“That's horrible," she said.
“
Agreed. She'd been raised in a strict home. She
didn't know much about men or the world. She tried
to get in touch with Earl, but couldn't find him. Her
parents made things pretty ugly for her. She gave
birth to twins and when she turned eighteen a couple
of months later, they threw her out."
Stephanie sucked in a breath. "Just like that?"
“
Yeah. By then Earl was back in town for his
yearly convention. She went looking for him and
found him in the arms of another woman. He told
my mom that he didn't care about her, and never
had. As for his kids, they were her problem." He'd been an infant at the time and remembered
nothing of what had happened. Yet just thinking about what that bastard had done filled him with
fury.
“
She ran down to the hotel lobby, crying her
heart out," Nash continued. "The woman he'd been
with realized she'd made a mistake with Earl, as
well. Edie Reynolds took her home to Possum Landing and gave all of us a place to stay while my mom
got a job and saved money for an apartment. My
brother and I grew up there. It turns out that Edie's
two sons were also fathered by Earl Haynes, so
Gage is in town, as well, and Quinn, his brother,
should be arriving shortly." Stephanie shook her head. "I never could follow soap-opera plot lines, and this is a whole lot more
complicated. After moving to Glenwood, I heard a
lot about Earl Haynes and his brothers. They were
known as local lady-killers. I'd always assumed the
talk was just a bunch of rumors, but I guess it was
true. What's so interesting is that his sons are terrific
men. I guess they used to be pretty wild, but all of
them have settled down. You heard about the wives
and kids. Brett is in class with one of their boys. I
think the twins know a couple of their daughters.
There are so many, it's hard to keep them straight.
But they're all good kids."
“
They have some crazy notion that Haynes men
have boys when they're not in love with the women
they're getting pregnant and that they only have
girls when they are."
She laughed. "Oh, please. That's so not possi
ble."
“
Apparently there are plenty of girls to prove the
theory. Neither Kevin nor I have kids to put it to
the test.''
“
I've never heard of such a thing. Of course if
it's true, you're going to have to be prepared not to
have any boys." Her expression turned wistful. "I
really love my sons, but I wouldn't have minded a
little girl. Sometimes I miss things like hair ribbons
and dresses."
“
It could still happen."
She grinned. "Do you see a star parked over my
house? There's no way I would ever get married
again, so the odds of another child seem slim."
He felt her words down to his gut. Right up until
that moment, he'd been enjoying their conversation,
but now he only wanted to walk away. He started
sanding again. Slow down, he told himself. Steph
anie's reluctance to marry again didn't matter to
him. Not one bit.
“
You must have loved him very much," he said
into the silence.
“What? Who?"
“
Your husband. You don't want to marry again
because you loved him so much." She blinked several times, then attacked the base
boards. She used the sandpaper like a scrub brush,
then abruptly straightened.
“
Look," she said. "There are a lot of reasons I
don't want to get married again, but none of them
are because I loved Marty too much. I know that
sounds horrible, but it's the truth."
Nash didn't know what to do with the informa
tion, nor did he want to understand why the knot in
his gut suddenly went away.
There was a moment of awkward silence, then
they both spoke at once.
“Go ahead," he told her.
Stephanie started sanding again, this time with a
little less energy. "Fertility-gender legend or not,
you're going to be an uncle several times over.
Brace yourself for the onslaught." He hadn't thought of that. "No wonder the dinner tonight is at a pizza place," he said.
She laughed. "You sound as excited as if you
were facing a root canal without anesthetic. Are all
the family members expected to be there?"
“
Pretty much. Earl is hanging out in
Florida
with wife number six or seven. He wasn't invited. But all
the brothers, kids, half sister and spouses will be
there."
“Sounds like fun." Maybe to her. Kevin was engaged, as was Gage.
Quinn, the only other single guy in the extended
family, had yet to show up. Which meant Nash
would be odd man out.
He'd spent his life like that, he reminded himself. It was how he preferred things. But that didn't mean
it was going to be comfortable.
“
Want to come with me?" he asked. The invitation was impulsive, but he didn't withdraw it.
"You said the boys know a lot of the Haynes kids.
They'd have a good time. You could check out the
girls and see if the legend is true."
Stephanie dropped her piece of sandpaper and
wiped her hands on her jeans, all the while consid
ering the invitation. She didn't object to spending
some quality time with the featured player in her
erotic fantasies, even if she wasn't sure why Nash
would want her and the boys along.
“Won't it just be family?" she asked.
