“I’m cold, Uncle David,” Conner called from the back seat of the Suburban.
“More heat coming right up.” David pushed a button and the fan kicked on. Spring came late to this part of the country. While the jackets the boys wore had probably been adequate earlier in the day, they didn’t provide nearly enough warmth for the now thirty-degree temperature.
“We have a new baby at our house,” Caleb said.
“He’s really tiny,” Conner added.
“That’s nice.” David smiled. It was just as he’d thought; their “fat” hamster had been more than just overweight. “Tell me about the party.”
He kept the boys talking all the way into town. By the time he wheeled the SUV into Mary Karen’s driveway, he knew every gift that had been opened. He’d also heard all about the birthday boy eating five pieces of cake before throwing up on his mother’s shoes.
“It was gross,” Caleb said.
“Yeah, gross,” Conner agreed.
David chuckled and pulled to a stop behind a Jeep 4x4. The sticker on the bumper told him the vehicle was a rental, but he didn’t recall Mary Karen mentioning she was having company this evening.
“Let me out, Uncle David,” Conner called.
“I want out, too,” Caleb echoed.
Once unbuckled, the boys raced up the walk. His sister opened the door just as the dynamic duo reached the front step.
“Got ’em here safe and sound.” David took the door from her hands and held it open while the two rushed inside.
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
For the first time David noticed the worry furrowing Mary Karen’s brow. “What’s the matter?”
“I want you to check Logan. He’s been clingy all evening. I thought he simply missed his brothers…until I saw his flushed cheeks and felt his forehead.”
“What’s his temp?”
“One hundred three.”
“Let me get my bag.” Because of the rural nature of this part of the state, David kept a doctor’s bag in the car. He was back on the porch in seconds, shooting his sister a reassuring smile. “Probably just the start of an ear infection, although we have seen some strep.” David stepped into the house. “Until we determine what’s wrong, you best keep the twins away from him.”
“What about Adam?” The feminine voice came from the living room. “Is it safe for him to be in the house?”
He was still processing the voice when an auburn-haired beauty slipped into the foyer and met his gaze. For a second David thought he was hallucinating. He’d been thinking of July so much these past few days, it made sense that if he would conjure up anyone, it would be her.
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But this beautiful woman was no apparition. Dressed casually in a bulky Northwestern sweatshirt and jeans, she looked more like a college coed than a woman who’d had a baby three days ago.
A familiar electricity filled the air. He tried not to stare but couldn’t help it. “What are you doing here?”
“She lives with us, Uncle David,” Caleb said, his arms now wrapped around Henry, the cockapoo.
“Her an’ baby Adam,” Conner echoed, smacking a noisy kiss on the dog’s nose.
He met July’s gaze and lifted a brow.
“The boys are right. This is my new home.” July glanced around and shrugged. “For now.”
David turned to his sister who’d been watching the exchange with unabashed curiosity.
“July and Adam are renting a room from me for the next month or so,” Mary Karen said, a fondness for her new tenants evident in her tone. “But when she discovered I was your sister I actually thought she was going to change her mind about moving in. David, what in the world did you do to her?”
The words were delivered in a half-joking manner, but there was puzzlement in Mary Karen’s eyes.
“I delivered her baby.” It wasn’t much of a response but David didn’t have the inclination to tell his sister the whole story.
“Mary Karen, I told you he didn’t do anything,” July protested. “Finding out my doctor was your brother was simply unexpected news.”
From the look on her face, unwelcome, too.
Before anyone could say another word a plaintive call rang out.
“Mommy. Mommy.”
“The native is getting restless,” Granny Fern called out from the back bedroom.
David fixed a gaze on July. “You and Adam stay here. We don’t want the baby exposed.”
He turned on his heel and without another word strode down the hall, Mary Karen scurrying to catch up.
July watched the two disappear into the bedroom where Granny was tending to Logan. She hoped the child was okay. It wasn’t until she’d returned from a short shopping trip that she learned the two-year-old wasn’t feeling well. She’d immediately taken Adam to the bedroom they shared.