by Emily March
Which was crazy. She didn’t believe in love at first sight. True love didn’t happen in a week. She couldn’t be in love with him. In lust, sure. Definitely in lust. She had a serious case of the hots for him. She would have had sex with him last night had they been somewhere private.
They had tonight. They had the next two weeks.
She’d been planning to have an affair with him. A nice short two-week fantasy, then he’d be off to Oz and she’d roll on down the road. But if she had an affair with Devin, she couldn’t stay in Eternity Springs. It was one thing to love ’em and leave ’em and something else entirely to love ’em and run into his mother in the grocery store.
This was his world, even if he only occupied it for a short time on rare occasions. Eternity Springs was his mother. His father. His sister and brother. She knew her own heart well enough. If she had an affair with Devin, feeling like she did about him already, she’d be setting herself up for real heartbreak.
She couldn’t sleep with Devin Murphy and make a home in Eternity Springs. So until she made her deliberate, well-considered decision, she couldn’t sleep with Devin Murphy at all.
Her heart twisted. Her eyes filled with moisture. While she couldn’t remember the exact moment, she had a sneaking suspicion that this was how she’d felt when she learned that Santa Claus wasn’t real.
Devin stepped into his parents’ house that evening a happy man. He had an excellent bottle of Chianti in one arm, a beautiful, smart, sexy woman on the other, and the promise of homemade lasagna on the menu. Sarah would serve tiramisu for dessert and Devin planned to eat his share, but he intended to have his real dessert upon returning to the rental house. Hopefully it would be an early evening.
He had clean sheets on his bed and a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge.
“Hello, ’rents,” he called as he walked through the living room. “We’re here.”
He strode into the kitchen expecting to see his mother at the stove or the island or even in the depths of the large walk-in pantry. She wasn’t there. “Mom?”
Jenna touched his arm and nodded toward the floor where the sight of a broken wine glass and a puddle of red wine spilled across on the floor brought him up short. He took a step toward the glass. “Mom? Dad?”
Michael burst through the door, his expression wreathed in fear, and started babbling. “Devin. Mom fell down. For no reason. She just dropped. Boom! Now Mom and Dad are fighting because Dad wants to call the ambulance, and Mom says no, that she’s fine. But Dad doesn’t believe her.”
“Where are they?”
“He carried her to their bedroom. She said if he called an ambulance she’d never forgive him.”
Devin was walking toward the stairs before his brother finished talking. He was halfway up the stairs when Cam exited the master suite. He stopped Devin by holding his palm out. His gaze went directly to Jenna. “Will you come talk to her, please?”
“Of course.” Jenna started for the stairs.
Cam continued. “Just convince her to let me take her to the clinic. This has gone on way too long. I think she’s scared because our friend Mac Timberlake had a serious health scare last year, and it’s made us aware of our mortality.”
“Let me see what’s going on.”
“Can I get you something?” Devin asked as she climbed past him up the stairs. “Your black bag?”
“I’m not her doctor, Devin.”
“It won’t hurt you to have it, though, right?” Cam asked. Devin nodded. “It’s an emergency. Is your bag at the trailer or did you bring it to the house?”
“Fine. It’s in my bedroom closet at the house. A blue nylon messenger bag.”
“I’ll be back in five.”
Devin flew from the house. His hand trembled as he twisted the key in his truck’s ignition, and his tires spun as he gunned the gas pulling away from the house. Mom. Mom. Mom. He said her name like a litany. She couldn’t be sick. She couldn’t! This couldn’t happen again. Michael was just a kid. He still needed her. I’m still a kid. Her kid. God wouldn’t be that cruel as to take a second mother from him, would He?
“Don’t go there,” he muttered. “Do not go there. That’s bad juju.”
Fear rolled through his belly like an ocean wave. A stomach bug. What sort of stomach bug lasts this long? And comes and goes? She’d been sick ever since he came home, and what had he worried about the most? Not catching it. Selfish bastard.
Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. She can’t leave us. She can’t. She can’t. Please, God. Don’t take her. Not again.
