Неизвестно - Megan's mate

Hours,

Alex claimed.

Thirty minutes,

Suzanna corrected with a laugh.

How about the rest of your

stuff?

I had it shipped. This is it for now.

Megan tapped her garment bag. Unable to resist, she peeked down at the bright-eyed baby in Suzanna's arms. He was all pink and smooth, with the dark blue eyes of a newborn and a shock of glossy black hair.

She felt the foolish smile that comes over adults around babies spread over her face as he waved an impossibly small fist under her nose.

Oh, he's beautiful. So tiny.

He's three weeks old,

Alex said importantly.

His name is Christian.

'Cause that was our great-grandfather's name, Jenny supplied.

We have new

cousins, too. Bianca and Cordelia but we call her Delia and Ethan.

Alex rolled his eyes.

Everybody had babies.

He's nice,

Kevin decided after a long look.

Is he my brother, too?

Absolutely,

Suzanna said, before Megan could respond.

I'm afraid you've got an

awfully big family now.

Kevin gave her a shy look and touched a testing finger to Christian's waving fist.

I

don't mind.

Suzanna smiled over at Megan.

Want to trade?

Megan hesitated a moment, then gave in.

I'd love to.

She cradled the baby while

Suzanna took the garment bag.

Oh, Lord.

Unable to resist, she nuzzled.

It's easy

to forget how tiny they are. How wonderful they smell. And you...

As they walked

through the terminal, she took a good look at Suzanna.

How can you look so

terrific, when you had a baby only three weeks ago?

Oh, bless you. I've been feeling like such a frump. Alex, no running.

Same goes, Kevin. How's Sloan taking to fatherhood?

Megan wanted to know.

I

hated not coming out when Mandy had the baby, but with selling the house and getting things in order to make the move, I just couldn't manage it.

Everyone understood. And Sloan's a terrific daddy. He'd have Delia strapped on his back twenty-four hours a day if Amanda let him. He designed this incredible nursery for the babies. Window seats, cubbyholes, wonderful built-in cupboards for toys. Delia and Bianca share it, and when C.C. and Trent are in town which, since The Retreat opened, is more often than not Ethan's in there, too.

It's wonderful that they'll all grow up together.

She looked at Kevin, Alex and

Jenny, thinking as much about them as about the babies.

Suzanna understood perfectly.

Yes, it is. I'm so glad you're here, Megan. It's like getting another sister.

She watched Megan's lashes lower. Not quite ready for that, Suzanna surmised, and switched subjects.

And it's going to be a huge relief to hand over the books to you. Not only for The Retreat, but for the boat business, too.

I'm looking forward to it.

Suzanna stopped by a new minivan, unlocked the doors.

Pile in,

she told the kids,

then slipped the baby out of Megan's arms.

I hope you say that after you get a look at the ledgers.

Competently she strapped the baby into his car seat.

I'm afraid

Holt's a pathetic record keeper. And Nathaniel...

Oh, that's right. Holt has a partner now. What did Sloan tell me? An old friend?

Holt and Nathaniel grew up together on the island. Nathaniel moved back a few months ago. He used to be in the merchant marine. There you go, sweetie.

She

kissed the baby, then shot an eagle eye over the rest of the children to make sure seat belts were securely buckled. She clicked the sliding door into place, then rounded the hood as Megan took the passenger seat.

He's quite a character,

Suzanna said

mildly.

You'll get a kick out of him.

The character was just finishing up an enormous lunch of fried chicken, potato salad and lemon meringue pie. With a sigh of satisfaction, he pushed back from the table and eyed his hostess lustfully.

What do I have to do to get you to marry me, darling?

She giggled, blushed and waved a hand at him.

You're such a tease, Nate.

Who's teasing?

He rose, grabbed her fluttering hand and kissed it lavishly. She always smelted like a woman soft, lush, glorious. He winked and skimmed his lips up to nibble on her wrist.

You know I'm crazy about you, Coco.

Cordelia Calhoun McPike gave another delighted giggle, then patted his cheek.

About my cooking.

That, too.

He grinned when she slipped away to pour him coffee. She was a hell of a woman, he thought. Tall, stately, striking. It amazed him that some smart man hadn't scooped up the widow McPike long ago.

Who do I have to fight off this

week?

Now that The Retreat's open, I don't have time for romance.

She might have

sighed over it if she wasn't so pleased with her life. All her darling girls were married and happy, with babies of their own. She had grandnieces and grandnephews to spoil, nephews-in-law to coddle, and, most surprising of all, a full-fledged career as head chef for the St. James Towers Retreat. She offered Nathaniel the coffee and, be cause she caught him eyeing the pie, cut him another slice.

You read my mind.

Now she did sigh a little. There was nothing quite so comforting to Coco as watching a man enjoy her food. And he was some man. When Nathaniel Fury rolled back into town, people had noticed. Who could overlook tall, dark and handsome?

Certainly not Coco McPike. Particularly not when the combination came with smoky gray eyes, a cleft chin and wonderfully golden skin over sharp cheekbones not to mention considerable charm.

The black T-shirt and jeans he wore accented an athletic, rangy body broad shoulders, muscular arms, narrow hips.

Then there was that aura of mystery, a touch of the exotic. It went deeper than his looks, though the dark eyes and the waving mane of deep mahogany hair was exotic enough. It was a matter of presence, she supposed, the culmination of what he'd

done and what had touched him in all those years he traveled to foreign ports.

If she'd been twenty years younger... Well, she thought, patting her rich chestnut hair, maybe ten.

But she wasn't, so she had given Nathaniel the place in her heart of the son she'd never had. She was determined to find the right woman for him and see him settled happily. Like her beautiful girls.

Since she felt she had personally arranged the romances and resulting unions of all four of her nieces, she was confident she could do the same for Nathaniel.

I did your chart last night,

she said casually, and checked the fish stew she had simmering for tonight's menu.

Oh, yeah?

He scooped up more pie. God, the woman could cook.

You're entering a new phase of your life, Nate.

He'd seen too much of the world to totally dismiss astrology or any thing else. So he smiled at her.

I'd say you're on target there, Coco. Got myself a business, a house on land, retired my seabag.

No, this phase is more personal.

She wiggled her slim brows.

It has to do with

Venus.

He grinned at that.

So, are you going to marry me?

She wagged a finger at him.

You're going to say that to someone, quite seriously, before the summer's over. Actually, I saw you falling in love twice. I'm not quite sure what that means.

Her forehead wrinkled as she considered.

It didn't really seem as

if you'd have to choose, though there was quite a bit of interference. Perhaps even danger.

If a guy falls for two women, he's asking for trouble.

And Nathaniel was content,

at least for the moment, to have no females in his life. Women simply didn't come without expectations, and he planned to fulfill none but his own.

And since my