Secrets Gone South (Crimson Romance) (8 page)

That was okay. Avery would get hungry eventually. Probably soon. He’d need her then.

Wearily, Arabelle sat down beside Lanie. “You look happier than Luke did.”

Lanie waved her hand like she was clearing away a cobweb. “Never mind him. He’s a worry wart. Just look at that!”

And it was something to see. Now, Avery was climbing Will like a jungle gym. They were bumping noses and laughing. Never had Avery taken to anyone like this.

“Arabelle,” Lanie said quietly, almost shyly. “I know you and Will have plans tonight, but please come to book club with me. It’s at Lucy’s. Just for a little while. Just an hour. I want to get some champagne and celebrate with you. And we can talk about Saturday a little bit. There isn’t time to do much, but Lucy always has great ideas. Please.”

Lanie sounded so pitifully close to begging that Arabelle felt shame. When she’d visited Merritt, it had been easy to shop and have lunch with Lanie and her friends. She had even been to book club once. But that was before she knew she would be living here. These were not her people. Her people were dead.

Yet, Lanie and the others kept asking. They didn’t understand.

“I cannot possibly, Lanie. Avery hasn’t had dinner. I don’t even have a plan. And I need to call Mother and Daddy. As far as Saturday, I don’t need anything.”

Lanie looked crestfallen, but not surprised.

“Sure you can.” The voice came from Truck Land.

She slowly turned her head and realized this was the first time Will had spoken to her since they had entered her apartment.

“Go!” He stood up and lifted Avery to his hip. “We’ll be fine. Won’t we, pal? Tell your mama to go have fun.”

“Go, Mama!”

The ultimate betrayal.

“Will, no. I was going to fix dinner. Avery needs—” She couldn’t think of exactly what Avery would need but whatever it was, it needed to come from her.

“I’ll take care of dinner. I can cook. I’ll ramble around and work something out. Or I’ll go to Big Starr, if you don’t have anything to fix.”

“Of course I have food. There’s chicken, fresh vegetables, fruit.”

“Rice?”

“Yes!”

“See there. I can make stir-fry.”

Damn. In her eagerness to defend herself against having an inadequate pantry, she’d sold herself down the river.

“Oh, good!” Now Lanie was in on the act. “Will, usually all the guys get together on book club night but Harris and Missy’s kids have the sniffles and Nathan’s out of town. But you can go out to the farm if you want to. Brantley’s taking pizza out there for everyone.”

“Thanks,” Will said, nuzzling Avery’s head. “But my pal and I have some road construction to do. We’ll be fine.”

Arabelle could think of nothing else to say. All her choices had been taken away.

“I need to shower.” Lanie gestured to the chef’s pants and apron she still wore. “I’ll knock when I’m done and we can ride together.”

“No,” Arabelle said, resigned. “You go ahead. I want my car. I might be a little while. I have to call Mother and Daddy.”

“But you’ll come?” Lanie asked.

“I’ll come.”

The second the door closed after Lanie, Arabelle turned on Will. “I did not want to go.”

“That was clear,” he said.

“Then why did you do that to me?”

“Why?” He set Avery on the floor and began to move a truck in front of him with his foot. “For the same reason I’m going to start going to church with you. For the same reason I’m finally going to Rotary, like they’ve been asking me to. It’s for him. We’re not going to be the weird reclusive people who never take part in anything. That’s what I’ve been and that’s what you show every sign of being. Lucy Kincaid is perplexed that you will have nothing to do with her. She likes you and she doesn’t understand. You even came to her wedding.”

“Where did you get that? Brantley Kincaid is a bigger gossip that Marcia Tate at the Blossom Shop.”

“I got it from Lucy. I’m making a bed for a client of hers.”

“I like Lucy,” she said defensively.

“Then act like it. Go to her house and do whatever it is women do at book clubs.”

“Well, with that bunch, it’s not discussing books. That’s for sure.”

“I don’t care if you play hopscotch. Their kids are going to be the kids that Avery grows up with. These are the people he will build history with. That group is like family. They care about each other’s kids and lives. They’ll be there for each other for birthdays, graduations, weddings, and funerals. Avery’s going to have that. He’s never going to be on the outside looking in.”

Obviously he’d thought about this a lot. Maybe that’s what he’d lived.

