had played out that night thirteen years ago when he’d come with Marla to tell their parents that he’d gotten their seventeen-year-old daughter pregnant.
“You know,” Kira ventured, “I didn’t have anything to do with what went on between you and my father. I know how ugly it got. He sent me to my room but I was hiding on the stairs, listening to what went on. He was a difficult man—”
“That’s an understatement. He was a tyrant.”
Kira didn’t dispute that. “But nobody can change the past and now he’s gone and so is Marla. But there are your twins. And me. I lost all these years that I could have had with Marla, with Anthony, and I can’t get them back. But I could have a future with the twins. If you’ll just let me.”
She hated the note of pleading that had somehow slipped into her tone.
And Cutty Grant must not have liked it much, either, because she saw his jaw clench suddenly and his voice turned tight. “I’m really not the bastard your father thought I was. The kind of bastard who would keep you from knowing your nieces.”
“I didn’t—I don’t—think you’re that. I just know there have to be hard feelings—”
“Harder than you’ll ever know. But I’m well aware of the fact that you were only a kid, that you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Then will you let me stay?”
Again he didn’t answer readily, and she knew he wasn’t eager to agree even if he did need the help.
But in the end she thought that he might have wanted to prove he wasn’t a bad guy, that he wasn’t punishing her for something she’d had nothing to do with, because he said, “I suppose we can give it a try.”
Kira was so happy to hear his decision that she couldn’t help grinning. “Shall I start right now?” she asked with a glance at the clutter all around them.
“It’ll all wait for tomorrow.”
In that case Kira thought it was probably better to get out of there before he changed his mind.
“Then if you’ll tell me where I can find a hotel or a motel I’ll get a room and be back first thing in the morning.”
Again he let silence reign as he seemed to consider something before he answered.
“If you aren’t particular about the ambience you can stay out back. Where Marla and I lived when we first got here.”
“No, I don’t care about the ambience. And it’s probably better if I’m close by.”
He didn’t look convinced of that but he didn’t rescind the offer.
“Do you have a suitcase somewhere?” he asked instead.
“Out in the rental car.”
“Why don’t you go get it and I’ll show you the accommodations?”
Kira didn’t waste any time complying. She hurried out to the car, retrieved her bag from the trunk and went back inside.
Cutty didn’t get to his feet until she was there. Then he did, leading the way from the living room through an open archway into a kitchen that was a disaster all its own.
He held the back door open for her, and she stepped into the small yard ahead of him, coming face-to-face with what looked to have been a garage once upon a time.
“This whole place belonged to my uncle Paulie. He converted the garage into an apartment for Marla and me, and added another garage to the side of the house later on.”
“So this is where you lived after you eloped?” Kira asked as they crossed the few feet of lawn and Cutty opened that door for her, too.
“Until my uncle died and left it all to us. Then we moved into the house. It’s been fixed up and refurnished. Ordinarily I rent it to students from the college. But since it’s summer vacation it’s empty.”
Cutty reached in and flipped a switch. Three lamps went on at once, illuminating an open space arranged as a studio apartment.
There were no walls, so only the furnishings determined what each area was used for. A double bed and an armoire delineated the bedroom. A small sofa and matching armchair, a coffee table and a television designated the living room. And some kitchen cupboards, a sink, a two-burner stove with a tiny oven, a refrigerator and a small table with two chairs made up the kitchen.
“That door alongside the armoire will put you into the bathroom,” Cutty explained without going farther than the doorway. “There’s a tub with a shower in it but the water heater is pretty small so if you do a lot of dishes you’ll want to wait half an hour before you take a bath.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
What she wasn’t sure of was why he had that dubious look on his face again, as if he was having second thoughts about this whole arrangement.
But if he was, he didn’t say it.
Instead he said, “The girls are usually awake by seven.”
“Seven. I’ll be over before that,” Kira said enthusiastically.
Cutty nodded his head. “There are towels in the bathroom. Sheets in the armoire. If you need anything before the morning—”
“I’ll be fine.”
He nodded again, which bothered Kira. If he didn’t want to go ahead with this, why didn’t he say something?
But all he said was, “Good night, then.”
“See you first thing in the morning,” Kira assured, moving to the door to see him out.
He turned to go without another word, leaving her with a view of his backside.
And although, as a rule, men’s rear ends were not something she took notice of, it only required one glance to recognize that his was a great one.
A great rear end to go with the rest of his great body and his great face and his great hair.
Not that any of that mattered, because it didn’t, she was quick to tell herself. She was only staying there for the babies, and anything about Cutty Grant was purely incidental.
Except that, incidental or not, she went on taking notice until Cutty Grant disappeared inside his house.
Chapter Two
Cutty had a hell of a time falling asleep Wednesday night and when he woke up before dawn Thursday morning it was aggravating to find his mind instantly on the mental treadmill that had kept him from sleeping in the first place. The treadmill Kira Wentworth’s appearance on his doorstep had caused.
She’d really shaken things up for him, and as he rolled onto his back and tried to fall asleep again, he didn’t feel any more sure of his decision to let her stick around.
He’d never
