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Worry dogged Deena for the entire drive to her sister’s house. She barely remembered to put on the parking brake before jumping out of the car and racing up to the front door.

"Jenny? Are you all right?" she called as she stepped inside.

She found her sister leaning against the wall by the stairs and panting heavily. The twins huddled close; John, their father, crouched beside them.

Jenny looked up and waved slightly, even as she winced, then sighed.

"That one was strong. Look, girls, Auntie Deena is here."

The twins smiled, but didn’t let go of their father. It took the promise of baking cookies, along with two Disney movies to get them to loosen their grip.

"I’ll be fine," Jenny said as she briefly hugged Deena. "Thanks for coming over. I appreciate it."

Deena clung to her for a second. Her sister might be calm on the inside, but Deena felt her worry as if it were her own. "Have John call me as soon as you know something."

"I promise."

Jenny waddled toward the door. She paused when she saw Alex. "Okay, I’m sure there’s a story here, but it’s going to have to wait."

Alex watched the very pregnant woman being gently escorted out to the car by her husband, then he turned back to look at Deena sitting on the bottom step. She had a child on either side. The young girls were small, red-haired with big blue eyes. They were identical, right down to the brown-and-red stains on the front of their kitten-covered T-shirts.

"Who are you?" one of the girls asked.

Deena smiled at him. "Sorry. I haven’t done introductions. Alex, these are my nieces, Kari and Lucy."

She touched each child’s head as she said her name, but he knew there was no way he was going to keep them straight.

The girl on the left eyed him. "You’ve very tall," she said.

Not sure if that was a compliment or a complaint, he shoved his hands into his jeans and decided not to answer.

"I’m going to be stuck here for a while," Deena said. "I’ll get in touch with my aunt and uncle, but they won’t be able to get home for a couple of days. Until then, the twins only have me." She tried to smile, but it wobbled a bit at the corners. "I guess this means you’re off the hook. For our date, I mean."

She was saying he could go.

"Aunt Deena, are we really gonna make cookies?" one of the girls asked.

"You bet. We’ll make the batter and let it get cold overnight. In the morning we’ll cut the cookies into shapes. When they’re finished baking, we’re going to decorate them. You’ll have a good time."

She turned her attention back to him. "I can’t fit the girls into the convertible. It doesn’t have a back seat. So I can’t drive you home. Would you mind calling a cab?"

He didn’t know much about children. He’d been one once, but he did his best to forget those days. He didn’t know much about pregnancy, either, but he could read the worry in Deena’s eyes. She’d said Jenny had gone into labor a few weeks early. Did that mean something could go wrong?

"You paid for twenty-four hours," he said, pulling his hands from him pockets and rolling up the sleeves. "So you’re stuck with me. Besides, I’ve never made cookies. Maybe you could teach me."

He addressed that last bit to the two girls. They both grinned at him. "Makin’ cookies is really fun," one of them told him. "You gonna like it."

* * *

Making cookies wasn’t just fun, it was also messy. By the time they’d made the batter and wrapped it in plastic so it could refrigerate overnight, there was enough flour, sugar and butter smeared over the kitchen to qualify it for demolition. Deena’s cheeks were streaked with the mixture, as were the twins’, and Alex didn’t want to know what he looked like.

After cookies, they’d settled in to watch two cartoon movies, by the end of which both girls had fallen asleep. Somehow having a small warm child draped across his chest and shoulder did something odd to his heart, he thought as he picked up Lucy and followed Deena upstairs.

She carried Kari and led the way into the twins’ bedroom.

"I’m not going to bother putting them in their pj’s," she said quietly. "There’s no point in waking them up just to change their clothes."

Alex put Lucy in her bed, while Deena took care of her sister. She’d barely pulled up the blanket when the phone rang.

As Deena raced down the hall, Alex stayed in the girls’ room. He checked that the night-light was on and then glanced around at the toys, books and clothes covering every surface. It was little more than controlled chaos, but homey. He could feel the love that filled this house.

He’d never thought of having a family. His goals had all been about business. For the first time, he wondered if he’d been missing something.

He heard Deena in the hallway and went out to greet her.

"That was John," she said as she sagged against the wall. "Jenny’s fine. They had a boy and he’s doing really well. His lungs are working; he’s okay. They’re all okay."

She looked at him, smiled, covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.

Started, Alex moved toward her. "What’s wrong?" he asked. "Isn’t this what you wanted to hear?"

She nodded. "I’m happy," she said between sobs. "I l-love my s-sister, and I was so w-worried. It’s just everything else is ruined."

He pulled her close, meaning to offer comfort. So he didn’t let himself notice the heat of her body or how good she felt in his arms. "What’s ruined?"

"Our day. I wanted to go to d-dinner with you and be beautiful. I wanted you to see me as a w-woman, not just a piece of office equipment. I spent all my savings on the boat and the dress and b-buying you at the auction, and now it’s all ruined."

"What happened to you buying me because I needed a break from work?"

She dropped her hands to her sides and looked at him. Tears dampened her lashes and ran down her cheeks. She sniffed.

"I lied."

"Then you will have to be dealt with most severely."

Her breath caught, but before she could speak, he lowered his head and kissed her.