“Don’t worry about that,” Lark said with a suspicious grin. “Come over and sit down. She’s due for a bottle in about half an hour. I’ll show you how to prop your legs up so you can talk to her.”
Lark and Jake traded places. “You look great,” Lark said as she helped Skye down onto one side of a couch that had tall sides. “I mean, you look really great.”
“Thanks. Um...what was her name?”
“Megan,” Jake said without looking up. “Megan Maguire. Engaged to Whit Daltry. How’s Daddy’s little girl today, huh?” he cooed to Grace.
“Megan bought me some clothes and makeup and brushed my hair so it hid the short spots. I feel almost normal, you know?”
“It’s wonderful,” Lark said. “Here.” She extended the footrest and adjusted the height so that Skye was tilted back a bit. “Now, bend your knees up—yes, like that. Let me just lay down this blanket—perfect.” She turned to Jake. “Ready?”
“Yup.”
Skye’s chest clenched at the huge grin on Jake’s face as he looked down at their daughter. He loved Grace. Oh, that made her so happy she was on the verge of crying again.
Jake slid down on the couch next to her. “Say hi to Mommy, sweetie,” he said as he laid Grace in Skye’s arms.
She couldn’t help it. The happiest tears of her life cascaded down her cheeks. “Hi, Grace,” she said, her voice shaking with emotion.
“She’s beautiful,” Jake said. “Just like her mother.”
“I wanted her for so long,” Skye said. “So long. You have no idea.”
“I do, babe. I do.” Jake slid his arm around her shoulder and held her close. Grace opened her eyes wide as she looked up at both of them and made a cooing noise.
“She likes you more than she likes me,” Jake told her. “The first time I held her, she gave me a ‘present.’”
“I’m still laughing about that one,” Lark said. She sat down in an easy chair that was close enough to the couch that she could sweep in and snag Grace if Skye lost her grip.
Not that Skye had any plans to do that. She held Grace tightly, feeling the little muscles moving underneath the blanket. “How is she?” she asked Lark. “I mean, what’s she like?”
“She sleeps a lot,” Lark replied. She wore a satisfied grin on her face. Skye wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her sister look so happy. “That’s typical of preemies. And her lungs are still developing. It’s risky for her to be around a bunch of new people. We don’t want her to get sick.”
Grace made a little grunting noise in the back of her throat and both Skye and Jake startled. “What’s wrong?” they said at the same time. But even as she asked it, Skye thought the noises seemed familiar. Had she heard them before?
Lark laughed. “Nothing—she’s fine, I promise. That’s just a noise a lot of preemies make. She’s almost caught up to her gestational age—how developed she would have been if she’d been full term. She likes to make that noise when I put her on the ground.”
“What?” Jake said. Skye could tell that he didn’t exactly like that idea.
“Tummy time,” Lark said, motioning toward the floor. “She needs to spend a few minutes on her tummy every few hours. It’ll help her build her neck strength and keep the back of her head from getting flat.”
“Oh.” Skye saw a square mat decorated with black and white swirls and red ladybugs. “Okay. That’s good to know. I guess we’ll get something like that—right, Jake?”
“Absolutely,” he said.
Grace made a different sounding grunt. “Oh, here—she wants to look around,” Lark said. “Are your legs stable?”
“I...guess?”
Lark leaned over and shifted Grace from Skye’s arms so that the baby was almost sitting upright between Skye’s thighs. Lark then undid the swaddled blankets a little so that Grace’s impossibly tiny hands were free. “I’ll go work on lunch,” she said. “Holler if you need me. Jake, you’re okay?”
“Fine,” Jake said, giving Grace one of his fingers to hold on to. “I’ve got her.”
Lark left them alone. “She’s perfect,” Skye told Jake. “I mean—just look at her little hands!” She offered a finger and Grace grabbed it in her other hand. “Hi, sweetie,” she said again.
