by Pat Warren
None of the changes in her life since she’d left Aaron’s home had come easily. She’d settled into the apartment over the shop and fixed it up for herself and for the baby who would arrive in the fall. Finding out she was pregnant had been a shock, then an overwhelming pleasure. Together, they’d be fine, and no one —no one—would ever take her child away from her.
Kate had worked hard in the bookstore, too, making it more appealing for all ages, and her efforts had been rewarded with good sales and loyal customers. If she still missed both Jamie and Aaron daily, hourly, if at night she still reached out for the man who wasn’t there, if the tearful moments still hit her with maddening regularity, it was the price she had to pay for her peace of mind. She’d heard Aaron’s calls on Pam’s answering machine, for she’d never changed the message. Her first thought had been that something had happened to Jamie, but a quick call to Fitz had reassured her. That worry resolved, she’d sworn the housekeeper to silence and hoped if no one returned his call, Aaron would give up eventually.
She should have known better. Aaron was back, staring at her in that watchful way he had, and she couldn’t imagine what it was he wanted from her. With trembling hands, she turned to the next person in line.
Aaron saw Kate, somewhat distractedly, nod to her customer and step out from behind the counter to show him where the book he wanted was. Watching her closely, Aaron felt the shock move through him like a tidal wave as he realized what he was seeing. Pregnant. She was obviously pregnant.
Swallowing hard, he waited.
Story hour ended, and the children and their parents left, as did the reader, who said goodbye to Kate and went out the back way. The young man from the back came forward and asked if he could help Aaron locate a particular book, but he shook his head, his eyes never leaving Kate. Finally, there was a lull in the line of customers, so he walked over to her.
She stood her ground, her eyes unwavering, though her lower lip trembled slightly.
“When were you going to tell me, or weren’t you?” he asked, his voice low and sounding a little hurt to his own ears.
Her chin came up in that challenging way she had. “Don’t worry. I don’t hold you responsible. I’m old enough to know better. The baby’s mine and no one else’s. We want nothing from you.”
She said her say with such quiet dignity that admiration rose in him. Even so, he wasn’t about to accept her explanation. In a swift movement that caught her off guard, he dodged the counter and pulled her into his arms, his mouth taking hers in a stunning kiss that effectively stopped any protest.
Kate wanted to remain stiff and unresponsive, wanted to show him he couldn’t come waltzing back into her life as if nothing were wrong and overwhelm her. In her head, that’s what she wanted. But her heart and her traitorous body welcomed him seconds after he touched her. Her hands fluttered in surprise, then settled on his shoulders and finally pulled him closer when they should have been pushing him away.
Oh, Lord, she’d missed him, missed this, this mindless feeling that only Aaron had ever evoked in her. She found herself kissing him back with all the need that had been building inside her, the desire that had lain dormant until now, the love that she’d hidden in her heart. But it was that love he didn’t want, she finally remembered, and drew back.
Eyes hazy but clearing, she looked up at him. Peripherally, she was aware of her two salespeople hovering in the background, undoubtedly wondering what to make of this scene, but she ignored them. “Don’t think that that changes anything. I…”
“Kate, I’ve missed you terribly. So has Jamie. She cries for you constantly.”
Pain flickered across her expressive face. “Oh, you know just how to turn the screws, don’t you?”
“Not this time. I was wrong. I love you. We both do.”
Warily, she studied him. “You’re only saying that because of the baby. You don’t have to. I can handle this without you.” The bluff was weak, and she knew it but she had to be firm.
“Perhaps you can, but I can’t. I can’t manage without you, Kate. I walk around like a zombie, unable to work, to sleep. And it’s true, Jamie still cries for you after all these weeks.” He glanced down at the small but definite proof of her pregnancy. “I didn’t know about the baby. That’s icing on the cake. I want you, I want you back with us, I want to make a home with you. Since you left, it’s just a house, a very sad house.”
