by Beth Wiseman
“I think that’s obvious.” She rummaged in her Gucci bag and finally pulled out a tissue. “You could be raising Lauren. At the very least, you’ll be a big part of her life.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “So before I sign her over, I want to make sure you’re trustworthy.”
Sign her over? She’s not a car title. “But you don’t have to give up your rights. He hasn’t signed the papers yet. He said he wants to wait, to make sure you won’t change your mind. There is a way this can work where we can all be part of Lauren’s life. A baby can never have too much love.”
Virginia smiled. “Owen is a good man.”
“Oh yes.”
“But it’s all been decided.” Virginia looked away from Brooke for a few moments, then back at her. “And it’s fine.” She dabbed at her eye with the tissue. “I just felt like I had to meet you. Believe it or not, I’m trying to do what’s best for Lauren. I’m from a broken home, and I don’t want her running back and forth between houses like I did. That’s not to say I’m doing it all for her, because I’m not. I admit that. But this is still the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” She hesitated, staring at Brooke. “I promise you, I would not be a good mother.”
“But you could be. It’s a hard job that comes with no instructions, but we all learn. And it’s the most rewarding job there is. Virginia, don’t do this if you have any doubts whatsoever. Don’t let anyone pressure you.”
Virginia straightened. “I don’t have doubts. Tell Owen to sign the papers. But . . .” Her eyes drifted around the room toward the swing, the carrier, and the playpen. “Can you please send me pictures?” She reached into her purse and pulled out a card. “Here is my e-mail address.” Her voice faltered. “Just an occasional picture . . . would be wonderful.”
Brooke gazed at the card, still not fully comprehending. “Sure. But—”
“I’m afraid Owen won’t do it.”
“He would if you asked him to, I’m sure.” Brooke took a deep breath and blew it out slowly.
Virginia stood up, so Brooke did too. In that moment, something seemed to shift in her, and all traces of vulnerability disappeared. “I want you to know I won’t be interfering in your life. Gary has lots of travel plans lined up for us. A baby didn’t really fit into those plans.”
“You don’t have to choose.” Brooke didn’t want to step over the invisible lines that had been drawn, but it was true.
Virginia locked eyes with Brooke, a look so intense it would haunt her for months to come. “Yes. I do.” She picked up her purse and added, “I’m going.” Tears started to stream down her face as she headed toward the entryway, but her expression was stony.
Brooke grabbed her arm, frantic to do something to ease the woman’s pain, self-inflicted as it was. “Don’t you want to say good-bye to Lauren?”
Virginia threw her arms around Brooke’s neck. “I can’t. Take care of my baby.” Then she ran out the door and slammed it behind her.
Owen came out of the bedroom just in time to see Brooke cover her face and cry. Once it started, she couldn’t stop.
“What did that witch say to you? What did she do?” He drew her into an embrace. “I’m so sorry, Brooke. I shouldn’t have ever left you alone with her. Baby, what is it?”
Brooke just kept shaking her head and crying. Finally she caught her breath and said, “I just feel so incredibly sorry for her.” Then she gently pushed Owen away and looked into his eyes. “She’s going to miss everything.”
Owen pulled her once more into his arms. “But we are going to have it all.”
Brooke knew that both of their lives had changed forever. He held her for another minute before he eased her away and kissed her several times on the lips.
“Everything is going to be okay.” After a final kiss on the forehead, he asked, “We are still having dinner here, right?”
Brooke sniffled, glad for a change of subject. “Yes, we’re having dinner. Tell the boys we’re having chicken-fried steaks and mashed potatoes. I’ll bring the ingredients and cook ’em when we get here.” She smiled. “Sure hope Hunter got that plane fixed. Spencer can’t wait to try it out.” She picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder. “So I will see you and Miss Lauren tonight.”
After Brooke left, Owen picked up Lauren and carried her to the couch. He sat down and stared into his baby girl’s blue eyes.
“Hello, daughter.”
He felt like he could just watch her forever. Just the sight of her face brought healing to his heart.
