Harlequin Heartwarming June 2021 Box Set

by Patricia Johns

  Taryn rose to her feet and followed him to the door. He opened it and when he turned back, she looked so vulnerable standing there with one hand on her belly and her dark gaze meeting his uncertainly.

  “Taryn?” he said softly.

  “Yeah?”

  “You might not really know me yet, but I’m not a jerk,” he said quietly.

  She didn’t answer, and he wasn’t sure what he would even expect her to say, but he did need her to know it. She was the mother of his child, and he wasn’t going to hurt her. She met his gaze with those dark, clear eyes, and before he could think better of it, he bent down and let his lips brush across her cheek.

  He didn’t wait for her response before turning and tugging the door shut behind him. Maybe he shouldn’t have kissed her, but whatever. He wasn’t going to be some selfish cad who promised more than he could give, or who jerked her emotions around. Because as much as Noah had liked Tom, he’d never forgotten that Tom used to make his mother cry.

  And maybe that was part of what held him back from answering that Facebook message.

  Tom had been the only dad that Noah could remember, but he’d also watched Tom break his mother’s heart. And Noah wasn’t going to do that to his own son.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THE NEXT MORNING, Taryn drove back down to her grandmother’s house and parked out front. During the first visit with her grandmother, they’d had a good talk, but they hadn’t gotten down to the reason why Taryn had taken this job in Mountain Springs—to talk her grandmother into moving somewhere safer for a woman of her age.

  Maybe to Denver...

  And yet somehow, even as she thought it, she was reminded of Lisa Dear, and how she described the call of those mountains and the lake. Would her grandmother ever leave willingly? And if she didn’t want to, was it fair to tear her away from this place?

  Even from this little house-lined street, Taryn could see the mountain peaks glistening white in the morning sunlight. There was always snow there—and the time of year could be marked by how far the snow had moved down toward the valley. On a bright June day like this, the snow was relegated to those jagged peaks.

  Some things could be counted on, like the mountain snow, and glacier chilled air that surfed down the mountains into the valley...and the irritating family relationships that both frustrated everyone and gave them roots at the same time.

  Taryn knocked on the door, but there was no answer, and Taryn shaded her eyes to try and see into the living room window. She could see the piano, the couch... That was about all. The morning was warm and a little humid. The neighbor’s sprinkler was spraying again, a mist falling on Taryn’s bare arms, and today it felt refreshing. She was wearing a sleeveless black dress that fit her figure perfectly right now—but wouldn’t for long. Another couple of weeks, and this dress would be too small.

  She sighed.

  Last night Taryn had lain in bed feeling strangely softened by Noah’s kiss on her cheek. She still wasn’t sure what to make of him. He was determinedly noble—and as she’d told him, she found that trait suspicious now. She knew how far nobility could take a man, and it wasn’t quite far enough.

  And Noah was very clear about how he felt about kids. That was a good thing—wasn’t it? Getting to know him was supposed to make this easier, but she’d been seeing a side to him that she hadn’t anticipated—the tender, well-intentioned side of him. And it was making it harder to hold him at arm’s length.

  Taryn moved away from the door, and headed back down the front path just in time to see her grandmother coming around the corner. She was wearing a pair of walking shoes and pastel green polyester pants with a floral shirt that matched. She was moving slowly, but steadily, and when she saw Taryn, she smiled.

  “Just taking my morning constitutional,” Granny said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Do you walk every morning?” Taryn asked.

  “Oh, a few times a week. I just go around the block—that’s a marathon for a woman my age. I deserve credit.”

  “Of course!” Taryn grinned. “You’re almost ninety. I’m impressed.”

  “Good.” Granny headed slowly up toward her front door. “Did you come for breakfast?”

  “No, I ate already,” Taryn said. “I came to visit.”

  “Oh?” Granny cast her a quizzical look. “I wasn’t sure you’d be back after our last talk.”

  Taryn followed her grandmother into the house, and she noticed that the old woman had left the door unlocked.

