Chapter Twenty-Two

Did you hire a couple of clowns to help me entertain Annie and Lily for the day?” Ethan asked Gage as he gestured to the candy-floss-pink Smart Car parked in the driveway. And then he heard a laugh he was all too familiar with. “Tell me that’s not who I think it is.”

Gage nudged him back out the door and closed it behind them. “Madison thought it was a good idea, and I agree. You guys have stuff to work out, and now’s the time to do it.”

“I thought she was in Texas for her father’s wedding.” He’d heard she’d left town right after Thanksgiving. That’d been eight days ago.

“She was, but she got back last night. She’s here to stay, buddy. Betty Jean’s buying her a house on Sugar Plum Lane. Adoption present or something. It closes tomorrow.”

“Adoption? Skye’s twenty-eight.” But in the end, he supposed it worked to his advantage. At least for the custody arrangement he wanted to set forth. He pushed down the disappointment that the happy marriage he’d once envisioned had turned into a broken one with visitation rights.

“Kinda crazy but sweet. I think it meant a lot to Skye. She didn’t have a mother growing up, and it sounds like Betty Jean wants to make it up to her.”

Ethan shoved his bare hands in the pockets of his sheepskin jacket. Snow clouds moved in over the mountain range behind Gage’s place, leaving the morning air cold and damp. “Betty Jean is crazy. But you’re right, it’s nice for Skye. I’m just glad her stepmother lives in Texas and… what?” he asked when Gage started grinning.

“I guess Betty Jean thinks Texas is too far from her honey bun and baby bun-to-be. They’ve put up the ranch for sale. They’re moving to Christmas.”

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose. “One crazy environmental animal rights activist is enough to deal with. What’s it going to be like to have two of them in town? And Skye is sane compared to Betty Jean.”

“How do you think I feel? I’m the one who’s going to be dealing with the two of them, not you, remember?”

“You should probably put in a request for another jail cell,” Ethan muttered. Other than their interactions about the baby, he no longer had a place in his gorgeous fruitcake’s life. He didn’t know how he’d handle seeing Skye day in and day out. And if she ever met someone else…

It’d driven him half crazy watching her with Chance at Thanksgiving. Though it had been nice to see the other man laughing and smiling. Ethan had just wished it’d been with someone other than his wife. Soon-to-be ex-wife, he reminded himself, as he did half a dozen times a day.

Gage laughed. “Already mentioned it to Madison. She wasn’t amused.”

“Are we done here?”

“Yeah—just promise me you’ll try and get along. Lily and Annie are at impressionable ages.”

“You know who you’re talking to, right? Save the warning for the one who needs it—Skye.”

“I’d agree that you’re the last person I should have to warn to keep their cool, but I’ve seen you with her.”

“You’d lose your cool, too, if Madison pulled what Skye has. Imagine how you’d feel if she tried to keep you from Connor.”

Gage clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s why today’s so important, buddy. The baby will be here in a little more than a month. Now’s the time to hammer out an agreement,” he said as he opened the door.

“I thought you left without us,” Madison said, a diaper bag slung over her shoulder as she tugged on her boots. They were headed to Denver to go Christmas shopping. Skye sat cross-legged on the floor cooing at Connor as she put him in his snowsuit. Annie and Lily sat on either side of her, each of them putting a mitten on his tiny hands.

“Look at you, smiling at your auntie,” Skye said, giving Connor noisy kisses before handing him to Gage.

From the moment he’d met her, Ethan had thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. But today she took his breath away. She looked all glowy and happy and so damn sexy that his chest tightened with a painful desire. Irritated at the evidence he wanted her as much as he always did, he said, “It’s gas.”

“What do you know? It’s not gas. He loves his auntie Skye, don’t you, baby boo?” She tickled Connor under the chin. This time the baby not only smiled, he laughed.

“Oh wow, that’s the most beautiful sound in the world,” Skye said, laying a hand on her chest. “I think I’m going to cry.”

“He’s only five weeks old. He’s not supposed to laugh yet,” Madison said, staring at the baby in amazement.

“What can I say? He takes after his auntie Skye. He’s a genius.”

“Make him do it again, Auntie. Make him do it again,” Lily said, pushing between her sister and mother.