Grace was apparently testing out her facial muscles because she kept opening her eyes up wide and wrinkling her forehead up and stretching out her mouth. She was, hands down, the cutest baby Skye had ever seen.
“You did such an amazing job, Skye,” Jake said in a quiet whisper.
“But I haven’t done anything yet. I haven’t even fed her.”
“You made her, babe. You’re amazing,” he said and she heard the waver in his voice. “I’m so in awe of you. Thank you for giving me a daughter.”
“Oh, Jake.” The tears started up again. She leaned her head against his shoulder and held hands with her daughter and decided that this was the happiest she’d ever been. In this perfect little moment of being a family for the first time.
Skye had no idea how much time had passed before Grace’s little noises took on a different tone and she started to cry. “Lark?” Skye called out in alarm. “What’s the matter?”
Lark came in carrying a bottle. “She’s right on schedule. Jake, why don’t you help me change her and then Skye can feed her. Sound good?”
“I’m getting the short end of this deal,” he said good-naturedly. “Let’s go, Grace.” He picked her up and disappeared to where Skye had to assume there was a changing table.
Her daughter. Her perfect little daughter. Oh, how Skye wished she could even remember being pregnant, but it just wasn’t there. Her pregnancy wasn’t even a fog that slipped through her fingers—it was just the blankness of nothingness.
Why couldn’t she remember it? There was something that didn’t add up about the whole thing—the baby was just now catching up to her gestational age. She was as old as she’d have been if Skye hadn’t been in the accident. And Jake had said that Skye didn’t want to travel with him while she was pregnant...but if that was true, why was she driving back to Royal by herself? It was about a ten-hour drive. Why would she have made that trip alone?
She didn’t know. She just didn’t know, damn it all. And not knowing was so frustrating.
“Here we are, all clean for Mommy,” Jake said as he rounded back into the room. Then he looked up at her. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m—fine. Just trying to think,” she replied with an apologetic smile.
He gave her a long look. “Are you up to feeding her?”
Lark came in behind him. “Let me get a pillow for your arm.” Lark got Skye all tucked in. Jake put Grace back in her arms and all of her frustrated worries disappeared again.
She knew that she’d wanted this—a child. A family. And not just Grace and Jake, but the bigger family—Lark and Keaton and the Holts, too.
Except there was still something missing.
“Have you talked to Mom and Dad? Did they say if they were going to come by?” Skye asked Lark as Grace drank her milk.
“Ah...well—see, they’ve been busy. Recovering from the storm.” Lark must have seen the look of alarm on Skye’s face. “Just a lot of property damage. They were fine and the house was okay. Dad’s just busy. Well, you know how they are.”
Skye dropped her gaze back to Grace. Were her parents too busy to see her? To see Grace? David and Gloria had taken all those pictures on their phones—it was clear that they’d spent a great deal of time with Grace. “Lark—that reminds me, Gloria said to take pictures.”
So Jake came back and sat beside Skye and Lark took several photos and then emailed one to the Holts and to Keaton. “He’s out on at the ranch with the dog,” Lark explained.
Skye decided she wasn’t going to worry anymore. Jake had said
what mattered now was what happened next—Skye getting stronger, Grace getting stronger. All of them getting under the same roof. That’s what she had to focus on, not what her faulty mind couldn’t reconstruct.
So she studied her daughter as she ate and then watched as Jake burped the baby and ate the lunch her sister made.
Jake and Lark had clearly been making plans while they were getting Grace changed, because Jake said, “I’ve got to do a work thing on Friday night, Skye. I’ll bring you over here and you can play with Grace.”
“Okay,” she quickly agreed. “I can handle lying on the floor,” she added in a joking tone.
“Perfect,” Lark said, looking mischievous. “It’s a date.”
Nine
Friday night didn’t come fast enough. Jake had taken Skye over to Lark’s once a day for the afternoon feeding and playtime, which was nice, but it always felt as if the visits were too short. Skye was looking forward to spending the evening with Grace.
