Free A Father for Her Triplets: Her Pregnancy Surprise by Susan Meier Page B

little boy grinned. “Hey.”
    “Hey.” He stooped down to Owen’s height. “What are you doing here?”
    “There’s a man talking to my mom.”
    Even as Owen spoke, dark-haired Lainie opened Wyatt’s screen door and stepped inside. Dressed in a pink nightgown, she said, “Hi,” as if it were an everyday occurrence for her to walk into his house in sleepwear.
    “Hi.”
    Before he could say anything else, Claire walked in. Also in a pink nightgown, she smiled sheepishly.
    Still crouched in front of Owen, Wyatt caught the little boy’s gaze. “So your mom’s talking to somebody and I’m guessing she didn’t see you leave.”
    “She told us to go to our woom.”
    At Wyatt’s left shoulder, Lainie caught his chin and turned him to face her. “He means room.”
    “Your mom sent you to your room?”
    Owen nodded. “While she talks to the man.”
    Wyatt’s blood boiled. For a woman who didn’t want to get involved with him, she was engrossed enough in today’s male guest that she hadn’t even seen her kids leave.
    Maybe he’d just take her kids back and break up her little party?
    Telling himself that was childish, he nonetheless set his coffee cup on the counter and herded the three munchkins to the door. Missy would go nuts with worry if she realized they were gone. Albeit for better reasons than to catch her in the act, he had to take her kids back.
    “Let’s go. Your mom will be worried if she finds you gone.”
    Owen dug in his heels. “But she’s talking to the man. She doesn’t want us to sturb her.”
    His eyebrows rose in question and he glanced at Helaina, the interpreter.
    Who looked at him as if he was crazy not to understand. “Yeah. She doesn’t want us to sturb her.”
    “Sturb?”
    “Dee-sturb.” Claire piped in.
    “Oh, disturb.”
    Lainie nodded happily.
    Well. Well. Little Miss I-Don’t-Want-A-Fling didn’t want to be disturbed. Maybe his first guess hadn’t been so far off the mark, after all? She might not want a relationship with him, but she was with somebody.
    Wyatt corralled the kids and directed them to the porch.
    When they were on the sidewalk at the bottom of the steps, Helaina caught his hand. “We stay together when we walk.”
    Claire shyly caught his other hand.
    Warmth sputtered through him. He seriously wasn’t the kind of guy to hang out with kids, but not only was he playing in dirt and organizing Wiffle ball games, now he was holding hands.
    Owen proudly led the way. He skipped to the hedge and pulled it aside.
    Lainie stooped and dipped through. Claire stooped and dipped through. Owen grinned at him.
    Wyatt took one look at the opening provided and knew that wasn’t going to work. “You go first. I need to hold it up higher for myself.”
    Owen nodded and ducked down to slip through.
    Wyatt pushed the hedge aside and stepped into Missy’s backyard, where all three kids awaited him.
    He pointed at the porch. “Let’s go.”
    But only a few feet across the grass, Missy’s angry shout came from the house, as if she was talking to someone on the enclosed front porch.
    “I don’t care who you are! I don’t care what you think you deserve! You’re not getting one dime from me!”
    Wyatt’s blood ran cold. That didn’t sound like the words of a lover. It didn’t even sound like the words of a friend.
    Could the man in her house be her ex? Returning for money? From her? After draining their accounts?
    His nerve endings popped with anger. He dropped Claire’s and Helaina’s hands. “Wait here.”
    But when he looked down at their little faces, he saw Claire’s eyes had filled with tears. Owen’s and Helaina’s eyes had widened in fear. The shouting had scared them. He couldn’t leave them out here alone when they were obviously frightened.
    “Oh, come on, darlin’. You know I should have gotten this house when your grandmother died. I’m just askin’ for what you owe me.”
    Wyatt’s mouth fell open. That was Monty.
    “I heard you’ve