SO MANY BABIES

Four heart-tugging stories about the littlest matchmakers—as they find their way through the Buttonwood Baby Clinic and into a family’s welcoming arms!

THE BABY LEGACY by Pamela Toth

Special Edition #1299

When an anonymous sperm donor tries to withdraw his “contribution,” he learns a beautiful woman is eight months pregnant—with his child!

WHO’S THAT BABY? by Diana Whitney

Special Edition #1305

A handsome Native American lawyer finds a baby on his doorstep—and more than he bargains for with an irresistible pediatrician who has more than medicine on her mind!

MILLIONAIRE’S INSTANT BABY by Allison Leigh

Special Edition #1312

Pretend to be married to a millionaire “husband”? It seemed an easy way for this struggling single mom to earn a trust fund for her newborn. But she never thought she’d fall for her make-believe spouse.…

MAKE WAY FOR BABIES! by Laurie Paige

Special Edition #1317

All she needed was a helping hand with her infant twins—until her former brother-in-law stepped up to play “daddy,” and stepped right into her heart.

Dear Reader,

With spring in the air, there’s no better way to herald the season and continue to celebrate Silhouette’s 20th Anniversary year than with an exhilarating month of romance from Special Edition!

Kicking off a great lineup is Beginning with Baby, a heartwarming THAT’S MY BABY! story by rising star Christie Ridgway. Longtime Special Edition favorite Susan Mallery turns up the heat in The Sheik’s Kidnapped Bride, the first book in her new DESERT ROGUES series. And popular author Laurie Paige wraps up the SO MANY BABIES miniseries with Make Way for Babies!, a poignant reunion romance in which a set of newborn twins unwittingly plays Cupid!

Beloved author Gina Wilkins weaves a sensuous modern love story about two career-minded people who are unexpectedly swept away by desire in Surprise Partners. In Her Wildest Wedding Dreams from veteran author Celeste Hamilton, a sheltered woman finds the passion of a lifetime in a rugged rancher’s arms. And finally, Carol Finch brings every woman’s fantasy to life with an irresistible millionaire hero in her compelling novel Soul Mates.

It’s a gripping month of reading in Special Edition. Enjoy!

All the best,

Karen Taylor Richman

Senior Editor

Make Way for Babies!
Laurie Paige

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For William. Welcome to the family!

Books by Laurie Paige

Silhouette Special Edition

Lover’s Choice #170

Man Without a Past #755

*Home for a Wild Heart #828

*A Place for Eagles #839

*The Way of a Man #849

*Wild Is the Wind #887

*A River To Cross #910

Molly Darling #1021

Live-In Mom #1077

The Ready-Made Family #1114

Husband: Bought and Paid For #1139

†A Hero’s Homecoming #1178

Warrior’s Woman #1193

Father-To-Be #1201

†A Family Homecoming #1292

Make Way for Babies! #1317

Silhouette Desire

Gypsy Enchantment #123

Journey to Desire #195

Misty Splendor #304

Golden Promise #404

Silhouette Yours Truly

Christmas Kisses for a Dollar

Only One Groom Allowed

Harlequin Duets

The Cowboy Next Door

Silhouette Romance

South of the Sun #296

A Tangle of Rainbows #333

A Season for Butterflies #364

Nothing Lost #382

The Sea at Dawn #398

A Season for Homecoming #727

Home Fires Burning Bright #733

Man from the North Country #772

‡Cara’s Beloved #917

‡Sally’s Beau #923

‡Victoria’s Conquest #933

Caleb’s Son #994

*A Rogue’s Heart #1013

An Unexpected Delivery #1151

Wanted: One Son #1246

The Guardian’s Bride #1318

Silhouette Books

Montana Mavericks

The Once and Future Wife

Father Found

Fortunes of Texas

The Baby Pursuit

LAURIE PAIGE

says, “One of the nicest things about writing romances is researching locales, careers and ideas. In the interest of authenticity, most writers will try anything…once.” Along with her writing adventures, Laurie has been a NASA engineer, a past president of the Romance Writers of America (twice!), a mother and a grandmother (twice, also!). She was twice a Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist for Best Traditional Romance, and has won awards from Romantic Times Magazine for Best Silhouette Special Edition and Best Silhouette. She has also been presented with Affaire de Coeur’s Readers’ Choice Silver Pen Award for Favorite Contemporary Author. Recently resettled in Northern California, Laurie is looking forward to whatever experiences her next novel will send her on.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter One

Spencer McBride parked in the lot at the Buttonwood Baby Clinic with a feeling of unease. He’d found an odd message from his mom on his voice mail when he returned to the office shortly before five that afternoon.

Spence, honey, this is Mom. Come to the clinic ASAP. Something important has come up. Hurry!

As executive administrator of the clinic, Rose McBride was in charge of the business affairs there. Maybe some nutcase was threatening to sue the clinic. Or bomb it. Who knew what people would do nowadays?

However, her tone had indicated the matter was exciting rather than threatening. So maybe it wasn’t bad news.

Stretching his shoulders and covering a yawn, he headed toward the attractive building. It had been a hard day. He’d spent most of it in court, arguing a case in which the judge had decided against his client in a mineral-lease claim.

The client wanted to appeal. Spence had advised the rancher that his chances of overturning the lease agreement signed by the previous owner were slim. The mining company wasn’t going to give up a lucrative deal without a fight.

He smiled absently at the receptionist when he entered the clinic, skirted the information area and strode into his mother’s office. The secretary, Marci Bonn, was locking up.

“Oh, hi. You’re just in time,” she said, adding to the sense of mystery surrounding the message.

Her bright smile indicated male-female interest. He ignored it as he had each time he’d been in the office during the few months since he’d moved back to Buttonwood and gone into law practice with Johnny Winterhawk, a friend from high-school days.

“Your mom said I was to bring you right down,” Marci continued.

“She isn’t in her office?”

“No. She’s, uh, waiting somewhere else.”

The smile grew more mysterious as she checked the lock on the file cabinet, grabbed her purse and dashed for the door. Spence gave an exasperated snort as he followed the young woman out of the office.

He hoped his mom wasn’t on one of her match-making kicks. She’d been trying to tie him up with various women for years. At thirty-two, he was a confirmed bachelor.

Or maybe he just hadn’t met the one, as his mom insisted.

The secretary led the way down one of the clinic’s four main corridors, which smelled of cinnamon and…pizza, he decided. It was dinnertime. His stomach was reminding him he’d missed lunch.

“In there.” She pointed toward a patient room, all the while beaming at him as if something momentous was happening, or was going to happen now that he was here. A chill of foreboding slid down his neck.

“My mom’s in there?” he questioned, just to make sure they were on the same track. A new worry attacked him. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Go on in.” Walking a couple of steps backward, Marci waved and smiled some more, then turned and retreated toward the reception area.

Totally mystified, Spence called “Thanks” and went into the room a bit cautiously, not sure what he would find. It wasn’t his birthday or anything like that—

“Spence, you’re just in time,” his mom said, appearing at the door. She grabbed his arm and tugged him inside.

His first impression was one of lots of people. Four women, plus the usual hospital paraphernalia, were jammed into the small room. One female was a patient, in bed and quite obviously pregnant. And totally unknown to him.

He fell back a step, confused by the situation. The room felt crowded and filled with a complexity he couldn’t describe. Perhaps this was a paternity case, and the young woman needed help. “Mom, maybe we’d better step outside—”

“Spence!” another female exclaimed, turning from the woman lying on the bed and leaning past his mother’s shoulder to smile at him in delight.

A funny feeling raced over his skin, an electric tingle that started a thrum of response someplace deep inside him. He’d recognize that sexy bow-drawn-over-a-rusty-saw voice anywhere, anytime.

Ally Henderson McBride. His brother’s widow.

