Their Marriage Bargain by Shannon McKenna

Author:Shannon McKenna
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-05-04T14:38:50+00:00

Thirteen

The three of them beat a hasty retreat, leaving the raised voices yammering behind them in the dining room. Caleb grabbed Annika’s suitcase and booster seat from the entry hall, where Maddie had left them, and they hurried out to Caleb’s car.

Caleb got the booster in place and helped Annika strap herself into the back seat. Annika was trembling with nervous tension. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

“Hey,” he said gently. “Thanks for sticking up for us, back there. That took real guts. Jerome can be one scary guy when he gets mad.”

“Why was he so mean?” Annika’s voice still shook.

“It’s hard to explain,” Caleb said. “But I don’t think all that is about us, not really. It’s been there a long time. We just happened to be there when it came out.”

“Poor Ronnie,” Annika said. “She was always there, when she was little. And he was probably always mean.”

“Yeah,” Caleb agreed. “Probably.”

He got into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the driveway. When they were through the gate, Tilda reached over, patting his leg.

“I’m glad you included Annika in our united front,” she said. “That felt good.”

“I’m glad, too,” Caleb said. “We needed her. She was our secret weapon.”

“You bet I was,” Annika agreed.

“You went a little overboard, though, honey,” Tilda scolded gently. “Next time, hang back and let the grown-ups fight if they want to. Don’t intervene.”

“But you said some stuff to him,” Annika argued. “And so did Dad.”

“That’s different,” Tilda said. “The rules are different for grown-ups.”

“But that’s not fair!”

“Nope, it sure isn’t. But it’s still the rule.”

Annika chattered for a while, but the intensity of the evening, followed by her busy, exciting weekend, had worn her out. In less than five minutes, she was fast asleep.

Once on the highway, Caleb took Tilda’s hand, and he felt invisible doors between them open, in his chest, his head. Maybe he was just fooling himself, but damn, he’d made that bad call nine years ago, and he’d paid a terrible price for it. This time, he’d learn from his mistakes.

He was trusting this feeling, wherever it took him.

When they got home, he gave the keys to Tilda and let her wheel Annika’s suitcase inside while he carried their sleeping child. He dictated the alarm code to Tilda, and carried the little girl through the house and up the stairs, Tilda close behind.

She opened the bedroom door and snapped on the bedside moon lamp to its lowest setting, a delicate crescent. She turned down the comforter, and pulled off Annika’s pink ballerina shoes, tucking the comforter around the girl when Caleb laid her down.

“You don’t want to get her into her pajamas?”

“She can stay like that tonight,” Tilda whispered back. “The dress is soft and stretchy. It’ll be as comfy as a nightgown.”

Then Annika’s eyes fluttered open. She looked around, blinking, and smiled when she saw the moon lamp, and the starry sky comforter. “Where are we?”

“This is your bedroom at Caleb’s house,” Tilda told her.

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