brides for brothers 02 - cowboy daddy (19 page)

At least until the babies were born. Or until she got too big to get behind the steering wheel of her car.

Excitement filled her at the promise of having some direction to her days. She put in a load of laundry, as she had yesterday, and returned to their rooms to tidy up.

And, as she’d decided last night, there was one other chore she had to do.

When she left the house an hour later, she warned Red she wouldn’t be there for lunch.

“Again? Does that mean Pete will lose another afternoon of work?” Red asked.

“No. I’ll be eating at home with my mom and dad. Pete knows I’ll be okay there. Then I’ll come back here after lunch and take my nap. I’m a lady of leisure, you know,” she added, grinning.

“Yeah. Right,” Red snorted in derision. “That’s why you’ve already started the laundry, isn’t it?”

“Just trying to be helpful,” Janie said with a smile, and kissed his cheek. “See you later.”

P
ETE MISSED
J
ANIE
at lunch. But, as she had foreseen, he couldn’t complain about her visiting her family. At least Red assured him she’d taken the cellular phone with her.

After eating, he paused to call the Dawsons. Lavinia answered the phone.

“Lavinia, it’s Pete. Is Janie there?”

“Yes, she is, Pete. Just a moment.”

“I’m not checking on you,” he said immediately when Janie came to the phone. “I just wanted to be sure you were feeling all right.”

“I’m fine, Pete.”

“Well, I didn’t see you this morning,” he said, lowering his voice, hoping his family wouldn’t hear. “So I thought…”

“Everything’s fine except that I’m expanding at a rapid rate. I had a hard time fastening my jeans this morning. You’ll think I’m fat.”

Pete didn’t need any advice on how to respond to her complaint. From his heart, he said, “No, I’ll think you’re beautiful, just like I do now.”

When only silence was her answer, he thought he’d upset her again.

Then very quietly she said, “Thank you, Pete.”

“Janie? You’re not crying, are you?”

“No. But we need to t-talk.”

His heart contracted with fear. Had she changed her mind about being married to him? Was she going to stay at her parents’ house? “Do you want me to come over now?” he asked gruffly, trying to hide the panic he was feeling.

“No! No, I’ll be home in a little while. We can talk this evening. It’s nothing urgent.”

Nothing urgent. What did that mean? After telling her goodbye, he hung up the phone and stood there, staring into space.

“Pete?” Jake called to him.

“Yeah?”

“I’m going into town for a while. Take charge, okay?”

“Sure. Is there anything I can do for you? Why do you need to go into town today?”

He was surprised when Jake avoided his gaze.

“Just something I need to take care of.”

The last time Jake had acted so suspicious, he’d been trying to find wives for them all. “You going into town to find a wife for Brett?” Pete teased, hoping to lighten his own spirits.

“Hey!” Brett protested. “I’m happy being single. At least I don’t have to go around punching anybody’s lights out.”

“Your time will come, little brother,” Jake warned him with a grin, but he didn’t give Pete any further explanation for his trip to town.

When Pete got back to the house about dark, he was tired, but he was pretty sure his lack of energy stemmed from the mental exercises he wrestled with all afternoon. What did Janie want to talk about?

When he opened the back door, he was relieved to see her in the kitchen. If nothing else, she’d come back this time.

With a sigh, he crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn’t risk a kiss that might destroy what little control he had, so he gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Hi. How was your visit with your parents?”

“Fine,” she returned, but Pete noticed she didn’t look at him as she stepped from his embrace. “I’m going to go over every morning and do some paperwork for my dad. He’s going to continue to pay me a salary, too.”

“You don’t need a salary!” Pete protested. “I’m getting you a checkbook for my account.”

“I like to feel that I’m contributing, and no one will let me do anything around here.”

“You’re doing laundry,” Red called out from the pantry, “and helping out in the kitchen.”

“And I appreciate your letting me help, Red. It makes me feel a part of—of the family,” Janie said, smiling at Pete.

Like a flash of lightning in a summer storm, Janie’s words suddenly illuminated a problem, and Pete realized he’d made a big mistake. In his attempts to care for her, Pete had shut her out. Or at least it seemed that’s how it appeared to her. Frowning, he scrambled for ways to involve Janie in his life.

