surrounding few years, looking for Garrett, mostly, but checking anything that came up.”
“And?”
“And a Gary Larrimore, aged twenty-eight, was killed two months before this lot of triplets were born.”
SILENCE.
The Lord children were deathly still, and Dylan and Jen sat on the sidelines and watched them absorb this momentous news. Even baby Greg was quiet.
“You mean…” Lana was the first to gather herself. She lifted Michael’s piece of paper and read, as if she could see something that wasn’t written there. “Our birth father…died?”
“It may not be us. This is all supposition.”
“But that would explain it,” Lana breathed, horrified. “Oh, that poor woman. To have a little boy two years old and to be told you were expecting triplets! And then to have the man you love be killed. Do we know what happened?”
“I found the local coroner’s report,” Michael said. “He was thrown off his motorcycle. The coroner said it was raining and his tires were bald.”
“So he was poor!”
“We’re assuming all sorts of things here,” Garrett said hastily. “We’re jumping to conclusions.” But then he paused and frowned, as if remembering things almost against his will. “You know, that’s one thing I remember. There’s hardly anything, but occasionally-it’s like a shadow, but it’s there. A motorcycle.”
“You remember a bike?” Mike demanded.
Garrett shook his head. “I think I do. As I said, it’s a shadow of a memory, but there was never a motorcycle after we were adopted. I guess… It probably means nothing.”
“But it might mean something. And there’s no trace of LeeAnn Larrimore after she left the clinic,” Michael told them. “She seems to have vanished without trace.”
“So we find her.” Shelby’s eyes filled with tears. “Right?”
Michael put up his hand in warning. “Shelby, we have to eliminate the other names on the list. We can’t just focus on one. We still have contacts to make in four sets, including the Larrimores.”
“You know I’ll help you, Michael,” Shelby said. “I’m due for a vacation and I’d be happy to do some out-of-town legwork.”
Michael nodded. “Just give me a little more time to get as many specifics as I can. But it may take a while, so you’ll all have to be patient.”
“But you’ll keep trying?” Shelby asked.
Michael’s gaze moved to Jenny, and his eyes fell to the gentle swell beneath her gorgeous dress. His mother- whoever she was-had once been like this. So pregnant, and not pregnant with just one babe. Pregnant with three, and with another tiny child dependent on her.
He had no choice.
“Yes. Of course I will.”
“Oh, Michael, you’re wonderful,” Shelby said, immeasurably moved. “He’s wonderful, isn’t he, everybody? Isn’t he, Jenny?”
“I guess he is,” Jenny said in a voice that was none too steady. “Just wonderful.”
AND THEN, individually or in pairs, they made their way to Megan’s party. The night was unusually sultry. A storm was coming, Jenny thought as they drove across town. She hoped it would hold off for the evening. She was tired, aching to go home to bed if the truth be known, and her back hurt, but she wouldn’t keep Michael from his party.
“You okay?” Michael asked as they arrived, worry in his voice, but she smiled her reassurance.
“Come on, Michael Lord. No chickening out now. Your family tells me you’re not the best at socializing. So let’s see you do your worst!”
THE PARTY was in full swing when they arrived. There seemed to be couples everywhere, spilling onto the lawns and dancing inside to the tune of a piano player tinkling in the drawing room. The place looked wonderful, lit up like Christmas.
“Megan’s daughter Anna will have done this. She’s a wedding planner, and parties are her specialty,” Michael told Jenny, taking her hand and leading her into the throng. “Megan’s family seems to have spent the last twelve months matchmaking. Megan’s been through some pretty traumatic times, but now she’s feeling like partying. Anyone you haven’t met yet you’ll be meeting tonight.”
“Michael, this isn’t… I mean, you don’t need to introduce me as if it’s forever.”
“Treat it as fun,” he told her. “Nothing more. Megan’s told them what’s happening. They all know what’s between us is not a real marriage.”
Did they? That wasn’t the way they greeted her. Jenny was met with warmth and welcome, and she grew quieter and quieter as the evening proceeded. And more worried. So many things were being assumed, even by Michael.
“You’re tired,” Michael said in concern at about eleven, and she nodded. Her back was hurting, with low stabbing pains, but Michael was more animated than she’d ever seen him. This was obviously an important night for Megan, to have all her family here, and Michael was having fun, too. She wouldn’t spoil it.
“I can sleep tomorrow,” she said.
“We can go home if you want.”
“Soon. Not yet.”
“It’s raining cats and dogs outside now,” Garrett said, coming up to them with Megan on his arm. “I’d wait until it eases before going anywhere. There’ll be roads flooded all over. Jenny, can I have this dance?”
“Who me, dance?” She managed a smile. “I need a partner with a pit instead of a stomach, to fit my big bump.”
“I’ll be your pit,” Michael said, elbowing Garrett out of the way. He smiled into her tired eyes. “One slow dance and then we’ll go home. One dance-just for us.”
“Michael…” Garrett made to object, but Michael shook his head.
“Sorry, Garrett,” Michael drawled, and drew his wife into his arms. “The lady’s taken.”
“HE LOVES HER,” Megan said in satisfaction as Michael led Jenny out to the dance floor. “Finally. After all these years he’s fallen for a woman who has a heart.”
“I just hope to hell she can learn to love him, too,” Garrett said slowly, watching his brother take Jenny and lead into the first few steps. “She’s had bad times in the past. There’s a sadness in her eyes.”
“Yes.” Megan’s brow creased thoughtfully. “She looks…”
And then she paused.
Because so had Jenny. She stopped dead on the dance floor, and her eyes flew wide in agonized surprise.
“Jenny!”
Michael’s exclamation of concern drowned out the sound of the soft piano as Jenny stumbled. His strong hands, already entwined around her waist, caught her as she sagged downward. “Jen?”
“Michael, I…”
“What is it?”
She gasped. Her knees had given way beneath her, and she would have sunk to the floor if he wasn’t holding her.
“Take-take me home, Michael,” she managed to say. “Or the hospital. Please. Oh, Michael, I think the baby’s coming.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE BABY definitely was coming. The pain in her back was a rolling, crippling cramp that enveloped every inch of her being. Michael could feel the spasms run through her body as he held her. She clung to him as if she was drowning, and the couples around them stopped dancing and stared in concern. Michael knelt with her as she doubled over, and his face was tight with panic.
