Texas Lullaby (Texas Montgomery Mavericks Book 7) (14 page)

“You in here?” KC asked.

“Down here,” he answered. “Shut the door.”

“What smells? Oh, I see,” she added as she stepped around his desk. “You know, this is a side of you I bet no one has ever seen. In fact, you could have won a lot of money off me.”

“What are you blabbering about?” He ripped the tape off the sides of the diaper and pulled it down.

“You. A diaper change? Who are you and what have you done with my cousin?”

“Ha. Ha. Oops,” he said, putting the diaper back over Levi as he let loose with a stream of pee.

“Nice catch.”

Jason looked up with a grin. “I learned that one the hard way.” He turned back to the baby. “Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get the rest of your mess cleaned up.”

Once the diaper was off, Jason reached for baby wipes, his other hand holding Levi in one place. “Scoot the trash can over closer, will ya?”

KC pushed the can over with her foot. “You can’t leave that diaper in here all day.”

“Like I don’t know that.”

She giggled. “What kind of blackmail pictures does Lydia have of you? Must be something powerful for you to be here alone with three children.”

“I can take care of three children. Why does everyone think I’m inept when it comes to kids?”

“Maybe because you’ve always been so outspoken about not wanting any.”

He shrugged. “It’s not that hard.”

Laughing, KC took a seat in his big, leather desk chair. “You say that now, but I’ll check back after lunch. I bet you’re singing a different tune.”

“When are you going out on maternity leave?”

“God, I hope soon. My feet are swollen. I’m the size of a whale. I’m completely miserable.”

Jason stood, lifting Levi to his hip. “How much longer?”

“A couple of weeks.” She stood. “I’m going home so I can sit around in something more comfortable.”

He checked his watch. “Well, it is almost ten-thirty. Another full day at the office.”

Laughing as she struggled to her feet, she said, “Bite me.” She pulled the liner from his trash and tied the top into a knot. “I’ll do you a solid and take this with me.”

“Thanks.”

Levi drank a bottle of formula after KC left and was happy to play in his pen with the toys Lydia had packed. Jason had gotten a whole two paragraphs reviewed when Annie tugged at his pant leg.

“Whatcha need, honey?”

“Potty.”

After both girls hit the bathroom and he got them back into his office, a loud game of screaming while weaving in and around all the furniture in his office ensued.

And that’s pretty much how his entire morning went, meaning he didn’t get through one page of review.

Finally, at noon, when his hearing and his nerves had had all they could take, he suggested lunch, which was met with jumping enthusiasm. Margie kept Levi while he took the twins out to lunch for chicken strips and fries, thinking––or maybe hoping––that maybe the carbo load would give them heavy eyelids after lunch. He made a mental note to do something extremely nice for Margie after today was over. A massage maybe?

He took the twins to a well-known local cafe with outside seating that catered to the youngest customers, which he decided was a brilliant decision on his part after numerous spills of honey mustard, catsup and one glass of milk.

It was close to two by the time he and the twins parked back at his office. He exited Lydia’s new SUV and removed them from the back seat.

“I wanna ride in,” Annie said, her arms lifted toward him.

“Sure.” He swung her up and onto his shoulders for the ride. That action was met with squeals of giggles.

Ellery stepped on top of his once-polished loafers and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Walk,” she demanded.

He chuckled and shuffled forward. The twins’ giggles were loud and echoed into his lobby as he walked to his office door with stiff legs.

“Duck,” he said to Annie as he opened his door. The sight that met him sent an eddy loose in his gut.

Lydia sat in his desk chair holding Levi. Long strands of hair curled over her shoulders and down her arms. The minute her head lifted and she saw him and the girls, a bright smile broke across her face.

“Got yourself quite the load, Counselor.”

He laughed, set Ellery off his feet and then lifted Annie off his shoulders and set her on her feet.

“Lydia,” both girls shouted and ran to where she was sitting.

“We went to lunch,” Ellery announced.

“You did? What did you eat?”

“Ice cream,” Annie answered.

Lydia rolled her gaze up to him. He held up his hands.

“For dessert. They had chicken strips and fries for lunch, right girls?”

They nodded.

Lydia lifted the tale of Ellery’s shirt and studied the stain here. “I’d say you had chocolate ice cream and—” she studied Annie’s shirt, “—strawberry.”

The twins nodded.

“Can you two go pick up all your papers so I can talk to Jason?”

Ellery and Annie ran to the seating area and began stacking the sheets of paper that littered his office.

Jason went over to her, leaned down and kissed her. “Good to see you, but what are you doing here so early?”

Levi held up his arms to Jason and he picked the baby up from Lydia’s lap.

“Mom and Dad are in town. They called a little while ago.”

