by Nicole Conn
Nash and Tori dashed in at that moment. When they saw Wave and Peyton, no one knew quite what to do.
“My mom!” Nash croaked.
“She’s all right,” Wave informed them, her arms crossed. “She’s resting quietly. But her blood pressure is out of whack.”
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“What happened?”
“She fainted.” Peyton spoke like a woman who deserved to be hung.
“What did you do to her?”
“She didn’t do anything,” Wave insisted. “I was there. The doctor’s going to come and talk with us in a few moments and I’m sure you’ll be able to see her then. But right now, we have to all remain calm.”
“Wave’s right, Nash.” Tori shook her head. “Fighting only proves to make situations like these even more gnarly than they already are.”
Convinced or not, they backed into their separate quarters of the waiting room.
“I’ve left like a kabillion messages for Poppa Bear...I have no idea where he is. No one can find him.”
Peyton shook her head. Great.
What seemed hours later, a doctor came out to speak with them at nearly the same time that Tyler and Lily arrived.
“Everyone, she’s going to be fine. Her blood pressure’s dangerously low. But we’re running an IV...giving her plenty of fluids and some extra vitamins for the baby.”
The doctor looked at his lab report, then at all of them as if trying to configure the relations within their highly diverse group. “She says she wants to speak to a…someone named Peyton and the baby’s father.”
Peyton glanced around. Barry wasn’t present.
“Bloody hell,” Wave muttered under her breath.
Tyler walked to Peyton’s aid, offered his arm.
“I’ll take you in.”
“Uhmm…thanks,” Peyton agreed in a daze as Tyler escorted them into Elena’s hospital room.
When they entered, Elena turned to face them.
“Sweetie pie,” Tyler said, “you can’t be scaring Tyler like that again, you got that?”
Elena forced a bleak smile.
“Elena...I’m...I’m sorry.” Peyton spoke up. “I was...but I shouldn’t have upset you.”
“You had every right.” Elena’s voice was soft and low. “But please, just give me a chance to set the record straight.”
Peyton glanced at her, confused. What was there to explain?
idth="1lign="justify">“I am pregnant,” Elena confirmed, “but it’s not because I was sleeping with Barry.”
Peyton glanced from Elena to Tyler to see if she had heard correctly.
“Barry has still never touched me since...since you and I began.”
Peyton was now completely mystified.
“It’s Tyler.”
Peyton was now even more baffled.
“Tyler is the father.”
“And trust me, we weren’t sleeping together either!” Tyler insisted. “Lily wouldn’t stand for that!”
“But I don’t understand.” Peyton was entirely lost.
“After all those years of infertility hell, Tyler offered, and I accepted.”
“My greatest contribution to mankind,” Tyler proclaimed.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. But Tyler, Lily and I agreed that no one would know about this unless and until it took and the pregnancy was safe.”
It was finally seeping in. Peyton was finally beginning to feel the heaviness lift from her chest, feel the depression edging away, and to suddenly realize all this had been a terrible misunderstanding.
“Ty...can you give us a few minutes...” Elena asked. “And then send Nash in.”
Tyler made a graceful bow.
Peyton got a chair, moved to Elena. Peyton dropped her head. She felt nauseous thinking of all the terrible things she had said to Elena that had caused her to be here.
“Why...why didn’t you tell me?”
Elena shook her head as if trying to make sense of it all.
“I had so many things to take care of. Ending my marriage of fifteen years. Nash and I had to go to therapy, we had to deal with Barry and I had to make changes. After I started my divorce, I was so sick my first trimester that I really couldn’t cope well. And, Peyton, I must have called you a thousand times...and after a certain point, even I knew that I had hit a wall.”
Peyton nodded. “Elena…I just couldn’t do it anymore. I shut down at the end. And after you sent the e-mail that said you knew the relationship wasn’t fair to me, well, I just had to cut every tie to you I had. For me it had to be black and white. I couldn’t risk going any further than I had already gone.”
