Single Mum Seeking...: A Daddy for Her Sons / Marriage for Her Baby / Single Mom Seeks...

He frowned, too, but in a more puzzled way. That was actually not what he wanted to do, either. But it seemed he was right. Sara was circling the wagons around her sister. How to convince her she didn’t need to do that with him?

“Listen, staying for the night wasn’t how I planned this.”

“I’ll bet.” She had her arms crossed and looked very intimidating. “Just what did you have in mind, Casanova?”

What? Did she really think he was hovering around in order to catch Jill in an emotional state? If only! He wanted to laugh at her but he knew that would only infuriate her further.

“Listen, I saved your sister from a blind date gone horribly wrong. Seriously. Do you know the guy she went out with?”

Sara shook her head, looking doubtful.

“I think his name was Karl.”

She shook her head again.

“Well, if you knew him, you’d see why Jill needed rescuing. He was flamboyantly wrong for her.”

“Okay.” Sara looked a little less intimidating. “Good. I’m glad you were there to help her out.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. She was approachable after all.

“So I brought her back here, planning to drop her off and come back to see her in the morning, but there was a riot going on in the house. The twins had taken the babysitter hostage. I had to stay and help Jill regain the high ground. There was no choice.”

It was as though she hadn’t heard a word he’d said. She paced slowly back and forth in front of him, glaring like a tiger. It was evident she thought he was exaggerating and she’d already gone back to the root of the problem.

“So...what’s the deal?” she said, challenging him with her look. “Brad sent you, didn’t he?”

Uh-oh. He didn’t want to go there if he could help it. He gave her a fed-up look. “Why does everyone assume I can’t make a move on my own?”

She glared all the harder. “If he’s trying to get her to come back to him, you can tell him...”

He held up a hand to stop her. It was time to nip this supposition in the bud. “Sara, no. Brad is not trying to get her back.”

“Oh.” Her look was pure sarcasm. “So the new honey is still hanging around?”

He ran his fingers through his thick, curly hair and grimaced. “Actually I think that was two or three honeys ago,” he muttered, mostly to himself. “But take my word for it, Brad isn’t looking for forgiveness. Not yet, anyway.”

Her dark eyes flared with outrage, but she kept her anger at a slow simmer. “That’s our Brad. Trust him to make life and everything in it all about him and no one else.”

He nodded. That was one point they could agree on. “Brad does like to have things go his way.”

Sara’s gaze had fallen on the plastic bag of items picked up in the yard. She scowled, touching it with the toe of her shoe.

“What’s all this?”

“Oh. Uh. I left it there. I’ll get it....”

She looked up in horror. “What are you doing, moving in?”

Now he couldn’t help it. He had to laugh. “Sara, you don’t need to hate me. I’m not the enemy.”

“Really? What are you, then?”

“A friend.” He tried to look earnest. He’d always thought Sara liked him well enough. He certainly hadn’t expected to be attacked with guns blazing this way. “I’m Jill’s friend. And I really want what’s best for her.”

“Sorry, Connor. You can’t be a true friend to Jill while you’re still any sort of friend to Brad. It won’t work.”

His head went back and he winced. “That’s a little rigid, don’t you think?”

She moved closer, glancing toward the kitchen to make sure they weren’t being overheard. “If you’d seen what she’s gone through over this last year or so, you might change your tune.”

“What?” He caught her by the upper arm. “What happened?”

She shook her head, looking away.

“Has Brad been here to see her?”

She looked up at him. “Not that I know of. But he manages to make life miserable for her by long distance.”

He frowned, wishing she would be more specific.

She looked at him, shook her head and her shoulders drooped. All her animosity had drained away and tears rimmed her eyes. “Oh, Connor, she deserves so much better. If you could see how hard she works... And every time she turns around, there’s some new obstacle thrown in her path. I just can’t stand it anymore. It’s not fair.”

She pulled away and he let her go. And now he was the one whose emotions were roiling. Damn Brad, anyway. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone?

He ran his hand through his hair again, tempted to rip chunks of it out in frustration. He had to get out of here. If he wasn’t careful, he would get caught up in the need to protect Jill. From what? He wasn’t even sure. Life, probably. Just life. As Sara had said, it wasn’t fair. But it also wasn’t his fight. No, he had to go.

He would drive back to his hotel, check out and head for Portland. He would tell Brad he couldn’t help him and advise him to leave Jill alone. Maybe he would even tell his old friend what he really thought of him. It was way past time to do that.

* * *

Jill was in a hurry and things weren’t working out. She had Tanner dressed in his little play suit, but she couldn’t catch Timmy, and now he was streaking around the room, just out of her reach, laughing uproariously.

“Timmy!” she ordered. “You stop right there.”

Fat chance of that. He rolled under the bed and giggled as she reached under, trying to grab him.

“You come out of there, you rascal.”

She made a lucky grab and caught his foot and pulled him out, disarming grin and all. “Oh, you little munchkin,” she cried, but she pulled him into her arms and held him tightly. Her boys were so precious to her. She’d given up a lot to make sure she would have them. Tears stung her eyelids and she fought them back. She couldn’t let herself cry. Not now. She had a day to get through.

She had a huge, wonderful day full of work ahead. A day like this could turn things around, if it started a trend. She heard Sara’s voice downstairs and she smiled. What a relief. Good. Sara was here. She would be able to help with the children.

She so appreciated Sara giving her some time like this. She knew she was applying for a promotion. She’d been a contributing editor to the design section of Winter Bay Magazine for almost two years and she’d done some fabulous work. If she got the new job, she would be working more hours during the week and wouldn’t be able to help out as much. Still, she hoped she got it. She certainly deserved the recognition.

She was thankful for small blessings. Right now, if she had Sara here to help with the twins, and then Trini coming in a half hour to help with the baking and delivery, she would be okay. She would just barely be able to fulfill all the commitments she’d made for the day.

It was a challenge, but she could do it. In fact, she had to do it.