Love & Liability (A High Tea & Flip-Flops Novel Book 2)

by Linda Cassidy Lewis

  “This is it, isn’t it, Gabs?”

  She puts a finger to her lips.

  I whisper angrily. “I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure you can’t ignore labor.”

  She rolls her eyes. “How could I possibly ignore it?”

  “I mean you have to tell Matt. You have to go to the hospital. Your mom was in labor only three hours with you—start to finish.” She stiffens again, concentrating. “Oh wow, that’s too close together, Gabi.”

  She gasps and presses her hand to her crotch. It comes away wet.

  I yell for Matt. “Time to go.”

  Nothing happens for a moment, and then the TV goes silent and two pale-faced men appear in the kitchen.

  “For real?” Matt says.

  Gabi nods furiously. “Get my stuff.”

  Matt and Jeremy disappear. With my arm around Gabi, we walk slowly out of the kitchen to the bedroom where I help her change into clean sweats. Jeremy, stunned, is leaning against the wall outside the kitchen. Matt rushes around gathering an armload of things. I grab my purse and hoodie from the sofa. Jeremy hasn’t moved.

  “Come on,” I say to him.

  His eyes open even wider. “We’re going with them?”

  “Of course we are. You know I’m one of her coaches.”

  “Right. I’ll drive you there.”

  “We’re all going together.”

  Gabi hands me her phone as we get into Matt’s truck. “Tell Barbara we’re on our way.”

  “Fuck!” Matt pounds the steering wheel. “I forgot to call the midwife.”

  Gabi’s concentrating again, so I say, “Gabi already did. I’m calling her back to tell her we’re on our way to the hospital.”

  Jeremy’s staring straight ahead, still doing his deer in the headlights impression. The rain picks up, drumming on the roof, and Matt’s driving like a maniac.

  “Slow down, Matt, unless you want to skid off the road and deliver this baby in a ditch.”

  “Oh my God,” Jeremy says. “Oh my God.”

  At the hospital, they whisk Gabi away, so Jeremy and I stay with Matt while he gets her signed in. Jeremy’s almost calm until he realizes I expect him to go with me to Gabi’s room.

  “Not while she’s in labor,” he says. “I’ll wait here.”

  “The whole point is to be with her through her labor and delivery, Jeremy.”

  “Right. Go ahead.”

  “Where has your head been the whole time we’ve discussed this?” He looks at me like I’ve just asked him to tell me the population of Jamaica. “None of Matt’s family can get here in less than three hours. You are his moral support. It’s all of us. Matt, Gabi’s mom, me, and you.”

  “You’ve gone around the bend. They’d never allow all of us in an operating theater.”

  I just shake my head and grab his arm, pulling him along. Matt’s already out of sight, but Gabi’s mom, Chiara, is just arriving when we get to the prep area. She hugs me without really looking at me. “How is she? Is the midwife here? Oh, I’m so nervous.”

  A nurse exits Gabi’s room. She points at me. “You the backup coach?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good because Dad’s a little iffy right now.”

  Jeremy groans.

  “She’s ready,” the nurse says. “All in.”

  Chiara goes straight to Gabi and kisses her. Matt’s sitting in a chair beside the bed, his breathing rapid and his head hung low. Jeremy hasn’t moved away from the door. Barbara, the midwife, is already in the room and catches my eye, nodding toward the head of the bed.

  I wait behind Chiara until another contraction starts. “Chiara, could you get Jeremy and make him sit down?”

  “Oh, certainly. I think I need to sit too.”

  As soon as her mom moves, I grab Gabi’s hand and whisper encouragement to her, watching the fetal monitor for the contraction’s peak, then letting her know when it’s almost over.

  “Going to be a quick delivery,” Barbara says. “You want to get on your knees for a while, Gabi?”

  Matt comes back to life. “I thought she was supposed to walk around first.”

  “She did her walking around stage at home,” Barbara tells him.

  Matt gives Gabi a dark look. “Gabriella, you promised to—”

  “Contraction,” I announce, and he looks ashamed, but he grabs Gabi’s other hand and holds it to his lips. After that, he does his job well, using his muscles to help support Gabi on her hands and knees and finally at the squatting bar.

