That had made Mama laugh.
No one laughed as much as Aunt Sophie, though. When she laughed, Jubie couldn’t help but laugh too. Daddy said Aunt Sophie’s laugh sounded like a babbling brook on a sunny day.
“What would Nancy Drew do?” Rafael rested one elbow on the counter and planted his chin in his hand.
She studied him, unsure if he was teasing. He wasn’t smiling one of his straight-lipped smiles, so it must be a serious question.
“She would look for clues,” Jubie said.
“Clues.” Rafael nodded. “When I was a policeman, we looked for clues.”
“To catch the bad guy?”
“That’s right. We looked at prior behavior, too. Can you think of any strange places you’ve seen Minnie hide?”
“Minnie follows Brody around wherever he goes. Is that a behavior?”
“Exactly.” Rafael scratched behind his ear. She’d noticed he did that when he was thinking superhard.
When Jubie visited the Mullens, she and Kara baked and cooked things together or watched kid movies. Brody sometimes hung out with them, but not usually. He liked his room with the big television best. Minnie usually went wherever Brody went. He’d been gone for a few days. Maybe she’d gone looking for him? Her stomach hollowed at the thought. What if she slipped outside when Brody left for his trip?
“What if Minnie tried to follow Brody?” she asked.
“Even if she did, she wouldn’t have gotten out of the house without him noticing.”
She considered this, hoping he was right.
“She’s somewhere in this house,” Rafael said. “I feel certain of it.”
Zane
MY WATER JUST BROKE.
Zane stared at his phone. Sophie’s water broke. What did he do now?
He leaped to his feet and texted her back.
Hang tight. I’ll be right over.
Sophie answered.
I’m fine. Take your time.
How could she be so calm? He sent her another message.
I’m at the hospital with Kara. She’s in labor. Brody and Honor are on their way home.
Calm down, big brother. Everything’s going to be just fine.
He ran out of the hospital and across the street to The Oar. Sophie lived in the apartment just above the bar and grill. He didn’t bother to knock. Sophie was on the couch with her feet up, reading a magazine.
“Hey. I called Jackson. He said to come on in when you got here,” she said.
“Are you all right?”
“Besides having my water break in the middle of the dinner hour, I’m just fine. You should’ve seen Jimmy, the busboy. I thought he was going to pass out.”
“You mean the high school kid?”
“Yeah. One of the waitresses made him clean it up with a mop.” Sophie laughed. “Poor kid. He’ll never have sex.”
“Good.” Zane noticed a small bag by the door. “You’re all set then?”
“I’m totally set.”
“Jackson’s going to need backup.” He punched Doc’s number into his phone.
“Zane? Everything all right?” Doc asked.
“No, Doc. Sophie’s water broke, and Kara’s in labor. Jackson’s already at the hospital with her. You have to come.”
“Not a problem, son. I’ll meet you guys there. Tell the ladies to stay calm. I’ve delivered a lot of babies in this town.”
Honor. He hadn’t called Honor. She would’ve gotten the text from Sophie while driving. Then there was Jubie. He’d left her with Rafael. He helped Sophie up from the couch. Jesus, he thought he might start to blubber right here on the spot. God, keep all my girls safe.
By the time they reached the hospital, Doc was already there. He had his medical coat on like the old days. Zane breathed a sigh of relief. Doc would know what to do.
“Sophie, let’s get you into a room,” Doc said.
Zane watched them disappear behind the door that led back to the hospital rooms. Why did his fingers ache? He realized he’d been clenching them. Taking deep breaths, his mind jumbled from thought to thought.
He needed to call Brody and Honor. Find out where they were. Should he call Maggie and let her know what was happening? Maybe she could get Jubie from Brody’s house.
Before he could decide what to do first, his phone rang. Brody.
“You’re on speaker. Honor’s driving. What’s going on?” Brody asked. “We’re freaking out.”
“Kara’s doing great. You’re going to make it, man. Don’t worry.” Total lie. He had no idea what was going on back there. “Doc just took Sophie back.”
“Is Sophie all right?” Honor asked.
“Remarkably cool,” Zane said. At least one of us is. “Where are you guys?”
“We’re about a half hour away,” Honor said. “Tell Kara and Sophie to keep those babies in there for now.”
Kara
KARA HAD ASKED FOR the epidural when she reached four centimeters. She knew the anesthesiologist, Dr. Jason Meeter, from the many times they’d worked together to deliver other people’s babies. He lived in a town about a half hour away and floated among Cliffside Bay and a few other coastal towns with small medical practices or hospitals. After he’d finished the task and she was blessedly free of pain, Kara joked with him about the convenience of both her and Sophie’s needing him at the same time.
“My wife thanks you,” Jason said. “When I told her we had two Cliffside Bay babies expected on Christmas Day, she threatened divorce.”
Jackson came in, and the men talked for a moment before Jason took his leave, wishing them the best of luck with the baby and a Merry Christmas.
“How are you doing?” the young Dr. Waller asked.
