Married by Accident by Rimmer Christine

Author:Rimmer, Christine [Rimmer, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-06-13T22:00:00+00:00

“Oh, yuck,” Annie groaned. “You went and got us a special.”

Cole laughed. “Melinda begged me.”

“I most certainly did not beg,” Melinda announced with great dignity. “I...requested one with everything on it.”

“And naturally Cole just jumped at the chance.”

The three of them sat on the bed around the open pizza box while Brady lay in the soft-sided portable playpen Melinda had bought him the day before.

Annie began working over a couple of the slices, taking off peppers—and mushrooms and onions, too. She stacked the vegetables neatly in the corner of the pizza box.

Cole slanted Melinda a grim look. “Don’t watch her. It will only make you want to lecture her about her manners. And if you do, she’ll ignore you. And that’ll bug you no end.”

Annie wiped her fingers on a napkin, then slapped her brother lightly on the arm. “Oh, you just stop.”

Melinda pulled a big slice free, slid a napkin beneath it, took a bite, chewed and swallowed. “Mmm. Wonderful. The peppers are particularly good, don’t you think, Cole?”

“Yeah, and the onions...the best.”

“Not to mention the mushrooms.”

Annie ignored them. She continued carefully picking off the offending ingredients until nothing but sauce, cheese and meat remained.

Once they’d polished off the pizza, they just sat around for a while, finishing the tall iced soft drinks Cole had brought them to go with the meal. Annie had taken a handful of star mints from the big bowl at the hotel’s front desk. She offered to share and they each took a few.

“You two better have a mint,” Annie taunted. “After all those yucky onions you ate.”

“Mmm,” Melinda teased back. “Onions. Green peppers. Don’t get me started.”

So Annie swatted her arm and ordered, “You just stop.”

Then Cole said, “We’re gonna make it to Amarillo tomorrow. That’s over six hundred miles. With the way you women have to stop every ten minutes—”

“Cole,” Annie chided. “We do not stop that often—but we do have a baby to worry about.”

“Exactly. So we’d better leave by six a.m. We’ll be lucky to get to Amarillo by six at night—and give ourselves a little wind-down time. Then, on Thursday, we can probably make it home by late afternoon.”

“Home,” Annie said softly.

“That’s right.” Cole reached out and ruffled Annie’s hair. “Home.”

Watching them, Melinda thought of her own big brother, Zach. Over the years, she’d lost touch with him. They still shared phone calls at holidays and such. But those were always brief, rather awkward conversations. She would ask, “How have you been?” And he would answer, “Well, I’m just fine...”

Had there ever been a time when Zach had ruffled her hair? She couldn’t recall. Zach was so much like Cole, really. A quiet, steady strength seemed to emanate from him, the same as from Cole.

Cole was looking at her. “Ready to turn in?”

“What? Oh. Yes, I suppose so.”

They left Annie’s room together and started down the hall. Cole said, “You okay? You got real quiet back there.”

They’d reached the door of her room. She stopped, and so did he.

She said, “I was just thinking.

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