by Lexi Blake
Max wasn’t going to make his wife cry today by making fun of the food she’d brought.
He narrowed his gaze. “You remember when Rachel thoughtfully made raisin pie?”
Max sighed. “I’ll do it. How you managed to choke that down I will never understand.”
The things they did for their wives…
* * * *
“I’ve been pregnant for five hundred years,” Nell said.
Rachel sighed. “Girl, same. Max, you get Rye and tackle those dishes. All the pregnant ladies are watching a movie.”
“But baby, the game is coming on. I already had to…” Max’s eyes went wide when he saw Nell sitting next to Rachel on the couch. “Yes, baby.”
He turned on his heel and strode right back to the kitchen.
“What did Henry do to make him eat that casserole?” Nell asked because she’d seen tears in the poor man’s eyes.
Rachel sat back. “Whatever it was, he needs to tell me. So you and Henry good? Or are you still signing that postnup thing?”
Stef’s lawyer had drawn up a document that gave her everything, in the event of a divorce. All the money, the cabin, the Jeep. “I tore it up and told him if he ever presented me with something like that again, he would sleep on the couch for the rest of his life.”
Laura had Sierra Rose in her lap. “Thank god. I was worried when I heard he’d done that.”
“I think he was trying to make a point,” Holly added.
The point had been made and rejected. “Anything we made, we made together.”
“So you’re going to share the fortune you made off dreamcatchers at Woo Woo Fest?” Laura asked.
She loved her friend, but sometimes Laura was nosy. She hadn’t given up on trying to figure out Nell’s secret. “Yes. We made them together. We should share in the profits.”
Laura groaned. “You’re never going to tell me.”
“Come on. She can’t. According to the rumor mill, Henry brought a ton of cash from his days working for the CIA,” Rachel replied, a light in her eyes. “It’s why the cartel might come after him.”
Jen nodded. “That’s what I heard, too.”
She knew a trap when she saw one. Now was the time she should leap to her husband’s defense and tell them all the truth. She simply nodded. “I heard that one, too.”
Callie was sitting on the big comfy chair, one of her twins in her arms. Nate was walking around with the other. “Told you she wouldn’t fall for it. You keep those secrets, girl.”
Or maybe it was time to come clean about everything. Henry had always told her it was up to her when or if she ever wanted to talk about her writing. It felt so good to be writing again. At first it had been a chore, but then somewhere along the way, the words had started to flow and the plot had begun to change. It might be fun to talk about it now. “What secrets? Like I’m a bestselling author of truly filthy romance and Henry helps me with them? I mean dirty, and by dirty I also mean beautiful. They are also carefully researched by a man who knows how to study. That secret?”
Somehow she didn’t need to keep that secret anymore. She and Henry had other things that only they knew. Only they knew what it meant to love the other. Only they knew what it meant to live their lives.
The whole room went silent.
It was good to know she could still shock her friends.
And it was good to know that she and Henry were going to make it through.
Winter
Chapter Ten
Nell stared at the windows of Stella’s Diner, the snow forming a lattice pattern on the glass. It was dark outside and the lights from the café illuminated the snowflakes. She loved the winter. Oh, she complained about it when she had to slog through the snow, but there was something infinitely soothing about watching the world get blanketed in white, in cuddling up on the couch with her husband while they talked about what to name their baby.
They’d narrowed it down to Daisy or Poppy. She smiled at the thought because she’d teased him by demanding they consider Freedom Justice Flanders or Liberty Suffrage Flanders. She’d watched her poor husband try to figure out how to maneuver his way out of those names without upsetting her.
It was then and there that she’d given up any anger she’d had with him. Mel’s words had truly sunk in over the course of long months spent simply living with the man. John Bishop might still be in there, but he loved her, too. John Bishop hadn’t become Henry Flanders to get away from his past. He’d done it because he’d finally found a future he wanted. A future with her.
And their child, who was definitely going to be a Poppy.
She turned her attention to Henry, who sat across from her, his eyes moving down the tablet in front of him. He was reading intently, his finger turning the virtual pages.
Her latest book. The one she’d started almost as a way to flip off her husband. She wouldn’t have said it at the time, but she could be more honest now. She’d started the book firmly intent on having the spy be the bad guy who tried to rip apart her young, idealistic lovers. The handsome but lying spy was supposed to ruin everything. He was supposed to be the conflict they had to get over. And he was going to die because that was what writers did when they were upset with a person. Kill them off in inventive ways.
Over the course of writing, the damn thing had become a ménage because somewhere along the way she’d realized that she loved John Bishop, too.
She loved all of the man, and the book he was reading was her way of telling him.
“Hey, Henry,” a familiar voice said. “I was wondering if you could come out and help me with the plumbing in the guest bathroom.”
Cade Sinclair stood at the front of the booth, still wearing his big overcoat.
“No,” Henry said, never once looking up.
She gave Cade a smile. “He absolutely would love to, but he’s not willing to talk about it at the moment. He’s involved in his book.”
“I told you I got us a repair manual.” Gemma joined her husband, sliding her hand into his. “Jesse can totally handle it.”
