Not Another Bad Date

she married than money and social position. “You’re right. I’d expect more from you than Devon. Money is easy. I’d expect something that I don’t think you can give.”

“What’s that?”

“I’d expect you to be faithful.”

“And you don’t think I can?”

She shook her head. “A man has to have a reason to be faithful.”

“Yeah?” he said through a scoff. “What’s that?”

“He has to love his wife.”

Zach watched Tiffany push ravioli around on her plate. She’d eaten half her pasta and salad and was now making patterns through the sauce.

“Are you finished?” he asked.

She nodded but didn’t look up.

“I have to talk to you about something important.”

“Is it about Adele?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t want to talk about her.”

Hell, Zach didn’t really want to talk about her either. Not with Tiffany. Not until he had it all sorted out in his own head, but he figured he better before she heard the news from Kendra. “She’s going to have a baby.”

The fork stopped and Tiffany finally looked up.

“Two babies, actually.”

“Your babies?”

“Yes.”

Her big green eyes rounded. “You had…” she paused and spelled out the word, “…s. e. x.?”

“That’s generally how babies are made.”

She sat back in her chair and looked at him as if he’d suddenly turned into some kind of pervert. “Yuck! That’s so…yucky.” She gasped and her mouth fell open. “And you’re not even married.”

Lord he felt like a sinner. A perverted sinner.

“How could you do…that?”

He stood and reached for the plates. “I’m an adult, and sometimes adults do ‘that.’ You’ll understand someday.”

“You’re gross!”

On top of everything else, he thought as he moved from the dining room, his daughter thought he was gross. He set the plates on the counter and planted his hands on the cold granite. How had his life gotten this fucked up? Just when it had been better than it had been in a long time, the bottom falls out. God, he’d give anything to go back to his life a few weeks ago, when everything had been good. When he’d won the state championship and he could relax. When he looked forward to seeing Adele every morning, making love, and sharing a waffle afterward.

How had this happened to him again? He’d learned his lesson the first time. He’d been careful with Adele. Even after she’d told him she had an IUD, he’d always worn a condom.

He thought of her face as the doctor examined her. She’d looked so pale and tired. When she’d slid off the table and stepped into her pink panties, he thought she might pass out, and he’d grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. He’d fought the urge to pull her against his chest and tell her everything would be okay, but he hadn’t. It wasn’t going to be okay.

Twins. He couldn’t wrap his brain around one baby, let alone two. He didn’t want any more children. Hell, he didn’t know what he was doing half the time with the child he already had. He didn’t want a wife either. He hadn’t meant to mention marriage as an option, but as she’d sat in the Escalade crying about getting as big as a whale, he’d felt responsible. She’d accused him of getting her pregnant, then acting like the wounded party, which was partly true, and for a few unguarded seconds, he’d felt like he had fourteen years ago when Devon had told him she was pregnant. Like before, he’d proposed marriage, but unlike Devon, Adele had turned him down flat. He should be congratulating himself.

I’m pregnant, not stupid. I’m not going to make two mistakes, she’d said. You don’t love me, and I don’t want a bad marriage on top of everything else. He should be doing a victory dance in the end zone, but he didn’t feel like celebrating. Admit it, you don’t want to marry me any more than you wanted to marry Devon. He hadn’t given marrying any woman a lot of thought. Knocked up with his twins or not. He remembered how he’d felt when he’d married Devon. Responsible. Resigned. Trapped. Like fourteen years ago, he was responsible for creating new life, two new lives, and he felt like someone had kicked him in the chest and knocked the wind out of him, but he didn’t feel trapped. Adele hadn’t tried to trap him, or she clearly wouldn’t be so upset about it herself. He should probably clear that up with her. Maybe even apologize for thinking she’d lied about the IUD. Yeah, maybe he’d do that when she wasn’t so emotional.

“Daddy?”

Zach turned his head and looked at Tiffany. “Yeah?”

“Are you going to marry Adele?”

“I asked.” He pushed away from the counter. “She said no.”

“She doesn’t like you?” Tiffany asked, as if the mere thought was impossible.

Adele refused to marry him and didn’t think he was capable of being faithful. “No, I don’t think she likes me right now.”

“Do you like her?”

“Yeah.” He liked her. He liked the way her hair wrapped around his fingers and the way her cheeks got real red when she jogged. He liked that she’d moved to Texas to help out her sister. He liked a whole lot of things about her that he wasn’t even going to think about with his daughter around. Mostly, though, he liked the way she made him feel when he was with her. Alive for the first time in a very long time.

Tiffany moved toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m sorry I said you were gross. You’re the best ever.”

At the moment he didn’t feel like “the best ever.” His life was suddenly a damn mess. He’d been knocked flat. Now he needed to pick himself up and figure out the game plan.

One thing was for certain though, having Zach’s twins certainly settled the question of Adele leaving town.

Adele sat on the edge of the couch where she’d slept the night before and took a careful sip of tea. She flipped on the television and watched the last segment of Today. Kendra and Sherilyn had already left for the hospital an hour before. This morning, little Harris was coming home to begin his life with his mom and his sister.

Adele curled up with the quilt and took another sip, hoping she’d keep it down this time. Her shoulder ached from sleeping on the pullout, and she thought of her own bed. In her own home, and she felt a wave of sickness that had nothing to do with her pregnancy.

The doorbell rang, and she ignored it. It rang again, and she pushed the quilt aside. Zach. It had to be. Who else would be so pushy so early in the morning? Adele moved to the door and swung it open to stare into Tiffany’s green eyes and neon blue eye shadow.

“My daddy says you’re gonna have his babies,” the teen said without so much as a hello.

“Yes.” She stuck her head outside and looked around. “Does your daddy know you’re here?”

“No. Joe and Cindy Anne Baker came over. He went to breakfast with them at the Caralinda’s Cozy Cafe.” She played with the pull on the zipper of her coat. “I think they’re dating.”

“Who? Joe and Cindy Anne?”

Tiffany nodded.

Just a few short weeks ago, Joe had wanted a skin sandwich with Adele. “Come in.” She shut the door behind