Jason stroked Levi’s back. “Is something wrong? Why are they here?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea. They’re coming over for dinner and to see the kids this evening. I thought I’d better get them home and cleaned up before my folks arrive. I don’t want them to think I’m doing a crappy job.”

He leaned over for another kiss. “Nobody would ever suggest that. You are doing a fantastic job with the kids.”

“Maybe, but I need to get something going for dinner too.”

“Just call Di Roma’s and get a family lasagna to go. Want me to pick one up and bring it over tonight?”

“Thanks, but no. It’s a good suggestion though. I think I’ll do that, but I think it might be better if we have just the family at dinner tonight.”

Just the family?
Her words stung.

“What? I’m not family?” he asked, trying to keep a teasing tone to his voice.

She chuckled. “You know what I mean.”

No, no, he didn’t, but he let it go.

“We’re done,” Annie stated, setting all the collected paper on Jason’s desk.

“Good,” he said. “Very good.”

Lydia stood. “We need to get going, girls. Grandma and Grandpa are coming over tonight.”

That statement caused more shrieks and jumping.

Jason passed Levi to Lydia and then squatted. “Come here and give me a kiss bye.” He held out his arms and both girls flew into them and he gave each of them a kiss. “I sure had fun with you two today. Did you have fun?”

Both blond tikes nodded.

“Good. We’ll do it again sometime, okay?”

He stood. “See ya, big guy,” he said to Levi. “Don’t let the dirty diapers get you down.”

Lydia chuckled. “Okay, gang. Let’s move it.”

Once the foursome was gone, taking all their kid necessities with them, his office was too quiet and too neat.

Chapter Eleven

Jason’s suggestion to pick up Di Roma’s was a time-saving, brilliant idea. Lydia had time to give all the children quick baths before her parents were scheduled to arrive. The lasagna was warming in the oven with the garlic bread sticks and there was a salad in the refrigerator awaiting dressing. The table was set and she’d had time to run a fast vacuum around to suck up as much Jasper shedding as possible. She was ready.

Her parents were scheduled to arrive at six, so a little before that she headed to the laundry room to fold a load of clothes. She’d just finished folding up a sheet when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Ellery yelled.

“Wait,” she called. “Don’t open that door until I get there.”

The next thing she heard was her mother’s voice. “Ellery! Annie! I can’t believe how much you’ve grown in only a couple of months.”

“Tomorrow, I’m buying a deadlock,” Lydia muttered to herself. “I’m coming,” she called.

By the time she reached the living room, which was really only a few steps, her parents had their arms around the twins––Annie with her dad and Ellery with her mom.

“Hi, Mom. Dad,” Lydia said.

Her mom straightened. “Hi, honey.” She hurried over and embraced Lydia in a tight hug. “How are you? You’re looking great. The kids look great. Where’s Levi?”

Lydia laughed. “Slow down, Mom. Levi is in the kitchen, probably making a mess with the cracker I gave him.”

Her mom chuckled. “Sorry. I’m just so glad to see everybody.”

Lydia kissed her mom’s cheek. “And we are glad to see you two also.”

“Smells good in here,” her father said.

“Thanks. We’re having your favorite tonight.”

“Lasagna?” Larry asked.

“Yep.”

“We’re hungry,” Ellery said.

Annie nodded. “Me too.”

Lydia looked at her parents. “Dinner’s ready if you are.”

Her father rubbed his stomach. “Starved.”

“I could eat,” Ida said.

“Come on then,” Lydia said. “We can eat and you two can tell me why the surprise visit.”

As soon as Levi saw his grandparents, he began banging his cracker on the edge of his playpen. “Babababababababa,” he shouted.

“Hey, sweetheart,” her mother said and lifted the nine-month baby into her arms. “He’s grown so much,” she said. “Hi, Levi. Hi.” She jiggled him in her arms.

Levi laughed and cooed.

Larry grinned. “Watch your back, Ida. Looks like the boy has gained a few pounds.”

Ida shook her head and continued talking to her grandson in a playful voice. “Don’t pay any attention to your grandpa. You are perfect.”

Lydia held out her arms. “Let me have him. I’ll feed him while we are all eating.

Lydia plated up the piping-hot lasagna onto plates and set them on the table. Finally, she took her seat at the head of the table by Levi.

“This is delicious,” her mother said after her first bite. “I really had no idea you could cook like this.”

Lydia laughed. “I wish. Picked this up at Di Roma’s on the way home.”

Larry pointed his fork at Lydia. “You can serve this to me anytime.”

Lydia spooned a bite of pureed peaches into Levi’s mouth. “Not that I’m not thrilled to have you guys here, but other than seeing your grandbabies, is there another reason you’re in town?” Her gaze went to her dad. “Are you having trouble with the stent you had done in Dallas?”

