I Do! I Do!

“It makes perfect sense,” Mason said to the stunned nurse sitting across from him. “If I hired you to take care of the girls, even assuming you were available, it wouldn’t be enough to persuade a judge in my favor. But as my wife, you’d be unbeatable!”

She blinked a couple of times. “Mason, what are you talking about?”

“Didn’t I make myself clear?” he said. “I’m asking you to marry me.”

She swallowed hard before continuing. “So you can trump your sister and keep the twins?”

“And you can keep them, too,” he pointed out.

“That’s what you said you wanted.”

Those blue eyes regarded him levelly. “I’m going to do us both a favor, Mason. I’m going to assume you’ve suffered temporary insanity. Do you think you might wake up if I count to three and snap my fingers?”

At least she wasn’t stomping out of the restaurant. “Surely you can see the logic of it,” he persisted.

“People don’t marry just to get custody of children,” she said.

“People used to marry for all sorts of practical reasons,” he argued. “As I recall, the divorce rate back then wasn’t nearly as high as it is today.”

“That’s because people died young,” she said, then turned pale. “I didn’t mean…I guess that was kind of insensitive, under the circumstances.”

“No offense taken.” His sorrow over Rance and Amy’s premature deaths didn’t mean he couldn’t see her point. “I’ll tell you what, Gina. How about a compromise?”

“How does one compromise about getting married?” she asked.

Now that he’d had a few minutes to think about it, Mason could see that a marriage for the children’s sake, while it might suit him, wasn’t going to be enough for Gina. Sooner or later, she would weary of the grueling ranch life. Or worse, she’d become disgusted with his temper and walk out.

To make Gina unhappy and watch her lose respect for him would be agony. There was no need to put them both through such an experience.

“Let’s at least do what we can for the girls,” he said. “We could marry long enough for me to adopt them, then quietly divorce.”

“You’re kidding, right?” she said.

He ought to stop, but Mason couldn’t. If he did, he knew with sickening certainty that he would lose his nieces.

Without them he couldn’t face going back to the ranch. There would be no future, nothing to hope for. He needed a reason to go on living.

“Do this for Lily and Daisy, and for me,” he said. “Please. They could use your care for the first few months, anyway. You know that would be the safest thing for them.”

“I suppose so,” she conceded.

“I know it would be a sacrifice,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much it would mean—”

A thickness in his throat cut off the words. For a man who hated to display emotions, Mason had revealed more than he intended.

“I—I wish I could, Mason….”

He could hear the “no” in her tone. She might change her mind, though. “Don’t give me an answer yet. Of course, in the divorce settlement, I’ll compensate you for lost income and arrange for regular visitation with the girls. Please, at least give it some thought.”

“It won’t make…” She stopped. “I would enjoy taking care of the girls, but…”

He didn’t want to discuss this any further tonight. He might easily say too much. About how he ached to touch the spun-gold of her hair, for instance, and to tip her chin upward and explore her mouth with his own.

That would scare her off for certain. “Sleep on it, all right?” he said.

She nodded in reluctant agreement.

WHY HADN’T SHE just said no? Gina wondered as she parted with Mason outside the restaurant. Politely refusing his offer to escort her home, she chose to walk alone and clear her head.

To devote a few more months to the twins would help ensure them a safe start. Maybe she owed them that much. And what about herself? She might never again get a chance at motherhood.

Gina deliberately chose a roundabout route back to Mrs. Parker’s Inn. Although it was dinnertime, lingering July sunlight lured quite a few window-shoppers to browse along Mayfair Avenue. She tried to focus on the mix of tourists and casually dressed students, and on the city’s pleasing mixture of modern, Victorian and classic Southern architecture.

If she didn’t care for Mason, it would have been easy to refuse him, she acknowledged. But now…

Her thirtieth birthday was next month, in mid-August. Although these days women often married and had children late, to Gina that anniversary loomed like a deadline.

Now that she’d met a man she might actually want to marry, how could she refuse him? Yet how could she agree to spend months with him and then walk away? Her marriage of convenience would surely end in heartbreak.

Gina’s footsteps carried her toward the Oh, Baby! shop on Kings Avenue. Popular with the Maitland Maternity staff and clients, it featured baby clothes, toys and accessories. From half a block away, she thought she could detect the scent of baby powder.

It wouldn’t hurt to buy a going-away gift for the girls, she decided. At least they’d have something to remember her by.

In the ribbon-bedecked window, she spotted two yellow gowns trimmed with white lace and dotted with red hearts. They’d be perfect for Lily and Daisy to wear tomorrow when they were released. What were the chances that Mason would remember to buy going-home outfits?

Inside, Gina found the shop nearly empty at this hour and quickly made her purchases. When she emerged, she saw two friends from the clinic staring at the window display, and wondered what they were doing here. Neither Katie Toper nor Hope Logan, who ran the hospital’s gift shop, had children.

Of course, they might be wondering the same thing about her. “I was picking out something for the twins.” Gina indicated her packaged gift. “They’re going home tomorrow.”

“How sweet!” Katie said. “I know you’ll miss them.”

Wistfully, Hope spared one more glance into the window. “I’ve got to be getting home myself. I just…well, I’ll see you both later.” With a small wave, she hurried away.

It didn’t take a detective to note the distressed under-currents. “What’s going on?” Gina asked as she and Katie fell into step.

“Hope and her husband can’t agree about having children,” her friend said. “Kids are so precious, it’s hard to imagine anyone not wanting them.”

“Some people want them for the wrong reasons,” Gina muttered.

Her friend cocked an eyebrow. “You mean Mason’s sister? I heard she’s trying to claim the girls. She isn’t going to go through with it, is she? I mean, she hasn’t even seen them!”

“Yes, she is, and Mason thinks she might succeed.” If she didn’t open up to someone, Gina might explode, so she plunged on. “He’s got this crazy idea that we ought to get married until he can persuade a judge to let him adopt Lily and Daisy! Have you ever heard of such a thing?”

“Marriage isn’t something to be taken lightly,” the other nurse said.

“You’re not kidding!”

They wandered past a French bakery and were enveloped by tantalizing aromas. From a nearby club drifted the rolling beat of country music.