Family by Design

He lifted his hand to run a finger down the soft skin of the baby’s cheek. He had always had a soft spot for kids. “Get better, Daisy,” he whispered. Ready to put an end to the bizarre night, he ruffled the boy’s hair and handed the box to Raylene. “I’ll tell Tony to get right on the tire, first thing,” he told Becca. “Nice seeing both of you again.” He turned, hurrying down the steps.

“Crazy,” he muttered to himself as he backed his truck out of the driveway. Having Tony go after her car was nothing. He would’ve done it for anybody. Of course, he would make sure his brother sent her husband the bill.

His frown deepened. And where was Becca’s husband? Why wasn’t he out looking for his wife, when his children were obviously worried about her? Some guys just didn’t know when they had it good.

But Becca’s husband wasn’t his worry. As soon as he knew her car was taken care of, he could go about his own business. Becca Malone was a thing of the past. And she would stay that way.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT was Nick Morelli who found you,” Raylene said. “Of all people to run into.”

Becca started to shush her, but with the kids settled in the Stevenses’ family room, she didn’t have to worry about little ears. She had a few choice words of her own about her run of bad luck—seeing Nick again topped the list—but she didn’t share them. Instead, she checked to make sure Daisy’s fever hadn’t gotten any worse. She couldn’t bear to see her baby hurting and sick. If only Daisy’s father felt the same way.

“Becca?”

She turned to attempt a smile for her best friend. “I’m just glad somebody found me. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten home if Nick hadn’t stopped.”

“So what do you think?”

“About what?” Becca gathered Daisy’s blanket and stuffed it into the diaper bag, making a mental note that she couldn’t put off doing laundry another day. If she had to hang clothes on the line in freezing weather because the house didn’t include a dryer, that’s all there was to it.

“About Nick being home, of course,” Raylene chattered as she followed Becca out of the room.

Becca could have done without this little interrogation, but she and Raylene had been best friends since grade school. Raylene had been through it all with her, especially during the time she and Nick had dated, knowing every detail and lending support. Of course her friend was curious, and she deserved at least a simple answer.

“It was a surprise.”

“A surprise?” Raylene stepped around Becca and faced her, bringing her to a halt. “A surprise? Is that all it was?”

“I had to take the back roads because of the road construction on the highway. Then the tire went flat. To be honest, I was surprised that anybody stopped or was even in the vicinity. So to answer your question, yes.”

“But isn’t ‘surprised’ putting it kind of mildly?”

Becca couldn’t stop the wry grin. “Yes, I suppose it is. Shocked would be more like it.”

Raylene laughed and flopped to the sofa. “‘Shock’ is a good word.”

“What’s he doing here?” Becca hoped her curiosity sounded normal.

“Whatever he wants, I suppose,” her best friend said with a shrug. “And his wife isn’t with him.”

Becca’s heart stopped beating for a brief moment. Chastising herself for being cheered by the news, she forced herself to breathe. “Maybe she’s coming later.”

“Could be. He’s staying at his parents’ house. That’s all I know.” She slid a sly look at Becca. “But I could find out.”

Becca shook her head. “No, there’s no reason to do that. Nick Morelli isn’t interested in me. I blew that ten years ago.”

“Your dad blew that for you ten years ago,” Raylene reminded her. “If you’d had your way—”

“What’s done is done. That was the past and this is the here and now.”

“But don’t you ever wonder what might have happened?”

Becca didn’t bother to answer her. What good would wondering do? As far as Nick Morelli was concerned, their roles had switched. She had once been the daughter of one of the most influential men in town and was expected to marry well. Nick had been the son of a garage owner. A guy who pumped gas to earn his way through college. Not that it had made a difference to her, but it had to her father.

She had done what was expected of her. She had married the man her father had chosen for her, instead of going to college. But that hadn’t turned out so well. Not after seven years of marriage and two children, with the third born barely a month before the divorce was final.

And Nick? From what she had heard, he had done wonderfully well. College graduate, owner of his own company and married to a Denver debutante.

Yes, she had wondered what might have happened had she not done as her father had wanted her to do or if things had been different. She and Nick had dated for almost six months and had fallen in love. But it all changed a week before her high school graduation, when her father decided to put a stop to it. She hadn’t given that part of her past a lot of thought, especially during the last few years. She had only had time to deal with what life dealt her and survive.

Right now, she didn’t want to talk about Nick. In fact, she didn’t want to think about him. “Where did you put Daisy’s bottle?” she asked.

“It’s in the kitchen,” Raylene said, getting to her feet. “And I have an extra can of formula you can take home with you.”

“Raylene, I can’t—”

“No big deal,” Raylene answered with a wave of her hand as she disappeared into the kitchen.

But it was a big deal. To Becca. Maybe she could convince Raylene to count it as a present. With Christmas a little more than three weeks away and less than a hundred dollars left to last until then, she couldn’t turn down the offer. She was still trying to figure out how to buy groceries, pay bills and have enough to buy a few small gifts for Danny and April. And the rent was going to be late, if, as had happened too many times, the child support money didn’t arrive.

Fighting the panic at the thought and reminding herself that she would get control of her life and make it better, she jumped at the sound of the doorbell.

“Get the door, will you?” Raylene called from the kitchen. “Jeff probably forgot his key again. And I want to fix another bottle for Daisy so you’ll have it when you get home.”

Glad for the chance to get her mind off her troubles, Becca went to the door and reached for the doorknob, ready to tease Jeff. Opening the door, she put on a sultry smile and batted her eyelashes. “Cash, check or credit card?”

“Depends.”

She felt the heat flood her cheeks when she realized that it wasn’t Jeff but Nick standing on the porch. “I thought you were…I mean, I was only…”

Nick smiled, and the heat from her cheeks spread throughout her body. Nick’s smile was the same. Beautiful. And it left her breathless. One more thing she didn’t have control of.

He looked past her, then back at her again. “I was hoping you hadn’t gone.”

She leaned against the door for support. “Raylene is in the kitchen and—”

“I forgot to ask where you live.”

She blinked. “Where I live?”

“Yeah, so Tony can drop off your car tomorrow when he has the tire fixed. I suppose he knows, but just in case…”

Of course. Why else would he need to know that? But she didn’t want him to go to the trouble. “There’s really no need. I’ll see if Jeff—”

“Here’s Daisy’s bottle. I’ll just put it in—Oh!”

Becca turned to see Raylene. Moving away from the doorway, she opened the door wider. “I was just telling Nick that I’d see if Jeff could take my tire to get it fixed tomorrow,” she explained.

“Not tomorrow,” Raylene said, bending over to put the bottle in the diaper bag. “He has a dentist appointment. The last thing he’ll want to do is change a tire.” She straightened and made a face. “Knowing him, he’ll spend the rest of the day zoned out on pain pills and insisting that he’s dying.”