“Nope,” he said. “I’m doing great. Feel better than I have in a while.”

She nodded. “Your color’s better too.”

Ida set her fork on the side of her plate. “We do have some news.” She smiled as she looked to her husband and then to Lydia. “We’re moving to Whispering Springs.”

An electrical jolt hit Lydia. “What? When? What?”

Her mother chuckled. “Surprised you, huh? Glad we can still do that.”

“Surprised? Yes, but thrilled. What brought on this decision?”

Larry took a swallow of his iced tea and said, “We have all evening to talk about the whys.” He rolled his gaze down to Annie and back up. “For now, let’s just be happy we’ll all be together.”

Lydia nodded, getting his nonverbal message that he didn’t want to explain their move in front of the children, but she worried there was more to their relocation. Dallas had some of the world’s best cardiac doctors, and the concern that there was more wrong with her father’s heart than she knew sprouted in her mind.

“Love your new laundry room,” her mother said, pointing toward the open door in the kitchen. “You needed that.”

“With these three, more than ever,” Lydia agreed. “But wait until you see the new bedroom and bath I’m adding. Poor Levi will finally have a bedroom to himself.”

“Poor Levi or poor Lydia?” her mother asked with a chuckle.

Grinning, Lydia said, “A little of both.”

When dinner was over, Ida and Larry took the twins to their bedroom to get ready for bed. Since they’d had a bath this afternoon, albeit a quick one, getting them into pajamas would be simple. Meantime, she cleaned up Levi and got him into a sleep shirt for the night. It took another hour and a gallon of little girl tears before Ellery and Annie would part from their grandparents and go to bed.

At close to nine, Lydia dropped onto the sofa beside her mother. “I am so glad to see you guys.”

Her mother put her arm around Lydia and hugged. “Us too, honey.”

“Now, what’s going on?” Lydia looked at her father. “Is it your heart?”

“What?” her dad said. “No, no. I’m fine. But your mother and I have been talking.”

Her mother turned on the sofa to face Lydia. “Your father and I always talked about how we needed to get up to Kansas more often to see Meredith and the children. And we did go, but not enough. It always felt like something we could do tomorrow. And then…” She drew in a stuttering breath. “And then our baby died.”

Lydia placed her hand on her mother’s arm. “No parent should have to bury their child.”

A tear trickled down her mother’s face. “We can’t control life.” Ida wiped the tear with the back of her hand. “But we can control where we live. We want to be near you and near our grandchildren. We want to watch them grow up, be a part of their lives.”

Lydia understood what her parents were saying, but there was one thing she had to be clear on. “Okay. I can see that but tell me the truth. Are you wanting to move here because you don’t think I can do this? Raise Meredith’s children as well as she could?”

Ida’s mouth dropped open. “What? No! Of course not.”

“Absolutely not,” Larry said. “The children look great. Happy. Growing like weeds.”

“And then there’s your father’s heart,” Ida said. “That scared the poop out of both of us. We got home to Florida, looked at each other and asked what we were doing there when we wanted to be up here? But we also knew that we had to deal with your dad’s heart issues before we could begin to think about moving.”

Lydia looked at her dad. “And you swear your cardiologist gave you walking papers?”

Larry held up the three-finger Boy Scout salute. “Scout’s honor.”

Lydia grinned. “In that case, this is great.” She hugged her mother and then went over to where her father sat to give him a tight squeeze. “I know Ellery and Annie will be thrilled to have you close. I am so happy that Levi will get to know his grandparents.” She retook her seat. “Have you given any thought to the type of house you want to look for?”

Her parents exchanged a glance.

“Okay, I saw that,” Lydia said. “What’s up with the house? Why are you two acting so squirrely?

“Well—” her mother shrugged, “—we have already found a house to rent.”

“Really?” Lydia’s tone betrayed her surprise. “Already? When did you get to Whispering Springs?”

“Today.”

“And you’ve already found a house? Where?”

Her mother chuckled. “We haven’t actually seen it yet, but it’s only two houses down.”

“You rented a house on this street? How? Whose?”

“I was chatting with Jackie Montgomery the other day––”

“Somehow I should have known Jason’s mother was involved in this.”

“Not really,” her mother said. “Jackie and I talk on the phone often. Anyway, I mentioned to her that Larry and I had been thinking about moving here, and she said that her nephew had recently married a girl who lived here and that the girl had a house close to you.”

Lydia nodded. “Darren. Right. He married Porchia Summers.”

“Jackie called Porchia, who was happy to rent to us for a while until she decides what she wants to do with her house.” Her mother leaned in. “I was thinking that we could rent for a while, and then after you and Jason marry and you move into his house, your father and I could buy this place from you.”

