The Right Reason to Marry Read online

“Liam, I’ve already—”

  “Think about it.” A thread of steel had crept into his tone.

  She had no need to think about it. Zero. Zip. Nada. She’d already given him her answer. Twice now. But he wasn’t listening and an argument right now wasn’t going to be good for her, for him or, most important, for their baby, who’d just been ejected from the warm, quiet safety of her womb. “All right. We’ll talk about it later. If you need to. But my answer won’t change.”

  “Just tell me you’ll think about it.”

  She gave him a nod, though she really shouldn’t have. He might construe any positive gesture as encouragement. But right now, she would do just about anything to stop this pointless marriage talk.

  “Thank you.” Liam bent close again. He brushed her forehead with his big, warm hand and placed a sweet, light kiss where his palm had been. “Thank you for my son and for promising to keep an open mind about marriage.”

  An open mind? Uh-uh. Her mind was locked down and dead bolted on that subject.

  But for right now, he could go ahead and refuse to accept what she’d told him twice. Eventually he’d get the message. She even dared to hope the day would come when he would be grateful to her for not taking advantage of him at this emotional time.

  As for the touch of his lips on her skin, she shouldn’t have liked that so much, shouldn’t have let herself sigh just a little when he bent near.

  Really, she shouldn’t even have allowed that kiss, should have turned her head away when his fine lips descended. He was a wonderful guy and she needed to begin developing a strong coparenting relationship with him—one that wouldn’t include kisses, not even on the forehead.

  Today, though, was a special circumstance. She’d just given birth to his baby. Surely, this once, a kiss on the forehead couldn’t hurt...

  * * *

  Per hospital policy, Karin stayed the night at Memorial. Her girlfriends left after she was all settled in a regular room in the postpartum unit.

  Liam stayed on. Karin suggested more than once that he ought to go home, get some dinner and a good night’s rest. He said he wasn’t tired.

  A nurse came in with the birth certificate forms. They hadn’t chosen a name yet, so the nurse helped them fill out everything else and told them where to send the form when the name had been decided. The space for the baby’s last name didn’t go empty. Liam wrote “Bravo” in there and Karin didn’t object. No, she wasn’t going to marry the guy, but she was determined to be respectful of his place in their baby’s life.

  The nurse left and finally, at a little before seven, Liam went off to get something to eat in the cafeteria.

  Not five minutes after he went out the door, her dad and the kids arrived to meet the new baby. Apparently, Otto had spoken to them about how to behave in the hospital. Coco was as enthusiastic as ever, but she kept her voice down and sat with her little hands folded in her lap, a wild-haired, blue-eyed, second-grade angel. Ben was just Ben—curious and serious, even more polite than usual.

  They each held the baby and seemed to enjoy that.

  “He’s kind of red,” remarked Ben. He looked up. “But that’s normal. I read that newborns have thin skin and the red blood vessels can show through.”

  When Coco’s turn to hold her baby brother came, Ben leaned close and gently touched his head. “Soft spots,” he declared with a solemn little nod. “They are called fontanels and there is one in front and one in back of the skull so that the baby’s head can be flexible when he’s coming through the birth canal and also so that the brain can grow quickly, now that he’s born.”

  “He is so cute,” Coco said in a carefully controlled whisper. “But his nose is kind of squished.”

  Ben loftily explained that a flattened nose also tended to happen during birth. “It’s a tight squeeze,” he said to his sister. “But his nose will assume its normal shape over time.”

  Coco looked up, frowning. “Mommy, what’s our baby’s name?”

  “We haven’t decided yet,” Karin answered with a smile. Note to self—ask Liam if he’s made that list.

  Otto took the baby from Coco and declared him absolutely perfect. He’d just returned him to Karin’s arms when there was a tap on the half-open door.

  Liam had returned. “Hey. Should I come back?”

