door.”
“What about the blonde in your bed?”
Muriel eased her hands down until they rested on Shelby’s hips, and she used the position to rotate her. “You could’ve asked the front desk when you got here. It’s a two-bedroom suite. The blonde has her own bed and is typing files as we speak. She really is just my secretary and is here to catch up on some work that we fell behind on after our office was bombed.”
Shelby missed the warmth of Muriel’s body the moment she backed away and stood behind Shelby’s chair. “If I stay, does that mean we can declare a truce, if only for a little while?”
“Perhaps that gulf between us isn’t so wide after all.” Muriel’s hands strayed to Shelby’s shoulders again after she took her seat.
Chapter Fifty-Three
“You know something, lass?” The skin of Cain’s back felt warm and comfortable as Emma worked her hands under her shirt.
“I know I love you more than I thought I could love anyone.”
“Thank you.” Cain claimed her first kiss of the morning. “That was very sweet of you to say, but do you want to know what I know?”
“Will you put your lips to better use once you’ve told me?” She reached the band of Cain’s shorts.
“My lips, my hands, and just about anything else I can think of.” When Emma pulled her down as if to remind her of that promise, Cain shifted so she was more fully on Emma. “I know that our lives are sometimes hectic, but when I was lying here watching you sleep, something occurred to me.”
“What’s that?”
“That right now I’m blissfully happy, and I’m looking forward to whatever comes next.”
Emma’s tears came again at the sentiment in Cain’s voice, and she pulled the large hand up and kissed each knuckle before sucking the thumb into her mouth. “I may not be able to predict exactly what’ll happen next, but I can predict what’ll happen right this second.” Emma pushed past Cain’s boxers, but stopped when she heard the creak of the door opening.
“You were saying?” Cain asked as she glanced over her shoulder.
“Don’t blame me, mobster. You were supposed to lock it last night,” Emma said, seeing Hannah standing there looking unsure of herself. She kissed Cain’s jaw and lifted her hands above the blankets. “Come see us, honey.”
A squeal accompanied the run to the bed, and Hannah landed on Cain’s back when she made it on the bed. “Mom, you came back and brought Mama.”
“I came back for you and your brother. It’s time to go home.” She laughed at the other kid standing in the door when he pumped his fist in agreement. “Did you two have fun?”
“Yeah, but I wanna go to the zoo,” Hannah whined. “Haygen said there’s one at home.”
“There is, and an aquarium too,” Emma added. She crooked her finger at their son, not comfortable getting up in her state of undress. “And a Mom and a Hayden, so it’s the best place on earth.”
“Feeling a little sappy this morning, huh?” He kissed them both hello and fell into Emma’s arms for a long hug. “Come on, squirt. I heard Miss Maddie down in the kitchen making breakfast. We’ll let our moms get back to their mushiness.”
“What’s mushy something?” Hannah asked as she climbed onto her big brother’s back.
“Something we’ll both be really lucky to find when we get big like them.” With a wink for the grown-ups, he walked slowly out of the room.
Both of them laughed when he locked the door.
“Remind me to buy him a car when we get home,” Cain said as she returned to where she was before they were interrupted.
“Whatever he wants. Just stop talking.”
*
By late that afternoon Cain sat on the front porch with their luggage, waiting for it to be loaded. She watched as Ross told the kids good-bye and talked to them near the fence line of Jerry’s property. He was planning to come for a visit before the month was out.
Cain shifted her eyes to the door when she heard it open and smiled at Jerry. He looked tired, but she remembered what it was like to stay up with a baby at night. Even when Hayden was sleeping through the night, sometimes she would go into his room and just watch him.
“Happy?”
“I sure am, and ah…I…I wanted to talk to you alone before you left.” Jerry shifted from foot to foot as if not knowing where to begin.
“No need to be nervous. Contrary to what the world thinks, I really don’t bite.” Cain sat on the banister and smiled.
“Cain, I can’t begin to tell you how happy you’ve made Maddie and me. I’ve prayed all my life for a son, and I’d given up asking because I thought it would never happen.” He paced, then finally stopped and looked at her. “I cried like a baby myself last night when Maddie laid him down between us. And before you left, I wanted to give you these papers back ’cause we picked a name and wanted to make it legal. Since your cousin and her friend are taking care of it, I thought you could take them with you and send them back whenever you can.”
He handed them over, and Cain wondered if he was acting a little off kilter because he was tired.
