First Came Baby

by Kris Fletcher

  “Everywhere?”

  “Everywhere.”

  Boone was as good as his word. And soon, Kate learned that when it came to shower stalls, size most definitely didn’t matter.

  * * *

  THEY WERE LYING in the bed, where they had collapsed after dragging their wobbly-kneed selves out of the shower. Boone ran a lazy hand over her arm while images of the last half hour or so floated through his memory. She had said something in the shower. Something that had actually pierced the fog of desire surrounding his brain, something that had made him think, Wait, that could be important.

  But then he’d given in to the best distraction he’d ever known. He could honestly say that he had absolutely no regrets.

  “Ouch.” She rubbed her elbow. “I really whacked this.”

  “If you’re trying to get more kisses out of me, you’re—”

  He stopped as the memory he’d been hunting for crashed into his brain.

  I just wish the shower was bigger.

  “Why is the shower so small?”

  She blinked up at him. “What?”

  “Your bathroom. It’s built in that space behind the hall, but it feels smaller than that.”

  “Isn’t that just an optical illusion? You know, because there’s so much shoved in there.”

  “No.” He sat up, staring through the open door into the bathroom, trying to measure it against the bits of the hall that he could see. “Even with the pipes behind the wall it should be bigger.”

  “Maybe that was all the space Nana and Poppy thought they needed.”

  “But are they the ones who added it? Or did Fred do it as part of the turret project?”

  She shook her head. “Boone. Do you seriously think that whatever Charlie found, it’s hidden in this house?”

  He didn’t even hesitate. “I do.”

  “Okay, but—I mean, I know it’s always been this possibility in the back of my mind, but... She rolled backward to peek at Jamie, who had started rustling around, then scooted in closer to Boone, her voice lower. “ I can follow your logic about the turret, and why you were poking around down in the crypt. But Boone, why... I mean, yes, it’s cool to think there might really be something, but—”

  He had to tell her the truth.

  “I want you to stay in this house.”

  It was easy to follow the train of her thoughts by the expressions racing across her face. Confusion...hesitation...disbelief, and then, suddenly, comprehension.

  Followed immediately by resistance.

  “Boone. Why would you... I mean, I—we—have a plan. I’m fine with selling this place. Really I am.”

  “You might be fine with it. But is it what you want? And what about Jamie?” He knew he’d scored a point by the way she jerked, slight but unmistakable. “This house is such a huge part of your family’s history. Don’t you think Jamie deserves to grow up here?”

  “Honestly...okay. I admit it. If I were queen of the world, moving wouldn’t be my first choice.” She ducked her head. “But since I don’t see a crown on my head, I guess I have to be like everyone else who can’t get what they want all the time and just...deal.”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

  She sat up straighter. “Boone—”

  “Kate.” The words stalled in his mouth. I can’t be here with you. I can’t give you the family you want. I can’t be the husband you deserve. “You love this place.”

  “I love a lot of things that I can’t have.”

  His heart skipped a beat.

  “But I’ll be fine,” she continued with a defiant lift of her chin.

  “I want you to be more than just fine.” His hand closed over hers. She gazed down at their meshed fingers and swallowed hard.

  “I applied for a loan,” he said quietly.

  “You what?”

  “Turned down in record time. I applied for some consulting jobs, things I can do part-time from Peru. No idea if any of them will come through, though a couple of ’em have potential. But if we could find the treasure...”

  “Which probably doesn’t exist.”

  “Your logical head tells you that.” He tapped her chest. “But what about here?”

  Her silence was all the answer he needed.

  “I don’t have a lot I can give to Jamie,” he said. “Especially when it comes to things like family history.”

  Her eyes softened.

  “But you—you have history all around. Memories. In every nail and board of this house.”

  “Boone.” She bit her lip. “Those are important, I won’t pretend they’re not, but...”

  “But, think of it this way. If there’s something here...and if I can find it...then I’ll have given Jamie something, too. It will be from you and from me.”

  He hadn’t even known how important that was to him until he said it, but as soon as the words were out, he recognized their truth.

  She watched him, her hand clutching the sheet to her breasts, her face unreadable.

  “I don’t think there’s anything here, Boone.” Her words were gentle, as if she were telling a kid that his dog had run away. “And even though I understand what you’re saying, and it’s kind of the sweetest, most amazing thing I’ve ever heard, I think you’re chasing rainbows here.”

  “Maybe. But you know what they say is at the end of the rainbow.”

  “If you don’t find anything... I don’t want you beating yourself up if we can’t stay here.”

  His pulse quickened. She was going to say yes.

  “There’s something here. It’s too much to be a coincidence.”

  “So let’s say you find something. A treasure chest, or whatever Charlie might have stashed somewhere. Who’s to say that it’s worth anything?”

  “Who’s to say that it isn’t?”

  Her nod was slow, but hey. Agreement was agreement.

  “Kate.” He tipped her chin up so he could look her in the eye. “I saw you when we were opening up the cupboard. You can’t tell me that you don’t want to do this.”

