LITMIR.BIZ

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he knew.

      Teresa Tyler was pregnant.

      He stared at her in disbelief. If she was, it was early in her pregnancy; she wasn’t showing much.

      His mother didn’t hesitate to state the obvious. “Teresa, you’re pregnant! Congratulations!” she exclaimed. “I hadn’t heard that you’d gotten married.”

      Teresa graciously accepted and returned the woman’s hug. “Oh, hello, Evelyn. No, I haven’t gotten married, but I am expecting. It’s getting rather difficult to hide,” Teresa responded with a smile, though her cheeks reddened like two ripe tomatoes.

      “Well, where’s the father of the baby?”

      Jim knew his mother was embarrassing Teresa, with her inquisition but he was too interested in the answer to that question to interrupt.

      Yes, just where was the father of her baby? He repeated to himself.

      “The father and I aren’t…together. I’ll be raising my baby by myself.” Teresa smiled again, but her shoulders held an obvious tension.

      “And she’ll have all the help she needs from us,” said Ann Tyler, moving over to hug the youngest of her triplet daughters.

      Feeling suddenly compelled to add his encouragement, perhaps to compensate for his mother’s doubts, Jim said, “I’m sure she’ll do fine.” As if thanking him, Teresa glanced his way, met his eyes for a fleeting second, then locked her gaze on the iced tea she held in her hand.

      Jim couldn’t help himself from taking a long look at her. Her sleek blond hair was pulled back in her omnipresent braid, and she looked a little peaked. Whether from morning sickness or from the fifty questions, he didn’t know. Against his better judgment he noticed her breasts, fuller now as they readied for the baby she’d soon nurse there. He stopped the mental picture before it started to take shape.

      He no longer had a relationship with Teresa, he reminded himself. And that was the way he wanted it to be. Months ago, when his twin brother had first returned to Texas and met Tommie, the real estate agent helping relocate his Boston software firm and executives to Fort Worth, Pete had dragged him along to all kinds of business and social functions, the same functions to which Tommie had brought Teresa. Jim found himself dating Teresa to round out the numbers. But he’d opted out of that situation. Not because of Teresa, who was a beautiful and sweet woman, but because he wasn’t comfortable double-dating with his twin. They’d tried that once before, with disastrous results.

      He would do well to remember that, he told himself.

      Evelyn, undeterred, was continuing to grill Teresa. “But how can you manage without a father for the baby?”

      “Mom managed to raise the three of us without having a father in the house,” Tommie pointed out.

      “Oh, I forgot that,” Evelyn said. “Probably because I always think of Joel as a part of the family.”

      Ann cleared her throat. “Well, actually, Joel and I have an announcement of our own, if you all don’t mind.”

      Joel stepped closer to the slim blond woman, still beautiful in her fifties. His gaze sought out the triplets as he said, “Ann has agreed to m-marry me—if you have no objections.”

      All three of Ann’s daughters jumped to their feet and hugged the newly engaged couple. “We’re absolutely thrilled,” Teresa said, a sentiment echoed by the others.

      “I told him you’d be happy for us,” Ann said, tears glistening in her eyes.

      “Of course we are,” Teresa managed through her smile. “And now my baby will have a granddad…if you don’t mind, Joel.”

      The soft-spoken, gentle man stammered, “I—I’d be delighted!”

      Jim stood quietly by while congratulations were offered, but his mind was not on Ann Tyler’s upcoming nuptials. He was still back on the announcement of Teresa’s pregnancy.

      His eyes bored into her as he bluntly asked, “When is the baby due?” He couldn’t get his brain to stop working, thinking, calculating.

      Without looking at Jim, Teresa answered, “In about four months, give or take.”

      Four months…That put the conception somewhere around Pete and Tommie’s wedding. He remembered the man who had escorted Teresa to the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, If he remembered correctly, he didn’t like the guy much. He was awfully…handy. His hands were all over Teresa.

      Before Jim could pursue the line of questioning, Tommie told everyone to take their seats for dinner. It was probably just as well. He needed the time to remind himself that this was none of his concern.

      “And we have seats assigned, so be sure you’re in the right place!” she added with a chuckle. “We found these cute place cards a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t wait to use them.”

      Jim found his name between Tabitha and Tommie at one end of the table. At the other end was Teresa, next to Pete. He couldn’t have been any farther away from her. When his mother asked if she knew the sex of the baby yet, he had to lean forward to catch her answer.

      “I’m going to the doctor on Wednesday for my sonogram. I can find out then,” she said. “I haven’t decided if I want to know yet.”

      Both her sisters protested. “Oh, no, we have to know so we can decorate the nursery in the right colors!” Tommie exclaimed.

      “Yeah, and if it’s a girl, we can buy some of those cute little outfits!” Tabitha added.

      “Girls,” Ann said quietly, “Teresa is in charge of her pregnancy. She gets to make the decisions.”

      Teresa laughed. “It’s all right, Mom. They’re probably right. I just haven’t decided.”

      “How long are you going to teach?” Jim asked.

      “Oh, um, I’m not teaching. I took a sabbatical.”

      “Then who’s taking care of you?” Jim asked, forgetting to stay uninvolved at her shocking statement.

      “I’m taking care of myself and my baby, Jim. And as much as I appreciate all your concerns,” she said, addressing everyone at the table, “I’m managing just fine.”

      “Do you have any contact with the father?” Jim asked, his voice husky.

      Teresa gritted her teeth and stared at Evelyn, who was seated across from her. “No, no contact!”

      Pete reached over and patted her hand. “I think we’ve all got the message now, honey. No one will ask that question again.” Since he accompanied his words with a determined stare at his brother, Jim backed down.

      They lingered around the dinner table even after the dessert had been eaten, talking, exchanging news and discussing plans.

      “Oh, by the way,” Tommie asked in a lull in the conversation, “have you started decorating the nursery yet, Teresa?”

      “Not yet. I’ve been using the other bedroom as a study. I’ll have to move everything.”

      “Just remember that you mustn’t do the painting.”

      “I think that’s an old wives’ tale. They have safe paint now,” Teresa said.

      “Maybe we should have a workday one Saturday and—”

      “No!” Teresa’s empathetic response interrupted Tommie. “Thank you, but I’ll get it done in plenty of time, I promise.”

      Silence followed her response.

      “I really do appreciate all the support, and I may make mistakes, but I want to learn the hard way, I guess.” Teresa looked around the table, an anxious look on her face.

      “I’m sure you’ll manage,” Jim said and received a warm smile in return. The first nice

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