The Marriage Bargain

Jules picked Emma up from the portable crib and laughed when the baby started kicking the moment she saw the bottle. She glanced at the clock to note the time and settled in the rocking chair with a sigh.

“It seems like they’re doing really well.” He closed the photo album and set it aside. “Eleanor’s not that much younger than Glory was when I left home. Her hair’s a little lighter, but she’s got Glory’s eyes and smile. Her spunk, too. It’s...”

“Uncanny. I know. She’s funny, too, or at least she was. Before.” Jules paused. “People say kids are resilient. I hope that’s true, for their sake.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know. I hope so.”

“Cameron, why didn’t you ever try to make contact? Clearly, you’ve been very successful as an adult.” That was, if his fancy watch was any indication.

A frown wrinkled his brow. “From all accounts, Glory seemed to be happy. I guess I told myself she didn’t need me stirring up the past. I thought I’d—I don’t know—have more time.”

“And now? Why did it take you so long to get here?”

“I was out of the country. Off the grid.” He grimaced. “Way off the grid. I write adventure travel books and it took some time for my office to find me.”

She hadn’t expected that excuse. “What do you want? I’m sorry to blurt it out like that, but I’m a practical person. I don’t like unanswered questions and I hate surprises.”

A slow smile spread across his face and those crystal clear green eyes warmed. Her heart picked up speed.

Huh. That was a reaction to mull over later.

“I didn’t know where the girls were. Or more important, if they were safe.” He shrugged, spreading his hands. “It’s really very simple. I came for them.”

“And now that you know they’re safe?” Her voice was soft because she was holding the baby, but what she felt inside had jagged edges.

He didn’t look away. “I’m still here for them.”

She shifted the sleeping Emma to her shoulder and patted the baby’s back. “Do you know what Eleanor’s middle name is?”

“No.”

“It’s Cameron. Her name is Eleanor Cameron.” The words stuck in her throat—they were so painful and so hard because her friend wasn’t here to say them herself. “I know Glory would want you to know your namesake. She’d want you to be a part of their lives, so I’m not going to stand in your way. But if you hurt them, there won’t be a second chance.”

“I’m not gonna...” He rubbed a hand over his close-shaved hair, impatience simmering in the move. “Okay, that’s fair, I guess. I haven’t exactly been present the past few years.”

“Take some time to think about it, because the girls need people who will stick around.”

He nodded slowly, rising to his feet. He picked up his jacket from the back of the chair where he’d slung it when he arrived. “I haven’t had a family in a really long time, Jules. I’m not about to mess this up. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Juliet watched as he walked across the room, pulled open the door and strode through it. When the door closed behind him, she let her head drop back onto the cushion. Either she was doing the right thing letting Cameron into their lives—and she really, really hoped she was—or she was making the biggest mistake of her life.

Chapter Two (#uc9161e85-c785-54eb-8e6a-ddb5d3aac218)

Cam stepped out of the rental car and squinted up at the house he’d come to see. He’d called a real estate agent about looking at some properties. Jules had said last night that the girls needed someone who would stick around.

He’d spent his entire adult life traveling from one exotic locale to the next, moving on just when things started to get real. He was good at short-term relationships, sliding in and out of other cultures with ease.

It was the long-term ones that gave him pause. But that would have to change if he wanted a relationship with his nieces.

Tires crunched on the driveway behind him and he turned to see a patrol car cruising toward him. Perfect. Just what he wanted to do today: deal with a cop who wanted to bust his chops for no reason.

A muscular man with short-clipped hair and mirrored aviator glasses stepped out of car. “Cameron Quinn?”

“That’s me.” He walked closer to the huge cop, eyes on the hand closest to the service weapon still snapped in the guy’s holster. Cam was a black man on someone else’s property and, like it or not, that made him a target. “Can I help you?”

The hand slowly extended and a smile spread across the cop’s face. “You don’t remember me, do you? Joe Sheehan. We were in the same class in the fourth grade.”

Cam gripped Joe’s hand, hyperawareness slipping away as he laughed. “Oh, yeah, it’s been a while. I’m not sure you had those biceps in the fourth grade.”

Joe chuckled. “No, I was pretty hungry in those days. I heard you were back in town. Planning to stay awhile?”

“Thinking about it. My nieces are here.”

Joe nodded. “I know. They live with my sister.”

“I forget just how small small towns are.”

The cop laughed again. “Yeah, I moved back a couple of years ago and it was definitely an adjustment. Fortunately, there are some advantages to everyone knowing everyone else, especially if you have teenage kids. Ours can’t do anything without their mom and me hearing about it.”

“I guess that would be an advantage...if you’re the parent.”

Joe’s rolling laugh bounced off the house behind them as a black sedan pulled into the driveway. The real estate agent, Cam assumed.

“So, you interested in this place?”

“I haven’t looked at it yet.” Cam glanced again at the house behind him. “I guess we’ll see.”

“Well, it’s a beautiful place. Good luck...and welcome back to town, however long you decide to stay.” Joe backed toward his patrol car. “If you’re around on Saturday afternoon, some friends and I play a pickup game of soccer down at the park. And tell my sister I said to bring you to Sunday lunch at the farm.”

“Thanks, I will.”

The real estate agent walked up to Cameron and held out a hand. “You must be Mr. Quinn. Hey, Chief.”

“Marjorie Ann, good to see you. I was just leaving. Nice to see you again, Cam.”

The agent, an older lady with a short white bob, had a perky smile on her face. “Shall we?”

“Sure.” Cam followed her through the front door. He’d asked for something near his nieces—which the agent had delivered—but this house was massive.

“The whole estate’s in perfect condition and it comes with the furnishings. Everything’s included, right down to the dishes in the cabinets. I know you said you have young nieces. There’s even a beautiful nursery and a playroom.” She walked toward a wide bank of windows and pulled open the curtains.

It was definitely way more house than he needed. When she’d emailed him the possibilities, he’d almost rejected the property without looking at it because of its size, but wow—that view made him glad he’d reconsidered.

Rolling pastures stretched out behind the house, swirling fog still lingering. A clear blue pond reflected the slightly rosy sky. In that second, he could see two little girls cartwheeling on the lawn. “It’s very nice.”

The agent’s heels tapped across the wide pine plank floor. Her thick Southern drawl drifted back from the kitchen. “Gourmet eat-in kitchen. Top-of-the-line appliances. Fully stocked with anything you might need, except the food, of course.”

He followed her into the expansive room. Once again his eyes were drawn to the windows and the large farm table in front of them. A family could sit and linger around that table. “And that building down the hill, that’s the barn?”