by Linda Wisdom
Mark continued staring at the dark television screen. “She thinks I’m like her low-life dad. She’s positive I’ll leave her for another woman, or women, like her dad did.” He spoke in a monotone. “That’s why she broke up with me before. She doesn’t believe I can be faithful.” His jaw worked furiously. “I never gave her any reason to doubt me. None.”
“Whoa,” Brian whispered. He shook his head. “Nora doesn’t seem like the paranoid type. And, yeah, no matter what, you’ve never been unfaithful to any woman you’ve dated. You’ve never given any woman cause to doubt you. We’ve seen you look at Nora as if she’s the most incredible woman in the world. I can’t believe she doesn’t know how you feel about her.”
“She knows. I told her,” Mark said in a wooden voice. “She just didn’t believe me.” His somber gaze swung from Brian to Jeff. “So what do I do now? How do I convince Nora we’re perfect together?”
“Don’t ask me,” Jeff muttered. “At least Nora told you what was wrong. Not like Abby who’s acting as if I should have a clue.”
Brian exhaled a deep breath. “You honestly and truly love her?” He zeroed in on Mark. “You want to make a life and a home with her? Take on everything it entails?”
He met his brother’s gaze unflinchingly. “With every fiber of my being.”
Brian searched Mark’s face and must have liked what he saw. He glanced at Jeff. “You’ve always had good ideas. Where are they now?”
“At home. With Abby.”
Brian glanced over his shoulder at their friends and coworkers. “Any ideas, guys?”
“You need to put your priorities in order,” Eric advised, walking back into the room.
“Figure out a way to make Nora believe the two of you belong together,” Rick chimed in, following him in.
“Send her little love tokens,” Gary, one of the firefighters, advised. “Not flowers. Something different.”
“Zach sent Ginna a license-plate frame and new headlights,” Mark recalled.
“I once sent a girlfriend a singing telegram,” Dan, another firefighter, brought up. “Except she broke up with me and started dating the guy who sang the telegram to her. Maybe not such a great idea, after all,” he murmured.
Mark closed his eyes in an attempt to block out the suggestions that came from all sides.
“I’m sorry I asked.”
“I DON’T WANT A PEDICURE!”
“Yes, you do.” Ginna practically dragged Nora out of her car the way she’d dragged Nora out of her bed and out of her house. Nora argued she was tired and napping, but Ginna was having none of it. She bullied Nora into clothing and paused long enough to make sure Nora didn’t leave the house without a touch of makeup.
“Why does it matter? I can’t see my feet,” Nora grumbled.
“It will make you feel better,” Ginna was relentless as she pushed and prodded her toward the salon’s rear door. “Maybe Phoebe can give you a facial too.”
“I want to go back home!” Nora whined.
“Cheryl has you scheduled for a pedicure and you are getting a pedicure.” Ginna opened the door and pushed Nora inside. “Come to think of it, you need your hair trimmed too.”
Since it was Monday, the salon and day spa was closed and silent, but the employees were allowed to make use of the facilities.
Nora put her hand up to her head. “It’s fine.”
The moment they stepped into the darkened waiting area for the day-spa clients, lights came on.
“Surprise!”
“Happy baby, Nora!”
Nora knew her mouth hung open, but she was unable to close it as she looked at the room filled with her friends, coworkers and even many of her regular clients. Pink and yellow streamers along with balloons in the same color hung from the ceiling. A table had been set up in one corner with a large sheet cake and a variety of finger foods. Nora smiled at the old-fashioned baby carriage that decorated the cake along with a border of frosting alphabet blocks. Another table was piled high with brightly wrapped gifts. A stroller decorated with a large bow stood next to the table.
“I see we have truly surprised you, my dear.” CeCe brushed a light kiss against both her cheeks.
“I guess this means no pedicure,” she said numbly, unable to take it all in.
“Tomorrow,” Cheryl promised, hugging her.
Nora turned to Ginna.
“I can’t take all the blame,” Ginna said. “We all did our part.”
CeCe slipped her arm around Nora’s waist and guided her toward a nearby chair. “We wanted to show you how much you are loved here,” she told her.
“I don’t know what to say.” Nora smiled shakily when CeCe pulled an embroidered handkerchief out of her pocket and gently dabbed at her eyes. “Perhaps this afternoon will put a smile on your lips,” the older woman said.
“So what threats did my daughter use to get you here?” Cathy walked up and hugged Nora tightly.
“Just the usual. Get up or I’ll take pictures of you looking your worst,” she replied. “It is so good to see you.”
“No matter what goes on between you and my son, I still consider you one of my own,” Cathy whispered before kissing her on the cheek. She laughed softly. “Don’t cry, sweetheart, Mark will come around.”
“Come around?”
Cathy nodded. “Sometimes it’s like a delayed reaction. It’s as if they wake up in the morning and suddenly realize they’re going to be a father. It’s a frightening feeling for them. It was for his father. Lou scared himself so badly he was afraid to hold Jeff after he was born for fear he’d drop him.” She patted her shoulder. “Mark will realize all his fears are for nothing.” She moved off when someone called her name.