“Spence, close my car door, would you, please?” Brooke had her hands full as she walked toward Owen’s door. Meghan ran ahead and knocked, and it sounded like Owen, Denny, and Hunter all yelled, “Come in,” at the same time. “Meghan, it’s okay. Open the door.”
Brooke walked in after Meghan, halfway expecting the men to meet her in the entryway so she could unload some of the food she was carrying. But when none of them appeared, she walked into the living room—and smiled. Little Lauren lay on a quilted pad on the floor, and Owen, Hunter, and Denny were sitting in a circle around the baby, eyes glued to her. Meghan and Spencer ran to join them.
“I’ll just go get started on dinner,” she said. No response. Grinning, she repeated it a little more loudly. Owen stood up and rushed to her.
“Sorry.” He reached for the bags. “I think I’m getting this down, taking care of her. But you’ll have to help me with the bath thing. Hunter has still been doing it with me, but it seems like it should be a one-man job.”
“You’re going to do just fine. Really.” She followed him to the kitchen, then began unloading the groceries.
“Oh. I forgot to tell you.” Owen put a hand to his forehead. “She threw up. I tried to call you, but there was no answer.”
“When?” She laid the cubed steaks on the counter.
“About an hour ago, I guess. I cleaned her up as best I could without actually putting her in that little bathtub you bought. But what made her do that?”
“Sometimes babies just spit up. Did you remember to burp her?”
“I tried. But I couldn’t really tell if she did it.”
She turned to face him and smiled. “Welcome to parenthood, Owen. There is a learning curve.”
“Do you care if I go back in there?” Owen pointed toward the living room.
“Nope. I have this under control.”
Brooke got to work breading the steaks and boiling potatoes. She knew where everything was in Owen’s kitchen. She’d been the one to organize it all. No one did much cooking in this room but her, except when Denny made eggs. By now it felt like home.
After they ate, everyone went outside to see if Spencer’s plane would fly this time. Brooke wasn’t sure who was more nervous, Spencer or Hunter. “You have to do it just like I showed you earlier.” Hunter handed Spencer the remote for the airplane.
Brooke carried Lauren, blocking the baby’s eyes from the setting sun with a light blanket. She was gently bouncing Lauren in her arms when she caught Owen staring at them. He winked at her and smiled.
They all watched in suspense as Spencer worked the controls on the remote. Owen and Denny started to clap as the plane inched forward, then gradually accelerated until it lifted off the ground.
“Keep it steady!” Hunter had his hands on either side of his head and didn’t look like he was breathing.
Brooke was hoping Spencer didn’t fly the plane through someone’s window and also was wondering if he knew how to land it, but she loved watching her son’s excitement and his confidence at the controls. She looked up as Owen put his arm around her. He kissed her on the cheek, then touched Lauren’s cheek with his finger, then nodded toward Meghan. “My three favorite girls,” he whispered.
“Careful!” Hunter was jumping up and down now. “Careful!”
“I got it! I got it!” Spencer turned the plane around. Brooke took a few instinctive steps backward, then a few more.
“It’s coming right toward us.” Brooke turned and
hurried back toward the house with Lauren.
“I said I got it!”
Brooke watched from the porch as the plane slid onto the concrete and stopped a few feet in front of where they were all standing. Spencer’s face glowed, and Brooke’s jaw dropped when her son ran to Hunter and hugged him.
“You did it!” Hunter yelled.
Brooke thought she might be glowing too. It was a perfect night. She’d left her parents cuddled together on the couch watching a movie. Her father had been feeling well enough to get out of bed and move around a little bit, although they’d declined the dinner invitation. Owen beamed like any new father, and Brooke was pretty sure she’d be playing a significant role in this beautiful child’s life.
She sniffed at Lauren’s few wisps of hair, enjoying that incredible baby smell, as she looked out at her untraditional family. That’s exactly what they were—a family. Denny and Hunter leaned over the plane, engaged in intense conversation about something with Spencer. Owen held Meghan’s hand. The whole scene was such a gift. Thank You, God.
