Page 63 of Nobodys Baby But Mine (Chicago Stars 3)

Lynn rose. “It’s an old and boring story. Poverty’s only charming in retrospect. Help me clear the table for dessert, will you, Ethan?”

To Jane’s disappointment, the conversation shifted to the much less interesting topic of football, and if Jim Bonner’s troubled gaze kept straying back to his wife, no one else seemed to notice.

As boorish as his behavior had been that afternoon, Jane was no longer quite so eager to pass judgment. There was something sad lurking in the depths of his eyes that touched her. When it came to Cal’s parents, she had the feeling that nothing was quite what it seemed.

For her, the most interesting moment came when Ethan asked Cal how his meetings were going, and she learned what her husband was doing with his time. Cal had been enlisted by

the local high-school principal, an old classmate of his, to visit county businessmen and persuade them to get involved with a new vocational program for high-risk students. He also seemed to be giving Ethan a considerable amount of money to expand a drug program for county teens, but when she pressed for more details, he changed the subject.

The evening dragged on. When Jim asked her a question about her work, she patronized him with her explanation. Lynn issued an invitation to join her book group, but Jane said she had no time for ladies’ social gatherings. When Ethan said he hoped he’d see her at Sunday services, she told him she wasn’t a believer.

I’m sorry, God, but I’m doing the best I can here. These are nice people, and they don’t need any more heartache.

It was finally time to go. Everyone was rigidly courteous, but she didn’t miss Jim’s frown as he said good-bye or the deep concern in Lynn’s eyes as she hugged her son.

Cal waited until he’d pulled out of the driveway before he looked over at her. “Thanks, Jane.”

She stared straight ahead. “I can’t go through that again. Keep them away from me.”

“I will.”

“I mean it.”

“I know that wasn’t easy for you,” he said softly.

“They’re wonderful people. It was horrible.”

He didn’t speak again until they reached the edge of town. “I’ve been thinking. What say the two of us go out on a date sometime soon?”

Was this to be her reward for humiliating herself tonight? The fact that he’d chosen this particular time to extend his invitation made her waspish. “Do I have to wear a paper bag over my head in case somebody might see me?”

“Now why d’you have to go and get all sarcastic on me? I asked you out, and all you have to say is yes or no.”

“When?”

“I don’t know. How about next Wednesday night?”

“Where are we going?”

“Don’t you worry about that. Just wear the tightest pair of jeans you’ve got and maybe one of those slinky halter tops.”

“I can barely button my tight jeans, and I don’t have a slinky halter top. Even if I did, it’s too cold.”

“I imagine I can keep you pretty warm, and don’t worry about buttons.” The deep timbre of sexual promise she heard in his voice made her shiver. He glanced over, and she felt as if he were stroking her with his eyes. He couldn’t have made his intentions any clearer. He wanted her, and he intended to have her.

But the question remained, was she ready for him? Life had always been serious business for her, and nothing could ever make her a casual sort of person. Could she deal with the pain that would await her in the future if she let down her guard with him?

Her head had begun to ache, and she turned to look out the window without answering him. She tried to distract herself from the sizzling undercurrents that vibrated between them by turning her thoughts to his parents, and as the Jeep passed through the silent streets of Salvation, she began sorting through what she’d learned about them.

Lynn hadn’t always been the reserved, sophisticated woman who had entertained so graciously tonight. But what about Jim? Jane wanted to dislike him, but all evening she’d caught glimpses of yearning in his eyes when he’d looked at his wife, and she couldn’t seem to work up a good solid dislike for a man who had feelings like that.

What had happened to the two high school kids who had once been in love? she wondered.

Jim wandered into the kitchen and poured himself the last cup of decaf. Lynn stood at the sink with her back to him. She always had her back to him, he thought, although it didn’t make much difference because, even when she faced him, she never let him see anything more than the polite mask she wore for everyone except their sons.

It was during her pregnancy with Gabe that Lynn had begun transforming herself into the perfect doctor’s wife. He remembered how he’d welcomed her increasing reserve and the fact that she no longer publicly embarrassed him with bad grammar and overexuberance. As the years passed, he’d grown to believe that Lynn’s transformation had prevented their marriage from turning into the disaster everyone had predicted. He’d even thought he was happy.

Then he’d lost his only grandson and a daughter-in-law he’d adored. Afterward, as he’d witnessed his middle son’s bottomless grief and been helpless to cure it, something inside him seemed to have snapped. When Cal had phoned him with the news that he’d married, he’d finally begun to feel hopeful again. But then he’d met his new daughter-in-law. How could Cal have married that cold, supercilious bitch? Didn’t he realize she was going to make him miserable?

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