“Wondering where my husband is.”
“He texted he’ll be here within the hour. Until then, are you open to visitors? Janet and my dad just got here. He went in to look after Sophie, but Janet would love to see you.”
Janet, Brody’s mom, was now married to Jackson’s dad. She smiled, remembering the evening of their first date. Doc had been so nervous to ask the widow Janet out on a date, he’d asked Kara for advice. She’d done her part to make sure their budding romance proceeded even though Brody wasn’t exactly thrilled.
“Sure, send her in,” Kara said. “She can keep me company until Brody gets here.”
Janet arrived a few minutes later. “Darling, how are you holding up?” she asked, taking Kara’s hand. “Were the contractions awful?”
“Let’s just say I have new sympathy for my patients.”
Janet sat beside her on the narrow bed. “This is a change. Seems like yesterday, I was the patient and you were my nurse.”
Kara nodded, remembering what had brought them together. Janet had broken her leg, and Brody needed a nurse to care for her. The woman before her was strong and healthy, looking younger than her sixty years with sparkling eyes and smooth skin. When Kara had first come to them, Janet had been painfully thin and depressed. The death of her husband had hit her hard. That in combination with a broken leg and missing her once-rigorous career as a human rights attorney, Janet had seemed on the verge of giving up on life. Doc changed all that. “We’ve both come a long way since then.”
“Yes, we have,” Janet said. “After my husband died, I had no idea a whole new chapter of my life would come. Two daughters-in-law. A new husband. Two grandbabies.” She tucked a strand of blond hair behind one ear and beamed down at Kara. “You’ve been such a wonderful gift to my son. And to me.”
“You’re a gift to me.”
“I try to be a good mother-in-law. You must tell me if I ever overstep.”
“You’re not the one in Brody’s life that oversteps,” Kara said.
“Flora has her own style,” Janet said, laughing. “You’re so good with her and good to her. I know it’s not always easy. She’s so bossy and overprotective of the boys.”
The Mullens’ long-term housekeeper, Flora, was one of their family. She’d helped r
aise the boys while Janet juggled a major career. Brody always said he had two mothers, which given Flora, was maybe one too many. A few years back, Flora had been reunited with her high school sweetheart, Dax. They were now married, further complicating their family. Dax was Mary’s father. Mary was married to Lance Mullen.
“She isn’t easy, but she’s worth it. Brody and Lance are lucky to have two incredible women love them so much.” Kara looked over at the machine capturing her contractions. The meter had spiked, but all Kara felt was a hitch and slight pain. “See there? One contraction closer to baby boy.”
Her mother-in-law smiled. “I can’t wait to meet him. The births of my own sons were the two best days of my life, but I have to admit, being a grandmother takes everything to a whole new level of special.”
“Tell me about the day Brody came.”
“I’ve never told you about that?”
“No, only that he came fast.”
“Yes, you could say that.” Janet closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, her eyes were glassy, as if the memories were stronger than the present. “He was born in September, and the Santa Ana winds were hot and strong that day. I’d started having contractions right after my husband fell asleep. I called the hospital, and they told me to stay at home until they were coming regularly. I decided to wait before telling my husband, so he could get as much sleep as possible. The nurse I spoke to told me to walk around in order to get things moving, so I did that, ambling about the house. Dusting. I don’t know what possessed me to do that, but I had this sudden nesting urge. Every spot of that house needed to be dust-free for my baby.” She snorted, obviously tickled by the memory. “I’ve never told anyone but my husband this part, but around midnight, I went out to the swimming pool. The wind made it feel like I was in a hot oven with a strong fan. I stripped naked and lowered myself into the pool, praying none of the neighbors happened to be awake. I walked around the shallow end of the pool for a while. That’s when the contractions started coming regularly. So I just floated in there, breathing through the pain and counting seconds between contractions. After about an hour, I decided it was time to get my husband up and get to the hospital.”
Janet smoothed the blanket over Kara’s legs. “That’s when things got interesting. No sooner had I gotten upstairs than my water broke. The contractions were coming fast and hard. I collapsed onto the floor and let out a terrible screech from the pain. I was vaguely aware of my husband rising from bed, but I was in the vortex. Still totally naked, by the way.”
“Oh, Janet, what a sight your husband woke to.”
“I know. The poor man. It only got worse when I looked down between my legs and saw a head.”
“No.”
“Yes. There was Brody’s big head. I started screaming that the baby was coming. We didn’t know he was a boy at that point. My husband stumbled over to me, panicked at first, but then I saw him put on his game face. I’d watched it every week during his games for years, so I knew the one. Steely-eyed and dead focused.”
“Brody has that one too.”
“Yes, he does. My husband carried me over to the bed and then called 911. But it was too late. Brody wanted out, and you know how he is. Once he decides something, he goes for it. I felt this urge to push and out he came, right into his dad’s giant football hands.”
“I didn’t know you had him at home.” How had she never heard this story? “Were you scared?”
