"Oh, yes, they just wanted to see you and their daddy all dressed up, and I didn't think you'd mind."
"No, of course not."
The girls eased back. "You look so pretty, Miss Hayley," Kate said, awe in her voice.
"Thank you, darling. Kind of a change, huh?"
"That's a lovely dress, dear," Grace said.
Her gaze swung briefly to Grace's. "Nash picked it out."
Grace's smile grew wide.
Hayley rolled her eyes at the woman and inspected Kim's stitches. "Hurt?"
"No, ma'am, only when I yawn."
Hayley laughed, giving the bandage a kiss, then felt Nash move up behind her.
She stood up and he lifted his girls, one in each arm, and said, "Isn't it past your bedtime?"
They just grinned. "Yup. Waaay past."
"You lost a tooth!" Hayley said to Kate. Nash eyed it very closely and his daughter giggled.
Nash nodded to somewhere behind her. "Hayley? This is Dr. Swanson."
She turned sharply to the old man he'd been talking to earlier. They shook hands, and at her request, he inspected Kate's stitches.
"Fine job, Doctor. Fine."
Hayley thanked him, then asked him if he thought she should have made another stitch. The pair stood off to the side, talking medicine, Nash supposed. When the girls had arrived, there wasn't a person in the room who could mistake her excitement at seeing them. Or at receiving Kim and Kate's crushing hugs. It made him understand again that his daughters were at risk, that their tender hearts could be badly bruised if Hayley suddenly vanished from their lives. A wild stab of pain shot through his chest, and he hefted his daughters a little tighter, accepting their kisses, their hands smoothing his hair; yet his gaze was on Hayley. He wanted a second chance, but at what cost? To him, to her and his girls.
Was trying to convince the woman that he was here for her, that he wanted to work this relationship out when she was hell-bent on going forward alone, asking too much of the other people in his life? If she would give him a clue that she wanted it, too, that she was willing to go the distance, maybe he wouldn't feel as if he was adrift without an oar.
He set the girls down and Grace herded them toward the door.
His heart nearly broke at the way they glanced back over their shoulders at Hayley, but when she looked in their direction, she excused herself from the doctor and went to them.
"Leaving without saying goodbye? Why, I'm stricken, ladies, positively stricken," she said with a deep drawl and a teasing smile. The children hugged and kissed her, and Hayley whispered something private in their ears before they giggled and left with Grace.
Sighing, she waved as they passed through the door, then turned back to Nash. He was looking at her oddly, scowling almost.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"You love them."
"Yes, very much." She moved nearer, linking her arm with his. He was stiff beside her. "You have a problem with that?"
"They're going to be hurt when you leave."
She stopped and met his gaze. "Would you rather I leave now?"
"I don't want you to go at all."
"Well, that's not an option, and who said to act as if there were no tomorrow?"
"That was before I realized how attached my daughters were to you. They've never responded to anyone like this. And they've never had a mother, not that they can remember."
"Are you blaming me for that?"
Nash sighed and looked away. Dancers moved and people dined in quiet elegance, while he wanted to howl in frustration. "No, of course not, but I have to think of them, too."
"Sure you do. They're your children. Perhaps I should save you the trouble of making that decision."
His gaze snapped back to hers, and the suppressed anger there made her take a step back. "No."
"This is obviously not the place to have a serious discussion." Hayley felt as if the floor was slowly opening beneath her feet, and she feared she could never stop the plunge. Instead, he pulled her onto the dance floor, but the sensual tenderness they'd shared earlier had faded. It stung. When the music ended, he walked her to their table and into her chair like a punished child, then muttered something about getting a drink. Hayley grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
Nash caught her outside the ballroom. "Where are you going?"
"I don't need to be treated like a treasure one minute and an old shoe the next, Nash." She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice and failed. "What is the matter with you?"
"It's that I'm trying hard not to remember you'll leave."
Her look was indignant. "I'm not dying, for pity's sake. You act like if I walk out the door I'll never look back. Why is it always black and white to you?"