by Susan Crosby
“The same to you, Kincaid. Your tree is beautiful.”
“Thank you. Did you want to be alone with Shana?”
“No, it’s fine.” She went to where Shana stood and handed her an envelope. “Your baby pictures, as promised. There’s one of you at eighteen months that looks just like Emma.”
Shana clutched the envelope to her chest. “Thanks, Mom. I appreciate it.” Her voice shook.
“I’m sorry your father didn’t come with me, but I truly think everything will work out. He’s seeing the years pass so fast, just like I am. What you said to him today opened his eyes.” She ran a hand down Shana’s hair. “We want to be real grandparents. Maybe we won’t be as intense about it as Aggie, but it’ll be better than it was. And honey, I forgive you.”
Shana hugged her, a small sob escaping. Kincaid could only watch in silence and hope her father did the same so that she wasn’t disappointed or hurt again.
“I’ll leave you to your afternoon,” Bea said. Then she was gone.
Shana opened the envelope and found the picture Bea spoke of. She showed it to Kincaid. “I’ve always said she looks just like you,” he said. “Obviously going to see them this morning turned out to be the right thing to do.”
“Christmas miracles,” she said. She looked at him. “You asked me not to leave. Where would I go? You took away my apartment. I’m sure either Gavin or Dixie would take me in, but that would give the town something new to talk about. I’m making headway with my parents. I don’t want to disrupt that.”
He relaxed. He had time, the time he needed.
“But,” she went on. “If the situation here goes downhill or gets too tense, I’ll need to go. We need to try to go back to the beginning. As in, I’ll be sleeping in my own room.”
He was okay with that—for now. He’d been given what he wanted, the chance to start over with her.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you.”
“I understand that Dixie held you to a promise. But you all need to understand that I’m an adult with a child. I have to make my own decisions.” She touched his arm, and it was like being touched by lightning. “I appreciate the job. I do. I want to keep on doing it. I just don’t know if I can live with you.”
“Baby steps, Shana.”
For a second he thought she was going to kiss him, then she moved back a little.
“Gavin and Becca are hosting Christmas dinner,” she said. “I plan to go. I’d like you to come, too, but if you don’t want to, it’s okay.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “I’m going to catch a nap while I can.”
“I’ll be here.”
He waited until she’d gotten upstairs before he let his legs buckle and he landed on the couch. He had a second chance.
This time he wouldn’t blow it.
Chapter Sixteen
Pregnant.
Shana blinked and looked again at the results on the test stick. The word Not didn’t magically appear. She lowered the stick to the bathroom counter, and then herself to the floor. Kincaid’s words shouted in her head— “We dodged a bullet.”
Well, the bullet had hit a bullseye, a teeny, tiny, nearly-impossible-to-hit bullseye.
It was 4:00 a.m. She’d been awake most of the night, waiting, finally giving up and taking the test. Before, when the results had been “Not Pregnant,” she’d felt an unanticipated grief. Now she waited for joy to engulf her that she was.
What she felt was an urge to run far away, not to have to tell anyone, but especially Kincaid. “It’s good that you weren’t pregnant,” he’d told her. He’d gone about these past few days believing that was true, and he’d been happy. Now she had to tell him otherwise.
And her family.
Shana leaned her head against the wall and stared at the ceiling. As much as she wanted to run, she’d spent the past year proving she wasn’t that angry, scared girl anymore, just a human being, capable of making mistakes like everyone else.
Yesterday she’d tried to avoid Kincaid, but he hadn’t let her. She’d driven to Grass Valley to buy another pregnancy test while he’d gone to Sacramento to do some house repairs for Marcy and Eric. When he got home mid-afternoon he had sought her out, then had barely left her side, maintaining an annoyingly upbeat mood, smiling so much she barely recognized him.
He and Emma had played a lot, too. He’d talked to her about going sledding in the snow in a couple of days. Emma had gotten so excited about it, even though she didn’t know what it meant.
He’d been relaxed. She’d been so tense she almost felt herself breaking into pieces. She didn’t want to bring him down from his happiness. And she really, really didn’t want him to just do the right thing by her. She wanted him to love her.
But that was out of her control.
