Inherited: One Baby!. Laura Marie Altom

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СКАЧАТЬ not talking about me, Candy, we’re talking about you, still avoiding your problems.”

      “What problems?” she asked a little too shrilly. “Until you, the Official Playboy of the Entire Eastern Seaboard, showed up, life was looking good.”

      “There you go, blaming your troubles on me.”

      “Argh, I guess some things never change. Add the two of us mixing like oil and water to that list. I thought your showing up out of the blue for the reunion was some kind of sign. You know, that you had finally put the past behind you and we could at least act civilized toward each other. But I guess I was wrong.”

      Fumbling through her purse for her keys, she was again fighting back tears, telling herself that it was saying farewell to her store that had her in such a dither. “You never understood me.” Understood what I gave up for you. “And who are you to lecture me about my faults, when there you are, day after day, throwing it all away.”

      “Throwing what away?”

      Your big chance, Jake. Your chance to be the one thing you could never be with me. The one thing I know you wanted above anything else—especially me. The chance to become a father. Keys in hand, Candy pressed her lips tight.

      “Answer me.” Gripping her shoulders, he gave her a light squeeze. “What was that last comment supposed to mean?”

      “Nothing. I don’t know.”

      “Bull!” Jake released her along with a wall of pent-up air. His back to her, he raked his fingers through his hair. This whole scene was out of control. He’d intended this to be a clean-cut mission. In, propose, out. One, two, three. So where had he gone wrong?

      Funny how that was the same question he’d faced the last time they’d fought.

      If he knew what was good for him, he’d leave right now and take his chances with hiring a woman to play the role of his wife. Maybe he could even answer one of those mysterious ads in the backs of magazines that promised to create false IDs and personal histories in thirty days or less.

      Yeah right, and maybe donkeys fly south for the winter.

      Face it, bud, the only shot you’ve got at keeping Bonnie is standing right in front of you, staring you down as though she’d just as soon spit on you than look at you.

      “Jake,” she said in an uncharacteristically small voice. “Why are you really here? And don’t give me that line about being in town for the reunion, because Page Watson told me six weeks ago that you wrote ‘Return to Sender’ on the outside of your invitation.”

      Six weeks ago, Cal and Jenny had still been alive.

      And Candy was right. Ordinarily, Jake wouldn’t have shown up at their class reunion for all the beer in St. Louis. Sure, he would’ve loved hanging out with the guys, but given the very good chance that he’d also run into Candy…thank you very much, but he’d have more fun in bankruptcy court.

      That being the case, again, why not walk away? Hop the next flight for Palm Breeze and never look back?

      Bonnie, that’s why.

      Flashes of cute chubby cheeks, heart-melting toothless grins, silky-soft tufts of hair and the scent of freshly washed and lotioned baby tummy not only steeled his resolve, but took the decision out of his hands and put it squarely in the hands of fate.

      Hardening his jaw, he said, “You’re right. The reunion was an excuse. I’m really here to talk to you.”

      “About what?”

      “Marriage. Or to be more specific…our marriage. And the question of whether or not you’d be amenable to starting it back up?”

      Jake couldn’t tell whether Candy had parted her ripe lips to speak or was caught in a gasp. Either way, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He’d meant to thaw her a little before popping the mother of all questions, but dammit, given his time crunch—not to mention her travel plans—there wasn’t a whole helluva lot else he could do.

      “I-I…I’m sorry,” she said, her voice breathy, as if his suggestion had knocked the wind from her lungs. “I don’t know what to say.”

      “Say you’ll have dinner with me tonight and instead of fighting, we’ll talk—even better, say you’ll cook dinner for me.”

      “B-but—”

      “Great,” he said with a wide grin. “I’ll be at your place at seven.”

      Chapter Two

      “What’s with the corn dogs?” Candy’s best friend and neighbor, Kelly Foster, asked at six forty-five that night.

      “You think I should’ve made Jake a standing rib roast?”

      From her perch on one of the tall stools lining the burgundy-tiled counter, Kelly made a face. “At least spaghetti and a salad would have been nice. I mean, come on, corn dogs? The guy asked you to marry him again, not scrub his toilets.”

      “True,” Candy said, pulling open the oven door and sliding in the tray of dogs. “And, hey, at least this time around he’s loaded. He can afford a dozen housekeepers to do all the dirty work. Think they clean up broken hearts?”

      For a brief second, she squeezed her eyes shut while forcing back tears. Sarcasm wasn’t like her, which proved that the sooner Jake returned to Florida, the better off her mood—not to mention, life—would be. “Sorry to be so testy,” Candy said. “It’s just that where Jake Peterson is concerned, one marriage was way more than enough.”

      Kelly rolled her eyes. “From your first bizarre date spent picnicking on the Lonesome High football field, you two were made for each other. Everyone knows it. Why do you think Jake never married again?”

      “How should I know? We haven’t exactly stayed close. And for your information, our first date wasn’t bizarre, it was romantic.” Candy threw extra force into whacking a freezer-burned bag of French fries against the butcher-block cutting board.

      “Eww,” Kelly said. “How old are those?”

      “Judging by the ice pack’s density, I’d make a conservative guess that I bought them around the time I broke up with Chad. Remember that grease phase I went through?” Candy shuddered. “My skin breaks out just thinking about it. At least one good thing is coming out of this dinner.”

      “What’s that?”

      “I’m cleaning out the freezer.”

      Grinning, Kelly shook her pretty blond head. “You’re hopeless. Back to the subject of Jake, what do you think he’s up to?”

      “You mean, besides no good? Ba-bum ching.” While tapping the high hat on her imaginary drums, Candy flashed her friend a smile.

      “You’re not fooling me, you know.”

      Reaching into the fridge for mustard and ketchup, Candy said, “I wasn’t trying to.”

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