She looked as if she’d rather sink straight through the floor, but she eventually nodded and put the carrier onto the table. By this time Kelly had wandered over to join him, tucking her hand into his.
“She’s darling,” Kelly said when Jordan stood there in stunned silence, unable to form a single word.
He didn’t know much about babies. He’d heard they all looked the same, but he was absolutely certain that the infant with the huge brown eyes and dark tuft of hair looked exactly like an Adams. Except for the pink bow tied around the hair, she was a dead ringer for pictures he’d seen of Cody, chubby little cheeks and all.
Alarm darkened Melissa’s eyes as she watched his reaction.
“She’s Cody’s, isn’t she?” he said more harshly than he’d intended. Kelly stared at him in shock, then looked again at the baby.
Tears spilled down Melissa’s cheeks. “Don’t tell him. Please. He’ll just hate me. Promise you won’t tell him.”
Jordan couldn’t make any such promise. Nor, from the expression he saw in Kelly’s eyes, was she willing to guarantee her silence, either.
“Not without talking to you,” Kelly said quietly, giving the young woman a hug. “I’ll be in touch.”
Apparently satisfied with the answer, Melissa picked up her baby and fled.
“We have to tell him,” Jordan said, keeping his voice hushed so the others wouldn’t hear. Harlan would have a fit, if he ever found out.
He glanced back toward the table, where no one else seemed to have taken much notice of the exchange. They’d all taken Cody’s side against Melissa and obviously considered her presence here tonight not worthy of their attention. “What do we tell them?”
“Nothing until we’ve had a chance to think about all of the ramifications,” Kelly said sensibly. “Now let’s go back to the others and celebrate our news, okay? I don’t want anything spoiling this mo-ment.”
Jordan forced his anxieties about his brother and this baby Cody knew nothing about from his mind. He leaned down and kissed his wife. Whatever they decided to do about Melissa and Cody, they would decide it together.
“I love you,” he said again, thinking how incredibly lucky he was. “Love me?”
“Always.” She touched her hand to his cheek and met his eyes. “Always.”
ISBN-13: 9781488055270
Christmas at White Pines
Copyright © 2019 by Harlequin Books S.A.
A Christmas Blessing
Copyright © 1995 by Sherryl Woods
Natural Born Daddy
Copyright © 1995 by Sherryl Woods
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