“Look, I don’t blame you.” Elena looked inu sna lookto Peyton’s eyes. “I needed some time to pull myself back together. But there was never any question in my mind about how I felt about you. How I still feel about you, Peyton.”
Elena reached a hand to Peyton’s arm. The ring. Peyton saw the ring she had given Elena, saw that she had been wearing it all this time, and realized how she had completely misjudged the time they had been apart.
Peyton touched the ring, looked at Elena, and tears began to fill her eyes. “God, Elena, I’ve been such a fool…I said such hateful things. I...I’m so sorry, Elena.”
“I would have said them too if I had been in your place.” Elena felt Peyton’s guilt and humiliation and needed to stop it. “Peyton. Look at me.”
Peyton slowly lifted her eyes.
“I need for you to know...none of it...not one second of what we had together was a lie... It is the truest thing I have ever known.”
Peyton smiled. A tear fell from Elena’s eyes.
At that moment, Nash walked in.
Peyton glanced at Elena. “I...I guess I should…”
Nash walked over to them both, turned to Peyton. “It’s okay. You don’t need to leave.” He smiled at Peyton.
Peyton looked from son to mother and placed a hand on Nash’s shoulder. “That’s okay. I’ll give you a few moments with your mom.”
Nash, unable to hold back a second longer, dove into his mother’s arms. She held him tight. He held her just as tightly, crying...
“It’s all going to be okay,” Elena said with solid assurance. “Don’t worry, baby. It’s all going to be okay.”
Nash finally got up, walked around the hospital room, and then returned to his mom’s side. “You know I’m okay with this, don’t you?”
“Yes, sweetie. I do.”
“Good, because I want you to be happy, Mom.”
She held out her arms. This was the last piece she needed. Now everything would be okay.
Epilogue
A Sunday a year later.
A glowing peach-hue sunset dappled the beautiful grounds of the park where a picnic lunch was laid out on a blanket on the grass. Tori was curled up against Nash, Lily’s head lay on Tyler’s lap, Wave was happily ensconced in Tea’s arms and between Elena and Peyton the adorable Alexandra bumpled her way on a b0" r way oaby blanket.
Elena picked her sweet little girl up into her arms, and Peyton offered her the teething biscuit, over which Alexandra made a screwed up face. Everyone laughed.
This was a family that was meant to be, every part of it belonged. Elena looked into Peyton’s smiling face, so deeply in love with her it almost hurt, and when Peyton caught Elena’s eyes, the unwavering love between them coursed across the picnic blanket like an electric wire.
Peyton leaned over, kissed Elena softly, lingeringly, deeply, until Nash began to groan.
“Okay, okay.” Peyton looked into Elena’s eyes. “Just when I think I cannot fall in love with you more—I do...every day...it’s...”
Elena finished for her, “...ever deeper...”
“Blimey, you two get any more dopey, darlings, I may have to leave the country,” Wave suggested. “Oh wait, I don’t have to because you’re leaving the country for me—and we get to take care of that beautiful little baby.”
“Speaking of Paris
,” Tori interjected easily, “everyone refers to the city of love as the city of lights—and many people think that’s due to all that massive wattage beaming from the Eiffel Tower, but it’s actually a reference to those artists, the painters, writers, sculptors that were the lights of the city.”
Nash shook his head. “Of course we knew that!”
“So the two of you should feel right at home!” Tori stated, ignoring Nash.
“I’m sure we will.” Elena smiled back at Tori.
“Only a week left,” Peyton sighed. “Until our honeymoon.”
“Did you know that some believe the term honeymoon was first noted around the sixteenth century—honey, naturally, to indicate the sweetness of a newly married couple and moon, sadly, reflected that like a full moon, it was inevitable for that sweetness to fade and—”
“Tori, how ’bout some backgammon?” Lily asked. Tori was game.