She wanted to believe. Oh, how she wanted to believe. “What about Stephanie? Are you sure you’re not still feeling guilty and…?”
“You were right about that. I was being selfish and self-indulgent. After you left, I put one of Stephanie’s pictures in Jamie’s room and I talk to her about her mother. I don’t want her to forget Stephanie, but for me, that part of my life is in the past. You and Jamie and now the baby, that’s the future.” He watched her struggling with her doubt, with unasked questions. “Please marry me, Kate. I love you. Please tell me you care, just a little?”
At last, she released a trembling sigh. “A little? I’ve loved you from the first, from that very first day. Oh, Aaron.” Moving back into his arms, Kate felt as if she’d finally found the home she’d been seeking all her life.
Epilogue
St. Clair, Michigan—December 1995
Kate heard the back door open, bringing her back to reality from her nostalgic memories. In minutes, Aaron came into the family room and joined her on the couch, his hands cold as he slipped them around her and pulled her into a hungry kiss.
“Mmm, I’ve waited all day to do that. You taste scrumptious.” He nuzzled her neck.
She smiled at him, welcoming the solid feel of him holding her. “I’ve missed you. The kids and I played in the snow out back. Fitz even came out with us for a while, but I think we tired her out. She went to her room right after dinner. Jamie kept asking me where Daddy was so she could go sledding.” Almost three, the little girl was full of life and curiosity, talking nonstop, delighting both of them.
“I’m sorry I missed the fun, but the meeting lasted longer than I’d hoped. Tomorrow’s Saturday. I’ll take them both for a ride on the sled. Say, what about Aaron Jr.? Didn’t he ask for his daddy?” A running joke between them was that their sixteen-month-old son was jabbering a blue streak in his own language and calling everyone “Mama”, even Fitz and the mailman.
Sitting back, Kate smiled at her husband. “Nope. Sorry, Daddy, you’re going to have to wait a while longer. Did you have dinner?”
Aaron sat back, toeing off his shoes and loosening his tie. “Yeah, Dad and I grabbed a sandwich on the way to the meeting.”
“I’m glad you’ve eaten, because I have something I want to talk to you about.”
Stretching his arm along the couch back, Aaron gathered her to him. “Okay, shoot.”
So she told him about Pam’s call and the television program “Solutions” and, more important, about seeing her mother and learning that she was not only alive but anxious to locate her three children.
“You’re kidding?” Aaron studied her face. “You’re not. I can’t believe it.”
“Neither could I.” Kate reached for the pad she’d put on the end table. “I copied down the number to call.”
“This is wonderful news, babe.” Shifting to the table on his side, Aaron dragged over the phone and held it out to his wife. “Call them now. You can never have enough family.”
It took a while to get through to the station and another few minutes of waiting while the person answering the phone put her on hold. Then suddenly, a woman’s soft voice came on. “Hello, this is Julia Richards.”
Kate blinked back a rush of moisture. “Hello, Mom? This is Katie.”
REUNION:
Frankenmuth, Michigan—Christmas Eve, 1995
Julia needed to catch her breath. The day, only halfover, had been the happiest of her life but slightly overwhelming. She stood quietly in the foyer of her recently remodeled farmhouse in Frankenmuth, gazing through the garlands
that hung over the archway leading into the family room. Her heart was inside that room, she thought with a catch in her throat.
She’d longed for this sight for so many years that she could scarcely believe her eyes. There was a Christmas tree decorated with hundreds of tiny blinking lights and crowded with lovely ornaments, the star on top almost brushing the high ceiling. Beneath it were enough brightly wrapped and beribboned packages to make any child’s heart beat faster.
The fireplace on the far left was ablaze with yule logs, the mantel strung with overlapping red-and-green and striped stockings, waiting for Santa’s midnight arrival. The scent of evergreen mingled with the woodsy aroma, and in the background, the stereo was softly playing Christmas carols, filling the house with music.
