When Least Expected

by Allison B Hanson

Every two minutes he checked his phone for the time. Two hours until Lexi would be there. One hour.

  Then he heard a car on the gravel and looked out the upstairs window to see Lexi’s car.

  She’s here, he said to himself. He swallowed nervously. She was early and he still wasn’t ready, but his heart pounded at the sight of her getting out of the car and looking up at the cabin.

  Kelly was right, she did look great. Happy, and . . . something else.

  Content, maybe?

  He wondered what she needed to tell him, as he worried about the things he needed to tell her.

  “Time to face my fears,” he said and went downstairs to meet her.

  The thing about the mountains was how quickly a storm could move in. It had been bright and sunny down in the valley, but as Lexi drove up into the mountains, the dark clouds threatened her idea of a walk to the lake.

  She pulled in next to Ian’s SUV at a little after four. She hoped it wouldn’t be a problem she was early.

  She hadn’t even had time to get out of the car before Ian walked out on the porch wearing only a pair of cargo shorts.

  Shit. If he was here with his new girl and Lexi had interrupted them, she might throw up.

  “Hey.” She gave him a wave.

  “I thought we said five.” He seemed anxious. She’d definitely interrupted something.

  “We did. I’m sorry. I’d planned to go out to the lake.” A loud clap of thunder drew their attention up to the dark clouds above their heads.

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” he said with a smile.

  “Yeah. If you’re busy, I could go into town and come back later.”

  “No! It’s fine. I just need a shower. I was up working in the rose room.” Ah. Good. Working. “Give me a minute. I won’t be long.”

  She walked into the cabin and the familiar smells greeted her, along with some new ones. Fresh paint. New wood. Drywall.

  “Wow. This looks great,” she said as she took in the newly finished hardwood floors.

  “Thanks. I’ve been busy,” he said proudly.

  “I can see that.”

  “How are you?” he asked as he looked her over. “You look so good.”

  “Thanks. I’m really happy.” Could she say that enough? Probably not.

  He nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

  She watched the muscles in his back move as he ran up the stairs. God, he still made her feel things.

  The rain had started, and she could hear it hammering on the roof as she went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. The kitchen had been repainted a creamy yellow. It looked so nice and cheery. The new hardware on the cabinets made it look years newer. She wandered around, taking in the changes. In the living room, she sat down to wait for her big reveal.

  She hadn’t really come up with any inventive way to tell him. She was just planning to go with something like, I know you’re getting married, I don’t want to mess up your plans, but you should know you’re going to be a father. Then she would show him the sonogram as proof, because he was definitely going to need proof.

  She looked up at the ceiling and hoped this wouldn’t turn into a disaster.

  As she waited, she spotted some brochures on the stand next to the sofa. She picked them up so she had something to do while she waited. There was a picture of a baby on the front of one of the papers, and she studied it closer.

  They were adoption pamphlets.

  He and this new girl were going to adopt?

  Her hands began to shake and tears came to her eyes. She couldn’t help it. She had asked him about adoption when they were having problems conceiving and he wouldn’t even discuss it. Now he was doing it with her?

  Why was this woman’s happiness so much more important than Lexi’s?

  She flipped through all of them as more tears poured down her cheeks. She was so caught up in her pain she didn’t notice when Ian came down the stairs.

  “Lex? What’s the matter?”

  She held up the brochures and pointed to them as she stood up.

  “I’ve never been jealous of who you chose to be with before, Ian. I’ve only hoped that whoever you were with could make you happy when I couldn’t, but this! This is like a slap in the face. You just got engaged and you’re already looking into adoption when you wouldn’t even consider it with me?”

  “No! That’s not—wait. What? Engaged? I’m not engaged. I’m not even seeing anyone. Who said I was engaged?”

  “Roslyn’s sister works at the jewelry story where you bought the ring. She recognized your name from us talking about you when we went out. Cooper saw you with your new doctor girlfriend.”

  “You have it wrong.” He tried to brush away the tears from her cheeks, but she stepped away from him.

  “Kelly said she saw you with her, too.”

  “Freakin’ Kelly.” He shook his head angrily. “Look, the person everyone saw me with is my therapist. Dr. Younger is helping me to be comfortable with me, and what I have to offer. When I left you, I did it because I didn’t think I was enough. I was afraid you’d stay with me out of a sense of loyalty, but you’d never truly be happy. Now I realize I was wrong. The only way I failed was by giving up. I should have stayed. We could have grieved the loss of our plan and made a new one together. That’s what I want to do now. Uncle Jimmy told me that I needed to fix the mess I’d made, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

  Her brows creased in confusion. If he wasn’t with anyone, why did he need an engagement ring? Why did he have adoption pamphlets?

  With a sigh, he went to the desk and pulled out a small white box.

  “The ring I bought is for you, Lex. I wasn’t quite ready to give it to you yet. We still have some things we need to work out. Like your boyfriend, for one. But I have your favorite wine in the refrigerator. I picked up food from that Cuban place you like. I made a playlist with all your favorite songs. I wanted to talk to you, so I could ask for another chance. So I could beg you not to give up on us yet.”

