Free Sleeping With the Enemy by Laurie Breton Page B

my baby and waltz back to Boston? I get to see my kid at Christmas and for a week during the summer?”
    She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue.  “Not necessarily.  There’s a good chance that I’d stay and raise the baby right here in Jackson Falls.”
    If she’d intended to mollify him, it wasn’t working.  “And if you don’t?”
    “Look,” she said quietly, “nobody’s forcing you into anything.  If this doesn’t happen, it won’t kill either of us.  I can walk out the door right now, and nothing we’ve said here tonight will ever leave this room.”
    “And you’ll take my baby with you.”
    In the flickering candlelight, she was breathtakingly beautiful.  And resolute, the stubborn angle of her jaw declaring more clearly than words could say that she had no intention of backing down.  Jesse tossed the prenuptial agreement down on the table and blew out the candles.  “Go ahead and have your agreement drawn up,” he said.  “I’ll sign it.”
     
    ***
     
    “I don’t suppose,” Devon said, “that you’d care to explain to me again exactly why I have to meet these people?”
    In black jeans and a black silk shirt, she was the picture of righteous indignation, her slender arms crossed, stereo headphones dangling casually around her neck.  “Because,” Rose said as she packed tuna sandwiches in the picnic basket, “Jesse and his son are driving all the way from Jackson Falls, and I expect you to be hospitable the entire time they’re here.  Capisce ?”
    “I don’t believe this,” Devon said.  “This is so bogus! You expect me to waste my weekend baby-sitting some sixteen-year-old kid whose idea of a good time is probably wading through cow patties, when I could be with my friends, doing something I want to do.  In case you forgot, I do have a life.”
    “That would be hard to forget, wouldn’t it?” Rose said, and her daughter had the grace to blush.
    Luke opened the freezer and took out an ice cream bar.  “Do you think we’ll be done by two?” he said, tearing at the wrapper.  “Because I’m supposed to be at Jason’s house by two for band practice.”
    “No,” Rose said in exasperation, “we will not be done by two.  We’re going to the museum.”
    “Oh, joy,” Devon muttered.
    “And we’re having a picnic in the park.  Then we’re coming home to watch the videos I rented.  Together .” She swiped an errant strand of hair away from her face.  “I already went through this with both of you.  Why is the concept so difficult to grasp?”
    “I don’t understand why you have to drag us along just because you have a date,” Devon said.  “You’re both a little old to need a chaperon.”
    Rose opened her mouth to respond, but before she could speak, the doorbell rang, and Chauncey set up a racket that the neighbors could probably hear from four blocks away.  Through gritted teeth, she said, “Luke, will you please shut him in the bathroom?” Then she leveled a pointed glance at Devon.  “Best behavior! Is that understood?”
    Still sullen, but too curious to miss out on whatever was about to happen, Devon rolled her eyes and leaned against the refrigerator as Rose went to open the door.
    Jesse was wearing mirrored sunglasses that concealed his eyes and gave him a slightly dangerous look.  His hair was windblown, and there was a ruddiness to his cheeks, as though he’d spent time outdoors on a windy day.  The imperfections only served to make him more appealing.  “Hey,” she said.
    Jesse took off the glasses.  “Hi there.”
    “Come on in.  Hi, Mikey.”
    Rose performed quick introductions, and the kids eyed each other warily.  Casting about for an ice-breaker, she said,  “Mikey plays sports.”
    “How nice,” Devon said, her expression deadpan.  “I just adore jocks.”
    Rose shot her a warning glance, as Jesse said, “What about you, Luke? Do you play football?”
    “Guitar,” Luke said.  “I’m in a