Daddy by Christmas by Mollie Molay

Author:Mollie Molay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-05-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Laura gasped. “What did you say?”

“I said, you could marry me,” Tom repeated.

“Why, for heaven’s sake?”

“Because I’m convinced it would solve both our problems.”

“I can’t believe you’re serious!” She looked at him as if he were the devil. “How can you joke at a time like this?”

“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life,” he answered. He tried to appear calm; inside he felt as tense as a drum. He wasn’t sure he could handle it if she turned him down.

He could understand her surprise. When the thought had occurred to him that if they were married, he and Laura would present a formidable defense against anything Jody might come up with, he’d been surprised, too. But the longer he’d considered the idea, the better it had sounded.

He hadn’t been able to come up with another scenario and besides, time was running out. If Laura didn’t go along with him, they were both going to be in deep trouble.

“Let’s back up a minute,” he said when she didn’t look convinced. “Jody told me she intends to remarry soon so we can’t put our own marriage off. We have to beat her to the punch before she tries something stupid like trying to get custody of Beth—and Carly, too.”

The frown on Laura’s forehead deepened.

“I don’t understand how our getting married could stop her.”

“Look at it this way,” Tom argued reasonably. “If we married, as the girls’ parents, we would be in a better position to protect them from Jody.”

Laura looked bewildered. He could understand that, too.

“It’s all in the matter of how the clinic switched donor embryos and ‘sold’ them to other patients,” he continued. “I know it sounds involved, and maybe even ridiculous, but the bottom line is that by marrying, we’ll ensure the girls will be raised together.”

Satisfied with his logic, he sat back and studied Laura’s reaction. Her face was flushed, whether from baking cookies or from his unorthodox proposal, he didn’t know. But from her frown, it was obvious he still hadn’t convinced her. Reasonable or not, the thought of marriage to him seemed to have left her cold.

Maybe he should have been more tender, less logical, maybe even romantic, but he had been afraid he’d scare her off. She was wary enough of him as it was.

“Besides,” he added quickly while he still had her attention, “I figure the courts would be more sympathetic to our position as a family unit than to Jody’s. At least until she got married.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“As for Carly, yes. I don’t remember ever hearing about a situation like this happening before, but I don’t think Jody would have a legal leg to stand on if she tried to take Carly away from us. Not when I’m probably her father to begin with.” He waved a fresh cookie at her. “I’m sure there’s no precedence for a case like ours, at least not yet. It’s going to take years before these cases are settled. Who knows what might happen by then?”

Laura still looked thoughtful.

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