  Between contractions, Barbara chats quietly with Chiara but rarely takes her eyes off Gabi. The nurse comes in and out, consulting with Barbara and getting the warmer ready for the baby. Matt takes photos with his phone, but Gabi threatens to murder him if he shares any of them online. Jeremy sits quietly, looking anywhere but at the bed.

  And then it seems that everything happens at once, and soon I’m choking up at the sound of the baby’s first cry. It’s a boy. Gabi will have to try again for the daughter she’s always dreamed of having. I look for Jeremy and find him on his feet leaning in for a better look, the wonder of it all softening his face so I see the boy captured in the photos on the walls at Dovewood. I don’t think he’s even registering that the baby he’s staring at so intently is breastfeeding.

  One Month Later

  I’m absolutely split in two. The outside me is aware that Gabi is securing my Juliette cap, and Laura’s fastening a bracelet on my wrist, and Mom is fussing because the officiant hasn’t arrived yet, and Amanda is fretting that Ethan won’t take the ceremony seriously. The inside me is totally freaked.

  I’m getting married. Married. Minutes from now. But that’s too soon. I’m sure Jeremy and I haven’t discussed everything we should have. I’m not prepared enough. Oh God. What if Jeremy’s not prepared either? I mean, what do the two of us know about marriage? What do we know about life?

  My panic must be visible because Gabi whispers, “Just breathe. You’re ready for this.”

  “Am I?”

  Laura holds my hand, leaning in so the three of us are like conspirators. “You simply can’t doubt that. You and Jeremy are perfect together.”

  “What’s happening? What are you whispering about?” Mom says. “Is there a problem?”

  “No,” Gabi says, “just a loose eyelash. All fixed.”

  Gabi and Laura appeal to me with their eyes. I nod.

  “You look beautiful,” Gabi tells me.

  “So do you … both of you.” I put my arms around their waists, and we squeeze together in front of the mirror.

  “Damn,” Gabi says. “We are gorgeous.”

  My brother Scott peeks in the room to announce they’re ready for us. Mom kisses me on one cheek and Amanda on the other before they leave with him.

  Laura hugs me. “I love you, sister,” she says and follows them out.

  “Oh shit.” Gabi presses her forearms against her breasts. “If I leak through this dress, I’m going to sue the maker of these nursing pads.”

  A minute later, we sigh with relief when she moves her arms, and all is dry.

  Ryan who, as my oldest brother, will be walking me down the aisle, opens the door and comes in. Gabi hands me my bouquet, then picks up her bouquet and the card printed with my vows. Ryan offers me his arm, and it seems before I take another breath the three of us are standing behind the shoji screen set up on the patio waiting for the music cues. Gabi’s intro begins, and she turns to give me a quick smile before she steps forward.

  I’m shaking. Ryan lays his hand over mine. “Does this mean you’re a grown-up now, Cheesy?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Sure you are.” He kisses my cheek.

  The first notes of “A Thousand Years” sound, and an unbelievable calm fills me. Jeremy chose that song for us. For me.

  Ryan gives a little tug, and we’re on our way. When I step out from behind the screen, the rustle and movement of everyone standing to face me is a distraction. Then I focus on Jeremy
, and everyone else disappears. It’s just the two of us in the first glow of sunset with the air clear and warm and rose-scented. A mondo wave of love washes over me, lifting my heart and rushing it toward him.

  And then I’m standing beside him, hearing but not hearing the officiant’s opening. Beautiful words like promises and journey and trust float around me. Jeremy’s hand finds mine.

  “Jeremy and Chelsea,” the officiant says, “do you, with your family and friends as witnesses, present yourselves here willingly to be joined in marriage?”

  “We do.”

  “You may now speak your vows.”

  Gabi hands my card to me. Jeremy and I face each other.

  I look into his eyes, and I’m gone. I’m supposed to say my vows first, but I can’t do it. I look at the card but can’t make sense of the words. Am I having a stroke or something? Panicked, I look up at Jeremy. A brief frown creases his brow, and then he gives a tiny nod and motions to Ethan for his card.

