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  Tom raised an eyebrow. “Sounds as if you’ve done your homework.”

  Leslie’s mouth twisted. “I like to know my enemies.”

  “No matter how successful he is in his business or his social life, it’s still foolish of him to blame you because he and his sister were estranged,” Nina insisted loyally. “You were the one who felt obligated to contact him after Crystal’s death, the one who very generously invited him to be a part of his nephew’s future. He’s being terribly unfair to you.”

  “Thank you,” Leslie murmured, her genuine gratitude for Nina’s moral support evident in her voice.

  Nina reflected that Leslie must have felt very much alone during the past few months. She wasn’t alone now, Nina thought in satisfaction as Tom scowled and spoke.

  “I don’t care if Pendleton regularly plays golf with the president. He isn’t taking Kenny away from you, Leslie. He doesn’t have a leg to stand on in court.”

  “Doesn’t he?” Lines of strain etched themselves around Leslie’s mouth. “You heard what he’s going to use against me.”

  Tom snorted. “The blood relationship? His own sister didn’t want him to have the baby. You have her will on your side. Your dismissal from the law firm in Chicago? You can prove that you were released because of your dedication to Kenny—which only confirms the depth of your commitment to him. No judge will condemn you for that. He said you have no home. That’s not true. You have a home with me. You can find another job here if you want—we have enough local strings to pull to arrange that—or you can take some time off to take care of the baby, if you want. I might not make as much as you did in Chicago, but my salary will support a wife and baby.”

  Wife. Nina watched surreptitiously as the word drained all the color from Leslie’s face. Nina herself was affected by it. Her son was talking marriage, and he was grimly serious about it. A bit too grim, actually.

  “You, er, said that might not be necessary,” Leslie reminded Tom.

  “No, you were right. Being married gives you an advantage Pendleton doesn’t have. Actually, the sooner we take care of it, the better.”

  Without looking away from her son’s face, Nina narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “How soon did you have in mind?”

  Tom looked from his mother to Leslie. “How does tomorrow afternoon sound?”

  Nina blinked. Tom certainly wasn’t wasting any time, she mused, her mouth twitching with the beginnings of a smile.

  She was starting to suspect that chivalry wasn’t the only reason her son was so willing to marry Leslie Harden. She wondered if he even suspected that there was much more to it than that.

  Leslie parked her car in the driveway of Tom’s house later that evening, but didn’t immediately get out. She studied the lights in the windows of the neat, brick-and-cream-sided house, thinking that it looked cozy and welcoming.

  Tom had grown up in this house. His mother bought it when Tom was a little boy, because she’d wanted to raise him in a nice, family neighborhood with a safe, fenced yard. She’d held two jobs to make the mortgage payment. She’d spent her days working for the florist shop she now owned. In the evenings, she’d worked long into the night doing typing and other pre-computer clerical work out of her home so she could be with her son.

  Several years ago, Nina had decided to move into an apartment closer to her business, and Tom had bought the house from her. He’d told Leslie that he’d never cared much for apartment living, preferring the space and privacy a house provided. And the upkeep gave him something to do with his spare time to keep him out of trouble, he’d added with a grin.

  Tom and his mother seemed to have a very special relationship—independent, yet fully supportive; loving, yet tolerant. It was the kind of relationship Leslie wished she’d had with her parents. The kind she hoped to have with Kenny, whom she already regarded as her own son.

  She reached over the back of the seat for the bag of diapers and canned baby formula she’d just purchased. Tom had offered to go after the items, but when Leslie had pointed out that he didn’t know what brands or sizes to buy, he’d offered to baby-sit, instead. Leslie had hesitated, but Kenny had been peacefully sleeping, so she’d taken Tom up on his offer.

  To be honest, she’d needed the time to herself.

  She was still reeling from Tom’s calm announcement that they would be married tomorrow.

  “To-tomorrow?” she’d stammered when he’d dropped the bombshell at lunch. “We can’t possibly be married tomorrow.”

