by Jean Oram
Someone short hugged her from behind. Daphne. “I think it’s great you want to add a child to this world. You’ll be a good mother.”
“I hope so.”
Daphne had always made motherhood look simple, even though Simone knew being a single mother hadn’t always been easy for her.
“You’ll do fine. And the fact that you won’t have to worry about money or working will make it that much better.”
“As long as my brain doesn’t turn to mush.” Simone laughed, fighting panic at the thought of sitting around with a baby, no career, and ignoring dress design ideas that came to mind. Plus going from superwoman to stay-at-home mom was such a sudden shift in speed she hoped it didn’t break her internal drive’s transmission.
Maya came bustling into the room. “Okay, so what’s this really about? Can we talk about left field? You’re on top of your game and have worked so hard to get there. You’re landing incredible deals I’d commit murder for. You can’t just drop it all for a baby.”
“Too late.” Simone tied the trash bag closed.
“You’re already pregnant?” Maya frowned, looking to Daphne for an explanation.
“No.”
“You didn’t add alcohol to your drink tonight,” Melanie said from the doorway.
“I’m trying to stay as healthy as possible, because last month’s insemination didn’t work.”
“Oh, honey.” Daphne gave her a hug. “Why didn’t you tell us you were going through all of this?”
“You’ve all been busy and this was sort of last minute for me.”
“How on earth could this be last minute?” Maya asked.
“Everything’s sold now,” Simone said, steering the conversation away from the medical aspect, “and I transfer the last of my business and shop next month.”
“But you’re not even pregnant. What if you can’t get in the family way?”
“Maya!” Daphne scolded.
Simone paused, trying to fight off the doubt that had niggled at her on more than one occasion. What would she do with herself if she couldn’t get pregnant? She had planned the next nine months thinking her first insemination appointment would work, and it hadn’t. Now she was ready for an adventure that might not come to fruition.
No, don’t think about it. Stay positive.
She shrugged as though it didn’t matter. “Everything just lined up for me to sell. I couldn’t wait.”
“Meant to be,” Daphne said with a contented sigh. She gave Simone an extra squeeze.
Hailey, who had come up behind Melanie, asked, “Why now? Maya’s right—your career is skyrocketing and you’re not even thirty yet.”
“What if you meet the right man?” Melanie interjected.
“If he is the right man,” Simone said, pointedly looking at Daphne, “then he will love me even if I do have a child.”
Daphne gave a nod.
“You really want a family?” Melanie asked. “No career?”
Simone swallowed hard. “I didn’t sell everything off on a whim.”
She knew that once you added too much to your paper plate at the banquet of life, your plate began to sag and you ended up with sweet-and-sour sauce on your new suede pumps. With big projects you had to do them one at a time. You could have it all, just not all at once.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll get a baby one way or another,” Maya said.
“Why is this last-minute? Is it because you got a good offer?” Melanie asked.
Simone took a deep breath, willing herself not to break down as she spilled the truth. “I have cysts that are choking off my ovaries. They are being removed in a few months and it might damage my womb.”
Daphne’s hand flew to her mouth and the other sisters gave her such sympathetic, horrified looks that Simone went back to dealing with the garbage.
“Why don’t you get your eggs frozen?” Maya suggested a long moment later.
“It’s not my style. I mean, I have in case, but I don’t plan on using them. I’m doing this now, my way.”
“Well, good luck, sister.” Maya reached over and gave her a massive hug.
Within seconds, all the Summers were hugging her and whispering supportive phrases, and Simone felt bad for not giving them enough credit.
“I really couldn’t have guessed any of this,” Hailey told Simone. “But I’m excited for you. I haven’t quite got my head wrapped around it, but I think it’ll be good.” She gave a not-quite-convincing smile.
“If you need anything, anything at all,” Daphne said, “let me know. I don’t have any of my baby stuff anymore, but I know about colic, morning sickness and all that stuff.”
Hailey suddenly let out a squeal and gave a little bounce. “Our children might be in the same class! What if they’re best friends? I’m so excited.” She gave Simone another hug, blinking away tears.
Simone bit her bottom lip, trying to remain stoic, not quite having realized just how much she’d needed to know the Summers would be there for her, supporting her.
“It’s all going to be okay, isn’t it?” she asked, looking from sister to sister. They gave her reassuring smiles, just before the generator, with no forewarning, died, plunging them into darkness.
6
Josh, glad a sharpshooter such as Simone hadn’t joined the poker game, was about to win the entire stack of toothpicks set in the middle of the card table when the lights went out.
“Oh, man,” Connor said from Josh’s right, his features faint in the light from the fireplace. “The generator. Doesn’t anything work the way it’s supposed to these days?”
“Out of gas?” Finian asked.
“I’ll go check.” Evander’s chair scraped back. “Tigger? You okay?”
A glow in the corner of the room highlighted the girl’s soft features as she continued to play with Josh’s phone. She waved the lit-up device under her chin, making ghostly noises. “Am I scary?”
