Authors: Carol Burnside
Nobody's Baby (22 page)
O
n Christmas morning, Kate drove her little hybrid to Denver, into the Cherry Creek section, through the open gates at Hawthorne House and parked. She was so nervous, she’d had to stop twice to pee, though the trip was little more than an hour’s drive.
Okay, this was it. Either the best or worst day of her life. Gathering her thoughts and mentally running through the lines she’d prepared, she busied the fingers of both hands on the steering wheel in a surreal déjà vu. Using all eight fingers, then switching to indexes only, she repeated a steady beat. Drum-drum-drum-tap-tap-tap-tap. Drum-drum-drum-tap-tap-tap-tap.
She stopped abruptly and gripped the wheel. Had someone ruffled the drapes in the living room? Okay, okay. She had to face the music, no matter what tune was playing.
Only then did she realize Zach’s ancient, but lovingly tended to Accord occupied the space directly in front of her. Oh, man. If he was here, it was likely Dean was with him. Looked like she’d have an audience, for Margaret was presumably here too. No pressure, though. Just family. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
Her feet had barely touched ground when Rio stepped through the front door and shut it behind him. He waited as she approached, his eyes drinking her in. “You got the invitation?”
“I got the invitation. And your message,” she assured him, realizing he was as apprehensive about this as she’d been. It was weird, but now that she was here, she felt an uncharacteristic shyness around him.
He nodded, his throat bobbing. “And you’re here.”
“I’m here.” Shaking, she closed the gap between them and circled his waist in a loose hug. “It’s cold out here.”
He cocked his head toward the door. “It’s crowded in there.”
“You need a coat.”
“Doesn’t seem to be helping you.” He wrapped his arms around her and for a moment they just soaked each other in.
“It’s nerves,” she confessed resting her forehead on his shoulder. “All the way here, I kept thinking, what if he’s changed his mind, what if —”
“I haven’t.”
She raised her face and saw he meant it. “Oh. Rio, I love you so much it hurts.”
“Thank God.” Rio lifted her off the ground and spun her around and around, then kissed her soundly.
One kiss became two, then three and Kate quit counting, her world filled with nothing but Rio until applause and whistles interrupted the perfect moment. The doorway was filled with approval in the guise of Dean, Zach and a beaming Margaret, who held A.J.
She motioned them forward. “Come inside, you two. It’s freezing out there. Besides, we’ve got presents to open and a celebration to get underway.”
Arm in arm, they stepped inside and were promptly broken apart by greetings of handshakes and hugs as if they’d both been away for some time.
“Have some manners, Zach. Help Kate out of her coat and hang it up in the closet down the hall.” Margaret patted Zach’s shoulder as if she’d been instructing him all his life.
Kate caught the quirk of Zach’s lips and relaxed. Margaret hadn’t exaggerated about the celebration. Kate could smell ham cooking and there were trays of appetizers and sweet treats on the various end tables.
A glorious, fully gilded tree held a place of prominence in one corner and rose to within inches of the high ceiling. A pile of presents jockeyed for space beneath its limbs, but Kate’s attention was drawn back to A.J., currently being passed from Margaret to Rio.
Her heart leapt with excitement as she held out her arms. “Do you mind?”
“Oh, that’s right. You’ve never held him. Here.” Rio tucked the little boy into the crook of Kate’s arm and slid an arm around her shoulders.
For a moment she couldn’t speak, her heart overflowing with her good fortune. A man, a baby, a family. Instead of feeling burdensome, it was oddly freeing. She swallowed back the emotions crowding to the surface and broke the awkward silence with the first thing that came to mind. “My, he’s heavier than I expected.”
“Healthy eater,” Dean responded with an unabashed grin and lifted the shoulder of his shirt where a small wet spot marred the surface. “Respectable burp for a little guy, but he’s a little messy. We’ll have to work on that.”
Dean brushed against the tree while trying to get back to his plate of goodies. The movement dislodged a tiny package from its position on a branch and it tumbled to the floor.
Margaret’s indrawn breath drew everyone’s attention to its position on the carpet, but it was Rio who retrieved it and stuck it in his pocket.
“If they’re falling off the tree, it must be time to open presents. Let’s sit down.” He took A.J. from her, knelt to strap him into his carrier and sat it within her reach. Instead of rising, he remained on one knee and offered Kate the little package. “I believe this one is for you.”
Now that it was in her hand, she could see that it was ingeniously wrapped so that the recipient only had to remove the ribbon to open the box. She did so, revealing a tiny, leather-covered jewelers case.
Rio took it from her and raised the top, revealing an impressive diamond engagement ring. “Marry me?”
Kate was nodding her head before he finished the question. “I believe I will.”
As Rio slid the ring on her finger and pulled her in for a kiss, they were treated to more approval, family style.
Margaret issued orders to the boys and they began piling presents beside each person in the room.
Rio sat beside Kate and leaned in close. “Don’t worry, we’ll work out the college thing. I meant what I said about you not having to give up your dream.”
“I believe you, but speaking of giving things up, I sublet my place and packed up all my stuff. My car is loaded. As for college, I’ll try to enroll in the spring semester at Metro as soon as their office reopens, but if it’s too late, I can start with the summer sessions. It’s a commuter college. Now all I need a place to live. You wouldn’t know of anything, would you?”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. When he looked up again, the fire in them almost scorched her eyebrows. “I do, actually. It’s roomy, but you’ll have to share with a couple of guys. One of them doesn’t take up much space, but he can be noisy. The other one takes up a lot of space and sometimes snores. What do you think?”
“It sounds perfect. Merry Christmas, Rio.”
“Merry Christmas, babe.”
I hope you enjoyed Kate and Rio’s story and will take a few moments now to write a review at your favorite retailer. A review is simply your honest opinion regarding the story. Your review will help others find independently published works that are professionally written, edited, designed and carefully formatted.
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Carol Burnside
CAROL BURNSIDE: SIZZLING ROMANCE WITH HEART AND HUMOR
Carol is an award-winning author of Sweetwater Springs, a series of contemporary, small town romances with serious sizzle and a generous dose of southern charm. She enjoys a second-chance-at-love story with her husband of over thirty years. A native Texan, Carol's love of travel coupled with a history of living in her share of small towns and metropolitan areas gives her a broad range of settings to choose from. She admits that as long as she has her hubby and dogs with her and a generous supply of sweetened tea, she can make her home almost anywhere.
Writing as Annie Rayburn, she produces alternate reality, soft sci-fi and lite paranormal erotic romances.
Carol blogs on her website at
www.CarolBurnside.com
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ISBN: 9781310069949
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