A Father for Her Triplets: Her Pregnancy Surprise (14 page)

Her lips trembled. She’d presented all her best arguments and he wasn’t budging. She had a choice. Stay and embarrass herself by crying in front of him, maybe even begging him to stay, or go—lose any chance of keeping him here, but salvage her pride.

She glanced up at him, saw the look of sadness on his face and knew the next step was pity. Pity for the woman who was left by her ex. Pity for the woman who was only now getting her life together after her father’s abuse.

Pride rescued her. She would never settle for anybody’s pity.

She softly sucked in a breath to hold off the tears, and smiled. Though it killed her, she forced her lips to bow upward, her tears to stay right where they were, shimmying on her eyelids.

“You know what? You’re right. You probably are a totally different guy in Florida. I
am
just starting out. It is better not to pursue this.”

“Two years from now you’ll be so busy and so successful you’ll forget who I am.”

Oh, he was wrong about that. She’d never forget him. But he was also right. She would be busy. Her kids would be well dressed, well loved, happy. She would have all the shiny wonderful toys every baker wanted. Hell, she’d probably have her own building by then.

Still, she wouldn’t let him off the hook. In some ways she believed he needed to be loved even more than she did. She loved him and he needed to know that. “I will be busy, but I won’t forget you.”

Her heart caught in her throat and she couldn’t say any more. She turned to the door and walked out.

He didn’t try to follow her.

CHAPTER TWELVE

M
ISSY
AWAKENED
before the kids, rolled out of bed and began baking. Wyatt rejecting her again the night before had stung, but the more she examined their conversation, the tortured expression on his face, the need she felt rolling from him, the more she knew he loved her.

That was the thing that bothered her about his rejecting her. Not her own loss. His. He kept saying he was protecting her from hurt, but in her own sadness she hadn’t seen his loss. It took her until three o’clock in the morning to realize that to keep her from hurt he was hurting himself.

If she really believed he didn’t want her, she’d let him go without a second thought. But she wasn’t going to let him walk away just to protect her. Risk was part of love. Unfortunately, both of them had been in relationships that hadn’t panned out, so they were afraid to risk.

Well, she wasn’t. Not with Wyatt. He was good, kind, loving. He would never leave her. And she would never leave him. She loved him.

In her pantry, she found the ingredients for lemon cake and meringue frosting. When the kids woke at eight, she fed them, then shooed them out the door to play.

As they sifted through the sand, she took a few peeks outside to see when Wyatt came out to be with them. He didn’t. But that didn’t bother her. He’d found his jewels the night before. He could be on the phone with his mom or even his staff, making plans to go home.

Which was why she had to get her lemon cake to him as soon as possible so she would have one more chance to talk him out of leaving, or one more chance to talk him into staying in touch, visiting her every few weeks or letting her and the kids visit him.

Elaine arrived at nine. Missy brushed her hands on her apron, then removed it. “Would you mind watching the kids while I quickly deliver this cake next door to Wyatt?”

With a laugh, Elaine said, “No. Go.”

Pretty yellow-and-white cake in hand, she walked through the backyard and dipped through the hole in the shrub. Sucking in a breath for courage, she pounded up the back porch steps and knocked on the kitchen door.

“He’s not here.”

She spun around to find Owen on her heels. “What?”

“He just weft.”

“He just weft?”

Owen nodded. “He said to tell you goodbye.”

“Oh.”

Wow. Her chest collapsed, as if someone had punched it. Wyatt wasn’t even going to tell her goodbye? Shock rendered her speechless, but also prevented her from overtly reacting.

“Well, then let’s go home. We’ll eat this cake for dessert at suppertime.”

Owen eagerly nodded.

But as they clomped down the stairs, the shock began to wear off. Her throat closed. Tears filled her eyes.

It really was over. He didn’t want her. All the stuff she’d convinced herself of, that he loved her, that he was protecting her, it was crap.

How many times had he told her he was a spoiled man, accustomed to getting what he wanted? How many times had he warned her off?

God, she was stupid! What he’d been saying was that if he wanted her, he would have her. And all that pain over leaving her that she’d been so sure she’d seen the night before? She hadn’t.

She set the cake on the counter, gave Elaine a list of chores for the day and went to her bedroom. About to throw herself across the bed and weep, she faltered. A shower would cover the noise of her crying. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about yet another person, Elaine, feeling sorry for her. She stripped, got into the shower and let the tears fall.

He might not have loved her, but like a fool, she’d fallen for him.

