“She’s still here,” Jo said. “Nowhere for me to go until the construction’s completed.”
“Speaking of—” Leah wandered over to the window “—it’s looking amazing. I can see that circular shape beginning to take form. Everything running smoothly now?”
“It is.” And that’s what had her worried. Too many times she’d gotten complacent and settled and then wham! Something roared up and knocked everything off course again. Maybe that’s what was bothering her. She rubbed the side of her belly. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Inspector’s due out next week to sign off on our progress. With the frame up for all three stories, people will be able to get a feel for what the entire place will be like.”
“No other creepy incidents, then?” Leah returned to the kitchen, snagged a grape out of the salad. “Your guard dog’s keeping the bad guys away?”
“Ha ha. Which one?”
“Word around town is Ozzy’s off the market.” Leah swayed back and forth, arching a brow at Jo. “You two getting serious?”
Jo’s frown deepened. She didn’t know what she and Ozzy were other than... Oh, heck. She sighed and set her cutting board in the sink. “I’m in deep trouble, Leah.”
“Oh?” Leah grinned. “This sounds promising.” She sat on one of the stools. “What kind of deep trouble?”
“The kind I told myself I’d never be in.” How did she explain it? That she felt all squishy inside when she merely thought about Ozzy. Or that she watched the clock incessantly until she saw him next. Or that instead of mapping out plans for her future and returning calls from Montana, she was spending as much time out of the office as she could. It was only now, feeling what she did for Ozzy, that she realized she hadn’t loved Greg. He’d been safe and easy and practical, and until he’d fled after her baby bombshell, he’d rarely even irritated her. “I can pretend all I want to, but I have this horrible feeling this won’t end well between me and him.”
“Why does it have to end at all?” Leah’s frank question caught Jo off guard. “Relationships—”
“I’m not in a relationship,” Jo snapped. At Leah’s focused look, she cringed. “Darn it. Sorry.”
“Relationships aren’t time bombs, Jo. They don’t explode at some unexpected moment because some imaginary force has decided you’ve had enough happiness. What’s wrong with just enjoying what you have with him? What’s wrong with letting yourself be happy?”
“I am happy when I’m with him.” But she wasn’t sure she should be. The happier she was, the more she had to lose, and with a baby on the way, there was a lot at stake beyond Jo’s heart. “But you know me, Leah. I’m going to mess this up. I always mess it up.”
“Okay, let’s get something straight.” Leah brushed off her hands and pointed her firm lawyerly finger at Jo. “You didn’t mess anything up with Greg. That’s all on him.”
“I know. I know that.” Was she trying to convince Leah or herself?
“Good. I hope Ozzy’s been able to convince...” Leah’s eyes narrowed. “You have told Ozzy what happened with Greg, haven’t you?”
“Most of it.” At Leah’s moan of irritation, she added, “He hasn’t asked. He’s said he’ll listen if I want to tell him, but I...I know it sounds weird, but I want the past to stay in the past. What happened with Greg doesn’t have anything to do with Ozzy.”
“If that were true, you’d be honest with him. If you want my advice—”
“I really don’t.”
“Tough. Here it is anyway. You’re worried about messing things up with Ozzy, but it’s a monster of your own making. You have to trust him enough to share how much Greg hurt you. Otherwise, it’ll be a wall that’s always there between you two.”
“None of this matters,” Jo insisted. “I’m going to be leaving, I’m going to be moving on and he’ll forget about me and go back to his online dating and hardware store girls and diner servers—”
“Nope, I don’t think he will.” Leah shrugged. “Word is he canceled all his online dating accounts and pretty much confirmed he’s off the market, so you, my friend, have some decisions to make.”
* * *
“HEY, OZZY. I’d almost forgotten what you look like.” Monty Bettencourt, owner of Wind Walkers Boat Tours, sidled up to Ozzy at the barbecue and tapped him on the shoulder.
