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Sympathy stirred in her. She had imagined him swinging lightly from girl to girl, the way he had in high school, and never settling on one for long. Maybe he had been hurt in the past. If so, he hadn’t shared it with her or Rose or Jack, not that she knew of.
Not that he would share anything with Jack. The two brothers had represented the epitome of sibling rivalry and the very opposites in personalities.
Where Jack had been introspective and intent, a man who took responsibility seriously, Spence had been carefree and laughing. Not that Spence was irresponsible. Far from it. He just had a more tolerant view of the world. He had made life bearable during the difficult time when she had come to live with her aunt. He had shared his family with her—
She shied away from the past and its memories. There was the future to think about. She had the sole responsibility for those two darling twins. Life would be far from lonely from now on.
Giving Spence a radiant smile, she said, “I’m sure Nicholas and Hannah will keep me far too busy to dwell on the past and its mistakes, whatever they were.”
“Such as your marriage?” he asked in a deadly quiet manner, his eyes fastening on her again.
For a second she couldn’t move or think. He had thought the marriage was a mistake. Hurt flooded through her, exposing pain she hadn’t realized she felt. Maybe an orphan hadn’t been a good enough match—
No, Spence wouldn’t think such a thing. It was something else, but she didn’t know what. As she stared at him, perplexed by the hidden nuances of his words and expression, his face softened.
“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.”
She didn’t know what he was talking about. “What?”
“Nothing.” His face assumed its usual devil-may-care grin, effectively hiding the inner thoughts he guarded.
At that moment, a soft snuffle came over the monitor. It was followed by a wail. A second cry chimed in.
She and Spence laughed at the same time.
“Looks like you’re going to be busy. Duty calls, Mom,” he teased. “Need a hand with the feeding?”
“Yes.” She led the way to the nursery, wishing she hadn’t sounded so grateful.
“Okay, how do you do this?” he asked cheerfully, watching as she scooped Hannah into her arms.
He mimicked her gestures. Returning to the kitchen, she heated the formula pouches in warm water just enough to take the chill off. The twins wailed the whole time.
“Okay, Uncle Spence, let’s see how well that famous charm works in this situation,” she challenged, handing him one of the pouches.
He gave her a sidelong glance. “The McBride charm never fails. Remember that.”
She didn’t have to. She had never forgotten, she realized as they settled into the chairs. The babies stopped crying and nursed hungrily.
“Hah, that’s how you stop the screaming,” Spence stated in satisfaction. “You plug up the holes.”
Watching him with Nicholas, that funny feeling came back. This time it reached all the way to the core of her being. Be careful, she warned herself without defining exactly what the danger was.
Thirty minutes later, they put the twins back to bed—fed, burped and diapers changed. Spence handled that part with aplomb, too.
“How did you know to come over?” she thought to ask when they settled in the living room to catch the news on television. “You didn’t just happen by with two of your famous gourmet sandwiches.”
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