Fire and Midnight

by Sandra Renee Appet

  Tyler put his arm around Jane’s shoulder as they watched Nick’s car drive away. “You know I didn’t invite him, right?”

  Jane smiled at her son. “I know.”

  “And it didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it’d be, having Dad here with Ryan.”

  Jane laughed, thankful that Tyler hadn’t arrived in time to witness the first Nick versus Ryan showdown.

  Tyler pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “By the way, he’s a good dude. I’m glad you found somebody. Now I don’t have to worry about you so much.” He gave her his best toothy smile.

  “Isn’t it my job to worry about you?” she asked. “Let’s get some dessert. Ryan and I have something to tell you.”

  They headed back inside, where Ryan was setting out pies. “I didn’t realize how much food we had!” Jane exclaimed, surveying the four pies and platters of leftover food.

  “It’ll come in handy when you’re gone next week. When do you leave for San Antonio?” Tyler asked.

  “Ryan’s leaving tomorrow, to get back to the restaurant. I’ll fly out Wednesday, to spend New Year’s with his family. You sure you don’t want to join me?”

  “Nah, some of my friends are going into Times Square. Dad said we could crash at his place.”

  Jane nodded, hoping Nick would live up to his word. “You can always come back here.”

  Tyler cut a huge slice of apple pie and topped it off with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. “You said you have something to talk about?” Tyler asked between bites.

  Jane took a deep breath. “Ryan and I are getting married.”

  Tyler’s gaze moved from Jane to Ryan and back to Jane. “Sorry but it’s a little fast, isn’t it?”

  “Not really. I know you just met him, but Ryan and I have known each other for a while now.” She turned to Ryan for the strength to get through the next part. “We’re also having a baby.”

  “Whoa. I wasn’t expecting that.” Tyler set his plate down. “Wow, Ma. A baby? Wow.” He narrowed his eyes. “Are you okay? I mean, you’re older now.”

  Jane shook her head, smiling in spite of herself. “Thanks for pointing that out, Ty. To answer your question, I will need to take it easy, especially toward the end, but the baby and I are doing just fine. I’m due in July.”

  Tyler gnawed at his bottom lip, the way he always did when he was thinking hard about something. “So, where will you live?”

  “I’ll live primarily at Ryan’s house in San Antonio.”

  “Our house,” Ryan corrected with a smile.

  “Our house. There’s plenty of room there. There’s a bedroom for you there, too. Plus, I’m going to keep this place for when I’m in New York for work.” The issue of Jane keeping her job was the only topic Ryan and she had disagreed on. He’d urged her to quit and stay home, but Jane didn’t feel ready to give up her career.

  Tyler nodded and extended his hand to Ryan. “Welcome to the family. You don’t want me to call you ‘dad’ or anything, do you? Because that would be weird.”

  Ryan shook his hand and chuckled. “Ryan will do. And thanks.”

  Tyler took a deep breath. “If this is what you want, I’m happy for you. I don’t get why you want to change poop diapers, though.”

  “Hey, I changed your poop diapers and I survived, just barely,” Jane teased.

  Tyler shrugged. “I’m going to grab another slice of pie.”

  Tyler headed to the kitchen, and Ryan wrapped his arms around Jane, pulling her against his chest. It was her favorite place to be. “Well, there. Your family is done. Mine’s next,” he said, and kissed the top of her head.

  “That should be fun,” Jane said, thinking, if fun means having a root canal without Novocain.

  “Who knows? Maybe Maya will surprise us,” Ryan said.

  “Maybe,” Jane said.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Jane’s frequent trips to San Antonio usually began with a belly full of butterflies as she almost sprinted through the airport terminal into Ryan’s arms. This time her stomach was tied in ugly knots.

  Nevertheless, it seemed that she was the only person in a “bah-humbug” mood. Happy passengers in Christmas sweaters, lugging bags of gifts, bustled around her as she walked, searching for her first glimpse of Ryan and his sign. She smiled when she spotted the sign, but it wasn’t cradled in Ryan’s tanned, masculine hands. Instead, the sign was held about two feet lower than usual, and it was bouncing up and down.

