by Lee McKenzie
“Let’s see what you’ve got.” She and Kristi leaned in to look at Sam’s drawings.
“The access hatch to the attic is in the hallway so that’s a perfect place to put in the pull-down stairs. There’s enough clearance to install a ceiling down the center of the attic, under the peak of the roof, then follow the slope down to sidewalls that would be about four feet high.”
“My kids would love a space like that,” Kristi said. “It would make a great playroom.”
The idea of a child’s playroom caught Claire’s imagination, too. And triggered a memory. “You know, it reminds me of a house we rented near one of the air force bases where my dad was stationed. I’m not sure where, we moved so many times, but I remember my sister and I loved the pull-down staircase. My mom helped me and my sister set it up as our own little hideaway, complete with bean bag chairs and Bon Jovi and Madonna posters. It’s been years since I’ve thought about that.”
“Wow, you had a cool mom.” Sam, who’d been raised by a mother who struggled with mental illness, looked a little wistful. She slid the drawings off her clipboard and gave them to Claire. “I wrote up a supply list and cost estimate, too. You have plenty of room in this house, but you can think about it for the future. And opening up more space always adds value.”
“I’ll definitely think about it for down the road. And it’s not like you’ll be able to do any major construction right now, not until after the baby is born.”
Sam laughed and shook her head. “Now you sound like AJ. He’d have me on bed rest, if he could, but my doctor says I’m in great shape. I’m still running, just not as hard and not as far as I used to, and I should be able to keep working right up until the baby’s born.”
“That may be the case, but I still think you should think about hiring an assistant,” Claire said. “At least a helper who can do all the heavy lifting for you.”
Kristi munched on a carrot. “I totally agree.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Sam said. “And I’d like both of you to be in on the interviews when I do. And whoever we hire will have to have a good range of skills, not just be ‘helper.’ I’ll want to take some time off after the baby’s born, so the person we hire will have to be a good fit for all of us.”
“That’s a really good idea.” Claire swiped a broccoli floret through the dip, popped it into her mouth and wiped her fingers on a paper napkin. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, hadn’t even thought of food, which was unlike her, and she hadn’t realized how hungry she was.
“Speaking of babies,” Kristi said. “You do know Sam and I aren’t leaving until you put us out of our misery and take that pregnancy test.”
Claire knew exactly how they felt. “I know, and I’m not sure why I keep putting it off. I guess I want everything here to be done and perfect, so when I find out that I am...if I’m pregnant, then I won’t have to think about anything else.”
“You really are hoping it’s positive, aren’t you?”
“I am. Is that crazy? Am I crazy?”
“No!”
“Definitely not.”
“I’ve always had this romantic vision of me living in a house with a white picket fence and having a cat and a dog and a family.”
“You’re halfway there,” Sam said.
“At one time I believed I’d have all those things with Donald.” She caught her friends exchanging a look. “I know, what was I thinking? So I gave up on the dream, but then Luke came along and...”
“And you really do love him, don’t you?” Kristi asked.
She fought the lump forming in her throat. “I do.”
“Are you still getting text messages from him?”
Claire smiled. She couldn’t help herself. “I am.”
“Have you replied to any of them?”
“Not yet. I mean, what’s the point? If I’m pregnant, he will freak out. And if I’m not—”
“You’ll freak out,” Kristi said.
“Funny. I was going to say that if I’m not, do I want to be involved with someone who isn’t interested in having a relationship?”
Sam grinned. “When that someone looks like he does? Um...yeah, you do.”
“All these what-ifs are making me crazy.” Kristi snagged another carrot and stood up. “If this place has to be perfect before we can find out if you’re having a baby, then we need to get back to work. What’s next?” she asked.
Claire reached for her iPad and brought up her checklist. “The kitchen, dining room and my bedroom are done. Everything’s in place in the living room, I just need to figure out where I want to hang pictures. And the boxes of stuff for the bathroom and linen closet still need to be unpacked.”
