Falling for a Father of Four by Arlene James

Author:Arlene James
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Mattie groaned softly. “Don’t, Dad, please.”

He gave her a look of patent confusion. “Brick’s a friend,” he said lightly.

“I don’t have time for this now, Dad. I’ll see Brick later.”

He let her go, but she could hear him arguing in harsh whispers with Amy. She piled the kids into the car, buckled them up, and got behind the wheel. She fit the key into the ignition and switched on the engine.

“Mattie,” Chaz said softly from the seat next to her, “you really could be our mother.”

She reached out and squeezed his hand, whispering, “I’d like that.”

“Me, too,” he said huskily.

Blinking back tears, she put the transmission in Reverse and eased the car out into traffic. Her father was standing on the curb when she drove by. He didn’t wave, and he didn’t smile. Mattie sighed and pointed the car toward home, the Ellis home.

She parked in the drive behind Orren’s truck and got everybody out. Candy latched on to her neck and wouldn’t let go, so Mattie wagged her into the house on her hip, Yancy clinging to her dress tail, Chaz clutching one hand, while Jean Marie lightly clasped the other. It seemed she’d been adopted—or grafted, she couldn’t tell which. It was Jean Marie who asked, as Mattie helped her undress, “Would you really like to be our mother?”

Mattie sat down on the edge of her bed and nodded. “Yes, I would. Know what else? I wouldn’t mind being mommy to one or two other children, either.”

Jean Marie’s eyes went wide. “That many?”

“Why not? I like children. But, Jean, none of this talk means anything. I want you and your brother and sisters to understand that. It was just an idle comment, nothing more.”

Jean Marie looked her straight in the eye. “You mean Daddy doesn’t love you?”

Mattie had to look away. “I don’t know,” she said honestly and got up before an even more disturbing question could be asked. “I have to start dinner.”

She went out of the room and down the hall toward the living room, but at the last moment, she opened the door to Orren’s room. He jerked and rolled over, struggling up on one elbow. Mattie quickly slipped inside and closed the door.

“Go back to sleep,” she whispered. “I’ll wake you when dinner’s ready.”

“Mattie,” he said. Wiping both eyes, he eased back down and looked her over. “You look good. Never seen you in a real dress before.”

She looked down at the simple tea-length cotton print dress, blushing. And to think of all the revealing outfits she’d put together for his benefit! “Thanks. It’s just a Sunday dress, nothing special.”

He ignored that, saying, “You put me to bed last night.”

Her heart sped up just a little bit. She hugged the wall with the palms of both hands. “Do you remember much about it?”

“Enough,” he said, holding her gaze for long moments.

She could hardly breathe. She had to swallow before she could speak. “Rest a little longer. I’m going to change and start dinner. I’ll wake you when it’s ready.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.