  “I...” She sighed, but he was pretty sure it was directed at herself, not him.

  Then he remembered the rest of what she had said when they were opening the cupboard. “You don’t want to lose the dream, do you?”

  “It sounds so silly.”

  “It does. But dreams are what make us human, right?”

  “Now you sound like an anthropologist or something.”

  “Hey. When you live near Machu Picchu, you hang out with a lot of those types.” He waited a beat before adding, “Make you a deal. I’ll be okay with not finding anything if you’re okay with letting go of all the possibilities.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “That didn’t really make sense.”

  “That’s what happens when you climb in the shower with me. All ability to think, totally gone.”

  “Ooh, now I feel powerful.”

  “You should.” No one else had ever had this impact on him before, that was for damn sure.

  “So whad’ya say? Want to see what’s behind the bathroom?”

  “Okay.” She placed a hand on his arm. “But I swear, if there’s anything alive back there, you will be dead meat.”

  “You got it, babe.”

  * * *

  IT TOOK KATE exactly thirty-three minutes to regret her decision. That was the point when Boone finished pulling on his jeans, making some rapid measurements that confirmed his suspicion that the bathroom should have been bigger and slammed a sledgehammer into the wall of the office.

  “He’s lucky I love him.” Safely out on the porch, well beyond the line of destruction, she soothed Jamie, who had been peacefully resting on her shoulder until the ominous whack made him startle. “Because this in itself could be grounds for that divorce I don�
�t want anymore.”

  Which, she admitted, was just as contradictory and messed up a statement as anything Boone had said while talking her into this harebrained scheme. But what could she say? She’d been a goner the moment he’d said he wanted to have some sort of family history worth passing on. No one with a heart could have resisted that.

  Plus, Boone hadn’t been the only one still feeling the effects of the shower.

  “At least he made the destruction totally worth my while,” she said, then remembered who she was talking to. “Oh. Scratch that. I didn’t say anything inappropriate.”

  At this rate, she would forget everything she knew about how to talk to kids right around the time her maternity leave ended.

  Then she remembered that Boone would be back in Peru when her leave ended, and there wouldn’t be anyone rendering her speechless or senseless.

  Crap. She wasn’t supposed to think of that. She was supposed to be filling herself with joy right now, not counting the days in dread.

  Except they had only a couple of weeks left. And she probably should start preparing herself.

  “It’s still about six months until I go back to work,” she said, patting Jamie’s back. “Maybe we could convince Daddy to come back then. To help with the transition, and all that.”

  She allowed herself a moment to imagine what it would be like, having Boone here to help get Jamie ready in the mornings. To come home after those first days back at work to find the fridge stocked and dinner waiting and Boone eager to take Jamie from her so she could pour a glass of wine and stare at the ceiling for half an hour. To listen to Boone giving Jamie a bath while she washed the dishes, and know that there was still time to sit down together, just watching the hockey game or reading side by side. To roll over and kiss him good-night, and then maybe kiss him again, and again, and...

  “Kate? Katie, you’re gonna want to see this!”

  Startled out of her reverie, she hurried into the office. Boone had decided it made the most sense to begin the assault there. It would still be a mess, he’d said, but it wouldn’t interfere with any pipes or damage the bathroom. Since Kate was a big fan of functional indoor plumbing, she was in full agreement.

  She still wasn’t prepared for the sight of the gaping hole in her wall. Or the pile of rubble on the floor. Or the dust that had Jamie sneezing and her coughing and doing a frantic mental search of materials in old walls that could be dangerous to tiny lungs.

  She took a step back. “I don’t think Jamie should breathe this in.”

  Boone’s smile dimmed. “Shit. I never thought...”

  “It’s okay,” she rushed to assure him. “I didn’t think it would be this intense.”

  He nodded and set the sledgehammer on the ground. “Here. I’ll take him back outside. You have a... Wait... It’s all over my shirt.” With that, he peeled off his T-shirt, pushed past her into the kitchen, and ducked his head under the faucet. He came up sputtering, dripping and laughing.

  “There. Now I can take him.”

  Oh, God. Just when she thought she couldn’t love him more deeply, he did something so goofy, so thoughtful, and she fell a little harder.

  She handed Jamie over, pausing to give Boone a lingering kiss. “Good call, Dad.”

  “Just doing my job. Now, go look. You’re not gonna believe what’s behind there.”

  Her imagination kicked in as she picked her way over the hunks of wall now scattered on the floor. “Sorry, Nana,” she muttered as she braced herself against the edge of the hole. She peered...blinked to make sure the dust wasn’t making her see things...then looked again.

  “Stairs?”

  Laughter from outside the window had her turning toward the yard. Boone was there, Jamie in his arms, watching her through the glass. She hurried through the mudroom at the back and yanked the door open.

  “There are stairs there!” She practically jumped down the steps to where her guys waited. “Boone, you’re right. I don’t believe it. A hidden staircase! Did you see where it goes yet?”

  “Nope. I wanted you to see it first.”

  She drew a long breath to slow the hammering of her pulse. “It’s probably just another entrance to the crypt. That makes the most sense.”