  “Isabel!” Jane ran to the little girl and gave her a hug. “What are you doing here? Where’s Uncle Ryan?”

  “He’s right over there. I told him I wanted to be your pickup person today.”

  A wave of calm washed over Jane when she spied Ryan beaming at her from his perch nearby. His expression told her that everything was going to be okay. Taking Isabel’s hand, she walked the final distance to him.

  “Hello, Querida.”

  “Hi.” Jane rose on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  “Eww,” Isabel squealed. “I’m never gonna kiss a boy.”

  Ryan knelt to Isabel’s level. “You’d better not, or I’ll have to beat him up.”

  Isabel covered her mouth and giggled.

  “Ready to take Miss Jane to the new Italian ice place we found?”

  “Let’s go!” Isabel’s left hand retained its grip on Jane as she slipped her right hand into Ryan’s.

  Jane’s gaze swept from Isabel, who was busy singing a song about ice cream, to Ryan.

  He flashed her a wink. “I thought you might need a little taste of what’s to come.”

  Isabel swung their arms as the threesome strolled to the baggage carousel. Jane and Ryan would soon have their own child to hold hands with and take out for ices. For Jane, that thought made the event she would soon endure a little easier to swallow.

  They collected her bag and headed through the glass doors to the parking lot. Jane took a deep breath, savoring the warmth that hung in the air, a sharp contrast to New York’s late December weather. “It’s the perfect day for an Italian ice in San Antonio,” Ryan said to Isabel as he helped her into the car.

  Jane folded her coat and laid it on the seat next to Isabel.

  “Why did you bring a coat?” Isabel asked.

  Jane smiled, explaining, “I won’t need it here, but I needed it where I just came from.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “New York City. It’s cold there now.”

  “Momma said people from New York aren’t very nice,” Isabel said with a frown.

  Jane looked at Ryan. “I suppose that’s true of some of them.”

  “Just like not all of the people in San Antonio are nice,” Ryan added. “But the great thing about New York is, there are so many people there that you can just ignore the mean ones.” He steered the car out of the parking lot.

  “I think Miss Jane is nice.”

  “So do I, Iz. So do I.”

  ****

  Ryan’s reflection appeared behind Jane as she checked out her flowing dress in the full-length mirror. “You look beautiful,” he assured her, his smoky voice caressing all the warm places on her body.

  “The boho look is the perfect camouflage for my little tummy.” She’d already changed several times while waiting for him to return from the restaurant.

  Vine was booked solid for New Year’s Eve, and Ryan had been there all day, to ensure that his staff could handle the rest of the night without him. Now he reached around her and slid his palm over her ribs. The heat of his hand smoothed its way over her stomach and came to rest low on her belly. “I can’t wait to feel our baby move inside you.”

  She turned in his arms and trailed her fingertips from the sleeve of his shirt up to his collar. As she played with the ends of his hair, his mouth slanted over hers, and pregnancy hormones exploded into a sea of heat and want.

  Ryan groaned. “We’d better go, before we end up back in bed,” he whispered.

  Jane matched his groan. S
pending the evening in bed sounded infinitely better than being at his sister’s house, where the entire Rosales clan would watch her, and judge her, and whisper to each other in Spanish, leaving her to wonder what they were saying. But it would be a relief to have everything out in the open, even if it meant exposing herself to unwanted attention and possible ridicule.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you, Querida,” he said kissing her lightly.

  With his strong arms wrapped around her in strength and love, Jane found the courage to nod. “Let’s go do this.”

  ****

  Ryan shifted his car into Park as Jane surveyed the house. She hadn’t been to Maya’s since the weekend she met Ryan. At least, judging by the cars parked on the street, there weren’t as many guests as there had been during her last party.

  Ryan seemed to read her mind. “Maya limits the New Year’s Eve guest list to immediate family. This is the first one I’ve been to in a few years.”

  “Well then, I should earn at least a few brownie points for getting you here, right?”

  “She was happy when I told her we were coming,” Ryan said, smiling down at her as he opened her car door.

