style="font-size:15px;"> For an instant he thought Annie wouldn’t move. Then she extended her hand.
Her fingers were so cold it was like taking a handful of ice. He clasped her hand in his, trying to warm it, and Annie looked up at him.
Shock ran through him. All that cool composure of hers was a facade. For a moment, he saw the grief and vulnerability in her golden-brown eyes, and the sight shook him to the heart.
Beneath her controlled exterior, Annie was fragile, so fragile. She’d just undergone the most devastating experience of her life, and now she was plunged into something she wouldn’t have dreamed possible a week earlier.
Dealing with Annie right now was like handling high explosives. One false move, and everything he’d naively thought was settled could blow sky high, leaving nothing but pieces.
Garth’s voice paused, and Link realized he had to say his vows. Holding her hands in his, he began.
The ring felt odd on her finger. Annie stood at the dresser in the guest room at Becca’s house, staring down at it. Her hand looked strange—the hand of a married woman.
She took a shaky breath. Hard as it was to believe, they’d actually done this thing. She and Link were husband and wife, legally and in God’s sight.
Did we do the right thing, Father? We honestly tried to determine Your will. Surely it was worth any sacrifice to keep Marcy safe.
Annie knew she’d better finish changing her clothes and get back downstairs. She’d left Marcy with Link, and she wasn’t sure how comfortable he was watching a lively toddler. Marcy’s little hands could move at the speed of light when she wanted something, and Annie was already discovering that she needed faster reflexes to keep up with her.
She pulled on khakis and a camel sweater, ran a brush through her hair and decided that would have to do. On to the next thing.
She and Link had already decided they’d both stay in the house tonight, since they didn’t want to raise any awkward questions with the hearing tomorrow. Link could sleep on the couch in Davis’s office. Being here together was difficult, but it was only for a night.
Once the custody case was settled, the need to look like a married couple would be finished. She’d take Marcy home, and that would be that.
In the meantime, she could certainly cope with the situation for a day or two. This was business, and she knew how to handle business.
The thought comforted her. She went quickly out of the room and down the stairs.
She found Link and Marcy in the family room, where he was trying to dissuade the baby from pulling all the videos out of the cabinet.
“How about playing with the nice blocks, instead?” He sounded harassed.
“She likes just about anything better than her toys, according to Becca.”
Link looked up at her from his prone position on the rug next to Marcy. A smile tilted his lips. “What do you suggest I do about it?”
She had to remind herself not to react to that smile. Business. She walked into the adjoining kitchen and pulled out the drawer her sister had filled with plastic containers and utensils.
“Look, Marcy. Look what Nan has.” She tapped a wooden spoon invitingly on a plastic container.
Marcy dropped a video on Link’s arm and trotted over to grab the spoon away from Annie. She plopped down in front of the drawer.
“Whatever anyone else has, that’s what she wants. Becca called it the toddler’s creed.” Her smile faltered when she seemed to hear her sister’s voice.
Link closed the video cabinet quickly, snapping the safety lock. “Nan? How did you get to be Nan?”
“Aunt Annie is a mouthful. She hasn’t managed it yet.”
He unfolded himself from the floor and walked toward her. Her mouth went suddenly dry. They were alone together. They were married.
He stopped, looking down at the baby. “Speaking of cooking utensils, have you given any thought to supper?”
She stared at him blankly. So much for the efficient, businesslike way she was going to handle things. “No, I guess I haven’t.” She hated admitting to any error. “It never entered my mind.”
“Well, we have to eat. Why don’t you grab a jacket, and I’ll take the two of you out.”
That just seemed to multiply her inefficiency. “Marcy’s going to be tired out soon. I doubt she’d last through a restaurant dinner without a meltdown.”
He looked at the baby with caution, as if anticipating an explosion. “I could pick up some take-out.”
“The freezer’s still full of the food people brought over for the funeral. I’ll microwave something for tonight.”
By tomorrow, she wouldn’t need to feel responsible for Link’s dinner.
“Okay.” He sat down on the floor next to Marcy. “I’ll keep an eye on her while you’re doing that.”
Having Link, in jeans and a dark blue sweater, taking up half the kitchen floor didn’t seem conducive to getting a meal together quickly. Still, it would be worse if she were trying to do it with Marcy underfoot.
She pulled foil-covered dishes from the freezer, setting things onto the pale birch table. For an instant her vision blurred.
Everyone in town must have loved Becca and Davis. Their grief had found expression in their bringing more food than she and Link could possibly eat. It was just as well that she hadn’t thought of cooking anything else.
When the table was set with the floral pottery dishes and blue-and-white napkins, she scooped Marcy up. “Supper time, sweetpea. Let’s see what you like.”
Marcy liked just about everything until halfway through the meal, when she suddenly decided she didn’t like anything. She wailed, then began rubbing her eyes, depositing a generous helping of macaroni and cheese in her hair in the process.
Annie glanced at Link, placidly eating a second helping of ham and scalloped potato casserole. “I’d better get her ready for bed.”
He nodded, then came around the table to plant a kiss on Marcy’s cheek, adroitly avoiding the waving, sticky hands. “Do you want me to carry her upstairs?”
“I can handle her.” She mopped the baby’s face and hands quickly. She’d better be able to handle Marcy. From now on, that would be her primary responsibility. For just an instant the thought frightened her, but she shook it off. She could do this. She had to. Nobody loved Marcy more than she did.
A wet half hour later she held a rosy-cheeked cherub, dressed for bed in pajamas dotted with yellow giraffes that matched the wallpaper. The elephant lamp cast a soft glow over the nursery.
Marcy looked adorable. She suspected that she hadn’t fared so well. Her hair fell damply in her face and her sweater sported several wet patches. She looked up at a sound to find Link standing in