Finally, the appointed time arrived and Jake drove her over. Skye was surprised when Keaton answered the door. A part of her wanted to recoil the way she’d always done when they were kids. Keaton hadn’t ever liked her very much.
But he gave her a warm smile and said, “Skye, good to see you up.”
“Thanks,” she said. New feelings crowded out the old shame at being caught by Keaton. “How’s Grace today?”
“Fussy,” he admitted. “Rough night last night.”
Skye’s heart began to beat out a worried tempo. “Is she okay?”
“Fine,” he hurried to assure her. “Babies cry. Come on in.”
Skye was aware that today, she was able to make her way back to Lark’s overstuffed living room without Jake having to hold her up. As much as she hated the exercises, they were working. She still used Jake as backup when she went up and down stairs, but she could now do short distances by herself.
Lark was standing in the living room, wearing a skirt and a jacket. She’d fixed her hair and was even wearing makeup. Instantly, every single one of Skye’s warning bells went off. Lark had never been one to get all dressed up unless she had a good reason—and Skye was positive that a girls’ night in with a three-month-old was not a good reason.
“Hi!” Lark said in a too-perky voice. “You should change. Here,” she said, thrusting a garment bag into Skye’s hands.
“I’m almost afraid to ask.” Skye opened the bag up and tried to make sense of the light-colored fabric inside. “Is this...a cream-colored linen pantsuit?”
“Indeed it is,” Lark said, trying not to giggle. “Just what all the mothers of babies are wearing this season. It’s something Mom gave me a while back.”
“At least it’s not a pageant dress,” Jake said.
“I have to wear this? Really?”
“Um...”
“Lark,” Skye said severely. “Why on God’s green earth would I need to wear a pantsuit to play with my baby?”
“You better tell her,” Jake said, taking her hand and stroking her palm, as if that would calm her down.
“I have a surprise for you. Jake’s going to stay with Keaton and Grace and we’re going out. Our mother would have a heart attack if she saw you out in public in yoga pants. Now,” she said, holding up her hand and cutting Skye off before she could protest, “go get changed. We’ve got to get moving.”
Skye changed, a sinking pit of anxiety in her stomach. At least she’d put on makeup after her shower with Jake today. And—she looked in the mirror—yes, her hair was passable.
But she’d been looking forward to spending time with Grace all day long. If she wasn’t going to get to do that now, why hadn’t Jake brought her over earlier?
And what had Lark meant about their mother? Maybe, Skye began to hope, she was going to go see her parents. The five days without so much as a peep from them had not gone unnoticed. Gloria and David had stopped by one more time and Skye had been over to Lark’s every day.
But she hadn’t seen her parents yet. And she didn’t know why.
That must be what was going to change—yes, it seemed right, especially if Jake and Keaton were going to stay here. Okay, this made sense, Skye decided. She and Lark were probably going out to dinner with Vera and Tyrone Taylor.
She hadn’t seen her parents in...in...well, since the night before she and Jake had run away, obviously. She hoped they weren’t still mad at her. How could they be? The Holts had forgiven Skye and Jake. Surely the Taylors had, too?
When she was dressed, she emerged from the bathroom, feeling awkward in the scratchy linen. This was not her normal attire. The yoga pants were. Back in Houston, on the mornings when Jake had to work early and she just had some freelance work to do, Skye would lounge around in her yoga pants. She’d always paused to think about what her mother would say if she saw Skye in such attire. Vera would have thrown an epic fit that her beautiful, model-perfect daughter would dare play down her features. All the more reason for Skye to own several pairs of yoga pants.
Lark was waiting for her. “Ready?”
“I guess so?” Skye said as she kissed Grace on the top of her little head. Then she kissed Jake, although that felt weird, with both Keaton and Lark watching them. “Wish me luck.”
He grinned at her. “You’ll have fun,” he promised. She gave him a look. It might be good to see her parents again, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was going to be “fun.” Vera and Tyrone Taylor were many things, but that wasn’t one of them.
