The Family Man

Logan’s keeping Tess and Hannah was almost as bad as Wes having them. And Logan wasn’t warm and fuzzy with the twins. Their reunion hadn’t been a happy one. Thea had listened on the other side of the kitchen door after the girls went into the living room. He’d been great with Glen, but he hadn’t lasted two minutes with his nieces.

Thea squared her shoulders and gave her foot a little shake, setting off her bells, trying to think happy thoughts. Logan wasn’t hopeless. He could learn how to be a dad. He’d get over his grief in time. And the temper? Well, he was a firefighter, wasn’t he? His temper couldn’t be that bad or they wouldn’t keep him on that Hot Shot crew.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to find a baby-sitter fairly quickly. Someone’s going to jump at a twenty-four-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week job.” She curbed her smile.

“I’ve got Glen,” he said stubbornly.

Despite herself, Thea blurted, “Glen needs a baby-sitter of her own.”

It took Logan a moment to nod. “She’s been a little out of it lately, but she’s been grieving. She raised Deb and me.”

“You can’t be serious.” Thea had a vision of the fairy-tale house burning down. Logan needed a little less attitude and a lot more reality.

“She’s good with the girls,” he argued, as if that trumped whatever argument she might have. He set his jaw and did that thing with his cheek.

“I don’t doubt she loves Tess and Hannah. But I doubt a woman who can’t take care of herself—even the basics of bathing and going to the bathroom—will be able to take care of them.”

Logan drew back. “She does that.”

Laying a hand on Logan’s arm, Thea shook her head. “I’ve been making a shopping list. I put adult diapers on the list.”

He backed away, rubbing his biceps where she’d touched him as if burned. “Glen has been taking care of herself for years. She’s perfectly capable—”

“How do you know?” Irritated that he couldn’t see what was happening to Glen, Thea propped her fists on her hips.

“I ask…” His expression wavered. “When I hugged her—”

Thea met Logan’s gaze. The truth was going to hurt. “I helped her take a bath last night. Her clothes were stained and crusty, as if she’d been in them for days.”

Logan opened his mouth, closed it and then looked at her as if she’d boxed him into an unpleasant corner.

The fact that he planned to leave Glen in charge of Tess and Hannah only strengthened her resolve to stay. If she had to be blunt and rattle his beliefs, she would. The twins had been in her care for two months. She was responsible for them.

After a moment, he said, “I just don’t think this will work.”

The urge to shout some sense into him became almost palpable. Thea fought it. “Trust me, Glen can’t do this alone. Whoever helps you will be shopping, driving, cooking, cleaning and doing laundry, plus keeping the girls up with their schoolwork and watching out for Glen. It’s a full-time job.”

He sucked on his cheek, his eyes a well of unresolved sadness. For whatever reason, he didn’t want her.

The knowledge stung. It was as if she’d been unwanted and lacking her whole life, and this was the last straw.

“You’re going to make me beg, aren’t you?” Thea said half jokingly as she blinked back tears of regret for Glen, the twins and herself.

For a fleeting moment, he smiled.

Oh, my. Something warm and intimate fluttered in Thea’s belly.

He gave her a rueful look, innocent and heartrending at the same time.

“How about a compromise? I’ll ask the twins if they want me to stay. If they don’t, I’ll help you find a sitter and be out of your hair with no more than a small loan for gas money.”

“And if they do want you to stay?”

“I’m your new sitter until things settle down.” Thea tried to keep her voice from trembling. Staying wouldn’t help her studies or fulfill her promise to her mother. Yet, Thea knew in her heart that she’d fight to stay because it was the right thing to do.

“I’ve got another idea.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m sure Glen’s going to come through. Since you seem so attached to the girls, I’ll let you stay a few days just to ease your mind.”

Thea didn’t understand why Logan was so reluctant to agree to her plan. Maybe her assessment of him as the hero who charged to the rescue had been in error. If so, she had just a few days to prove Tess and Hannah’s recalcitrant hero wrong.

“WHY IS SHE STILL HERE?” Tess wondered about Thea aloud. Tess didn’t understand why Thea hadn’t gone home. Sprawled across her bed, Tess stared at the ceiling while Hannah played with Whizzer on the floor between their two beds, talking to him as if he were a baby. “I know she wants to leave.”

“Maybe she doesn’t have anywhere to go,” Hannah answered.

Tess rolled over and faced the wall. “Who asked you?”

Uncle Logan didn’t seem to like Thea much. He frowned at Thea the way he frowned at Tess and Hannah. Well, mostly Tess.

Mrs. Garrett had told Thea that Uncle Logan would do anything for Tess and Hannah. Tess knew that wasn’t true. Uncle Logan was always grouchy and silent around them now. Nothing like the fun man who used to spoil them. Tess didn’t like him and didn’t know why anyone else would, either.

So why was Thea here?

“I hope Uncle Logan lets her leave Whizzer.” Hannah continued to talk baby talk to the dog.

Someone knocked on their bedroom door. Whizzer pranced over to it and scratched at the wood with his short little legs.

“I bet that’s her,” Tess whispered, rolling over. Something not so good happened in her stomach.

The door opened slowly on its creaky hinges and Thea poked her head in, those bells she always wore jingling. “I think we need to take Whizzer outside. He can’t hold it very long.”

“I’ll do it.” Hannah popped up.

“Just a second, Hannah. I have something to ask the two of you.”

Tess’s tummy clenched again. There was only one reason that adults wanted to talk to kids—bad news.

“Your uncle Logan invited me to stay for a few days. Before I say yes, I wanted to make sure it was okay with you girls. If you don’t want me to stay, you just say the word.”

Hannah picked up Whizzer. “Are you going to be Uncle Logan’s girlfriend?”

Thea opened her eyes really wide and shook her head quickly. “No.”

“Why would you want to stay here?” Tess asked. If Tess had her choice, she’d go stay with the Garretts…as long as it was okay with Heidi. Her mouth went dry. Well, maybe not the Garretts since she and Heidi weren’t talking. But she’d go anywhere there was a real family with a mom and a dad.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, Thea smiled. Thea’s smile made Tess’s stomach ease, but didn’t make the pain go away.

“I made a promise to take care of you. A promise is a very important thing. But I think you need to say yes.” Thea looked around. “I’ll be doing a lot of studying, but maybe we could sew something for your room.”

The way Thea talked had Tess wondering. Did Uncle Logan want her to stay?