She did, and her warm, infectious laughter joined the baby’s. “Okay, you guys,” Gage said after the third time, “we’ve got to get going. And you’ve given him the hiccups.”

Madison said good-bye to the girls. “We’ll be home around seven. I left the number for the pizza delivery by the phone. There’s a salad in the fridge for you, Skye,” she said, then added something under her breath to Skye.

Skye rolled her eyes. “I already promised, didn’t I? When have I ever gone back on my word?”

“Couple times that I know of,” Ethan said before he could help himself. At Gage’s groan, Ethan held up his hand. “Have fun. We’ll be fine.”

“Yes, don’t worry, Gage. I’m just going to pretend he isn’t here.” Skye purposely bumped into him as she walked through to the kitchen. “Huh, there’s nothing there yet it felt like I walked into a thick block of cement.”

“Real mature,” Ethan said as he hung up his coat in the front closet. He wondered if he should put it back on and head out the door when Annie said, “Do you know how many sheep died to make your coat, Uncle Eth?”

“You’ve been spending too much time with your aunt,” he said and followed the girls to the kitchen.

“Yay, we’re making gingerbread houses.” Lily clapped, pulling out a stool to sit at the granite-topped island.

Skye looked up from setting out bags of candy. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked him, as he started to back out of the room.

“I’m not here, remember?”

“You’re here to spend the day with Lily and Annie. So come on, roll up your sleeves, and join in the fun.”

“You girls look like you have it covered for now. Call me when you need me. I’ve got work to do.”

“Ethan, I need you,” Skye called as soon he’d settled himself on the couch with his iPad.

God, he wished that were true. He bowed his head when the thought popped into his head, and he wondered how he’d get through the day without either strangling her or kissing her senseless. How was he going to move on with his life without her in it?

“Uncle Ethan, we need you,” Lily and Annie called, but he heard the giggles in their voices.

He set the iPad on the coffee table and walked back to the kitchen. “What?”

“It’s okay. Got it opened,” Skye said, fighting a grin as she held up a bottle of red and white sprinkles.

The third time they called him, he ignored them and looked over the e-mail from the district attorney’s office in New York City. He’d asked to be kept in the loop. Before Chance had left a few days ago, he’d filled Ethan in. Chance had tracked Moriarty down two days before he’d gone to get Skye in Texas. Moriarty was now in jail awaiting trial. That was one case Ethan would give his right arm to try.

“Ethan, uh, I could use some help here,” Skye called. He shook his head.

Lily ran into the living room. “Uncle Ethan, Auntie Skye got her hair caught in the beaters, and it’s smoking.”

Jesus. He ran into the kitchen. Her hair was covered in icing, a spiral of smoke emitting from the mixer. He pulled the plug, then ejected the beater. “Ouch,” she said, putting a hand to her head as he worked to free her hair.

“You’re lucky all it did was pull out a few strands.” He nudged her toward the sink, turned on the tap, and wet a hunk of hair. “What were you doing?”

“Nothing. My hair’s long and got caught. I guess I should have—”

“She was dancing,” Annie said with a smirk.

“Oh yeah, what kind of dance was she doing?” He grinned as Lily wiggled around the kitchen with her hands in the air. “Good to know you weren’t doing the dance you did for me, cupcake.”

Her gaze jerked to his. She searched his face before saying, in a flustered tone of voice, “Thanks. I’m good now. You can get back to work.”

Gently brushing sugar from the top of her head, he said, “No, I don’t think so. Probably safer for all of you if I stick around.” There was something about the way she looked at him that made him think she wasn’t immune to him after all. Testing his theory, he slid his hand under her hair, caressing her neck, and the soft skin there. “You have a clip or something?”

“Huh?” she said.

“A clip. So you can put up your hair.” He looked into her eyes. “You okay? You’re looking a little flushed.” He placed his palm on her forehead, then slid it to her cheek, brushing his thumb over her full bottom lip.

She swallowed, brought her hand to the neck of her red sweater, and tugged. “It’s hot in here, don’t you think?”

“Getting warmer by the minute,” he murmured, leaving his hands where they were. He moved closer, holding her gaze as her rounded belly brushed against him. He heard the slight catch of her breath, and saw her eyes darken from butterscotch to toasted caramel. He realized then that no matter what she’d done, no matter how much frustration and pain she’d caused him these last few weeks, he wanted another chance to make their marriage work. And not just for the baby’s sake. “We have to talk,” he said quietly.

