Mitch was looking at Mimi questioningly. “The Heartland Project? What’s that?”
“You haven’t heard of it? It’s going to be huge. A planned community out in the Sargosa Hills. The whole town is buzzing about it.”
Mitch raised an eyebrow as he looked at Darcy. She nodded. “We’re bidding on a portion of it. But I don’t think Mitch and I will be working on it, except in a peripheral way. I’m sure the old-timers have dibs on it. People like Ned Varner,” she added for emphasis, naming the senior vice president of the firm.
Mitch looked thoughtful and Darcy wondered what he was thinking. It would indeed be interesting if he decided he wanted to get in on the biggest project ACW had ever been involved in. If they did win the bid.
“Let me get you something to drink,” Mimi was saying, rising expectantly. “Some nice iced tea? Some lemonade?”
Realizing what Mimi had said, Darcy’s heart sank. If he accepted refreshment, he’d be here forever. But Mitch quickly revived her hope as he started rising from the couch.
“Oh, no. I’d really better get going. I just wanted to stop by and say ‘hi'. And to let you know I’m around if you need anything.”
Mimi reached out and warmly took his hand. “I hope you’ll come by and see us often.”
His smile to her was just as warm. “I will.”
Darcy sprang up. Inside, she was exalting. He was going! Great. All she needed was some time to get her thoughts together. Tomorrow he would know the truth.
“Yes, well, it’s been awfully nice seeing you.”
She pulled open the door and smiled, waiting for him to make his way out onto the porch, mentally urging him forward.
And for just a moment, it looked like she was going to get her wish. He started toward the door. As he came even with where she was standing, he looked at her sideways. She gave him a tiny shrug and he shook his head just enough for her to see. She wanted to reach out and plant the palm of her hand between his shoulder blades and push him out the door, but she resisted, gritting her teeth with the effort. He was almost gone.
And then Mimi spoiled it all.
“Well, wait a minute,” she said, frowning. “You can’t go yet. You haven’t even met the babies.”
CHAPTER FOUR
DARCY froze, holding her breath.
“Babies?” Mitch was saying, just the way she’d imagined he would. “What babies?” He looked thunderstruck.
“Darcy’s two little ones, of course,” Mimi said. “The twins. Didn’t you know?”
He turned back into the room. His gaze met hers.
“You’ve got babies?” He said it as though he was sure there had to be some sensible answer to this puzzle, hopefully one he could accept.
“Bring them out, Darcy,” Mimi was urging. “Let Mitch see them.”
She licked her dry lips. This was not the right way to do it. “Uh, they’re sleeping.”
“Already?” Mimi looked skeptical. “You just put them in there. How did you get them to sleep so fast?”
“Magic powers?” she quipped, still hanging on to her last shred of hope.
The sound of a crash came from the bedroom, and hope was gone.
“Noisy sleepers,” Mitch said dryly, his steel-colored eyes penetrating. “I’m guessing your powers aren’t quite what you thought they were.”
Darcy managed a tremulous smile, then turned on her heel and headed for the bedroom to see what had happened. Mimi and Mitch were close behind her. There was no way to stop this now. He was going to see the boys. And what was he going to see when he looked into their blue eyes, so like his own? Was he going to recognize parts of himself staring back at him? And if he did, what was he going to do about it? Apprehension shivered through her.
She opened the bedroom door to reveal a scene of minor chaos. Somehow, Sammy had gotten out of the crib and made his way to the changing table, which he had tried to climb, knocking down the baby powder, which landed on his head. There he sat on the floor, covered with powder and grinning broadly, very pleased with himself. Meanwhile Sean sat in his own crib, looking through the bars at his brother and laughing with a silly hiccuping sound. Sammy tried to clap his hands. He missed, but he did manage to send up a cloud of baby powder, making Sean laugh even harder.
“He climbed out!” Darcy cried, looking at the extra-high bars she’d paid extra for. “How did he do that?”
“Oh my,” Mimi said, shaking her head. “How could one little boy do so much damage in such a short time?”
It took a few moments and Mimi’s help to get things back in order. Darcy murmured a few stern words, then a few more soft reassurances to Sammy as she cleaned him up and then safely installed him back in bed. In the meantime she’d forgotten all about Mitch standing there, watching it all, until she turned and saw him leaning against the doorjamb.
Meeting his gaze, she tried to read what he was thinking from the look in his eyes, but his gaze was hard, hooded. She deliberately lifted her chin. She was proud of these little guys and she wanted to show that.
“Mitch, this is Sammy and this is Sean. My boys.” She made a flourish and waited to see what he would say.
Mitch was numb. This changed everything. Darcy had children. Twin boys. And they looked way too familiar for comfort.
His first thought was that these must be Jimmy’s children. After all, Darcy was living here with Jimmy’s mother. It seemed logical. But there was a problem with that theory. He couldn’t remember exactly what color eyes Jimmy had, but he was pretty sure they weren’t blue. Darcy had eyes that flashed almost ebony. And these little boys had the bluest eyes he’d ever seen—outside of his own baby pictures. In fact, these babies could have been stand-ins for him and his brother.
He turned and looked at Darcy. She looked at him. There was an air of defiance in her face. He felt like he couldn’t pull a breath in all the way.
“We need to talk,” he said softly.
She nodded.
“Why didn’t you want me to know?” he asked her bluntly as soon as they were far enough away from the house to speak freely.
Biting her lip she kept her head down. They were walking between two houses, heading for the open area of scrub pine that lined the canyon that ran just north of the neighborhood. Mimi had agreed to watch the babies for a while, to give them time to take a walk.
“I was going to tell you tomorrow, when we went for coffee,” she said, wishing it didn’t sound like an excuse.
He shook his head, rejecting her statement. “I don’t know, Darcy. You weren’t acting like someone who wanted to come clean.” There was a real flash of anger in his voice. “You don’t contact me for two years. You move to the place you know I’ve sworn I’ll never go to again. When I show up, you act cagey.” He turned to face her. His eyes were troubled and the muscles of his neck stood out like cords. “I don’t buy it. You didn’t want me to know.”
She stopped and stared up at him, mouth open with astonishment. “What are you talking about? You’re the one who stepped out into a crowd in Paris and never looked back. You might as well have stepped off the face of the earth. You certainly disappeared from my life without a second thought. I … I tried for months to find you.”
She paused to steady her voice. She wasn’t going to let emotions take over and the last thing in the world