A Marriage Made in Texas (The Brothers Kincaid) (16 page)

Why couldn’t Gail ask him for anything? Ask him for help, of any sort? Why did she have an almost obsessive need for independence? He didn’t have the answers, but he’d bet his last penny it had something to do with her first marriage. It hadn’t escaped his notice that while Gail had told him of the beginning of her marriage, she’d said nothing of the end.

Did she think he was going to leave her, after the baby came? That he was just marking time until he could leave her? Or maybe, he thought with a sick feeling in his gut, maybe she was the one who wanted out. He’d talked her into marrying him, after all. Had
it been a mistake? Maybe she’d seen it as the logical solution, and then after she had the baby, they could call it quits.

Except he’d be damned if he would let her end their marriage so easily. Not without a fight. Because Jay had a very good reason for wanting their marriage to work. Tonight, when Gail had told him she hadn’t thought to come to him, he’d finally realized why it hurt so badly.

He’d fallen in love with his wife. Hell, he’d probably been in love with her for weeks. A blind man could have seen it, yet he hadn’t. Not until it clubbed him over the head in his kitchen tonight.

The wind whipped at him and he pulled his jacket closer around him. Yeah, this is perfect, he thought, beginning to walk again. He’d finally fallen in love, and with his own wife yet, and she very clearly wasn’t the least bit in love with him. Because if Gail loved him, how could she continue to cut him out of her life, and her daughters’ lives?

He wasn’t ready to concede defeat, though. He’d approach his problem logically. He had a way with women, knew what they liked, knew how to treat them. And with Gail, he had a big advantage, because they were living together. She liked him, she loved the sex, so how hard could it be to make his own wife fall in love with him?

T
HE ANNUAL
A
RANSAS
B
AY
Area Spelling Bee, which several area schools combined to host, always drew a large crowd. This year it took place at Roxy’s school, but unfortunately, someone had been overly optimistic about the auditorium’s capacity. Mel sat on the floor up front with a group of her friends. Gail couldn’t find her mother in the crowd, though knowing Meredith, she’d found a seat somewhere.

Leaning back against a partition, Gail counted herself lucky to have its meager support. Too bad she’d been standing and walking all day at work, and her feet were killing her. She’d kill for a chair.

“Do you want me to try to scare up a chair? I thought I saw some folding metal ones over by one of the doors,” Jay said, as if reading her thoughts.

She smiled at him and shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m sure it’s impossible. I’m fine here.”

Gail hadn’t seen Jay until he’d walked in that evening, shortly before they left for the spelling bee. The night before, she’d tried to wait up for him, but finally, around midnight, she’d fallen asleep. When she woke in the morning, he’d already left for work. So
she’d been apprehensive, to say the least, about his mood when she finally did see him.

And here he was, acting as if they had never exchanged a harsh word. She should be glad, she supposed, but instead it ticked her off. How dare he act as if nothing had happened when she’d spent half the night and the entire next day worrying that he was angry? Or hurt. Or didn’t care about her anymore. The jerk.

Still, he’d had reason to be upset with her. At first she’d dismissed what he’d said about her not wanting him involved in the girls’ lives as an exaggeration. But throughout the long night and even longer day, she’d been forced to do a lot of thinking. And she had to admit, she had excluded Jay. Oh, not consciously, but subconsciously, she’d been afraid to share her daughters. With Barry, she had no choice. With Jay, she did. And she’d chosen wrong. It was past time for her to admit it.

“About last night,” she began. “I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t read his expression when he looked at her, but then he smiled. “Yeah, I am, too. But I don’t think now is the time to go into it.”

“No, I know. I just wanted—”

“Well, if it isn’t the happy couple,” Barry said sarcastically, halting in front of them. “What are you doing here, Kincaid? Shouldn’t you be off saving lives?”

Jay glanced at Barry. “Roxy asked me.”

That had Barry frowning and Gail, in turn, smiling.

Barry must have seen, because he turned to her
with a smarmy smile. “You’re looking a little bilious, Gail. But then, pregnancy never agreed with you, did it? At least, it never did much for your looks.” The smile changing to a sneer, he glanced at Jay and added, “Did Gail tell you she trapped me the same way? Or did she forget to mention that little news item before she forced you down the aisle?”

Slightly nauseated, Gail sucked in a deep breath. Barry always had known how to hit her dead in her insecurities.

Jay looked at him a minute before he spoke. “I didn’t think you could possibly be as stupid as you seemed, Summers, but I see I was wrong. You’re even more stupid. As for Gail,” he reached for her hand and smiled at her, intimately, then glanced back at Barry. “I’m smart enough to know a jewel when I see her. And to hang onto her.”

“If you’re through making an ass of yourself, Barry,” Gail said, “you can go now. I’ll get the girls’ bags to you after the program.”