Tyler looked about him at this tightknit and happy group of people. He smiled, watching Lily as she began to set up the backgammon set as Tori pummeled her with backgammon trivia, then glanced at Tea who kissed Wave as they unpacked the picnic basket together. Nash had began to bump his soccer ball against his knee and Tyler’s eyes glowed as he watched Peyton and Elena tending to Alexandra. Yes, this was one big, beautiful family.
“All is as it should be,” he sighed, quite happy with the state of things. “It’s Soulemetry...”
Publications from
Bella Books, Inc.
Women. Books. Even Better Together.
P.O. Box 10543
Tallahassee, FL 32302
Phone: 800-729-4992
www.bellabooks.com
THE GRASS WIDOW by Nanci Little. Aidan Blackstone is nineteen, unmarried and pregnant, and has no reason to think that the year 1876 won’t be her last. Joss Bodett has lost her family but desperately clings to their land. A richly told story of frontier survival that picks up with the generation of women where Patience and Sarah left off.
978-1-59493-189-5 $12.95
SMOKEY O by Celia Cohen. Insult “Mac” MacDonnell and insult the entire Delaware Blue Diamond team. Smokey O’Neill has just insulted Mac, and then finds she’s been traded to Delaware. The games are not limited to the baseball field!
978-1-59493-198-7 $12.95
WICKED GAMES by Ellen Hart. Never have mysteries and secrets been closer to home in this eighth installment of this award-winning lesbian cozy mystery series. Jane Lawless’s neighbors bring puzzles and peril--and that’s just the beginning.
978-1-59493-185-7 $14.95
NOT EVERY RIVER by Robbi McCoy. It’s the hottest city in the U.S., and it’s not just the weather that’s heating up. For Kim and Randi are forced to question everything they thought they knew about themselves before they can risk their fiery hearts on the biggest gamble of all.
978-1-59493-182-6 $14.95
HOUSE OF CARDS by Nat Burns. Cards are played, but the game is gossip. Kaylen Strauder has never wanted it to be about her. But the time is fast-approaching when she must decide which she needs more: her community of Eda Byrne.
978-1-59493-203-8 $14.95
RETURN TO ISIS by Jean Stewart. The award-winning Isis sci-fi series features Jean Stewart’s vision of a committed colony of women dedicated to preserving their way of life, even after the apocalypse. Mysteries have been forgotten, but survival depends on remembering. Book one in series.
978-1-59493-193-2 $12.95
1ST IMPRESSIONS by Kate Calloway. Rookie PI Cassidy James has her first case. Her investigation into the murder of Erica Trinidad’s uncle isn’t welcomed by the local sheriff, especially since the delicious, seductive Erica is their prime suspect. 1st in series. Author’s augmented and expanded edition.
978-1-59493-192-5 $12.95
BEACON OF LOVE by Ann Roberts. Twenty-five years after their families put an end to a relationship that hadn’t even begun, Stephanie returns to Oregon to find many things have changed... except her feelings for Paula.’for Paufont>
978-1-59493-180-2 $14.95
ABOVE TEMPTATION by Karin Kallmaker. It’s supposed to be like any other case, except this time they’re chasing one of their own. As fraud investigators Tamara Sterling and Kip Barrett try to catch a thief, they realize they can have anything they want--except each other.
978-1-59493-179-6 $14.95
AN EMERGENCE OF GREEN by Katherine V. Forrest. Carolyn had no idea her new neighbor jumped the fence to enjoy her swimming pool. The discovery leads to choices she never anticipated in an intense, sensual story of discovery and risk, consequences and triumph. Originally released in 1986.
978-1-59493-217-5 $14.95
CRAZY FOR LOVING by Jaye Maiman. Officially hanging out her shingle as a private investigator, Robin Miller is getting her life on track. Just as Robin discovers it’s hard to follow a dead man, She walks in. KT Bellflower, sultry and devastating... Lammy winner and second in series.
