Page 143 of Tangled up in You

The woman slowly nodded. “I suspect wires got crossed somewhere. I could tell she was upset, but I didn’t want to press. Then, obviously, she told us she was pregnant. And she’s been moping ever since. Is it possible she got the wrong idea about something?”

Mark exchanged another look with Christopher. “I don’t know,” Mark said. “I mean, we were worried that she didn’t want to be with us. That she would leave and not come back. I assumed we were in her rear-view mirror as a fling. That’s not uncommon for tourists in these parts. Especially wealthy ones, no offense. And when she left without so much as telling us good-bye…” He shrugged. “We didn’t pursue her.”

“Yeah, well, you guys left her with a souvenir,” she said. “And since she talked about you in a way that convinced me she was tryingnotto talk about you, if you get my drift, I had a feeling there was more to this.”

CHRISTOPHER

“Is it ours?” he asked.

She snorted. “Considering that to the best of my knowledge she hasn’t gone out for coffee with anyone except you two in a year, I’d say that’s a damned safe bet.”

“We want to be part of their life,” he said, cutting Mark off when he tried to speak.

She eyed them. “It’s one or the other of you,” she said. “Why do you keep talking like this is a package deal?”

“Because we are a package deal,” Chris said. “This man is my life, and while it was nuts, we both fell in love with her and were willing to make it a permanent threesome, if she’d have both of us. Since then we got married.”

The woman slowly nodded again. “Okay. You two stay here. Don’t leave this room.” Then she left.

Chris turned to Mark. “I love her,” he said. “You love her, too.”

“Yeah, I do.” He slumped into a chair, suddenly looking ragged in a way Chris felt to his core. “This wouldn’t hurt so fucking much if I didn’t love her. I just want an explanation. And yes, if that’s our baby, I want to be part of its life.”

Chris knelt in front of him, holding Mark’s hands. “Then let’s get those answers, okay? Let her talk.”

Mark sighed. “Yeah. Okay.”

They waited nearly twenty minutes before they heard people approach. Then the door opened and a shocked-looking Jesse was pretty much shoved inside by her mom, who waggled her fingers at the men in a playful wave as she shut the door, leaving them alone.

Mark stood and the three of them stared at each other for a long, uncomfortable moment.

“Hi,” she finally said.

Christopher could tell Mark would be utterly useless right now, so he stepped in and caught her hands, gently squeezing. “Why did you leave?”

Her head snapped back. “Whydid I leave? Uh, because I overheard you two talking, that’s why.”

“Talking about what? We realized you snuck back, took your stuff without even telling us you were there, and disappeared.”

Her jaw gaped. “Seriously? When I got there, I heard you talking about how this was nothing more to you guys than a fling with a rich tourist!”

Mark’s mouth finally engaged. “Well, wasn’t that all it was to you? And I was right—you left and never bothered to call or even text us! Not even a ‘thanks for the lasagna and saving my life,’ but I guess you’re used to nameless people taking care of you. Why respond to people you see as disposable?”

Now her eyes widened to match her jaw. “Mecallyou? Why would I call someone who saw thought happened between us was nothing more than banging a rich tourist!”

“Mark, shut up,” Chris snapped. “Jesse, we never said that.”

“Uh, yeah, you did. I heard you two talking about how it was just a fling with a tourist and happened all the time. You guys were in your bathroom doing laundry and I came in and overheard you. That’s when I left.”

Now everything snapped into place as he replayed that conversation in his mind. “Jesse, Mark was talking about how he was worriedyouwould see what happened as nothing more than a fling. We definitely wanted more to happen. Or at least have a chance to spend time with you.”

Her jaw snapped shut as she stared at him, then Mark, and back to Chris. “What? If that’s true, why didn’t you call or text me?”

“Because we didn’t think you wanted us to. When you left without saying good-bye, and then never responded, I wasn’t sure Mark was wrong. Mark said either you’d reply to the text or call, but if you were done with us we weren’t going to humiliate ourselves chasing someone who didn’t want to be caught.”

“You mean…” She sniffled. “You mean I misheard you?”

Chris gentled his voice. “Exactly.” He nodded toward her stomach. “And I think your mom meant it when she said she’d lock us in here until we settle this. Frankly, I’d rather take this conversation back to our place and have it over the pan of lasagna I’m making tonight.”

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