A Change of Plans

by Donna K. Weaver

  I threw a pillow at him, missing. “Easy for you to say!”

  Grinning, he picked up the pillow and tossed it back at me. He didn’t miss.

  JORI CAME by that evening after hearing in town about my accident. He brought flowers and stayed for dinner.

  “Hey, Mr. Virtanen,” Owen said, as they cleared the dinner table. “I hear you’re leaving early this year.”

  Jack was helping me into my chair, and I jerked my head around to stare at Jori.

  His eyes met mine. “I’ve got a big show in New York in April. They’ve been working on it for a year.”

  “Will you be back?” I asked, settling the pillow behind my head.

  He shook his head. “I’ve got two shows scheduled in Europe right after New York.”

  Until I knew he would be leaving, I hadn’t realized how important his friendship had become to me. “Fine. Go gallivanting all over Europe and leave us with the cows.”

  “Hey!” Jack closed a button on his jacket, preparing to check on his stock one more time before bed. “Don’t go badmouthing my cattle until you’ve spent more time with them.”

  When Jori and I were alone, I asked, “Will you write?”

  He sat on the coffee table in front of my chair. “Of course. And call.” He leaned forward and tugged at a strand of my hair, reminding me once again of my brother. “You can visit me, if you’d like. It would be fun to show you Finland.”

  The idea appealed to me, but I wasn’t sure if I was up yet to traveling outside of the States.

  Jori stood. “If not this year, then next. And I’ll be back here next spring.” He put on his jacket and leaned over to kiss the top of my head before leaving. “Don’t go tripping over anything else.”

  CHAPTER 33

  I TRIED WALKING with the air cast the next day. Being careful, I could hobble around enough to help with simple chores. As I worked, I considered my situation and Emily’s comment that I could help out with the next calving season.

  This family felt like a part of me, and I had grown to love them. I could imagine making my home here. We thought alike and connected on an emotional level. But a lot of it was because of Braedon. My dream in Great Falls hadn’t been that far off. He was everywhere on the ranch.

  It wasn’t just the photos of him and Aislinn that covered the walls, but the memories the others had of him. He had worked on or designed so many things. Or certain spots had been his favorite places to ride or his preferred trail to hike.

  But should I make my permanent home here? It made me happy to putter around the house and help out where I could, but I didn’t fool myself that I was doing anything other than healing, which I couldn’t do for the rest of my life.

  The phone rang as I helped Emily sort through some fabric scraps for a quilt. She got up to answer it.

  “Lyn, it’s for you.” She carried in the cordless receiver.

  “Did Jack forget something?” I took the phone she offered. “Hello?”

  “Mrs. Randolph?”

  “Yes.”

  The woman identified herself as the nurse for some doctor I had never heard of.

  “I’m sorry. I have no idea what you’re talking about. What test?”

  She paused and I heard paper shuffling. “From your emergency room visit. Your blood test was positive.”

  I remembered the doctor saying something about tropical diseases and swallowed a sudden lump in my throat. “For ... for what?”

  “Your pregnancy test, Mrs. Randolph. You’ll want to schedule an appointment soon. And don’t take any medication without your doctor’s approval. Congratulations.” She hung up.

  At the beep-beep sound from the phone, Emily rushed to my side and took it from me. “What is it?”

  Why would someone do that to me? My heart felt like it had been ripped from my chest. “That was a sick joke.”

  Emily pushed some buttons on the phone. “That’s the hospital’s number. You said something about a test.”

  My knees went wobbly, and I had to sit down. “A pregnancy test.”

  “When did you have your last period?” Emily asked, her voice calm.

  My mouth opened and then snapped shut. I hadn’t paid attention. “I haven’t had it since we left the island.”

  My heart raced. Could it be true? “Maybe it wasn’t food poisoning after all,” I breathed, touching my abdomen tenuously.

  Her eyes danced. “No, honey. It wasn’t food poisoning.”

  A baby. Braedon’s baby. My entire body flooded with joy; I felt giddy and euphoric. I clutched Emily’s hands. “This can’t be true. I’ve wanted it too much!”