The Saxons’ backyard was filled with family and friends. The intricate wooden playground set replete with swings, a rope bridge and monkey bars, brimmed with young ones ranging in age from barely walking to nearly ready to drive. “Been a while since we’ve had a fishing trip.”
“Hence my scheduling another one the other day. Besides, my freezer was full.” Ozzy shifted to keep Hunter MacBride away from the grill. Over Hunter’s tall head, Ozzy met Kendall MacBride’s gaze and grinned at her silently mouthed “thank you.”
“That’s code for he’s got himself a girlfriend,” Hunter said in a clear attempt to distract him. “Come on, Oz, let me man the tongs for a while. I promise—”
“Nope.” Ozzy yanked the metal utensil away. “I have my marching orders and they’re from your wife.”
“With a backup from mine.” Sheriff Luke Saxon passed around bottles of beer. “I’m under strict orders to let only Ozzy or Jason man the grill, and seeing as Jason has his hands full...” He trailed off and the group of men turned to where Jason Corwin and his wife, Abby, were showing off their baby boy, David. “Ozzy is the man. Although I bet Jo could give you a run for your money.”
“On so many things,” Ozzy agreed. His gaze automatically slid to where Jo was seated under one of the backyard trees between Calliope Costas and Kendall MacBride, all of whom were sipping on lemonade tinged with rosemary. Lancelot was racing around behind them with Cacius, the sheriff’s golden retriever, as if they’d been best canine mates forever.
Ozzy had attended dozens of these get-togethers over the years and had never once brought a date. He was happy to be part of the crowd and watch the kids while the adults decompressed from their week. But walking in this afternoon with Jo and Lancelot nipping at their heels had felt... Well, he couldn’t remember anything feeling quite so right before.
His friends had often teased him that when he fell, it would be hard and fast and probably for good. Ozzy was in absolutely no state to argue.
“You can almost see the cartoon birdies flitting around his head,” Luke quipped. “Are those hearts exploding in his eyes?”
“Thus concludes the female part of our male bonding ritual,” Hunter joked. “Hey, where’s Deputy Matt and Lori?”
“Matt’s holding down the office and Leo had a late karate class,” Luke said. “They should be here later. Hey, Kyle. Come and take over for Ozzy.”
“Now hang on,” Ozzy protested as Kyle gave his girlfriend, Mandy, a quick kiss on the cheek and joined them. The crutches were gone, replaced by a rather cumbersome walking brace, but he was getting around a lot better than he had been a few weeks ago. “I don’t need replacing.”
“No. We just need someone easier to intimidate.” Hunter reached for the tongs again only to get slapped back by Luke.
“Anything happens to this grill and my name is beyond mud. Go play with my kids if you need something to do.”
“How about I grab my camera and take some pictures.” Hunter backed away, then nearly tripped when he spotted a not-so-familiar face walk in through the gate. “You invited Gil? Sorry.” Hunter waved his hands as if he could erase the question. “I mean, you invited Gil.”
“I did.” Ozzy passed the tongs to a curious looking Kyle.
“Your secret backgammon dates aren’t enough one-on-one time?” Monty grumbled. “Next thing I know, you’ll be bringing him along on one of your...no.” Monty balked. “Oh, man, you invited him to go fishing with us?”
“What can I say?” Ozzy shrugged. “He’s growing on me. And he’s tryin
g, guys.”
“It’s like you have a squeeze toy for a heart.” Luke shook his head. “But he’s here, so I should help make the best of it. Someone signal us if Leah’s around. I hear they’ve been butting heads over town business. Guy does look like he’s waiting for someone to accuse him of something.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ozzy offered, “and take him a beer. Kyle?”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t let Hunter anywhere near that food, you hear me?”
“Roger that.”
“Man.” Hunter shook his head and retrieved his camera. “You ruin one grill...”
“Three,” Kendall called out as if she had heard the entire conversation. “You’ve ruined three grills.”
