by Iris Morland
Joy shrugged, but it was an elusive gesture. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
Kat looked at the time. “Joy, if we don’t leave now, you’ll be late to your own wedding.”
The ceremony went off without a hitch, the bride looking gorgeous and the groom looking like he couldn’t believe how lucky he was. Kat gazed at Gavin as they stood up for Adam and Joy, and he mouthed the words I love you at here more than once.
Unlike the unseasonal snow they’d gotten around Halloween, this Christmas Eve was the warmest they’d had in decades. Although they’d planned to have the reception inside the vineyard’s main building, they were able to set up tents outside with heaters running.
Dancing with Gavin, Kat tilted her head back to look into his eyes. “I love you,” she said.
“I know.” When she pinched him, he added, “I love you, too. I adore you, actually, and I’m going to buy you the most amazing engagement ring to show off.”
She smiled. “I don’t need a huge ring, but I won’t say no, either.” She kissed him, and then they danced together, swaying to the music.
Later, Emma cut in, and Gavin danced with his daughter. Emma was already making strides, and her episodes had grown less frequent since she—and Gavin—had started seeing a therapist. Emma had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but Gavin hadn’t taken it as hard as he might have months earlier. He knew that Emma wasn’t Teagan, and that he couldn’t blame himself for Teagan’s struggles, either.
After Gavin had gotten out of the hospital, Teagan had arrived, in a frenzy and desperate to see her daughter. She hugged Emma until the girl couldn’t breathe, and Kat finally had the opportunity to meet the woman she’d been so curious about. Teagan was a slight thing, all blonde and wispy, but her eyes revealed how much she’d gone through. When Teagan had hugged her, thanking her for helping her daughter, Kat had hugged her back and hoped with everything inside of her that Teagan found her own happiness, too.
Gavin told her later that he and Teagan had had a much-needed talk. He’d told his ex-wife about how he’d pushed Kat away, how he’d blamed himself for Teagan’s suicide attempt. Teagan had apparently looked him straight in the eye and said, “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.” She’d then squeezed his hands. “You couldn’t save me, Gavin, but that doesn’t mean you failed. It just means that the illness was stronger than any of us. But I’m getting through it. Every day I’m better. And soon I’ll be able to be the mother Emma deserves.”
As Kat watched Gavin and Emma now, her heart warmed. Her new family meant everything to her. How had she gotten so lucky?
The pair of them came up to her and grabbed her, hauling her onto the dance floor as she laughed. They danced together, happiness and love flowing through them, and Kat knew without a shadow of a doubt that they’d all live happily ever after.
DESIRE ME DEARLY EPILOGUE
T wo years later…
AFTER WAKING up nauseated and exhausted for the fifth time in a row, Kat knew that there was probably an obvious reason for this.
She was married, after all, and to a man who practically exuded virility. Really, it was a wonder she hadn’t ended up pregnant ages ago.
Now, though, she needed to go into the tiny grocery store in Heron’s Landing that also served as a sort-of drugstore, buy a few pregnancy tests, and somehow not have anyone she knew notice what she was doing. Considering how impossible such a task would be, Kat needed a game plan.
She wasn’t embarrassed, but she also didn’t want Gavin to find out from some town busybody before she could tell him if she were pregnant (or not, if the case may be). The town gossips loved pregnancy rumors, so if anyone saw her buying pregnancy tests, it would get around town faster than she could blink.
So, a game plan. She knew that Mike, the grocery store’s manager, had recently hired a teenager named Connor to man the store in the evenings on weekends. Connor had a look about him that screamed all I do is smoke pot every day, and thus, she had a distinct feeling that she could buy an entire case load of pregnancy tests and the kid wouldn’t bat an eyelash.
If it weren’t already Saturday, she’d just buy the damn things online, but she was impatient. Kat didn’t like being in limbo. She wanted to know, and she wanted to know now. She just didn’t want everyone else and their grandma to know, too.
It was a warm summer evening in June when Kat told her husband, “I’m going to Mike’s for a few things.”