  The roar of Jack’s truck as he pulled up outside brought us to our feet. I continued to grip Emily’s hand as we faced the door, not knowing if I could say the words, as if speaking them aloud would make it a mistake.

  Jack hesitated at the open door, watching us, seeming to know something was up. He shut the door against the cold, never taking his eyes off us. “Out with it.”

  Emily beat me to it, releasing my hand and clapping hers together. “The rabbit died, Jack!”

  He stared at me for a second before raising a finger. “That blood test!” He ran over, a huge grin on his face as he swept me off my feet and twirled me in a circle. When he set me down, he put his face inches from mine. “Are you happy?”

  My answer was to burst into tears.

  THAT NIGHT we had a party of sorts. I had called Elle earlier and told her to go over to Aislinn’s house that evening so we could talk to everyone at once. I think they were as stunned as I was at the news.

  Jack hung back as everyone else went up the stairs to bed, leaning against the fireplace. I joined him there.

  “You’ll stay here now, won’t you? Make your home with us?” His intense blue eyes begged me to make it so.

  I let out a deep breath. I meant to repay Braedon’s estate for my expenses, but now I had an ER visit and a baby coming. “You sure you’re okay with that? I’m turning out to be kind of expensive.”

  “Don’t be stupid.” Jack said, suddenly cross. “You’re my daughter now, and I take care of my family. Money’s no problem. My great-grandfather may have started this ranch, but my grandfather started a couple more in Texas, and one of them had oil on it. By the time he sold it, he’d made millions.”

  He chuckled at my expression.

  “You didn’t really think I could be a prosperous rancher without either a wife who had a job in town or an independent income, did you? And I’ll bet you thought my lack of money came between Braedon’s mother and me. No, they just didn’t approve of my social standing.”

  Jack glanced around the large room with fondness. “Here, we’ve got everything we need and a little of what we want. That’s all that’s necessary to be happy. This house may seem large, but I came from a big family. We needed the space.” He winked at me. “Besides, you can only be in one room at a time.”

  “Braedon was definitely his father’s son. He wasn’t materialistic either.”

  That seemed to please Jack a lot.

  ONE LITTLE incident showed how fast things were moving between Jack and Emily. It happened the first day I was fully up and about again. I had already gone to bed but had forgotten my book in the living room. When I got to the stairs, Ethan and Owen stood at the bottom, peering stealthily into the kitchen.

  I could tell they were trying to be quiet, so I tiptoed down to join them. Music came faintly from the kitchen, where Jack and Emily slow danced. Jack stopped and bent to kiss her—and it got hot pretty fast.

  I grabbed the boys’ shirts and dragged them back up the stairs. They both had grins as wide as Jack Skellington’s.

  “Don’t you dare say anything about this to either one of them!” I told the boys firmly when we reached the top of the stairs.

  Owen shook his head. “Oh, we can have fun with this one!”

  Ethan, however, turned serious. “No, Lyn’s right. That could ruin this. You know how Jack is. Let’s
not mess this up for them.”

  Owen paused, considering it, and then grunted. “You’re probably right. But all I can say is, it’s about time.”

  JORI DROPPED by in the early afternoon the next day when everyone else was gone.

  “I’m in the kitchen,” I shouted as I hobbled to the oven to put in a cake.

  He peeked around the doorway, his face alight. He held his arms behind him as though keeping something hidden from me.

  Wary, I waited to see what he was up to.

  Jori stepped into the room, swinging his arm around and presenting me with a beautiful bouquet of balloons. One of them had the image of a baby on it.

  I hugged him.

  He slid into one of the breakfast bar chairs. “So a part of Braedon will live on after all. I’m happy for you.”

  “I still can’t believe it.”

  He tilted his head. “You look different already. You have a glow about you.”

  “It’s the hormones.”

  “No. This comes from knowing, I think.” He checked his watch and rose. “I’ve got a class. I need to go.”