At the house, he ran to Jenna’s bedroom and threw open the closet door. The bag was on a shelf at eye level. He grabbed it and ran, and was back at his parents’ house within minutes.
“I’ll take it up,” Cam said, meeting him at the door. He took the stairs two at a time climbing to the master suite.
With his task accomplished, Devin suddenly felt adrift and alone and . . . hell . . . abandoned. Then Michael slipped his hand into Devin’s. Devin forced a smile as he gazed down at his little brother, and in the boy’s terrified blue eyes, he saw himself. You’ve got me, Mikey. You’ll always have me.
“I’m scared, Dev.”
“It’ll be okay, Michael. I believe that. I really do.”
The master bedroom door opened and closed. A grim faced Cam came down the stairs. “How is she?” Devin asked.
“I don’t know. She was in the bathroom. Your doc lady wouldn’t tell me a damn thing and I can’t read her face, but I don’t think she’s calling an ambulance. She said they’d be down in a few minutes, and your mother asked us to set the table and toss the salad.”
“Toss the salad!” Devin exclaimed.
Michael scampered toward the kitchen. “I’ll set the table.”
Cam dragged a hand down his jawline. He looked like he’d aged five years in the past five minutes. “Thanks, buddy. Devin, would you clean up that mess on the kitchen floor, please?”
“Sure, Dad. I’ll do anything you need.”
“In that case, maybe pour me a bourbon too.”
Upstairs, Sarah stepped out of her bathroom in a zombie-like daze, her complexion as pale as the Murphy Mountain snowcap. “You were right,” she croaked.
“Yes,” Jenna replied. “I know.”
“This can’t be!” Sarah whined. “I’m old! I’m going to be a grandmother! I had hot flashes. Mood swings. Weight gain. I thought it was menopause. It’s supposed to be menopause!”
“Peri-menopause, and you’d be surprised at how many surprise pregnancies we see in women over forty. People get lax with birth control.”
“Not me! Not since I was a teenager. Been there, done that, and had a bouncing baby girl as a result of it. I learned my lesson. Cam and I always . . . well . . . except . . .”
“It only takes once.” Jenna mouth twisted wryly. “That was some snowstorm. At Easter, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. An Easter blizzard. An Easter miracle. Oh my. I have to sit down.” Sarah sank onto the edge of her bed. “Oh my. A baby. Another baby. And a grandchild.” She looked up at Jenna with a wild look in her eyes. “If Cam dyes his hair and starts wearing turtlenecks, I’ll lose my mind. I need to throw away the sleeping pills right now!”
“Sarah, what are you talking about?”
“It’s Father of the Bride Part II. The movie. I’m married to Steve Martin.”
“Ah. Yes.”
“You know, sometimes he even sort of looks like Steve Martin. Well, Steve Martin when the movie was made. Young Steve Martin. Except, Cam is old. Like me. We’re in our forties! That’s too old to be having another baby.”
“Mother Nature didn’t think so, obviously.”
“Oh my.” Sarah waved her hand in front of her face. “Oh my. What am I going to tell Cam?”
“Not to shop for turtlenecks?” Jenna suggested, trying to stifle a grin.
Sarah’s eyes widened, then she burst out in a laugh. The tinge of hysteria didn’t worry Jenna. Neither d
id the tears pooling in Sarah’s eyes. Many women cried upon learning of impending motherhood—sometimes in joy, sometimes in despair. Hormones running amok combined with the realization of a major life event tended to bring emotions close to the surface.
But regarding emotions . . . “Your family is worried. Shall I ask Cam to come up so you can share your news?”
“Yes, thanks. No, wait. Maybe I’ll go down. Tell them all at once. Which should I do?”
“It’s totally up to you.”
“He’ll have questions. I’ll be a high-risk pregnancy because of my age, won’t I? When Nic Callahan was pregnant with the twins, she was high risk and she had to go to Denver to be near doctors and a state-of-the-art medical facility. But that was before the new clinic was built. And you’re here now. You’ll have your license back. You’ll stay, Jenna, won’t you? You’ll stay in Eternity Springs?”
