Baby on the Way

by Lois Richer

  Olivia burst out laughing, then clapped a hand over her mouth. Caitlin knew exactly what she meant. She could picture the two of them, brother and sister nattering at each other as a baby waited to be born. It was something she could only dream about.

  “She called him names,” Olivia said, loudly enough for her sister to hear. Her eyes still sparkled in merriment.

  “And he deserved every one of them.” Robyn was stout in her own defense, her voice emerging muffled from inside the closet. “Control myself indeed! As if I had any control over Eudora’s arrival!”

  Caitlin couldn’t help it. She let the laughter break free. Just then Jordan’s curious face peeked around the door and she giggled all the harder, tears rolling down her face as he frowned at them.

  “Is everything all right?” he asked Caitlin, ignoring the other two women. “You’re not in pain or anything?”

  “You mean pain, as in labor?” Robyn’s snarl was only half pretend. “And what would you do if she was?”

  When Jordan’s face blanched, Caitlin burst into renewed gales of laughter, joined seconds later by Olivia. It was evident he didn’t relish the prospect.

  “I’ll get Mom.” He gulped.

  “Don’t bother. Caitlin is fine. I at least, know how to treat pregnant women,” Robyn informed him smartly. She smacked a group of hangers together and laid them in a box. “Go and do some wonderful hulking-man thing like tossing around furniture, Jordan. You’re not needed here.”

  “What did I do to you?” He scratched his head, peering at his sister through lenses that were smudged and dirty. “You think you’d appreciate me a little more since I assisted your daughter into the world.”

  “You what?” Robyn pushed her way free of the clothes, hands on her hips as she glared at her brother. “I dare you to say that again.”

  Olivia rushed to the rescue, tugging her brother’s arm to get him to move out the door. “Uh, this isn’t a good time to bring that up, Jordy. Come back later. Or better yet, wait till we call you. Don’t call us. Okay?” When he frowned at her, Olivia stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss against his cheek. “I love you, big brother, but you’re not doing yourself any good here. Go away!”

  The order was just audible enough that Caitlin heard every word. She saw Jordan shake his head, obviously confused.

  “Okay, if you think so.”

  “We think so!” Robyn added her two cents’ worth.

  Jordan frowned and then retreated, his golden eyes puzzled at her sour tone. “I’ll see you later, Caitlin. Alone.” He glanced from her to the other two, then left, muttering to himself.

  “He’s impossible once he gets an idea in his head.” Robyn rolled her eyes, her tone confidential. “As if he helped! I don’t know where he gets this stubbornness from. None of the rest of the family is like that.”

  Those words were so far from the truth, Caitlin burst into renewed chuckles, her heart warming to these wonderful women. How had she stayed away so long?

  More important, what would she do when the novelty wore off and they left her on her own?

  Olivia and Robyn arranged her jewelry, clothes, lingerie, socks and shoes in several boxes and then urged her to move from the bed.

  “We’ve got to get this bedding off before they come for the mattress. Dad rented a trailer and he and Jordy are going to load everything onto it and haul it over when Glen comes this afternoon. Then we’ll get you settled in. Wintergreen, Jordan said?”

  Olivia’s eyes glowed, begging for information. “I heard there are going to be three of you. It sounds like such fun. Can I come once in a while for some girl talk?”

  Caitlin nodded slowly. “Sure, Olivia. Anytime. But I’m hoping it won’t be just us girls for long.” She saw Robyn’s head jerk back at the same time that Olivia flopped on the bed beside her.

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “I’m going to try my hand at matchmaking,” Caitlin told them smugly. “But you can’t say a word to anyone. If the old gossips on coffee row get hold of this plan, they’ll spoil everything.”

  Eliza wandered in, a list in her hand which she consulted after a glance around the room. Olivia beckoned her over.

  “Listen to this, Mom. Caitlin’s got a plan to match up her roommates with husbands. You’re good at that, you can help.”

  “Of course I can help,” Eliza agreed smugly. “I got Robyn married off, didn’t I?” She preened a little in front of the mirror. “That was my biggest coup so far.”