“Too much family. You could protect me."
He spoke lightly, but she thought she saw some
thing dark and lonely in his eyes.
Get a grip, she told herself. She had to stop read
ing things into Nash's expression that just weren't
there. The man wasn't lonely. He was fine. Most
people were fine. The thought of her protecting him
was laughable.
“I'll let you have the biggest piece of pizza," he promised.
She had to admit that she was curious about the
Haynes family. And a pizza dinner out would thrill
the boys. Then there was the issue of being in the
same room as Nash—a way she was starting to en
joy spending her time.
She looked at his dark eyes and the way his
mouth curved in a half smile. Maybe if she said yes
he would accidentally brush his hand against hers.
Maybe they would sit close enough together that she
could imagine what it would be like to be in bed and all tangled up with him. Not that she needed
much help in that department. He was already the
star of her intricately detailed daydreams.
What did she have to lose?
“
We'd love to join you," she said. "What time
do you want us to be ready?"
This was
not
a date, Stephanie told herself that
evening as she pulled off her red sweater and
grabbed one in teal. It was an evening out at a pizza
parlor, so there was no reason for her to sweat what
she was wearing. Really.
She pulled on the teal sweater and studied her
reflection. The color made her eyes look bluer, but the thicker cable knit made her look as though she
didn't have breasts. Complicating the decision of
what to wear was the thundering herd of elephants
in her stomach and the faint tremor in her fingers.
The latter had caused her to nearly put her e
y
e out
while applying mascara.
A knock on the door was followed by Brett call
ing, "Mom?" She gave her reflection one last glance and figured
this was as good as it was going to get. She fingered
her short hair, briefly wished (for the thousandth time in her life) to be tall, then told her oldest to
come in.
He pushed open the door and stepped into her
room.
“
What's up?" she asked as she crossed to the
dresser and studied her small earring collection.
There were simple gold hoops, a pair of dangling enameled flowers in light pinks and reds and several
inexpensive pairs she'd bought on sale. She picked
up the gold hoops.
“Why are we going out?" Brett asked.
She glanced up into the mirror and studied her
son's reflection. He stood beside her four-poster bed,
both arms wrapped around a post, as he swung back
and forth. His shoulders were slumped and his ex
pression was solemn.
“
Whoa—you're upset because we're going out
for
pizza?"
she said as she fastened the first earring. "Are you feeling okay?"
He gave her a half-hearted smile. "The pizza part
is fine."
“
What about hanging out with your friends and
playing video games? Is that what has you
bummed?" The smile broadened. "No."
“
Hmm, I don't think it's because we're letting
your brothers come along. I know we talked about
locking them in the closet when you and I want to leave, but I think it would hurt their feelings. The
minivan doesn't have a trunk, so we can't leave
them there."
“
Mo-om, I don't want to lock Jason or Adam in
a closet."
“
Good to know." She finished with the second earring and turned to face him. "That only leaves
Nash as the problem."
Brett dropped his gaze and stared at her bed
spread. While she would admit that the floral print
was very pretty, she didn't think it deserved to be
studied with that much intensity.
She walked over to Brett and put her hand on his
back. "He's a nice guy. What can I say? He invited
us to join him tonight. He's just found out he's re
lated to the Haynes brothers. You know how many of them there are. Plus their wives and their kids."
She lowered her voice. "Nash didn't exactly admit this, but I think he wanted us along because he's a
little nervous. I think he wants us to be a noisy distraction. That's it.''
Brett looked at her. The concern had faded from
his eyes. "Yeah?"
“
Yeah."
He smiled again. "We're really good at being
noisy."
She brushed the hair from his forehead. "I would
say you and your brothers are experts."
Nash held open the door to the large pizza res
taurant. When Stephanie and the kids had entered,
he walked in and saw the small desk up front. The
hostess there gave him a big smile. "How many?"
she asked.
“
We're part of the Haynes party," he said.
“
Okay. Through to the back. There are two dou
ble doors. You can't miss it. Just follow the noise."
The twins raced ahead with Brett trailing behind
them. Nash put his hand on the small of Stephanie's
back and urged her forward. As they got closer to
the room, the sound of conversation spilled into the
main restaurant.
Stephanie leaned close. "Sounds like little more
than controlled chaos," she said.
He looked at the dozens of people milling around
in the huge room. "I think controlled is stretching it."
They stepped inside where they were greeted by
Travis and Kyle. He introduced Stephanie and her
kids, then met several wives, two more brothers and three kids.