“Very,” Evander confirmed. “Everyone okay?”
The women had been chatting in the kitchen when the lights went out, and the sound of hands trailing along the rustic wood paneling filled the room as they returned to the living room. “Yeah, fine.” It was Simone.
Josh was surprised at the relief he felt upon hearing her voice. She was probably the last female on earth he needed to worry about, and for some reason that made him worry about her all the more.
Connor flicked on a battery-operated lantern just as the women turned on several flashlights.
Evander pulled a black woolen cap low over his forehead, giving his scarred face a lean, serious look in the firelight’s shadows. Josh usually felt as though he could take any man in a given room, but the bodyguard had a vibe that even Josh knew not to mess with. Plus he still didn’t know what had been in the “life or death” package and whether it had any bearing on tonight.
Evander shrugged into his parka and Josh said, “I’ll go with you.” When the big man gave him a look, he added, “I can hold the flashlight.”
Simone handed him a massive flashlight. “Don’t freeze your little chestnuts off.”
“Thanks. But for the record, they are bigger than yours. More like coconuts.”
“I wouldn’t place any bets just yet,” Maya muttered, handing him a toolbox.
“You should probably get that checked out,” Simone said. “Only egos should be swollen, not nuts.” She gave his crotch a discerning look and he refrained from shielding himself with the toolbox.
Connor came outside with the two men, cursing as the unrelenting wind hit them full force. “It’s colder than the north pole out here.” He shuddered and hunched further into his parka. The gusts whipped against them, then up over the side of the cottage, creating a lip of snow that hung off the edge of the roof, threatening to dislodge itself on them and the silent generator.
Josh shone the light over it, assessing the wisdom of standing under the frozen overhang. Deciding it was likely safe, he followed Evander and Connor, who had cut through
a massive drift that had sculpted itself around the generator like a frozen wave.
“I don’t think it’s been tampered with,” Evander said, gazing around the generator, on the lookout for tracks in the snow.
Connor shot Josh a sharp look when he opened his mouth to ask why anyone would come mess with their source of power.
“I think we’re okay here,” Connor said. “We’re safe.”
Evander gave a curt nod and stared at the inert chunk of yellow metal, likely as relieved as Josh that snow hadn’t encased the machine, but rather had curved around it. Hopefully, the drifts were doing the same thing down on the lake, so he wouldn’t have to dig out his snowmobile come morning. Josh trailed his flashlight over the generator, which was shiny and new and seemed to have no good reason to stop if the gas gauge was correct. He reached out a gloved finger and tapped it.
“It should run for eight to twelve hours on a tank,” Connor said.
Josh handed the flashlight to him and, trailing a hand against the side of the cottage so he wouldn’t get lost in the darkness, grabbed a shovel off the back porch. He returned, digging out a larger space in the blowing snow for Evander to work. Josh knew quite a bit about machines, but was reluctant to jump in before he was invited or was certain he could actually help. If Evander wanted to fix it and be the hero, that was fine by him. Josh didn’t have a woman inside who he had to prove himself to. Especially not Simone, with those large, dark eyes of hers.
Tristen and Finian had come out to help and Josh suddenly found himself surrounded by four men in the small, shoveled circle.
“You need to be careful with Simone,” Connor said.
“What do you mean?” Josh replied, on guard.
“She’s going through a lot of big life changes right now.”
“I get that.”
“I’ll be the one who safely delivers her home in the morning,” Connor added, the wind stealing the force of his words as it swirled around them, already filling in the cleared space, a few fistfuls of snow at a time. In an hour it would be as though they had never shoveled it out.
“Okay.” Josh widened his stance. “But if the weather isn’t completely safe for your helicopter, there’s no way I’m letting her get into it. Nothing is worth her getting hurt.”
He knew they were fighting words and that he might find himself headfirst in a drift as a result, but he needed these men to know that he had Simone’s best interests at heart—even though she was the most difficult and annoyingly beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes upon.
“None of us will,” Evander said.
“She’s one of the family,” Finian added.
“And this family sticks together,” Tristen stated.
Josh took in the determined set of their jaws and the way they all knew their lines within the little play that was unfolding. He pitied the man Tigger brought home as her first boyfriend. And yet, at the same time, he completely and utterly understood it. He felt the same way about Dustin sniffing around his sister, and she was a grown woman.
“We take care of our own,” Tristen added.
But their interests were split and they weren’t able to give Simone the unbiased attention and care she deserved. A powerful sense of possessiveness washed over Josh, settling deep into his bones. It was stronger than anything he’d felt in all his years, and he knew without a doubt that he needed to be the one to take care of her. That he was the only one with nothing to lose by pushing her back when she needed it the most.
“I would never do anything to hurt Simone, but if she chooses to ride on my sled, she’s my responsibility. You have your own families to take care of.”
He continued, “She’s going to do something stupid with that iron will of hers. You know that, I know that. I have a lot of experience saving people, and she’s the type who’ll put herself in even greater danger rather than allow someone else to help her. So while I know you have her best interests at heart, understand that I will cross you if I feel she needs me.”
