Finding The One (Meadowview Heroes 1; The Meadowview Series 5)
Page 14
She’d be homeless.
Not really—she could sell the loft and move in with Milla, but relying on her big sister for housing wasn’t how she wanted to handle things.
Milla raised a champagne flute filled with orange juice and propped it on her watermelon-shaped belly. “Attention, everyone, you’re attention please…” Ignored, she turned and gave Trudy an exasperated look.
Trudy tried to get the attention of the chattering group but also didn’t meet success, until Griswold brayed several times outside her window. That shut the chattering women up quick. Aw, she’d miss Griswold when she sold the loft. But those depressing thoughts were for another day—this moment was all about her sister and her soon-to-be-born niece. Or nephew.
Yeah, who was she kidding? The watermelon would turn out to be another niece. Milla and Jarrod refused to find out the gender, figuring they’d be happy no matter what. Trudy knew they secretly hoped for a boy, though.
“The mom-to-be has something to say,” Trudy said, a smile on her face.
Milla cleared her throat. “I simply wanted to thank my sister for this fantastic baby shower. Gertrude T. Prendergast,” she said, turning to face her sister, “I don’t know how you managed to pull it off, but this shower has been amazing. I only hope that someday I can repay you and throw you as fantastic of a baby shower in return.”
An emptiness inside expanded, pushing at her ribs. Her face went cold. God, no. She couldn’t feel the pain now—this moment was supposed to be about Milla. She worked to suck in a breath, only the phone rang . Her shoulders sagged in relief. Saved by the bell—literally.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I’m expecting an important call.” She wasn’t, but she didn’t want Milla to see her emotions. Not now.
In moments, she’d stepped inside her cramped office space and had grabbed the phone from its cradle.
“You got the contract,” her agent blurted out when Trudy answered the phone.
“What contract?” she asked. As far as she knew, Lisa hadn’t submitted her portfolio for any jobs coming up, because there were none.
“The contract with Essentially Green.”
Trudy frowned. “The clothing company? But Jacquie won that job. They hired her a few weeks ago.”
“She quit. Met a big executive in Hong Kong and got married. You were next on their list, so with Jacquie absorbed in connubial bliss, the job’s yours.”
Oh, God. Her knees went weak. Was this really happening?
Lisa continued jabbering, her excitement for her client evident. “This is such an amazing opportunity. You’ll be the face of the company for the next five years. Five years, Trudy. You won’t have to take any of those ridiculous modeling jobs you were doing for artists—this contract will be all you need.”
Trudy sank down in her office chair, her knees close to knocking together. She’d won her dream job. “Lisa,” she stuttered, “I…I don’t know what to say…”
“You can say thank you. And that you’ll keep your clothes on.”
“Um…what?”
“The only reason you didn’t get the contract to begin with is that they didn’t much like the fact that your naked image was an internet meme. They liked you, but not so much your past. With Jacquie gone, they’re willing to look beyond that because they still think you’re fantastic, but don’t run around naked.” With that, Lisa severed the call.
Trudy let out a breathless laugh. She’d won the job. How brilliantly perfect.
A sharp rap on her office door startled her.
“Come in,” she said, still excited about the contract and really excited about the fact she’d be able to keep her loft.
Doe entered. “Um, Trudy?”
Trudy pulled her mind out of her dream world and looked at Doe, startled by the concerned expression on her face. She sobered immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“Party’s over.”
Trudy stood. “But why? We haven’t even cut the cake yet.”
Fright showed in Doe’s eyes, and her voice wavered uncharacteristically. “Because your sister’s gone into labor. I know she’s not due for another month, but she’s having her baby. Now!”
Four hours later, Trudy gazed at her brand-new nephew, Kyle, wrapped up tight in bunting, snug in his mother’s arms. “He’s beautiful,” Trudy murmured, and reached out to run a finger down the baby’s cheek.
“Pretty cute for a watermelon, isn’t he?” Milla gazed at her son. “And he’s a good boy, too. Only four hours labor. Betsy was what, eighteen hours hard labor? Lana and Laura were twelve hours, and Gabbie was ten. I think I like boys. Maybe I’ll have more of them.”
