Be My Babies

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“Busy as hell.” She nodded over to Mac Madison, who was at another table. “Him, too. He’s with a client even now.”

“Sorry you missed dinner last week. Jenna felt bad.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”

“You didn’t really have to work, did you?”

“Of course I did.”

Leaning over, he took her hand. “Let’s get this out of the way so we can enjoy our meal. You didn’t want to see Lily, did you?”

She shook her head. The siblings resembled each other, except her short hair was darker and her eyes greener than his. Now, there was a wariness in them. “No, I didn’t.”

“She’s a good person, Sara. She really does have Gil’s best interest at heart.”

“I…found out some things about her.”

“On the background check I asked you to do, right?”

No answer.

“You investigated her more than that? Oh, Sara, all I wanted to know was if she was who she said she was, and from where she said she lived.”

“Simon, we knew nothing about her. I wanted more on her. I found articles and pictures on the Net, society kinds of things. She’s a real trophy wife.”

He didn’t respond.

Sara watched him. “Did you hear me? She’s married, Simon.”

“I know she’s married.”

“The Wakefields are influential people. I’m familiar with their law firm. Very high-powered. Rumored to be ruthless.”

“So?”

“Derek Wakefield is the father of her kids. If he wants them, he’s got a good chance of getting them.”

“She’s afraid of that.” He sat back and sipped his wine. “Look, there were good reasons she left.”

“What?”

“I can’t tell you. They’re private.”

“But she told you.”

He nodded.

“You’re getting attached to her.”

Thinking about holding her today, feeling her curves against him, loving the scent of her, he lied to his sister. “No, I like her. But I’m okay with it. Mostly, I was worried about Gil.”

“I’m worried about you. And Jenna.”

“Jenna is getting attached. She’s excited about the babies.”

Sara fired questions at him as if he were on the stand. “What happens to all of you when Lily leaves town?”

“Who says she’s leaving?”

“Oh, Simon, she’s got millions to go back to. Why would she stay here?”

For me. And Jenna and Gil. “She says she’s not going back.”

“She scraped her way through college. Even when she spent the required year abroad as an art major, she had to work. People who’ve been that poor never want to go back to a life without money.”

“She says she’s staying.”

“Then, that brings up another problem. She’ll have rights to the paper.”

His initial fear, which he’d buried because he’d begun to like Lily, surfaced with Sara’s warning. “I know.”

“The paper that you’ve been planning to buy. Dreaming, all your life, to own.”

He repeated, “I know. But Sara, I can’t do anything about one of Gil’s relatives turning up.”

“You could make her less welcome. If everybody stopped being so nice to her, maybe she’d go back to where she came from and forget about the Sentinel.”

“I tried distancing her and it didn’t work.” And now, he didn’t want her to leave.

“I’m just worried about my baby brother and my only niece.” Sara sighed heavily. “I wish Dad was still alive. You always listened to him. He’d talk some sense into you.”

He pictured his father’s laughing brown eyes and kind smile. Patrick McCarthy would have seen Lily’s true nature right away. God, he missed the man. “Maybe if you got to know Lily…”

“No. Somebody in this town has to stay objective about her.”

Good luck. “All right. Can we change the subject now? We haven’t talked in a while.”

“Since Lily came to town.”

“Hush. Tell me about your love life.”

She snorted. “My love life is about as active as yours.” When he didn’t respond, she added, “Simon, you’ve got to start dating again. So you had a few fiascos early on. Try again. You know Ellen Priestly has been interested in you for a long time.”

“I’ll think about it.” But instead of considering the elementary school teacher who gave off signals every time he saw her, Simon’s mind settled on Lily and how she felt in his arms, how his body had responded to her. However, he kept his face blank. That was the last thing Sara needed to hear now.

THE NEXT DAY, Lily sat at a table in the drugstore visiting with Loretta Jameson. The only pharmacy in town had a soda fountain on one side, and she and the schoolteacher were having late-afternoon tea together.

“How long were you on the stage, Loretta?”

“Ten years. I gave it up because the lifestyle was too intense. I came here—I already had a teaching degree— when I decided to find a nice small town to settle in.”

Lily shook her head at the story. “I love Broadway. What roles did you play?”

As she listened, she thought again of her idea for a column in the Sentinel. Which was one reason why she was so glad to see Simon stride into the drugstore and approach the prescription counter. He smiled at the pharmacist, Mr. Atherton, and made small talk. Lily took surreptitious glances at him. He was wearing shorts today, as she was, in deference to the warm weather. His legs were muscular, and the matching navy T-shirt outlined a chest that she already knew was sinewy. And solid. And strong.