Mixed Blessings by Cathy Marie Hake Read Free Book Online Page B

low, insistent tone, he asked, “But, Marie, who’s strong for you?”

Chapter Five
    T he obnoxiously loud buzzer on the dryer sounded. Startled, Marie jumped. “I have to get that.”
    His hands immediately went to her waist. He gently squeezed, then pulled her to the edge of the counter and lifted her down. She shivered from the contact—or was it from the emotions shimmering just below the surface that he’d almost bared? He didn’t know. Clearly, Marie was a woman of great depth, but she guarded her heart just as closely as she guarded her child.
    â€œYou do too much,” Peter decided aloud a few minutes later as he watched her sit on the couch and fold clothes. The vacuum cleaner still rested in the corner, and a grocery list lay beneath a toy car on the coffee table.
    â€œI do what every other mother does. I’m not complaining.”
    His hands itched to pull away the laundry basket and make her stop taming the jumbled clothes into neatly folded squares. The intense concentration she aimed at the simple task seemed ridiculous—but then he realized shewas trying to get lost in the rhythm of a familiar task so her life wouldn’t feel so chaotic.
    â€œHow can I get you to reconsider, Marie? I really want you to move in with Luke and me.”
    The distinctive fragrance of fabric softener drifted in the room as Marie folded a pair of Ricky’s pants with jerky motions. They look just the same as the pairs in Luke’s drawers—same pint size, same style, same fold. That odd fact strengthened his resolve.
    â€œI’ll do whatever it takes to make this work, Marie.”
    â€œThere’s nothing you can do. I’m not about to change my mind.” The next few garments were disciplined into perfection under her moves.
    â€œI’m not trying to put you on the defensive, Marie. It’s the best option available, especially since we live several hours apart with the wrong biological kids.”
    â€œGive me other possibilities, Peter.”
    He sat opposite her and let out a heavy sigh. “We can trade. We each keep the child we’ve been rearing during the week, then switch them on the weekend.”
    â€œThat’s pretty disruptive. As soon as they start school and ball teams that won’t work.”
    Peter reached up and rubbed the awful knot of tension at his nape. “Let’s try to limit our plans to the present.”
    She nodded and smoothed a collar on a tiny, golden yellow rugby shirt.
    â€œI could have them both one weekend, then you could have them the next.”
    â€œI don’t think that’s workable—at least not now.” She tilted her head to the side a bit and shot him a rueful look. “Luke is too shy, and Ricky hasn’t ever been away from me.”
    â€œAll of that is probably valid, but I like the idea of them being together. Right now, you and I are feeling theimpact of this whole mess, but in later years, they will. I want them to have each other. No one else could possibly understand how this upheaval will affect them.”
    Marie’s fingers curled into the little shirt, and she unconsciously brought it up and crushed it to her heart. She looked at him, her eyes pleading. “I could keep both boys down here during the week, then bring them up for the weekends—”
    â€œNo!” Peter scowled. “I’m not one of those cardboard fathers. I take my place in my son’s life—in my sons’ lives —seriously. That plan makes it impossible for me to see my sons each day!”
    Marie bit her lip. Blinking furiously, she set the shirt aside. Her hands shook terribly and tears shimmered in her eyes. Finally she whispered unsteadily, “No matter what we do, we’re not going to be able to see both of them on a daily basis.”
    â€œIf it upsets you so much, Marie, why don’t you accept my offer?”
    Raw pain ravaged her features, twisted