Evander reached forward and Josh forced himself not to dodge the incoming blow. But instead of punching him, the man grabbed Josh’s hand and pumped it up and down. “Understood.”
Tristen slapped Josh’s shoulder. “Love is a tricky thing, isn’t it?”
Josh cleared his throat and crossed his arms. “It’s not love.”
Tristen laughed and returned to the cottage with Finian, who gave Josh a knowing smile over his shoulder before disappearing into the darkness. Connor, hot on their heels, bellowed with laughter, Josh not quite catching the joke.
“What?” he asked Evander, who was grinning at him.
“Good luck. You’re going to need it,” Tristen called from the darkened doorway. “Evander, you have this machine under control, right?”
For a split second Josh considered that the breakdown may have been scheduled in order for the men to chat with him, but seeing the serious look on Evander’s face as he contemplated the silent machine, he crossed the idea from his mind. This was real.
“I’ll call if I can’t figure it out,” the bodyguard said, squatting as he got down to business.
“I didn’t hear it chug,” Josh offered. “I think there must be a broken connection.” The generator was barely ticking with heat, which meant it was quickly cooling down and the metal would soon be killer on their bare hands if they had to do any serious work.
Evander said nothing, but began checking wires and hoses.
“What was in the envelope?” Josh asked, curious about the oh-so-important delivery that had got him stranded here.
“Sorry about that. I overreacted.”
Josh’s free hand instinctively went to the lump on the back of his head. He pulled up his snowsuit’s hood, burrowing into its heat. “No problem.”
“Daphne and Tigger were in danger this past summer, and while everything is good now, I guess I’m still not quite over it.”
“Understandable.” Josh waited, wondering if Evander would reveal what was in the package. They continued inspecting the machine.
“Any chance it overheated? That drift had it fairly closed in,” suggested Josh.
At the same moment, Evander said, “It’s a ring.”
“Yeah?” Josh asked encouragingly.
“Not sure she will say yes, though.”
“Why’s that?”
More silence. Josh wiggled a loose wire, then tried restarting the machine. No luck.
“Daphne and Tigger have lived with me and my mother since August. I’m listed as one of Tigger’s emergency contacts at her school.”
“You’re family.”
“Yeah, family.” The man’s voice was filled with warmth and a sense of wonder. “I think it’s been good for all of us. My mom’s been battling cancer and having Tigger in our life is a great distraction. The doctor say she’s doing amazingly well and even gave her permission to travel to my brother’s for the holidays.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah. It’s just…”
Josh waited quietly for the man to continue.
“Daphne’s been independent for so long I’m not sure she wants to be tied to someone. The Summers—that includes Simone—are all very independent women.”
“I’ve noticed.” Josh had also noticed they seemed okay with being cozied up to the men in their lives.
“I’d planned to ask her tonight and had it all figured out, but…” Evander’s shoulders stiffened.
“But what?” Josh asked softly, knocking the snow off a connection so he could check it.
The man shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“Well, you won’t know unless you ask,” Josh said, looking for something else that might be causing issues with the generator.
“Daphne’s seemed different lately. Lost in her own world. I got caught up in the idea that maybe I was good for them. Sorry, it’s not your problem.”
Josh was starting to feel as though he was in over his head—with both the conversation
and the generator. “I’m sure you’re good for them.”
Evander tried starting the machine and cursed when it remained stubbornly silent.
“What do you have on your phone that’s so interesting, anyway?” Evander was gruff, brisk and, Josh could see, hurt. Slowly, it dawned on him. He had been monopolizing the man’s daughter, stealing an important connection.
Josh thought over his options. He had to say something, but the only thing he could think of meant revealing his secret side, which Evander surely wouldn’t appreciate or admire. But that wasn’t why Josh was here, was it? He had come to deliver a ring so the man could ask the woman of his life to be with him forever, not to earn the man’s approval. And anyway, Tigger would rat him out soon enough with her joy over his creations.
“It’s stuff I make for the Children’s Burn Unit in Toronto,” Josh said quickly. “Hair accessories, fairy art. It…” He tried to find words to express what he did without sounding too effeminate to the former marine.
Evander cleared his throat. “Fairies?”
“Yeah. Fairies,” Josh admitted reluctantly.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Evander stood, clapping him on the shoulder. “You don’t know what a relief it is to hear that.”
Josh blinked in surprise. That really wasn’t the reaction he’d been expecting, but now he wondered which avenue Evander’s assumptions were traveling down.
“It’s very girlie stuff, but I’m not, uh…”
“That’s perfect. Great.” Evander tossed up his hands. “You don’t know how happy this makes me.”
“I’m not gay.”
Evander was suddenly on guard. “What does that mean?”
“Just because I enjoy making pink, lacy, sequined hair accessories and fairy art doesn’t mean I’m gay.” There. He’d said it. Out loud.
He’d admitted he was different, despite the possible consequences. Simone had gone forth in the fashion world and prospered; so could he.