Once she’d been his best friend. Years ago. Like his law partner, Ally belonged to high-school days and sweet memories of the past….

“What’s happening?” he asked in a professional manner. Lawyers, like cops, ran into all kinds of situations. A person learned to take them in stride.

“This is a birthing room,” a voice snapped with military precision as if his question had been the utmost in stupidity.

He recognized Maryanne Winters, who had graduated high school three years ahead of him. She’d gone into the army, then returned to Buttonwood as a nurse. He thought she should have been a drill sergeant.

“Your niece and nephew are about to be born,” his mom told him, still holding his arm. “I’m glad you got here. I was afraid you were going to miss the big event.”

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Ally added, throwing her own hundred-watt smile his way. “Here, let me introduce you to the birth mother, Taylor Fletcher. Taylor, this is Spence McBride, Rose’s younger son. Jack’s brother.”

For a second, Spence saw a shadow flash through Ally’s eyes as she mentioned her deceased husband. Jack had been killed in a construction accident just before Christmas. It had been a hard time for all of them.

That was when he’d decided to move back to Buttonwood and take up Johnny’s offer of a partnership. His mom had been so distraught after Jack’s death, especially since it followed his dad’s by less than a year.

“I’m glad…to meet you,” the young woman on the bed welcomed him with a hitch in her voice.

“Glad to meet you, too.” He didn’t offer to shake hands. He wasn’t sure of the protocol in this situation.

He had, of course, known about the twins and Ally’s plans to adopt them, but never in his wildest dreams had he thought of being present when they were born. Whether Ally was the one having them or not, that honor belonged to her husband.

The birth mother couldn’t have been more than eighteen or nineteen, twenty at the most. Her long blond hair was gathered at the back of her neck. Her face, pretty, young and very serious, was scrubbed clean of makeup. Something about her earnestness reminded him of Ally when she’d been eighteen and filled with plans for the future.

“We’ve decided to name the twins Hannah and Nicholas,” Ally continued. “What do you think?”

Spence thought he should get the hell out of there. “Uh, that sounds fine. I’ll, uh, wait in the hall or…or somewhere.”

Anywhere but here!

Sweat broke out on his forehead. He couldn’t believe his mom had meant him to come in here. The young woman was about to have a baby—no, two of them!

“Oh, don’t you want to stay and welcome the babies?” Ally asked, her eyes wide as if shocked and hurt that he didn’t want to participate.

During all the years he’d stayed away from his brother and his pretty sister-in-law, Spence had never forgotten those eyes. They were the brightest, clearest blue, with a darker blue encircling the lighter shade around the pupil. Her eyes and that rusty voice—they were the things he most remembered about her. And that she had been his best friend throughout their growing years, up until they graduated and went off to college…and their separate ways.

When he’d returned, Ally had been engaged to his brother. She and Jack were married that summer.

He’d gone off to law school in the autumn and never returned, except on short visits. He’d established a practice in Durango—close, but not too close, to his family.

“Well,” he hedged, “I don’t want to be in the way or make…” He tried to think of the young mother’s name.

“Taylor,” Ally supplied.

“Yeah. I don’t want to make Taylor nervous.”

“It’s okay,” the young woman said. “Jack was supposed to be here. It’s okay if you stay.”

Hell, he could hardly leave now. It would seem rude. Which was maybe the weirdest thought he’d ever had.

“If you’re sure,” he murmured, unable to think of a graceful exit line.

“It’s time,” Maryanne snapped. “Let’s get the bed fixed and you in position.”

Spence swallowed hard when he realized the crabby nurse was removing a panel from the bed, then helping Taylor into the birthing position. The fierce July heat seemed to penetrate the room and gather in his neck, ears and face.

He peered through the mini-blinds at the scene in the nearby park, trying to focus anywhere but the room where the sheets were being lifted and folded back and Taylor’s knees were being exposed, rising above her mounded tummy.

Spence loosened his tie and opened a couple of buttons at his throat. He was having trouble breathing. He watched the kids playing in the park.

“Deep breaths,” Maryanne ordered. “Slow and easy.”

He forced himself to breathe deeply.

“The mother, not you,” Maryanne said with scornful amusement.

“Right,” he responded, as if this was old stuff to him. He risked a glance at the nurse. She folded a towel over the young mother’s knees. His face felt like a furnace.

“Where’s Dr. Parker?” Ally said, glancing past Spence toward the door.

“It’s Friday night. He’s probably on his way to his mountain cabin with some bimbo,” Maryanne said, clearly indicating her opinion of the doctor’s private life.

“Ohh,” Taylor said and reached for Ally’s hand.

“Is it time to pant?” Ally asked.

“I hope not,” Maryanne said grimly. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She sailed out of the room, giving Spence a glare as she swept past.

Spence suppressed a need to tell her he was innocent. He wasn’t the cause of the pregnancy, nor had he barged in uninvited. In fact, he’d rather not be there at all.

“There, darling,” Ally crooned.

Spence’s eyes were drawn to her. If a woman ever spoke to him in that tone he’d melt at her feet. It was caring and tender and filled with sweet encouragement. A chill ran down his spine, totally at odds with the furnace that glowed on his face.

He unbuttoned the cuffs of his white business shirt and rolled the sleeves up, glad that he’d tossed his jacket into the back seat of the car when he’d left the office.

The nurse returned in a minute. Claire Winterhawk, his partner’s wife and a pediatrician, entered with her. As the sole male, he definitely felt out of place in the roomful of women. He tried to think of a reason to leave…immediately!

“Hi, Taylor, I’m Dr. Davis,” Claire said. “I’m on call this evening, so I’ll assist you in the birth. I’ll be the twins’ pediatrician, so this is exciting, getting to meet them first thing, huh?”

Spence breathed a silent sigh of relief. He felt better having a doctor on hand. Claire and Johnny had only been married a couple of months and had adopted a baby themselves. He’d taken over the final paperwork for them.

Johnny was handling the adoption of the twins for Ally. Which Spence thought was good. He didn’t want to get too involved with his former best friend.

“Let’s see how you’re doing,” Claire said jovially. She sat down on a stool between the young mother’s legs.

Spence felt the heat rise in his face once more. He quickly glanced away. His gaze met Ally’s. The world shifted; for a moment, he felt as if she saw into his soul and beyond, way back to the years when he’d been angry with her for marrying Jack, for not waiting for him.

Regret and surprise slammed through him. Where had that thought come from? He’d never asked her to wait.

“Get on the other side and take Taylor’s hand,” Ally ordered in gentle tones. “We’ll help her breathe. She took Lamaze classes with Dr. Davis.”

Help her breathe? Classes?

Spence felt he’d landed in another world where they spoke the same language he did, but the words meant entirely different things. He went to where Ally had told him to stand, studiously keeping his eyes averted from what was happening at the other end of the raised hospital bed.

“Are you going to go by Davis or change to Winterhawk now that you’ve married Johnny?” his mother asked, peering over Ally’s shoulder.

“I’ve decided to stay with Davis in my professional life. It’s easier, since everyone in town knows me by that.” Claire leaned forward. “Okay, get ready.”

“Easy, easy,” Ally murmured to Taylor.

“Let’s hit it,” Claire said as if encouraging a football team to play its best.

“Push,” Maryanne said, doing things with spray bottles and towels.

Taylor groaned and pulled against his hand. Alarm spread through him at her expression. He couldn’t tell if it was one of intense pain or intense concentration. Sweat trickled down his spine. He stared at a kid running across the park lawn, his mother hot on his trail. The mother captured the spunky toddler and led him back to the bench where she’d been sitting.

“Pant,” Ally said and proceeded to do so.

She and Taylor panted in unison. Spence did, too, then realized what he was doing and tried to stop. He noted his mom also breathed with Taylor.

“Push!” Maryanne barked again as if the young mother had disobeyed a direct order.

