Triplets Under The Tree

“I was Rick’s accountant.” At his raised brows, she smiled. “Your former manager. He’d gone through several CPAs until he found me, and when I came by his house to do his quarterly taxes, you were there. You were wearing a pink shirt for a breast cancer fund-raiser you’d attended. We got to talking and somehow thirty minutes passed in a blur.”

Nothing wrong with her memory, clearly, and it was more than a little flattering that she recalled his clothing from that day.

“And there was something about me that you didn’t like?” Obviously, or she wouldn’t have matched him up with her sister. Maybe she’d only thought of him as a friend.

“Oh, no! You were great. Gorgeous and gentlemanly.” The blush that never seemed far from the surface of her skin bloomed again, heightening the blue in her eyes. “I mean, I might have been a little starstruck, which is silly, considering how many celebrities I’ve done taxes for.”

That pleased him even more than her pink-shirt comment, and he wanted to learn more about this selfless woman who’d apparently been a part of his life for a long time. “You’re an accountant, then?”

“Not anymore. I gave up all my clients when...Vanessa died.” She laughed self-consciously. “It’s hard to retrain my brain to no longer say ‘when Antonio and Vanessa died’.”

The mention of his wife sent an unexpected spike of sadness through his gut. “I don’t remember being married to her. Did you think we’d be a good couple? Is that why you introduced us?”

All at once, a troubling sense of disloyalty effectively killed the discovery mode he’d fallen into with Caitlyn. He had no context for his relationship with Vanessa, but she’d been his wife and this woman was his sister-in-law. He shouldn’t be thinking about Caitlyn as anything other than a temporary mother to his children. She’d probably be horrified at the direction of his thoughts.

“Oh. No, I mentioned that she was my sister and you asked to meet her. I don’t think you even noticed me after that. Vanessa is—was—much more memorable than me.”

“I beg to differ,” he countered wryly, which pulled a smile out of her. “When I close my eyes, yours is the only face I can picture.”

Apparently he couldn’t help himself. Did he automatically flirt with beautiful women or just this one?

More blushing. But he wasn’t going to apologize for the messed-up state of his mind or the distinct pleasure he’d discovered at baiting this delicate-skinned woman. He’d needed something that made him feel good. Was that so wrong?

“Well, she was beautiful and famous. I didn’t blame you for wanting an introduction. Most people did.”

“Famous?” Somehow that didn’t seem like valid criteria for wishing to meet a woman.

Caitlyn explained that Vanessa starred on Beacon Street, a TV show beloved by millions of fans, and then with a misty sigh, Caitlyn waxed poetic about their fairy-tale wedding. “Vanessa wanted a baby more than anything. She said it was the only thing missing from your perfect marriage.”

He’d heard everything she’d said, but in a removed way, as if it had happened to someone else. And perhaps in many respects, it had. He didn’t remember being in love with Vanessa, but he’d obviously put great stock in her as a partner, lover and future mother of his children.

Part of his journey apparently lay in reconciling his relationship with the woman he’d married—so he could know if it was something he might want to do again, with another woman, at some point in the future. He needed to grieve his lost love as best he could and move on.

Perhaps Caitlyn had a role in this part of his recovery, as well. “I’d like to know more about Vanessa. Will you tell me? Or is it too hard?”

She nodded with a small smile. “It’s hard. But it’s good for me, too, to remember her. I miss her every day.”

Launching into an impassioned tribute to her sister, Caitlyn talked with her hands, her animated face clearly displaying her love for Vanessa. But Antonio couldn’t stop thinking about that moment against the wall, when he’d almost reached out to see what Caitlyn’s glossy hair felt like. What might have happened between them all those years ago if he hadn’t asked Caitlyn to introduce him to Vanessa?

It was madness to wonder. He would do well to focus on the present, where, thanks to Caitlyn, he’d forgotten about his headache. She’d begged him to allow her to stay under his roof and, frankly, it was easy to say yes because he needed her help. Incredible fortune had smiled on him since the plane crash, and he couldn’t help feeling that Caitlyn was a large part of it.

