Free Maybe Tonight by Kim Golden Page A

jeans, he tried not think about Laney and Niklas as a couple. There were moments when he envied the financial security Niklas probably took for granted. Without the extra money coming in from donations, Mads had to work harder at building his client base for the workshop, which meant longer hours and more mundane projects like installing kitchen cabinets or building shelving units.
    He could hear her in the living room, on the phone with her cousin Eddy. Those two talked to each other so often. He knew she missed her cousin. Maybe he’d suggest that Eddy come and spend Christmas with them. Jesper had already called twice and asked if he could come down but Niklas had vetoed the idea and informed Laney that Jesper would be spending the holiday season in Thailand, with Niklas, Siri…and Karolina.
    That was what she was used to. Winter holidays in the sun, staying at five-star resorts, not looking at price tags. That had been her life with Niklas. Now she made budgets–the baby planning budget, the weekly grocery budget, the Christmas gift budget. And he wished he could give her a life more secure than this. He wasn’t even sure he could afford to spend much on Christmas presents this year–three clients hadn’t paid their invoices yet, and he was chasing them down. He’d gone a bit crazy buying wood for the nursery sets he was building and then there was the money he’d been forced to pay back to the clinic, though it was less than the 70,000 Danish krone they’d initially demanded, losing 30,000 krone still screwed up his budget.
    He shook his head. Best not to think about it too much. He still had enough money saved up to cover his expenses at the workshop, and Anoushka had recommended his work to some of her colleagues so there were some new orders coming in. Last week an interiors magazine had contacted him and asked if he’d help out with pieces for a shoot they were planning. Maybe that would give him more exposure.
    But it wasn’t really the exposure he wanted. He wanted to be able to provide for Laney and their future children. Because he never saw them with just one child. There were always three in his mind. Three little girls who were carbon copies of their mother, who clamored for his attention and whom he loved more than anything else in the world.
    Somehow, he’d figure it out.
     
     
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    No day could start without coffee. That was a given. And since they’d skipped breakfast, it was time for brunch. They walked from their apartment across the bridge to the café that would forever be known as their place–where Mads had sat in the window and first saw Laney on that fateful August day.
    Inside the café was warm and cozy and their favorite spot, the window seat was available. While Mads ordered, Laney claimed their spot. She’d nabbed a few newspapers and looked pleased as punch when he sauntered over with their coffees.
    “You look like the cat who caught the canary,” Mads mused as he set her bowl-sized cup of cafe au lait on countertop.
    Laney broke into a huge smile and said, “You will be too when you see this.” She slid the Weekend Style section of the local paper over to him.
    “Don’t tell me you’re going to revamp my wardrobe…”
    “No, you look just fine as you are. Turn to page three.”
    He took a sip of his black coffee and then set his cup beside hers. Why did he suddenly feel so nervous? He glanced at her, she was still grinning and now she was shaking her head at him. “Trust me,” she said as she leaned closer to him. She let one hand trail along his thigh. “You’ll like this.”
    But before he could open the paper, the waitress arrived with their brunch plates. She craned past them and set the plates on the counter and barked out a quick “enjoy” before rushing off to take care of the next orders. Laney nudged his plate aside, flicked open the newspaper and then pointed to the feature article. And there at the center of the page was a photograph of him next to