They headed out. Skye’s legs felt pretty decent, actually. That was a good sign for tonight. Skye settled into Lark’s car. The silence was almost too much for her. There was so much she’d missed—and not just from being asleep for four months. She’d missed more than four years of her sister’s life. “Was Mom unbearable while I was away?”
“Oh, God,” Lark said with a weary sigh. “I mean, I was always jealous that you were so beautiful and the favorite but...” She shrugged. “I didn’t realize how much Mom and Dad focused on you until you weren’t there. Then, suddenly, they were criticizing my every move. My every outfit,” she corrected.
Skye winced. “I didn’t mean to abandon you to them. Not entirely. I was pretty mad at you, wasn’t I?”
“Furious,” Lark agreed. But she didn’t sound angry about it, or even that bitter. “I was...well, I was not kind about you and Jake. I was trying so hard to be the perfect Taylor daughter—so that Mom and Dad would care about me like they cared about you.”
Skye snorted. “I don’t know if I’d describe trying to force me into beauty pageants as ‘caring.’” Lark gave her a look. “But I understand what you’re saying.”
“You were the favorite,” Lark repeated. “I could do nothing right. And I couldn’t believe that you would just throw that away.”
“But I had to,” Skye said. “I love Jake. I had to be with him.”
“I know. I guess that was the other reason I said what I said to you. You were going off to be happy and I...I wasn’t brave enough to go get what I wanted. I was afraid.”
“Lark...” Skye reached over and put her hand on her sister’s shoulder.
“It’s okay,” Lark said, shooting her a smile. “You just knew what you wanted earlier than I did.”
“You and Keaton, huh?”
“Me and Keaton. I should have listened to you all those years ago when you tried to tell me there was something about a Holt.”
The two of them laughed. “I told you so,” Skye said.
“You were right. Can I tell you something?”
“Sure. Anything.” Skye relaxed a little bit. She couldn’t fix whatever might be wrong between her and Jake right now, but being like this with Lark was a gift in and of itself. It was good to have her sister back again.
“Keaton and I are trying to have
a baby.”
“What? But...you’re not even married yet!” She thought. She was pretty sure. She looked at Lark’s hand, which just had a diamond ring on it. Not a wedding band.
Of course, she didn’t have her wedding band on, either, and that didn’t mean she and Jake weren’t married.
“I know,” Lark said with a nervous grin. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been so happy as when it was him and me and Grace. I felt like—like that was who I was supposed to be. I can be a better mother than our mother is.” She gave Skye a warm glance. “Does that shock you?”
“No, no...”
“And I know it sounds silly, but maybe another grandbaby would help heal the rift between our families, you know? You’ve seen how much Grace has won over Keaton’s folks.”
“It doesn’t sound silly at all,” Skye admitted. “I always thought the same thing.” She sighed. “But there’s so much I lost. I have this feeling I’m missing something—something huge—and I don’t know what it is.”
“Are you sure it’s not a baby? Because I found her,” Lark said with a laugh.
“Ha ha. Very funny. Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Soon,” Lark replied. “I know the doctor said you might get your memory back, you might not. But you were happy, weren’t you?”
“We are happy,” Skye agreed. She looked out the window. The surroundings looked...familiar. “Where are we?”
“It won’t take long,” Lark said with obvious glee in her voice.
Skye doubted that statement. “This isn’t going to be some sort of party, is it?”
“No,” Lark said way too quickly. “Why do you ask?”
“Lark,” Skye groaned.
“Oh, look! We’re here!” Lark said as she turned into the Texas Cattleman’s Club.
Skye managed not to say something snarky and juvenile as she groaned. Again. “Is there anything I can do to convince you to take me home? Bribery, maybe?” Because Skye didn’t have “polite and social” in her tonight. She just didn’t. Plus, she did not want to be wearing this damn cream-colored linen suit. It was half a size too small and itched.
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