brides for brothers 02 - cowboy daddy (13 page)

“Thanks, Mildred. We were fortunate to find two alike.” When she started toward the dining room, where the cake and punch were located, Chad followed. Over her shoulder, she said, “You should stay here and help Red.”

“But who’s gonna protect you from all those woman-hungry cowboys?”

Mildred chuckled, but Red ordered Chad to get the hot rolls from the oven before they burned.

“I could’ve done that,” Mildred said, eyeing Red.

“Now, Miss Bates—” Red began.

“He’s used to ordering me around, Mildred,” Chad intervened. He’d noticed some tension between the two older people, though he didn’t understand why. “You can put them in the bread basket Red has ready.”

Mollified, Mildred picked up a spatula.

“Where are those two? I thought their truck arrived five minutes ago.” Red frowned toward the back door.

“I think they got distracted,” Chad offered, a big grin on his face. He had similar plans for his bride as soon as they could escape the celebration. In fact, he’d been doing a lot of thinking about babies, ever since he’d heard of Pete’s approaching fatherhood.

Tonight might be a good time for a discussion with Meggie. Or something.

Janie and Pete entered the kitchen.

“It’s about time,” Red growled. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he stepped forward and kissed Janie on the cheek. “Welcome to the family, Janie.”

“Oh, Red, thank you!”

“Hey, watch it, Red,” Pete protested, but the grin on his face told everyone he wasn’t serious. “I’m not letting anyone kiss my bride but me.”

“From what I saw out the back door, I’d say you’ve already used up your quota,” Chad teased, laughing as Janie’s cheeks flushed.

“Don’t mind these men, child,” Mildred said. “Pete, you take your beautiful bride in the living room and show her off. The house is full of people waiting to congratulate you.” Then she turned to Chad. “You should join them, young man. Half the county is waiting to be introduced to your bride, too.”

Chad willingly headed for the dining room. As he was leaving the kitchen, however, he wondered if it was safe to leave Red and Mildred alone.

“Who put you in charge?” Red growled behind him.

“I’m just trying to be helpful,” Mildred returned.

Love might be brimming in the living room, Chad thought, but it was in short supply in the kitchen.

“F
EEL FREE
to go upstairs whenever you want,” Jake said, pausing beside Pete. “You and Janie have been good sports, and no one would mind whenever you want to call it an evening.”

“Thanks, Jake, but we’re enjoying ourselves, right Janie?” Pete asked, slipping his arm around Janie’s waist.

“Right,” she murmured, struggling to summon a smile. It wasn’t that she wasn’t having fun. Sort of. She and Pete had been the center of attention for several hours. The food had been delicious, and the cutting of the wedding cake suddenly brought home to Janie that she’d actually achieved her dream of marrying Pete Randall.

But she was tired. And anxious about the coming night. Every time she thought of sharing a bed, even a king-size bed, with the sexy man next to her, she grew more and more nervous.

“How about a dance?” Pete asked, surprising Janie.

Jake stared at his brother, too. “You want to dance? There isn’t much room in here with all the guests.”

“Everyone can’t dance, but we’ve got a guitar player and a fiddler here. Janie and I could have our dance, and you and B.J. and Chad and Megan can join us.”

Even as he said it, Pete was motioning to a friend across the room. Within minutes, he had arranged a cleared space in the center of the room and. the two musicians ready to play. He motioned for Chad and Megan to join them.

“Where’s B.J.?” he called.

“Over here,” she returned, waving to him. “Do you need something?”

“Pete, B.J. and I don’t need to join in,” Jake protested in a low voice.

Janie watched him curiously. He seemed agitated. She supposed he was afraid B.J. might get the wrong idea.

When B.J. reached their side and Pete explained what he wanted, she agreed, after a brief glance at Jake. The three couples gathered in the cleared space, and Pete nodded to the musicians.

Janie, after a moment of resistance, collapsed against Pete’s chest. She was too tired to resist. His arms wrapped her against him, and they moved slowly to the music. With her eyes closed, she could almost imagine them alone six months ago, just beginning what she’d hoped would lead to a long life together.

Instead, it had led to a pregnancy and a marriage—in that order. And not because Pete loved her.

“You okay?” Pete asked, leaning down to whisper in her ear. He followed his question with a kiss beneath her ear, and she shivered against him.

