Fragrant bowls of chili were dished up and served with corn bread so perfect Darci made a quick check around the kitchen to look for mix boxes. Not finding any evidence, she shook her head in disbelief, then hurried to the table to eat before everything disappeared.

Her first bite of the spicy concoction brought tears to her eyes, but she eagerly ate the entire bowlful. “This is wonderful, Cole. You’ll have to give me the recipe.”

“No recipe. A little of this, a little of that, whatever’s in the fridge, and you’ve got chili. Turns out different every time.”

Darci watched Cole finish his meal, wondering at the different sides of him she was getting to know. She’d been hoping that as they spent more time together, she’d find out he wasn’t the man of her dreams. Unfortunately, the more she learned about him, the deeper her love grew.

It was supposed to be the other way around. She was supposed to discover Cole really was the lazy, shiftless wanderer his father had always portrayed. It would have been much easier on her that way, much simpler to walk away when the time came.

Todd soaked up the last of his chili with a piece of corn bread. “So when can I expect to be an uncle?”

Darci choked on the sip of water she’d just taken. Cole leaned over to thump her back while he glared at Todd. Longing knifed through her as she struggled to control her coughing. She wanted children, a large family, to whom she could give all the love she’d been harboring for too many years. She wanted to have the chance at the warm family life she’d missed in her own childhood.

“I thought I’d explained this wasn’t that kind of marriage.” Cole’s voice was tight.

“You did, I just don’t choose to believe it. You two kids belong together, but you’re too stubborn to see what’s right in front of you.”

Cole grabbed his dishes and carried them to the kitchen, his posture tense. “You’re wrong, but I’ll never get you to admit such a thing, will I?”

Todd winked at Darci. “I’m never wrong and he knows it. I’ll be back to help you celebrate your first wedding anniversary, and I’ll expect to be invited to the baby’s christening.”

Warmth flowed through her veins, finally pooling deep in her stomach. To have Cole’s children, to be able to give him all her love, was a dream she’d barely dared to recognize. But now that Todd had put it into words, the thought had been firmly planted in her mind, and Darci knew it was what she really wanted.