Surprise! Surprise!

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“Vivi Jardin called.”

“Vivi!”

He didn’t look pleased. Maddie pushed away the jealousy and reminded herself to be amazing. “She is upset that you rescinded your offer.”

“Then she needs to discuss it with me.”

“I told her that.” She swallowed, brushing her baby’s cheek with a light finger. “She said that she and her brother wanted to bring me over there to see the vineyards. Apparently, the Jardins are in some financial difficulty, and want to hang on to you as a buyer. She made no bones about wanting to romance me as part of the package.”

“If I want you romanced, I’ll take you to France myself.” His frown deepened.

“I don’t want to poke my nose into your business, Sam. But wasn’t this something you wanted?”

“Past tense.”

“The only reason you changed your mind was the babies, right?”

“Not exactly.”

His eyes shifted, and she knew he wasn’t telling the truth. Her heart felt as if it were turning inside out. “I’d like to see you achieve something you want,” she said softly. “I know how much it means to finally have what I always hoped for.” She stared down at the pretty baby, her soft, plump dream come true. “I’d like that for you, too.”

“Maddie, I’m focusing on you and the children right now. Everything else is peripheral.”

I cost him that. Selfishly. He’d had no choice in fatherhood. “Sam, it’s too uneven.”

“I’m happy, Maddie.” He stared at her. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”

She closed her eyes. Sure you are. You’re just thrilled that I stole your dream.

Chapter Five

“I’d just like to know what Maddie’s supposed to do with all this wine,” Franny complained to Sara. She stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the growing collection of French wine bottles. Severn and Virgil each held a bottle, examining them with longing. Joey sat at the kitchen table drinking beer and playing solitaire.

“Boo-jo-lay,” Virgil read. “Sure is a pretty bottle. Don’t believe I’ve ever had any Boo-jo-lay.”

Sara shook her head. “Now is not the time to start. Maddie said we couldn’t open the wine because she feels funny about accepting gifts that are designed to get her to try to change Sam’s mind. We need to respect her feelings.”

“That was when it was only one bottle,” Severn pointed out. “Now there’s two weeks’ worth. I say it’s a shameful waste of good grapes to let them sit. Why don’t we open a bottle, just to let it breathe? Maybe Maddie would be tempted then.”

“Maddie’s nursing,” Franny said. “I don’t think all this romancing from Jardin is going to do any good, since Maddie can’t drink this much wine. But don’t try to excuse yourself by saying the wine shouldn’t stay in the bottle, because everyone knows wine gets better with age.”

“Yeah, but not me. I’m feeling puckish.” Virgil set the bottle down, sighing. “We’d better get started building a wine rack,” he said to Severn. “Fourteen bottles of wine, delivered at the rate of one a day…how big do you consider the rack ought to be? We could end up with enough to have a block party if that Jardin woman keeps trying to convince Maddie to help her out with Sam.”

Severn squinted at the ceiling. “Let’s go with a floor-to-ceiling job, about four slots wide. If that doesn’t cover it, we’ll plead with Maddie to let us drink the overflow.”

Franny sighed. “I don’t think it will do any good. She’s determined to stay out of Sam’s business. Matters have been very strained since that Frenchwoman called.”

“Nah. Matters got strained when Sam started sleeping on the couch in the nursery,” Severn said.

“It was hard to tell my own son he couldn’t stay with us,” Sara said, her voice trembling. “Are you sure we’re going about this the right way, Franny? I know the plan was to try to squeeze them together, but it seems that Sam and Maddie are further apart than when he was in France.”

Franny plunked down on a stool. “They were together at her two-week checkup, weren’t they? I thought it was a good sign she allowed him to take her.”

“Only because he said he’d ride on the back of the car if she let Joey drive her to her appointment!”

Franny looked at her friend. “She doesn’t want to be beholden to Sam, but that was carrying it a bit too far. I don’t know why my daughter’s got herself in knots over that wine company. If Sam wanted it, he’d buy it. Wouldn’t he?”

“Well, yes, but he wanted it before he found out that Maddie needed him. Of course, she doesn’t think she needs him, and that’s the problem. Or maybe she doesn’t want to need him, so he’ll go back to France. Actually, I don’t think I understand Maddie at all. And I wish she would have left the babies with us. That’s what we’re here for. To help her. And so is Sam. But she hardly lets anyone do anything for her, and I think it’s very unappreciative of her!”

Franny thought Sara might be about to cry. “It does seem that the situation is a bit out of kilter.”

“I’m sorry to say this, Franny, but I think Sam’s jumped through plenty of hoops to please Maddie. Now, you know I love her as if she were my very own daughter, but I think she needs a good talking to!”

“You offering?” Franny asked. “I hope you are.”

“You’re her mother!”

“That doesn’t mean I’ve ever been able to make her see sense once she had her mind made up. Maddie’s always had to learn from her mistakes.”

“I think she’s making a big mistake now.”

“Can’t make a gal do something just because he wants her to. It’s never worked that way with love before, Sara.” Franny tried to be reasonable, but her lid was starting to jump from the steam building up inside her head. “Just because he wants it don’t mean she’s gotta do it.”