“Are you good at the computer?”

Over her shoulder as she carried silverware to the table, she said coolly, “Very good. Why?”

“Reckon you could teach me?”

That question stopped her in her tracks. She spun around to stare at him. “Are you serious?”

He licked his dry lips, anxious for her response. “Yeah. Brett says I’m helpless, but I thought maybe you’d be a better teacher.”

She smiled at him with real warmth, and he felt it all the way to his toes. Janie had to be the only woman who could turn him on talking about computers. But then, she could turn him on anywhere, anytime.

“I’d love to teach you. Do you have your own computer?”

“Nope. Just the one in the office Brett uses. But if you know what to buy, we can go get whatever we need.”

Jake, having entered the kitchen in time to hear part of Pete’s response, said, “What are we buying now? This family is turning into shopaholics.”

Pete remembered that Jake had gone into town. “Was that what you were doing today?”

Jake smiled but didn’t answer as the rest of the family trooped in. “What were you talking about buying?”

“A new computer,” Pete said.

Brett, sitting down at the table, groaned. “Come on, Pete, you don’t need a computer. You don’t even know how to turn one on.”

“Janie’s going to teach me.”

Brett turned to Janie. “You have no idea what a gargantuan task that’s going to be.”

“Pete will do just fine,” Janie assured her brotherin-law and then smiled at Pete.

Pete vowed to stay up nights studying if it pleased Janie. If learning computers made her feel more a part of their family, then he’d learn computers. If computers kept her there, a part of his life, then he’d build one from scratch. Whatever it took.

“So where will you put the computer?” Jake asked, frowning. “Not in the babies’ room.”

“No, of course not,” Janie said calmly. “If necessary, we can put it in our bedroom.”

Pete liked the sound of that,
our bedroom.
He only wished it were true.

“There’s a small room, not much bigger than a bathroom, just down the hall from your bedroom. We’ve been using it for storage, haven’t we, Red?” Jake asked.

“Yep. Lots of stuff that needs to be thrown out.”

“We’ll convert it into an office for the two of you,” Jake offered. “After all, with Pete’s venture with the rodeos, I imagine you’ll have a lot of records and files.”

“Yeah. More than I can deal with,” Pete agreed, thinking about the fat files of papers he had stacked in a corner in Jake’s office.

“We’ll take care of that, thanks, Jake,” Janie said. Then she launched into a discussion of computers and computer programs with Brett with more animation than Pete had seen since their marriage.

He relaxed a little. Maybe they were going to make it after all. If he made Janie happy, she might agree to stay with him. Him and the babies.

After dinner, before anyone could leave the table, Jake cleared his throat. “Pete and Janie, I want to explain why I went to town today.”

Janie looked puzzled, but Pete felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. What was going on?

“Megan said you found the cribs you wanted yesterday, Janie, and we bought them today for you. I was afraid if we waited, they might sell one of them.”

Janie’s face lit up. “Oh, thank you, Jake. That’s so thoughtful of you. Pete, you don’t mind, do you?”

“No, of course not. I should’ve—I didn’t realize we’d need to buy that stuff so early.”

“We don’t, but it will be fun to begin putting together our nursery,” she assured him, beaming.

Whatever made her happy.

“Great. So, let’s all go to the Randall nursery and put these suckers together,” Jake ordered, and rose from the table, followed by the rest of the family.

They were going to the nursery! His family was going to the nursery that was Janie’s bedroom. They were about to discover the truth about his marriage.

Pete stared at Janie, panic filling him.

She smiled back serenely.

Chapter Fourteen

“No!” Pete said, jumping to his feet.

“Why not?” Jake asked, pausing on his way to the door, the rest of the family following.

“Uh, you must have lots to do. There’s no rush. I can put them together some other time.”

“But I’d love to see them put together tonight, Pete, if you don’t mind,” Janie said, moving over to touch his arm.

Damn. He’d promised himself he’d do whatever made her happy. He shrugged his shoulders and muttered, “Okay.” He was about to be humiliated before his brothers. He only hoped Janie appreciated the sacrifice.