He started to speak but the lights dimmed, and people began shushing each other, so he left without saying anything else. But the damage had been done, Gail knew.

Because next to Jay, where she couldn’t help but overhear every juicy detail, stood Letty Mason, arguably the biggest gossip in Aransas City. By the end of the program it would be all over town that Gail Kincaid was pregnant and that nice young doctor had married her because of it.

Jay spoke in her ear. “Don’t give him the power to upset you.”

“I’ll try,” she said, looking up at him and giving him a wan smile. “Thank you. That was really sweet, what you said to him.”

The backs of his fingers brushed her cheek. “I meant it,” he said.

Their gazes met and held, his serious, compelling. The program started, breaking the connection. Gail drew in a shaky breath, and put a hand on her stomach to calm her jumping nerves. What had just happened?

“D
ID YOU SEE
Roxy’s face when they took the picture for the newspaper?” Gail asked Jay on the way home. “She had a death grip on that trophy. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her so excited. I’m so proud of her.”

“You should be,” Jay said. “She had some stiff competition.” He glanced over at her, glad to see that though she still looked tired, the pinched exhaustion seemed to have faded since she’d finally gotten off her feet. “Obviously, she gets her brains from your side of the family.”

Gail laughed. “Barry actually did quite well in school. That’s why it was so funny when you told him he was stupid tonight. I’m not sure anyone ever has.”

“It’s time someone did.” He knew she might not answer, but he asked the question, anyway. “Why did you tell him you were pregnant?”

They pulled into the driveway just then and Jay hit the garage door opener.

Gail sighed. “I didn’t tell him. He guessed when I told him we were getting married.”

Cheered that she hadn’t confided in her ex, Jay got out of the car and opened the kitchen door. “Do you think he’ll tell Mel and Roxy?”

Gail shook her head. “Not directly. But since Letty Mason was standing beside you tonight when Barry was talking to us, I’m sure the news is going to be all over town. We’re going to have to tell the girls sooner than I’d wanted to. I want them to hear it from me.”

“Letty Mason?” He couldn’t quite place her, then he remembered last week she’d been in the clinic. “Oh, yeah, the woman who never shuts her mouth. Luckily, she’s Tim’s patient, not mine.”

“Unfortunately, she knows everyone in Aransas City. And she’ll tell everyone, too.”

He put his hand on her arm. “Does it bother you so much that people will know you’re pregnant with my baby?”

“It bothers me that like Barry, they’ll think I tricked you into marrying me. I know I shouldn’t let it matter, but it does.”

He smiled, then leaned down and kissed her mouth lightly. “Then don’t worry. Because all they have to do is see us together, and they’ll know that’s not the case.”

She looked as if she wanted to argue the point. She was also pale and exhausted again, so rather than keep her standing, he simply scooped her into his arms. “Come on, you need to go to bed.”

“No, I don’t. Put me down. We need to talk.”

He glanced at her. “On one condition. You lie on the couch and let me get you something for your headache.”

Those pretty lips pursed. “How did you know I had a headache?”

“I’m a doctor, remember?” he said, and put her on the couch. “Plus, you’ve been rubbing your temples every few minutes,” he added as he left the room.

A few minutes later, he came back and gave her the medicine and a glass of water, then pulled her feet up and into his lap and started to massage them.

Her eyes closed and she gave a heartfelt groan. “That feels like heaven. Oh, God, I think I love you.”

What would it be like if she said those words to him and meant them? But he answered in kind. “Yeah? If I’d known that’s all it took, I’d have rubbed your feet a long time ago.”

She opened her eyes and stared into his. He wasn’t sure what to make of her expression. Surprise, uncertainty, apprehension. Nerves. He smiled, realizing he was making her nervous.

“Your ankles are swollen. Did you sit down at all today at work?” Gail had pretty feet, small and delicate, even if her ankles were swollen to twice their normal size.

Bemused, she gazed at him. “Not really. It’s not usually so busy.”

“If you can put your feet up, even for half an hour at lunch, it will help you.”

“Yes, Doctor.” She gave him a cheeky salute.

He smiled and shrugged. “Sorry, occupational hazard. But you need to take better care of yourself.”

He began on her legs, his fingers loosening the tight muscles of her calves. Just that little bit of pampering and she already looked much better.

“Jay, about last night.” She leaned forward and laid her hand over his. “I’m sorry. You were right, I should have come to you for the money. I just—have a hard time with the money issue. It’s important to me to know I can support myself and my daughters.”

“I’m not sure what one has to do with the other. I don’t want you to quit your job. I just want to help. To share.”

“It’s hard for me to take money from anyone.”

“Even your husband?” he asked softly.

“Even you. I’m sorry.”

At least she was talking, even if she wasn’t saying exactly what he wanted to hear. “After I cooled off, I got to thinking you might have been right. I might have overreacted.” He shot her a sideways glance. “A little.”

