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He pulled up in front of a red brick two-story with white trim. All the houses on the street seemed to have front porches and detached garages. This one was square and solid, the kind of house that generations of families all over the Midwest had grown up in.
It looked a bit more neglected than the others on the street because there were no summer flowers blooming by the shrubbery or growing from pots on the front porch. The grass needed mowing, and the white trim didn’t look as fresh as its neighbors’. But it wasn’t rundown. Instead, it simply appeared as if its inhabitant had other things she’d rather do.
“That mangy mut’s staying locked up until Grandma’s had time to get over the shock of the girls,” Mat said.
She realized he was nervous. So was she. At least he’d stopped snapping at her.
Button had calmed down when they’d entered the town, almost as if she knew something monumental was about to happen to her life, and Lucy had sealed herself in the back with Squid. As Nealy began to unfasten the baby from the car seat, she noticed the old food stains on her romper, a small hole in the sleeve, and the fact that her hair could use a fluffing. “Maybe we should fix Button up a little before she meets her grandmother. For all we know, this might be the first time she’s ever seen her.”
“Good idea. I’ll get her out of this. See if you can find something decent for her to wear.” Then he remembered who he was talking to. “If you don’t mind.”
“I’m the one who suggested it,” she snapped.
Lucy lay stretched out on the bed with the dog curled against her, dirt and all. She pretended to be reading her book, but Nealy wasn’t fooled, and she squeezed her ankle. “It’s going to be all right, Lucy. This is a great place.”
Lucy pulled the book closer to her face and didn’t answer.
Nealy chose the little peach denim jumper she’d bought at Baby Gap. It had a row of tiny blue flowers embroidered across the yoke and a matching knit top with puffy sleeves. As she emerged with it, she saw that Mat had stripped Button down to a diaper and was giving her a pregame pep talk.
“I want you on your best behavior, Demon. No b.s. And not too loud, okay? No yelling. No hurling. Just be a regular baby, for a change.” He frowned at her as he fastened the tabs on a fresh diaper, and she cooed back at him. “Yeah, yeah . . . save the goo-goo eyes for Grannie.”
Nealy handed him the outfit, and he had the baby dressed in less than a minute. “You’re so good at that. It takes me forever to get her into her clothes.”
“You’re too tentative. With babies, you have to take charge or they’ll walk all over you. Just like with women.”
“Oh, yeah?” This was more like it, and she shot him a challenging grin, only to see the mischief fade from his eyes.
“You want to see if you can find her shoes?”
She turned away without a word. She wasn’t going to beg for his affection. Not that she wanted his affection, exactly. She wanted his . . . well, she wanted his body, no need to lie to herself about that. But she also wanted his friendship, his irreverence, even his annoying male chauvinism.
The words to an old Sheryl Crow pop song skittered through her head. Was he strong enough to be her man? Had she really thought he might be?
She was skirting dangerously close to self-pity, and she pulled herself together. “Lucy doesn’t seem to want to come out.”
“She probably knows her grandmother’s going to run a lot tighter ship than Sandy did.”
“Maybe.” She slipped the hairbrush through the baby’s fluff. To her astonishment, she found herself the target of the megawatt smile Button normally reserved for Mat. Her heart ached. “No way,” she muttered. “You’re not going to start flirting with me right before I have to give you up.”
Button gave a shriek of delight and held out her arms for Nealy to pick her up. Her throat constricted, and she turned away.
Mat lifted her from the couch. “Too little, too late, Demon. Some people can’t be bought.” He bent down, opened one of the built-in drawers underneath, and pulled out the Wal-Mart pillow. “As much as I hate to say it, you’ll need to wear this.” His expression showed his distaste. “Other than me, it’s the best protection you have.”
He was right. They were going to be in town for a while, and the whole world was looking for her. She located one of the old maternity tops and slipped into the bathroom. As she came out, she heard Mat talking to Lucy.
“. . . the detectives Nell’s ex-husband hired might be showing up. She needs to throw them off, so she’s going to make herself look pregnant again. If anybody asks, I’m saying she’s my wife, so back me up, okay?”
“Okay.” Lucy sounded sad.
A few beats of silence ticked by. “I’m not going to just dump you and leave, you know. I’ll stay around for a while to make sure you get settled. This is going to be great. You’ll see.”
Lucy moved toward the door as if she weighed a thousand pounds. Squid lumbered after her.
“I think we’d better leave the dog here for now.” Mat pulled his shirt collar from Button’s mouth.
It was a silent group that made its way up the steps to the front door. As Mat pressed the bell, Nealy glanced at Lucy. She was leaning against the porch rail looking miserable.
Nealy moved over to her and slipped an arm around her waist. She wanted to tell the teenager that everything was going to be all right, but she couldn’t do that because it so obviously wasn’t.