What she needed was a plan. She couldn’t delay telling him, but she also didn’t want to just have him come down to breakfast and get hit with the news. There must be a way of easing into it.
Maybe someone could take Emma for a couple of hours so they wouldn’t be interrupted. Shana could fix his favorite spaghetti and meatballs, get him all full and mellow, then she could say, “You know that pregnancy test I took the other day? Well, a funny thing happened…”
Funny. Right, it was hilarious.
He’d wanted to start over, to go back to the beginning, as employer and employee. Sorry, Kincaid. No such luck.
Shana’s rear went to sleep as she sat there. She struggled to stand, then got into the shower, letting the hot water soothe her, rehearsing how she would tell him. Nothing seemed right.
When she was dressed she went downstairs and found him sitting on the couch, the tree lights on. Dawn hadn’t broken yet. He wore flannel pajama bottoms and a T-shirt and was barefoot. She wondered if his feet were cold.
“Have you been there all night?” she asked, coming up beside him.
“No.” He looked up at her and smiled. She was having difficulty getting used to a super-cheerful Kincaid. “You’re up early, too,” he said.
“One of those days, I guess.” She sat at the end of the sofa.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said.
“Uh-oh.”
“I know. Dangerous, huh? We need a plan.”
Hadn’t she just thought that? “For what?”
“Work. Living together. Now that everything’s out in the open, we should take some time to decide how we’re going to manage our business and home lives so that everyone is comfortable.”
“I thought you didn’t like rules.”
He flashed a grin. “They wouldn’t be rules, but more like guidelines.”
“Ah, I see. They’re guidelines when you make them, but rules when I do.”
“Pretty much, yes.”
His cheerful mood had carried over from the day before. It was hard not to get caught up in it, except that she knew she would be ruining it later. “So, what are these guidelines?”
“I thought we could go somewhere for dinner tonight and work on them, just us, away from town and distractions. Somewhere neutral.”
She could feel herself frowning. “Neutral? Why? If we stay here, do you think I’ll start a fight?”
“Not necessarily.”
Not necessarily? What did that mean? What kind of rules was he going to impose that he wanted her to be in public where she wouldn’t make a scene? And she didn’t want to tell him her news in public, which meant she would have to wait until after dinner, stretching out the agony.
Which actually wasn’t such a horrible thought, she decided. She wasn’t in a hurry to share her news. A nice dinner first, a little reprieve, couldn’t hurt. “All right,” she said. “I guess I should get a sitter.”
“Mama!” Emma called.
“Looks like everyone’s an early bird today,” Shana said, getting up. She stopped next to him. “Thanks for trying to make things easier for us, Kincaid. I really appreciate it.”
&nb
sp; He gave her a quirky smile so unlike him she could only stare. “Good employer/employee relations are critical to successful job performance, I think,” he said.
Boy, was he in for a surprise.
“Mama!”
“Hold your horses, Emma. I’m coming.”
Emma neighed like a horse, something Kincaid had taught her yesterday.
It was a good start to what she imagined would be a very long day of anticipation.
And trepidation.
Kincaid had chosen a restaurant in Grass Valley that he’d never been to before, where there were no memories of any kind. He hoped the food was good, but it didn’t matter at this point. He didn’t think he would taste anything.
Shana looked beautiful. Beyond beautiful. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes seemed a deeper green than ever. She’d even curled her hair in a really sexy way. And her dress? He could barely keep his eyes off the low neckline, under which she must be wearing a push-up bra, because she had more cleavage than he could recall.
It wasn’t exactly how someone usually dressed for a business meeting.
But then, only he knew it wasn’t a business meeting.
“Did you bring a list or something?” she asked as their salads plates were removed and their entrees set in front of them, chicken for her and steak for him.
“A list?”
“Your plan?”
“Oh.” He tapped a finger to his temple. “It’s all right here.”
“Are you waiting for Bill Gates to join us or something before you start?”
He laughed. He knew she was nervous. Few people relished change, and he’d kept her guessing all day. “Okay. Well, now that you know I have an accountant, I’ll be taking that job away from you.”
“It was my least favorite task, anyway.”
“What is your favorite?”
“Designing Mr. Broadburn’s new bathroom is up there. I hope I get to do a lot more of that. But I’ve liked everything so far.”