  Jeremy clears his throat. “Chelsea Marie Cole, on this most important day, I take you to be my wife. I promise to stay faithfully with you, laugh and cry with you, encourage and grow with you. I promise to love you … to be open and honest …” He pauses, scanning the rest of the card. He shakes his head. He hands his card to the officiant. “I can’t do this.”

  I can’t breathe. Oh God.

  Gabi leans over my shoulder and hisses, “You asshole. I’m going to murder you.”

  Jeremy looks at her, surprised. “No, no, I didn’t mean …” He takes my hand again. “I just can’t say what I wrote.” He turns to our guests. “Forgive me for going off script … and for any possible indelicacies I might reveal.”

  Now my heart is hammering for a different reason—what the hell is he about to reveal?

  He faces me again. “I noticed you the first day I moved into Ocean View. Your pink-striped hair caught my eye first, and seconds later your beauty—and by instinct, I knew your beauty was not skin deep. I thought surely a woman like you would be unavailable, but when it seemed you were, I resolved to meet you. I practiced clever lines hoping to make an impression the next time I saw you, but each time I looked at you, all words evaporated. Ethan can attest that I told him I’d met the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

  Ethan nods.

  “And he could also tell you how hilarious he found it that for the first time in the history of my relationships with the opposite sex, I was petrified to make a move.”

  Ethan grins and nods again.

  “And then I heard you crying over the loss of your job, and I thought, Here’s my opportunity. I can help this damsel in distress—and yes, I admit I fancied myself your knight, swooping in to rescue you. I brought you pizza and … well, I acted the bumbling fool, and the evening ended in spilled beer and bloodshed. Yet, I couldn’t abandon hope, not even though you blacked my eye and jumped from one wildly wrong conclusion to another and corrected your mother on my sexual preference … loudly … in a crowded restaurant. You were a gorgeous, charming, walking disaster, and I was hopelessly in love.”

  He pauses to blot my tears with his pocket square. “I was also terrified I’d muck things up if I moved too fast. It was torture working with you day after day after day without giving myself away. Good God, it was brutal trying to ignore you lying on my bed in your fu—stilettos. And when you made it clear you weren’t looking for a serious relationship, I nearly lost hope. But I gave in, taking your proposal we be only friends with benefits as a do-or-die challenge.

  “And I lived. We lived.”

  He swallows hard, twice. “You are everything to me, Chelsea Marie Cole. I have loved you from that first minute, and it will be my honor and my privilege to love and care for you forever with all my heart and body and soul.”

  Oh, what a beautiful, beautiful man this is. With sobs and sniffles surrounding me, I’m fighting like crazy not to start full-on boohooing. Then I see Ethan wipe away a tear, and the shock of that kicks my joy into gear.

  I toss my vows card. “Jeremy Windsor Pearce, I’m going to love the hell out of you for the rest of your life.”

  When the laughter stops, the officiant leads us in the exchange of rings. And then we’re kissing and everyone’s cheering and we’re crossing the lawn to the reception tent together as Mr. and Mrs. Pearce.

  I can hardly believe I’m standing here beside my husband under the stars in the glow of fairy lights strung in every tree and shrub and crisscrossed over the portable dance floor. If I didn’t feel so alive, I’d think this was all a dream. Mom and Uncle Bert look adorable slow dancing together, gazing into each other’s eyes. Gordon and Amanda are making the rounds like the social pros they are, speaking with all my friends and relatives. The three prettiest unattached female guests are swarming around Ethan. Of course. I’m betting he won’t be going back to his hotel alone tonight. I breathe deeply of all this beauty and peace.

  “What the fuck?” Jeremy growls. “She’s been with him all evening.”

  I follow his glare. Laura is deep in conversation with Dusty Haines, ex-surfer pro. “Chill, dude, you won.”

  “What?”

  “You can’t possibly still be jealous. You got the girl.”

  He shoots me a glare. “I was never jealous.”

  “Seriously?”

  “All right. I was. But how can Laura find him at all interesting? She’s never surfed in her life.”

  “Um … could it be that they’re both heavily invested in saving the environment?”

  “Him?”

  “Very much.”

  “Crap.”

  I wrap my arms around his waist. “I love it when you talk like me.”