Kristi picked up her water bottle. “I’ll look after the bathroom while the two of you finish up in the living room.”
“Good plan.” Sam got up and reached for her toolbox.
“And when we’re finished, I’ll order pizza for dinner.”
Sam grabbed her by the arm and steered her into the living room. “No way. When we’re finished, we’ll find out if you’re having a baby. Then you can order pizza.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Please tell me we’re done,” Sam said an hour later. “Everything’s unpacked, Kristi flattened all the boxes and put them in the garage, I even fixed that loose floorboard on the veranda. If you find another excuse to keep us in suspense, you might as well just shoot me.”
“There’s just one more thing,” Kristi said. “Sorry, Sam! I’m anxious, too, but we forgot about Claire’s housewarming present. It’s out in my van.”
“Right.” Sam carried her toolbox outside. “I’ll put this away in my truck while you get the gift.”
“You’ve both done so much already, a gift isn’t necessary,” Claire said.
Kristi dug her camera out of her bag and looped the strap around her neck. “Come on,” she said, taking Claire’s arm. “We need you outside, too.”
Curious, Claire stood on the veranda and waited until her friends returned with a large, flat package wrapped in brown paper and tied up with raffia.
“Sam and I worked on it together, so it’s one of a kind.”
Claire slipped off the wrapping and managed to catch a glimpse of a wreath for her front door before her tears blurred her eyes. Happy tears. She took off her glasses, wiped her eyes, took a closer look at the gift.
“It’s beautiful, and it’s exactly right.” It was made of wood, with a miniature cutout of the actual house in the center, painted yellow with a red door, a white picket fence in front and Home Sweet Home spelled out in painted wooden letters around the outside.
“Oh, you guys. Thank you. I love it.” She hugged them both at the same time. “Everything really is perfect now.” She had left the wreath on the door at the condo, deciding this house deserved something a little more special. And now it had it.
Sam took the wreath from her and hung it on the door, on a hook she must have installed while she was out here nailing down floorboards.
Kristi folded the paper wrapping and took the lens cap off her camera, and Sam joined her on the sidewalk in front of the house. “Picture time. I want to take one of you on the veranda, right there by the front door, next to the wreath.”
“I’m a mess!” Claire said. She was wearing old jeans and a baggy sweatshirt and hadn’t combed her hair in hours.
“You’re not, you look gorgeous, and this is not a portrait. This is one of those special moments that needs to be recorded.”
Knowing Kristi was right, that this was a photograph she would cherish forever, she went along with them. And then she joined her friends on the sidewalk, gazed back at the house with the newly adorned red door and started to cry all over again.
“All these tears,” Sam said, linking arms with her. “You must be pregnant.”
Kristi took her other arm. “Let’s find out.”
They went inside and led her down the hall to the bathroom.
&nbs
p; “In you go,” Sam said. “We’ll be right outside the door.”
Kristi gave her a gentle shove through the doorway. “I put the box on the counter.”
Sam tapped her wrist. “Let us know as soon as you’ve, you know, done your thing, and I’ll set my stopwatch.”
“This might not work,” Claire said, feeling she needed to warn them, and caution herself. “It says it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.”
“Enough with the excuses already.” Sam laughed. “You’re killing me here.”
“If it’s negative, we’ll come back in the morning and do another one,” Kristi said, pulling the door closed.
Feeling light-headed and a little giddy, Claire opened the package. She had already read the instructions at least a dozen times, so she “did her thing” and opened the door.
Sam set her watch.
“The instructions say it takes—”
“Oh, I know how long it takes. Did one of these myself a couple of months ago.”
Kristi took the stick from Claire and held it behind her back. “Was AJ in on it, too?”
“Of course. We didn’t get to do any of these things together when I was expecting Will. This time he doesn’t want to miss a thing.”