  “Shouldn’t you lock up when you leave?” Taryn asked.

  “Oh, no one would come in,” Granny said. “I know everyone on this street.”

  “You don’t know everyone in town,” Taryn said. “Granny, that’s dangerous. You could be a target for burglary.”

  “What would they take?” Granny asked, spreading her hands. “Doilies?”

  “Har-har,” Taryn replied. “Look—” this was a good segue anyway “—Granny, you’re vulnerable.”

  “So are you,” Granny replied. “And you know my opinion of the usefulness of husbands.”

  Granny was doing what she did best—jabbing back. This was why most people stayed away these days. If Granny didn’t want to hear it, she’d make sure the messenger was miserable.

  “We aren’t talking about me,” Taryn replied.

  “I am.”

  “Granny!” Taryn pulled a hand through her hair. “I’m not the only one who worries, you know. Everyone is worried about you living alone. If you were to fall, it could be days before anyone found you!”

  Granny looked up. “And?”

  “And that would mean horrible suffering?” Taryn said incredulously.

  “If I’m going to die, I want to die on my feet,” Granny replied.

  “It might not be so immediate—” Taryn pressed her lips together. “Look, there is a seniors’ home where nurses check on you, and with friends your own age and activities planned for you—it would be like a cruise.”

  “Friends my own age die,” Granny said. “And being condescended to by a nurse or given silly games to play with plastic balls isn’t my idea of a good time. That sounds a whole lot like hospital to me.”

  “It would be safer,” Taryn said.

  “It would be lonely. No one visits me now. They’ll start once I’m in a home?”

  Taryn felt the prick in those words. “People are worried. That’s all.”

  “People haven’t come to see me themselves,” Granny replied. “Look around you—am I suffering? Can I not care for myself? I’m fine!”

  Taryn glanced around and nodded. “You’re doing well. I guess we’re just afraid that it won’t last.”

  “Well, check in on me from time to time, and if I’m in trouble, you’ll know it. But the way I see it, you all just want to lock me away with nurses who can take your place in giving a damn.”

  That was strong language coming from her grandmother, and Taryn felt a smile tickle her lips.

  “You have a point, Granny,” she said.

  “Do I?” Granny looked surprised.

  “Yes,” she replied. “I’ll tell my mother that you’re doing well and maybe we should check in more often. But Granny, can you promise not to hide it if things do get hard for you?”

  “I’m still reeling from being told I have a point,” Granny said with a chuckle. “But yes, I could agree to that.”

  Taryn glanced at her watch. “I have to get to work, though. This campaign is important. I need to save up for my maternity leave, and that’s coming up quickly. I can’t force you to do anything, and I don’t have the energy to try. But I’ll talk to the family.”

  “Taryn,” Granny said softly. “We come from a line of strong women. We endure a lot, but we keep going. And I will not, under any circumstances, resign myself to a life of being pampered by a nurse
and pushed off to the side by my own family. I raised your father, and I made him the man he is today. I don’t see you leaning on anyone, and I can assure you, my dear, you are just as fragile as I am right now.”

  Taryn’s phone pinged, and she looked down to see a text from Angelina.

  Would you like to come for dessert with the Second Chance Club tonight?

  Taryn couldn’t help but smile. A dinner club of women who understood... Did they know how priceless they were?

  She texted back.

  I’d love to. Thanks for the invite.

  “Granny,” she said, flicking off her phone’s screen. “Everyone has to lean on someone. It might not be a husband. It might not be the father of this baby. But even I have to find someone I can count on. We might be strong, but we aren’t invincible.”

  Granny shrugged. “Then tell your parents to be more available. They should be embarrassed suggesting that strangers should take their place in my life.”

  Would they be? It was hard to tell, but Taryn was a little embarrassed for herself.

  “I’ll see you later, Granny.”