Her lips quirked, then she sobered. “When you left, I thought you might not come back.”

“Why? Is that what Barry did?” he asked quietly. He knew there was something important she wouldn’t tell him.

Her eyes closed. “I don’t want to talk about Barry. Can we talk about it another time?”

Or never? Would she ever trust him enough to tell him? It cost him, but he didn’t press her. Instead, he
said, “I left because I didn’t want to say things I’d regret. And I knew if I stayed, I would. But it never crossed my mind not to come back.”

She leaned forward and kissed him. Placed her hand on his cheek and looked deep into his eyes. “I’m glad you were there tonight.”

“Gail.” He hesitated, wondering if he were making a mistake, but he asked anyway. “Will you let me pay for Roxy’s dance lessons?”

She smiled. “Yes.”

“And if you need something in the future, will you let me help you?”

She studied him for a long moment. “What if I promise I’ll talk it over with you, and we can decide together.”

It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but it was a hell of a lot better than having her go to her mother to borrow money. “Sounds like a deal,” he said. “And now, let’s get you to bed.” He got up and picked her up to carry her to the bedroom.

“What if I’m not sleepy?” she asked with a sly smile, winding her arms around his neck.

He laughed. “Good. Because I’m not sleepy, either,” he said, and kissed her.

T
HE NEXT MORNING
, Gail went shopping with her mother. Since he didn’t work Saturdays this left Jay at loose ends. He decided to go see his brother and maybe talk him into doing a little fishing.

He knocked on the door and hearing Mark call out, entered a scene of bedlam. His brother stood with his
back to him, holding the baby while looking up at his son, who perched on top of the refrigerator, brown eyes sparkling with devilment.

“Thank God,” Mark said, thrusting the squalling baby into his arms. “I’ve got to get Max down and I need both hands to do it.” He turned back to the refrigerator. “You’ve got two seconds to come down from there, Max,” he said sternly. “I mean it.”

The voice that struck fear in the hearts of animal smugglers everywhere didn’t seem to have the same effect on Mark’s son. Max shook his head. “Don’t wanna.”

Jay looked down into the little red face of the infant in his arms. “She’s got your temper,” he told Mark. Sniffing, he detected one reason Miranda wasn’t happy. “I think she’s dirty.”

“Well, change her,” his exasperated brother said, hauling his now hysterically screaming son down off the refrigerator and stuffing him under his arm. “Don’t just stand there like a moron. I’m going to have a talk with Max.”

“But…” Jay gulped. “She’s dirty. You know, not just wet.” He’d changed a diaper before. He was almost certain he’d changed Max when he was little. Hadn’t he?

Mark halted at the door and shot him an evil grin. “Get used to it. Babies are always wet, dirty or hungry.” With that, he went out with Max.

Miranda had tuned up to full volume now, shrieking and wailing, her face growing redder by the minute. How could such a tiny thing make such a huge
amount of noise? “How hard can it be?” Jay asked her. “Come on, Princess. Uncle Jay will take care of you.”

Fifteen minutes later, Miranda rewarded him with a beaming smile. It had only taken him four diapers and half a box of wet wipes, but he had succeeded, by God. He felt pretty good about the whole thing, too. He put the baby in her crib and went to wash his hands.

When he returned, Miranda was kicking her feet in the air and cooing, just as though she hadn’t been throwing a walleyed fit only moments before. Marveling at the lightning-quick changes of mood, Jay scooped her up and went into the living room.

Sitting in the rocker, he settled his niece in the crook of his arm. Buddy, Cat’s parrot, greeted him with a raucous, “Hello, sucker!”

“You may be right,” Jay said, looking down at the gurgling baby. If holding his niece turned his heart to mush, what would it be like to hold his own child in his arms? He suspected he might be even more of a soft touch than Mark.

“That child is going to kill me,” Mark said, entering the room a few minutes later. “I’m having a heart attack.” He put his hand to his chest. “I’m sure of it.”

Jay grinned. “You look healthy enough to me. I take it you left Max contemplating his sins?”

“Hah. I’m sure he’s plotting something even more diabolical.” Mark shuddered and took a seat on the
couch. “But he’s in his room, and I think, safe for the moment.”

“Where’s Cat? Out with the birds?”

Mark frowned. “Getting her hair cut. I told her it looked fine, but she laughed at me. Told me to have fun,” he added glumly.

“Too bad. I came by to see if you wanted to go fishing. The redfish are running.”

“Fat chance. If I know my wife, she’s going to take full advantage of me being home with the kids. God knows what she’ll do after the hair thing.” He glanced over at Jay and the baby. “I see you figured it out.”

“No problem. Did you think I wouldn’t?” Miranda grabbed his finger and began gumming it.