She blinked, and her expression shuttered. “Later, we’ll talk later.” She pasted a bright smile on her face and raised her voice. “Let’s get these houses decorated before the icing hardens, girls.” She moved away from him to retrieve the bowl from the counter. When he didn’t leave, she glanced over her shoulder. “It’s okay. You can get back to whatever you were doing out there.”

Now that he’d decided what he wanted, she wasn’t getting rid of him that easily. He’d let her go without a fight, let the election and his mother and Claudia distract him from what he should’ve done the day he’d found her letter. “No, like you said, I’m here to hang out with my nieces.”

“Oh, okay.” She tugged at her sweater again. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as she left the kitchen, Annie looked at him like he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. “You should’ve kissed her.”

Lily nodded. “Yeah, that’s what Daddy does when Mommy’s mad at him. But it’s okay. We’ll help you, right, Annie?”

Thinking about how much time they spent with Nell, Lily’s offer made him nervous. “Thanks, I appreciate it, but I’ve got this.” They gave him a skeptical look. “Come on, have a little faith in me. This your uncle Ethan, remember.”

Annie sighed. “That’s what we’re worried about.”

“Hey, I’ve been told I’m pretty hot—charming, too.”

“Auntie Skye’s twenty-eight, Uncle Eth, not eighty.”

He was about to tell Annie to quit listening to her father when Skye rejoined them wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt over her black leggings. She must’ve noticed him grinning at the evidence that he’d gotten her all hot and bothered, because she said, “Baby hormones make me hot.”

“Yeah, I remember,” he said. “You were hot all the time—morning, noon, and night.” Her eyes widened and darted to Annie and Lily, who were listening with interest. He cleared his throat. “Ah, guess we better get decorating.”

“Me and Annie are going to do this one,” Lily said, pushing the other gingerbread house toward Ethan and Skye. “You and Auntie decorate this one. We’ll vote who wins once we’re done.”

“No,” Skye blurted out. “I have a better idea. Uncle Ethan and Annie will team up, and I’ll team up with you.”

“It’d probably be more fair if I teamed up with Uncle Ethan,” Lily said. “He doesn’t know how to do stuff like this, and I’m real good at it.”

“Ye of little faith,” Ethan said, pushing up the sleeves of his black sweater, his competitive spirit coming to the forefront.

An hour later, he popped a candy cane in his mouth and high-fived Lily. They’d won hands down.

“Get that smug smile off your face, O’Connor. You didn’t win. We’re not finished yet,” Skye protested, her gaze moving from one gingerbread house to the other.

He saw her wry grimace before she realized he was looking at her. “Come on, cupcake. Admit defeat. You can’t compete with perfection.”

“Sorry, Auntie. Uncle Eth’s right.” Annie pointed to their house. “They’ve got icicles hanging from the roof, and they put strands of candy lights around the windows and doors.”

“Yeah, and did you see this?” Ethan pointed to the window he’d cut out and lined with clear plastic wrap to look like a windowpane. Through it you could see the decorated tree he’d made out of Lily’s green Play-Doh and placed inside the house.

“What are you talking about? You didn’t even let Lily help,” Skye said.

“Yes, I…” He trailed off as he tried to think of one thing Lily had done on the house. “She… she handed me the candy.” He sighed. “Sorry, Lily, I guess I got carried away.”

Annie laughed, Skye tried hard not to, and Lily grinned. “It’s okay. You’re really good at decorating gingerbread houses. I’m going to bring it to school on Monday and show my class.”

“Ah, maybe you could tell them you made it, Lily. I wouldn’t mind if you took the credit, you know.”

“You should ask your teacher if she wants your uncle Ethan to come in and demonstrate his decorating skills for your class, Lily. You guys have Christmas craft days next week, don’t you?”

“That’s a great idea. I’ll ask her. And Uncle Ethan doesn’t have a job, so he can come anytime.”

Skye grinned at him and stuck a candy cane in her mouth.

* * *

So far Ethan hadn’t had any luck getting his wife on her own. He didn’t see his chances improving as they headed outside to play in the snow after lunch, especially with the look Skye had just given his sheepskin coat.

“You’re one to talk,” he said, gesturing to her furry black boots.

