Mason's Marriage Read Online Free Page A

child.
    “You can sleep in here,” Helga said, her grin broad. “We can move Nanette here, too, and put Mason down the hall.”
    “I don’t think so.” Mimi backed away from Mason’s room.
    “A mother needs to be with her daughter,” Helga commented. “Always I had Kelly with me.”
    Helga’s daughter, Kelly, had married Fannin, oneof Mason’s younger brothers. Mimi needed no reminder of how important the mother and child bond was. But moving into Mason’s room was bound to start a fire of some kind. “Maybe we could push a small bed into the guest room Nanette is using.”
    “Hmm.” The German housekeeper nodded. “We could. Mason is planning to decorate for Nanette. You might not like to stay in a room that is decorated with angels and bows.”
    Mimi smiled. “I really don’t care about that.” She crooked an eyebrow. “Angels and bows? Did Mason pick the decor?”
    “Yes. In a catalog from England.” Helga took a catalog from Mason’s side table. “This is Daddy’s idea of what his little girl should have.”
    Mimi was stunned. “It’s breathtaking. And it costs a fortune!”
    Helga grinned. “She’s his only child.”
    Mimi blinked. “But such extravagance! That’s not like Mason at all!”
    “It’s good for him. Let him spend. He is celebrating.”
    “I guess so,” Mimi murmured. He was crazy. “I don’t suppose he ordered the matching pink three-story dollhouse, as well?”
    What sounded suspiciously like a giggle escapedthe stoutly built woman. “Of course. Nothing less than heaven for his little girl.”
    Mimi’s heart curled tightly inside her. A very sad part of her was saying that they’d messed this whole thing up very badly. She and Mason would have been a good team: friends, lovers, excellent parents. Why had he not loved her enough to ask her to marry him?
    Now it was really too late. She knew that by the way he was making plans without her. What father selected his little girl’s room decor on his own? “What did he say when he told you?” Mimi asked, her heart so tight she could barely stand it.
    “He told me that Nanette was his child. Which I had already known.” Helga shrugged.
    “You couldn’t have,” Mimi said. “I didn’t tell anyone except Bandera, whom I swore to secrecy.”
    “Pfft. You and Brian were never together long enough to make anything happen.”
    “Neither were Mason and I, really,” Mimi said.
    “But it happened. And she looks just like him, anyway.” Helga folded her arms with satisfaction. “I was making dinner when he called all his brothers, and I can tell you that he was quite proud. He bragged, actually, about his little daughter.”
    “He can be so odd,” Mimi said with a reluctant smile. “I want to be so angry with him for takingNanette out of my house like a caveman, but part of me admires the side of him fatherhood has brought out.”
    “Very possessive. Good in a man,” Helga said with a nod.
    Mimi wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know.” She sighed. “We grew up playing with goats…and rope swings…and playing pranks on people for fun. We were a renegade band, me and the Jefferson boys. I would have been so lonely without the Jefferson kids. She’ll be lonely out here.” Mimi sighed. “At least in town there are many children for Nanette to play with.”
    Helga laughed. “Have another baby.”
    Mimi stared at her. “I don’t really know what to say to that. How? Why? With whom?”
    The housekeeper smiled. “Same way as the first time. Why? So Nanette won’t be lonely. Although I think another baby would be more for you. And the only man you want to father your children is Mason. So, with Mason. That would be best for everyone.”
    Mimi jumped as she heard Mason’s boots coming up the stairs. “Uh-oh.”
    Helga drifted away, leaving Mimi to face Mason alone.
    “What are you doing?” Mason said when he saw Mimi. He noted her suitcase and frowned.
    “Well, if you won’t come to the mountain, themountain