Taylor pushed. Ally pushed. Rose pushed. And Spence pushed. They panted. Sweat collected on their foreheads.

“Okay, relax,” Claire said.

“Deep breaths,” Maryanne commanded. They breathed.

Ally was aware of Spence across the narrow bed from her, his head inches away as they leaned over Taylor and helped her with the birthing. As everyone in the room relaxed, she spared him a sympathetic glance. She didn’t recall ever seeing him blush, but now his face looked as if he had a good case of the measles. Her smile widened.

While they rested for the next big push, her thoughts turned introspective. She regretted that she would never be able to share this moment with her husband. She was barren. That was why she and Jack had been delighted when the chance came to adopt Taylor’s children.

Tears burned her eyes as she recalled that Jack hadn’t known they were having twins. He’d died shortly before Taylor had the checkup that revealed the two heartbeats. She took a careful breath and controlled her sorrow. This wasn’t the place for it.

Now was the time for joy. She and Taylor had discussed the situation. She still wanted the babies, even though there were two and she was alone now. Taylor still wanted her to have them. The nineteen-year-old college student felt the children needed the secure home that Ally could afford and she couldn’t. Both agreed Rose McBride would make a wonderful, doting grandmother, and Taylor could see the twins as often as her studies and workload would allow.

So it would all work out fine. She mentally crossed her fingers. She knew what happened to best-laid plans.

“Okay, here comes another one,” Dr. Davis said.

Ally concentrated on Taylor and her breathing. At her left shoulder, Rose breathed with them, and across the bed, Spence unconsciously did, too.

Maryanne directed them. “Keep pushing. Okay, it’s crowning.”

Ally looked to see what this meant. She gulped and swallowed hard as she saw the very top of a head appear, a ridge running down the middle where the skull plates slid past each other so the baby could squeeze out. Her heart contracted in a mixture of excitement and deep emotion.

She glanced at Spence. He looked uneasy but stoic. For a moment, she was flooded with tenderness toward him. That was odd, but she was glad Rose had, for whatever strange reason, insisted he join them. Welcoming a new generation into the world was a momentous event for a family.

“Okay, once more,” Claire said cheerfully. “You’re doing wonderfully, Taylor.”

“Thank you,” Taylor said politely.

Ally met Spence’s eyes and grinned. He gave her a searching glance. She sensed questions in him, but there wasn’t time to ask what they were. “The baby,” she said. “Here it comes.”

The entire head appeared. Claire efficiently cleared its nose and mouth. “One last big one, I think,” she murmured after they’d rested a bit.

“Ohh,” Ally and Rose and Taylor all chorused together when the baby was born, sliding smoothly into the doctor’s waiting hands with one more push.

“Is the little darling here already?” another nurse crooned, bustling into the room, a baby blanket in hand. “Ah, a sweetheart of a girl,” she said.

Ally recognized the woman as one of the pediatric nurses, Nell Hastings. A calm, gray-haired woman in her fifties, she took care of newborns with an ease that was guaranteed to soothe young parents. She dried the baby and wrapped her in another blanket, then proceeded to weigh and measure the child.

“Five pounds, seven ounces,” she announced. “A very nice size for twins.”

“No rest for the weary,” Claire said to Taylor with an encouraging smile. “Ready for number two?”

Taylor barely had time to say yes before the contraction started and didn’t let up. The team panted and pushed along with the mother. Nicholas came into the world as smoothly as his sister. He took one glance around the crowded room and howled. Startled, Hannah joined in.

“They’re here,” Ally said, tears starting in her eyes. “Taylor, they’re here.”

She and Taylor hugged and cried and kissed each other’s cheeks while the nurse put wristbands on the infants, then weighed and measured the second one. “This big fellow is six pounds. I’m impressed,” she told them.

Feeling a hand caressing her hair, Ally raised her head. Spence gave her an encouraging smile. His eyes looked a little misty, too.

“Oh, Spence, aren’t they the most beautiful babies you ever saw?” she said.

He nodded and continued to stroke her hair in the gentlest manner.

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, all cautious thoughts fleeing in this moment of jubilation. She loved him. She loved Taylor. And Rose and Claire. Even the crabby nurse. And especially the twins, Hannah and Nicholas.

Sniffing, she drew back and pulled her emotions into order. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to drown you two.” She wiped tears off Spence’s shirt and Taylor’s forehead, then blotted Taylor’s face with a washcloth. “You did just great,” she assured the young woman.

“Did I?” Taylor said shakily. She looked from Ally to Spence to Rose. “Thanks for being here. It was just like having a real family—” She stopped as her lips trembled.

Rose patted her arm. “We are a real family, and you’re a special part of it. Thank you for this wonderful gift.”

“You’ll want pictures before I take them to the warmers,” the baby nurse said. She handed one infant to Ally. The other she plopped in Spence’s arms. “Here, Daddy.”

Ally couldn’t help but laugh as Spence reacted in typical surprised-bachelor horror. The child could have been a bomb ready to detonate instead of his nephew.

“I’m not the father,” he hastily corrected. He carefully held the baby out in both hands. The nurse ignored his desperate expression.

“He’s the uncle,” Ally explained.

Rose grabbed a camera from her purse. “Hold Nicholas in the crook of your arm, Spence, the way Ally has Hannah.”

Ally grinned when he looked worried and gingerly held the baby as directed. Rose snapped pictures like mad.

“Now Taylor with the babies,” Ally requested. “Spence, put your hand over Taylor’s on that side.” She did the same and leaned close. “Lean down, Spence. And smile. This is a happy event.”

After they had taken every possible combination of photo for the babies’ album, the kind nurse whisked the little ones off to the warmer. Taylor yawned.

Ally was aware that Spence had played his part gallantly…after he got over the shock of being in on the birthing. She felt an enormous sense of pride about the whole event and everyone’s part in it.

However, she was a tad embarrassed about the emotional kiss she’d plastered on him when he had caressed her in that gentle way. Poor bachelor uncle. This would be a day he wouldn’t soon forget. Rose had some explaining to do to her handsome, and single, son.

Spence remained in the waiting room while the babies were bathed and put in a warmer—he imagined something like a chicken incubator with dozens of babies tucked into their little individual pockets. Ally had gone with the baby nurse to help with the twins while his mom stayed with Taylor.

In the nearby nurses’ station, he heard two student nurses discussing someone. Rachel—another nurse, he surmised—was pregnant and due to deliver soon. They speculated on possible candidates for the father and mentioned Dr. Reid.

Spence was surprised. Dennis Reid was chief of staff at the clinic and sometimes a pain in the neck for Rose in her role as administrator. The man was nearly fifty, a tad old to be getting a woman pregnant out of wedlock.

He wondered if there was a paternity case in the offing, and knew he wasn’t going to handle it if there was. His specialty was ranching cases, not personal problems. He and Johnny were contract attorneys.

He sipped the bitter coffee from the machine. Ugh. It was hard to take on an empty stomach. As if by way of a gentle reminder, his stomach growled.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said.

Ally bustled into the room. “Hi. Talking to yourself? Better watch it. That’s the second sign of senility.”

“What’s the first?” he asked, falling into her teasing mood, even as it made him remember days gone by.

“I forget,” she said, then burst into laughter.

Listening to her husky voice with its intriguing little breaks, he laughed, too. She had always had the ability to make him feel better. When she was in an exuberant mood, as she was now, she was prone to laugh and tease unmercifully.

But she had also listened to his problems and shared her feelings with him…in those long ago days when they were friends.

“Coffee?” he asked, tearing himself away from the memories with an effort.

“Not on an empty stomach. Rose and I did a study, and that stuff can eat through stainless steel in three days, gospel truth.” She held up a hand in a pledge of honor.

He tossed the cup into the trash bin. “How about dinner? I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

“That would be great. Taylor and the babies are all asleep, so it would be a good time to go. I’ll get Rose.”

