I Do! I Do!

Lily nestled into her uncle’s arms and stared up at him. Although the baby hadn’t started smiling yet, Gina knew her well enough to read the alert interest that indicated the infant was emotionally engaged. That was a technical way of saying she loved her uncle.

As for Mason, his emotions were written across his tanned, high-boned face as he returned his niece’s gaze. There was enough warmth shining there to light the dark corners of the universe.

Gina snapped back to duty as the nursery door opened and Dr. Ephraim Rogers entered. The graying pediatrician scrubbed, donned a sterile gown and came into the main nursery.

By then, she had the charts ready for him. They discussed each of the other two babies, agreed on some minor changes in their care, and then moved to Lily and Daisy.

“You certainly are a devoted uncle, Mr. Blackstone.” The doctor shook hands with him. “These girls are doing well. Have you given any thought to who will care for them when they’re released?”

“I will,” he said. “With the help of my housekeeper.”

The doctor nodded. “She should come into the hospital to learn infant CPR.” Mason had already undergone his training. “Also, we’d like to show her how to use the apnea monitors we’ll be sending home with the babies.”

“Monitors?” His forehead creased. “No one mentioned this before.”

“It’s a precaution,” Dr. Rogers said. “It’s much simpler than these devices they use in the hospital. Just a belt that wraps around their chest. I can understand your concern, Mr. Blackstone, and I know you live out on a ranch. Aren’t there any female relatives who could take these girls?”

Mason drew himself up to his full height, which gave him the advantage over the doctor. “I can take care of them. My late sister-in-law’s parents aren’t in good health, and besides, I consider Lily and Daisy to be my own daughters. I’ll bring my housekeeper here for training.”

“In that case, I’m going to write a release order for tomorrow,” the doctor said. “Congratulations, Mr. Blackstone. It’s time to take your daughters home.”

With another handshake, he departed. Mason stood staring after him.

Gina was grateful that the girls had been pronounced well enough to leave. And devastated that she would never see them, or their uncle, again.

HE’D BEEN AWAITING this good news eagerly for weeks. Now that it had come, Mason felt a shock of dismay.

How would he sustain these tiny girls without the assistance of trained medical staff? He knew his own skills and capabilities as a rancher, whether it came to managing finance, tending an injured calf or repairing anything from a bridle to a pickup truck.

But babies? What if something went wrong? He could never forgive himself.

It also meant that, after tomorrow, he would never see Gina Kennedy again. Of course, he knew she was too delicate for ranch life. And that he wasn’t husband material.

Yet he’d grown to depend on the quiet strength revealed in her blue eyes. Each day, he felt he knew her a little better, until it seemed that she had been a part of his life forever.

It made no sense. Her upbringing, as she’d described it one day while they were chatting, was so different from his that she might as well have come from another planet. He was a down-home Texas man, through and through. She had an air of sophistication that had developed as her engineer father moved the family to Kuwait, Alaska and Japan before settling in Austin.

Mason ought to be glad he was free to take the girls home. Instead, he kept longing to spend more time with Gina, to touch her soft hair, to grip that tiny waist and lift her onto his lap, to kiss her until time stood still.

She replaced Lily in her bassinet. “That’s wonderful news.”

“Is it?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Some emotion he couldn’t identify fleeted across her face and vanished almost immediately. “If you’re worried, you could arrange for a private nurse. There must be someone in the town near your ranch. What’s it called—Horseshoe Bend?”

“I wouldn’t need to go that far for help. The girls will have a ready-made family on the ranch,” Mason said, to reassure himself as much as her. “Some of my cousins live there.”

She gave him a fleeting smile. “Does your housekeeper have children?”

“Actually, no,” he admitted. “She never married. But she raised one of her nephews, and she takes care of her mother. Nana lives with her in the village.”

“In Horseshoe Bend?”

Mason shook his head. “The village is a cluster of houses on my property, just down the way from the big house. My cousin Ed—he’s the foreman—and his family have their own house. So do a couple of ranch hands, and Bonita and her mother.”

“Aren’t there other children?” she asked. “For the girls to play with when they get older?”

He hadn’t thought beyond their infancy. Certainly playmates hadn’t entered his mind. “Not at the moment,” he admitted. “I can look for a family man though. I’ll need to hire someone to take my brother’s place.”

A wave of pain hit him, one that hurt no less for having become familiar during the past two months. No one could replace his brother, not in any sense of the word.

Gina dragged him back from his dark thoughts. “Get plenty of sleep tonight.” She took out a clean crib sheet, frowned at what appeared to be a freshly changed bassinet, and put the sheet back in the cabinet. “You’ll need it.”

She was, he realized, avoiding eye contact. He wished he knew what was upsetting her.

“I can manage without sleep if I have to,” he said. “I’ve done it before.”

“Not with two premature infants to take care of, you haven’t!”

Mason caught her shoulders. It was the only way to hold her still so he could address her. “Don’t tell me that you doubt me, Gina. Not you of all people.”

Trapped, she raised her face toward his. He’d never seen the blue of her eyes so brilliant and glittery. It was, he realized, the effect of tears.

“You’re going to miss them, aren’t you?” he asked gruffly.

She swallowed hard and nodded.

“You could…come and visit.” Even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t feasible. “Besides, a beautiful woman like you will have babies of your own. I’m surprised you don’t already.”

“Haven’t met the right man yet, I guess.” She ducked away.

At least he understood what was bothering her. It was Lily and Daisy. She’d grown to love them, just as he had.

Did she react this way when all of her patients left? He wished he could read her moods better.

“Mr. Blackstone?” One of the other nurses signaled to him. “Eleanor Maitland wants to talk to you.”

“Much obliged.” Through the glass window of the nursery, he saw the hospital administrator waving from the corridor.

A daughter of Maitland Maternity founder Megan Maitland, Miss Elly—as he’d heard her teasingly called in a reference to the TV series Dallas—was only twenty-five, the same age as the hospital. She wore glasses and tailored suits that made her look a bit older than her age, but not by much.

“Maybe she has some words of advice about the girls,” Gina said. “After all, she’s a twin herself.”

“I guess I’ll find out.” Regretfully, he turned away. He wished Gina could come into the hall with him. Heck, he wished she could come all the way to the ranch with him.

There was no point in deluding himself. Mason couldn’t picture the doll-like blonde living on the Blackstone Bar Ranch. And why would a pretty girl like her want to tear herself away from Austin’s music clubs and, no doubt, her many admirers?

On the way out of the nursery, he shrugged off his gown and dropped it in the laundry container, then collected his hat. Elly Maitland met him at the door.