“Avery will need his diaper changed. Have you ever changed a diaper?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“He needs to eat soon. He goes from fine to starving in five seconds.”

“I’ll start dinner now. If it’s not done before he’s hungry, I’ll give him a cracker.”

“No peanuts. Nothing remotely in the peanut family—ever. Not that there’s any of that here.”

Will looked alarmed. “Is he allergic?”

“I don’t know.”

“So you are going to helicopter him?” he scoffed. “What have you got planned to protect him from an alien kidnapping?”

“I’m serious, Will. If you’re going to make fun of me about what I know about, we just won’t do this thing. We’ll go with Plan B and let the chips fall.”

“Okay. No peanuts.”

“Look, Luke has a severe peanut allergy. Very severe. And there is evidence that most peanut allergies are genetic. I had a blood test done but it’s inconclusive. When he’s older, I’ll take him to an allergist, who will give him a small bit of peanut butter in his office.”

Will looked serious and a little remorseful. “Are Luke’s kids allergic?”

“Emma isn’t,” Arabelle said, “though they still watch her when she has peanut products. It could still develop, though it probably won’t. We don’t know about John Luke yet.”

Will nodded. “I’m sorry, Arabelle. I know it’s hard for you to turn him over to me. But he’s mine and I’ll take care of him. I will not be flippant again but you’re going to have to get used to me. I’ll call you if anything comes up. And you can call. I’ll always answer the phone for you. I promise.”

She needed to quit while she was winning.

“Well. Okay. I guess if I’m going to do this, I need to shower and call the parents. There’s chicken and the pots and pans are—”

“I’ll find what I need,” he said. “You go get ready.”

“Here.” She reached into her pocket and brought out a pacifier. “You will want this.”

Will looked at it like was an alien object. “When does that stop?”

“I’ll let you know when I know.”

As she turned to go, he called her back.

“I almost forgot.” He picked up his coat and reached into the pocket. “I have something for you.” He handed her a box from Reed’s jewelry.

Inside, there was a matching pair of gold bands and an engagement ring with three impressive diamonds.

“If you don’t like it, we can exchange it. Mr. Reed said to bring it in for sizing if need be.”

She slipped the ring on her finger. Not exactly how she would have pictured getting engaged. She looked up at Will but he had already turned away.

“Come on, pal!” He lifted Avery to his shoulders. “Let’s see about getting you some dinner!”

After showering and having a far too lengthy conversation with her mother, Arabelle emerged from her bedroom to delectable cooking smells—and silence. No baby sounds. No trucks. No clatter of dishes.

Will had stolen Avery.

In a panic, she ran first to Avery’s empty room and then the kitchen. Everything was clean and put away but there was a refrigerator dish of still warm stir-fry on the counter. She jerked the dishwasher open. Yes. Sippy cup and dirty dishes that weren’t there before.

Her heart racing, she ran down the stairs. The first thing she’d do was check to see if Will’s truck was still on the parking pad out back. Then she was calling her daddy, her brother, the police, the National Guard, and the Pope. If they didn’t do her any good, she’d find a Mafia contact.

She saw the truck before she saw Will and Avery but they must not have been more than a couple of minutes ahead of her. Will was carrying Avery but, just as she cleared the doorway, he set him on his feet when they stepped onto the parking pad.

“Truck!” Avery squealed and tried to break away from Will.

Will held fast to his hand. “Yep, that’s my truck.” He squatted down. “That means it’s
your
truck. Everything I’ve got is yours.”

Arabelle ran up behind them. It wasn’t too late to stop them—though Will didn’t seem to be in any hurry.

“Ohhhhh!” This time, Avery made it to the truck and touched it, though Will grabbed his forearm and was right behind him. “
Avery’s
truck?” He turned and looked at Will with wonder.

So Will wasn’t stealing him—just showing off. She should have bought a truck. Maybe she still would. Bigger. If there was bigger, which she doubted. Unless it was a semi. Or some kind of big construction truck. Or monster truck. She didn’t know what that was but she’d heard of it and it sounded good.

Will, still oblivious to her presence, laughed. “Sure, pal. It’s your truck too. Our truck. We share it. I like that. We’re going to share lots of stuff.”

“Get in truck!” Avery demanded.