  He took a deep breath and looked at the box in his hand. “You already know about the ring, so just know that I was waiting to see if you’d break up with Jeremy on your own, but if not, I was going to try to win you away from him because I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you. I was so stupid to ever leave. I’m in a better place now. I know you never expected me to be perfect or fix everything. I can’t do that. I’m just a person. There are going to be things that cause you pain, and I’ll be by your side to help you deal with them, even when I can’t fix them. I’ll do it right this time, I swear.”

  “I broke up with Jeremy a while ago.” She stared at him in shock.

  “You did?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Kelly said you went away with him for the weekend.”

  “Kelly.” She let out a sigh. “I wasn’t with him. I was thinking of moving away because I didn’t want to have to see you with someone else.”

  He took the papers from her hand.

  “These brochures are from places I’ve researched for us. I’m ready to do this now. I wasn’t willing to give up my dream of seeing you pregnant with my child before, but that was stupid and selfish. I want to do this with you. This one organization places children who have brothers and sisters who want to stay together. How amazing would it be to build a family and save a family at the same time?” he asked in a rush.

  “You’re serious?” She couldn’t have imagined it would ever turn out this way.

  “I’m serious. I’m sorry. I know how badly I messed up before. I was frustrated, and I couldn’t look in your eyes and see how disappointed you were. I was failing you, and for some reason adopting just felt like I was acknowledging that failure. But it’s not. I get it now. I’m ready, Lex.”

  He opened the box to show her the ring.

  “I know you said you didn’t trust me, but I swear I’m going to stick this out. You’re the only person I’m ever going to want. I know we have things to
work out first; I think we should see Dr. Younger together. I want to earn back your trust. Will you give me a chance to let me do that?”

  She could only nod as more tears ran down her cheeks.

  “And when we get to that point—and I’m not going to give up until we do—would you consider marrying me again? Because I love you, Lex. I know we can do this.”

  “Yes! I love you, too, Ian. So much.” What else could she say? He was giving her everything she had wanted but couldn’t even hope of getting. A husband and a father for her child.

  Ian couldn’t believe his ears.

  She’d agreed to try again.

  She’d said she loved him.

  His heart was pounding as he pulled her against him. Then he leaned down so he could kiss her. The kissing started to get carried away, and he realized he hadn’t given her the ring.

  He pulled away and knelt down in front of her. He was going to do this right.

  “Thank you, Lex. Thank you so much. You’re not going to regret this. I promise you, every day I’ll make sure you know how grateful I am that you’re giving me this second chance.” He pushed the ring on her finger, which was a tighter fit than he expected, but it went on with an extra careful shove.

  “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Ian. I love it.”

  “Bigger than the last one.” He winked at her. “You deserve it for putting up with all my shit.”

  He loved the way she smiled at her new ring.

  She looked so beautiful. The only word that came to his mind was radiant. She was always gorgeous, but there was something else about her. Maybe it was because he thought he would never have her again, and now he had a second chance with the love of his life.

  “Let me heat up our dinner and we can talk about our future,” he told her excitedly.

  “Um . . . actually, maybe we could wait. Just for a second. I had something I wanted to tell you, remember?” She bit her bottom lip nervously.

  He’d forgotten she had been the one to initiate the meeting. She was the one who’d called him and asked to talk.

  “I’m sorry. What’s wrong?” He immediately began to worry. He’d gotten carried away. Of course it wouldn’t be this easy.

  He watched as she dug around in her purse and then hesitantly held out a black-and-white photo to him. He took it and looked it over, not really sure what he was looking at.

  “What’s this?” he finally had to ask.

  “It’s our baby,” she said.

  “Our baby?” He blinked at her and then looked back at the black-and-white blob. Baby. Baby. Baby. The word spun around in his head, not making any sense.

  “Yes. That weekend we were making happy memories? Well, we made something else, too. Somebody else.” Her smile was huge.

  “Our baby?” he repeated.

  “Yes. Jeremy and I never . . . we just never got the chance. It wasn’t right,” she explained.

  “We’re having a baby?” It didn’t seem to matter how many times he said it, it just wasn’t getting through. Because it hadn’t been possible before. How many times had he hoped to hear her say these words after each cycle, and instead of being told he was going to be a father, he’d been faced with tears and pain? But there was none of that now. She was happy and she was having his baby.

  “We’re due in January.” She pulled up her shirt to show him the bump. He dropped to his knees, placing his hands around her slightly swollen stomach. “My baby,” he whispered, resting his forehead against her skin.

  “I was hoping to name it James if it’s a boy or Jaime if it’s a girl. What do you think?” she asked. She’d obviously had more time to get used to this. He was still in shock.

  “I love it, Lex. I love you.” He stood up and placed his hands on her cheeks. Tears were covering them again, but this time they were happy tears. “I’m not selling this place, Lex. It’s magical.” He laughed as he kissed her lips. “Come let me show you what I’ve done in the bedroom,” he said. He took her hand, and they went upstairs to start their wonderful new life together.