  “Hey!” Robyn half frowned, half laughed. “I didn’t need your help to marry Glen.”

  “Of course you did. You just didn’t know I was helping you. If it wasn’t for me, the two of you would still be arguing over who has the better job, reads the most books, and things like that.” She ignored Robyn’s gasp of outrage.

  “Now, what’s your idea, Caitlin?” Eliza’s eyes opened wide, innocently.

  Caitlin quickly explained about Beth’s husband, the man she’d married on the rebound. “Then he was killed and Beth and Veronica had to move out of the company house. Beth was left with a mound of debts, it’s a miracle she can still smile. It’s a terribly sad story. And Beth’s had such an awful life anyway.”

  “What do you mean?” The women were all ears.

  “She doesn’t talk about it and the only thing I know is from when we were in school together. I got the impression that Beth and her sister didn’t have the happiest home life. She was always afraid to go home when we were out with youth group, and if she was late she’d get all shaky.”

  Caitlin stopped, remembering her own youth with an aunt who had never cared when she came or went as long as it didn’t cost money and there wasn’t any noise. She and Beth made good soul mates, she decided grimly.

  “The poor dear. Of course, I barely remember the family. I was so busy with the children in those days. Five children were enough to keep anyone busy.” Eliza shook her head. “We’ll be happy to help you however we can, Caitlin. Certainly Beth needs to find someone who can love her the way God meant.”

  “Oh, b-but, I didn’t mean for you all to get involved,” Caitlin stuttered, aghast at the thought of these managing-Andrews meddling in the delicate affairs of the heart.

  “Of course we want to be involved! I can’t stand to see anyone unhappy. Now what about the other girl? Mary something, isn’t it?”

  “Maryann.” Caitlin gulped. What had she unleashed with her careless tongue? “Maryann MacGregor. But she’s not, I mean, I don’t want, that is, she’s already in love with someone.”

  Oh, no! Now she’d blurted out Maryann’s most private secret. And she didn’t know it for certain. Not really. It was just that a funny soft look came over the woman’s face whenever she saw Clayton Matthews. That plus the fact that they’d been really close ten years ago made Caitlin suspect an ember still burned. All she wanted to do was fan it a little.

  “Well, that’s just wonderful, dear! How kind of you to help things along.” Eliza held out one hand and helped Caitlin off the bed. She pulled a chair forward and pressed her into that while still speaking.

  “But first things first. We can’t possibly help out with someone’s love life until we get you settled in your new home. You just sit there and relax, dear. Olivia, I want you to start on the kitchen. Robyn, you finish packing the books in the living room. Then we’ll have lunch.”

  Caitlin sat where she was told, stunned and filled with disbelief.

  What had she gotten herself into? She’d meant to get her friends together in the nicest possibly way. A hint, a few words to the right man. Maybe a chance encounter that wasn’t so chance. Just a few little things to encourage her widowed friends to reconsider a couple of men she happened to know were interested.

  But this! This would turn into an all-out assault campaign, not unlike guerilla warfare. In spite of her protestations, she knew it was snowballing out of control even now. That was the way Eliza did things. Stan claimed that her brain concocted schemes
even though her body was sleeping like a log.

  It was true! At this very moment Caitlin could feel Eliza’s mind whirling as she turned from the doorway, her eyes intensely scrutinizing Caitlin’s burgeoning body.

  “Hmm,” the older woman murmured, her pen tapping against the pad. “Widows. Right. Three of you. I’ll have to think about that.”

  Fear and trepidation filled Caitlin’s mind. She would probably ruin the only friendships she had left. Then she’d be well and truly alone in a house that was far too big for one woman and one tiny baby. While everyone bustled out with a box, she sat there brooding.

  “Caitlin?” Jordan flicked on the overhead light. “What are you doing just sitting here? Is something wrong?”

  “Everything,” she whispered, clenching her fist at her side. “Absolutely everything.”

  “What do you mean?” His face blanched. “What’s wrong? Is it the baby?” He waited, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other as he waited for her to answer. “Caitlin?”