Henry kept his eyes on the page. “Jesse knows cars. He’s terrible at plumbing. I’ll be there tomorrow. Go away.”
She’d gotten used to Bishop’s growly nature. It came out only at times when he was super involved—usually with her—and she had to admit it did something for her.
“Thanks so much, Henry,” Gemma said. “The last time Jesse tried to fix something we ended up turning the water off for two days. Hey, Nell. Come on, babe. Jesse should be here soon. I’m starving.”
Nell gave the pretty blonde a wave as she led her husband away.
“When did Henry get so scary?” Cade was asking.
Gemma snorted. “He was always that way. You just didn’t see it.”
Henry huffed, a gruff sound, but went on with his reading.
Nell stretched because her lower back was aching. It had been all day, but she’d been running on the high of finishing her book that morning and having Henry be so engrossed in it.
She got a good kick to her kidneys, and then something moved across her belly. Probably a hand.
Had she complained about the baby not moving? Some days she prayed her little girl would take a nap. Her daughter was obviously practicing to be a gymnast. Or an acrobat. And she loved to get super active the minute her momma tried to get some rest.
She put a hand on her belly as though she could soothe the baby with touch. Christmas had been a lovely time. They’d been holed up in their cabin, happy and warm.
Seth, Georgia, and Logan had come home for the holidays. They’d celebrated with Teeny and Marie and Georgia’s brothers. Seth had treated Henry like a father figure.
It had been so good to spend time with family, but she was also happy to move into a new year.
Winter was when she’d first met Henry Flanders. Winter was their time.
The door opened again and the Harpers strode in with their newest member in tow. Rye held a baby carrier in on
e hand while Max had a bundled-up Paige in his arms. Rachel pulled her coat off and hung it on the coat rack, waving as Stella moved from the kitchen to the dining room.
“Stella, I need a meal that isn’t a casserole.” Rachel waved to all in the room, which this time of year was mostly locals. “I thank you all for the lovely dishes we have been surviving off of since Ethan was born, but I need French fries.”
“Go on,” Henry said under his breath. “You know you want to. We’ve still got a couple of weeks. Go get some baby love in. I’m almost done and then we’re going to talk.”
That last was said with a bit of a growl that let her know he’d gotten at least part of the message. She did want to see the baby though. She pushed herself out of the booth that she wouldn’t be able to get into soon.
She meant what she’d told Rachel on Thanksgiving. It felt like she’d been pregnant for at least seven years. And it also felt like yesterday.
She stretched to try to get that ache in her back to ease. It was getting harder and harder to ignore. “I hear promise in your tone, but I’m afraid the only play you’re getting tonight is to rub my back.”
His eyes came up, his gaze going soft. “I can do that right now. We can head home and I’ll rub you everywhere you need.”
“Finish the book.” She leaned over and kissed him. “I want to talk about it.”
She turned and walked over to greet the Harpers and get a good look at that sweet baby.
Rachel gave her a hug. “It’s good to see you. I’ve decided if we have any more kiddos, we’re definitely doing this in the summer. Winter deliveries are the worst. That storm we had kept everyone away. I forgot how nice it was to have help.”
“What am I?” Max asked as he settled in. “Chopped liver? Paige, sweetie, defend your dad.”
Paige giggled and tried to climb over the booth.
Rye had the new baby out of the carrier and cuddled in his arms. “Hey, you want to meet this guy?”
Her heart did a flip. “I do. But just let me see him. I’m so clumsy these days.”
Rachel took her son. “No, you’re not. You’re moving toward the finish line and getting nervous about everything. But it’s all worth it. I promise.”
Nell gazed down at that perfect face. Ethan looked like his dads, with a cap of golden-brown hair and bright blue eyes. He yawned and got that half smile babies had that made every woman in the room feel maternal for a second.
“He’s precious.” Nell reached out and gently stroked the baby’s head, careful around his soft spot. “How are you feeling?”
“Well, I’m getting by. It’s been three weeks, so I feel somewhat human again. That one was nine pounds,” Rachel pointed out. “Paige was only eight and a couple of ounces. Those men of mine can’t make regular-sized babies. Are you still planning a home birth?”
She had the tub ready and everything. “My midwife says everything is good to go.”
She’d found a midwife in Creede and carefully laid out her birth plan. Even Caleb thought the woman was solid. She’d worried that Henry might put his foot down had Caleb objected, but Caleb and Naomi had sat down with the midwife and proclaimed her of sound mind and good knowledge.
Which Nell would usually have said infantilized her, but she had originally planned to go with Irene, and after she’d been arrested for using her Dairy Queen job to launder money for a biker gang, Nell had to sit back and rethink a whole lot of her positions.
It was probably why the sage hadn’t worked.
“Okay, but I need you to remember something.” Rachel got serious. “I really need you to hear me, Nell.”
She was likely going to get a lecture on how she should deliver in a hospital. “All right.”
“You like to plan and you like to be in control,” Rachel began. “And I hope that it all goes exactly the way you want it. I will be there in the women’s circle with soothing music and aromatherapy, and I will cheer you on as you give birth in a bathtub. I’ll love that baby and I’ll be so happy for you.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “Thank you.”