Gavin, being a kind and thoughtful husband, replied, “Want me to go with you?”
Kat shook her head. “I’ll be right back. I need some Ben and Jerry’s.”
Emma, who was now in fourth grade, glanced up from her homework to gaze at her stepmom. Emma had come a long way from the terrified little girl Kat had found in supply closets at school. Now, she was on the soccer team and although she still had issues with anxiety, she was able to come to Kat or Gavin for help instead of hiding.
The young girl gave Kat a onceover, like she suspected something. Kat bit back a smile. If anyone would figure it out, it’d be Emma.
“Okay, well, can you get me some beer?”
Kat snorted. “I am not carting back an entire pack of beer for you!”
But after some deliberation, she agreed to bring him back a very large can of beer. Escaping before anyone else could make a request, Kat walked to the grocery store, which was only a mile from the house she and Gavin had built after their marriage. She’d decided to sell her grandmother Lillian’s place, although it had been a difficult decision. Her new house, though, only held lovely, new memories, and for that, Kat was infinitely grateful.
Arriving at the store, she inwardly celebrated that only Mr. Taggart, a crotchety old man who didn’t like to talk to anything human, was the only person in the store besides her and Connor. Connor, for his part, stood at the register, his expression vague, pimples dotting his cheeks. He looked like he was chewing gum, but Kat rather wondered if he was just chewing air. You could never be entirely sure with Connor.
Going to the Feminine Care Aisle, Kat surreptitiously glanced at the few brands the store carried, and then preceded to snag one of each. She slipped them into the basket she’d picked up at the front of the store and covered them with coupon clippings. After that, she snagged a carton (or two) of ice cream and that beer for Gavin, and made her way to the register.
Mr. Taggart had beaten her to it. When Connor replied that they didn’t carry Mr. Taggart’s preferred brand of smokes, the old man decided this was the time and the place to talk about his rights as an American citizen and how Mike had always carried his brand of choice.
“Where’s Mike?” Mr. Taggart demanded. “I want to speak to him right now!”
Connor made a bored sound. “He’s on vacay somewhere.”
Kat bounced on her heels. Of course, now she had to pee, and she really, really wanted to know if she were pregnant or not. Just thinking about seeing that positive sign sent her heart pounding. Even better? Was imagining how Gavin would react. He’d wanted to start a family with her as soon as they’d married, and she’d wanted to as well. The timing hadn’t been ideal right then, though, but now, it was as good a time as any. Kat was also prosaic enough to know that with a baby, there really wasn’t ever a perfect time to have one.
As Mr. Taggart continued his rant, the front door chimed. Kat glanced up, and her stomach plummeted. Gavin. Why is Gavin here?
“Oh good, you’re still here. You forgot your wallet, sweetheart.” He handed her her plaid wallet.
She took it without a word. How was she going to buy pregnancy tests with her husband standing right here? Could she get him to leave?
She almost laughed out loud, because why was she acting like she needed to keep it a secret from him? Well, it wasn’t so much not wanting to tell him in general; she just didn’t want to ruin the potential surprise if she should, in fact, be pregnant.
“What all did you get?” Gavin reached down into the basket, but she
pulled it away before he could touch anything.
“Nothing interesting. Just what you asked for.”
He blinked. “Uh huh. Why do I feel like you’re buying something I won’t like?” He furrowed his brows. “Are you buying cigarettes or something?” he asked, confused.
Kat snorted a laugh, while Mr. Taggart turned at the word “cigarettes” and decided to yell at Gavin instead about the injustice being served right now. “Do they not have your smokes, too?” the old man shouted. “This is an outrage!”
Kat sneaked past the old man, set her stuff on the counter, and said in a low voice, “If you check me out within one minute, I’ll give you five dollars.”
Connor gave her a slow blink, like a sleepy cat. “What?”
“Fine, ten dollars.” She snapped her fingers. “Come on!”