  “Liam!” Coco exclaimed—and then realized she’d almost shouted. She clapped her hand over her mouth briefly and then stage-whispered, “Hi.”

  “Come on in,” said Otto. “I’ve got to get these kids home, anyway. Homework to do, baths to take.”

  Liam glanced at her for permission.

  What could she say? She waved him forward.

  A few minutes later, after Karin’s dad had assured her that he’d reached Sten in LA and reported that the newest member of the family had arrived safe and sound, Otto herded the kids out the door.

  Liam said, “I’ll bet you’re tired.”

  “Oh, maybe just a little...”

  “I’ll leave you alone. But can I hold him—just for a minute?”

  Her heart kind of melted at the longing in his eyes. “Of course.”

  He came close and she handed the baby over. Liam adjusted the swaddled blanket around his little face.

  Karin leaned back against the pillow. “I keep meaning to ask if you’ve thought about a name yet.”

  He gently rocked the blanketed bundle from side to side. “I really can’t decide.”

  She shut her weary eyes. “Well, think about it. We need to call him something other than ‘the baby’.”

  “Will do.” And he started whispering—to the baby, she assumed. She couldn’t hear what he said, but the soft sound of his voice was soothing and she was so tired...

  * * *

  When Karin woke, Liam was gone and the baby was asleep in the plastic bassinet beside her. She didn’t learn until breakfast time that he’d spent the night in the waiting room.

  “I stayed just in case you might need me,” he said when he came in with a sausage and egg sandwich in one hand and a paper cup of coffee in the other. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was slicked back as though he’d used the hospital restroom to splash water on his face. “When will they release you?” he asked.

  “Later this morning or this afternoon, after my doctor comes by to check on us and sign us out of here.”

  “I’ll drive you to the Cove.”

  She shook her head. “My dad’s coming. He’ll have the baby seat all hooked up in the car, ready to go.”

  He sipped his coffee. “Right. I need a baby seat.”

  She couldn’t help chuckling. “Most conscientious single dad. Ever. Like in the history of dads.”

  That gorgeous smile lit up his face. “Thank you.” He toasted her with his paper cup. “I do my best.”

  After he ate, he held the baby again. When he handed the little boy back, he said regretfully, “I suppose I need to check in at work, maybe even go to my place and take a shower. But I’ll see you both later on today.”

  “Sure. As I said, I don’t even know for certain what time they’ll release us.”

  “No problem. I’ll see you soon.” He kissed the baby on the cheek and left.

  As it turned out, the doctor didn’t come to release her until the afternoon. Otto got one of the moms to bring Ben home from soccer practice. He picked up Coco from school and brought her to the hospital with him. She chattered away as they put the baby in his car seat and headed home.

  At the Cove, the garage beneath the cottage next door was wide open. Karin spotted the back end of Liam’s F-150 Raptor parked inside. Back when they were hooking up, he drove a black Audi Q8. The pickup suited him better, she thought, a true guy’s guy sort of vehicle.

  Not that what car he drove mattered to her in the least. What mattered was that the garage next door was wide ope
n and his pickup was in it. The smaller house was a rental and vacation property. Sten kept it fully furnished, but he hadn’t rented it to anyone since Madison had stayed there last spring.

  Karin turned to her dad. “Do you have any idea why Liam’s truck is parked in the garage next door?”

  “I thought you knew,” her dad replied. “Liam called Sten and Sten leased him the cottage.”

  Chapter Four

  In the house, Coco ran to her room. The minute the little girl disappeared down the hall, Karin pitched her voice low and asked her dad, “Would you keep an eye on Coco? I’m just going over to talk to Liam for a minute.”

  “Kary.” Otto spoke gently, like she was made of glass and about to shatter. “He’s a great guy.”

  “Did I once say he wasn’t?”

  “Just give him a chance, that’s all I’m suggesting.”

  “You’re right. He’s terrific and I intend to work with him and honor the importance of his place in our child’s life. What more do you want from me, Dad?”

