A Baby in His Stocking by Laura marie Altom Read Free Book Online Page B

sight irked the hell out of him. She hadn’t been that pregnant last time he’d seen her, had she?
    â€œI know.” Natalie raised her shirt to show off elastic-banded black slacks. “I had to go up a size in maternity pants. Suffice to say, my secret is completely out.”
    â€œYou look adorable,” Josie gushed. “Almost makes me want to have another baby.”
    Laughing, Natalie said, “You might want to consult Dallas about that.”
    As if he weren’t even in the room, the two women chatted right past him. Just as well, Wyatt figured while he lit kindling in the hearth. His latest conversation with Natalie still stung. Issues? What the hell did she know about what he was going through? If she’d tried for years to have a baby, but kept miscarrying, would she find it enjoyable to hang with the most fertile family in Oklahoma?
    Just as soon as his Thanksgiving duties were over,he was heading to Tulsa. The Mayo Hotel had a rooftop bar. He’d get a room, a few drinks, meet a hot woman looking for a good time. With luck, they’d share fun and breakfast. Time to act like the eligible bachelor he was.
    At dinner, his seven-year-old niece Bonnie turned to him and said, “Uncle Wyatt?”
    â€œYes, ma’am?” He helped himself to seconds of green bean casserole.
    â€œCould you please cut my meat?” She held up a thick slice of turkey and waved it.
    â€œJust eat it like that.”
    â€œI can’t.” She dredged her free fingers through gravy, then licked them like lollipops. “It’s bad manners.”
    â€œAnd what you’re doing isn’t?” he asked.
    Betsy, her twin, who sat on his other side, said, “She likes eating her gravy like that. Me, too.”
    â€œYou guys are gross.” Kolt sat across from them, looking ready to barf.
    â€œGirls,” Dallas warned, “remember what we talked about? Today is the perfect time for you to practice being respectful young ladies.”
    â€œDaddy,” Betsy said, coating her stubby digits with more gravy, “me and Bonnie decided we just wanna be like regular us.”
    Josie passed the damp washcloth she’d used on two-year-old Mabel down the table to Wyatt. “Would you mind cleaning the twins? I’d hate for them to get gravy on their dresses.”
    â€œBut I like it,” Bonnie said. “And I’m big. I can wash my own hands.”
    â€œBe my guest.” Wyatt handed the kid the cloth.
    Dallas cast his younger brother a put-out glarebefore pushing back his chair, snatching the cloth and wiping down the girls himself. “There. Now, eat with your fork, spoon and knife or you’ll sit in the kitchen.”
    â€œYou’re mean,” Bonnie said.
    To Wyatt’s way of thinking, the day being a holiday and all, Dallas was taking the whole table-manners thing too seriously. There had been a time when the twins would have been painting the walls with gravy, so their current behavior was already a vast improvement.
    A glance to the far end of the table had Wyatt locking gazes with Natalie. She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. What was she thinking? Did she, too, want to add her two cents to the gravy debate or was her mind wandering to weightier matters? Maybe she wished she were seated alongside her baby’s father, rather than being sandwiched between Josie and Daisy?
    She’d been quick to fault him for his demons, but how much time did she spend worrying about her own?
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    â€œW HEW .” J OSIE DROPPED TO the sofa. Daisy and Wren joined her. “That was tougher than I’d planned.”
    Natalie had gone along with them to put their menageries to bed. The twins and Kolt had been allowed to stay up late to watch a movie.
    Daisy asked the men, “Have you all done anything productive today?”
    â€œWe cleaned up after dinner.” Luke stretched and yawned. “Plus, I took Kolt and the baby to