Cold feet(56)
Author: Brenda Novak

He smiled wistfully. "I love kids. I always have. But–" he found a small pebble on the step beside him and tossed it into the yard "–things weren’t right between us and I knew it."

"You’ll have other opportunities," Madison said.

He turned to look at her. His eyes lingered on her face, then lowered to her br**sts, and Madison felt her ni**les tighten and tingle as though he’d touched her. "I hope so."

She cleared her throat. "How many children do you want?"

Lightly rubbing the side of her face with his thumb, he continued to gaze down at her. "Three. Maybe four. Unless my wife wants a dozen or so. That would be okay, too."

She laughed. "A dozen?"

"Think of all the Little League games," he said.

"I am! And the homework and dentist appointments and science projects and weddings–"

He waved airily. "Piece of cake."

She rolled her eyes. "You just complained about having to baby-sit your two nephews."

"You’re not buying it, huh?"

"No, I’m not."

"Okay, I’d have to draw the line at six. What about you?"

"I’m happy with Brianna," she said. "I think I’m done."

His grin was slightly crooked, and the look in his eyes mocked her. "Liar. You want at least one or two more."

She shouldn’t have continued smiling, because he’d caught her. But she couldn’t help it. She smiled a lot when she was with Caleb. Most of the time he didn’t even have to say anything funny. He just had to look at her. But he was right. She did want more babies. She wanted them with a man she loved and respected, a man who loved and respected her. She didn’t want to risk another divorce, more heartache, a difficult childhood for those children.

She pursed her lips, bent on a little teasing of her own. "Okay, let me see. If I remember correctly, I’ve got a baby slotted for five years from now. But that’s only if I happen to meet someone in three, as you mentioned earlier."

"I’m going to have to burn that damn day planner of yours," he said, getting up.

"Don’t you do anything according to a schedule?" she asked.

Mac came hurrying out of the house, still on the phone. Caleb stepped aside to let him pass, but his gaze followed his brother-in-law across the lawn, and his expression wasn’t a happy one. "And wind up like that?" he said, jerking his head toward Mac’s retreating back. "Not if I can help it."

"CALEB, WHAT ARE YOU thinking?" Justine asked, her voice a harsh whisper as she trailed him into the kitchen.

He glanced longingly toward the door that led to the living room, where his sister, nephews, father and Madison were waiting so they could finish the game of dominoes they’d been playing together. "That I shouldn’t have snuck in here for a second piece of cake and let you corner me," he grumbled.

She stood in front of the exit and folded her arms. "Don’t try to be funny. I’m your mother, remember? I’m impervious to your charm."

"Oh, come on," he said with a grin.

"Obviously, you didn’t learn anything from having lived in my house for eighteen years of your life," she said without so much as a responding smile. "Can’t you see what’s happening here?"

"Nothing’s happening." He’d been having such a great time, he refused to think seriously about anything else right now. "We’re playing bones. That’s it. And I’m about to win."

"That’s not it, Caleb. You can’t look anywhere in the room except at Madison."

"So I like looking at her. She’s an attractive woman."

"It’s more than that," she argued. "Not only do you watch every move she makes, you touch her at every opportunity. And–"

"Mom, I don’t want to talk about this," he said, and immediately started to walk around her.

She caught his arm. "I’m trying to tell you that you’re falling in love with the very woman you set out to deceive, Caleb, and I can’t imagine that it’ll end well. What’s Madison going to say when she finds out who you are? When she learns what your real motives have been?"

"Quit worrying, Mom. I don’t plan to finish my book on her father, so there’s no conflict of interest anymore. And this copycat we’ve been chasing isn’t as close to Madison as we first thought. The way things are now, there’s no reason not to tell her the truth."

"Then by all means get to it."

"I will."

"When?"

Soon. When it was safe. When he was sure it wouldn’t turn her against him. "I’ll know when the time is right."

Justine let him go, but sighed and shook her head. "Just tell me you haven’t slept with her."

"Okay, I haven’t slept with her," he said.

His mother dropped her head in one hand and began to rub her temples. "I don’t deserve this."

"YOU’RE QUIET," Caleb said on the drive home. "You sleepy?"

Madison roused herself enough to smile, even though the steady warp, warp, warp of the tires was sending her into a contented trance. Contented… It had been a long time since she’d thought of herself that way. "I was just thinking," she said.

Lights from oncoming traffic illuminated Caleb’s chiseled face, and she admired the hollow of his cheeks, the strong jaw.

"About what?"

"Everything. Your sister and her husband. Your parents. Your nephews."

He passed a slower moving car ahead of them while there was a break in the traffic. "What about them?"

"I like them. They’re good people."

"Sorry about all that stuff with my sister," he said. "I had no idea Mac had become so neglectful of her and the kids."

"I was a little disappointed in him that he didn’t come back and play dominoes with us," she said. "I know Tamara was hoping he would."

"Wasn’t beating the rest of us enough?" he teased.

She proudly lifted her chin. "I told you I was good at dominoes."

"And you certainly proved it. I thought I had you right up until the last."

She adjusted her seat belt so she could lean against the door and watch him. "Do you think Tamara and Mac will work things out?"

"With time."

"Do you like Mac?"

"He’s never been one of my favorites. But then I don’t like Tamara, either, remember?"

Catching a flash of white teeth as he smiled, Madison laughed. "Which is why you rushed to her rescue when she was upset during dinner."

"I didn’t rush to her rescue." He sounded offended at being so easily found out.