  She glanced up dazedly, an idea forming in the back of her mind. “It’s your fault, Jordan,” she whispered. “You’re the one who insisted I have them over here. You’re the one who said I needed their help.”

  “And?” He frowned. “What’s wrong with that? Honestly, sometimes you make no sense, Lyn. The moving is going really well.”

  “That’s nice,” she murmured, nodding absently. “It’s a good idea to get it down to a science.”

  “It is?”

  “Yes, it is. Because unless you help me get out of this mess, I’ll be moving back here in a matter of days.”

  He slid his hand along her forehead, checking the temperature. “Caitlin, are you feeling all right? Can I help?”

  “Oh, yes,” she asserted, lurching unsteadily to her feet, her fingers tightening around his helping hand. “You offered and I’m taking you up on that. You’re going to help, Jordan. You’re going to end up helping me a lot.”

  “Help you do what?”

  He didn’t pull away, but Caitlin could feel him flex his fingers in her tight grasp. She didn’t loosen her grip in the slightest.

  “I’ve opened a Pandora’s box, Jordan. And now you’ve got to help me get the lid back on before your family ruins everything. What you’re going to do is keep your mother away from Wintergreen. If that means you have to come over every day, so be it.” Caitlin tumbled it around in her mind as the plan evolved. “She won’t bother me nearly as much if she thinks you’re filling in for her.”

  “Huh?” He stood where he was, shaking his head. “I don’t get it.”

  “Oh, you will,” she assured him, a tiny smile lifting the edges of her lips. “You most certainly will.”

  Chapter Four

  “You’re late, Lyn,” Jordan chided Friday night, almost a week later. He straightened from his leaning position against his car and took her arm to walk her to the front door of her new home.

  “I know. Two clients showed up after their scheduled times.” She opened the door and ushered him into the foyer. “I just want to change and then we can leave. Where are we having dinner?” she called over her shoulder.

  It took only a moment to unlock the door and then they were inside. In the days since Jordan had reentered her life, eating together had become a ritual. He would either show up on her doorstep with take-out food or insist on escorting her to a restaurant. He claimed it was because of his mother. He’d even shown up once for lunch, drawing surprised stares from her co-workers. Now her friends Beth and Maryann were full of questions.

  “Have a seat. I’ll be down in a few minutes.” She scooted up the stairs to change clothes.

  In some ways Caitlin was grateful for Jordan’s attentions. She hated cooking after a long day at work and would have happily settled for hot buttered toast and tea even though she knew the folly of such a diet. Under Jordan’s insistence she ate a nutritious dinner without all the work of preparing it and none of the tedium of cleaning up afterward.

  Then too, there was Eliza. As long as Jordan kept coming over, his mother seemed perfectly happy working on the Thanksgiving decorations for the annual fellowship supper. Caitlin felt confident that if she could only keep abreast of Eliza’s doings, as reported by Jordan, and keep herself out of her motherin-law’s path, she couldn’t possibly divulge any more secrets. The fact that Eliza sent Jordan over to Wintergreen on the most minor of things didn’t bother Caitlin at all. In fact, it was nice to have him to talk to.

  But some evenings, like tonight, Caitlin would have preferred to stay at home and read a book in front of the roaring fire in Wintergreen. The old house seemed to wrap its arms around her and she’d felt comfortable there from the first night.

  “Lyn? Hey, did you hear anything I just said?”

  Jordan’s voice from the bottom of the steps pulled her from her musings and Caitlin tugged on her maternity pants, sweater and sneakers without further hesitation.

  “Be there in a minute.”

  “How about Giorgio’s?” he called up the stairs.

  “Sounds fine to me.” She took a deep breath and let the busyness of work drain away. “I’m ready.”

  An hour later, she stared at him across the table in a low-lit family restaurant. It was comfortable but not intimidating and she loved the wonderful pasta dishes Giorgio’s served.

  “What did you do today?” she asked, curious about his work. Since he had bounded back into her life, his days seemed to be full of plans for bigger and better computer systems.

  “Let’s see. We got that contract in London for the security order, so I’ve been trying to map out exactly how soon we can fill those needs.”