  “Thank you for bringing these.” He hugged me goodbye, and I asked, “Would you like to come for dinner?”

  “I would, but I have a date.” He shook a finger at me. “Since you helped me put a new spin on my reputation, I decided I’d better keep it going.”

  “Don’t go breaking any hearts,” I warned.

  He winked as he turned to leave. “No promises.”

  JACK ACCOMPANIED me to my first doctor’s appointment. He must have driven the receptionist crazy with his pacing around before the nurse called me into the consultation room. The doctor put to rest my biggest concern about my malnourished state at conception. Everything looked fine.

  When the doctor was about to listen to my baby’s heartbeat, I said, “Jack will never forgive you if he’s not here for this.”

  “Good idea.” The doctor poked his head out the door and asked his nurse to bring him in.

  In a minute, my father-in-law burst into the examination room, brimming with excitement. When the doctor rolled the device over my belly, I reached out and took Jack’s hand. He covered it with his other hand, and we listened to the sound of the galloping heartbeat coming out of the speaker. We looked at each other, our eyes misting.

  If only Braedon could have been there.

  WE HAD a few more altercations with the press. Mal continued to push me about doing an interview because Olivia Howard’s show persisted in calling him. The pressure from her people had ratcheted up again now they knew I was staying with Braedon’s family. Mal could tell they were starting to wear me down.

  What helped me decide was the news coverage of a ceremony honoring Moli and the Scouts for their part in the rescue. While I watched, I realized how much I did want people to know about Jimmy, Maria, and Braedon. I also wanted them to know about those wonderful boys who had been lost.

  I talked it over with Jack, and we called Mal to discuss conditions.

  “I have to be able to control how this interview goes,” I told him, “including approving the final piece. Or it doesn’t happen.”

  “That should be no problem,” he replied, his excitement coming through the phone. “They really want this. I think they’ll agree to just about anything you request. I’ll negotiate a healthy fee.”

  “They pay fees for interviews?” An idea began to form in my mind.

  “Sometimes they do.”

  After thinking about it for a couple of days and discussing it with Jori, I called Mal again. “I want you to negotiate the largest sum you can get.”

  “Okay.” His voice became soft. “Can you tell me why you need so much?”

  “I want the money to go to the families of the two boys who were lost. I want the contract to guarantee it.”

  “Great idea! I don’t think I’ll have a problem selling that at all.”

  CHAPTER 34

  JACK KEPT a small jet at the Lewistown Airport and flew me to New York in mid-April to film the show.

  Aislinn, D’Arcy, Elle, Mal, and Jori—who had already gone to New York for his show—met us at the airport. The Olivia Howard Show sent a limo to pick us up, and we were put in a suite in a fancy hotel.

  I couldn’t believe how huge Elle had gotten. Her delivery date was close.

  With a free evening, we went out to dinner and then to Jori’s art show. When we arrived at the gallery, there was the usual twittering as people recognized him. He played the host, taking us around and showing his pieces. The art on display put his pictures in Montana to shame; these were his best works.

  Jori and I got a little ahead of the others and, as we came around a corner, I found myself on board the ship again. The pictures in the alcove were all from Elle’s little group: in the gym during a self-defense class, during a dinner gathering on the sky deck, dancing in the Crow’s Nest. And a beautiful oil painting of Jimmy and Maria.

  Jori put his arm around me. “Why are you crying? Didn’t I capture them right?”

  “Of course you captured them right.” I leaned against him and stared at the pictures. “Jori, this is incredible. Can I get a copy to give to Jimmy’s family?”

  “I’ve been thinking about giving them the original since you told me about your visit,” he said quietly.

  “How hard is it to have prints made? You know,” I continued without letting him answer, “I wish I could take these to the interview tomorrow.”

  “That would be an excellent idea,” D’Arcy commented as he and the others joined us, “if the gallery owners will release them.”

  Mal examined the pictures. “They will. Why miss out on an opportunity to have their gallery showcased on The Olivia Howard Show?”