978-1-59493-195-6 $14.95
LOVE WAITS by Gerri Hill. The All-American girl and the love she left behind--it’s been twenty years since Ashleigh and Gina parted, and now they’re back to the place where nothing was simple and love didn’t wait.
978-1-59493-186-4 $14.95
HANNAH FREE: THE BOOK by Claudia Allen. Based on the film festival hit movie starring Sharon Gless. Hannah’s story is funny, scathing and witty as she navigates life with aplomb -- but always comes home to Rachel. 32 pages of color photographs plus bonus behind-the-scenes movie information.
978-1-59493-172-7 $19.95
END OF THE ROPE by Jackie Calhoun. Meg Klein has two enduring loves—horses and Nicky Hennessey. Nicky is there for her when she most needs help, but then an attractive vet throws Meg’s carefully balanced world out of kilter.
978-1-59493-176-5 $14.95
THE LONG TRAIL by Penny Hayes. When schoolteacher Blanche Bartholomew and dance hall girl Teresa Stark meet their feelings are powerful--and completely forbidden--in Starcross Texas. In search of a safe future, they flee, daring to take a covered wagon across the forbidding prairie.
978-1-59493-196-3 $12.95
UP UP AND AWAY by Catherine Ennis. Sarah and Margaret have a video. The mob wants it. Flying for their lives, two women discover more than secrets.
978-1-59493-215-1 $12.95
CITY OF STRANGERS by Diana Rivers. A captive in a gilded cage, young Solene plots her escape, but the rulers of Hernorium have other plans for Solene--and her people. Breathless lesbian fantasy story also perfect for teen readers.
978-1-59493-183-3 $14.95
ROBBER’S WINE by Ellen Hart. Belle Dumont is the first dead of summer. Jane Lawless, Belle’s old friend, suspects coldhearted murder. Lammy-winning seventh novel in critically acclaimed cozy mystery series.
978-1-59493-184-0 $14.95
APPARITION ALLEY by Katherine V. Forrest. Kate Delafield has solved hundreds of cases, but the one that baffles her most is her own shooting. Book six in series.
978-1-883523-65-7 $14.95
STERLING ROAD BLUES by Ruth Perkinson. It was a simple declaration of love. But the entire state of Virginia wants to weigh in, leaving teachers Carrie Tomlinson and Audra Malone caught in the crossfire--and with love troubles of their own.
978-1-59493-187-1 $14.95
LILY OF THE TOWER by Elizabeth Hart. Agnes Headey, taking refuge from a storm at the Netherfield estate, stumbles into dark family secrets and something more… Meticulously researched historical romance.
978-1-59493-177-2 $14.95
LETTING GO by Ann O’Leary. Kelly has decided that luscious, successful Laura should be hers. For now. Laura might even be agreeable. But where does that leave Kate?
978-1-59493-194-9 $12.95
MURDER TAKES TO THE HILLS by Jessica Thomas. Renovations, shady business deals, a stalker--and it’s not even tourist season yet for PI Alex Peres and her best four-legged pal Fargo. Sixth in this cozy Provincetown-based series.
978-1-59493-178-9 $14.95
SOLSTICE b
y Kate Christie. It’s Emily Mackenzie’s last college summer and meeting her soccer idol Sam Delaney seems like a dream come true. But Sam’s passion seems reserved for the field of play…
978-1-59493-175-8 $14.95
FORTY LOVE by Diana Simmonds. Lush, romantic story of love and tennis with two women playing to win the ultimate prize. Revised and updated author’s edition.
978-1-59493-190-1 $14.95
I LEFT MY HEART by Jaye Maiman. The only women she ever loved is dead, and sleuth Robin Miller goes looking for answers. First book"0". First in Lammy-winning series.
978-1-59493-188-8 $14.95
TWO WEEKS IN AUGUST by Nat Burns. Her return to Chincoteague Island is a delight to Nina Christie until she gets her dose of Hazy Duncan’s renown ill-humor. She’s not going to let it bother her, though…
978-1-59493-173-4 $14.95