“I’m a little tired,” she murmured.

“I’ve kept you down here too long, I guess. But…I was enjoying pretending that our marriage is real. When we go upstairs, I have to face the fact that it’s not.”

Janie reared back from his hold. “Don’t try to make me feel guilty, Pete Randall. It won’t work.”

“Darn, Janie Randall. You’re too smart for me.” His lips captured hers for a brief kiss. “By the way, I kissed Aunt Henrietta, too. I thought it was the least I could do to thank her.”

“I don’t know why you want to thank her. It’s not going to change anything,” she assured him, but she figured she was trying to convince herself as much as him.

“At least I’ll get to see you when I wake up in the morning.”

“I just hope the first thing you see isn’t me bent over the toilet.”

Pete frowned sharply. “You’re getting sick? Did you call the doc?”

“It’s only happened once.”

“Wait a minute. I think he’s still here. I’ll—” Pete began, and started to leave her standing alone in the middle of the makeshift dance floor.

Janie grabbed him by his lapels. “Stop, Pete. I don’t need you to find the doctor. I’m fine. Throwing up before a wedding is commonplace.”

“Yeah, but Doc said—”

“Pete! For heaven’s sake, it’s no big deal.” She wanted to shake him, but he was too big. The only things that got a response from the man were sex or babies.

“Have you been taking your vitamins?” he asked, still staring at her.

She rolled her eyes. “How romantic you are, Pete Randall.”

“You want romance?” he asked, pulling her closer, his lips trailing down her neck.

Pulling back, she muttered, “That’s sex, not romance.”

“Hell, I already sent you flowers and candy. Much more romance, and I won’t be able to pay for the babies,” he teased.

“I don’t need candy and flowers. And whatever else you do, don’t help me with the grocery shopping, either,” she ordered.

“You won’t have to do any grocery shopping. Red takes care of that.”

It suddenly struck Janie that her entire life had been turned upside down. “What am I going to do?”

“What do you mean?” Pete asked, frowning.

“Tomorrow. What am I going to do tomorrow?”

Pete seemed confused, and he stopped moving to the music. “What will you do tomorrow?” he repeated. “You’ll relax, do whatever you want.”

But Janie wasn’t comforted. Suddenly she felt disoriented, lost.

“Janie, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Your job is to take care of yourself and the babies.” For the first time since he’d discovered she was pregnant, he reached down and pressed his hand against her stomach, his fingers splayed against the satin wedding gown.

“Pete!” Janie squealed softly. “People are watching.”

He gathered her back into his arms. “We’re married, Janie. They haven’t forgotten even if you have.”

She laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m so tired, I don’t think I can even remember my name.”

“Randall. You’re a Randall, Janie Dawson Randall, and I think it’s time I take you home.” She didn’t even protest when he swung her up into his arms and headed for the stairs.

“Wait!” Mildred called out as Pete passed her. “Janie hasn’t thrown her bouquet!” She thrust the flowers, which had been resting on a nearby table, into Janie’s hands.

“Make it fast, Mrs. Randall,” Pete whispered. He climbed the first two stairs and turned her toward the living room.

“Put me down, Pete,” she whispered.

“Nope. Toss that bouquet, little lady, and toss it fast.”

Somehow, doing as her new husband ordered seemed the easiest thing at that moment. With one arm around his neck, she used the other to toss the bouquet over the balustrade.

Shrieks of laughter filled the air, and Janie looked down to discover a terror-stricken Brett clutching the bridal bouquet to his chest.

Pete didn’t wait. He turned and headed up the stairs. Behind them, Janie heard Brett protesting.

“Hey! Wait! Throw it again, Janie. Not me! I wasn’t supposed—”

“I think Janie did a fine job,” Jake announced, and their guests burst into delighted laughter.

J
AKE WATCHED
Pete carrying Janie up the stairs. Before he could stop himself, he thought of doing the same to B.J. He’d have a harder time of it because she was a tall woman. Curvaceous.

He shook his head. What was he thinking? His first wife, Chloe, had been small, dainty, demanding. And he needed to remember that she was the reason he would never marry again.

The dance with B.J. had been more enjoyable than he’d expected. To fight the attraction he was feeling, he asked, “Are you sorry you didn’t catch the bouquet?”