Four (#ulink_ef9e2f12-9460-546e-82be-c5f3166014ad)

Instead of taking Antonio to the doctor, Caitlyn arranged for the doctor to come to the house the following afternoon. Antonio needed his space for as long as possible, at least until he got comfortable being in civilization again—or at least that was Caitlyn’s opinion, and no one had to know that it fit her selfish desire to have him all to herself.

As a plus, Caitlyn wouldn’t have to worry about wrestling Antonio into the car in case he changed his mind about seeing a doctor after all. Not that she could have. Nor did she do herself any favors imagining the tussle, which would likely end with Antonio’s hard body pinning her against another wall.

Recalling yesterday’s charged encounter had kept her quite warm last night and quite unable to sleep due to a restless ache she had no idea how to ease. Well, okay, she had some idea, but her sensibilities didn’t extend to middle-of-the-night visits to the sexy man down the hall. One did not simply walk into Antonio’s bedroom with the intent of hopping into bed with him, or at least she didn’t. Risqué nighttime shenanigans were Vanessa’s style, and her sister had had her heart broken time and time again as a result. Sex and love were so closely entwined that Caitlyn was willing to wait for the commitment she’d always wanted.

Nor did she imagine that Antonio was lying awake fantasizing about visiting Caitlyn anytime soon, either. They were two people thrown together by extraordinary circumstances and they both had enormous, daunting realities to deal with that didn’t easily translate into any kind of relationship other than...what? Friends? Co-parents? Trying to figure it out was exhausting enough; adding romance to the mix was out of the question.

Especially since Antonio could—and likely would—have his pick of women soon enough. A virgin mother of triplets, former accountant sister-in-law didn’t have the same appeal as a lush, redheaded actress-wife combo, that was for sure.

The doctor buzzed the gate entrance at precisely three o’clock. Antonio ushered the stately salt-and-pepper-haired physician into the foyer and thanked him for coming as the two men shook hands.

All morning, Antonio had been short-tempered and scowling, even after Caitlyn told him the doctor was coming to him. Caitlyn hovered just beyond the foyer, unsure if she was supposed to make herself scarce or insist on being present for the conversation in case the doctor had follow-up instructions for Antonio’s care.

Vanessa would have been stuck to Antonio’s side. As a wife should. Caitlyn was only the person who had made the appointment. And she’d done that just to make sure it happened.

“Caitlyn,” Antonio called, his tone slightly amused, which was a plus, considering his black mood. “Come meet Dr. Barnett.”

That she could do. She stood by Antonio, but not too close, and exchanged pleasantries with the doctor.

“I saw you fight Alondro in Vegas,” the doctor remarked with an appreciative nod at Antonio. “Ringside. Good match.”

Antonio accepted the praise with an inclined head, but his hands immediately clenched and his mouth tightened; clearly, the doctor’s comments made him uncomfortable. Because he didn’t remember? Or had he lost all context of what it meant to be famous? Either way, she didn’t like anyone making Antonio uncomfortable, let alone someone who was supposed to be here to help.

“Can I show you to a private room where you can get started?” Caitlyn asked in a no-nonsense way.

“Of course.” Dr. Barnett’s face smoothed out and he followed Caitlyn and Antonio to the master bedroom, where Antonio had indicated he felt the most at home in the house.

Score one for Caitlyn. Or was it two since a medical professional was on the premises?

She started to duck out, but Antonio stopped her with a warm hand on her arm. “I’d like you to stay,” he murmured. “So it will feel less formal.”

“Oh.” A bit flummoxed, she stared up into his dark eyes. “It won’t be weird if the doctor wants you to...um...get undressed?”

On cue, her cheeks heated. She’d blushed more around this man in the past few days than she had in her whole life.

His lips quirked and she congratulated herself on removing that dark scowl he’d worn all day. Too bad his new expression had come about because he likely found her naïveté amusing.