Baby Bonanza

When her cell phone rang, she assumed it was Maxie until she glanced at the screen and didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

“Jenna.”

“Nick,” she said, and tried not to sigh at the sound of his deep, dark voice murmuring in her ear.

“You at home?”

“Actually,” she said, lifting her chin as if that could help her keep her voice light and carefree, “I’m in the car. I’m taking the boys to the mall and-”

“Perfect,” he said quickly. “Have you got a pen?”

“Yes, I have a pen, but what is this-”

“Write this down.”

Both of her eyebrows lifted at the order. But she reached into her purse for a pen and a memo pad she always carried. Behind her Jacob was starting to fuss, and pretty soon, she knew, Cooper would be joining in. “Nick,” she asked, pen poised, “what’s this about?”

“Just…I want to show you something and I need you and the boys to come here.”

“Here where?”

“Here in San Pedro.”

She nearly groaned. “San Pedro?”

“Jenna, just do this for me, okay?” He paused, then added, “Please.”

Surprise flickered through her. She couldn’t remember Nick ever saying please before. So when he gave her directions, she dutifully wrote them down. When he was finished, she frowned and said, “Okay, we’ll come. Should be there in about a half hour.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

He hung up before she could ask any more questions, and Jenna scowled at her cell phone before she set it down on the seat beside her. “Well, guys, we’re off to meet your father.” Cooper cooed. “No, I don’t know what this is about, either,” she told her son. “But knowing your daddy, it could be anything.”

It turned out to be a house.

Cape Cod style, it looked distinctly out of place in Southern California, but it was the most beautiful house Jenna had ever seen. It was huge, and she was willing to bet that five of her cottages would have fit comfortably inside. But for all its size, it looked like a family home. There was a wide front lawn, and when she stepped out of the car in the driveway, she heard the sound of the ocean and knew the big house must be right on the sea.

“What’s going on here?” she wondered aloud. But then Jacob’s short, sharp cry caught her attention and she turned to get her sons out of their seats.

“Jenna!”

She looked up and watched as Nick ran down the front lawn to her. He looked excited, his pale eyes shining, his mouth turned into a grin so wide, his dimple dug deeply into his left cheek. Naturally, Jenna felt an involuntary tug of emotion at first sight of him, and she wondered if it would always be that way.

God, she hoped not.

“Let me help with the boys,” he said after giving her a quick, hard, unexpected kiss that left her reeling a little.

“Um, sure.” She watched as he rounded the back of her car, opened the other back door and began undoing the straps on Cooper’s car seat. “Nick, what’s going on? Where are we? Whose house is this?”

He shot her another breath-stealing grin and scooped Cooper up into his arms. “I’ll tell you everything as soon as we get inside.”

“Inside?” Finished with Jacob’s seat straps, she picked him up, cuddled him close and closed the car door with a loud smack of sound.

“Yep,” Nick said. “Inside. Go on ahead. I’ll get the diaper bag and your purse.”

She took a step, stopped and looked at him. Dappled shade from the massive oak tree in the front yard fell across his features. He was wearing a tight black T-shirt and those faded jeans he’d been wearing the night before when they-Okay, don’t go there, she told herself. “I can’t just go inside. I don’t know who lives here and-”

“Fine,” he said, coming around the hood of the car, her purse under his arm and the diaper bag slung over that shoulder, while he jiggled Cooper on the other. “We’ll go together. All of us. Better that way, anyway.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see.” He started for the house and she had little choice but to follow.

The brick walkway from the drive to the front door was lined with primroses in vibrant, primary shades of color. More flowerbeds followed the line of the house, with roses and tall spires of pastel-colored stocks scenting the air with a heady perfume.

Jenna kept expecting the owner of the house to come to the front door to welcome them, but no one did. And when she crossed the threshold, she understood why.

The house was empty.

Their footsteps echoed in the cavernous rooms as Nick led her through the living room, past a wide staircase, down a hall and then through the kitchen. Her head turned from side to side, taking it all in, delighting in the space, the lines of the house. Whoever had designed it had known what they were doing. The walls were the color of rich, heavy cream, and dark wood framed doorways and windows. The floors were pale oak and polished to a high shine. The rooms bled one into the other in a flow that cried out for a family’s presence.

This house was made for the sound of children’s laughter. As Jenna followed Nick through room after room, she felt that there was a sense of ease in the house. As if the building itself were taking a deep breath and relishing the feel of people within its walls again.

“Nick…” The kitchen was amazing, but she hardly had time to glance at it as he led her straight through the big room and out the back door.

“Come on, I want you to see this,” he said, stepping back so that she could move onto the stone patio in front of him.

A cold ocean wind slapped at her, and Jenna realized she’d been right, the house did sit on a knoll above the sea. The stone patio gave way to a rolling lawn edged with trees and flowers that looked as she imagined an English cottage garden would. Beyond the lawn was a low-lying fence with a gate that led to steps that would take the lucky people who lived here right down to the beach.

As Jenna held Jacob close, she did a slow turn, taking it all in, feeling overwhelmed with the beauty of the place as she finally circled back to look out at the sea, glittering with golden sunlight.

Shaking her head, she glanced at Nick. “I don’t understand, Nick. What’s going on? Why are we here?”

“Do you like it?” he asked, letting his gaze shift around the yard as he dropped the diaper bag and her purse to the patio. “The house, I mean,” he said, hitching Cooper a little higher on his chest. “Do you like it?”

She laughed, uncertainty jangling her nerves. “What’s not to like?”

“Good. That’s good,” he said, coming to her side. “Because I bought it.”

“You-what?”

Nick nearly laughed at the stunned expression on her face. God, this had been worth all of the secretive phone calls to real estate agents he’d been making. Worth getting up and leaving her that morning so that he could finalize the deal with the house’s former owners.

This was going to work.

It had to work.

“Why would you do that?”

“For us,” he said, and had the pleasure of watching her features go completely slack as she staggered unsteadily for a second.

“Us?”

“Yes, Jenna. Us.” He reached out, cupped her cheek in his palm and was only mildly disappointed when she stepped back and away from him. He would convince her. He had to convince her. “I found a solution to our situation,” he said, locking his gaze with hers, wanting her to see everything he was thinking, feeling, written in his eyes.

“Our situation?” She blinked, shook her head as if to clear away cobwebs and then stared at him again.

The wind was cold, but the sun was warm. Shade from the trees didn’t reach the patio, and the sunlight