To her surprise, Connor moved faster than she’d ever seen him move, all while Mr. Taggart yelled at her poor husband. After paying, giving Connor a fiver (he didn’t need ten whole dollars!), she stuffed the bag with the tests into her purse and said to Gavin, “Ready?”
Gavin moved away from Mr. Taggart, and Kat took his arm and spirited him out the door. When they got into the fresh air, she let out a laugh, which only confused her poor husband even further.
A few hours later, Emma was in bed, Gavin was taking a shower, and Kat was using the downstairs bathroom to test herself to her heart’s content. After testing each one, she set them in a row on the counter. Then she waited. She waited. She checked her phone. And then she waited some more. When nothing was happening, she decided to go get that ice cream and start in on it. She’d need it, no matter the result.
She vaguely heard the water shut off upstairs, but when she came back into the bathroom (with ice cream in hand), she looked at the row of tests and let out a noise that was between a squeal and sob. A sound that was apparently loud enough to alert her husband that she’d probably either stubbed her toe or found a spider, and he damn well better get downstairs to do something about it.
“What is it?” Gavin had a towel slung over his shoulders, his dark hair wet. “Are you okay?”
Kat just pointed at the tests with her spoon, her other hand over her mouth. Gavin, a fairly smart man, looked at where she pointed, and then he froze. But only for a moment. Then he stepped closer, gazing at the array of tests, rather like a ridiculous bouquet, and asked in a hoarse voice, “Is this…?”
She nodded, tears falling. Setting down her ice cream and spoon, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him until he made a little noise in the back of his throat.
“I’m pregnant,” she said. The words, said aloud, seemed to make it all the more real. Her heart pounded. “I’m pregnant,” she repeated.
“Kat…” He wrapped his arms around her; he murmured her name.
She had to see his face. He hadn’t said anything, not really. Was he upset? Apathetic? She took in his expression, his eyes, everything, and she almost shook him when he asked, “You’re pregnant?”
Beaming, she nodded.
Then, he let out a whoop that caused Emma to come running downstairs. When she saw her dad and stepmom hugging and kissing in the bathroom, she wondered if they’d finally lost it. But she was a smart child, and she could read “pregnancy test” on all of those boxes. She squealed, threw herself into the melee, and the trio hugged and kissed and celebrated, not caring one bit that it was a school night or that, despite all of Kat’s best intentions, the entire town would know of their news by the time the sun rose in the morning.
LET IT SNOW
BOOK 3.5
1
When Officer Matthew Haldon saw the flash of orange-red in his rearview mirror, he first thought it was a fox running about in this blizzard. When he peered more closely, he realized it wasn’t a fox: it was a person. A person most decidedly stranded in a ditch on the side of the road.
Matt had been on the police force for five years now, four of those here in the tiny Missouri town of Heron’s Landing. At the moment, he wanted to get home safely, put his feet up, and maybe drink some spiked cider. Sighing, he knew that wasn’t going to be happening any time soon. He slowly did a U-turn, the snow falling so hard that you couldn’t see more than foot in front of you. Living in a place like Heron’s Landing made driving in the snow both a blessing and a curse: a blessing, because you were often alone on the road; a curse, because you were often alone on the road.
After what seemed like an hour, he finally got to the car and the person trying to dig themselves out. He turned on his lights so no poor soul would run into him, and he tromped into the ditch.
“Hello!” he called out. “Are you all right?”
A head popped up from the other side, with that flash of orange-red again. Then, to his astonishment, the person turned out to be a woman, and not only a woman, but a gorgeous, red-haired woman who also wasn’t wearing a coat.
So not only was she beautiful, she was crazy.
“Ma’am, do you have a coat? You’ll freeze to death.”
The woman waded through the snow, laughing. “I forgot my coat! Can you believe that? I packed everything but my coat.” She brushed snow off of her long-sleeved t-shirt and shrugged. “I’m more concerned about my flat tire, though.”
Matt took in the woman, his chest constricting despite himself. She was rosy-cheeked, with the fullest lips he’d ever seen. She didn’t seem the least bit dismayed regarding her situation.