  “Why not?” he’d asked reasonably.

  “Well, because—we need a license and we have to make arrangements and...well, we just can’t,” she’d protested almost incoherently, looking to Nina for support.

  Nina, however, had agreed with Tom. “Steve said his attorney is filing the custody suit first thing Monday morning. If you and Tom are married tomorrow, you can beat him to the punch, so to speak.”

  “But—”

  “You haven’t changed your mind about this, have you?” Tom had asked.

  And there’d been a challenge in his green eyes she couldn’t quite interpret.

  “I haven’t changed my mind about being willing to do anything necessary to keep Kenny,” she’d answered flatly. “But we don’t really know yet that this is necessary.”

  “It would definitely be a benefit to you,” Nina had argued. “Any judge is going to look at a nice couple like you and Tom and know that you’ll be wonderful parents. And my Tommy knows a lot of people in this town, enough to pull the right strings to have the ceremony performed tomorrow. Everyone knows what a wonderful man he is, and there are any number of witnesses who’ll testify to his character. There’s no way Steve Pendleton can claim that my son won’t provide an excellent home for you and Kenny.”

  Leslie had been forced to swallow her instinctive protest that she didn’t need Tom to provide a home for her. That she didn’t need anyone’s help. That she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and Kenny. She’d swallowed the words only because she knew they weren’t entirely true. She did need help, if only temporarily. But she still wasn’t entirely sure that what she needed was a husband.

  Now she sat in her car outside Tom’s house, diapers and formula clutched in her arms, and wondered if she’d made a terrible mistake coming to Fayetteville. She had no right to involve Tom in her problems, particularly after the way they’d parted. She had no right to ask him to sacrifice his freedom for her or for the child of a stranger to him.

  She had to find a way to convince him that he didn’t have to go through with this. That she and Kenny would get by, somehow, without him. Maybe.

  And then she walked into Tom’s house and found him playing with the baby. Tom was sitting on the couch, supporting Kenny between his large, strong hands as the baby bounced on Tom’s knees, tiny bare feet flailing. Kenny was squealing in delight at the attention, and Tom was laughing.

  Leslie realized that it was the first time she’d heard Tom really laugh since she’d come back.

  Kenny, she realized with a faint pang, had finally been able to reach Tom in a way that she had not since she’d arrived on his doorstep.

  Tom waited until Leslie had fed the baby and put him to bed before telling her, “I called Judge Haverty while you were out. It’s all settled. He’ll marry us tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Judge Haverty,” she repeated, her fingers twisting nervously in front of her. “Didn’t you save his mother from a burning house a few years ago?”

  Tom winced at the mention of his former career, but managed to shrug lightly enough. “Never hurts to have friends in high places,” he murmured.

  Now, he urged himself. Tell her now.

  And yet he remained silent.

  “You’re not on duty tomorrow?” Leslie asked, as if reminded of a firefighter’s twenty-four-hour-on, forty-eight-hour-off schedule.

  “No.” Damn it, Lowery, tell her.

  Her fingers were twisted so tightly by now that her knuckles ha
d to ache. “Goose,” she said, trying to smile. “You really don’t have to go through with this, you know. Maybe we should talk about it more, consider our options. Speak to a lawyer.”

  “You are a lawyer,” he reminded her with his own pathetic attempt at a smile. “Will this marriage help you in court or not?”

  “Well, yes, perhaps, but...”

  “So we get married,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t have anything better to do tomorrow anyway.”

  Her hands stilled in her lap as she studied his face with a frown. “What’s happened to you, Tom?”

  He cleared his throat, looked down at his feet. “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve changed. You’re...different.”

  “I’m older.” -

  She made an impatient gesture. “Eighteen months. Big deal.”

  It felt longer. Much longer. Tom shoved a hand through his hair and turned away. “Do you still have an apartment in Chicago?”