“It’s fake fur,” she said, wrapping a scarf around her neck and zipping her white jacket.

“I’m on Auntie Skye’s team this time,” Lily said as she knelt in the snow and began rolling a snowball. They were competing to see which team could make the best snowman.

“We’ve got it in the bag, Annie,” he said, showing her the carrot in his pocket.

Annie grinned. “You took the last one, didn’t you?”

“Yep,” he said. “You start rolling, and I’ll hunt down some sticks for his arms.” It took him a while to find what he was looking for. By the time he came back, Lily and Skye were already putting the head on their snowman. “Hey,” he said to Annie, looking at the three tiny balls in the snow. “You traitor, you’re supposed to be on my team.”

“Losing is good for you, Uncle Eth. You need some humility.”

“I think I’ve met my quota, don’t you?” he said, referring to his loss at the polls.

The three of them looked stricken.

“I’m kidding,” he said, dropping the sticks on the ground. “Don’t count me out yet. It was for best snowman, not fastest snowman makers.”

Once he finished, he stood back to admire his handiwork. His was twice the size of theirs and looked great in comparison. As a finishing touch, Ethan fitted mittens on the end of the sticks. His snowman looked like he was waving hello. Brushing the snow from his gloves, he laughed when they scowled at him. “Well, ladies, looks like I won again.”

Skye rolled her eyes, then looked past him, an apprehensive expression crossing her face. “Ethan, I think I saw a wolf.”

He followed the direction of her gaze and didn’t see anything. To be on the safe side, he said, “Okay, relax. We’ll get the girls inside.”

“No, you have to shoo it away, my bunny lives under the tree in the back.” Lily’s face crumpled.

“It’s okay, Lily.” Annie took her sister in her arms and patted her back. “Uncle Eth will make it go away.”

“Sure I will. Don’t cry, sweetheart. I’ll get your dad’s gun…” He saw Skye’s face and corrected himself, “I’ll go check it out first. You guys get inside.”

“Okay.” The three of them nodded as he struggled through the knee-high snow toward the back of the house. Jangling the keys in his pocket, he scanned the area for tracks. When he’d visually searched the backyard and checked under the deck, he headed back. He stopped short—the three of them were laughing their heads off. They’d stolen his snowman’s nose and stick arms. “Seriously? Haven’t you heard about the boy who cried wolf? Stop laughing. It’s not funny. And it doesn’t matter, because I still won.”

“No one likes a sore loser, Ethan,” Skye said, fluttering her lashes at him. “It’s not a good example to set for Lily and Annie.”

“Sore loser, eh?” he said and bent down to grab a handful of snow. Before he’d formed it into a ball, someone beaned him in the head. He looked up just as Skye’s snowball whizzed through the air and got him in the face. Releasing an exaggerated groan, he fell to his knees and brought his hand to his eye. Skye cried out and ran to his side. “Ethan, I’m so sorry. Let me see,” she said in a panicked tone of voice, cupping his face with her cold, wet gloves.

“I can’t see. There must have been a stone in the snow.” He groaned again, biding his time until Annie and Lily joined her at his side on their knees, then he lunged. Wrapping his arms around the three of them, he gently took them down. “Uncle Ethan,” the girls yelled between their giggles as he rubbed snow in their faces.

“That wasn’t…” Skye began, struggling to get out of his arms, shrieking when he shoved snow down her jacket.

“There, now you know how it feels.” He grinned as he went to stand up.

“Get him, girls,” Skye yelled, and they tackled him, giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Ten minutes later, the four of them lay flat on their backs in the snow. The winds picked up and the snow swirled around them. “Come on, I won’t be able to find you soon,” Ethan said. He glanced at Skye, who lay beside him making snow angels with the girls.

Her face was lit up with laughter as she caught snowflakes on her tongue. An image of her playing with their own child flashed before his eyes. His chest tightened. She was going to be an incredible mother. She’d been right at Thanksgiving when she’d said she wasn’t a silly, spoiled, self-centered…

Shock reverberated through him as he remembered where he’d heard those words before. Skye had repeated verbatim what Claudia had said about her that night when his team had gathered to deal with Bennett’s smear campaign. Somehow she’d found…

No, there was only one plausible explanation for how she knew what Claudia had said.