  “Well, you could open your eyes. You’re as bad as Sten was with Madison—pushing a good thing away for all you’re worth.”

  “Not true.” Yeah, Sten had been a thickheaded fool about Madison, ridiculously certain for way too long that it couldn’t work out for them. But Sten and Madison were a completely different situation than Karin and Liam and her dad really ought to know that. “My eyes are wide open, I promise you.”

  “That man next door? He is not Bud.”

  As if she didn’t know that—and she felt obligated, as always, to defend her dead husband. “Bud was a good man.”

  “Never said he wasn’t.”

  The baby, whom she’d carried from the car in his baby seat, gave a questioning cry. “Shh, now. It’s okay,” she whispered to him. To her dad, she said, “I really can’t have this conversation right now. I need to go next door. Will you keep an eye on Coco?”

  Otto studied her face for several uncomfortable seconds before finally giving it up. “Sure.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” She gave him a grateful smile and hustled to the baby’s room as her newborn fussed in the seat. He quieted as soon as she wrapped him close in the baby sling Prim had given her for a shower gift.

  At the cottage, she went in through the open garage door and was halfway up the interior stairs when Liam pulled open the door above that led into the laundry room.

  “Hey.” He beamed down at her like she was the one person in the whole world he’d been waiting to see. “Come on in.” He stepped back and ushered her inside, leading the way to the kitchen that opened onto a deck with stairs down to the beach. The cottage had a similar footprint to the main house, with the entrance facing the hill behind it and the main living area looking out over the ocean.

  Liam had all the kitchen cabinets open, with groceries piled on the counters. He gestured at the table by the slider. “Have a seat.”

  “No, thanks. I won’t stay long.” She stroked the curve of the baby’s back. He wiggled a little, then settled against her.

  “I like that sling thing. I need to get one.” Liam stood too close, right there at the end of the counter with her—really, did he have to be so tall and broad and manly? “Keely has one,” he said. “She uses it constantly. My niece Marie loves it.”

  “Liam. We need to talk about this.” She tried to sound stern—but understanding, too.

  He chuckled. “You sound like Mrs. Coolidge. Remember her, fourth grade? She’d get so disappointed if I didn’t turn in my homework. Liam, she would say. What am I going to do with you?”

  No way was she getting detoured down memory lane with him. That could be a very long trip. They’d known each other since the beginning of time, after all. “Moving in here, just out of the blue like this, is a little extreme, don’t you think?”

  “No, I don’t think it’s extreme in the least.” He leaned back against the counter and folded his arms across that hard chest. He wore a lightweight blue sweater. The sleeves were pushed up, revealing forearms with just the right dusting of silky-looking hair and those sexy veins that only served to accentuate his gorgeous, hard muscles. “I’m really glad I thought of it. Lucky for me, it was empty. Sten says he took it off Airbnb and Vrbo because he’s in LA most of the time. When he is here, well, Madison doesn’t really want strangers right next door anyway. People can get intrusive, living next to a movie star—they’re going to try to make it home during the holidays, did you know that?”

  Karin rubbed the baby’s back some more, soothing herself as much as her little boy. “Yeah, I knew that.”

  “The downstroke is that your brother said this cottage is mine for as long as I need it. He even gave me the go-ahead to fix it up any way I want, including a room for the baby. I’m thinking deep blue and a mural on the crib wall, like the one you did, except not. Maybe a dinosaur mural. Or stars and moons...”

  She tried again to get through to him. “Liam, I just don’t think it’s a good idea, you living here. There are, well, boundaries, you know? We need to observe them.”

  “And I am observing them.”

  “No. You’re moving in next door.”

  “Karin, come on. I’m in this house and you’re in the other house. We definitely each have our own defined space. It’s not like I’m suddenly asking to share a place with you.”