Nora looked at Ginna who had appeared at her side the moment Cathy came up.
“I didn’t tell her a thing,” Ginna whispered.
“And neither did Mark,” she murmured back. “It’s as if he’s letting her think it’s all his fault when it’s really mine.”
Ginna arched an eyebrow. “Does Mark know this?”
Nora shook her head. “I still have a lot of things to work out in my mind.”
“Just don’t wait too long,” she advised.
The next few hours were a daze for Nora as she nibbled food, made a point of speaking to everyone, laughed at Ginna’s ideas for baby shower games and opened gifts.
“I don’t think the baby will be wearing any outfit more than once,” she commented, staring at the piles of baby clothes, blankets and any other necessity a baby would require. She noticed some of the clothes were in a larger size so the baby had something to grow into. The stroller proved to be a group gift from all the hairdressers, while some of the other women gave her everything else the baby might need. She even received baby-sitting gift certificates from her friends.
“Emma’s not a happy camper that she isn’t old enough to baby-sit,” Ginna told her.
“It will take me days to write all these thank-you notes,” Nora murmured. She frowned at her friend. “I can’t believe you kept all this from me.”
“Considering your mood lately, we could have planned the shower right in front of you and you wouldn’t have noticed.” She touched her friend’s hand. “You haven’t said one word,” she said softly. “What did my idiot brother do to you?”
Nora blinked back the tears that appeared at the mention of Mark’s name. She’d been hurting inside since the moment he’d walked out of her house. It had been more than two weeks and he hadn’t called once, although Cathy called her just about every day. After today’s conversation, Nora realized that Cathy thought the split was due to Mark, when it had been Nora who had been the one to practically push him out of the house.
Nora tried hard not to think about that night. She hadn’t even looked at a piece of coconut shrimp or key lime pie since then.
“Don’t forget you’re coming out for Theo’s birthday party. The only allowable excuse will be if you go into labor early,” Cathy told
her.
“I’ll be there.” Nora smiled. She’d come up with an acceptable excuse before then.
Cathy studied her closely. “I’ll see you then.” She shared a secret look with her daughter before she left.
“Zach is coming over and will load the big items in his SUV,” Ginna told Nora as they stacked the gifts together. “He’ll drop them off at your house.”
“I appreciate this so much,” Nora told her, meaning it. “Thank you.”
“We all love you and wanted to show it,” Ginna replied. She chuckled. “Just the expression on your face was thanks enough.”
“Then I hope I can do just as good a job when it’s your turn.”
“I don’t know. I’ve been told my having a baby could be a scary thing,” she said lightly. “Zach’s still adjusting to sharing a bathroom with me.”
“You just sit there and let us do the heavy work,” Cheryl ordered, picking up a stack of boxes and following Ginna outside to her car. “And come in tomorrow at ten for your pedicure.” She glanced down at Nora’s hands. “We better do a manicure while we’re at it.”
Nora frowned at her friend. “Were you always this bossy?”
“None of those, dear.” CeCe’s fingers floated across Nora’s forehead. “They cause lines. Since you have tomorrow morning free, we’ll see about an aromatherapy facial for you.”
“And a hair trim,” Ginna threw over her shoulder as she walked out the door, her arms loaded with gifts.
Nora had already cut slices of cake for Cathy to take home to Lou, and Ginna to take home to Zach, Emma and Trey.
“So I’m forgiven for manhandling you out of the house today?” Ginna asked when they returned to Nora’s house with Zach following with the rest of Nora’s gifts.
“You made sure there was chocolate cake with raspberry filling. Of course you’re forgiven.” Nora thought of the three tiny caps and three pairs of matching booties Mrs. Crockett had knitted for her. Since the woman suffered from arthritis, Nora knew she would cherish the items even more. She placed her hand over her protruding tummy and felt a reassuring kick.
Zach carried in the packages.
“Just call me the pack animal.” He grinned at Nora as he set the stroller down in the nursery.
Ginna explored the room with great delight.
“It’s adorable!” she exclaimed, stopping to inspect the castle lamp. “And to think Mark chose this.” She shook her head in wonderment. “I’m impressed.”
“It all goes in perfectly,” Nora agreed, feeling that now-familiar pang at the sound of his name.
“Are you going to be all right?”
Nora smiled at her friend. “Of course I am. Thank you so much for the shower and everything.”
Ginna quickly hugged her. “And you are very welcome.” She stepped back and held her at arm’s length. “Do what’s right,” she whispered before hugging her again.
Nora felt the air slam out of her chest at words she only remembered hearing her grandmother speak.
“Tomorrow is Make Nora Feel Beautiful Day, so don’t be late,” Ginna reminded Nora as she followed her husband out of the house.
“For a morning of pampering? I’ll be early.”
Later, as Nora carefully folded and put everything away, she realized something was missing. Mark wasn’t there to see each item. Sharing it with Brumby wasn’t the same.
But there was still that tiny hint of fear deep within her that if she accepted Mark’s proposal, she could end up like her mother.