“What’s Jarrod say to that?”
“That he’s never sleeping with me again.”
Trudy burst out laughing. For two hours after racing with Milla to the hospital, Trudy had pacing the hospital floor outside the maternity ward while Jarrod coached his wife through the birthing process. She’d worried, gnawed on her knuckle, and fought off bouts of dizziness brought about by stress. Until two hours into the ordeal, that is, when Mac arrived, and the stress immediately dissipated. He’d sat with her on the hard fiberglass chairs, rubbing her back, his calm energy dissipating her nerves.
He’d also brought his camera and took numerous pictures of inane subjects like the nurses, the doctors, the back of a patient’s chart, and cups of chipped ice. Capturing the moment, he’d told her with a grin. He’d held back and waited with Doe, though, when news of the birth came and Trudy was invited into the delivery room to meet her nephew.
“Here,” Milla said, holding Kyle up to Trudy. “Hold him.”
Longing struck her, hard, and Trudy’s heart suddenly started pounding. She backed up a step. “That’s okay. I’ll hold him another time.”
Milla frowned. “You know, you never hold my babies.”
Trudy gulped. “Yes I do. I hold them.”
“Only when I order you to.” Hurt covered Milla’s face.
“That’s not true,” she protested, but she knew her sister was right.
“Admit it, Trudy—you don’t like babies.”
She gaped. “Milla, you don’t know what you’re saying. I love babies. Love them.”
Her sister persisted. “Then why don’t you act like it? It’s pretty clear you don’t want kids.”
“I do want kids,” Trudy said, her voice low, admitting her deep desire, feeling the urge to tell her sister the truth. She dropped her gaze to her trembling hands. Now wasn’t the time. Her sister had just given birth. This was supposed to be a happy moment. But unbidden, the words spilled out of her mouth. “I can’t have them, is all.”
Her sister’s voice rose higher. “Not true. Somebody can’t have babies only if it’s physically impossible. You just won’t have them.”
The ache in Trudy’s heart bordered on bursting. She should have told her sister long ago what had happened, the real reason why she’d had to have all those surgeries. She’d been scared then, scared of the pity she’d see in her sister’s eyes.
But Milla’s vehemence scared her more. She couldn’t bear to have her sister so angry at her. She couldn’t lose Milla.
“The truth,” she said, her voice hollow, “is that it’s not physically possible for me to get pregnant. They took more than my appendix when I had those surgeries, Milla. More than just scar tissue and adhesions.”
“What are you talking about? You had appendicitis.”
Her knees buckled but she forced herself to continue. “No, Milla, I had endometriosis. And it was bad. Really bad. And the only way to cure it was a hysterectomy. So you see, I used the right word earlier. I actually can’t have babies.”
Milla’s expression changed, flowing from anger and frustration to pity in one smooth ripple.
God, she hated the pity. Hated being looked at as less than. As other. Her body shuddered all over. In anguish, she stepped outside the hospital room. Only to be met with the flash of a camera.
* * *
“Trudy, what’s wrong?”
She waved both hands in front of her—palms up, fingers stiff. He backed up.
“I need to go,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “Please take me home.”
He nodded. “Should I say goodbye to Milla before I take you?” he asked. “She wanted pictures of the baby.”
Trudy waved him off silently and curled up on the poorly fitting chair. She sat, eyes vacantly fixed on the cracked vinyl in front of her, legs crossed, arms tightly wrapped around her front. Like a scared child, he thought. Across the waiting room, Doe stared at Trudy, her eyes wide, as if she, too, knew something big had happened.
Mac went back into the hospital room. Milla sat alone, hunched up, her body mimicking Trudy’s, but with a baby in her arms. He perched on the edge of the bed and waited until she raised her head to look at him.
“I blew it,” she said quietly.
“With Trudy?”
She gave a quick nod. “I never knew…” She flicked her gaze to the window, staring at something in the distance.
“Never knew what?”