He nodded, but she was already gone, a whirlwind of energy, shedding radiance on all who came into her orbit.

His heart pounded suddenly. The birthing had caused some strange twists in him that afternoon. He hadn’t realized it would be so emotional and affecting.

Right now, after the excitement of all that…okay, after the kiss that had seared him right down to the soles of his feet…well, he kept thinking of other things, things he hadn’t let himself think of in years.

Ally stuck her head in the door. The hall light turned her blond hair into a golden halo around her slender, oval face. She had “big” hair. Shoulder-length, it always looked tousled. Her cheeks were always pink. As if she’d just come in from some fun exercise in the outdoors. Or climbed out of bed. His body stirred hungrily.

For a second, he considered what it would be like to share the excitement of bringing a new life into the world with a beloved mate. And the excitement of creating that new life. Heat pounded through him. There in the birthing room, as he held the two babies, an image had flashed through his mind—of him and a woman and their children….

“Ready?” she asked.

“Yes.” His voice was husky, sexy. He cleared his throat. “Yes,” he said again, more firmly this time.

Yeah, it was good that his mom would be with them.

He followed Ally along the corridor. He heard groans and pants emanating from a couple of rooms as they passed. The sounds took on a whole new meaning for him now that he knew exactly what they were. He still couldn’t believe his mother had deliberately set him up for the birthing scene. He intended to ask her about that.

“Rose? We’re ready,” Ally called softly to his mom, who was still in the room with Taylor. When Rose joined them, Ally whispered, “Let’s go by the nursery.”

Spence patiently accepted the women’s eagerness to peek at the twins once more before they left. At the nursery window, he saw the babies tucked into little plastic buckets on wheels, a bright light shining down on each one. Both kids wore a tiny stocking cap on their heads and slept peacefully in spite of the lamp.

“Ohhh,” Ally croaked, her voice breaking. “They are so beautiful.”

A hand closed around his arm. Ally leaned against him and looked up, her eyes glowing like a laser beamed through sapphires.

“Aren’t they just darling?” she crooned.

Spence squinted and tried to see what made them more beautiful than the other two babies, also under lights, in the nursery. “Well, uh, they are pretty cute.”

“Hannah looks like Taylor, I think,” she continued, pressing her nose to the glass. “Nicholas probably takes more after his father. What do you think?”

Spence thought women could see a lot more than men could when it came to these things. To him, they looked like…well…they looked like babies.

His mother gave a soft, feminine snort of laughter. “Don’t make him perjure himself, Ally.” She patted her son’s other arm. “Don’t worry. They’ll grow on you. Let’s go eat. I’m starved. How about the diner?”

They went across the street to Mom and Pop’s diner. He’d grown used to seeing medical staff, still wearing their white jackets, in there, or men in suits and women in fancy dresses with stethoscopes around their necks. The diner was a hangout for all the workers from the baby clinic, hospital and professional office building across the street. The food was about ten times better than anything they could get in the medical complex.

Ally sighed as she slid into a booth. Rose sat opposite her, taking up the middle of the banquette. After a second’s hesitation, Spence took the place beside his sister-in-law.

His warmth slid up her arm and down into her belly. She licked her lips. They tingled as if electricity was running lightly over them. The way it had during that impulsive kiss. She wished she hadn’t done that.

She noticed Spence carefully avoided touching her. A pang of irritation shot through her as the euphoria of the births gave way to weariness. They ordered and were silent until tall frosty glasses of raspberry tea were served.

“I’m dog-tired,” she stated.

“You’ve been working too hard,” Rose admonished. “You need to watch it now that you have two babies to care for. You’ll have to learn to pace yourself. Start with a good night’s sleep. It will probably be your last for the next few weeks. Or years.”

Ally laughed with her mom-in-law. “I’ve caught up on all my casework, including all the reports required by the city, county, state and federal agencies. Sometimes it seems I hardly have time for patients because of the forms I have to fill out.”

As a child psychologist who scheduled in as much pro bono work as she could, Ally had to admit she had a tendency to overextend herself at times.

“But now I have a whole two weeks off,” she continued. “After that, I’ll be working half-time until the twins are three months old and can go to the Family Care Center.”

She was aware that Spence had turned partially in the seat so that he could watch her as she talked. She suddenly felt self-conscious at his perusal. It was so odd to be…oh, nervous or something, around him, when they had once been best friends. She turned back to Rose.

“Did I tell you Taylor is going to come over to my office and help with the twins as much as she can? I’m going to insist that she let me pay her.”

“I’m not sure you should encourage that,” Spence spoke up, his brow furrowed into a thoughtful frown. “The courts have been very protective about returning adopted children to their birth parents the past few years.”

“Taylor and I have talked about it. I want her to have a place in the children’s lives. I think it’s important. The situations that work best result in the birth parent becoming a big sister to the kids and the adoptive parent being the mother.”

“If things work out according to plan,” Spence added with a cynical inflection. “What about the father?”

She glanced at Spence. His dark brown eyes with their tiny golden flecks delved into hers. “The father…the sperm donor,” she corrected, “has no place in this. He opted out when he listened to his folks and abandoned Taylor. They said she was a gold digger and had gotten pregnant to trap him into marriage. They tried to buy her off.”

“Did they succeed?”

“No, she refused their money. She was working here in the diner and overheard Rose and me talking about adoption. When I came in alone, she approached me about taking her baby. It was hard for her.”

Ally and Taylor had both shed tears when the nineteen-year-old had explained her plight. A lot of young women in her situation would have taken the money, had an abortion and gotten on with their lives. Ally could understand the stubborn pride that had caused Taylor to refuse the money.

Ally’s folks had been middle class, but they had died when she was eleven. She had gone from being a cherished only child to an undesired duty in her aunt’s life. The woman hadn’t wanted to deal with the needs of a youngster or spend any money on her, either. Ally had delivered papers and worked odd jobs to earn her own spending money. Oh, yes, she understood pride very well.

Like Taylor, she had also worked her way through school, taking the courses that led to an R.N. and college degree and finishing in three years. After that, she had gone to night school while working full-time as a nurse at the hospital. With her Ph.D. in psychology, she had opened her own practice.

And she had married Jack McBride, Rose’s oldest son, brother to Spence, who had been her best friend during the lonely years of living with her aunt down the road from the friendly McBride family. Sometimes she wondered if she had married Jack because she had wanted Rose for a mother.

Or maybe because of the loneliness.

Spence had made it clear they could never be anything but friends. Her college years had been divided between work and study. Lonely years. Until Jack had started to show interest in her.

Actually, he’d swept her off her feet, an action that was totally out of character for him, as she had learned during their years of marriage.

She sighed, thinking of that young girl who had wanted…had truly expected…the moon and stars and all the magic life had to offer. She wondered what had happened to that girl, then realized she knew the answer.

She’d had to grow up.

For the rest of the evening nostalgia gripped her in a vague cloud of yearning and regret. After saying goodnight to Rose and Spence, she returned to the hospital for one more peek at the twins and to chat with Taylor before visiting hours ended. Driving home, she tried to throw off the haunting emotion, but it was no use. As she turned out the light and settled into the queen-size bed, she realized she felt sorry for the girl she had once been—the one who had dared to dream.

And the birth of the twins had stirred those dreams once again.

Chapter Two

Ally threw the sheet off and sprang up as if someone had dumped a load of hot coals on the bed. She had so much to do! If everything had gone well during the night, she could bring the twins home this afternoon. She would have them to herself at last.

The qualms that coursed through her were natural. All new moms felt unsure and apprehensive about the responsibility of caring for babies. Rose would help if she needed her. She only had to call.

The sadness descended unexpectedly. In her heart, she realized, she still wanted all the things she’d once dreamed of—a husband who would share life with her, who would be there for her as she would be there for him, who would be a loving father to their children. That dream wasn’t to be.

