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At dinner, Sylvie kept checking her cell phone under the table for messages.
Finally, Neesa protested. “Sylvie, come on. He’s their daddy, and he’s not the first man in history who has had to figure out how to take care of a baby. He’ll be fine.”
Phae looked less confident. “You say that now, Neesa, but I don’t know what I’m gonna do when this baby comes.” She rubbed her hands across her ever-growing baby bump. “I don’t think Kent has touched a diaper in his life, much less changed one. He doesn’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby. I just hope that he doesn’t get too cocky and do something stupid.”
This idea worried Sylvie, too. Heath often pretended to be more confident than he actually was when tending the twins. “I’ve been watching Heath, and he is learning. I know it’s a lot to take in, but he’s been great so far. I’m really proud of him.”
“I still can’t believe you got knocked up by a stranger in Chicago,” Neesa said.
This was still something of a sore spot with her best friends. They were more than a little disappointed that she hadn’t told them what had actually transpired between her and Heath in Chicago.
“Well, can you blame me? The way that rumors start around here, I didn’t want to have to deal with it.”
“But we’re talking about us. Not them. You’re supposed to tell us everything. I told you about Kent when we started dating,” Phae said grudgingly.
“Like you had to tell us,” Neesa said. “The man hired a marching band to woo you up and down Main Street.”
Phae raised a brow. “Good point. God, that was so dumb.”
“Oh, you loved every second of it,” Neesa said. “Both of you are so lucky. Now you both have a man, and you both have babies, and I’m left out.” She pushed the piece of cake she had ordered for dessert around on her plate.
Sylvie didn’t know what to say. Even though Neesa said she was ready to settle down, Sylvie wasn’t sure how Neesa would ever meet anyone. The woman worked all the time. She was even worse than Sylvie when it came to earning the workaholic label.
She reached over and put her hand on Neesa’s. “There’s a guy out there for you. Trust me. You just have to be patient. And anyway, do you see a ring on my finger?”
Neesa frowned and shook her head.
“So there you go. I don’t, technically, have a man. I have a baby daddy.”
The trio laughed heartily.
Neesa’s laughter died away first. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me anymore. I guess I’ve got the baby blues or something.”
“Yeah, well, here’s my baby blues. Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuhnuh,” Phae sang, striking the table with her hand in time to the familiar blues starter tune. “I got me fat feet. Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuhnuh. They’re all swolled to hell. Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuhnuh. My toes look like sausages. Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuhnuh. And my ankles are hams.”
They laughed uproariously, drawing the attention of half the restaurant. They didn’t care. The fabulous Jones girls were having their first night out in forever.
Sylvie lasted about another thirty minutes before her anxiousness to get home returned in force. She told her cousins, and Phae didn’t give her a hard time; she was exhausted, too, and sang a lick or two of the “pregnant lady I’m so sick and tired blues” before they paid up and headed outside.
Neesa walked Sylvie out to her car. They waved as Phae drove away.
“Do you think that you and Heath would be willing to come out to the farm and help me again this weekend?” Neesa asked. “There are a couple of odds and ends I’d like to have done, and the extra sets of hands and muscles would be appreciated. Every time I turn around something else is breaking.”
“I’m sure Heath won’t mind. I’ll ask him.”
“Thanks, Sylvie I appreciate it. If he can’t, I’ll ask someone else. I just feel like I’ve asked everybody for so much help already. My parents keep saying now that I just ought to sell it. But I’m hoping that this year, with some good weather, the crops will turn enough profit that I’ll be able to switch to part-time at my security job.”
“I thought you liked working at the college.”
“I do. I just need more time on the farm if I’m going to keep expanding. And you know how hard it is in the summer and fall to keep up with everything.”
Sylvie hoped that things worked out for Neesa. She wanted to see Neesa achieve her dream, and she wondered if this was the root of her cousin’s melancholy more than the baby thing.
She gave Neesa a quick kiss on the cheek then slid into her car. During the short drive home, she listened to music on the radio and thumped her fingers on the steering wheel. She was anxious to get home.