Jenna’s heart gave a little wrench. She thought about Devin and the cozy rent house and clean sheets on her bed. She thought about two weeks without Reilly underfoot.
She thought about Gabi Brogan and Savannah Turner and Lili Callahan and Shannon Garrett. She thought of Devin’s sister Lori.
“You will be my obstetrician, won’t you, Jenna?” Sarah asked.
Sarah, Devin’s mother. His beloved mother who had been so kind to Jenna and Reilly. This whole town had been a gift to her. A gift. In her mind’s eye, she saw herself pulling back red tissue paper to reveal Celeste’s Christmas wishing tree snow globe.
She made her deliberate, well-considered decision with only a twinge of regret. “Of course I will, Sarah. I’ll be honored to be your doctor.”
Sarah filled her cheeks with air then blew it out in a puff. “Okay, then. Let’s do this. Let’s go downstairs and give my husband something different to worry about. You know, he thinks I have a tumor. That’s his default whenever something is wrong.” With a snicker, she added, “I guess, in a way, he’s right this time.”
“I probably wouldn’t use that terminology tonight,” Jenna suggested.
“Probably not.”
Sarah paused in front of the bedroom mirror to fuss with her hair. In the past few minutes, color had returned to her cheeks, and Jenna thought she was as pretty an expectant mother as she’d ever seen.
Cam paced at the foot of the stairs, and his head jerked up when he heard them coming. His forest green eyes lasered onto Sarah as he murmured, “Honey?”
“I’m fine,” she said as descended the staircase. “I’m not sick, Cam.”
“There’s no tumor?”
“No.” Sarah snorted and glanced over her shoulder toward Jenna. “See, I told you so.”
“Then what’s wrong? I still think you need to go to the clinic. They have night hours, you know. Why have you been so sick? This isn’t normal.”
Devin exited the kitchen and looked at his mother with an assessing gaze, then focused on Jenna. Sarah reached the bottom of the stairs. “Actually, it is. It’s totally normal and I should have realized it. After all, I’ve done this twice before.”
The furrows in Cam’s brow deepened. “Done what?” Sarah rested her hand on his chest and smiled up at him, an impish light in her violet eyes. Their gazes locked. She waited.
The color drained from Cam’s face. The crystal highball glass he held slipped from his hand and shattered on the wood floor. He croaked, “You’re kidding.”
“What?” Devin asked.
“Tell me you’re kidding,” Cam added.
Sarah shook her head. “Nope. I’m not kidding.”
“Are you okay, Mommy?” Michael asked.
“I’m fine, Michael. Watch your feet. Don’t step on the glass.”
“What are you talking about!” Devin demanded.
Cam reached out and swiped the glass out of Devin’s hand. He chugged back the contents and said, “She’s not kidding.”
“About what? She hasn’t said a damn thing!”
“Don’t curse, Devin. I’m pregnant! We’re having another baby.”
“A baby!” Michael exclaimed. “Cool.”
Devin’s jaw dropped. “But . . . but . . . you’re too old.”
It was just the observation Cam needed to hear to bring his world back into focus. He pulled his gaze away from his wife long enough to shoot his son a smirk.
“Apparently not.” Then he pulled Sarah into his arms and kissed her thoroughly before adding, “This grandpa still has game.”
Sixteen
Five days after his mother’s big surprise, Devin still had trouble accepting that his parents’ sex life was playing so much havoc with his own. The mood hadn’t been right for him to make a move on Jenna that night, so they’d said their goodnights and retired to their respective rooms. The following morning, she’d cooked him breakfast and proceeded to ruin his appetite by explaining that barring any unforeseen problems, she intended to keep the promise she’d made to his mother and remain in Eternity Springs, at least through Christmas and possibly for good.
Because of that, she didn’t think it was advisable to start an affair.
“It would be awkward, Devin. If I’m trying to make a life here for Reilly and me, if these people are going to be my friends and neighbors, I don’t want to open myself up to slut-shaming. If we don’t sleep together, I can hold my head up and speak with truthfulness and authority when I deny that you and I have something more than friendship here.”
