He left without giving Kaya a second glance.
“I don’t mean to take over,” Libby added when they were alone again. “But he’s been cooped up in this house for two days, now. It’s school winter break, and he would have been out on the ski trails with his father every day if—” She shrugged. “You know.”
“I understand.” Kaya placed a hand on her shoulder. Nobody seemed to want to utter the words, “dead” or “died”. “You know them better than I do. I get it.”
“Auntie Kaya, me and my dollies are ready for tea,” Alyssa called from the playroom.
“I’ll be right there.”
Libby cleared her throat. “Um, my sister asked me to pick up my niece, Courtney, from daycare. She’s Alyssa’s age, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to take her with me, too. Anastasia is asleep and I’m sure you could use some rest.”
“What do I tell Bryce when he comes knocking?” She could just imagine his ire at not finding his children at home.
“Use the time to talk. Get to know him. He’s a good man, Kaya. You’ll see that once you get past his hard exterior.”
Kaya doubted that very much. “I feel awful you’re using your week off from work to help me out when you have a summer wedding to plan,” she said.
“I’ll have plenty of time for wedding plans. The kids are much more important right now.” She gave Kaya’s arm a comforting squeeze. “Jason will come around. Just give him time.”
Time? Time was one luxury Kaya didn’t have. Not with Bryce Fontaine breathing down her neck.
*
As she paced the nursery with a screaming Anastasia in her arms, Kaya wondered why Bryce still hadn’t shown up with the sheriff and the town’s two cops in tow.
On the other hand, she was grateful he hadn’t. With Jason and Alyssa gone, she’d used the alone time to get some important things done—like asking the undertaker to use his least expensive caskets since she now knew that the funeral cost was coming out of her pocket. She would love to give her sister and brother-in-law a more glamorous burial, but she had to watch every penny she spent from now on.
She’d also called Jack at his job, and was holding until he got off the line with a supplier when Anastasia’s whimpers came through the monitor. She’d hung up with semi-regret. She wasn’t looking forward to having a conversation about her new charges with Jack. He didn’t really like kids. Needy and annoying were his constant description of them. Dah!
She’d agreed to marry him—not because she also disliked children, but because she wasn’t planning on having any. She’d been too afraid that she’d turn out to be as despicable a mother as Nadine. But now that she’d inherited three little ones, Kaya knew she’d do everything in her power to see that they were loved and well taken care of. She could only hope that Jack’s attitude towards children would change once he met hers.
“Hush, baby,” Kaya whispered as Anastasia hit a higher note, causing a horrendous ringing in her ears. She’d changed her, tried to feed her, unsuccessfully, then sang, terribly off-key, every lullaby she could pull from her childhood memories. But Anastasia refused to be comforted. As a last resort, Kaya had finally called Dr. LaCrosse, the children’s pediatrician, only to be told that he was on his honeymoon. The physician who was filling in for him was in surgery and he would call her back when he was out. She was still waiting.
“Please, Stasia. Stop crying,” Kaya begged, rocking her gently in the crook of her arm. “I wish I knew what was wrong with you, but I don’t. Please—”
“Why is she screaming like that? I heard her all the way from the courtyard.”