Ten Acres And Twins

He looked as if he’d just rolled out of bed.

“You make that look easy,” he said.

“What?”

“Getting her in and out of that seat. It took me a long time to figure out those straps again after I got Wyatt to the hotel yesterday.”

“Where is he?” she asked, just now realizing that Jack wasn’t carrying him.

He pointed to his car. Whether from overprotectiveness, or a complete lack of trust, Abby was peering through the car window within seconds.

Wyatt was in his car seat, sound asleep. The cracked window provided adequate ventilation, and the morning air was comfortable for early August. The boy was in no danger, but still…

“How long have you left him in there?”

“Less than two minutes,” Jack said. “He was asleep when we got here, so I came up to look around on the porch.”

Abby squinted at him, wondering if he was being truthful. After yesterday, she wouldn’t be surprised if Wyatt had been left much longer. Jack might be some guru computer consultant, but he knew nothing about babies.

“Go ahead, touch the hood of the car,” he said with a raised brow. “It’s probably still warm.”

“That’s not necessary.” She sniffed and carried Rosie onto the porch. Once there, Abby foraged through her purse with one hand, searching for the door key.

“Let me help,” Jack offered, holding his arms out.

Reluctantly, Abby handed the baby over just long enough to locate her keys. Neither he nor Rosie seemed to mind the exchange. He smiled sweetly into the baby girl’s face, provoking a sweeter smile from Rosie, and a string of syllables that sounded something like, “Bibibibi deek?”

Ignoring Jack’s chuckled response, Abby opened the door and stepped inside. Subdued light from an overhead window set off the foyer’s original wood flooring, and somehow the house smelled fresh, despite the fact that it had been closed up most of the past two weeks.

Maybe it was an illusion—she’d always felt welcome when she walked through this doorway—but now just being here put her at ease. As if she’d come home.

Jack followed her inside, with Rosie prattling happily in his arms. “Why don’t I get Wyatt and put him in his crib?” Abby offered. “It’s still set up in the nursery.”

Without waiting for a response, she jogged back outside and lifted Wyatt from the car seat, cuddling him close as she returned.

Jack had disappeared into the house with Rosie, so she headed upstairs to the nursery. She put Wyatt into his own crib and backed quietly away.

At the doorway, she switched on the baby monitor and took the receiver with her. She found Jack and Rosie in the kitchen, looking out the French doors into the greenhouse Abby and Paige had built last year.

Jack was speaking gently to the child, holding her up so she could see out. As soon as Abby walked into the room, he turned and said, “The flowers are thriving out there. Have you been keeping them up?” He shifted Rosie to his other arm, already seeming adept at holding a baby.

Abby’s heart fell; she’d been counting on his complete and continuing discomfort with kids.

She put the receiver on the table and went to claim her little girl. “I have,” she admitted. “I had been helping Paige start a commercial cut-flower business, and I couldn’t let it all go.”

“Didn’t your family know the man who owned this place?”

“Mr. Apple Man,” she began, and paused to chuckle at herself for the mistake. “That’s what Paige and I called him when we were growing up, because of the orchards. Actually, his name is Larry Epelstein. When he got too old to run the place, he offered to sell it to us, cheap. He wanted to be sure someone got in here who would take care of his trees.”

“Everyone in your family has a green thumb, don’t they?”

“Guess so,” Abby answered, gnawing at her lip as she looked out at the colorful melange of flowers.

She’d need to water them today, and some of the varieties would need deadheading. She hadn’t found the energy to get the blooms to market lately. If things didn’t improve anytime soon, perhaps she never would.

Jack touched her arm. “Since we’re both here, why don’t we talk now?”

Still staring out into the greenhouse, she considered why it felt as if he held her very life in his hands. He seemed to hold a balance of power here. He had Wyatt, and the land the orchards were situated on. She knew Rosie and the house were every bit as valuable, but there was one difference.

Abby wanted what he had.

Pretending a courage she didn’t feel, she wandered over to the antique oak table that dominated the middle of the kitchen. “Guess now’s as good a time as any,” she said as she slid into a chair with Rosie on her lap.

Jack sat across from her, and actually smiled when Rosie started fussing. “Well!” he said. “It’s good to know that you can make yours cry, too.”

Abby swallowed a bristling retort and forced herself to smile back. “She probably just wants to play,” she said. “There’s an activity center in the nursery. I’ll sneak up and get it.”

She plopped the crying baby back into Jack’s arms and grinned at his swift change of expression. Now he looked close to tears.

She ran back up to the nursery, reminding herself all the way of how much more effective she’d be if she kept her cool.

After she lugged the toy back down to the kitchen and put Rosie into the seat, her sobbing stopped. But the knowledge that she and Jack were assured a few minutes of peace did little to calm Abby’s nerves.

“Okay,” she said, tugging at the neck of her T-shirt as she sat down again. “Where should we start?”

“I did a lot of thinking last night,” he said as he frowned at his hands, which were folded on the table. “We need to work out a way to keep the twins together.”

Abby felt a rush of relief so profound that she hopped up to kiss him. It was nothing more than a hasty smack on the cheek, but as soon as she did it she realized her mistake.

His beard scraped against her lips, making them feel soft and pouty. And he smelled incredible. Manly, like some bracing man’s soap, or like ocean air. She hadn’t experienced that sort of smell in a long, long time.

A deep, urgent response walloped her so powerfully that she immediately closed her eyes and collapsed back into her chair. When she opened them again, she realized he was checking out her chest.

Apparently, her kiss had affected him, too. Or perhaps he was always ready for an opportunity to check out a female body. Even Abby’s.

She crossed her arms in front of her. “Sorry,” she said. “You caught me by surprise.”

His crinkle-eyed gaze floated leisurely up to her face.

“Hey, don’t ever apologize for kissing me,” he said. Then he cleared his throat. “I just don’t know how to do it.”

“Um, do what, exactly?”

“Keep them together.”

“Oh, of course,” she said, sweeping her gaze to the precious baby girl she’d managed to forget for an instant.

“I’m not ready to give up my place in Kansas City,” he explained. “It’s a phenomenal town home, near the heart of the business district. Many of my clients have offices nearby.”