  “Get a room,” Matt says from behind me.

  I let go of Jeremy and turn to find the happy new family standing there.

  “We’d like to dance for a few minutes,” Gabi says, laying Marco in Jeremy’s arms.

  She doesn’t fool me. She’s lobbying for me and Jeremy to have a baby soon so our children can grow up together. I must admit I feel a pull seeing how natural he looks smiling into Marco’s chubby little face.

  “He’s just nursed and had a diaper change,” Matt says, “so you should be good.” He pulls Gabi toward the dance floor.

  A minute later, Mom, Uncle Bert, Gordon, and Amanda line up before us. “That’s a nice sight,” Amanda tells Jeremy.

  “I agree,” Mom says and takes the baby from him.

  “Don’t rush things,” Gordon grumbles. He pulls an envelope from his jacket pocket. “On behalf of the four of us, we’d like you to have a bit of a head start on setting up your household.”

  “Thank you,” Jeremy and I chorus. He takes the envelope but doesn’t open it. I suppose that’s proper etiquette, but you know me. I grab it and pull out the check.

  “Holy crap.”

  “Oh, Chelsea,” my mother groans, but everyone else laughs, even Gordon.

  Uncle Bert holds out another envelope to Jeremy. “Marie tells me Chelsea’s never been to Paris, and I know you’ve already made honeymoon reservations at the”—he looks to Mom—“Pink Palace?”

  “Tickled Pink Inn,” she says.

  He smiles at her like she’s just originated that adorable name. “Yes, that’s it. So when you get back from Carmel, I’d like you to spend a week abroad as my treat.”

  Jeremy takes the envelope and pulls me closer to his side. “As a kind and wise and gorgeous woman once said, ‘Holy crap.’ ”

  *

  Have you read the beginning of Chelsea and Jeremy’s story?

  High Tea & Flip-Flops

  Chelsea Cole is only one paycheck away from—OMG—moving back to her mother’s house, which would really suck because she’s trying to catch the eye of the gorgeous Brit who moved into the apartment above hers.

  Jeremy Pearce is definitely not Chelsea’s usual blond and bronzed surfer type. He’s all sexy long hair, poet shirts, suede boots, and secrets. Lots of secrets. But how will she
get close enough to solve the Jeremy puzzle if she keeps humiliating herself every time he’s around?

  Read it now!

  Also by Linda Cassidy Lewis

  The Brevity of Roses: The Bay of Dreams Series Book 1

  Spanning ten years, The Brevity of Roses explores the interwoven lives of three damaged people who are each offered a chance to heal—if they can banish the ghosts of their pasts.

  Meredith Dahlberg-Lang hides behind a façade. In public, she’s a wealthy socialite. In private, she’s a lonely woman with a heart imprisoned by guilt after her husband’s death. But she can’t deny the longing she feels when a younger man seeks her attention.

  Jalal Vaziri, after years of trying in vain to win his father’s approval, defies him by pursuing a new career. When he meets the woman of his dreams, his satisfaction is complete, but fate challenges his plan for a blissful future.

  Renee Marshall, matured beyond her years by a hard life, heads for a fresh start in Los Angeles. But when car trouble detours her to a village on the central coast, she enters the life of a man whose fierce denial of the need to be loved matches her own.

  Read it now!

  An Illusion of Trust: The Bay of Dreams Series, Book 2

  A poignant exploration of marriage and motherhood, An Illusion of Trust is the story of a young woman who discovers that having her dreams come true can’t erase her nightmare past.

  When Renee Marshall married Jalal Vaziri, she got all the love and security she craved. But now, with a baby on the way, she has to leave her perfect seaside cottage to move into the mansion Jalal shared with his beloved first wife—a woman Renee fears she’ll never completely replace. Unsettled by changes the relocation makes to her idyllic life, she allows her dark memories to resurface and feed her insecurity. With the threat of losing all she treasures, Renee will have to confront her past and learn to trust love.

  Read it now!

  Acknowledgments

  As always, I thank my family for loving, encouraging, and supporting me in many ways. Special mention, and much love, goes to my husband, the man who does far more than his share in real life so I have abundant time to spend in my fictional worlds.