  “No. It was a furnished apartment, so there wasn’t much to do to clear out. I kept meaning to buy my own furniture, but then Crystal came and I...” She bit her lip, then continued. “Anyway, when I decided to leave Chicago, I packed some of my stuff in the car, left the rest in storage and drove away the next morning. Unaware, of course, that I was being followed.”

  He nodded. “We’ll have your things shipped here. We’ll make the arrangements Monday.”

  “So I’m moving in?” She wrapped her arms around her upper body, gripping her forearms as if against a sudden chill.

  “Of course. You and Kenny,” he added, reminding them both of her reason for being here.

  “You’re sure you know what you’re getting into? Having a baby in the house... well, it changes things. A lot,” she warned.

  He nodded. “I know. We’ll manage.”

  She took a step toward him, put a hand on his arm. She waited until he looked at her before she asked, her voice strained, “Why are you doing this? Why would you...?”

  His hand rose as though it had a mind of its own. Cupped her cheek. He felt the iciness of her skin against the warmth of his own. “You need me,” he said simply.

  “I can take care of myself,” she felt compelled to point out. “If you don’t want to do this, I’ll get by. I’ll fight for Kenny in court, and the chances are good that I’ll win.”

  “The chances are better if I fight with you.”

  She didn’t try to argue with that. “If you—if we do this, I’ll do everything I can to make it easier for you. I’m not asking you to support us. I’ll find a job. I’ll take care of the baby. I won’t make any demands on your time. I won’t expect you to change your life for me. And when the time is right, I’ll give you your freedom.”

  Everything about that noble little speech annoyed him. His hand dropped to his side. His voice came out more curtly than he’d intended. “I’ve already told you that there’s no rush for you to find a job. I’ll help you with the baby when you need help. And I refuse to talk about the end of a marriage that hasn’t even begun yet. Now, since I think that covers everything, I’m going to call my mother and invite her to our wedding.”

  He was aware that he left Leslie gaping after him as he limped irritably from the room.

  Chapter Five

  They were married in the judge’s office on Sunday afternoon, with only Tom’s mother and the judge’s wife for witnesses. Wearing a flattering blue silk dress, Nina held Kenny during the brief ceremony. Dressed in his best sailor-styled white suit, the baby watched the proceedings with apparent fascination.

  At the appropriate time, Tom surprised Leslie by producing a set of matching gold rings. He’d left his house an hour earlier than Leslie, telling her he had a few errands to run and instructing her to meet him at the judge’s office. Nina had picked Leslie and Kenny up and brought them to the judge’s office so that Tom and Leslie wouldn’t have two vehicles to deal with afterward.

  Tom had arrived carrying a small bouquet of red and white roses for Leslie to hold during the ceremony. They were perfect for the winter-white suit that had been the only appropriate outfit she’d brought with her.

  “A wedding doesn’t seem right without flowers,” he’d said when she’d tried to tell him how much the gesture touched her.

  Now she knew what else he’d bought during that hour on his own.

  “A wedding wouldn’t have been right without rings, either,” he murmured when he slipped the smaller band on her finger.

  She stared up at him, struck by the gravity of that simple gesture. “Tom,” she whispered, knowing that he was the only one who could hear her. “Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?”

  He merely smiled and raised her left hand to his lips. Mrs. Haverty sighed audibly in response to the romantic gesture.

  Leslie’s hands were shaking when she placed her ring’s mate on Tom’s finger. She wondered if he’d bought it to reassure her that he was taking this commitment seriously. Or maybe, she thought, the rings were intended to convince Steve that the marriage was real.

  Either way, it was a nice touch, just as the flowers had been. But there was still a hollow feeling inside her as she tilted her head upward so Tom could give her the customary kiss when the judge completed the ceremony.

  His lips covered hers, and she realized with a slight start that it was the first time he’d kissed her since she’d come back to town. She’d been so preoccupied with the baby and with worrying about Steve and with her doubts about coming to Tom for help that she simply hadn’t realized how little personal contact there’d been between them.

  Standing there in front of the judge and their witnesses, Leslie suddenly became aware of exactly what she had done.

