Baby Talk and Wedding Bells

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She was the baby he and Dana had been wanting for most of their six-year marriage, the child they’d almost given up hope of ever having. In the last few weeks leading up to her birth, they’d finally, cautiously, started to transform one of the spare bedrooms into a nursery. They’d hung a mobile over the crib, put tiny little onesies and sleepers in the dresser, and stocked up on diapers and formula.

At the same time, they’d both been a little hesitant to believe that this time, finally, their dream of having a child would come true. Because they were aware that the birth mother could decide, at the last minute, to keep her baby. And they knew that, if she did, they couldn’t blame her.

But Lindsay Benson had been adamant. She wanted a better life for her baby than to be raised by a single mother who hadn’t yet graduated from college. She wanted her daughter to have a real family with two parents who would care for her and love her and who could afford to give her not just the necessities of life but some extras, too.

Within a few weeks, Braden had begun to suspect that he and Dana wouldn’t be that family. For some reason that he couldn’t begin to fathom—or maybe didn’t want to admit—his wife wasn’t able to bond with the baby. Every time Saige cried, Dana pushed the baby at him, claiming that she had a headache. Every time Saige needed a bottle or diaper change, Dana was busy doing something else. Every time Saige woke up in the middle of the night, Dana pretended not to hear her.

Yes, he’d seen the signs, but he’d still been optimistic that she would come around. That she just needed some more time. She’d suffered so much disappointment over the years, he was certain it was her lingering fear of losing the child they’d wanted so much that was holding her back. He refused to consider that Dana might be unhappy because their adopted daughter was so obviously not their biological child.

Then, when Saige was six weeks old, Dana made her big announcement: she didn’t really want to be a mother or a wife. She told him that she’d found an apartment and would be moving out at the end of March. Oh, and she needed a check to cover first and last month’s rent.

And Braden, fool that he was, gave it to her. Because they’d been married for six years and he honestly hoped that the separation would only be a temporary measure, that after a few months—or hopefully even sooner—she would want to come home to her husband and daughter. Except that a few weeks later, she’d died when her car was T-boned by a semi that blew through a red light.

He hadn’t told anyone that Dana was planning to leave him. He’d been blindsided by the announcement, embarrassed that he hadn’t been able to hold his marriage together. As a result, while his family tried to be supportive, no one could possibly understand how complicated and convoluted his emotions were.

He did grieve—for the life he’d imagined they might have together, and for his daughter, who had lost another mother. But he was also grateful that he had Saige—her innocent smile and joyful laugh were the sunshine in his days.

If he had any regrets, it was that his little girl didn’t have a mother. Her own had given her up so that she could have a real family with two parents. That dream hadn’t even lasted three months. Now it was just the two of them.

“Well, the two of us and about a thousand other Garretts,” he said to his little girl. “And everyone loves you, so maybe I should stop worrying that you don’t have a Mommy.”

“Ma-ma,” Saige said.

And despite Braden’s recent assertion, he sighed. “You’ve been listening to your grandma, haven’t you?”

“Ga-ma.”

“You’ll see Grandma tomorrow—no,” he amended, glancing at his watch. “In just a few hours now.”

She smiled again.

“And I bet you’ll have another three-hour nap for her, won’t you?”

“Choo-choo.”

“After she takes you to the library to play with the trains,” he confirmed.

She clapped her hands together again, clearly thrilled with his responses to her questions.

Of course, thinking about the library made him think about Cassie. And thinking about Cassie made him want Cassie.

The physical attraction was unexpected but not unwelcome. If anything, his feelings for the librarian reassured him that, despite being a widower and single father, he was still a man with the usual wants and needs.

Unfortunately, Cassie didn’t seem like the kind of woman to indulge in a no-strings affair, and he wasn’t prepared to offer any more than that.

* * *

Cassie had updated the bulletin board in the children’s section to suggest Spring into a Good Book and was pinning cardboard flowers to the board when Stacey found her.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” her friend and coworker said.

“Is there a problem?”

“Nothing aside from the fact that I’m dying to hear all of the details about your hottie,” Stacey admitted.

“Who?”

“Don’t play that game with me,” the other woman chided. “Megan told me you went for coffee with a new guy yesterday.”

Cassie acknowledged that with a short nod. “Braden Garrett.”

“As in the Garrett Furniture Garretts?”

She nodded.

“Not just hot but rich,” Stacey noted. “Does this mean you’ve decided to end your dating hiatus?”

“Not with Braden Garrett,” she said firmly.

“Because hot and rich men aren’t your type?” her friend asked, disbelief evident in her tone.

“Because arrogant and insulting men aren’t my type,” Cassie clarified, as she added some fluffy white clouds to the blue sky.

“Which button of yours did he push?” Stacey asked, absently rubbing a hand over her pregnant belly.

“He asked if this was my real job.”

“Ouch. Okay, so he’s an idiot,” her coworker agreed. “But still—” she held out her hands as if balancing scales “—a hot and rich idiot.”

“And then he apologized,” she admitted.

“So points for that,” Stacey said.

“Maybe,” Cassie allowed. “He also told me he’s attracted to me.”

“Gotta love a guy who tells it like it is.”

“Maybe,” she said again.

Stacey frowned at her noncommittal response. “Are you not attracted to him?”

“A woman would have to be dead not to be attracted to him,” she acknowledged. “But he’s also a widower with a child.”

“And you love kids,” her friend noted.

“I do.” And it was her deepest desire to be a mother someday. “But I don’t want to get involved in another relationship with someone who might not actually be interested in me but is only looking for a substitute wife.”

“You’re not going to be any kind of wife if you don’t start dating again,” Stacey pointed out to her.

“I’m not opposed to dating,” she denied. “I’m just not going to date Braden Garrett.”