She turned to go in with Lauren. But as soon as she opened the door, she knew something was terribly wrong.
“Owen! Owen!” She clutched the baby tighter and hurried down the porch steps. “Hurry! Inside! Hurry!”
Thirty
Owen knew everyone was safe—he could see them all. But what was happening? Why was Brooke yelling?
Hisfirst thought was fire. But when water met him in the entryway, he knew he was dealing with an entirely different problem. He sloshed through water coming into the entryway and followed the noise he heard all the way to the small powder room nearby. Water was shooting straight up from one of the faucets. He squatted down and turned the water under the sink off, but it had apparently been spraying for a while.
“What happened?” Denny walked up beside Owen. After a quick inspection, he said, “Hunter’s the one who worked on that faucet.”
“Thanks for throwing me under the bus, Denny.” Hunter picked up the faucet from the floor where it had landed. “The washer was worn out, so I replaced it and—”
“It doesn’t matter, but we need towels—lots and lots of towels.” Owen started pulling down towels from the shelf by the door and throwing them onto the wet floor. “We’ve got to get this water up before we end up having to redo these floors again.” He wiped the sweat from his face with his shirtsleeve. “Hunter, go into the linen closet in the big bathroom down the hall. There’s a big bag of towels in there. I bought new ones to put in all the bathrooms when we were completely done, but I think we’re going to need them now. Hopefully we can keep the water contained to the entryway and hall.”
Brooke was busy keeping the kids back and holding Lauren. “Can we do anything to help?”
“See if you can find any towels in the kitchen.” Owen started mopping up the water with the towels he had, then dumping them into the trash can when they were saturated. Denny disappeared for a few minutes, then returned with a blue plastic storage tub. “For the towels. It’s bigger.” Owen heard Brooke and the kids in the kitchen opening drawers. But there was no sign of Hunter.
“Denny, can you go see what’s taking Hunter so long? If he can’t find the bag, it’s at the very back of the bathroom closet, thrown in the corner. I only have three or four towels that I use on the shelf. We’ll need more than that.”
“Will do.”
Brooke returned with her arms full—two kitchen towels, two rolls of paper towels, and a bag of shop rags. “This is all I can find. I put Lauren in the playpen in the living room. What else can I do?”
Owen sighed, straining to see down the hall toward the entryway, where water still puddled atop his newly sanded and stained floors. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then looked at Brooke. “Apparently the boys can’t find those towels. Can you please go see what the holdup is? They are in plain sight in the back left corner, inside a gray shopping bag.”
“Sure.”
Brooke held Meghan’s hand with Spencer close behind as they sloshed through the water in the entryway, making their way toward the full bath next to Owen’s bedroom. Meghan and Spencer lingered behind as Brooke entered the large bathroom. She loved the claw-foot tub and portable shower unit Owen had installed, and the new tile and countertops managed to look both vintage and up-to-date.
“Owen needs the towels. Did you find them? A big bag at the—”
She stopped, confused. Hunter stood in the middle of the floor holding a few towels in his hand. Denny tossed the big shopping bag of towels from inside the closet where he was standing. It was a sizable closet for a house this old, big enough to walk in about four steps. Denny and Hunter were both staring at the floor.
“Better go get Owen,” Denny said, hands on his hips.
“And hurry!” Hunter added. “Tell him we found the bunker.”
Brooke’s heart began to race as Spencer pushed past her. “Where?” he asked. “Where?”
Denny pointed to the floor, and Brooke edged closer. “I don’t see anything.” Spencer was stepping on everyone’s toes as he inched closer as well. Brooke gently grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him back. “Just wait, Spence.”
Denny squatted down about the time Owen came rushing into the bathroom.
“Hello? Anyone got the towels?” He threw his hands up in frustration as he spotted the bag in the middle of the floor. “And what is everyone doing in the closet?”
Meghan pulled on his pant leg. “Mr. Denny found the bunker.”
“What?” Owen poked his head in where they were all standing. “Are you kidding? Because I’ve still got water in the entryway.”