So, yes, a high probability she was crazy.
“Let me drive you somewhere,” he offered. “It’s snowing too hard to put on a spare. Do you live around here?” Matt knew everyone in Heron’s Landing, and this woman was definitely not someone he’d ever seen before.
The woman’s initial good cheer faded. She bit her lip. “I was on my way to Kansas City. I don’t know anyone around here. Is there a hotel or something close by?”
Matt considered. He could drive back to town—some ten miles, in a blizzard—or he could be a good Samaritan and let this woman stay with him in his house that was only a mile away.
You just want to spend more time with her, his mind reasoned, but he told his mind to shut up.
“The closest hotel is ten miles from here.” The woman’s shoulders slumped, and without considering it further, he added, “But you’re welcome to stay with me. Until the snow stops. Then we can get a tow truck out here to get your car and get you back on the road.”
The woman considered, her eyes narrowed. She walked toward him. “How do I know you aren’t some serial killer?”
He raised his eyebrows. “I’m a police officer, ma’am.”
“That doesn’t matter. You could be faking being an officer just to lure unsuspecting women to your house.”
“In a blizzard? That seems like a lot of work to me.”
She blinked away the snowflakes caught on her lashes, and then her face broke into a smile that hit Matt right in the gut.
“Okay, I’ll take your offer.” She thrust out a hand, and he took it. “I’m Holly, by the way. You are?”
“Matt. Officer Matt Haldon.”
“Great. Now if you could just help me get my suitcase out from underneath all of this crap…”
After wrestling with more “crap” than he could’ve thought could be stuffed into one woman’s trunk, Matt drove Holly back to his place. She shivered, and he turned up the heat until he was sweating underneath his heavy coat. But she sighed in pleasure, which went straight to his groin.
Down, boy. She’s your guest. Nothing more.
Matt had broken up with his girlfriend over a year ago, and he hadn’t dated much since. It didn’t help that there was a dearth of eligible women here in Heron’s Landing. He wasn’t much for hook-ups, either, so he’d remained celibate for the past twelve months.
That celibacy came to bite him in the ass right now. He’d taken one look at Holly and his body had practically jumped at her. If he weren’t so annoyed with himself, he’d laugh at how predictable
he was.
Holly rubbed her arms.
“Are you still cold?” he asked.
“I’m okay. I still can’t believe I forgot my coat. Then again, I’m not used to winters like this.”
“Where are you from?”
She hesitated, and he wondered what she was running from. A bad relationship? Money troubles?
Finally, she replied, “Louisiana. We don’t get much snow down there.”
Now that he listened more closely, her accent had a slight Southern twang to it, although it was subtle. She must’ve lived there only for a short time, as she sounded more Midwestern overall.
“So you decided to go on a road trip three days before Christmas but forgot to bring a coat?”
She nodded. “It was…sudden. I was distracted.”
“I guess you aren’t driving home for Christmas dinner?”
“Not exactly.”
They fell silent. Matt turned on the radio, and Christmas music filled the patrol car. His own family lived in Illinois, and his current work schedule hadn’t allowed him to go home. Thus, he was spending Christmas alone. He’d told himself he didn’t care, but if he were being honest, he was rather depressed about it. It was the first Christmas without Melanie, the first time they wouldn’t cook dinner together and open presents underneath the tree.
After driving very slowly through the blinding snow, Matt turned down the lane to get to his house, a two-story cabin that he’d built three years ago with Melanie in mind. Now it just reminded him of his ex-girlfriend with every curtain, every piece of furniture. When they’d broken up, Melanie had told him that she didn’t want to live in this hell hole anymore—her words, not his.
I can’t do this anymore, she’d said, like he’d forced her to live with him and love him. I’m sorry, but I can’t.
He shook off the memories as he helped Holly with her luggage. Opening the door, he flipped on the hall light to reveal two excited dogs barking and dancing excitedly in front of them.