When they returned to their chairs, Tommie asked in an offhand fashion, “How far along are you?”
“About four months.”
“It was that guy you were dating when I got married!” Tommie exclaimed. “I never liked him.”
“You didn’t date for very long, did you?” Tabitha asked. “I only saw you with him a couple of times.”
“No, it—” Teresa caught herself, then, her stomach sinking, she covered up her stammer. “No, it didn’t work out.” She picked up her fork and dug into her food like a lumberjack on his lunch hour. “Let’s eat, before our quiche gets cold.”
It was with reluctance that Jim Schofield approached his brother’s home that evening. The dinner wasn’t just for the Schofields, but also for Tommie’s family. Would Teresa be there? He wondered. It’d been months since he’d seen her, and he was filled with mixed feelings at seeing her now.
Before he could gather himself, his mother, whom he’d driven there, reached the front door ahead of him and rang the bell. Evelyn Schofield was so pleased with Pete’s marriage and considered herself lucky to have such a thoughtful daughter-in-law. He was grateful for Tommie, too; she now helped out with Evelyn’s demands, freeing him from responsibility.
Pete opened the door with an odd look on his face. “Come on in. We were beginning to worry about you. You’re the last ones to arrive.”
Jim apologized before his mother could complain. “I got held up at the office.”
“No problem. My spaghetti isn’t done yet.”
“You’re the chef tonight?”
“Yeah, but Tommie picked up a cake from that great new bakery, so you’re safe for part of the evening.” Pete laughed.
“I’m not worried,” Jim assured him. Then he asked the question that had been on his mind all day. “Is Teresa here? I…haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Uh, neither had we,” Pete said, staring at his brother as if wanting to say more.
Jim wondered what the odd look was for. But when he stepped into the family room and heard the words Teresa and pregnant, he knew.
Teresa Tyler was pregnant.
He stared at her in disbelief. If she was, it was early in her pregnancy; she wasn’t showing much.
His mother didn’t hesitate to state the obvious. “Teresa, you’re pregnant! Congratulations!” she exclaimed. “I hadn’t heard that you’d gotten married.”
Teresa graciously accepted and returned the woman’s hug. “Oh, hello, Evelyn. No, I haven’t gotten married, but I am expecting. It’s getting rather difficult to hide,” Teresa responded with a smile, though her cheeks reddened like two ripe tomatoes.
“Well, where’s the father of the baby?”
Jim knew his mother was embarrassing Teresa, with her inquisition but he was too interested in the answer to that question to interrupt.
Yes, just where was the father of her baby? He repeated to himself.
“The father and I aren’t…together. I’ll be raising my baby by myself.” Teresa smiled again, but her shoulders held an obvious tension.
“And she’ll have all the help she needs from us,” said Ann Tyler, moving over to hug the youngest of her triplet daughters.
Feeling suddenly compelled to add his encouragement, perhaps to compensate for his mother’s doubts, Jim said, “I’m sure she’ll do fine.” As if thanking him, Teresa glanced his way, met his eyes for a fleeting second, then locked her gaze on the iced tea she held in her hand.
Jim couldn’t help himself from taking a long look at her. Her sleek blond hair was pulled back in her omnipresent braid, and she looked a little peaked. Whether from morning sickness or from the fifty questions, he didn’t know. Against his better judgment he noticed her breasts, fuller now as they readied for the baby she’d soon nurse there. He stopped the mental picture before it started to take shape.
He no longer had a relationship with Teresa, he reminded himself. And that was the way he wanted it to be. Months ago, when his twin brother had first returned to Texas and met Tommie, the real estate agent helping relocate his Boston software firm and executives to Fort Worth, Pete had dragged him along to all kinds of business and social functions, the same functions to which Tommie had brought Teresa. Jim found himself dating Teresa to round out the numbers. But he’d opted out of that situation. Not because of Teresa, who was a beautiful and sweet woman, but because he wasn’t comfortable double-dating with his twin. They’d tried that once before, with disastrous results.
He would do well to remember that, he told himself.
Evelyn, undeterred, was continuing to grill Teresa. “But how can you manage without a father for the baby?”
“Mom managed to raise the three of us without having a father in the house,” Tommie pointed out.
“Oh, I forgot that,” Evelyn said. “Probably because I always think of Joel as a part of the family.”
Ann cleared her throat. “Well, actually, Joel and I have an announcement of our own, if you all don’t mind.”
Joel stepped closer to the slim blond woman, still beautiful in her fifties. His gaze sought out the triplets as he said, “Ann has agreed to m-marry me—if you have no objections.”
All three of Ann’s daughters jumped to their feet and hugged the newly engaged couple. “We’re absolutely thrilled,” Teresa said, a sentiment echoed by the others.
“I told him you’d be happy for us,” Ann said, tears glistening in her eyes.
“Of course we are,” Teresa managed through her smile. “And now my baby will have a granddad…if you don’t mind, Joel.”
The soft-spoken, gentle man stammered, “I—I’d be delighted!”
Jim stood quietly by while congratulations were offered, but his mind was not on Ann Tyler’s upcoming nuptials. He was still back on the announcement of Teresa’s pregnancy.
His eyes bored into her as he bluntly asked, “When is the baby due?” He couldn’t get his brain to stop working, thinking, calculating.
Without looking at Jim, Teresa answered, “In about four months, give or take.”
Four months…That put the conception somewhere around Pete and Tommie’s wedding. He remembered the man who had escorted Teresa to the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, If he remembered correctly, he didn’t like the guy much. He was awfully…handy. His hands were all over Teresa.
Before Jim could pursue the line of questioning, Tommie told everyone to take their seats for dinner. It was probably just as well. He needed the time to remind himself that this was none of his concern.
“And we have seats assigned, so be sure you’re in the right place!” she added with a chuckle. “We found these