* * *

Wyatt had decided to take the bike home. He loved the truck, but he needed the bike. He needed the feeling of the wind on his face to remind him of who he was and what he did and why he hadn’t taken what Missy had offered.

Damn it! She’d have slept with him, even after all his warnings.

He stifled the urge to squeeze his eyes shut. She was such a good person. Such a wonderful person. And such a good mom.

A vision of his last five minutes with Owen popped into his head. He’d thought he could slide out the front door, zoom down the steps and get on the bike without being noticed. But the little boy had been at the opening in the shrubs. Just as he had been the day Wyatt arrived.

“Where you goin’?”

He’d stopped, turned to face him. “Home.”

“You didn’t give me a wide.”

No longer having trouble understanding Owen’s lisp, he’d laughed, dropped his duffel bag in the little pouch that made the back of the bike’s seat, and headed to the opening. When he reached Owen he’d crouched down.

“Actually, I think you’re too small to ride a bike.”

Owen looked at his tennis shoes. “Oh.”

“But don’t worry, someday you’ll be tall. Not just big enough to ride a bike, but tall.”

The little boy grinned at him.

Wyatt ruffled his hair. He started to rise to go, but his heart tightened and he stopped. He opened his arms and Owen stepped into them. He wrapped them around the boy, his eyes filling with tears. This time next week, when the kids went to day care, Owen would forget all about him. But Wyatt had a feeling he’d never forget Owen.

He let him go and rose. “See ya, kid.”

“See ya.”

Then he’d gotten on his bike and rode off.

Damn it.
Now his head was all cloudy again and his chest hurt from wanting. Wanting to stay with Missy. Wanting to be around her kids. Wanting to stay where he was instead of return to the home that was supposed to be paradise, but he knew would be empty and lifeless.

Seeing a sign for a rest stop, he swung off the highway and drove up to the small brick building.

He took off his helmet and headed for the restroom. Parked beside the sidewalk was a gray-blue van. As he approached, the side door slid open and six kids rolled out. Three girls. Three boys. They barreled past him and giggled their way to the building.

“Might as well mosey instead of running.” The man exiting the van smiled at him. “They’ll be taking up most of the bathroom stalls and all the space in front of the vending machines for the next twenty minutes.”

Last month that would have made Wyatt grouchy. This month it made him smile. He could see Missy’s kids doing the same thing a few years from now. “Yours?”

“Three grandkids. Three kids with my new wife.” He pointed at the tall, willowy redhead who followed the kids, issuing orders and in general looking out for them.

“Oh.” Wyatt was all for polite chitchat, but he wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that. The closer the stranger got to Wyatt the more obvious it was that he wasn’t in his twenties, as the redhead was. Early fifties probably. Plus, he’d admitted three of those kids were his
grandkids.

The man batted a hand in dismissal. “Everybody says raising kids is a younger man’s game, and that might be true, but I love them all.”

“Bet your older kids aren’t thrilled.”

He laughed. “Are you kidding? Our house is the in place to be. We have movie night every Friday, so every Friday both of my daughters get a date night with their husbands.”

“Well, that’s handy.”

“And I feel twenty-eight again.”

Wyatt laughed. He guessed that was probably the redhead’s age.

“Didn’t think I’d pull through after my first wife left me.” He tossed Wyatt a look. “Dumped me for my business partner, tried to take the whole company from him.” He chuckled. “My lawyers were better than theirs.”

Wyatt couldn’t stop the guffaw that escaped. It was nice to see somebody win in divorce wars.

“But now I have a wife I know really loves me. Three new kids to cement the deal. And very good relationships with my older kids, since I am a convenient babysitter for weekends.”

“That’s nice.”

The older man sucked in a breath. “It is nice.” He slapped Wyatt on the back. “I’m telling you, second chances are the best. Just when you think you’re going to be alone forever, love finds you in the most unexpected ways.” He stopped, his mouth fell open and he began racing up the sidewalk. “Come on, Tommy! You know better than that.”

By the time Wyatt got out of the restroom, the van, the older man and the kids were gone. He shook his head with a laugh, thinking the guy really was lucky. Then he walked up to a vending machine and inserted the coins to get a two-pack of chocolate cupcakes. He pushed the selection button. They flopped down to the takeaway tray.

He opened them and shoved an entire cupcake into his mouth, then nearly spit it out.

Compared to the cake he’d been eating the past few weeks, it was dry, tasteless. And made him long for Missy with every fiber of his being. Not because he wanted cake, but because she made him laugh, made him think, made him yearn for things he didn’t even realize he wanted.

He wanted kids.