But the one about having her own family was about to come true in a big way. Twins were double trouble! Laughing, she jumped out of bed.

She dashed through her morning chores, then, taking her coffee with her, strolled through the house. She and Jack had bought the two-bedroom cottage from her aunt for the acreage that went with it.

They had planned to remodel the house before having kids. They’d wanted to put in a garden and fence off a section for a pony. Somehow the years had slipped by without their doing any of it. As Spence had mentioned, plans didn’t always work out.

When she and Jack had married, she’d thought she would never be lonely again. At first, she hadn’t, but somehow things had changed. Jack had become increasingly jealous of her work and her involvement with her patients after she finished her studies and set up the office.

And of his younger brother whenever Spence joined the family for holiday meals and such.

She’d had to be very careful not to mention the past adventures she and Spence had shared. She had made sure she was never alone with Spence at the family gatherings and had been careful not to tease or even talk to him very much.

Later, when she didn’t conceive, Jack had become angry, as if she’d withheld a child on purpose. Their marriage had fallen upon rocky times. He had started working later and later. Last year, she’d even wondered if there was another woman. Then he had died, working alone one night, trying to finish a job by moving lumber with an old forklift.

Something had gone wrong and the stack of lumber had cascaded down on him. The doctor said he hadn’t suffered. A blow to the head had killed him at once.

Small comfort in that.

She had thought, with the coming of the babies, they would have a focus in their marriage. As a psychologist, she knew how foolish it was to hope children would solve a troubled marriage, but they’d had no real problems, no crises of faith or broken vows.

Just a slow drifting apart…

Sadness trailed after her as she went into the guest bedroom. She had used it as a home office, but it would have to be the nursery until the addition on the house was completed.

Twin bassinets stood next to the wall. One was trimmed in blue, the other in yellow. They had known one baby was a boy, but hadn’t been able to tell for sure about Hannah from the sonograms.

After checking the supplies of diapers, nightshirts, day outfits and bottles, which she’d done a hundred times already, she went to the door at the end of the hallway.

Two bedrooms and a bath were being added for the twins so each could have a room. The carpenter hadn’t proceeded as quickly as she would have liked. The inside work remained to be done, although the outside was finished.

Baseboards were stacked in one room, paint cans in the other. She and Rose had made curtains, which still needed to be hemmed after the rods were put up. None of that could be done until the walls and trim were finished.

She returned to the kitchen. Where was the carpenter she had hired? He was supposed to be there at seven. He liked to start early, what with the heat of summer and all, he’d told her. So where was he?

She sat at the table and debated calling his home. He got peeved if she pestered him or asked too many questions.

Men and their fragile egos.

She called the hospital and found out Taylor and the twins were doing fine. Taylor reported she was leaving the hospital with a friend soon and thanked Ally again for being with her.

After hanging up, Ally sat and stared out the window at the orchard that separated the cottage from the McBride house where Rose lived.

Spence had a neat apartment in a new building about a mile from them. She’d been there once when Rose had thrown a welcome-back dinner for him at the place.

A sigh worked its way out of her. She felt melancholy today for some reason. As if she was suffering from the postpartum depression new mothers often got.

Her thoughts drifted. She mused on her nine years of marriage and on being a widow for almost eight months. At thirty-two, she felt no wiser than she had at twenty-two, when she’d married Jack.

Or at eighteen when she’d thought friendship would grow into love. She smiled and felt her lips tremble.

Memories. Sometimes they could weave a cloud around the heart and make a person ache for what might have been. How young she’d been at eighteen on the night of their high-school graduation….

Spence, the most popular guy in class, had broken up with a cheerleader, who was the most popular girl. The cheerleader had gone to the graduation dance with the star quarterback to get back at him. He’d dropped by Ally’s house, knowing she hadn’t planned on going to the dance.

She’d had few dates in high school. With delivering newspapers and baby-sitting jobs, plus working toward a nursing scholarship, she’d had very little time for extracurricular activities, and no money to buy a fancy dress.

Spence had asked her to go for a drive. She’d gone willingly. They had always been there for each other from the moment she’d come to live with her aunt. The day she arrived, he’d stopped by to see what was happening, and he’d immediately pitched in and helped carry her things inside and store them in the little sewing room that would become her bedroom for the next seven years. He’d even let her ride his new bike. They had become fast friends.

Sometimes that seemed strange to her, as if they’d been kindred souls, even as children. She’d never been as close to another person, before or since.

On that long-ago graduation night, he’d driven out to a hiking trail that started next to the river and wound up into the mountains. To her surprise he’d had one bottle of champagne in a cooler in the back of his car. She’d laughed when she realized she was sharing a treat he’d planned for the homecoming queen, and had teased him about it.

They had talked seriously then, about the college he would attend and law school, both back east, then about her scholarship, which had come through. She’d admitted she would be glad to leave her aunt’s home.

“I’m going to have my own place someday,” she’d bragged.

And here she was, back in her aunt’s old house. But now it was hers…hers and the twins. For the split second between one heartbeat and another, she wondered what life would have been like if Spence had been her husband, if the twins had been their babies….

When Spence had opened the bottle of champagne, he’d proposed a toast.

“To friendship. To the future. To us.” She had echoed his words and raised the glass to her lips.

“Wait,” he’d said. He had hooked his arm through hers. Arms linked, they had sipped the magic elixir.

It had been sweet and romantic. When the moon rose over the mountain peak and laid a sparkling trail on the swift flowing river, he had leaned over and kissed her. Full on the lips. Mouth open. Tongue gently asking for entry between her surprised lips.

Then came the rush. A wild, swift, painful release of pleasure that had made her gasp.

He had deepened the kiss at that moment, taking advantage of her momentary start to delve inside and claim her mouth for his own in a way no boy had ever done. And in that instant, she had known this was a man’s kiss, given to a woman. She had responded in kind.

When they had pulled apart, both had been breathing in deep, harsh drafts. They had taken another sip of champagne from the plastic stemmed flutes, their eyes never leaving each other as they drank a wordless toast.

When the flutes were empty, he had tossed them into the back and slid across the space between the bucket seats. Then he’d lifted her into his arms and settled her across his lap. They’d kissed again.

For her, it was as if the heavens had opened and poured all its blessings on them. Happiness, like golden raindrops, splashed through her spirit, and rainbows formed, faded and reformed behind her closed eyelids.

She’d been to parties. She’d been kissed. But not like this. Nothing would ever be like this total bliss, this blending of hearts and minds and spirits. She sensed they had changed. They had gone from best friends to lovers in a single melding of the lips and their spirits.

“You taste like honey,” he murmured, leaving her mouth and tracing a path to her ear. “Like hot honey.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “I am hot…achy hot…”

His body pressed urgently against hers. She felt the rigid length of him against her thigh and wasn’t shocked at the blatant evidence of his desire. Then she was a little shocked…at herself. She’d never been this close to a male, had never felt an erection, but the knowledge only excited her more.

Because it was Spence. And because she trusted him—her best friend, her lover. She shivered in anticipation.

“Spence,” she whispered as a thread of desperation unwound inside her. “The yearning…make it go away.”

“I will,” he said just as fervently. “We will. Together.” He caressed her back, then slipped one hand under her hair to nestle against her scalp.

This time the kiss was explosive, filled with needs they had never dared confess, much less share. She whimpered and moaned. Sometimes she sighed. The kiss went on.

Driven to boldness, she pushed her hands under his T-shirt and found the heated expanse of smooth skin laced with hard muscle. There was hair on his chest. Not a lot, but enough to fascinate while she ran her fingers through it.

He groaned and pressed her hands flat against him. “Yes, Ally, touch me. In any way you want. For as long as you want. It feels…too good,” he muttered.