“But, Nell, if it goes wrong, I need you to remember the one thing I’ve learned about being a mom.”
“What’s that?”
“There is no one plan,” Rachel said solemnly. “There is no one way to do this. Pregnancy, childbirth, being a mom. You’re going to have a thousand different voices telling you to do it this way or that way. Or they’ll tell you you’re going to ruin your baby if you need something for the pain. The only thing that matters at the end of this isn’t that you did it perfectly. It’s that you and the baby are alive. Okay? Can you promise me, because I’ve been worrying about you.”
All that mattered was that her daughter made it into the world safely. She nodded. “I promise.”
“And if you need it, take the drugs,” Rachel said. “It’s okay. If you end up in the hospital, it’s okay to ease your pain. It’s okay if you need a C-section. Everything is okay as long as you and your baby are fine at the end of it. And anyone who tells you different is going to have to deal with me.”
Nell managed to smile through her tears. “I will remember that.”
Rachel gave her a half hug. “And know that we will all be here for you. We’re going to get you through, and then we’ll get Holly through. And then we’re going to hit up the Richie Richs for that school they’ve promised us.”
“Oh, Henry and I are homeschooling,” she replied.
Rachel’s lips kicked up in a grin. “Well, you’re always going to be welcome at our little school. Like I said, there’s no one way.”
“Hey, sweetie. Hal’s got your burger ready,” Stella said with an indulgent smile on her face. “This one is black bean, and he thinks it’s his best yet.”
Warmth poured through her. Hal had been trying out all kinds of new vegan recipes the last few months, and she knew it was all about her. It was kindness and caring. “I’m always thrilled to try his new recipes. I’m going to the bathroom first. Baby girl is jumping on my bladder.”
She turned and felt a rush of warmth between her legs. Embarrassment flashed through her. It had finally happened. She hadn’t made it to the bathroom in time. Pregnancy wasn’t all glowy. It was also about utter humiliation.
It was probably meant to prepare her for motherhood.
“Stella, I’m so sorry,” she began.
“Oh, no.” Rachel was staring down at the floor. “Nell, this is one of those times I just talked about.”
“I can clean it up,” she began.
Rachel shook her head. “No, you’re going to be busy, sweetie. Henry!”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” he called back.
“You know he was way easier to get along with before he stopped hiding his grumpy side,” Rachel said with a sigh. “Henry, Nell’s water broke. It’s go time, buddy.”
Her back seized and she held on to Stella. “No. It can’t have. It’s not time. I have two more weeks.”
Henry was next to her, lending her strength. “Baby, it’s going to be all right.”
“Hey, we need to move.” Rachel calmly directed her husbands to clear out. “This is the birthing booth. It’s surprisingly comfortable, but I’ll warn you they will not give you snacks.”
She couldn’t be…she wasn’t ready. She wasn’t at home. She couldn’t have her baby here at Stella’s, no matter how much she loved this place. “I don’t want to use the birthing booth.”
Pain wracked through her and she moaned, holding on to Henry’s hand.
“Yep, that’s a contraction.” Rachel had passed off Ethan. “Has your back been hurting all day?”
Tears made everything watery. “Yes.”
“Okay, so you’ve been in labor for a while.” Rachel looked over and Gemma had joined the small crowd.
“Jesse’s going to get Naomi. We saw her at the Trading Post before we came here, and I put a call in to Caleb. He’s on his way,” Gemma said.
“I want to go h
ome. I need my midwife.” Her hands had started to shake.
Henry’s arms went around her, holding her from behind. His head nestled close to hers. “I don’t know that she can get here from Creede tonight. We’ve got a bad storm blowing in.”
“It’s worse to the north of us,” Rye said. “They’ve already got a foot of snow, and it’s coming down hard. Why don’t we take her to the clinic? Gemma, does Nate still have a key?”
Gemma had her bag open. “I’ve got it. I’m at the station house more than Nate, so I keep it with me. It’s the closest safe place.”
Everything was speeding up, going far too fast for her to handle. “I want to go home.”
“And maybe we get to the clinic and Caleb says you’re still hours away,” Rachel reasoned. “Then I promise we’ll get you wherever you want to be.”
“If Caleb says it’s safe,” Henry whispered.
Her poor husband was trapped. He would want so badly to please her, but he would be scared, too. Losing her was his biggest fear.
She had to breathe. She couldn’t breathe.
Henry moved in front of her, looking down into her eyes. “Look at me. Forget everything else and listen to me. We can do this. We’re going to take it one step at a time, and the first thing we’re going to do is meet Caleb at the clinic.”
She managed to nod. “Did you finish the book?”
He smoothed back her hair. “It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is you and our baby.”
But she wanted him to know. “The spy lives and they all get married and live happily ever after.”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I was the spy and the other guy, you know. Even when you were mad at me, I was still the hero, too. And you are everything to me.”
They could do this. They would do it together.
Although it would be nice if Henry had to take half the pain because it was…way more than she’d dreamed.
She took a deep breath and let Henry start to lead her out.