“Oh?” She briefly met his gaze before finding a place on the floor to stare at.
“I’m a bit over whelmed to find myself a father of three all at once.” He smiled to show her he was taking it well, but she kept her vision trained to the ground. “How are you? Being a mother of three…I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through,” he said helplessly.
“I’m fine.” Shrugging, she went back to sorting baby things. “Managing.”
“Is there any way I can help?” He really, really wanted to help her in any way she needed.
“Not pulling commando tactics on me would be nice. Just because you have half the world’s money doesn’t give you the right to drag me and the babies away from our home.” She stared at him belligerently.
He spread his hands in front of him, struggling to understand the hidden meaning behind her words. The tiny apartment she’d leased didn’t seem to be much of a home to him. Their home was here, at Green Forks, if he could only convince her of that. “You belong here, Daphne, no matter what our relationship is.”
“Even divorced? You would want me here?”
Swallowing tightly, he said, “Of course. Those are my children. You are my wife.”
Her eyes were wide. “Even if I’m not your wife?”
He couldn’t bear to think about it. As long as he could put it off, he wasn’t signing those papers. Daphne had married him for better or worse, and by heaven, he had to convince her that being his wife fell under the heading of better. “Let’s not talk about that right now.”
“We have to, Alex! We have to talk. You may not like to, but we probably should have done more talking before we got married.” She sank into a chair. “I’m so tired. Can we argue some other time?”
Instantly alarmed, he said, “I’ll call Nelly.”
“What for? I want to rest, not have to talk to one more person.”
Sudden tapping in the hall electrified her nerves. It sounded like a cane. It sounded like—
“Daphne. You’re back.” Aided by Sinclair, Alexander walked into the room.
She bristled at the tone in his voice, which seemed to imply that she’d returned of her own free will. She was amazed by the recovery he’d made. He looked like his old self again. “For the moment,” she said with a lift of her chin.
“Hmph.” He leaned on his cane. “Like your mama, birthing triplets. Where’s the boy?”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but apparently that’s one way I’m not like my mother.” She glanced at Alex purposefully.
“They’re beautiful girls,” Alex said. “Didn’t you think, Dad?”
“Hmph. Ugly names. Yoda. Miss Magoo. I do think you could give them proper names, Daphne.” He turned to stump out of the bedroom before turning his grizzled head to glance over his shoulder. “It’s not your fault, of course. It’s my boy who seems to be chock-full of feminine chromosomes.”
Daphne sucked in her breath and quickly glanced at Alex to see how he took his father’s criticism. To her surprise, he laughed out loud.
“See you at dinner, Dad,” he called.
“Didn’t he hurt your feelings?” Daphne still cringed from the visit.
“Absolutely not. Dad may be fixated on boys, but the minute he found out you were pregnant, he made a recovery even the doctors couldn’t believe. You gave him three grandchildren, Daphne,” he said huskily, “and he’ll consider them an honor.”
“What a good liar you are.” Daphne moved away. “He’s made no bones about the fact that only boys will do for him.”
“True. But he’ll have to get over his hierarchical delusions.” He stood, preparing to leave the room. Daphne did look tired, and he wanted her to rest. “There could be other children, anyway, Daphne, not that it’s some thing either one of us want to think about right now.”
“No. There can’t be.” She folded her arms, suddenly chilled.
“I mean, once we’ve talked about this divorce thing,” he said hastily. The last thing he wanted her to think was that he was patronizing her. “I don’t want a divorce. I want to have a hand in raising my children. It’s best if we stay married.”
Her insides felt like cement. “I can’t have any more children.” Guiltily, she looked at Alex.
His mouth fell open. “What?”
Sadly, she shook her head. “The doctor says I can’t.”
“Why not? Your mother had eight.”
It was impossible not to see the fear and disappointment in her husband’s eyes. Daphne knew she might as well lay all her cards on the table. Alex had a right to know. “I’m not sure what happened. It all went so fast! There were nurses and doctors and babies crying and tubes—” She shivered, stepping away from Alex when he held his arms out to her. “All I know is that, the next morning, when the doctor came in to see me, he said that I had a rare disorder where the uterus prolapses. He felt it would be dangerous to my health to have more children.”
“I see.” All the blood leached from Alex’s normally tan skin.
Daphne’s heart dropped into her shoes. “Now you see that the divorce is necessary.”
“No, I don’t.” He shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that alone.”
“What about not having a son?”
He shrugged. “It’s not the end of the world.”
“Your father will be unhappy.”
“I don’t live my life to make my father happy.”
True, Daphne conceded. But he had made a promise to the old man, which at the time had been a deathbed vow. His father would still want a Banning heir. And she knew how bad he wanted it.
Bad enough to buy all her father’s cattle at top prices during a drought. Alexander Senior and her father had called it a business arrangement. It had really been a dowry.
“You might not live your life to make your father happy,” she said softly, “but he lives because he thinks you’re going to give him what he wants. And to be honest, it’s a huge strain to live under, Alex. I don’t mind staying here for a week or two until I get a little stronger, but then I want to go back to my apartment. I hope you’ll under stand.”
“Our anniversary’s coming up,” he reminded her. “One year of marriage. We can’t throw that away, even if it hasn’t been conventional, especially now that there are children involved.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. There’s just too much in our way. I’d like to celebrate our anniversary by finalizing our divorce.”
“Very