From the kitchen drifted mouth-watering cooking smells, gingerbread cookies and pumpkin pies and a turkey basting in the oven. There was so much warmth and love that she felt as if the seams of the wonderful old house might split. Sloan had bought the farmhouse over a year ago when he’d heard it was going on the market, as a gift for Julia, and he’d lovingly restored it to where the marvelous rooms combined the old beauty with modern conveniences. At last, there was enough room for their entire family, six bedrooms upstairs and a generous downstairs.
And what a family, Julia thought, never tiring of looking at them, her eyes misty with the tears that kept reappearing, tears of joy. The television program, “Solutions,” had worked, thank God. Not long after their segment aired, Michael had phoned, then Hannah and finally Kate. Julia had been shocked to learn that all these years, her children had thought her dead. All that pain and suffering. Ah, but today, she would think no more about the years gone by. She would just enjoy the present at last.
They’d agreed to meet for a Christmas reunion, and when she’d given them the old address of the Frankenmuth farmhouse, none could believe that they’d actually be going back, not just to their home but to their mother who’d been searching so long. A smile on her lips, Julia gazed at her family, one by one.
Hannah looked a great deal like her mother, Julia thought, though prettier with all that thick auburn hair. Beside her on the piano bench was her handsome husband, Joel Merrick, who held their son, nine-month-old Will, on his knee. They were both attorneys living in Boston and had already invited her and Sloan to consider vacationing there next year.
On the couch was Julia’s daughter by Sloan, Emily, fourteen years old and fascinated with the youngest member of the family, three-week-old Julie, born to Julia’s son, Michael, and his wife, Fallon. They lived in San Diego and operated a home for runaway teens, which she and Sloan had promised to visit soon.
Across the room, bringing in more logs for the fire, was Sloan’s son, Christopher, a tall and handsome twenty-five, the boy Julia had adopted after they’d brought him back from Mexico, where his birth mother had fled after kidnapping him. Julia watched Chris set down the logs, then join the others at the piano. And going from group to group, his tail happily wagging, was Prince, a two-year-old sheepdog Sloan had gotten this past summer.
“Happy, darling?” Sloan asked, coming up behind his wife. He’d been observing her for some time and could only guess at how full her heart was right now. Dabbing at her eyes, she turned in his arms, and he thought again how lovely she was. At fifty-two, she had only a few strands of gray in her dark hair. Now, at last, her eyes were sparkling.
“Never happier, Sloan.” She hugged him close. “Thank you for the best Christmas gift anyone ever had.”
Glancing up at the mistletoe overhead, Sloan kissed her just as the doorbell chimed. “I believe the rest of your present has just arrived.” Together, they went to open the door.
A lovely blond woman stood on the wooden porch holding the hand of a little girl, and a dark-haired man stood behind her, in his arms a bright-eyed boy.
Julia’s face broke into another wide smile. “Katie!” Opening her arms, she embraced her daughter. Kate’s husband reached around the two women to shake hands. “You must be Sloan. I’m Aaron Carver, and this little guy is Aaron Jr.” He placed his free hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “And this young lady’s Jamie.”
“Welcome, welcome. Come in, please.” Sloan guided the newcomers in, taking his turn hugging Kate while Julia got acquainted with another son-in-law and a couple more grandchildren. Ushering everyone into the family room, he began the introductions all around. There were smiles and laughter and happy shouts and hugs to share.
Amid the noise and confusion, Jamie Carver walked over to the tree and stared in wide-eyed wonder at all the gifts. She turned then and found the woman Mommy had told her was her grandmother. Jamie had never had a grandmother before, but she thought she might like this lady. Quietly, she went to her and took her hand.
Julia smiled down at the little girl who’d slipped her small hand into hers. “Hello, Jamie. Are you having a good time?”
“Yes, but when are we going to open the presents?”
Julia’s dark eyes skimmed each face in the room, then turned to look at her granddaughter. “Some of us already have.”
* * * * *
eISBN 978-14592-8080-9
KEEPING KATE
Copyright © 1996 by Pat Warren
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