Lydia’s heart sank. No matter what happened in her life, everything seemed to circle back around to her not-going-to-happen marriage. She sighed.

“I don’t think there is going to be a marriage.”

Ida’s eyes opened wide. “What? Why in the world not? You and Jason are perfect together.” Her face turned harsh. “Did he do something?”

Lydia shook her head. “No. I did. I took in three children.”

“Jason resents Meredith’s children?”

“No, no. Nothing like that, but he never wanted children. Ever. He’s been dead set against having a family since I met him. He’s done great with the kids, but for the long term? I don’t think it’s right to tie him down with them.” She leaned against the back of the couch and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t see that I have much of a choice but to break it off with him permanently.”

“Have you asked him?” her father said. “Sounds like something he should have a say in.”

Lydia looked toward her dad. “No, and I’m not going to. Jason is a wonderful man. He’s honest and dependable. But I know him. He would stay with me out of loyalty, because in his mind, he made a commitment to marry me. He’s the type of guy who stands by his word. But it wouldn’t be fair for me to tie him into a situation he made no bones about not wanting.”

“Are you sure, honey?” her mother asked.

Lydia shrugged. “Who can be sure about anything, Mom? This just seems like the right thing to do. I need to give Jason his walking papers so he can find someone else who can give him the life he wants.” As the reality of her words settled in her heart, she rubbed at the pain in her chest.

* * * * *

Lydia’s conversation with her parents replayed over and over in her mind as she saw patients the next couple of days. She’d meant what she’d told them. She loved Jason more than she could put into words. However, she also realized she loved him enough to let him go, to push him to find the kind of life he wanted even though it meant seeing him with someone else.

It was long past time that she was honest with him and give him back the engagement ring. But actually ending it, giving his ring back to him, was too painful to think about, so she kept shoving reality to the back of her mind.

“Dr. Henson?”

Lydia looked up at her office door at the front desk receptionist.

“You have a call on line four.”

“Thanks.” She lifted the receiver. “Dr. Henson.”

“Good afternoon,” Jason said. “Your first full week back at work is half over. How’s it been?”

His deep voice scattered the butterflies in her belly. Her heart rate picked up. An involuntary smile pulled at her lips.

“Pretty good. I haven’t yet asked for a pee-pee sample, so I think I’m ahead of the game. How’s your case going?”

“Rough. I didn’t get home until midnight last night and was in court at nine this morning.” He sighed. “I have really missed you, missed talking to you.”

The boulder in her throat prevented her from replying, it didn’t stop the tears that built in her eyes. How would she ever learn to live without him?

“How did Monday night go with your folks? Why are they here?”

“They surprised me with the news that they are moving to Whispering Springs.”

“Really? That’s great news, right?”

“Yes, it is. I want the kids to know their grandparents, and honestly, I like having them closer to me. Dad scared me with his heart. Made me realize they aren’t as young as they used to be.”

“None of us are, babe.”

His comment elbowed the guilt inside her. He wasn’t getting any younger. She’d made him wait while she got her professional life going. First, through her residency and then while she got her practice up and going. It wasn’t fair to ask him to wait again while she got her personal life back on track.

“I’m glad they’re coming here, but…”

“But?”

“Nothing. Think you could run by this evening after work?”

“Wish I could, but I’ll be stuck at the office until midnight again, and I’ve got court first thing in the morning. How about I come by tomorrow night? That work for you?”

“Let’s do Friday night instead. That okay?”

“Sure. Probably better anyway. Depending on how my case goes on Thursday, I could end up working late again.”

“Okay. Friday night then.”

“Friday night,” he repeated. “I can’t wait to see you. I’ve been missing you like crazy. And the kids too,” he added as though an afterthought.

“Great. I’ll see you at my house. We need to talk.”

* * * * *

Friday night, Jason parked in front of Lydia’s house, pleased to see that Cash was almost done with the addition. Once he and Lydia married and moved everyone into his house, these additions would add quite a bit of value to the property. She should make a nice, tidy profit when she sold it. Whispering Springs’s population was exploding and housing was getting tight. Buying instead of renting had been an excellent financial decision on Lydia’s part.

He knocked on the door.

“I’ll get it,” a young voice yelled seconds before the door was flung open.

“Jason,” Ellery yelled. “Lydia. It’s Jason.”

Lydia came from the kitchen drying her hands on a kitchen towel. “So I see. I thought we’d talked about your opening the door without me.”

“But it’s Jason,” Ellery protested.

“Why don’t you keep the door locked?” Jason asked, stepping in and setting his messenger bag by the door.

“It was locked,” Lydia said. “They know how to unlock it. Deadbolt is my next option.”