  “It’s not. For one thing, it’s only, what, two or three meters from there to the stairs you use now, right? Why would anyone have two sets of stairs that close? It’s not like there were servants here.”

  “True. And I guess if it led down there, we would have seen it at some point. Not that I spend any more time in the crypt than necessary, but still.”

  “Besides,” he added with that nerf herder grin she loved so much, “these steps go in a different direction.”

  Oh. She’d been so blown away by the discovery, she hadn’t noticed that detail.

  “We have to see where it goes,” she said, but he shook his head.

  “Remember where I live? There are ruins all over the place. Rule number one when you stumble across something new—refrain from rushing to see what’s there. The first thing you have to do is make sure it’s safe.”

  “I like it better when I’m the sensible one and you’re the one chasing rainbows.”

  His grin was slow, lazy and utterly wicked. “New positions are always worth a try, Princess.”

  * * *

  MUCH AS KATE hated to admit it, Boone was right. They had to be sure the stairs were safe before they explored them. They also had to make sure the area stayed safe for Jamie.

  “God only knows how old these walls are, or what was in them,” Boone said as they taped plastic sheeting to the walls to seal off the back half of the room.

  “Are you saying that my great-grandfather and his family might have used inferior products?”

  “Trust me, Kate. I don’t think anyone related to you could ever be accused of shoddy workmanship.” He tweaked her nose. “But safety standards have changed in the last hundred years or so.”

  “Smart-ass,” she grumbled, but then he caught her in a kiss and she ended up laughing against his mouth and for a second her world was so perfect that she didn’t think it possible to be happier.

  Don’t get used to this, she warned herself, but it did no good. She wanted to freeze time, to stop the progression of days and keep them the way they were. Together. Laughing. Dizzyingly happy. The family she longed for but hadn’t believed they could create.

  And she started to wonder if they could prolong the miracle.

  Whenever she caught Boone at his laptop deep in project work, she made sure to ask him about it later. Not simply because she was interested—though she was—but also so she could get an idea of how much he could do from here. She remembered what he had said about applying for consulting work he could do from Peru and looked up some of the jobs to see if there was any reason he couldn’t do it from Canada. She emailed photos of Boone and Jamie to Jill and Craig, sneaking in some questions about how things were running in Boone’s absence. As she suspected, he was missed, but nothing had come to a grinding halt.

  She was building a case. For what, she wasn’t sure yet. She knew Boone couldn’t live with them full-time. Even if he could let go of his fears about carrying on the cycle of abuse—fears which, she noticed, seemed to be easing—there was his dedication to Project Sonqo. She couldn’t ask him to give up his life’s work.

  And even if she did—even if she told him she loved him—was her love alone enough?

  Boone loved Jamie. Of that, she had no doubt. He was growing as a father, tuning in to his son, learning how to read a situation and respond better than some of her teachers at the day care who had years of experience. And Jamie totally adored his dad. Seeing the two of them together, especially when they didn’t know she was watching, was like spying on a meeting of the Mutual Adoration Society.

  But what about Boone and her? She knew she lov
ed him, but did it go both ways?

  And if it didn’t, no matter how much she loved him, was that enough? Would she be willing to live alone most of the time so she could stay married to a man she loved but who might never love her?

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THE HOUSE WAS SILENT.

  Boone was at the hardware store, Jamie was down for his nap, and Kate was debating between painting the porch and feeling virtuous, or sacking out on the sofa with a book and feeling indulged, when the decision was taken out of her hands by the slam of a car door. She peeked outside just in time to see Allie hauling two stacked boxes up the porch steps.

  “Do you need help?” she asked as she raced to hold the door.

  “Nah, I’m good.” Allie set her load in the foyer. “One more trip, and then I’ll take them up to my room. And if you touch them, I will totally forget that I stopped at Tim Hortons and grabbed you an Iced Capp on my way here.”

  “Not fair, Al,” Kate called as her sister bounced back down the steps. Her reply came in the form of a laugh floating back in her direction.

  Kate glared at the boxes. “I should be able to do this. It’s not like I’m some fragile flower.”

  The boxes stayed silent.

  Kate lifted one. It wasn’t heavy. Her ankle was completely back to normal. Allie was simply being a mother hen.

  But was it worth risking an Iced Capp?

  Kate sighed, sat on the living room sofa and grabbed her book, which she deliberately raised to hide her face when Allie returned.

  “Oh, good. You can be taught.”

  “Bite me, Allie.” Kate lowered the book and glared. “That drink better be maple flavored.”

  “Would I get you anything else?” Allie started up the stairs. “Wait here like an obedient sister. It’ll be in your hands before you know it.”

  Kate made grumbling noises but obeyed. Not that it was so difficult. Once in a while—not often, but sometimes—it was nice to be indulged and pampered.

  Besides, if she stayed on the sofa, then Allie would stay with her. Which meant she would be less likely to spy the plastic sheeting blocking Boone’s work area. Which greatly reduced the chances of Allie asking questions Kate wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with quite yet.