He’d wanted to protest, but he understood her argument. One of the drawbacks to small town living was that everybody knew everybody’s business. That said, just because he sympathized with her point didn’t mean he had to like it. Just because he tried to ignore the whole Santa bellringing revelation about finding a father for Reilly didn’t mean it didn’t slither and shake its rattles in his mind. He’d whined a little and made an attempt to change her mind, but his heart wasn’t in it. He knew she was right. So every night they retired to their respective rooms and he yearned—and cussed the very thought of blizzards.
On this Tuesday morning at his mother and sister’s urging, they were on their way to participate in the midmorning yoga class. Devin might have preferred a hard run or, let’s face it, a bout of athletic sex—but he had nothing against yoga. He needed physical activity and it was better than nothing. Though he’d made a mistake lining up behind Jenna. There wasn’t anything downward about his dog when she stuck that sweet little butt in the air right in front of him. He was damn glad that he’d worn a long T-shirt over loose-fitting gym shorts or he’d have embarrassed himself in front of his mom and sister.
When class ended, the prego parade congregated around Jenna. She prefaced her answers to their questions with her standard line, “I am a doctor, but I’m not your doctor, and I’m not licensed to practice in Colorado.” That didn’t stop anyone from trying to pin her down. When the hen party finally broke up and they left the studio, Jenna bubbled with happiness. Devin gave a crooked smile and said, “You are such a fake.”
“What?”
“You tried to say you were happy doing your online job. I eavesdropped on you this morning as you were taking your calls and I listened to you just now. Sugar, you are meant to work with patients. You’re a natural.”
They walked half a block before she responded. “I’ve missed it. I didn’t realize how much until today.”
They had exited the studio with Lori and his mother and walked north on Aspen. Their plan was to spend an hour or two doing yard work at his mom’s. Or, as Jenna happily called it, playing in the flowerbeds. He had discovered the previous day that she had a thing for digging in the dirt, and he knew his parents would be happy to indulge her. Mom could never have enough posies.
They stopped at the local lumberyard, which kept a nursery and a landscaping section stocked during the spring and summer. Jenna picked out garden gloves and shoes and tools, and then debated over flowerpots and annuals as a gift for his parents’ patio. “Do you think Sarah would like this rustic, wood look, or is t
he clay pot better?”
“Which do you like best?”
“I like the clay, but—”
“Get it. From what I’ve seen, you and my mom have similar tastes.”
It was true. Jenna shared a lot of common interests with his mother. She didn’t bake, the only mark against her that Devin could see, but the two of them could go on for hours about the pros and cons of youth sports and decorating trends and movie soundtracks and technology rules for their boys.
Sarah and Lori were as close as a mother and daughter could be, but there were some parts of their relationship he’d never understood. They could make each other bristle with nothing more than a look. War had started over a single word.
For them both to be pregnant at the same time . . . whoa.
Dad might want to move back to Australia with me.
And yet, a part of Devin regretted that he wouldn’t be around to watch. How would his parents be with their first grandchild? What sort of relationship would Lori develop with her youngest sibling?
What will mine be like with the new kid? Will I know him at all?
The ringing of his cell phone jerked Devin from thoughts that had turned brooding. He checked the number. The Yellow Kitchen? Who was calling him from the restaurant?
“We didn’t have a lunch date I forgot about, did we?” he asked Jenna as he thumbed the green dot and brought the phone up to his ear. “Hello?”
“Devin, it’s Ali. It looks like we just had a bite on your plan. I assume Jenna didn’t actually place an order for thirty-four pizzas to be delivered to the medical clinic?”
Devin halted mid stride. “Hot damn. Phone order or on line?”
“Online.”
“Even better. Thanks for the heads-up, Ali. I’ll call the team.” Ending the call, he met Jenna’s gaze. “It’s on.”
“What happened?” She covered her mouth with a hand as he explained. “Thirty-four? Why thirty-four? Why any of this? Oh.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “I need to sit down. This is actually happening. Oh, wow. I think I’m going to faint.”