Someday he wanted to be the dad in the van taking everyone on an adventure. He wanted his house to be the one that hosted Friday night movie night—with the triplets’ friends.

He wanted to have a bigger family than his parents and Missy’s parents had given them. So his grandkids could have cousins and aunts and uncles. Things he didn’t have.

But most of all he wanted her. He wanted to laugh with her, to tease with her, to wake up beside her every morning and fall asleep with her at night. He didn’t want the noise in Tampa. He didn’t want to fight any more battles in courtrooms or in his boardroom. He wanted a real life.

He glanced around the crowded rest stop. What the hell was he doing here? He never ran away from something he wanted. He went after it.

And the first step was easy. He climbed on his bike, but before he started the engine, he pulled out his cell phone. He hit Betsy’s speed dial number.

When she answered, he said, “Here’s the deal. You come up with ten percent over the market value for my shares, or you sell me yours for their real value.”

She sputtered. “What?”

“You heard me. If you want to play hardball, I’m countering your offer. I’ll buy your shares for market value. If that doesn’t suit you, then you buy me out. But I’m not working with you. And I’m not running the company for you. One of us takes all. The other gets lost. I don’t care which way it goes.”

“We’re not supposed to negotiate without our lawyers.”

“Yeah, well, I found something I want more than my company. I’d be happy to keep it and run it, as long as I don’t have to deal with you. We never were a good match. We’re opposites who argue all the time. If we try to run the company together, all we’ll do is fight. And I’m done fighting. If you don’t want to buy my shares, I’ll find somebody who will.”

She sighed. “Wyatt—”

“You have ten seconds to answer. Either let me buy your shares for what they’re really worth or you buy mine and I disappear. Or I sell them to a third party.”

“I don’t want your company.”

“Clock’s ticking.”

“Fine. I’ll take market value.”

“I’ll call my accountant and lawyer.”

He clicked off the call with a grin. He was free. Finally free to walk into the destiny he’d known was his since ninth grade. He was gonna marry Missy Johnson.

He started the bike and zipped onto the highway, this time going in the opposite direction, back home.

He was going to get his woman.

* * *

Missy cried herself out in the shower, put on clean clothes and set about making gum paste. While it cooled, she could have made a batch of cupcakes. Her plan was to deliver the cupcakes to every restaurant in a three-county area this week, but her heart wasn’t in it. After Wyatt’s rejection, she needed to feel loved, wanted. So as Elaine gathered the ingredients for a batch of chocolate cupcakes, she went outside to plant the azalea bushes the kids had bought her for Mother’s Day.

The problem was she could see splashes of red through the shabby hedge. Her heart stuttered a bit. Wyatt’s truck. He’d have to come home for that.

She stopped the happy thoughts that wanted to form. Even if he did come home, he wouldn’t come over to see her. He’d made his choices. Now she had to live with them. With her pride intact. She didn’t beg. She’d never begged. She sucked it up and went on.

She would go on now, too.

But one of these days she’d dig up those shrubs and replace them with bushes thick enough that she couldn’t see the house on the other side. True, it would take years for them to grow tall enough to be a fence, but when they grew in they would be healthy and strong...and full. So she wouldn’t be able to see into the McKenzie yard, and any McKenzie who happened to wander home wouldn’t be able to see into hers.

She snorted a laugh. No McKenzie would be coming home. He’d probably send somebody to pick up the truck, and hire a Realtor to sell the house. She had no reason to protect herself from an accidental meeting. There would be no accidental meeting.

The roar of a motorcycle in her driveway brought her back to the present. Her first thought was that someone had chosen to turn around in her drive. Still, curious, she spun around to see who was.

Wyatt.

Her heart cartwheeled.
Wyatt.

She removed her gardening gloves and tossed them on the picnic table, her heart in her throat.

As he removed his helmet and headed into her yard, all three kids bounced up with glee. He got only midway to the picnic table before he was surrounded. He reached down and scooped up Claire. Helaina and Owen danced around him as he continued toward the picnic table.

“Are we going to play?” Owen’s excited little voice pierced her heart. This was just like Wyatt. Come back for two seconds, probably to give her keys to the truck for whoever he sent up to retrieve it, and undo all the progress she’d made in getting the kids to understand that he’d left and wasn’t coming back.

“In a minute.” He slid Claire to the ground again. “I need to talk to your mom.”

All three kids just looked at him.

He laughed. “If you go play now, I’ll take you for ice cream later.”

Owen’s eyes widened. “In the twuck?”

Missy sighed. Now he was just plain making trouble for her. “The truck doesn’t have car seats.”