Not Luke, Claire thought. He hadn’t taken their relationship seriously in the first place, and he didn’t want kids at all. Would there be a time when he regretted not being part of this baby’s beginning, if there was a baby? She would always regret that he wasn’t here.
Kristi sighed. “I still think you and AJ, reconnecting after all that time, finding out he’s the one who adopted Will...it’s like a modern-day fairy tale.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Or a soap opera.”
“No way. When have you ever seen a happily-ever-after in one of the soaps? Yours is definitely a fairy tale.”
Sam’s stopwatch beeped.
“Ready?” Kristi asked.
More than ready. “I’ve been ready forever.”
Sam took one hand and squeezed.
Please, please, please...
Kristi took her other hand, pulled the stick around so she could read it. Her eyes filled with tears. “Girl, you’re having a baby.”
One of them screamed, or maybe all of them did, and then Claire found herself in the most exuberant group hug ever. Together they laughed and cried and jumped up and down.
Sam gushed about how much fun they would have shopping for baby clothes, planning their nurseries, comparing baby bumps.
Kristi insisted that, even though she wasn’t pregnant...yet...she be included, and especially that she be consulted on designing their nurseries. “This is going to be so much fun!”
Finally they made their way to the kitchen, and Claire realized she was starving. “I really need to have something to eat, and I did promise you pizza.”
“Pizza? To celebrate this kind of news? No way,” Sam said. “We need to go out and do this up right.”
“I agree,” Kristi said, ponytail bobbing. “Someplace fancy because we have two babies to celebrate.”
Claire couldn’t say why exactly but she was reluctant to go out. Maybe it was the newness of her new home, or maybe it was the baby news. One she wasn’t ready to leave, and the other she wasn’t ready to share with the world.
“Look at us,” she said. “Grungy work clothes, not to mention my hair’s a mess and I’m not wearing any makeup.” She hadn’t put any on that morning because she had suspected it would be an emotional day, filled with happy tears, and she had been right.
“True,” Kristi said, looking down at her cropped yoga pants and bright yellow sneakers. “And it would take forever for me and Sam to go home, shower and change, and get back here.”
“You’re right. Pizza it is, but we need to plan a special night out, sometime this week.”
Relieved that her friends weren’t disappointed, Claire hunted down her phone and did a search for pizza places in the neighborhood.
“They’ll be here in twenty minutes.” She set her phone down and gripped the edge of the kitchen counter, suddenly feeling faint.
“Whoa, you’re looking a little shaky.” Sam grabbed her shoulders and held on. “How much have you had to eat today?”
“Not much, I’m afraid.”
Kristi slipped an arm around her waist. “Come on. We’ll go sit in the living room, get you comfy and wait for the pizza. And no more dieting,” she added. “You’re eating for two now.”
Dieting had been the last thing on her mind today. She usually thought about food way more often than she should, but today she’d been too busy, too excited. And now she was even more light-headed than she’d felt in the bathroom, and something in her stomach was doing cartwheels.
Sam turned on the gas fireplace and Kristi got her settled in the armchair next to it. Aside from the little break they’d taken earlier, she hadn’t sat down all day. Kristi was right. She really would have to take better care of herself.
Her friends brought in plates, napkins and bottled water from the kitchen, and after the pizzas arrived they flipped open the boxes and dug in. Silence reigned for several minutes and then, somewhat satisfied after the first few bites, they chatted and laughed and shared pregnancy and baby stories. Claire soaked up the warmth of her new living room with its beautiful bay window and brick fireplace with a wide mantel. Then she turned her attention to her two best friends, laughed at their baby stories and decided she had to be the luckiest woman in world. She might not have the man she loved, but she had a lot...a lot more than most...and she was surrounded by people she loved and who loved her.
“Either I was really, really hungry or that was the best pizza I’ve ever tasted.” Sam crumpled her napkin into a ball and tossed it into an empty box.
“I think it was both.” Kristi flopped back on the sofa and patted her stomach. “I’m stuffed now, though. And we should probably get going and let you get some rest. But before we go, we have one more present for you.”
