LITMIR.BIZ

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the bicycle parked by the curving stone staircase. And here came Dex, trotting down from the rock garden above.

      Leaves and blossoms—lavender, yellow, white—clung to her brown hair, and a frothy pink sweater hugged her curvaceous body above clinging jeans. With her eyes alight, she was the spirit of springtime.

      Jim got out and stood in the driveway, feeling like a teenager again. Pure raw lust rampaged through him.

      “Where’s Annie?” Without waiting for a response, Dex flung open the car’s back door and crawled in. Her rear end waggled invitingly as she fumbled with the snaps and straps and then, after a dazzling gymnastic maneuver, she emerged with the baby.

      Jim dragged himself back to reality. He was supposed to be the suave, urbane host, not some overgrown adolescent tripping over his tongue.

      “Did Rocky show you to a guest room?” he asked. “I hope it’s big enough.” There were four bedrooms on the second floor, in addition to the master suite.

      “It’s fine,” Dex said as she carried the cooing baby toward the house. “By the way, Grace and Rocky are fighting again. You might want to stop them before they rupture something.”

      “Now you tell me.” Jim broke into a lope.

      Disputes were nothing new in his household, but they hadn’t turned violent in a long time. Not since the first few days after Grace joined the household, when she’d insisted that Rocky cook hash and rock-hard biscuits the way she liked them. He’d not only refused but insulted her taste buds.

      The two of them had known each other distantly in the service, but not until they were both working for Jim had they found themselves cheek by jowl. Each wanted to be top dog, and it had taken a while for them to learn to compromise.

      Jim still winced at the memory of Rocky’s black eye and Grace’s limping from their early clashes. After a few painful days, they’d come to an agreement. Grace had relinquished mess food in exchange for the right to maintain such Marine traditions as sounding reveille at six in the morning. and hoisting the flag at eight.

      Jim raced through the garden room and veered down the hallway into the kitchen. Cooking smells wafted from the stove, but he saw the burners had been turned off.

      Wrestler-type grunts emanated from deep within the house. Heading to his left, Jim passed the utility room and halted in the doorway of the den.

      Light streaming through French doors silhouetted the hulking shapes of his two servants. Grace, the smaller of the two but by no means the weaker, had hoisted Rocky onto her shoulders and was twirling him around. Both of them groaned like hogs at feeding time.

      “He gets seasick, you know,” Jim said.

      The only response was a couple more grunts. He interpreted them as meaning, “What kind of Marine gets seasick?”

      “It only points out how dedicated he was,” he continued. “By the way, what’s this fight about, anyway?”

      Grace stopped whirling and studied Jim blearily. It was the first time he’d seen the usually spotless maid in such a disheveled condition. Her determination to stick to Marine traditions had led her to insist on wearing a uniform in domestic service, too, although she’d bypassed camouflage for an outfit more consistent with her new duties. Usually she starched and ironed every stitch, right down, he sometimes suspected, to her underwear.

      Now, however, her apron was ripped and flopping down at one side, she had a run in her stockings and the frilly white serving cap hung rakishly over her forehead.

      “He told me to stick my can of disinfectant where the sun never shines,” she growled.

      Rocky, balanced horizontally on Grace’s shoulders, made a low, wheezing sound. Jim interpreted it to mean, “But, chief, the whole house reeks!”

      “Yes, I can smell it,” he said, approaching them. “Grace, it isn’t necessary to sterilize the house. Babies aren’t that delicate. Put Rocky down, would you?”

      Grimacing, she lowered the butler to his feet. His face, Jim saw, had gone deathly pale.

      With a low moan, the butler stumbled across the room and out through the French doors. Jim could hear him puking into the bushes.

      “You wash that down with the hose!” Grace yelled. “No fair sticking Kip with your mess! He’s weird enough already.” Assuming a level tone, she addressed Jim. “Do you know, ever since Kip banged his head in that helicopter crash, he thinks letters and numbers have colors?”

      “He’s a good gardener,” Jim said. “Now listen, you and Rocky have got to work things out.”

      “Just let me pound him a little more,” said Grace. “He’ll come around.”

      “That isn’t the way it’s done in civilian life.” Before he could continue, Jim’s spine tingled, and he realized that Dex was standing behind him.

      Glancing back, he drank in the appearance of the two bristle-haired females, their lively faces so much alike. He hated to admit it, but the more time he spent around his daughter, the more resemblance he saw to her mother.

      Maybe fifty percent, he was willing to concede. At maximum.

      Annie beamed at Grace and clapped her hands. “More!” she said.

      The room went utterly still. Even Rocky, staggering in through the double doors, paused in mid-stride.

      “That was her first word!” Dex crowed. “Wasn’t it? Did she say anything today while I was gone?”

      “Just ga ga da da,” said Jim.

      “Ba ba,” replied Annie, as if they were carrying on a conversation.

      Rocky’s face glowed like a Christmas candle. Grace blinked several times rapidly.

      As far as Jim was concerned, the moment was worth more than a hundred million dollars.

      6

      A WARM GLOW enveloped Dex. Annie’s first word!

      True, she’d apparently been requesting more violence, which wasn’t desirable, but she’d spoken. The person inside the cute little shape had communicated directly with them.

      It was only a small step to more words, then short sentences. Soon a torrent of speech would spew forth insight into her daughter’s mind and emerging personality.

      It’s a miracle.

      Dex hugged the baby. How could she give her up?

      Her throat clogged as she regarded the three faces watching her or, rather, watching Annie. Rocky’s, pale but delighted. Grace’s, sternly protective. And Jim’s, the handsome features transformed by tenderness.

      Was he right? Did their daughter belong here rather than with some adoptive family?

      But if Annie were here, Dex wouldn’t be able to stay away. She’d be underfoot, watching from close by as Jim married and as his new wife, no doubt a shining example of all that was nurturing, gave Annie the love and support that Dex couldn’t.

      It would break her heart. Dex yearned to be that perfect woman, but she didn’t have it in her. Her fumbling attempts might fool other adults, but they would leave Annie’s needs unmet. And Jim’s, too.

      Dex knew even less about relationships than about mothering. None of her boyfriends had lasted long, for reasons that eluded her.

      In addition to not understanding men, she didn’t understand herself. She didn’t know, for instance, why Jim had scared her so much on their terrific night together that she’d lied to him about moving away.

      She also didn’t understand why he’d forgotten her so quickly and proposed to someone else. It was all too confusing, a swamp into which she would sink forever if she weren’t careful.

      Life

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