hadn’t told anyone the full truth. And now, she had to find a way to tell Mitch.

      She spent the next hour playing with her children and thinking about Mitch. Tonight she would take a long bath and work up a good way to present the facts to him. She had to phrase it just right. She had to let him know that she expected him to be a factor in their lives.

      A part of her wished she could just grab her kids and make a run for it, start over somewhere fresh without all these problems. But she knew running just brought up new problems. And then the old ones came along and found you anyway.

      Besides, it didn’t seem likely she could get away in time, especially as, looking out the picture window, she saw Mitch coming up the front walk at this very moment. In seconds he would be knocking on the front door.

      Sheer panic shot through her veins. Without thinking twice, she snatched up both babies, kicked the playpen behind the couch and whisked them into their bedroom before the doorbell rang. Her only hope was to move up naptime by an hour. Would these two little mop-heads cooperate?

      “Mitch Carver! You darlin'!”

      Mimi had answered the door and Darcy knew she was throwing her arms around the man who had been her son’s childhood friend. Darcy listened intently as she put her babies down in their beds, hoping against hope they might take a nice nap. Maybe this could be quick. Maybe Mitch would just pay his respects and be on his way. Maybe Mimi would forget to mention that Darcy was living here with her. Maybe.

      “Mama,” Sammy was saying sleepily, giving her a toothless smile. “Mama, Mama, Mama.”

      “Shush! Go to sleep, you little rascal,” she whispered to him, love pouring out of her heart as she looked down at him.

      Sean was already drifting off, his little thumb sneaking up into his mouth. No matter what, her total agenda was protecting these two adorable children from harm. She would do whatever she had to do.

      She looked around the room and sighed. It was small for two cribs, one dresser and an ancient changing table, not to mention a shelf system that was beginning to pull away from the wall. This was not exactly what she’d dreamed of for her little ones. Hopefully, if she got the raise she was expecting next month …

      “I wanted you to know how sorry I am about Jimmy,” she could hear Mitch saying from the next room.

      “His death was a tragedy,” Mimi responded sadly. “You were always such a good friend to him. He idolized you, you know. He missed you so when you went off and joined the Army.”

      They chatted a bit more, but Darcy couldn’t make out the words. Darcy bit her lip. So far, so good. Maybe he would just leave now, without ever hearing that she was just a few steps away.

      “I don’t know if you ever knew Darcy Connors,” she heard Mimi mentioning, loud and clear.

      “Darcy Connors?” Mitch sounded surprised. “Sure, I know Darcy.”

      Her shoulders sagged. Oh well. So much for that hope. Nothing was ever easy, was it? The boys were dozing. At least she was getting a little luck there. Very quietly, she crept out into the hall, ready to leap out and stop Mimi from bringing up the children if she possibly could.

      “I was so happy when she got the assignment in France,” Mimi was saying. “She and Jimmy became quite close while they were working together over there.”

      “I … yes, I guess I knew that,” Mitch replied a bit stiffly.

      Mimi was chattering on. Darcy crossed her fingers, hoping she would forget to mention the twins.

      “Yes, she came to live with me right after she got transferred from СКАЧАТЬ