“Yes.”
“Then stop worrying,” Mack advised. “We’re here to solve Ben’s problems, not to watch you panic over contractions that haven’t even started.”
“Just wait,” Richard said grimly. “One of these days the two of you are going to be in my place, and I’m not giving you one single shred of sympathy.”
“I will never be in your place,” Ben said wearily, then almost immediately regretted it because both of his brothers turned their full attention on him. He should have been grateful for the temporary distraction from their obvious mission and kept his mouth shut.
“Do you want to be where I am?” Richard asked. “Remember, I was where you are for a very long time, but I’ve got to tell you that nothing compares to where I am now.” He shrugged. “Okay, maybe not right this minute, but generally speaking being married to Melanie is the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Same here,” Mack said. “Beth is incredible. Destiny’s got her faults, but when it comes to picking the right women for us, she nailed it for Richard and for me. Do you really think she made a mistake in your case?”
Ben thought about it, really thought about it, for the first time. Truthfully, he knew that Destiny hadn’t made a mistake. And if he were being totally honest, he realized that the prospect of having a family wasn’t half as scary as it had once been.
“No, there’s no mistake,” he admitted.
“Then what are you going to do about it?” Mack asked. “You’re not going to accomplish what you want sitting around out here. The woman I presume you want to have a family with is probably packing her bags for Providence right about now.”
“Providence?” Ben echoed. “Why?”
“Destiny says Kathleen is going to spend the holidays with her family,” Richard told him. “She’s worried she might decide not to come back.”
Ben couldn’t imagine such a thing. Kathleen would never close the gallery she loved and move back home. “That’s just Destiny trying to get me all worked up,” he said confidently.
“You willing to take a chance that she’s wrong?” Richard asked, just as his cell phone rang. He jumped as if he’d been shocked, fumbled to get it out of his pocket, then dropped it.
“Good grief, man, she’ll have the baby before you get yourself together,” Mack told him with a shake of his head. He picked up the phone and handed it to Richard.
“Yes? Are you okay?” Richard demanded when he finally answered the phone.
The color immediately washed out of his face. “I’m on my way,” he said, turning the phone off and jamming it back into his pocket. “The baby…” He dragged his hand through his hair again. “My God, the baby’s coming. I have to get home. We have a plan. How are we going to follow the plan if I’m not even there?”
“Beth is there,” Mack reminded him. “She’s a doctor.”
“But the plan,” Richard protested. “It was all written out so we wouldn’t forget anything.”
“Melanie knows this plan, right?”
“Sure, but—”
Ben stared at the sight of his cool, unflappable brother basically falling apart in front of him. Mack immediately took charge.
“Forget the damn plan,” Mack said. “Let’s just go.” He steered Richard toward the car.
“I’ll follow you,” Ben said.
Mack nodded toward the driveway and the plume of dust that was being kicked up. “You might want to reconsider that, pal. Looks to me like company’s coming.”
“Company?” Ben echoed blankly, then saw a familiar delivery truck and right on its tail an even more familiar car being driven by a sexy, speed-crazed maniac. His heart leaped into his throat, but this time the reaction had less to do with fear than it did with pure, unadulterated delight.
Maybe he hadn’t ended this thing with Kathleen, after all. And given the mushy way he was feeling about babies and family right now, it was a damn good thing.
Even as Mack tore away from the house, Ben watched with bated breath as the delivery truck pulled up next to the studio. Kathleen’s sporty little car screeched to a halt right beside it. She bounded out of the car with eyes blazing and headed straight for him.
“What is that all about?” she demanded, gesturing toward the van. The driver was standing beside it, grinning broadly and taking in every word they exchanged.
Ben stared helplessly toward the driver, who merely shrugged. “I’m on her clock now,” he told Ben. “She wants these back here, I’ll put ’em back in the studio.”