  “But I would rather that you—”

  He cut her off. “Look, I know what our baby needs most now is you. But if I’m living here, he’s going to know me as part of his life from the start. That matters to a kid and it matters to me. I can play backup parent from the beginning. Anytime you need help, I’m right next door.” He pushed away from the counter and stepped in too close again. She steeled herself against all that charm and hotness. “This is a good thing, me being close by. You have to know that.”

  She backed away a step and tried another tack. “What about that beautiful house you built in Astoria?”

  He gave an easy shrug. “It’s too far away from my son. When I get around to it, I’ll put it on the market.”

  “Just like that? But you love that house.”

  “My priorities have changed. But don’t worry about it. I’m not selling it right away. If I suddenly decide I can’t live without that house, it’ll still be there. Right now, though, I need to live here, near you and the baby.”

  Oh, this man. Her heart could melt into a hot puddle of goo just listening to some of the things he said.

  And that was the whole point, now wasn’t it? Not to get a melted mush-ball of a heart just because a good man was trying to do the right thing by his child. She needed to stand strong on her own, be supportive of Liam as a coparent to their son, but remain mindful that he had his life and she had hers and having a baby together did not mean they were together.

  “You’re just going to do this, aren’t you?” she demanded. “You’re living in this house next door to my house no matter how I feel about it.”

  He took her by the shoulders, his big, warm hands so strong and steady, and he captured her gaze and held it. “You’ll see. It’s going to be great.”

  * * *

  Back at the other house, her daughter greeted her at the front door. Coco had changed clothes. Now, her shorts were blue and her T-shirt was red. Yellow knit arm warmers covered her wrists to her elbows. She had a swatch of gold mesh fabric tied around her head and a red construction-paper star pinned to it in the exact center of her forehead.

  “Wonder Woman, how’s it going?”

  Coco crossed her arms in front of her face. “Just tell me you need help, Mommy, and I will save you.” Coco wiggled her eyebrows over the barrier of her arms.

  “Whew.” Karin made a show of wiping imaginary sweat from her forehead. “That is really good to know.”

  “I have lots of powers, Mommy.” Oh, yes, she did. Coco had an iP
ad and she knew how to use it. She always did her research, superheroine-wise.

  “What powers, exactly?”

  “I have superhuman strength and I never get tired. I glide through the air on the wind. I have super speed and agitally. I can smell everything and see everything and hear the most smallest sounds.”

  “I feel safer already.”

  Coco stood tall. “You’re welcome, Mommy.” And off she flew toward the kitchen.

  As for Karin, she went straight to her bedroom, pulled out her phone and called Sten.

  He answered on the first ring. “How’s my new nephew?”

  “He’s sweet and beautiful,” she said loftily. “You’re going to love him.”

  “I can’t wait to meet him. Liam tells me you haven’t settled on a name yet.”

  “No, we haven’t—and about Liam...”

  “Yeah?” The single word was freighted with challenge. She could just picture Sten drawing his shoulders back, standing a little taller. “What about him?”

  Reminding herself that she would stay calm and not yell at her brother—for the sake of the innocent child sleeping next to her heart if for no other reason—Karin paced back and forth at the foot of the bed. “I am really upset with you,” she said in a purposely soft, calm voice. “You could have at least discussed it with me before you leased him the cottage.”

  Sten snort-laughed. “And have you make up a thousand meaningless reasons why I shouldn’t rent to him? No, thanks. He’s family, Karin, in case you’ve forgotten. He’s my brother-in-law and he wants to be near his kid. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “I am actively resisting the powerful need to start shouting mean things at you.”

  “Go right ahead and shout. I can take it. Because I’m pissed at you, too. You have to give that man a chance, Karin. He wants to be there for your baby and it’s part of your job to help him do that.”

  It was essentially the same thing their dad had said. It had aggravated her the first time she heard it. This time, it made her want to throw back her head and scream. She took a slow, deep breath before replying. “I am helping him, Sten. I support him totally as the baby’s father.”