He received a small reward. Janie leaned against him and lightly brushed her lips against his, then took his hand and led him up the stairs behind the others.

The sweetness of her gestures almost made him forget what was about to happen. Almost. But he’d have difficulty facing his brothers once they discovered that his wife wouldn’t even share the same room with him. He thought about heading out to the barn instead of their rooms, but he couldn’t do that to Janie.

“Uh, the rooms may be a little messy. Janie—”

“I straightened everything this afternoon,” she promised, interrupting him. “Our bedroom isn’t too messy.”

Our bedroom.
There was that phrase again. And she squeezed his hand.

“We don’t even need to go in there,” Jake assured him. “Just the babies’ room. And since they haven’t arrived yet, it shouldn’t be too big a mess.”

Pete weakly returned his brother’s grin.

“I hope you like the cribs, Pete,” Janie said beside him. “They’re all white, but I thought we’d put sheets and bumper pads with a circus theme. And we could get that lady who lives near Rawhide to come out and do a mural on the wall.”

“That would be so cute, wouldn’t it, Pete?” Megan said.

“Yeah, cute.” If Janie wanted a mural, he’d agree to every wall in the house being painted. But right now his insides were quivering as Jake opened the door to the nursery.

Several big boxes rested against one wall.

“We brought these up earlier while Janie was taking a nap,” Jake explained, crossing the room.

Pete was several steps into the room, his eyes searching for anything that would betray their secret, when he realized what Jake had said. While Janie was taking her nap. Why hadn’t Jake seen her on the daybed? He turned to look at Janie.

“You must’ve been quiet as can be…or I was sleeping like a log, because I never heard a thing.”

Feeling befuddled, it took Pete a minute to realize that Janie must’ve been sleeping in the bedroom.
Our bedroom.
He stared at her. Why? Did she always take her naps in there while he was at work? He’d gotten the impression she was never going to darken the door to that room again.

She smiled at him as if nothing of significance had happened and crossed the room to watch his brothers start taking the cribs from the boxes.

“I figure if we divide up into two teams, we’ll have these put together in no time,” Jake said.

The men quickly turned their activity into a competition with bets on who would finish first. Janie, Megan and Red became the cheering sections.

“I only hope they don’t leave something out just to get finished faster,” Megan said loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“They won’t,” Janie replied confidently. “Pete wouldn’t let them. He wants everything perfect for the babies.”

Pete wanted to tell her how right she was. And the most perfect thing for his babies would be for their mother to want to stay there with him. To love him.

He heaved a sigh. He’d finally admitted it. He needed Janie to love him. And he needed to love her.

“You okay?” Brett asked, working alongside him.

“Yeah. It makes the babies seem more real to be putting these things together.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Jake agreed. “Next year we’ll be putting together trains and tricycles and stuff for Christmas.” The spark lighting his eyes made everyone laugh.

“You mean dollhouses, don’t you, Jake?” Janie teased.

“Okay, but only if they’re girls. I’m not putting together dollhouses for my nephews.”

“Maybe we’ll have one of each,” Janie said, wrapping her arms over her stomach.

Pete’s mouth went dry, and he wanted to hold her against him, to feel the growth of his children in her, to love her.

Janie had been right about his being afraid any woman he loved would leave him. Whether it was his mother’s death, several past romances or Chloe’s leaving Jake, he’d been afraid.

But Janie had gotten under his defenses. He’d fallen in love with her without realizing it. When she’d broken off with him, he’d felt he was dying. But he hadn’t admitted his love.

Then, with the babies, he’d gotten a second chance. This time he wasn’t going to blow it. He wouldn’t overwhelm her. He’d take it slow and easy, and keep her happy. And quite possibly die of sexual frustration. But that was a small sacrifice to keep Janie in his life.

“Come on, Pete. We don’t have time for daydreaming,” Brett warned, poking him in the ribs.

He took his gaze off Janie and returned it to the task at hand. In no time, both cribs were ready.

Janie walked over and smoothed her hand across the small mattresses, first one and then the other. Then she turned to Pete. “Do you like them?”

Pete would’ve claimed to like the ugliest cribs in creation to please Janie. But he did like these.