smiled at her as she took his cup, and her heart melted.
“Coming right up,” she promised.
While she was in the kitchen refilling Bennett’s drink, Clay gathered up the rest of the dishes still on the table.
“Are you trying to get me fired?” she asked, when she returned with the juice.
“I don’t think you’ll lose your job because you let someone else carry a few plates into the kitchen,” he chided.
He was right, of course, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that she was used to doing things for herself—she preferred doing things for herself. And she’d learned a long time ago that if she didn’t depend on anyone else, she didn’t have to worry about being disappointed.
Bennett took the cup and yawned.
“Are you ready for a nap already?” she asked.
His only response was to lift his arms up to her.
She hesitated, because every time she picked him up, she never wanted to let him go again. But Bennett was clearly tired of being strapped in his chair and, based on the sounds emanating from the kitchen, Clay was thoroughly occupied with the dishes and not planning to return to the dining room anytime soon.
With a sigh that was more resignation than reluctance, Antonia removed the tray from Bennett’s chair, unfastened his belt and lifted him into her arms. He curled into her easily, his head dropping against her shoulder, his eyes already drifting shut.
She’d never thought it was possible to fall in love so quickly and completely, but since the doctor had confirmed the news of her pregnancy, Antonia had realized that none of the usual rules applied to babies. She didn’t know if it was their innocence and vulnerability or her own maternal instincts, but she’d always had a weakness for children. From the moment she first suspected that she was pregnant, she’d been overwhelmed by emotion. And the first time Bennett had looked at her with his big blue eyes, she’d been hooked.
Now, with the slight weight of his body in her arms and the subtle scents of baby powder and shampoo teasing her nostrils, that hook snared her heart even more deeply.
She ventured into the kitchen and confirmed that Clay was loading up the dishwasher. Not with the skill or efficiency of someone who had a lot of experience, but he was getting the job done.
“Why don’t you take Bennett back to your room for a nap and let me do that?” she suggested.
“He doesn’t sleep for more than fifteen or twenty minutes after breakfast,” Clay told her. “So if you could sit with him for a little bit while I finish up here, that would be great.”
“Why don’t you sit with him while I finish cleaning up?” Antonia countered.
“Because I’m almost done here,” he pointed out.
His logic was indisputable and, with a sense of relief she refused to let him see, Antonia settled into one of the wooden ladder-back chairs beside the old kitchen table.
Bennett snuggled in, rubbing his cheek against her shirt, and Antonia’s heart gave another squeeze.
She didn’t know anything about the little boy’s mother—who she was or where she was. She only knew that in the five weeks that had passed since Clayton Traub had showed up at Wright’s Way with his son, she hadn’t heard a single word about the woman who’d given birth to the darling little boy. And she had to admit, the lack of information made her curious.
Not any of your business, she mentally admonished herself.
Just like information about her baby’s father was no one’s business but her own.
“He’s never taken to strangers,” Clay noted. “But there’s no doubt that he likes you.”
And because it was too good an opening to resist, she ignored her own admonition to herself and said, “Maybe I remind him of his mother.”
“Not likely,” Clay said. “Considering that he hasn’t seen her since he was two weeks old.”
She looked up, startled by this revelation. “Why not?”
“She decided a baby was too much to handle and she left him with me and moved to California.”
Antonia was stunned.
She couldn’t imagine any mother choosing to walk away from her child. Her baby wasn’t even born yet and she knew there was nothing she wouldn’t do for him or her. But of course she didn’t say any of that to Clay, she said only, “Why California?”
“To be a movie star.”
“She was an actress?”
“A much better one than I ever suspected,” he noted wryly.
She didn’t have any trouble picking up on the undercurrents in that response. “It must have been difficult—to be on your own with a newborn.”
“That’s the understatement of the century,” he admitted. “I hadn’t planned on becoming a father at this point in my life and I knew absolutely nothing about babies. In fact, I’m not sure either Bennett or I would have made it through the first few weeks without my mom.”
In many ways, Clay’s story was similar to her own. She hadn’t planned on becoming a mother at this point in her life, either, and while she wouldn’t say she knew “absolutely nothing” about babies, her experience was limited. But unlike Bennett, her baby wouldn’t have a grandmother to help them through the rough patches.
She shifted her gaze away, so Clay wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. “You’re lucky to have her,” she murmured.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I forgot that your mother passed away.”
She nodded. “Two years ago.”
“I bet you miss her.”
“Now more than ever,” Antonia admitted.
Lucinda Wright had been more than a parent. In a lot of ways, she’d been her best friend, and Antonia missed her gentle guidance and sage advice. Mostly she missed the way her mother always knew when she was worried about something, she missed the comforting weight of the arm she would put across her daughter’s shoulders and the confidence in her voice when she promised that everything would work out for the best.
As her baby shifted in her belly, Antonia wanted desperately to believe her mother’s promise, but right now she didn’t have a clue what would be best for her baby.
Clay didn’t see his brother again until later that night. Aside from the twice weekly group therapy sessions at the hospital, he wasn’t sure what Forrest did to occupy all the hours in his day. Then again, some people probably wondered what Clay did to fill his days, but anyone who had ever been responsible for the full-time care of a baby wouldn’t need to wonder. Bennett kept his daddy hopping 24/7.
He was in the common room on the main floor of the boarding house, watching a National League playoff game, when Forrest came in with a bowl of