  * * *

  ON TARYN’S RIDE back up the winding road that led to the resort, her own words kept resounding in her mind. She wasn’t invincible, and when she had this baby, she was going to need support. There would be sleepless nights, there would be colds and flus, there would be parenting panic... And she’d need a strong support network as she raised this child so that she could build her career, provide for her son and also give him all the love and support that he’d need...that she’d need, too.

  And there was a father in the picture who said he wanted to help...

  But she’d done this before.

  * * *

  FOR NOAH, THE REST of the day was busy with meetings. He crossed paths with Taryn a couple of times, and they paused to talk. It felt more like chitchat or meaningless banter today. She was holding back, and he could feel it. When he asked what she was doing for dinner, she said she already had plans.

  She was maintaining space, and he had to respect that. But he had to wonder if it was because of that kiss on her cheek. It had felt right in the moment, but was it too far?

  Maybe that was clear by the way she was acting today. He didn’t know how to balance this—a woman who had caught his attention the way Taryn had, carrying his child. He was spinning, trying to catch up with this emotionally, and maybe she was, too.

  Noah noticed when Taryn headed out of her office for the evening. She glanced into his office and gave him a smile of farewell, and then was gone. He’d thought the challenge here was going to be getting to know her, to understand her. But the bigger challenge seemed to be keeping himself from tripping past platonic with her. His feelings weren’t exactly in line with their goals here, and maybe she could feel it.

  But putting Taryn out of mind wasn’t that easy.

  So when Noah got a text from his friend Gabe, asking him to come by that evening, Noah agreed. Maybe his friend could provide a bit of perspective. And Gabe always had been the levelheaded one of their group.

  Gabe didn’t go out with buddies like he used to before he was married with three kids, but he was known to invite the guys over for a beer on the porch. It was the halfway point for him and his wife, Cassie—a system that worked for them. So when Noah arrived that evening to the little house at the end of a road, he found Gabe sitting on the porch with his pajama-clad little girl on his lap. The lights were on, illuminating the porch, as well as half the yard.

  “Hey,” Gabe said as Noah hopped out of his truck. “Good to see you.” Then he put his daughter down. “All right, a deal’s a deal, kiddo. Time for you to go inside to bed, okay?”

  Cassie opened the screen door, and the little girl went scampering inside. Cassie cast Noah a tired smile.

  “Hi, Noah,” she said.

  “Hi, Cassie,” he replied.

  She let the door swing shut behind her, and Noah could hear her calling the other two kids up to bed as he settled into the Adirondack chair next to his friend. He felt his pocket for his phone out of habit and didn’t feel it. He frowned, checked his other pockets.

  “What’s wrong?” Gabe asked.

  “I think I left my phone at the office,” he replied.

  “You need to go back now?” Gabe asked. Gabe passed Noah a beer and a bottle opener, and Noah declined. “I’m driving.”

  “Have a Coke, then.” Gabe grabbed a bottle of cola and passed it over. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

  “Yeah...” Noah opened the bottle and took a swig, then put the Coke on the floor next to his chair. “How are you doing?”

  For a few minutes they discussed unions and layoffs, and the uncertainty for the guys working at the mill these days. Gabe was hoping layoffs would come mostly from middle management, not the union guys. As they talked, joked a bit and then fell silent, Noah felt some of his tension seeping away. He’d miss nights like this if he moved to Seattle—companionable evenings spent with guys who’d known him since before he’d even hit puberty. Inside the house, Noah heard a child start to cry...

  “So...have you talked to Brody lately?” Gabe asked.

  They were getting to the reason Gabe had invited him over; Noah could feel it.

  “Yup. I talked to him.”

  The child’s crying from inside the house stopped.

  “And?” Gabe prodded.

  Noah turned to look at his friend. Gabe regarded him evenly. Was this an intervention or something?

  “Why, did Brody ask you to talk to me?” Noah asked.

  “Nope,” Gabe said, and he took another sip of beer. “Just wondering if he’d managed to track you down.”

  “It’s fine,” Noah said. “I know he’s planning on proposing to Nevaeh.”