  She had married Tom Lowery.

  He lifted his head slowly and looked down at her with a slightly questioning expression. He must have been aware of the sudden tension that had gripped her when he kissed her.

  She swallowed painfully and forced a smile that she knew was too bright. Tom opened his mouth as if to say something, but then, to Leslie’s relief, was interrupted by Judge Haverty.

  “Congratulations, Tom,” he said, slapping Tom lightly on the shoulder. “You’ve got yourself a beautiful bride here.”

  Tom smiled and nodded, while Leslie tried to look flattered. “Yes, I know,” Tom said. “Thank you for going to this trouble for us, Judge. This means more to us than you can possibly know.”

  The judge’s broad, florid face grew serious. “I haven’t forgotten the way you risked your life to save my mother, Tom. I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

  Tom cleared his throat, muttered something incoherent and turned to accept Mrs. Haverty’s warm kiss on his cheek.

  Nina approached Leslie first. Her green eyes were a bit too bright, hinting at unshed tears. Leslie hoped Nina was just being sentimental, and not regretful. Leslie doubted that this was the way Nina had envisioned her only son’s being married.

  If Nina had misgivings, she hid them well. Her smile was sweet and unshadowed as she rose on tiptoe to kiss Leslie’s cheek. “Welcome to the family, dear,” she murmured, Kenny held securely in her arms.

  Kenny made a grab for the bouquet of roses. Leslie smiled and held them away. “You were a very good boy, but you can’t have my flowers,” she said, leaning over to kiss his soft cheek.

  He promptly reached out to her. Nina handed him over, helping Leslie get the baby settled on her hip. And then Nina dug in her large purse and pulled out a small point-and-shoot camera. “Tommy, come here,” she said imperiously. “I want pictures.”

  Tom groaned and rolled his eyes. “I should have known Mom would bring the camera.”

  “I always take pictures when my little boy does something special,” Nina teased, making the others laugh as Tom’s cheeks darkened.

  “I’m a thirty-year-old married man,” he reminded her in a fake grumble. “You’re going to have to stop calling me your ‘little boy’ now.”

 
; Nina lowered the camera for a moment, her smile soft. “When you are sixty, you will still be my little boy.”

  Mrs. Haverty, who had three strapping sons of her own, murmured agreement. Leslie smiled when it was obvious that Tom had nothing to say in response to that maternal observation.

  Leslie stood self-consciously at Tom’s side while Nina snapped pictures of them with Kenny and then with the Havertys. Mrs. Haverty insisted on taking the camera so that Nina could be included in some of the shots. The atmosphere was quite festive, Leslie mused, faking one smile after another. Like a real wedding. Of course, the Havertys had no reason to believe that it was not, and Nina and Tom were certainly playing their parts.

  She had married Tom Lowery. The thought kept replaying itself in her mind, each time making her ask herself what on earth she’d been thinking when she’d come up with this crazy plan. Or where on earth she’d found the nerve to propose to Tom. Or why he had so readily agreed.

  She slanted a sideways glance at him. He looked relaxed and faintly pleased with himself, which was probably the way the others would expect him to look on his wedding day. His dark-blond hair was neatly brushed, and he was dressed in a dark suit that emphasized his firm, slender build. His bright-green eyes, so like his mother’s, gleamed when he looked at her. The Havertys probably thought he was anticipating the wedding night. Leslie couldn’t begin to guess what he was thinking. His handsome face was completely unreadable to her today.

  It was a beautiful afternoon when they finally stepped outside the judge’s office. Unseasonably warm and sunny, the air crisp and clear. The hills surrounding downtown Fayetteville were still winter-nude, but would soon don their spring greens. The town square, which had been given a multi-million-dollar face-lift during the past two decades, was busy with people taking advantage of the nice weather to browse through the eclectic assortment of shops. At the center of the square stood the historical old brick post office, now home to a popular restaurant, surrounded by gardens that would be breathtaking in the spring and summer.