“I didn’t have time. Brody made sure of that.”
“That sounds like him,” Kara said.
“Right? The ambulance came a few minutes later and took us all to the hospital. Brody was on my chest the whole way there screaming his head off. The boy had a set of lungs made for a football player. And he kicked and punched, like he couldn’t wait to get on his own feet and start running down the football field. I finally got him to settle down by getting him latched on to my breast. He had quite the appetite. All of which was gleefully noted by my husband. He kept saying, ‘He’s going to be a football player’ over and over until I told him to kindly be quiet.”
“Didn’t you tell me he was nine pounds?” That fact had stuck in her mind, worried about the size of her own son when he came out.
“That’s right. He had this big square head, too, which I couldn’t believe came out of me.”
Kara laughed, thinking about Brody’s head. It was still square, although just the right size for his giant body.
Janet’s face softened as she continued. “The ways the boys came into the world were premonitions for how they turned out to be. Brody came out like a cannon, ready to play and fight and take what he wanted. Whereas Lance politely waited until we could get to the hospital and then gently slipped out of me with his small round head. After he was born and the nurses were hustling all about, he just lay in my arms, quiet as can be, staring up at me with those eyes of an old soul.”
“Just like now,” Kara said. Her brother-in-law was as gentle and easygoing as his brother was intense. “What a pair they are.”
“Yes, so different, but perfect in their own ways. Being their mother wasn’t always easy—I won’t lie—the teenage years were rough with Brody. Lance was never hard, but I worried about him because he always seemed too kind for this world. But they’re both such fine men. I’m so proud of them.”
Kara looked away, thinking of her own mother. What had Kara’s birth been like? She would never know. Out of nowhere, a sob rose from her chest.
“Oh, darling, what’s the matter?”
“I wish my mom was here.” She wiped away tears with the sleeve of her hospital gown.
Janet made a sympathetic cluck of her tongue. “Of course you do.”
“I’ll never hear my birth story. My mom died before she ever had a chance to tell me. And my dad, well, you know, he wouldn’t tell me, and now he can’t.” Janet, in fact, didn’t know the truth about her dad. Only Brody would ever know. Not even her children could know the truth of who she came from. The monster who had raised her would never be spoken of in her home. They would grow up to believe that both her parents were dead.
Janet played with the collar of her cashmere sweater. “Did either of them ever tell you anything? Any little detail?”
Kara searched the memory banks of her mind. Her birthday was in January. A cold month back east. There was probably snow, but who knew for sure? “I was small. Just under six pounds.”
“There’s something. Small babies are usually easier to birth. Was she tall like you?”
“No, more average.” This was dangerous territory. Kara was never supposed to tell any details of her past. She must always stick with her new biography, fictional though it may be. But what harm could come from this? Janet wouldn’t think anything of it, either way.
Then a sudden memory eased into her consciousness. Her mother had said she came a few weeks early. She shared that with Janet.
“Anything else?”
“She had me at the hospital. I remember her showing me the little hat,” Kara said as another fact nudged its way into her mind. She’d stood outside the kitchen door at her grandmother’s house, right after they left her dad and moved in with her grandparents, and eavesdropped on the conversation.
He wasn’t even there for her birth. Do you think he was with one of his women?
How had she forgotten that until now? “I know something else,” Kara said. In a small voice, she told one of her half truths. “My mother left him after she learned of his infidelity. We lived with my grandparents in Philly.” They’d lived there for two months before her father had had her mother killed. She had to leave that part out. “She said my dad wasn’t there for my birth.”
Janet took her hand. “Shall we make up the rest?”
Kara looked into her mother-in-law’s eyes. “No, the details don’t matter. I know she loved me very much and if she were here, she would tell us all about the day. I remember the way it felt to have her arms around me. I can still feel them. That
’s something.”
“That’s a lot,” Janet said as she squeezed her hand. “I can tell you exactly how she felt the first time she ever held you in her arms. She was overwhelmed by love and overjoyed that you’d come to her. I imagine she promised you she’d do everything in her power to take care of you.”
Kara wiped away a tear. “She couldn’t keep that promise. Even though she wanted to.”
“Yes. However, look at the person you grew up to be, despite all the setbacks. You’re strong, smart, and so very compassionate. You put my son right in his place. Goodness, you can even wrangle Flora into behaving. Which, as you know, is no small feat. I feel quite sure your mother’s up above smiling down on you.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so.” Janet patted her hand. “If you ever want or need me, I can sub in for your mom.”
Kara smiled at the sports term.
“I would’ve loved to have a daughter,” Janet said. “One just like you.”
“I’d like that. If you subbed in, I mean. I couldn’t ask for a better mother than you. Being with you—being part of your family—has healed more of my wounds than you can imagine. You may not have given birth to me, but I’m so glad to be your daughter-in-law.”
Janet wiped the corners of her eyes. “The smartest thing my square-headed son ever did was marry you.”
Cliffside Christmas Page 4