She let out a deep sigh. “Never knew who she really was. Never bothered to see beyond the surface.” Kyle made a soft sound and she patted the baby. “Never knew I could hurt her.”
Mac stood and raised the camera to his eye, focusing in on Kyle and altering the f-stop. “Look, siblings fight all the time. Doe and I certainly do. You’ll make up.” The flash of the light bulb startled Kyle, but he settled back down, soothed by his mother’s hand caressing his belly.
Milla wiped tears from her face. “I hope she can forgive me for what I said.”
Mac gave her a curious look. “Camilla, one thing I learned about Trudy, she’s a pretty forgiving person. As long as you have a good excuse.”
Milla let out a rueful laugh. “Hope so.” She caught him by the arm. He turned, and she looked directly at him. “Take care of her. She deserves…”
Mac stiffened. “She deserves better than me.”
“No,” Milla said quickly, shaking her head. “That’s not what I was thinking. When she was modeling on the runways, people always told she was beautiful. I think it was the only time she thought people saw something of value in her. We were shuttled around from foster family to foster family, and although I never felt I needed a family of our own, that’s all Trudy wanted. But we weren’t the perfectly poised blonde princesses adoptive families wanted. The constant rejection of the ‘rowdy redhead,’ as Foster Mom Number One called her, did a number on Trudy. She has such strength inside, but I don’t think she sees it.”
Huh. What Milla said made sense. No wonder Trudy had a soft underbelly when she felt judged. When she felt unwanted.
“Did she tell you about the Tubster Trudy thing?” Milla asked.
He nodded. “Asswipes, the lot of them.”
A half-smile formed on Milla’s face. “I’m glad you’re in her life. She deserves to know she’s wonderful, outside and in.”
Puzzled, Mac wondered why Milla had used the phrase “outside and in.” Usually people said “inside and out,” not the reverse. But before he could ask for clarification, Jarrod poked his head in the door, a screaming Betsy in tow, who woke the baby. Kyle screwed his face up and let out a bellowing squall, causing his parents to laugh.
“He’s all boy, isn’t he?” Jarrod said, slapping Mac on the shoulders. “Just wait until you get one of your own. Being a father is fantastic. I can’t tell you. Worth every minute of screaming and crying and all the diapers.”
Images of Trudy flashed through his mind—Trudy, round and pregnant with his baby in her belly. Trudy, face flushed and sweating after giving birth to their baby. Trudy, smiling down on their child as Milla smiled down on Kyle.
Then he brushed the thought out of his mind. He didn’t need to go there—not now.
But maybe…maybe someday.
* * *
Trudy rolled through Meadowview in her Prius, waving to a few familiar faces. She’d met a few of the townsfolk during the time she and Mac had been dating. Now she recognized Mr. Camden, the owner of Camden’s Grocery, Chessie Gibson, who made the most delightfully scented bath and body products, and Delilah, the diner owner. All were at the corner of Market and Main Streets, chatting together along with a young woman with blond corkscrew curls and a baby on her hip. Chessie motioned for Trudy to pull over, and for a moment, Trudy hesitated.
It had been less than twenty-four hours since she’d seen Mac, and she was craving his touch, his scent, the way he smiled. Funny, how after such a short time together, she was jonesing for Mac so intensely.
She wanted to keep driving, to hurry up and get to Mac’s place and jump his bones, but still…the inhabitants of Meadowview had gone out of their way to make her feel at home, and the connection had grown important to her.
Time to be social. Her sex drive could wait a little bit longer. She managed to parallel park without knocking over the two mountain bikes propped against a bench on the wooden sidewalk, and rolled down all the windows in her Prius, thinking to let in the balmy spring air, only to get hit with a wash of heat. Overnight, it appeared spring in the California foothills had turned overly warm. Summer was approaching.
She smiled as Chessie popped her head in the window and gestured to the blonde next to her. “This is my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Sadie,” Chessie said. “She runs the local theater program in town. You already met her brother, Theo. He was with me in Delilah’s the first day you came into town.”