  “He did propose. She accepted,” Gabe replied.

  “Oh...” So maybe he didn’t have all the current information there. Nevaeh had accepted... Brody and Nevaeh were getting married. He searched inside of himself, but didn’t feel the stab of betrayal he expected. He felt sad, and a little adrift. But it wasn’t like he wanted to be the one in Brody’s place—not anymore, at least. Too much had changed in the past few months. Maybe it was just a sign that he was making the right decision by looking for a career elsewhere.

  “When did that happen?” Noah asked.

  “He had a big barbecue at his place and invited a lot of us,” Gabe replied. “He surprised her with the proposal—he had it all rigged so that during a game of charades, he acted it out.”

  “Clever,” Noah said woodenly.

  “Yeah, it was quite the event,” Gabe replied. “Made Cassie ask me why I hadn’t planned a bigger thing when I proposed to her. I guess a KFC parking lot feels a lot less impressive next to that.”

  Noah smiled ruefully. “I guess so.”

  His proposal over a nice dinner felt less impressive, too. But whatever. It wasn’t like he and Nevaeh were meant for each other.

  “Are you going to talk to him?” Gabe asked.

  “Probably not.”

  “Man, we’ve all been friends since elementary school,” Gabe said. “You’re going to have to talk to him at some point.”

  As far as Noah was concerned, he’d done all the talking he wanted to do.

  “He did track me down at work the other day,” Noah said. “If that counts.”

  “No, I mean actually talk it out,” Gabe said.

  “Wait, so you’re siding with him?” Noah asked incredulously. “Nevaeh broke off our engagement, and Brody literally dashed to her side and never left it again.”

  “I’m not saying that was right,” Gabe said. “I’m saying...” Gabe took another sip from his bottle. “Noah, we’ve all been friends for decades. That’s got to count for something. These friendships have lasted longer than some marr
iages.”

  “Friendships end,” Noah said.

  “So do marriages,” Gabe shot back. “Still hurts like hell, and you’re smart to avoid it.”

  Gabe pursed his lips, and they sat in silence for a minute or two. Gabe was right that their friendships had probably weathered more storms than some marriages had, but every relationship had a line people shouldn’t cross. If their friendship had mattered so much to Brody, he would have considered that seven months ago.

  “Were you softening on having kids or something?” Gabe asked, looking over at him.

  “No, why?” Noah said.

  “Because Cassie and I have talked it over every which way, and that’s the conclusion we came to. That you were softening to the idea of a family. And that’s why you’re so hurt—”

  “No, I wasn’t,” Noah replied. They were theorizing about him behind his back? Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised. People were curious, and he couldn’t blame them. “If you must know, Nevaeh said she was okay with not having kids. She could be happy without children and just have a nice lifestyle.”

  “And you believed that?” Gabe asked, squinting at him.

  “I should expect the woman I’m engaged to to lie to me?” he demanded. “Yes, I believed it!”

  Granted, he was a little more skeptical now...

  “But obviously, she’s not okay with not having kids,” Gabe pressed. “You see that, right?”

  “Gabe, I’m not pining for her,” Noah said, leaning his head back. “She wasn’t honest with me, but that’s not even the part that upsets me the most. I’m mad at my best friend for betraying me. That’s what I’m upset about.”

  “They want the same things out of life, man,” Gabe said. “They both want kids and Little League baseball and birthday parties...”

  And Noah wasn’t arguing that. They did want the same thing, and if Nevaeh had cried on literally any other shoulder but Brody’s, he could have made his peace with it. It wasn’t just the kids that were coming between him and Nevaeh. They had more differences than that.

  “It’s true, though,” Gabe replied. “Look—if I had told Cassie I didn’t want kids, she would have dumped me, too. She wanted a family—a big one. I’m the one who’s begging her to stop at three kids. She still wants another baby, and you know what? We’ll have another one. Because a happy wife is a happy life. That’s how it works.”