She looked at him, surprise on her face. “No, of course not, I’m not in the market for a husband.” She chuckled as she looked across the room. “Though I can’t say Brett thinks he is, either.”

“He’ll adjust. I’ve told him it’s time he start looking around now that Pete’s married.”

“You’re rather dictatorial about your brothers, aren’t you?”

He frowned at her. “I’m the head of the family. It’s up to me to see that they’re all taken care of.”

“Don’t you think your brothers are old enough to figure things out for themselves?”

“No, I don’t! And how I handle my family’s business is none of yours.” He regretted his burst of anger, knowing he should apologize, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

After staring up at him in silence, she only said, quietly, “I think some of the guests are ready to leave now that Pete and Janie have gone upstairs. Perhaps you should go—”

“Yes. Thank you for reminding me of my duties.” After giving a brief nod of his head, he strode to the door. Damn the woman. She always made him feel he’d been less than a gentleman.

“L
OOKS LIKE WE’RE
the last couple, Meggie,” Chad whispered in her ear. “How about you? Are you exhausted?”

“It’s been a busy few days,” she said, smiling up at him. “But at least we’re not angry with each other anymore.”

“Yep. I’ve decided I’ve been pretty dense to waste even one day apart from you.” He trailed kisses down the side of her face. “I think we may have more fun tonight than Pete and Janie.”

“Do you think?” she asked, smiling at him.

“Yeah. And we could probably have triplets or quadruplets, if we tried, too.” He closed his eyes and pulled her even closer.

Megan, surprised by his words, pulled away to look at his face. “What did you say?”

He smiled down at her. “I said we could—What’s the matter? Don’t you want to have kids?”

“Of course I do, Chad. But not right away. I’m going to redo the house with Adele, remember? Once I had a baby, I couldn’t travel back to Denver or do all the work that’s involved. You know that.”

“Yeah, but I think our family is more important than a few couches.”

He knew he’d made a mistake as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and Megan’s glare confirmed his error.

“Is that what you think I do? Just buy a few couches? That interior decorating is one big shopping trip?”

“No, baby, I didn’t mean that.” Chad hurriedly retreated, whispering his words.

“‘Baby’? I don’t like being called baby.”

“Meggie, come on. We just made up.”

She sniffed, her body stiff.

“Look, I was wrong to bring up the subject tonight. I know you’ve got important work to do. We’ll talk about this stuff some other time.” Hell, he might never bring up the subject again if it meant Megan would be angry with him. He regretted the past week’s coldness between them.

Tonight he had plans to heat things up.

“Let’s go upstairs, too. We’ll leave the bachelors to say the good-nights for the Randalls.” Relief filled him when she agreed.

T
HE REMAINING
R
ANDALLS
, assisted by the Dawsons, bade the last of the guests goodbye and did a brief cleanup.

“Man, I forgot weddings were such an ordeal,” Brett said, flopping down on the sofa.

“Get used to it. Yours is next,” Jake said, a weary grin on his face.

“It seems to me you may be asking for trouble, Jake,” Lavinia said as she joined Brett on the sofa.

“What do you mean, Lavinia? You think there’s no woman out there insane enough to take on Brett?”

The others chuckled, as Jake intended, but Lavinia explained. “No. There’s the possibility that your brothers will decide what’s good for the gander is also good for the gander’s older brother.”

Jake pretended he didn’t understand her slightly altered version of the old saying. “I don’t think you’ve got that story right, Lavinia.”

Brett leaned forward. “I think she does. Good idea, Lavinia. If marriage is such a great idea, why isn’t Jake looking around?”

“Because I didn’t catch the bouquet.”

“That was an accident,” Brett scoffed, his cheeks turning red. “It doesn’t mean anything. You should be looking for your own woman, not one for me.”

“How do you know I’m not? Mildred Bates was flirting with me tonight.”

Again everyone laughed, except Red.

“Mildred is a very nice lady,” Lavinia said, in spite of her laughter.

“Yes, she is. Only the nice ladies will do,” Jake assured her.

“That wasn’t what you called Chloe,” Brett reminded him.

Jake wasn’t pleased to have bad memories of his ex-wife brought up. “Fortunately there aren’t too many women like Chloe around. By the way, the other day I heard she remarried.”