If there was to be any kind of future with Mark, she would have to banish that fear.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN you can’t make it to my birthday party?” Theo Walker’s growl boomed so loud out of the telephone receiver Nora winced.
She knew she couldn’t lie to this man. Especially since he would easily shoot down any lie she gave.
“It’s my party and I can have anyone I want there. And I want you there,” he informed her in his brusque voice. “You shouldn’t be driving that distance in your condition, so I’ll have someone pick you up. And no getting out of it,” he warned her before hanging up without waiting for her reply. Or even hearing her excuse.
Nora had a long list of excuses she would have used to say why she couldn’t come to Theo’s party, but she knew the older man would ignore every one of them.
She looked downward. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her feet. She knew her toes were polished the same coral shade as her fingernails, courtesy of Cheryl. And her face was creamed and soothed with various lotions and toners after her facial. She had even been treated to a shoulder massage with a fragrant mint cream.
“It’s a conspiracy,” she told her stomach.
It didn’t stop her from thinking about what to wear to the party.
NORA DIDN’T NEED a psychic to tell her who Theo would send to drive her to his party. But she was surprised when Mark showed up in the same Jaguar sedan he’d driven that night so many months ago. For a second she’d experienced a sense of déjà vu.
“Gramps asked me to pick you up for the party,” he explained when she opened the door. He looked unsure of his welcome.
“He said he didn’t think I should be driving.” She stepped back to allow him to enter. “I just need to get Theo’s gift.”
“Hey, guy.” Mark crouched down and scratched behind Brumby’s ears. He slipped a rawhide chew stick to the happy bulldog, who trotted off with his prize secured between his jaws.
When Nora returned, she carried a brightly wrapped box in one hand and her coat in the other.
“Are you feeling okay?” Mark stared at her stomach. “You look…bigger.”
“I can’t see my feet and pretty soon I don’t think I’ll be able to see the ground at all,” she confessed. “Sleeping has turned into a sport, since athletics seem to go on all night. I’m convinced once she’s in school she’ll go out for every sport.”
He helped her on with her coat.
“Can we at least be friends?” he asked quietly.
She looked over her shoulder. His serious voice and the look on his face was a surprise to her. She noticed he’d traded in his trademark Hawaiian shirt for a brick-red polo shirt tucked into tan khakis that even sported a razor-sharp crease. She reached over her shoulder and covered his hand with hers.
“I didn’t think it ever stopped,” she told him. “I just need to work things out in my mind.”
He smiled and nodded. “Are you ready to go out and celebrate? It seems Theo’s parties get wilder every year. You’d think for an old guy he’d want to do something a little less crazy, but that doesn’t seem to happen.” They walked outside to the car.
“I don’t think Theo would ever be any other way.” Nora slid onto the buttery-soft leather seat.
Mark set the gift on the floor of the back seat and walked around to the driver’s side. Once he was settled behind the wheel, he turned his head to look at her.
“Seems like years ago, doesn’t it?”
She didn’t need a further explanation to know he was talking about the night he’d picked her up at the airport.
“Another lifetime,” she murmured, tucking her coat around her.
Mark switched on the heater and adjusted the vents so the warm air would be directed at Nora.
“Have you thought of names yet?” Mark asked.
“I received something like six baby-name books at the shower at the salon,” Nora replied. “Some say choose the name with your baby’s personality in mind. Others suggest you consider the child’s astrological sign. Then there are the parents’ astrological signs, their personalities, what you hope your child will grow up to be. I was thinking about writing names on slips of paper and just tossing them up into the air and see what comes down first. Or wait until she’s old enough to choose her own name.”
Mark chuckled. “We used to have neighbors who were children of the sixties. They believed their kids should be named according to the weather on the day they
were born. So there was Sunny, Rainbow, Raine and Earthquake.” He could barely keep a straight face as he recited the names.
“Earthquake?” Nora giggled. “Are we talking boy or girl?”
“Boy, but it was Rainbow that had it the hardest since he was another boy. Earthquake insisted on changing his name, which really upset his parents, so he compromised on Rich for Richter,” he explained, naming the method of registering an earthquake’s strength. “Rainbow settled for being known as Bow. That he could handle.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’ve always liked the name Sara without the h.”
“Old girlfriend?” she teased.
He shook his head. “My kindergarten teacher. The day I painted my desk purple Miss Sara predicted I’d be a colorful character. I asked her to marry me, but she said by the time I was old enough for us to get married, I’d consider her too old for me.” He heaved a theatrical sigh. “I was in love with her from then on.”
“And have you seen Miss Sara since then?” Nora asked, amused by his story that she was convinced was true. Only a young Mark would paint his desk purple.
“Actually, I have. She still teaches kindergarten. But she broke my heart when she married the principal,” he said. “You haven’t told me what your idea for a name is.”
“Evelyne that ends with an e,” she explained. “I went to school with someone with that name and I thought the spelling was very elegant. Maybe an elegant name will give her good luck.”
“She’ll have two great parents, fantastic grandparents, an ornery great-grandfather and the perfect great-grandmother. That’s the best luck any kid can get.”