Will reached for his keys. “Sure. Why not?”

She took a step closer. Will opened the driver door and lifted Avery behind the wheel. He didn’t close the door but blocked the opening with his body.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Arabelle asked.

Will turned, startled. “Nowhere. Outside, to see a truck. Where did you think I was going? To Canada?”

“It occurred to me.”

He just shook his head and turned back to Avery, who was now on his knees and pretending to turn the wheel, though it was locked in place.

“Will, I don’t want you to ever take him anywhere without telling me.”

“No.” He turned and met her eyes.

“No, you don’t agree, or no you won’t?” she asked but she knew the answer.

“No, I do not agree. I won’t be sneaky about it. I’ll tell you if it’s convenient but I’m not going to ask your permission if I want to take him for ice cream. Neither am I going to abduct him. I would not keep him from
you
.”

“Ouch,” she said.

“Yeah. You know, Arabelle, it bothers me less that you think I’m capable of kidnapping than it does that you think I’m stupid.”

“Stupid?”

“If I was going to take him, don’t you think I would have waited until you left?”

Good point. Before she could reply, Avery pulled on Will’s arm.

“Avery
ride
!”

Will let his eyes travel between Arabelle and Avery a few times.

“Yes. I believe we will take a ride. Just a little one.”

“No!” Arabelle exploded. “You can’t. He has to have a car seat!”

Will smiled a wicked little smile and opened the back door.

“Go ahead,” he said, pointing to the newly installed seat. “Look it over. You will find that it is the correct one for his weight and size. It has a superior safety rating and it’s properly installed.”

He lifted Avery out of the front seat. “Now, Arabelle, we’re going to ride around the block a few times. No more. Then, we’re coming back here. You need to be gone when I get back. I’ll handle this.”

He turned to put Avery in the car seat. Then he hesitated and stepped forward. “Avery, give your mama love,” he said.

• • •

It was a good hour and a half after Lanie left that Arabelle reluctantly climbed the steps of Lucy Kincaid’s pretty little Victorian cottage.

Lucy threw open the door and held out her arms. “Arabelle! I’m so glad you came.”

Arabelle was in no hugging mood but she hugged. These days she was doing a lot of things she was in no mood for.

“Come in!”

Lucy looked blissful. Good reason for that. She was happily married to the man she loved. When she had her babies, Brantley would be there holding her hand. They’d be excited, would have fixed up the nursery together. Would have picked out a name together.

Lucy would not have her babies in Switzerland.

Lucy led her into the living room where the others sat. Lanie was there, of course, who looked relieved that she had finally come. Tolly Scott was a pretty blond attorney and wife of the high school football coach. Then there was Missy Bragg, Lucy’s best friend and cousin-in-law to Tolly. She was probably the one least likely to care if Arabelle joined them or not. She ruled her little posse with an iron hand. But people said she had a good heart.

They all had glasses of wine and were making welcoming sounds. Lanie stood up and said, “We have to have a toast before we eat dinner.”

What? “You waited dinner on me? You must be starved. You should have gone ahead.” Come to think of it, she was starved. Had she eaten at all today?

“Nonsense,” Lucy said. “This is your night. I wish we could have done more.”

It was then Arabelle noticed the champagne in the silver bucket on the coffee table. There was also a tray of Lanie’s dark chocolate truffles—probably Grand Marnier flavored ones since those were Arabelle’s favorites. Now Lanie was putting a champagne flute in her hand and everyone was smiling and clinking glasses.

“To Arabelle and Will!”

“May you be as happy as we all are.”

“So, so happy for you. Such a surprise, but a good one.”

“Will is a wonderful man. So, so sweet.”

Arabelle wasn’t even sure who was saying what but she knew this was not how they normally operated. If she had truly been one of them, they would have been saying,
“What the hell? What do you mean getting married this fast? Why didn’t we know about this?”

That’s what Sheridan and Carrie would have said.

And then Lanie noticed the ring. “Arabelle! You didn’t have that two hours ago. No wonder it took you so long to get here.”

They surrounded her, making all the correct noises and she did her best to imitate a newly engaged and euphoric bride to be, holding her hand out and holding the corners of her mouth up.

“This calls for chocolate!” Tolly held the silver tray toward Arabelle first.