She thrilled at the shudder that passed through his lean, muscular body. When his hands began a gentle exploration along her waist, she held her breath, wanting…needing…

“Yes,” she said on a sigh when his hand slid over her hot, hot flesh, along her back, down her sides and up her middle. He hesitated then he cupped her breast, taking its weight into his hand.

His heart pounded in unison with hers as the tension escalated to dizzy heights. Her nipple drew into a tight bud against his palm. He rubbed in circles until spirals of sensation echoed down into her core. Breaking the kiss, she pressed her face into his shoulder and bit, very gently, into the strong cords of his neck.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, appalled that she wanted to bite him. It was something she’d never done.

“No, it’s okay. That didn’t hurt. Bite me some more. I like it. I like anything you do.”

His smile flashed white and quick in the deepening night. Her smile was hesitant. She’d never felt this way, so certain and yet so unsure. It was odd…

He dipped his head and nibbled at her lips. She caught his bottom lip between her teeth and sucked. He drew a harsh breath. Against her breasts, his heart bucked like a rodeo bronco gone wild. Hers went wild with him.

“Ally, I want to see you. Do you mind?”

The question was undemanding, eager but patient. Tears sprang into her eyes. “You are so gentle,” she said.

“I want to be gentle. I wouldn’t do anything to scare you. Do you believe me?”

“Yes.”

He urged her to rest against the car door. His hands went to her blouse. One by one, he unfastened the row of tiny buttons shaped like bows, white against the blue cotton. Her white bra looked dainty, almost flimsy against her tan. She moved instinctively to cross her hands over her chest, then placed them instead around him, sliding one behind him, the other resting on his upper arm.

He smiled again, his gaze catching hers and holding it while he laid a broad hand over her tummy and caressed. “You are so innocent,” he said, almost as if he spoke to himself.

“I am…I mean, I haven’t…”

“I know what you mean. Neither have I.”

He dropped a quick kiss on her mouth, then, looking into her eyes, slid his hands behind her. She felt him pause, then his fingers glided beneath her bra on each side of the hook that held it closed.

“Are you comfortable with this? I can stop at any time. Just say the word.”

She considered, then shook her head, not wanting him to stop. He understood her meaning.

After unfastening the hooks he pushed the blouse off her shoulders. The bra came with it. He carefully laid them over the steering wheel. His eyes came back to her.

“I’m not—”

“Shh,” he said. “You’re beautiful. May I?”

Spellbound, she watched as he tested each tip with his tongue. She closed her eyes and rubbed his shoulders, his neck, threaded her fingers into his hair. He kissed her breasts until they tingled. He drew magic circles that spun off madly into her body and collided with the spirals he’d already caused.

“I want us to touch…my skin, yours,” she tried to explain. “I need to touch all over….”

He leaned away from the seat and stripped his T-shirt off over his head. When he pulled her against him, hot smooth flesh against hot smooth flesh, she trembled as their need reached the flaming point.

“Spence, that’s…that’s…it feels…”

“Incredible,” he murmured. “Ah, Ally, you are so incredibly sweet.”

She writhed against him. He caressed her with sweet movements and shrugs of his body against hers, satisfying and feeding her passion at the same instant.

He fed on her lips. She sipped from his. She learned the shape of his teeth, the points and edges, that the bottom one wasn’t quite even with the others. He explored the texture of her mouth, the smooth flesh behind her lips, showed her the velvety tracing of tongue on tongue.

His movements were sure. There was a maturity about him, a manliness, she had never noticed. It reached deep into her soul.

In turn, she felt a blossoming inside, in a hidden glen that now felt the kiss of the sun warming the loamy earth, readying it for spring and new growth.

“Straddle me,” he requested.

His hands on her waist lifted her. He had strength she hadn’t suspected, her weight easy to him. She swung her leg over his thighs. He settled her against him.

“Oh,” she said as entirely new sensations erupted.

“Now be still,” he ordered and gave a short, self-deprecating laugh. “You have me on the edge. One slip and I’ll go right over.”

His confession thrilled her in ways she couldn’t name. Her blood flowed with golden lava, with champagne bubbles and laughter.

“Me, too,” she said, biting desperately, carefully, on his shoulder. “I’m the same, so…so…” She didn’t know the words.

“Very much so,” he agreed.

He found the bow that closed the drawstring to her summer slacks. It opened when he tugged. Then he slipped his hands inside the material and cupped her bottom. She fit her breasts to his chest.

“We’re hot, you and I,” she whispered. “Our skin, it’s like fire on fire.”

“I went up in smoke a long time ago. You’re just now catching up.”

When he moved slightly, she gasped as tremor after tremor of need arced through her.

“See?” he said.

He smiled again, and it was so tender she could have wept had there been time. But he was kissing her again, and the stars dropped from their orbits and into her soul.

She didn’t know how long they kissed and touched each other. Forever, it seemed.

The moon spread a molten path of silver across the river as it rose higher. Still they kissed.

And kissed.

At last she knew it had to stop or they had to go further. “This isn’t enough,” she complained, panting lightly, placing carefully spaced kisses along his collarbone and down his chest as far as she could reach. “This has got to…to finish.”

He groaned and caught her to him, pulling her hands behind her back and holding them there.

“Let me touch you,” she requested and pressed hard against the ridge in his jeans.

“No.”

She rose slightly on her knees and rubbed against him.

“Don’t.”

This time the tone was stern, older, the disciplined male taking command instead of letting her do as she wished in their love play.

“Why?”

He kissed her eyes instead of answering when she stared at him in the shadowy moonlight. She leaned farther back and looked at him, beginning to feel hurt and confused.

“Don’t hate me,” he said.

She was surprised. “I don’t. I never would—”

He laid his mouth over hers until the words were stilled. “We have something special. We shouldn’t have…It was my fault. I shouldn’t have let it go this far. I didn’t mean to—”

“What did you mean to do?”

“Talk.” He smiled briefly, almost sadly. “Share a kiss for old times’ sake. Not this…not this far, not this much. It was a…surprise.”

His explanation made no sense. “What?” she asked. “What was a surprise?”

He lifted her from him and moved to his seat. She suddenly felt chilled. When he handed her the clothing, she pulled it on hurriedly. After yanking his T-shirt over his head, he turned back to her, lifting her face to his with a finger under her chin. His expression was gentle, kind.

“Don’t be ashamed,” he ordered, reading her reaction correctly. “This was natural. It just wasn’t what I had planned. You’re my friend. I want to keep it that way.”

Pride made her face him without flinching. “I understand. I’d better get home. I have to get up at five to pick up my papers.” Fatigue swept over her as reality shoved its way into her consciousness.

He had driven them to town, away from the moonlight and its induced madness, her heart too numb to ache. Yet…

Ally picked up her coffee cup. It was empty. She realized she’d been sitting there for an hour, reliving the past. Frowning, she jumped to her feet. The day was wasting. Where were the men who were supposed to be working on the house?

The ringing of the doorbell jarred Ally out of a sound sleep. She sat up on the sofa and wondered who was so darned impatient at her front door. She noted the afternoon was half over and still no carpenters.

She checked the peephole and opened the door. “Hello, James. What happened to you?”

The carpenter’s son stood on the porch, his arm in a cast from fingers to elbow. “Uh, Dad and I, we had a wreck this morning on our way over.”

“Oh, no! How’s your father? Is he hurt?”

James nodded, his summer-blond hair falling over his forehead in a carefree manner, belying the seriousness of his face. “He’s in the hospital, leg broke in three places. They’ll have to put pins in it.”

“I’m so sorry. Was anyone else in the truck? Your mom?”

“No, just the two of us. The guy in the dump truck wasn’t hurt at all. He just barged through a red light and mowed us down.”

She tsked in sympathy. “Come in out of the heat,” she invited, opening the door wider. “I have some tea—”

“I need to get back to the hospital and stay with my mom. They’re gonna operate on the old man as soon as the surgeon gets there. He’s out playing golf or something.” He gestured vaguely with one hand. “I don’t think we’ll get back to your job for two or three months.”