Ozzy headed to the cooler to grab a bottle for Gil. When he stood up, he cast a satisfied gaze. Kids played, laughed and squealed over Charlie’s new bike, which she was showing off like a prize-winning attraction at a fair. Friends joked, teased and talked. The food spread out across three picnic tables would be enough to feed two armies, and there, just along the edge of happiness, sat Jo.
He wondered if she realized she often rested her hand against her stomach. A stomach that in the few weeks he’d known her had grown significantly. Every day he saw her he reveled in the changes, both to her body and to her spirit, which had eased and settled, as most everyone’s spirits did when they found some peace in this town.
Butterfly Harbor, Ozzy thought, just had its own special brand of magic.
And it was that magic, along with his friends—his family—he was counting on to convince Jo she’d found where she belonged.
* * *
“IF YOU WEREN’T already pregnant, you would be now with the way Ozzy keeps looking at you.” Kendall MacBride kicked up one foot onto the edge of her lawn chair and toasted Jo with her lemonade.
“Kendall.” Calliope’s gentle warning tone had Jo’s blush fading beneath her laughter.
She liked Kendall, an army vet who had a no-nonsense manner that Jo appreciated. Kendall was thin, taller than average, with thick dark hair worn in a ponytail. The black tanktop and gray-green fatigues, from what Jo had heard, were a bit of a uniform for Kendall, while the significant burn scars on her arm and the side of her neck were an unfortunate reminder of a dark day in her military service.
“He does have a way about him.” A way she liked more and more as the days went on. “Oh, Kendall, that reminds me—I was wondering if you’d be up for giving me a tour of the lighthouse when you have a chance. I’d like to see what elements we might be able to incorporate into the sanctuary and education center.”
“Anytime.” Kendall rattled off her address. “Drop on in and we’ll head on over. With Phoebe in school on weekdays, I’m pretty open to anytime.”
“No projects in the offing, then?” Calliope sipped her lemonade and crossed her legs.
“Uh, there could be.” Kendall tapped her fingers against her knee. “I’m honestly finding the personal communication aspect of the construction and remodeling business trying.” She cringed a bit. “I love the work, restoring or redesigning or whatever, but Kyle had gotten really good at being the middleman with the clients. Until he’s back, I’m keeping things to a minimum. I’m not the best people person,” she added for Jo’s benefit. “I do better when I’m left alone.”
“That’s interesting because I’m the opposite. I love the challenge of personalities,” Jo said. “One of the jobs my grandfather gave me on a site was to be the go-between for a union rep and the workers and management. Sharpened my debate and communication skills for sure. Everyone’s always right and everyone’s always wrong.” She shrugged. “Once I learned that, the rest was just navigation and translation.”
“Sounds as if you two are different sides of the same coin,” Calliope observed. “What a shame you didn’t meet up sooner. You could have worked together. Excuse me. Xander and Alethea have arrived.”
“She’s a bit sneaky, isn’t she?” Jo watched the rather ethereal Calliope move off in a tinkle of bells and chimes. “You don’t think she’s hitting you over the head with anything and then wham!”
“She does have her talents. Speaking of—” Kendall eyed Jo “—do you know if it’s a girl or a boy yet?”
“No.” Jo stopped rubbing her stomach. “Not yet.” But she was getting more curious by the moment.
“FYI, Calliope’s a baby gender psychic. She can tell you what it is, no test required. If you want to go that route.”
“Mom! Mom, guess what?” A little girl with big blue eyes raced up to Kendall and clutched her arm. “Mandy said there’s new kittens at the bookstore. Three of them!”
“No more cats, Phoebe.” Kendall smoothed a hand down Phoebe’s hair.
“But Mooo-ooom.” Phoebe bent herself like a pretzel to get Kendall’s attention. “I bet they’re so cute and they need a home. And we have so much room!”
“Mandy will find them a home, Phoebe. She always does. Besides, if we get any more cats, we won’t be able to get a dog, remember? We can only take care of so many animals.”
“Oh.” Phoebe’s round face scrunched, then she caught sight of Lancelot and Cacius. “Ooh, look. A new puppy.”