Denny motioned with his hand for everyone to stand back. “See how the wood grain here is just a little different from the rest of the flooring?” He rubbed his hand along the seams. “Here’s two little holes, and I’m thinking there was a handle here at one time. It’s really hard to see, though. You’d have to know what to look for.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t.” Owen peered down at the floor, squinting. “Are you sure?”
Denny groaned as he stood up. “We’ll have to get a screwdriver or something and pry it open to know for sure. But I’ve got a pretty strong feeling about this.”
“Oh man, oh man, oh man.” Spencer’s eyes were round as saucers.
“Okay, let’s clean the water up as best we can, then we’ll check it out.” Brooke left the bathroom with the bag of towels. As she hoped, they all followed.
Brooke had never seen a group sop up water as quickly as they all did, dumping all the wet towels into the plastic storage tub to worry about later. Then everyone followed Owen back to the closet and stood outside the small space while Owen gathered up several pairs of shoes, a set of golf clubs, and two duffel bags. He handed the items to Hunter, who put them in the bedroom.
Denny then squeezed in beside Owen and handed him a screwdriver while everyone else stood in the bathroom, heads poking inside the closet. “I think if you pry it up right where those two holes are, it will open.”
Everyone went silent as Owen lifted a section of the floor. Grabbing it with two hands, he nodded to Denny to step out of the closet, then he laid the door back. The opening in the floor was about two feet by two feet. Brooke had Spencer by the shirtsleeve but barely managed to hold him back.
“Need a flashlight.” Owen pointed at Hunter. “There’s one in the kitchen, second drawer from the stove.”
Hunter sprinted out of the room.
Owen smiled at Spencer. “Looks like you’re going to get your secret bunker after all.”
“This is so cool.” Spencer tried to edge closer, but Brooke kept a firm hold on his sleeve. “I said wait. We don’t know what’s down there.” Brooke’s heart was racing, and she found herself moving closer as well.
Only Meghan stayed patiently in the background. She was afraid of the dark, and Brooke knew she wouldn’t be in any big hurry to venture down into that hole.
Footsteps po
unded in the hallway, then Hunter appeared with the flashlight. Owen switched it on and shined the light down the opening.
Hunter gasped. “Staircase! Who’s going first?”
Brooke could feel Spencer actually trembling.
Owen pushed his arm farther down the hole and shined the light in a circular motion. “I’ll go down first. We don’t know what’s down there or if it’s safe.” He turned around and held each step with one hand on his way down, since there was no handrail, shining the flashlight below him with the other.
“Be careful, Owen.” Brooke let go of Spencer so he could move closer now, and she brought a hand to her chest, her heart still pounding.
“Don’t anyone come down here until I say it’s okay.” Owen paused, his head even with the floor now as he spoke to Brooke. “Listen for Lauren, okay?”
“I will. Just be careful.”
Brooke decided to quickly check on Lauren, who still slept soundly. When she returned, Denny, Hunter, and Spencer were all on their hands and knees, staring down into the darkness.
“Well?” Denny called out to Owen.
Brooke moved in closer and knelt down with the others. They were so close together, their heads were lightly touching.
“We’re going to need more light, but you guys are not going to believe this.”
“What? What?” Spencer’s voice practically squeaked with excitement. “Owen, can I come down?” He looked up at Brooke. “Please, Mom. You’ve got to let me go down there!”
“No. You wait until Owen says it’s safe.” Brooke heard the baby cry. She leaned down toward the flickering light from below. “Owen, I’ve got to go check on Lauren. Do not let Spencer or Meghan down there until you know it’s safe.”
“Okay.”
Brooke hurried to Lauren and picked her up. She stopped crying right away, and Brooke quickly determined she just needed a diaper change. It wasn’t time for her to eat yet, so Brooke changed her and then rocked her a little in the new rocking chair the men had picked out. Sighing, Brooke held the infant against her chest, enjoying the feel of this tiny person against her, but also wondering what was happening in Owen’s bathroom. She knew Owen would keep her children safe, just as she was making sure Lauren was taken care of.