She thought that was an optimistic estimate. “Don’t worry about it. I can do the painting myself.”

He nodded, looking miserable. “I called several buddies but they’re all working on the new construction job over on the other side of town. You know, the fancy apartment complex they put in over by the lake.”

She knew where he meant. Spence had moved into a bachelor apartment there last February. The planned community was modern and had lots of activities for singles, she’d heard.

“Don’t worry about a thing here,” she assured the young carpenter. “I’ll take care of it. Or it’ll be waiting for you when you’re able to work again.”

“Thanks. Well, I’d better run.”

“Tell your dad I said hello and to take care. You, too.”

He nodded and loped off, his hair flopping against his collar until he pulled on a baseball cap, the bill backwards. She smiled, feeling much older than the injured twenty-five-year-old. Seven years. It could be the difference between one lifetime and the next.

Of course, one night could do the same.

After those wild kisses, from the time Spence had dropped her off, making sure she was safely inside her aunt’s house, and the dawn of the next day, she had aged considerably. The bubbles had evaporated from her blood and her mind. She had taken a good hard look at herself.

Her looks were not extraordinary. Her thick hair, which had some natural curl, was okay, she supposed. And when she was eighteen, it still had some gold in it. Her friends at school had been envious. Big blond hair was in.

Her eyes were a nice shade of blue, but her lashes were short and a medium sort of brown. So were her eyebrows. Her hair would probably be the same when she grew older.

But she didn’t mind working hard. And she was well-organized. She could take on a lot of tasks, even drudgery.

With her aunt’s blessings and some savings left over from her parents’ insurance, plus her paper route, baby-sitting and lawn mowing money, she’d started classes at the local college the week after graduation and had devoted the next six years of her life to earning degrees, with only a short break for a honeymoon between classes.

Going into the bedroom to change into fresh clothes before picking up the twins, she wondered when she’d had time to date Jack, not to mention get married and take over home responsibilities, too. She must have been crazy…..

No. Lonely. The haunting sadness strummed through her again. Her college days had been busy, but she lived them basically alone, running from work to class and back to work. There’d been little time for fun.

During her senior year, her aunt had decided to sell the house, the only home Ally had known since she was eleven, and move to a retirement community in a warmer climate.

When her aunt had told her, Ally had realized she would have no one nearby. She’d lived in an apartment in Durango while completing her studies, but she’d spent one Sunday each month with her only relative.

At least it had been contact with a person who had some kind of bond with her. In fact, she and her aunt had dealt very well with each other once she was grown.

Ally thought the responsibility for rearing a child had weighed on her aunt, who had never been around children much. Now they visited once or twice a year, usually with Ally going down to the senior citizens’ community at Tucson in early spring and her aunt coming to Buttonwood for Thanksgiving. It was a satisfying arrangement.

She wondered if the visits would continue now that she had two children to raise. That would probably frighten her aunt into moving to Florida or somewhere equally remote.

Grabbing her handbag, she headed for the garage, her spirits high once more as she went to claim the children she’d wanted for so long. She laughed as she backed out of the drive, the two infant seats already strapped into the back of the family-size vehicle.

One thing for sure, she wouldn’t be lonely for the next eighteen to twenty years.

Chapter Three

Ally discovered Rose wasn’t at the clinic when she stopped by the administrative office after signing the insurance forms and paying the hospital bills. The older woman had gone home with a migraine.

A tremor of unease ran over her. Her mom-in-law was supposed to help her with the twins that evening, in case she had trouble getting them settled.

She could manage. After all, babies slept most of the time. She had a fresh supply of formula in neat little plastic pouches, the twin bassinets were ready and boxes of diapers and infant gowns were stored in the closet.

“Is Taylor still here?” she asked Rose’s secretary.

“She’s checked out. She said to tell you she had a paper to turn in tomorrow, but would be in touch.”

Ally nodded and smiled as if she didn’t have a qualm in the world about taking home two babies and being responsible for them for the next eighteen years…all by herself.

She suddenly felt young and vulnerable, the way she had at eleven when she’d arrived in Buttonwood, with only her clothes and a favorite doll, to live with her aunt. Or when she went off to college, living in one room in an old Victorian house and working two jobs to make her own way.

This was a far cry from those days, she reminded herself. She was an adult and a child psychologist. She knew all about children. Sure, from a textbook standpoint, a less confident part of her replied.

Yes, well…

She hurried down the corridor to the nursery. Rachel Arquette was on duty. The nurse was pretty, young, single…and pregnant. She wasn’t saying a word about the father. Although Ally had heard the gossip going around, she didn’t believe for an instant it could be Dennis Reid, who was chief of staff at the clinic. He was old enough to be Rachel’s father, for Pete’s sake.

“Rachel, hi,” Ally said upon reaching the desk. “How are the twins?”

Rachel put away the folder she’d been reading. Although she smiled, her eyes had a certain harried look. Ally had always felt a kinship with the quiet nurse…maybe as one lost soul to another?

She pushed the thought aside as another nurse bustled out of the nursery. Ally smiled in relief at seeing Nell Hastings on duty.

Nell had taken care of the twins at the birthing. She was a delight to work with—calm in an emergency, soothing and kind in her dealings with nervous mothers and fathers, and simply wonderful with newborns.

“Well, here’s our mom,” Nell said cheerfully. “Hope you had a good night’s sleep.”

Her eyes twinkled with humor. Nell was such a contrast to her older sister, Blanche, who was one of the town’s two main gossips.

“Are the twins ready to go?” Ally asked with more poise than she felt.

“Yep, fed, burped and changed. The little angels are sleeping. Finally,” Nell added with a chuckle.

Ally’s heart lurched. “Did they have a restless night?”

“A tad,” Rachel spoke up. “They’ll be okay.”

“I’ll help you out to the car,” Nell volunteered. “Are you parked at the front?”

“Yes. I signed all the papers before coming up.”

“The office called up clearance.” Nell bustled off. “Let’s get the babies. You have any questions?”

“Not that I can think of.”

Ally took one baby, her hands shaking just a tiny bit, while Nell carried the other. At the car, the nurse strapped them into the infant seats with the skill of long practice. The darlings slept right through the process.

“Well, thanks,” Ally said.

Nell patted her back. “Sleep when they do, if you can. Tuck them against you if they get to crying. They’re used to sleeping in cramped quarters.” Her smile was reassuring.

“Right.”

Ally drove off at five miles per hour, suddenly afraid that someone was going to hit her car and injure the twins, afraid she wouldn’t see them in time, afraid she wouldn’t notice a red light and would run through it….

Her knuckles were white all the way to the cottage. She parked at home with a sigh of relief, as if she’d completed a major and dangerous feat.

Unbuckling Nicholas, she carried him into the house and gently tucked him into a bassinet, then returned for Hannah. Both slept peacefully throughout the transition. Ally checked that the baby monitor was on, then tiptoed out of the nursery and into the kitchen.

Well, there was nothing to this, she decided four hours later, checking the sleeping twins for the umpteenth time. She’d been worried for nothing. She could relax.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the doorbell rang. She closed the nursery door and dashed lightly into the living room. Her eyes widened when she recognized Spence outside the door.

“Hi,” she said, opening up and letting him in. “What are you doing in this neighborhood?”

Stupid question. His mother lived a quarter mile up the road. He was on his way there, most likely. He was dressed in blue shorts and a polo shirt. She noticed that his arms and legs were very tan. She imagined him playing golf or tennis with all the attractive single women at the apartment complex.

“Providing dinner,” he explained. “I didn’t know if you would remember to eat, this being your first night with the twins. I brought over sandwiches—beef tongue, sliced eggs, kosher dills and hot mustard with a touch of garlic.”

