Adding Up to Marriage Read Free

brown eyes all watery. “It’s almost time to feed Doughboy!”
    Oh, for pity’s sake…
    Crouching in front of the child, Jewel smiled. “Tell you what—if it’s okay with your daddy, we can go to your house, and you can feed Doughboy—” who or whatever that was “—and if it gets late you can go right to sleep in your own beds. But before that,” she then said to Tad, tapping him on his nose, “we’re gonna have so much fun your daddy’s gonna be sorry he wasn’t with us!”
    The boys shared a glance…then a shrug. Jewel couldn’t decide if that was good or not. Then her mouth fell open as Silas scooped his mother—who was by no means a frail little thing—into his arms, before, with no outward evidence of strain, carting her across the room and out the still open front door.
    â€œMy daddy’s strong, huh?” little curly-head said, grinning at Jewel with one of those sweet, baby-toothed grins designed to make a woman want to rush right out and fill her womb.
    Especially when said womb had just been nicely primed by the sight of a good-looking man acting all manly and such. Silently cursing biological imperatives and what-not, Jewel took her little charges by the hand, deciding it was best all around if she not answer that question.
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    â€œYou know,” Silas said to his mother many hours later on their way home from the hospital, “you seem awfully mellow for somebody with a broken ankle.”
    Beside him, Donna released a half laugh. “That’s thepain meds.” She looked down at her foot, splinted to within an inch of its life. “Might be tricky to cook with this thing on. Your father will be beside himself.”
    â€œI imagine he’ll live. Besides, that’s what the church ladies are for. After the thousands of casseroles you’ve made for everybody else over the years, they owe you.”
    She laughed again, then sighed. “Shame I won’t be able to take care of the boys, though—”
    â€œAnd don’t even think about that. Hey, if I have to, I’ll keep ’em with me. It could work,” he said to his mother’s hoot of laughter.
    â€œThese are Ollie and Tad we’re talking about. Otherwise known as Thing One and Thing Two?”
    â€œThought you said they’d calmed down.”
    â€œI lied.”
    He glanced at his mother. “And you didn’t think to warn Jewel?”
    â€œGal has youth on her side. And resilience. She’ll be fine. But wasn’t it providential, how she was available to babysit? She’s a real sweetheart, that one. A real sweetheart.”
    Oh, hell. “You know, you could at least try to be subtle. Next I’m gonna find out you deliberately broke your ankle just to further your matchmaking mission—hey. Everything okay?”
    Donna nodded tightly. “Joy juice is wearing off, I suspect.”
    â€œSo take more.”
    â€œForget it. A flower child I may have been, but a druggie? Never. Damned if I’m about to start now. I’ll be fine,” she said, her chin lifting. “At least until we get home.”
    Silas’s eyes again slid to his mother, the stress lines bracketing her mouth attesting to her no longer being the bottomless well of energy she’d once been. “Why didn’t you say something before? About the kids, I mean.”
    A moment ticked by before she quietly said, “Because after what happened…those babies needed mothering. And since I was the only candidate… Oh, don’t get that look on your face, I’m only stating the facts. At least I was there to fill the gap.”
    â€œSince I haven’t done anything to fill it myself.”
    She shrugged. Woman could say more with a shrug than most women say in a thirty-minute conversation. Then she blew out a long breath.
    â€œI adore those little monkeys, you know that. But even before