There hadn’t been any calls or texts or any indication that there was anything wrong at home, and she told herself that she had to trust Heath. They were never going to progress as a couple if she couldn’t trust him alone with the twins for a few hours.
Chapter Twenty Four
SYLVIE PULLED INTO THE PARKING spot outside her apartment. Everything appeared quiet. She tiptoed up to the door and listened … nothing. She unlocked the door and opened it.
Heath sat on the couch with his tablet in his hands. There was soft music playing in the background that she could just barely hear.
He looked up expectantly and smiled. “You’re home early. Did you have fun? How are the girls?”
She returned his smile. He really was a great guy, never having a problem with her spending time with her best friends. Some men weren’t so understanding. Some men were assholes, she thought.
“I know. Yes. And they're just fine.” She closed the door. She looked around the rooms. “Are the boys already in bed?”
She was surprised to see Heath looking so relaxed. Normally, when she got done with an evening of taking care of the boys and getting them to bed alone, she felt like her hair was on fire. She usually flopped onto the couch, turned on the TV, and stared at it mindlessly until her brain turned off.
“I’m not sure.” He held up the baby monitor. “Doesn’t sound like it.”
Sylvie frowned and listened. Strange sounds were coming from the monitor. It was a squeaky sound with some laughing and … chatter? Her twins weren’t old enough to chatter. Coo, maybe. Cry, definitely. But not chatter.
“That doesn’t sound right,” she said.
“They’re fine. No worries at all. See? I told you I’d do good.”
Heath stood up, walked over to her and took her into his arms. She relaxed against him. He smelled good, a delicious combination of musk and manliness. She jerked.
Suddenly, she wasn’t tired anymore. Why did he smell so good, anyway? He should smell like baby powder and gruel and upchuck.
“What do you say I start the fire, and we sit here and have a nightcap?” Heath asked, his tone a low, sexy invitation.
“Mmmhmm,” she answered. “What did you mean when you said it didn’t sound like the boys were in bed?”
Heath nuzzled her ear, sending little shivers down her spine. “Baby, I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You said, ‘it didn’t sound like it.’ That makes no sense.”
“Kiss me. That’ll make sense.”
She pushed against his chest. “I’m serious. Quit seducing me.”
“Damn, you cooled down quickly.”
“I was never warm,” she said.
A couple of whispered voices came through the speaker of the baby monitor. She peered around Heath’s shoulder at it. “What the hell?”
Heath grabbed her as she began to lunge toward the hall. “It’s nothing. It’s just your cousins.”
As if on cue, three faces emerged in the hallway from the back of the apartment. It was her teenage cousins, Tonio, Jackson, and Neptune.
They told her “Hey” in their usual, half-bored, sly way.
Sylvie glared at Heath. “What are they doing here?”
Heath smiled and shrugged as if he hadn’t noticed her annoyance. Then he walked
over to the boys and took a roll of cash from his pocket. He peeled off some bills and handed them to each of the teenagers.
“Thanks, man. The twins went out easy, just like we told you they would. Easy money,” Tonio said, shoving his money into his over-sized jeans. “We’re set for the skateboarding rally this weekend.”
“Yeah, totally easy gig.” Neptune chimed in. “You gonna come?”
“I might,” Heath said. “If the old lady will let me out.” He made a quick head gesture toward Sylvie.
Jackson snickered. “Old lady.”
Sylvie glared them all back into straight faces.
“Guess we’re out of here then,” Tonio said. “Call us again if you need more help.”
“You want a ride?” Heath asked.
“Nah, we’ve got our boards.”
They filed past Sylvie, giving her a nod and a partial smirk. She wanted to bonk their heads together. Who knew what other mischief they had planned for the evening?
“It’s late and it’s a school night,” she said. “You’d better get straight home.”
Tonio actually had the nerve to turn and roll his eyes at her.
“I mean it,” she warned. “I’m going to call your mothers in twenty minutes and make sure you’re home.”
She ignored their groans and protests and closed the door behind them.