Ally hid a smile. Spence prided himself on his gourmet touch with sandwiches. His friends thought his combinations were weird. Spence cheerfully ignored their comments.

“Oh, thanks. That was thoughtful of you. The twins are sleeping, so everything is fine.”

“Great. Got a cold beer? It’s a furnace out today.”

Ally stared after him while he walked in, closed the door and kicked off his sneakers. He headed for the kitchen. She followed, her mind in a whirl.

“I don’t have any beer. Have you been playing tennis?” she asked, placing the bag of food on the table.

Another stupid question. It was none of her business.

“No, helping Johnny put in a drip system over at his place. Claire wants to do a native plant garden. Your aunt knew a lot about that stuff. I told Claire you could give her some advice on what to plant.”

He helped himself to a can of soda and rubbed the icy container over his forehead before popping it open and taking a long drink.

“Well, I know a little,” she admitted. “My aunt let me help her pick out plants. How are Claire and Johnny doing with their new baby? Lucy—isn’t that her name?”

“Yes. They’re doing okay. Johnny says she’s sleeping all night now. You want a root beer?”

When she nodded, he plucked one from the fridge, nudged the door shut with his hip and settled at the table.

“I’m starved,” he continued. “Don’t bother with a plate for me. I won’t need one.” He dug in.

Ally put two paper plates on the table anyway and took a seat across from him. She felt funny with him there. It was the first time they’d been alone since…since…high-school graduation night.

Heat rushed to her face for no reason. That ill-advised episode was behind them. She would be wise to forget it had ever happened, just as he had.

She took a sip of root beer, then unwrapped the other sandwich, touched again by his thoughtfulness. The inexplicable tenderness she’d experienced toward him at the hospital returned.

From the baby monitor, she heard soft noises, as if one of the twins was restless. She tensed, but neither cried. They were certainly sleeping a long time.

She wanted to comment on this, but Spence had made it clear with his brief responses to her questions about the other couple that he wasn’t interested in discussing babies and such. The silence stretched between them. He didn’t seem to notice.

Irritation pricked at her. She knew it was perfectly irrational, but his hearty appetite and indifference to conversation made her angry. She was jumpy with the sleeping children in the house. It would have been nice to discuss this natural state caused by being a new parent. Once, she wouldn’t have hesitated to pour her heart out to him.

But not now.

After eating the meal, she tossed her used plate in the trash and sipped the root beer. Spence polished off his food in short order.

“Ahh,” he murmured. “I might make it through the night. Got any dessert?”

“There’s sherbet in the freezer, cookies in the pantry.” She frowned as he rummaged through her shelves.

“Nonfat,” he said, reading the label on the cookies with a grimace. “What’s wrong with good old-fashioned butter? Has everyone gone mad?”

He was teasing. She knew that. It didn’t make her feel any better. “Some of us have to watch our weight,” she informed him rather tartly, although she forced herself to put a smile behind the words.

He swung around and looked her over from head to foot. “Do you watch yours?”

“Yes.”

The heat poured over her again as his eyes continued to study her. Once she would have told him all her worries. Not that she had any great ones, she quickly assured herself. She was just jumpy because of the twins.

“Do you think the twins are sleeping a long time?” she asked, then wished she hadn’t.

“How long have they been asleep?”

“Since I brought them home from the hospital.” She glanced at the clock. “Four hours.”

“Hmm, that doesn’t sound long.”

“Babies usually eat every three or four hours.” She stared at the monitor, then the clock again.

Spence narrowed his eyes and observed her for a long minute. “Well, let’s go look at them.”

She stood when he did. He motioned for her to lead the way. They walked down the short hall. Since he was in his socks, he made no sound at all. She tried to walk as softly.

After easing the door open, she tiptoed across the nursery and surveyed the sleeping babies. Her heart melted. They looked like cherubs, sweet and innocent and trusting. She smiled at Spence and pointed toward the door. They quietly left. He closed the door behind them.

“What are you thinking?” Spence asked, a curious note in his baritone voice as they returned to the kitchen.

“How innocent they are. How trusting.” She shook her head. “I don’t feel worthy of it.”

“Mom said you would make the perfect mother.”

Ally glanced up at him in surprise. “You discussed me and the children with Rose?”

“Of course.” His eyes locked with hers. “She worried about you during the winter. After Jack was gone. She said your grief was very deep and very lonely.”

Ally looked away from his probing gaze, feeling the strange loneliness descend on her again. She didn’t understand it at all.

“He was at work. Alone. We had both worked late that day. I didn’t think to check on him when I got in and he wasn’t home.”

She stopped, wondering if she’d given too much away about the last months and years of her marriage. She would never discuss her relationship with Jack with anyone, especially Spence. Although he had never said anything, she had always sensed his disapproval of the marriage.

“Let it go,” Spence advised. “It was an accident, one of those things that happen and you can’t do a damned thing about it because it’s too late.”

The harshness of his voice startled her. She wondered what had happened in his personal life to make him speak in that tone of unrelenting certainty and bitter regret.

Sympathy stirred in her. She had imagined him swinging lightly from girl to girl, the way he had in high school, and never settling on one for long. Maybe he had been hurt in the past. If so, he hadn’t shared it with her or Rose or Jack, not that she knew of.

Not that he would share anything with Jack. The two brothers had represented the epitome of sibling rivalry and the very opposites in personalities.

Where Jack had been introspective and intent, a man who took responsibility seriously, Spence had been carefree and laughing. Not that Spence was irresponsible. Far from it. He just had a more tolerant view of the world. He had made life bearable during the difficult time when she had come to live with her aunt. He had shared his family with her—

She shied away from the past and its memories. There was the future to think about. She had the sole responsibility for those two darling twins. Life would be far from lonely from now on.

Giving Spence a radiant smile, she said, “I’m sure Nicholas and Hannah will keep me far too busy to dwell on the past and its mistakes, whatever they were.”

“Such as your marriage?” he asked in a deadly quiet manner, his eyes fastening on her again.

For a second she couldn’t move or think. He had thought the marriage was a mistake. Hurt flooded through her, exposing pain she hadn’t realized she felt. Maybe an orphan hadn’t been a good enough match—

No, Spence wouldn’t think such a thing. It was something else, but she didn’t know what. As she stared at him, perplexed by the hidden nuances of his words and expression, his face softened.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.”

She didn’t know what he was talking about. “What?”

“Nothing.” His face assumed its usual devil-may-care grin, effectively hiding the inner thoughts he guarded.

At that moment, a soft snuffle came over the monitor. It was followed by a wail. A second cry chimed in.

She and Spence laughed at the same time.

“Looks like you’re going to be busy. Duty calls, Mom,” he teased. “Need a hand with the feeding?”

“Yes.” She led the way to the nursery, wishing she hadn’t sounded so grateful.

“Okay, how do you do this?” he asked cheerfully, watching as she scooped Hannah into her arms.

He mimicked her gestures. Returning to the kitchen, she heated the formula pouches in warm water just enough to take the chill off. The twins wailed the whole time.

“Okay, Uncle Spence, let’s see how well that famous charm works in this situation,” she challenged, handing him one of the pouches.

He gave her a sidelong glance. “The McBride charm never fails. Remember that.”

She didn’t have to. She had never forgotten, she realized as they settled into the chairs. The babies stopped crying and nursed hungrily.

“Hah, that’s how you stop the screaming,” Spence stated in satisfaction. “You plug up the holes.”

Watching him with Nicholas, that funny feeling came back. This time it reached all the way to the core of her being. Be careful, she warned herself without defining exactly what the danger was.

Thirty minutes later, they put the twins back to bed—fed, burped and diapers changed. Spence handled that part with aplomb, too.

“How did you know to come over?” she thought to ask when they settled in the living room to catch the news on television. “You didn’t just happen by with two of your famous gourmet sandwiches.”

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