The baby squawked. Instead of experiencing tension the way she usually did when face to face with a baby, all Trudy felt was warmth. But when the baby reached for Trudy’s hair, the memory of Aaron baring her boobs to a gallery of art patrons had her pulling back. Not much, though.
“And the little goober going for your hair,” Chessie added, “is my soon to be niece-in-law, Jane. You remember meeting Lia and my brother Jack? Jane’s their niece, too.”
Trudy tilted her head, trying to piece together the connections.
Sadie leaned forward and smiled, a crooked top incisor adding character to her beautiful face. “Lia married Chessie’s brother Jack, I married Lia’s brother Ethan, and Chessie is about to marry my brother, Theo, which is how all the connections are made.” She laughed and gave Trudy a one-shouldered shrug. “Small towns, big families. Gets a little complicated. Lots of birthdays to remember.”
“Must get confusing,” Trudy said. The only birthday she’d ever needed to remember was Milla’s. She’d always done something special for her sister, and Milla had always done the same, especially after the one year Foster Family Number Seven had forgotten her birthday. Regret swept over her. God, why had she shut Milla out all those years, not sharing about the hysterectomy? It wasn’t like it was some deep, dark secret to be ashamed of. Hiding the truth from her sister had been about her, not Milla.
Truth was, she’d been jealous. Wounded. And immature.
The day before, she’d gone back into Milla’s hospital room after Mac had taken off, filled with anxiety. After having yelled at her sister, she wasn’t sure how Milla would receive her. Her worries had been for nothing, however. Milla had taken one look at her and burst into tears, pulling her close and rocking her back and forth in her arms.
After saying goodbye, Mac had dropped her off at her loft, where she flung herself into bed, only to sleep for sixteen hours straight. Waking up late in the day, she took a quick shower and grabbed a stale bagel, then jumped into her car, headed to Meadowview. Headed to Mac.
“Since you’re going out to the Johansson’s, can you do me a favor and drop something off for Doe?” Chessie asked. “I promised her a bottle of my new bubble bath for babies—Gertie’s Lavender Bliss.”
After Trudy said she would, Chessie tore off, running across the stre
et to the general store that carried her bath and body products, leaving Trudy to chat with Sadie. And watch Jane mouth her fist.
“She’s teething,” Sadie explained. “Hence the drool.”
“I figured,” Trudy said. “My sister has five of her own. They all ended up wearing bibs over their onesies for several months straight.”
“Five kids!” Sadie exclaimed. “Wow, I’m freaking out at just one. Do you have any?”
The question settled around Sadie, as if made of a thick but invisible weight. But there was no sting, no slam of emotion. Instead, she surprised herself by saying, “Not in the cards for me.” Thankfully, Chessie arrived back at the Prius, two bags in her hands, before Sadie could ask Trudy what she’d meant.
“This one’s for Doe”—Chessie handed first one bag over to Trudy, then the other—“and this one’s from Delilah for you and Mac. Bacon and sweet potato muffins. They’re to die for.”
Her agent had told her Essentially Green liked that she was a lush size ten, but Trudy figured if she kept eating Delilah’s muffins, she’d be a size twelve in a week. Maybe she should steer clear. “Thanks so much. I’ll make sure Mac gets some,” she said.
“That Mac gets some?” Aa male voice sounded from the passenger side of her car.
She whipped her head around and her heart trip-trip-tripped in her chest. Oh, yum. Mac. She held the paper sack up. “We got a bag of deliciousness from Delilah.”
“Wrong answer,” he said, grinning.
“And what is the correct answer?”
“That Mac’s gonna get some…you know…” His grin widened and he waggled his eyebrows.
Trudy rolled her eyes and Sadie laughed. After a few minutes of checking in with Sadie, Mac asked the two women to have a cup of coffee with him at Cuppa Joe’s before heading to his place. Sadie begged off, saying she and Jane had a playdate scheduled, but Trudy grudgingly accepted. Grudgingly, because she still wanted to jump Mac’s body. She supposed she should feel guilty for being so focused on sex with Mac, but wow—the way the man brought her to climax made unicorn glitter look drab.