Not Quite Married by Christine Rimmer Page B

arrived, the full sister, Elise. She came with Tracy Winham, the one who’d been adopted into the Bravo family when her parents were killed. Dalton ducked out to get more chairs as Nell informed the newcomers that he was the father and had promised to do right by Clara and the baby.
    When he returned, two of Clara’s brothers had arrived. They were big men, as Nell had warned him. But neither took a punch at him when they found out he was the father of Clara’s baby.
    The women left after about half an hour, and the men went soon after. The princess arrived. She had brown hair and eyes, like Clara’s, and was almost as beautiful. She smiled and shook his hand and insisted that he must call her Rory.
    Then she helped Clara wheel her IV drip into the bathroom. When they came out, Clara had changed into turquoise pajamas. She got back in the bed and Rory tossed the hated hospital gown into a laundry bin in the corner.
    Two more men appeared, a full brother and a powerfully built half brother named Quinn, who had moved back to Justice Creek recently, having retired from a successful career as a mixed martial arts fighter. Quinn was a single father, Dalton learned, with a four-year-old daughter named Annabelle.
    Quinn and the full brother, Jamie, didn’t stay long. Rory left shortly after them. Dalton was just daring to hope that Clara might let him turn off the light and shut the blinds so she could sleep for a while.
    No such luck. In sailed a slim, sweet-looking, impeccably groomed white-haired lady who wore giant round-lensed glasses with yellow plastic frames, dangly earrings, a mink coat held together at the throat by a brooch the size of a tarantula, and pointy-toed red high-heeled shoes.
    Clara introduced her as her great-aunt, Agnes Oldfield.
    Nothing got by Agnes. “Ames?” she demanded. “Dalton Ames? As in the Ames banking family?”
    He said that yes, he was president and CEO of Ames Bank and Trust.
    It took her about two more seconds to deduce that he must be the missing father of Clara’s unborn child. “Where in the world have you been, young man? Your child will be arriving any minute now.”
    “Well, I—”
    “Aunt Agnes.” Clara came to his rescue. “Leave Dalton alone. He’s here to help out and he doesn’t need you picking on him.” He felt rather mollified at that. It was the first time she’d openly admitted that he was trying to take care of her.
    Agnes wasn’t finished with him. “Of course I’m not picking on him. I’m just trying to find out where he’s been all these months and what his plans are now that he’s finally here.”
    Clara said sternly, “That’s between Dalton and me.”
    “But does he realize you almost married someone else?” Agnes’s rather protuberant eyes seemed to bulge even more behind those yellow-framed glasses.
    “Yes,” Clara replied wearily. “He knows about Ryan. He knows all about the wedding.”
    Agnes clucked her tongue. “I don’t understand you young people today. It’s important for a child to have both a mother and a father who are married to each other. This is the all-important nuclear family and it is the bedrock of our society, the bulwark of civilization, ordained by God Himself.”
    “I completely agree, Agnes,” Dalton couldn’t resist putting in. “I’ve proposed. She turned me down.”
    Clara piped up with “Dalton!”
    “See?” And Agnes nodded approvingly in his direction. “This young man is not only from an excellent family. He knows what’s right. I simply can’t bear to ask why you’ve refused him.”
    “Then don’t,” advised Clara hopefully.
    Agnes barreled right on. “Of course, after the way your father behaved, I can see why you might be a bit confused as to your responsibilities as a parent, Clara.” The way her father behaved? Dalton made a mental note to find out more about that. Agnes kept on. “And I can’t imagine how difficult these past months must have been for you.”
    “You’re