  Jane could translate that easily enough: Maya was overjoyed he would be there. Her? Not so much.

  She took his hand, and he helped her from the car. “Do we have a plan?”

  “The perfect one. They love to watch the New York City festivities on television so we’ll tell everyone just before the ball drops at Times Square.”

  “I like the way you think, Mr. Zeigler. Hit them with the news, then move the focus from us to the New York countdown. Clever.”

  “With any luck, we’ll be out of there to celebrate the stroke of midnight in our own way.”

  Jane grinned up at him, then stole a kiss before he opened the front door. “I love the sound of that.” If things got uncomfortable, they could be out of there in just a couple of hours.

  Isabel met them inside. “Momma’s letting me stay up to watch the ball drop, this year!”

  “That’s fantastic, Iz.” Ryan looked around. “Where is your mom anyway?”

  “In the kitchen with Tia Rose and Tilly.”

  Jane raised her eyebrows. “You told her I was coming, right?”

  A muscle in Ryan’s jaw clenched, and he nodded. “Of course. She’s unbelievable.” He squeezed her hand, and they headed toward the kitchen.

  “Reyo!” Maya caroled as soon as he appeared. “There you are. We were wondering when you’d get here.” She pulled him against her tiny frame for a hug.

  “And you remember Jane.”

  Jane managed a smile, with Ryan’s hand on her back providing the support she needed to deal with Maya’s icy gaze.

  “How could I forget?” Maya gave her a once-over. “What an interesting dress.”

  Ryan turned Jane to face his aunt, and leaned down to kiss the older woman’s cheek. “Feliz Año Nuevo, Tia. I’d like to introduce you to Jane.”

  “Mucho gusto, Señora Rosales,” Jane said carefully. She’d asked Ryan to teach her a few Spanish phrases so she could begin to communicate with his non-English-speaking relatives.

  The gesture seemed to impress his aunt. She gave Jane a warm smile and nodded her head as Uncle Pascal strode into the kitchen.

  “Ah, Señorita. It’s wonderful to see you again.” He took hold of her hand and kissed her knuckles making her feel welcome. “You met mi esposa, Rosa?”

  “Sí.” Jane smiled warmly at the elderly couple who spoke in soft voices to each other.

  “Rosa is shy about speaking English, but she says you’re bonita … very pretty.”

  “Muchas gracias,” Jane responded as she eyed Tilly shimmy up to Ryan. Where Jane’s dress was long and flowing, Tilly’s skimpy outfit clung to every dip and curve. Who needed to watch the crystal-encrusted ball in Times Square when Tilly could bend over and flash her own perky attributes?

  “Hi, Ryan. I’m glad you could make it this year,” she purred.

  “Thanks,” he said, and turned back to Maya. “May I speak to you outside for a second?” he asked, and pointed to the sliding glass door leading to the deck.

  “Only for a second. I have a party to attend to.”

  Ryan gave Jane’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he followed his sister to the deck.

  Left behind, Jane scanned the counters filled with food and desserts. “Everything looks delicious,” she said, although she doubted whether her nervous stomach would allow her to try a thing. Instead, she bought some time by dropping ice cubes into a plastic cup, one by one.

  The glass door finally slid open again as she twisted the cap off of a bottle of club soda. A moment later, Ryan took the bottle from her hand and poured the clear bubbly liquid into her cup.

  “Everything okay?” Jane asked.

  “Couldn’t be better.”

  She held the cup to her mouth and stole a glance at the open door leading to the deck. “Where’s your sister?” she whispered.

  “She … needed a minute. Let’s go say hello to everyone else.” Ryan guided Jane into the large family room, saying softly, “I had to put a stop to her. I told her everything, at least the summarized version. Hope you don’t mind.”

  Jane’s heart skipped a beat. “How’d she take it?”

  Ryan chuckled. “I wish you could’ve seen the look on her face. Priceless.”

  “You two certainly enjoy tormenting each other.”

  Isabel ran up and grabbed her free hand. “Play cards with us, Miss Jane,” Isabel pleaded, and led her to a group of kids sitting in a circle. “Know how to play Go Fish?”