Jo choked on her lemonade. She wouldn’t call Lancelot a puppy by any stretch of the imagination. “That’s Lancelot,” Jo told Phoebe and clicked her tongue. Lancelot trotted over and sat beside Jo. “Lancelot, Phoebe. Phoebe, Lancelot.” She moved her hand to the leash, just to be safe. Phoebe held out her hand and giggled at the significant sniff and lick she received.
Then Lancelot dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back, turning his big doe eyes to his newest fan.
“If only all men were so easily swayed,” Kendall murmured as Phoebe bent down to rub Lancelot’s belly. In the next second, the girl was racing off, Lancelot on her heels. The perfect image of a perfect Saturday.
Butterfly Harbor, Jo had to admit, was going to be a very difficult place to leave.
* * *
“I THINK YOU were the unofficial hit of the party,” Ozzy told Jo as he drove her back home.
“I was a curiosity,” Jo said. “But I’m glad I went. It was fun. They’re taking bets on who Charlie’s fairy godmother is, by the way.”
“I know.” Ozzy grinned. “I put ten bucks on Monty.”
She playfully slapped his arm. Lancelot let out a big yawn and rested his head on the console between them. “It’s only a matter of time before they find out it was you.”
“Hopefully, you’re wrong. There’s not enough mystery in life. I’d rather Charlie believe in the magic.”
Jo rolled her eyes. “How are you for real?”
“Huh?”
“They don’t make guys like you, anymore, Ozzy. They just don’t.”
“Not entirely sure how I should take that. What standards am I being judged by?”
She pinched her lips tight as he turned the corner and headed up the hill. “You never ask. About the baby’s father. Beyond what I’ve told you.”
“No.” A knot in Ozzy’s belly tightened. “I don’t. I don’t want to push you into saying something you don’t want to.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to...” She surrendered at his look. “Okay, you’re right, I don’t really want to, but not because I don’t trust you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He reached over and took her hand, squeezed and hoped she felt the promise where it mattered most: in her heart.
“You’re really not, are you?” She smiled, looked out her window, but not before he saw the flash of sadness in her eyes. “He was comfortable. Greg.”
Ozzy kept his expression passive. That was the first time she’d told him the baby’s father’s name.
“We were never going to be the kind of couple like your friends are. Funny, how I see that now, in hindsight. I think maybe
I assumed he’d only said he didn’t want kids because we both knew I thought I couldn’t have them. Stupid of me, I guess. Now that I look back on it.”
“You thought he loved you,” Ozzy said. “You trusted him and he let you down. I’d say I was sorry, but I’m not. No, that’s not true.” He lifted their linked hands and pressed his lips against her knuckles. His anger at the man who had abandoned her simmered low and deep, but he kept that for himself; she didn’t need to know about that right now. She needed his understanding. “I feel sorry that he’s missing out on all this. Whether he wants to be a part of it or not, it’s still his child. But if that’s the kind of man he is, it’s probably best he’s gone. There’s nothing else you aren’t telling me, right? About the baby? Everything’s okay?” He didn’t want to pry beyond what she was willing to share.
“Slightly elevated blood pressure and the doc’s watching my potassium and blood sugar.” A casual shrug lessened the tension in his body. “If I get lots of sleep and try to lessen the stress, and go to all my appointments, everything should be fine.”
“Good.” He dropped their hands onto Lancelot’s head and earned one of the dog’s canine sighs of happiness. “For what it’s worth? This Greg guy sounds like a real dolt.”
The smile she gave him could have brightened the entire night sky. “That’s my Ozzy,” she said and squeezed his hand.
* * *
LANCELOT’S LOW GROWL dragged Jo out of a deep sleep. “Aw, man.”
She groaned and yanked the pillow from behind her and pressed it over her head. In the week since the barbecue, she’d had barely enough time to breathe let alone sleep. Between the frenetic pace at the construction site and Ozzy covering for a fellow firefighter at the station house, she hadn’t seen him in three days and boy, was she cranky about it. That alone irritated her.
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