  A tremor of fear coursed through her veins. “Does that mean you’re going overseas again?” she queried softly, half afraid to hear his answer.

  “Nope.” He grinned that boyish smirk that made him look younger than his twenty-nine years. “Bank securities are my partner Devon’s specialty. When the times comes, he’ll go.”

  Caitlin relaxed and then realized that what she really felt was relief. It wasn’t a good sign. She couldn’t allow herself to rely on Jordan. Or anyone else. God intended for her to manage things herself.

  “I’ve got a deal pending in Banff that could be a biggie if I can land it,” he told her as they discussed the computer firm Jordan and his friend had built up from scratch.

  Caitlin listened as he described a satellite system that would monitor vast areas of the mountainous terrain enabling park rangers to uncover potential forest fires and tourists lost in remote terrain, in record time.

  After several minutes, she was lost in the intricacies of engineering such complex equipment. She sat, dreamy eyed, content to let him ramble on, basking in the warm pungent aromas of garlic, tangy tomato sauce, baking cheese and yeasty bread sticks.

  It was several seconds before she realized Jordan had stopped speaking. Instead he was peering at her with a look of concern on his face.

  “Are you okay?” His voice was soft. “Having more of those hiccup things?”

  Caitlin smiled. “No, I’m fine. And they’re Braxton-Hicks contractions, not hiccups.”

  She waved a hand at the groups of families scattered through the busy restaurant, their happy chatter a hum of noise in the bustling restaurant.

  “I was just thinking of a girl I’ve been counseling. She would give almost anything to be here, with her father, having dinner.” Caitlin fingered the water glass on her place mat. “Actually, Addie reminds me a little of myself at her age,” she admitted.

  Jordan grinned. “Oh? She’s stubborn, too?”

  “No. It’s because she’s an oddball. Like me.”

  His gold-flecked eyes studied her seriously. “Caitlin, you are not an oddball.”

  “Yes, I am. Or at least I was. I never fit into the high school cliques. Now I just plain don’t fit into anything.” She giggled at the silly joke, pushing a length of her hair behind her ear as she eyed her bulging tummy, but
Jordan didn’t laugh.

  Her brow furrowed in concentration as she chewed on her bottom lip, striving to clarify her meaning. “I was different, you see. And nobody had to tell me that. It was something I knew. I didn’t have a family like the other kids, I was just staying with my aunt because there wasn’t anybody else who wanted me. After school, when the others dumped their homework and went out for a shake, I toddled off to my job.”

  “Lots of kids have jobs, Caitlin.” Jordan countered.

  “Yes, they do,” she agreed. “And many enjoy them. That’s not what I mean.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t get it.”

  “Not every kid feels they have to contribute something or they’ll lose their home, Jordan.” Caitlin shrugged avoiding his eyes. “I felt I had to earn that money so Aunt Lucy would keep me, so I wouldn’t be a burden. In some sort of weird logic I figured if I made my own money, bought my clothes, looked after things, she wouldn’t mind having me there so much.”

  She watched the furrow on his forehead deepen as he considered her words.

  “I’m sure your aunt was happy to have you there, Lyn. She was a lot older, I know. But I don’t believe she ever meant to make you feel beholden or unwelcome. You probably imagined that. She just wasn’t used to having a child around.”

  Caitlin nodded thoughtfully. “Could be,” she admitted. “Things get skewed when you’re a kid. I withdrew because I didn’t like my own reality. I didn’t think much about her side of it, I guess.” She munched on her bread stick for a few minutes, trying to discern reality from her memories.

  “Addie’s like that, too. When we discuss her food choices from the week before, it’s simple to see she’s camouflaging her feelings by overeating.”

  “I suppose everyone does that.”

  “Maybe. For a time. But when it goes on long-term, it’s denial. That gets serious.” Caitlin threaded her fingers together and then, when she realized what she was doing, laid them in her lap.

  “I recognize it because I did the same with my aunt. Lucy wanted a calm, quiet retirement, and I tried to give her that. I didn’t feel comfortable inviting anyone over, and I sure wasn’t in with the group who held sleep-overs. I used my books to escape.” She smiled softly, remembering those fantasy stories.