“Another one?” After the wreath they’d given her, she couldn’t imagine a single thing she needed.
“This one’s not for the house, though. It’s for you.” Kristi pulled a gift bag out of the enormous tote bag she always carried around with her. “We didn’t give it to you sooner because this is for you and the baby.”
Inside the bag were two books, one filled with baby names, another that claimed to contain everything a woman needed to know about pregnancy. Once again Claire’s eyes filled with tears, and she decided this had to be hormonal because she’d been weepier today than she’d been in years. She got to her feet and there was more hugging and even more tears as she thanked them. Then they cleared away the pizza boxes and she walked with them to the door.
After Sam and Kristi left, she locked the front door. It was silly to still be worried about Donald. He hadn’t come back to the condo, at least not as far as she knew, and since she’d changed the locks, he couldn’t get in anyway. He might keep calling but he wouldn’t come here. Would he? No. To her knowledge, he didn’t know where she’d moved. Luke had been worried about him, but then his motives weren’t so pure, either.
Just to reassure herself, she went through the kitchen and made sure the back door was locked, too. Then she returned to the living room and settled back into the armchair by the fireplace and swung her feet onto the ottoman. Chloe, who’d been hiding under the bed since they’d arrived in the morning, stalked into the room and gave a cautious look around. Apparently now that the house was quiet, she was feeling braver, or at least less freaked out by all the changes.
Claire patted her lap and the cat jumped up to join her. “Good girl,” she said, enjoying the company.
For a few moments she simply gazed at the fire. As happy as she was, today held a bittersweetness that wouldn’t to go away anytime soon. Luke had never been hers to lose, but not having him in her life left a hole that was never likely to be filled. Still, there was much to be grateful for, she thought, as once again
she took in her new surroundings. She had this cozy new home, she had friends who would always be here for her and best of all she was having a baby.
“Don’t get too set in your ways too soon,” she whispered to the cat. “The changes haven’t stopped yet.”
On the side table next to her chair, her phone vibrated. She picked it up and read the message.
Home sweet home?
Yes, Luke. Home sweet home.
* * *
LUKE HIT THE SEND BUTTON on his phone, tossed it onto a pile of newspapers on the coffee table and picked up the TV remote. No sense waiting for Claire to reply. He knew she wouldn’t.
Was it a mistake to let her know that he knew she had moved today? He hoped not. Besides, her secretary would have told her about their conversation, he was sure of that. He’d like to know what she thought of the messages he’d been sending every day. Did she read them? He was pretty sure she did. He was kind of disappointed she didn’t reply, but on the bright side she hadn’t told him to get lost.
He surfed through a dozen channels while he debated whether to stay in or go out. Better stay home. If he went out this late, he would either drive past Claire’s new place or he would drive by a liquor store, and he had no business doing either. Staying sober these past couple of weeks had been harder than any other time in the past two years.
At least work had kept him busy. Phong remained in custody, bail denied. The team had wrapped up the interview with Phong’s girls, mostly with the help of translators, and written up their statements. Then there was all the forensic work on the apartment itself, which was still a crime scene, and the inventory of all the drugs and cash that had been confiscated. Most of the reports should be wrapped in the coming week, and then he’d have a little more free time.
He and the team had worked toward this bust for months and he hated that he wasn’t more stoked about the outcome, and he only had himself to blame. He couldn’t seem to move past this screwup with Claire, and he didn’t know why. He should probably stop communicating with her. He sent a message at the same time every evening, when he knew she was winding down after a long, busy day, likely getting ready to go to bed. If she said she didn’t miss him, he’d believe her. Their rhythms had been in perfect sync, though, and if she said she didn’t miss the intimacy, she’d be lying. Until he found a way to pick up where they left off, he figured that reminding her of those shared intimacies right before she went to bed was his best shot at keeping himself on her radar.