  “I’m a Go Fish champ.” Jane sat on a sofa in front of the coffee table surrounded by a half dozen children who appeared to be close to Isabel’s age or older.

  Isabel climbed into Jane’s lap. “We’ll play as a team.” Isabel beamed then focused on the cards they were dealt. She held them to her chest as the boy next to them leaned closer. “No fair, Daniel. You’re peeking.”

  “No, I’m not.” And the boy flashed Jane a crooked grin resembling Ryan’s smile. Seemed as though charm flowed through the Rosales bloodlines.

  Isabel glanced up at Jane. “They try to trick me because I’m the youngest, but I know what they’re doing.”

  Jane gave her a squeeze. “Okay let’s see what we have.”

  Isabel shielded her hand from Daniel and showed the cards to Jane.

  “Do you have any sevens?” Daniel asked.

  Isabel glared at him. “Did you see my cards?” She plucked the seven of hearts from her hand and picked up a new card.

  “Nope,” he said and placed his pair on the table.

  “It’s our turn,” Isabel whispered to Jane. “Do you have any tens?”

  As a girl sitting cross-legged on the other side of the table passed Isabel her card, Jane made note of the serenity that settled upon her while watching them play. She pictured how her own child would fit into the tight-knit Rosales family quilt. Would they accept him or her or would the child be the proverbial black sheep of the family?

  A shadow fell over her cards, and she smiled at the sound of Ryan’s voice as he asked, “Well? Is she as good as she claims, Iz?”

  Isabel giggled and shook her head. “Not really.”

  “Then you won’t mind if I steal her for a little while, will you?”

  Isabel slid off her lap as Jane accepted his outstretched hands and he pulled her to a standing position. They made their rounds through the house meeting Ryan’s relatives and listening to family stories. She even managed to eat a few bites.

  “Your family is never-ending.”

  “It does feel that way sometimes.” He checked the television screen for the time. “The ball drops in fifteen minutes. Are you ready?”

  She bit her lip. “How about if I hide in the bathroom while you do the honors?”

  “Not a chance. I already took care of the tough one. You’ve won over everyone else. This will be a piece of cake
.” He grabbed the remote from the table and turned down the volume of the television.

  “Everyone,” he said, his voice pitched to cut through the ambient noise of the party, “may I have your attention?”

  The chatter died down to a low murmur.

  “Thanks. I’m glad we’re all together to celebrate the New Year, because I want you to share some special news with us.” Ryan’s hand snaked around Jane’s waist, and she felt the weight of the stares of a roomful of Rosales family members. “This beautiful woman has agreed to be my wife. Jane and I are getting married!”

  Applause erupted, and a sea of smiles flashed her way.

  Ryan raised his hand. “Hold on, hold on. There’s more.” He beamed. “We’re also going to have a baby.” He gazed into her eyes, and Jane knew beyond a doubt, in that moment, how very much he wanted their baby.

  A stunned silence swept over the room. Then Uncle Pascal shouted something in Spanish, and everyone laughed and clapped.

  “What did he say?” Jane murmured.

  “He said, ‘Leave it to Reyo to top his own news.’ I think they approve.”

  Jane scanned the room of happy faces, and her gaze snagged on the only scowl in the group. Maya was leaning against the wall at the back of the room, her arms folded at her chest. She glared at Jane, then turned and trudged back to the kitchen.

  “I should talk to her,” Jane said reluctantly, and started toward the kitchen.

  Ryan caught her arm. “That’s a discussion for another day, Querida.”

  “I’d like to clear the air. We’re going to be family after all.”

  He shook his head. “Leave it alone for now. Let’s enjoy the celebration with the family.”

  Pascal slapped Ryan on the back, interrupting their conversation. “I have to take some credit for this,” he said with a pleased smile. “I knew you two had something special which is why I took you to Marriage Island.” He turned his attention to Jane. “Do you remember?”

  “How can I forget?” she replied, remembering the night she’d met Ryan.

  Someone raised the volume on the television again, and the crowd began to chant the countdown in time with the numbers flashing on the screen.