“And you’re okay with everything you do at home?”
She nodded as she took a bite. “I get to spend a lot more time with Emma. I love that.”
“Is there something you’d like to do that you’re not doing?”
Her eyes lit up. “I’d like to decorate your downtown office. It’s too sparse.”
“People don’t expect fancy from a contractor.”
“Maybe not, but some large photos on the walls of some of your projects would give you something to show off. It looks cold, you know? It wouldn’t cost much to fix it up.”
As the meal went on, his nerves took over. Apparently so had hers, because neither of them ate more than half their dinner.
“May I interest you in dessert?” their server asked.
“I’m good, thanks,” Shana said.
What? She always ate dessert. He’d counted on her eating dessert. “We can split something,” he said.
She frowned. “You didn’t even finish your dinner.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want dessert. How about some chocolate mousse?” She loved chocolate.
“No, really, Kincaid. I’m full.” She pressed a hand against her stomach as if emphasizing it.
“Bring us one, please,” he said to the server, who gave a little bow.
Kincaid took a measured breath. The plan had been set in motion. “I bought the hardware store,” he said.
“I’m pregnant,” she said at the same time. “Wait, what?”
“What?” he asked, sitting back. “You’re pregnant?”
She looked around. “Please. Everyone’s looking.”
“I live in Chance City. I’m used to it. Rewind, please.” He gave a signal to the waiter to hold off, then he reached across the table and took her hand.
Her eyes welled. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I did the test wrong. I’m pregnant.”
Everything he had wished for, had come to hope for, lit up like neon in his head.
“I know you were glad I wasn’t pregnant, but I kind of was not.” Her voice shook. Her body shook. She looked scared.
“Shana, sweetheart. This is not bad news to me.”
“It isn’t?”
He pulled his chair closer to hers so that he could put his arm around her. “When we didn’t know if you were pregnant, then found out you weren’t, I realized how much I’d wanted it to be true.”
“Why? Everyone will know we slept together right after I moved in.”
“It doesn’t matter to me. But you do. And Emma.” He slid a hand over her abdomen. “And this one. I love you.”
She threw her arms around him. “I love you, too. With all my heart.”
“Your stubborn heart?” he asked tenderly.
She laughed a little shakily. “It wasn’t so stubborn. In fact, it gave in pretty fast.”
“Good, because I want a full-time commitment from you.” He made a small gesture to their server, who brought a covered dish to the table then left. Kincaid lifted the lid, was surprised at how much his hands shook. Inside was a black velvet box. He opened it. “Shana Callahan, I want to share my life with you, now and forever. Will you marry me?”
“You had this all planned?”
“I set everything in motion Christmas Eve. I had to wait to get the ring yesterday. Well. Will you?”
“Yes! Oh, yes, of course.”
He slipped the ring on her finger.
“It’s stunning,” she said holding up her hand to admire the diamond and emerald ring. “It’s perfect.”
“It matches your eyes.”
She kissed him then while everyone around them applauded.
He tasted tears and knew they were happy ones. He was beyond happy himself. He would have a family of his own. He’d found the one success that had eluded him, the one he wanted most.
“What did you say about the hardware store?” she asked.
“I bought it.”
She smiled in bemusement. “When?”
“Your father and I struck a deal at the Christmas Eve party.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I’m looking at it as your bride price.”
“Is that like a dowry? Aren’t my parents supposed to pay you to take me off their hands?”
“In some cultures, a bride price is a symbol of the groom’s estimation of his bride.”
“And I’m only worth the price of a hardware store?” she said, acting affronted.
“I had a plan. I thought your parents would start traveling, and you would be happier, but then things changed on Christmas, so maybe that doesn’t matter to you.”
“It matters because they can retire and enjoy the rest of their lives. Unless you think you’re going to get me to run the place.”
He laughed, feeling better than he’d felt in his whole life. “What? You don’t want to?”
She shook her head. “All I want is you.”
“As someone said to me not long ago, take me, I’m yours.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8198-1
ALMOST A CHRISTMAS BRIDE
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Bova Crosby
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* Wives for Hire
†† Back in Business
§ The Baby Chase
† The McCoys of Chance City
‡ The Fortunes of Texas: Lost…and Found
** Behind Closed Doors