  I winked at Jori who wore an almost fatalistic expression I didn’t understand. “Wouldn’t hurt our resident artist either. Right?”

  He grinned. “Right.”

  ELLE AND Aislinn helped me with my hair the next morning, rolling and twisting it into a very feminine braid.

  Olivia greeted us when we arrived, which I understood was not common. Even more beautiful in person, she was younger than I had thought, perhaps only a couple of years older than me.

  I introduced her to everyone, and her eyes danced when I presented her to Jori. He took the hand Olivia extended to him, and she said, “So, we meet at last.” He bowed, seeming to hold on a little longer than necessary.

  Shooting Jori a quick glance, I explained about his painting to Olivia. “I would love to show them if you think there’d be time.”

  Her eyes never left Jori as she said, “I have seen some of Mr. Virtanen’s work at the Schulze Gallery. I would love to include a piece in today’s taping.”

  One of Olivia’s staff members then asked me to follow him to the other side of the stage. Taking a deep breath, I squeezed Elle’s hand and followed the man to a room where a woman touched up my hair and makeup. From there, they sent me to the Green Room, where another staff member kitted me out with a microphone and explained what would happen.

  I watched Olivia’s introduction on a monitor in the room, so I wasn’t surprised when another staffer came to lead me down a long hall to a door that opened onto the stage. They had allowed the others to wait there to watch and listen rather than sending them with me to the Green Room. Aislinn and Elle hugged me. Jack kissed my forehead, and Jori rubbed my shoulder.

  Walking on stage, I swore everyone could hear my knees knocking because they shook so hard. I had never had such a bad case of stage fright before. My years as a choir director were supposed to help me. Epic fail.

  Olivia Howard played upon her Native American beauty in the way she styled her glossy black hair, her makeup accenting her high cheekbones. She was a brilliant, talented, confident woman, and an accomplished interviewer.

  Quickly putting me at ease, she made it feel like we were having a casual conversation. It just happened to be taking place in front of an audience of several hundred and
cameras that would take it to millions.

  She invited me to talk first about my life before the cruise. The topic moved on to the ship and finally the excursion. All my experience in talking about what had happened, especially about Jimmy and Maria, didn’t help. I took more tissues from the box Olivia handed to me and wiped my eyes. Maybe it was pregnancy hormones kicking in. Maybe it was the people in the audience who cried with me.

  It was a relief when she had her staff bring out Jori’s painting and invited him, Elle, Aislinn, and D’Arcy to join us on stage. I was glad not to be the focus of attention for a few minutes.

  Olivia had each of them share a memory of Jimmy and Maria. With their unique experiences, they helped me see new facets of the pair. I realized, for the first time, the sense in doing this. Our combined experiences might help their friends find some peace when they had a chance to view it.

  After a break, Olivia moved on to questions about how we survived on the island and how our romance had blossomed. The audience loved the marriage ceremony.

  She had me explain about the hunt, my injury, preparing the meat for eating, and the hide for clothing. At her request, I had brought along my furry top and breechcloth. Probing questions followed about the work involved in making everything we owned, the intense storms, and the growing need to get back to civilization.

  Olivia, very gently, mentioned my pregnancy. I knew she had planned to bring it up, but I flushed anyway. She asked if Braedon had known about the baby. I could only shake my head as the audience and I cried.

  By the next break, I felt drained and exhausted. Standing, I wiped my eyes and stretched my legs while Olivia talked with one of her staff members. I couldn’t wait for this to end.

  One of her crew called over, “Hey, Olivia. I think you’ll want to see this.”

  The man projected a live news broadcast on the screen behind where I sat. It showed the lights of what must be a Coast Guard cutter approaching a dock.

  My stomach lurched, and I clutched the arms of my chair. I recognized that dock, even in the dark. I spun to look for Elle and Aislinn. They stood near the entrance to the stage, staring at the screen. Elle’s wide eyes met mine for a moment, and she clutched Aislinn’s hand. I saw recognition in D’Arcy eyes as he gripped his wife’s arm on one side and Jack’s on the other.