questions about the relationship. So they found the occasional afternoon or evening when Renee offered to take the children or they’d lock themselves in Kit’s office at the station. Once a week, the baby-sitter Roxanne had hired to take care of the kids while she worked at the station would stay late and they’d go out for dinner.
Though having a sex life was complicated, that made it all the more exciting and passionate. She was in love with a wonderful man and Roxanne wasn’t about to ask for anything more.
The doorbell rang and she walked over and pulled it open. Kit stood on the porch, a huge box in his arms.
“What have you bought them now?” Roxanne said.
“Just a little present. Come on, Mommy, don’t be such a stick in the mud.”
“A little present? You spoil them. You have to stop this.”
“This is the last present for a while, I promise.”
“Wow! What’s in the box?”
Kit grinned as Danny, Rachel and Michael came thundering down the stairs. “It’s a present.” He set the box down and Danny pulled off the huge bow. Then Rachel opened the top.
“A puppy!” she screamed.
Roxanne gasped. “A what?”
“Look, Mommy, it’s a puppy. Kit brought us a puppy.” Danny reached into the box and withdrew a wiggling cocker spaniel pup. He gave it a kiss then set the little dog on the floor and Roxanne knew the puppy wasn’t ever going to leave the house.
“May I speak to you?” she said, sending Kit a look that made her feelings perfectly clear. “In the kitchen, please?”
When he joined her there, she turned on him. “How could you do this without talking to me? We can’t have a dog. We live in a busy neighborhood in a house that has a yard the size of a postage stamp.”
“Dogs are easy,” Kit said.
“Do you know how much work a dog takes? You have to feed it and walk it and the vet bills can be horrible.”
“The kids can help take care of the dog. It will teach them responsibility.”
“They had a goldfish once. It went belly-up.”
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box, then placed it on the counter next to her. “I gave the kids a dog. I figured I’d better bring you a present, too.”
Roxanne snatched up the box. “A present for me is not going to make up for the dog.”
“Just open the box,” Kit said.
Roxanne did as she was told, fishing through the tissue paper. She pulled out a key ring with two keys dangling from it. “What’s this? You didn’t buy me a car, did you?”
“Those are keys to my house,” he said. “I want you and kids to move in. That way the dog will have a yard. So will the kids. I live in a nice neighborhood with good schools. And parks.”
She stared at the gift for a long moment, knowing she’d have to refuse. But as she put the keys back into the box, the light caught something on the ring and she froze. Slowly, she held the key ring up. A diamond ring hung between the two keys. With a soft sigh, Roxanne looked over at Kit.
“Marry me?” he asked.
She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling as she tried to get the diamond off the key ring. But her hands were shaking and Kit finally had to take it from her. When he had the diamond in his fingers, he took her hand.
“Say yes,” he said, “and I’ll spend the rest of my life loving you and taking care of your children.”
“Yes,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. He slid the ring onto her finger. “Yes, yes, yes.” With a tiny cry, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him hard. “I love you, Kit.”
“And I love you, Rox.”
Danny appeared in the doorway and Roxanne smiled at him through her tears. “Are you crying, Mommy? Do you need to go in the closet?”
Roxanne laughed. “No, sweetie, I don’t need to go in the closet. I’m crying because I’m happy.”
Her son smiled weakly. “You’re not gonna be happy anymore. The puppy just pooped on the floor.”
Kit groaned, then picked Roxanne up off her feet and spun her around. “I’ll clean it up,” he said.
“No, we’ll clean it up.”
He set her back on her feet then bent close and brushed a kiss on her lips. “There is some other bad news, besides the puppy poop,” he said.
“What? You have a pet elephant waiting out in the car?”
He cupped her cheek with his hand and grinned down at her. “No, my dad signed on to the
Roxanne gasped, amazed at all he’d done. “The kids would love that.” She paused. “But where are the tickets for us?”
“I thought we’d drive,” Kit said. “I’d like to spend some time with my new family.”
Roxanne sent him a dubious look. “Have you ever spent twelve hours in a car with four children? They all have to go to the bathroom at different times. Every time you pass a place to eat, they start whining about how hungry they are, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to stop and retrieve a shoe or a book or a hat that mysteriously found its way out the window and into the middle of the highway.”
“I guess you’ve got a lot to teach me about kids,” he teased.
“I guess I do,” Roxanne replied.
Kit pulled her into his embrace and hugged her. “I’ve got plenty of time, too,” he said. “We’ve got the rest of our lives.”
DADDY COME LATELY by Jacqueline Diamond
PROLOGUE
Remember back in high school when you read
Well, that’s kind of my situation.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my ranch, the Wandering I. Since I inherited it last year, though, I’ve learned what a big job it is running a spread like this, even compared to teaching second grade, which is what I did before.
Then there are the guys. In high school, I was a wallflower, so it’s nice to have admirers, if that’s what they are. The problem is, none of them noticed me before I became a property owner. Now they keep popping up under my nose, telling me that my four-year-old twins need a daddy.
Sometimes I’m tempted to marry one of these guys just to get a break from the others. Then I read about
My little guys, Benjamin and Jeremy, have never been outside Texas. The farthest I ever got was to Santa Fe for the Indian Days festival. I’d sell my freckles for a chance to inhale fresh bread from a bakery instead of smelling cattle all day and to dine at the Eiffel Tower instead of flipping hamburgers on the barbecue.
If anyone needs a trip to Paris, it’s definitely me!