  Epilogue

  They stopped by his parents’ house on the way home to tell them all their good news. Mrs. Montgomery started to cry.

  “Didn’t I tell you, you’d like the girl?” Ian said quietly as she nodded and hugged the breath out of Lexi. Kelly was a little miffed that Lexi had kept her out of the loop, but she was too happy about everything else to be mad for long. They called Willa and told her while on speaker. She squealed with joy and promised to come home more often.

  Ian was present at the next doctor’s appointment, when they found out they were having a boy. Lexi brushed his tears away when he was overcome with emotion at the sound of the baby’s heartbeat.

  As promised, they went to counseling. Lexi was surprised to learn that what she’d once thought was a perfect marriage had other issues than just infertility.

  With complete awareness of all their flaws and vulnerabilities, they were remarried a few months later.

  “I know this time when I say I do, I’m going to be starting a real marriage, not a perfect one,” Lexi told him the night before while they lay in bed.

  Every night before they went to sleep, Ian would rest his head on her chest for a little baby one-on-one. He would stroke her stomach and bestow his fatherly advice. “Trying it out,” he said.

  One night he might tell their son about the importance of using his turn signal every time; the next it might be instructions on how to hang a painting properly. Sometimes it would be more personal things, like facing your fears and not being afraid to tell someone how you feel about them.

  When he was done with his talk, he’d always say the same thing: “I love you, even though you’re late.” Then he would kiss her stomach and move his attentions to her.

  James Ian Montgomery was born in January, a week late. Plans were in the works to adopt three siblings; someday their home would be bursting with noise, chaos, and love. And Lexi was certain Ian would be beside her for all of it. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind.

  There was no such thing as perfection, but what they had was so much better.

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  The Blue Ridge Romance Series

  NICK OF TIME

  Available Winter 2016

  From Lyrical Shine

  Chapter 1

  Nichole dropped her mascara in her bag and looked out the window. It was a perfect October day in Roanoke, Virginia. Not just perfect because the temperature was mild and the sky was a deep, cloudless blue but also because she was getting married in just over an hour.

  Her “maid of honor,” Cooper, was doing his duties by trying to keep her calm and hydrated. He was doing a great job, but there was still something bothering her.

  Something that had her stomach in knots as she looked out over the grounds of the country club, where the staff was busy setting up.

  “Are you okay?” Cooper asked. “If you need a woman, I can get Roslyn.”

  Her best friend had found his soul mate. Cooper and Roslyn were engaged and planning their own wedding next summer.

  Nichole shook her head. She didn’t think a woman would help. She didn’t think anything was really going to help. It was like trying to stop a hurricane from hitting shore. You could run, or board up the windows, but you couldn’t stop it from striking land and causing damage. No one could help her.

  Especially not her mother, who was making her ascension into the room as if she were the queen of a large country. She always made Nichole feel small and insignificant.

  Today was no different, despite it being her day.

  “Why isn’t your hair and makeup done yet?” Mrs. Roth snapped while looking around the room.

  “It is done, Mother.” Her hand unconsciously went to her long red locks, pulled back in a loose bun.

  Her mother let out a disgusted sigh and rolled her eyes.

  “They have styles to tame that hair, Nichole. Why must you
let it run amok?”

  Nichole had to hide a smirk as Cooper made a face behind her mother’s back.

  Her mother shot a look over her shoulder, nearly catching Cooper in the act.

  “And do you still insist on having a male bridesmaid? It’s highly untraditional.”

  “He’s my best friend, Mama.”

  “And he’s standing right here,” Cooper added with a grin.

  Her mother had always disliked Cooper and the Matthews family in general because she considered them commoners. Mrs. Matthews had raised the boys on her own, working two jobs to do it. Nichole admired Mrs. Matthews and what she was willing to do for her two boys. And the way she encouraged them to do whatever they dreamed.

  Her own mother, however, thought it was repulsive that Mrs. Matthews wasn’t able to find a man to take care of her and her children. After all, that was how her mother had operated.

  After Nichole’s father had died when she was eight, her mother made a list of the richest men in the city and set her sights on the available prey. She’d just divorced husband number four this past spring after sucking him dry, and had invited a few available men to Nichole’s wedding to start the hunt again.

  Fortunately, Nichole was marrying Dennis Reynolds. He was the oldest son of a “very nice Christian couple,” as her mother always said. It didn’t hurt that Dennis’s father was also a wealthy land developer who had given them a big house in the nicest part of town.

  “Mrs. Roth, I was wondering if you might be able help me with a seating issue,” Cooper said while gesturing toward the door. He was very good at maneuvering people; being a lawyer gave him great skills for dealing with Nichole’s mother.

  “I don’t know why you didn’t let me go over it earlier when I asked,” she complained as she headed out the door.

  “I guess I thought I could handle it on my own.” He threw Nic a wink as he pulled the door closed, giving her a moment alone with her messy hair—as well as a mess of a different kind.

  She wasn’t surprised when she heard a light tap on the door. She didn’t know whether to leap out the window to keep it from happening or find the sharpest item on the dressing table.