stands for.”
“Mackenzie and the other is Hadley.”
“Audra, Mackenzie and Hadley.” His cheeks hurt from smiling. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m—” He wasn’t sure how to introduce himself.
“You’re a friend of their mother. That’s all we can ever be.”
Ten minutes ago, Wes didn’t even want to be a friend to anyone connected to the children, now it hardly seemed enough.
“How is this supposed to work? You can’t even feed the three of them on your own.”
“That’s not fair.” Jade held a bottle up to the light to see how much formula remained in the liner. “This was my first try. Although I’m not sure what my sister was thinking when she told Maddie to call me. I’m not exactly mother material. My job’s super demanding and consumes most of my time.”
“What do you do?”
“I own a high-end event management company in Los Angeles. You could say I’m a party planner to the stars. I’m surprised my sister didn’t tell you.”
He would never have guessed she’d chosen that career path. He figured she would have chosen... Wes stared at her, not recognizing the woman she was today. He’d never given much thought to what she did after high school. Once she’d moved away, he had been thrilled to have her out of his life. Even though her cruelty still stuck with him.
“Your sister rarely mentioned you.”
Jade recoiled at his comment. “Well, that’s nice. At least you didn’t tell her how much you hated me.”
Just as much as you hated me. “I met your sister the day of my father’s funeral. We were both at the Iron Horse, saddled up to the bar. She recognized me and offered her condolences. At the time, I was too lost in my grief to realize who she was. That was the night she and her husband called it quits. She was hurting and I couldn’t see past my anger over my father’s death.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, but I’m glad you two found comfort in each other.”
Wes nodded. “That old saying about misery loving company is true. We were two lonely souls drowning our sorrows. The next day I didn’t even remember her name, but we kept meeting there night after night and as time went on, we met less at the bar and more in a booth with coffee and a bite to eat. It was only then I realized she was your sister. I couldn’t have gotten through those days without her.”
“I tried talking her into moving out to LA when Kevin left. She refused to leave this place. We’d bounced around so much in foster care that once she had this house, hell would freeze over before she left it.”
“She didn’t really discuss where you two had lived while growing up, but I got a real sense that home meant everything to her.” Liv had sidestepped most references to her childhood, and he’d assumed she’d wanted to keep that door closed forever. He understood where she’d been coming from and never pressed further. “Our friendship started out consoling each other over what we’d lost. My father and her husband. Once we got that out of our systems, our conversations shifted to the future and what we wanted out of life. She talked a lot about wanting a family of her own.”
“Liv’s not one to dwell in the past.” Jade sat both bottles on the table and lifted Mackenzie into her arms.
“No, she’s not.” Wes waited for Jade to grab a burp towel, but she didn’t. “You need to hold her a little more upright and against your shoulder. And you should have something to protect your shirt because she will spit up.” He stood, still cradling Audra in one arm while he opened and closed drawers until he found what he was looking for. He draped a towel over Jade’s shoulder, noticing the softness of her hair against his hand as he did so. “Watch me.” Audra had finished her bottle. He set it on the counter and shifted her in his arms. “Hold her like this and lightly pat her back.”
“How did you get so good at this?” Jade mirrored him.
“I’ve had practice. More than a man who never wants kids should.” Wes had seen enough dysfunction in his own family to kill any desire he’d ever had of settling down. His father’s death had fractured the final fragments that had held the Slades together. Getting tossed off a bull hurt a lot less than losing someone you love. Three of his four siblings had maintained a close relationship to each other, but their mom had taken off for sunny California. Much like Jade had. Nevertheless, he’d learned to keep an emotional distance ever since. “Any more thoughts where your sister might be?”
“Tomorrow I’ll call every postpartum depression treatment center I can find, including over the border in Canada just to be on the safe side. She’s an adult, so I’m not sure if anyone can legally tell me if she’s there, but I at least have to try.”
“Well, the reason I came here tonight was to give you my phone number and to get yours.”
“You could’ve called the house and given it to me seeing as you didn’t want to meet the girls.”
“That dawned on me while I was knocking on the front door.” Wes sniffed the top of Audra’s head. She smelled like new car smell for humans. “From the looks and sounds of things, it’s a good thing I did. Where’s Maddie?”
“I sent her home. She’d been here for over twenty-four hours. The woman hadn’t even had a shower or change of clothes.”
“It looks like you could use the same.”
“Thanks a lot.” Jade attempted to smooth the front of her shirt.
Wes laughed as he settled Audra into the empty bouncy seat and lifted Hadley into his arms. “I didn’t mean that to sound as insulting as it did. It was a poorly worded offer to watch the girls while you take a few moments for yourself.”
“Are you sure?”
“Considering I made a commitment to help bring these three into the world, I think I can commit to babysitting while you shower.”
“Thank you.”
“But...this is a onetime deal, Jade.” He didn’t want to delude her into thinking he’d changed his mind about being involved in their lives. “I’m here now, but once I walk out that door, I’m not coming back.”
He couldn’t—wouldn’t—risk his heart. It was already on the verge of shattering into a thousand pieces.
Jade awoke with the worst backache of her life. She eased her body out of the rocking chair she had tried to sleep in last night. Staying in the guest bedroom down the hall proved futile after hours of tossing and turning. It didn’t help that she kept getting up and checking on the girls every few minutes. The video baby monitor was great during the day, but it was difficult to see at night when the only light in the room was an elephant lamp on the dresser against the far wall.
How had her sister done it alone in a house this size? It was the middle of summer and the place creaked whenever the wind blew. She could only imagine how loud it was during the blustery Montana winter. There was too much
