“I did, indeed,” he said. And in another nine months or so, he intended to see that another of her dreams came true. She would have that baby sister—or a brother, if nature got the order mixed up.
As they reached his car he paused and opened the trunk, removing a huge box that had taken up every square inch of room. He watched in delight as Dani saw the picture on the side and a grin spread across her face.
“It’s a baby buggy,” she said. “Hurry, Daddy. Open it up.”
The minute he had the small pink carriage out of the box, Dani grabbed the handle and began propelling it straight toward the barn. Jordan stared after her in bemusement.
“Where are you going?” he shouted.
“To get Francie and the kittens. I’m going to take them for a ride.”
“It’s supposed to be for your dolls.”
“But I know that Francie really, really wants to go for a ride.”
Jordan had his doubts, but he let her go. He had more important things to settle.
He found Kelly inside doing laundry. She’d changed to a pair of incredibly provocative shorts and a halter top. The dryer had made the laundry room steamy. Her skin glistened with a sheen of dampness. With all of the noise from the washer and dryer, she didn’t hear him approaching. He slipped up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and sprinkled kisses across her bare shoulders.
“Nice,” she murmured, and turned in his loose embrace to claim a real kiss.
Her body fit snugly against his. Heat shot through his veins. On any other occasion the distraction would have worked. Today, though, Jordan had something more than sex on his mind, even though he was relieved by the discovery that she no longer seemed to be quite so furious with him.
“Dani and I have been having quite a chat,” he told her.
“Really? How’d she like the carriage?”
“She’s out in the barn even as we speak, gathering up Francie and the kittens for a ride.”
Kelly grimaced. “I’m sure Francie will love that. Maybe we should go rescue her.”
“Francie can take care of herself,” he said. “Right now, I want to talk about a picture Dani drew for me.” He showed her the folded paper.
“And this is?” Kelly inquired, pointing to the pink bundle in her arms.
“Her baby sister.”
Kelly’s gaze shot to his. “Did you put her up to this?”
“No, but the picture got me to thinking. The one thing the family in this picture has that we haven’t talked about is love.”
“Evidenced by all the hearts, I suppose?”
“Exactly.” He kept his gaze fixed on Kelly’s face and thought he read something that might have been uncertainty in the depths of her eyes. As if he’d been struck by a bolt of lightning, the last piece of the puzzle suddenly came clear. Kelly did love him still, just as she once had and just as Dani had said. She’d just been waiting for him to wake up and discover that he loved her.
“I realized something when I saw this. I do love you,” he admitted, finally finding the right words to express all the things he’d been feeling over the past weeks and months. As soon as the words were out, he realized exactly how right they were.
“That’s why I want to fill this house with our children,” he explained, trying to make her see all that he’d discovered in his heart. “There are so many more reasons, too. Dani shouldn’t be an only child. Any child who is a part of you will steal my heart.”
He grinned at the transformation he saw on her face. “Am I getting warm?” he asked, even though he could read the answer in her smile.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting very warm.” She searched his face. “Are you sure this is what you want? If we have a child, there’s no turning back.”
“There was never any chance of turning back,” he said with certainty. “To borrow a phrase from your daughter, I love you to pieces.” He gave her a lazy smile. “I may be slow, sweet pea, but once I get there, I never, ever, change my mind. Guaranteed.”
Epilogue
“I think we should get the whole family together and go into town for dinner tonight,” Kelly announced on a Sunday in mid-June, almost ten months after their marriage. “I’ve already called Jessie. She and Luke will drive over this afternoon. Do you want to call your parents or should I?”
Jordan regarded his wife warily. “You never want to get together with my parents. You always say my mother gives you hives.”
“I can tolerate her criticism for one night. And I adore Harlan.”
He nodded. “So, what’s the occasion? It’s not your birthday.” She had turned thirty without mishap a few weeks before. “It’s not mine. It’s not our anniversary.”
“You sure about all that?” she taunted.
“I’d like to claim total credit, but believe me, Ginger never lets me forget. She says there are certain things that are inviolate in a good marriage and special occasions top the list. She puts every important date on my calendar and circles it in red.”
“A wise woman,” Kelly enthused.
“You still haven’t said what’s going on.”
“It’s a surprise.”
Her reticence was making Jordan extremely nervous. Every once in a while, Kelly devised some scheme that threw the wonderful, quiet routine of their marriage into chaos. He had a hunch this was going to be one of those times. He was still reeling from the discovery that in seeking serenity, he’d found a woman filled with surprises.
“Does Dani know?” he inquired innocently.
Kelly chuckled. “Absolutely not. I know she can’t keep a secret, especially from you. Do you bribe that child or what?”
“Never.”
“Are you calling your parents or not?”
He sighed. “I’ll call them. What time and where?”
“DiPasquali’s at seven.”
Jordan spent the rest of the day surreptitiously observing his wife and trying to figure out what was going on in her head. The predictability he’d once cherished in Kelly had obviously vanished sometime after
