by Dianne Drake
“Whoa,” Janice said, thrusting out her hand to stop the outpouring of questions. “Everybody’s fine. Angela is in the hospital, and she wouldn’t let anybody tell you because she knew you’d come back to her in the middle of the night, and she thought that was too dangerous. So everyone here had to promise…”
“Neil knew?”
Janice nodded. “That’s why he offered the helicopter to get you back here.”
“And Eric?”
“Not Eric. He’d have tried getting you back here in the middle of the night, and we decided it was better for him to rest.”
“I can’t believe no one said a word to me.”
“Your sister’s request.”
“But she’s OK? You wouldn’t be keeping something from me, would you?”
“Other than the fact that it’s a girl, her name is Sarah, she weighs seven pounds, and she’s beautiful, there’s really nothing else to tell you except that Angela wants to see you as soon as you can get there.”
As soon as she could get to the hospital turned into about fifteen minutes, as Dinah bypassed her room, a shower and a good meal at the lodge. She hopped in her car, drove straight to the hospital, parked in the no-parking zone at the front and ran in the door, fully aware that she looked like she’d spent a night on the mountain.
On the way to the maternity ward, she paused to look at the babies in the nursery. Three of them. All beautiful, all of them causing a lump to form in her throat. The one on the left was her niece, as it turned out. Naturally, that was the baby she’d already picked as the prettiest. Of course, she’d never met a baby that wasn’t beautiful but as it so happened, little Sarah was the one who brought tears to her eyes.
As the nurse held her up for Dinah to get a better look, a lifetime of possibilities for Sarah passed before her eyes…dance lessons, school plays, girlfriends, pretty dresses, boyfriends, first date, first kiss… First longing, and it was hers. To have a baby of her own. She’d subjugated that desire for so long then with Charles she’d thought about it again. Except after he’d given her the diamond ring he’d also given her the news that he’d had a vasectomy years ago to avoid the possibility of children. He would treat them as patients but he didn’t want them interfering in his real life.
She’d been disappointed. Told him so, and asked him to reconsider. Maybe they could adopt? Or he could have a vasectomy reversal. He did reconsider, but not about having children. That’s when he’d started to reconsider whether or not he wanted her. And she’d started to reconsider whether or not she wanted him.
But now…this was what she wanted. It was like her biological clock had reserved all its ticking for this very moment, and now it was ticking like crazy. She wanted a baby of her own. Wanted that joy Angela had. Wanted that feeling of complete fulfillment. It’s what made sense to her more than anything else.
“She’s a real looker,” Eric said, stepping up behind her. “Even though she hasn’t got any hair yet, I think she’s going to be a redhead like her aunt.” He slipped his arm around Dinah’s waist and she melted against him. Quite a pair they were, dirty, tired, bruised and scratched, and standing in the hall smiling at the babies. “I remember the first time I saw the twins…I couldn’t believe how perfect they were. Perfect fingers and toes, perfect little eyes and noses…”
“It puts everything into proper perspective, doesn’t it? Makes you truly believe all’s right with the world.”
“All is right with the world…their world. And that’s the way it should be.”
“And then they have to grow up,” she said on a wistful sigh.
“Like I said before, you’ll be a good mother, Dinah.”
“My life is too up and down to drag a baby into it right now.” But in the future? Admittedly, she could almost see that happening, with Eric. Thinking with her heart again.
“Only if you want it to be up and down.”
“That’s not what I want, but so far it hasn’t been under my control.” Spinning away, Dinah headed off in the direction of her sister’s room, half expecting Eric to follow, but when she didn’t hear the clicking of his heels on the tile floor, she decided it was for the best. Being around him almost made her believe she could have it all. Almost.
“Well, I see you fixed yourself up for the occasion,” Angela said. She was sitting up in bed, looking happier than Dinah had ever seen her look. Positively glowing.
“I slept on pine needles,” she said, plucking one from her hair. “Climbed down a rock. Waded in an icy cold river.” And made love like she’d never known it could be. But that didn’t show on her, and she was going to take care that it wouldn’t.
“And you look radiant. I heard the father and both the boys are going to make it.”
“Why didn’t you let somebody call me?” Dinah asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to her sister.
“Because you were needed out there, and I was fine here. Brad’s mother and sister flew in. And Gabby got here in time to do the delivery, so I had a veritable force of strong women here to help me through, when you take into account that half the women in White Elk stopped by because they knew you were out on the rescue and thought I might need a birth coach.”
“She’s beautiful, Angela. Sarah is so beautiful, and amazing.
“Then you’ve seen her?”
“We came to an understanding about her first date, and her first kiss, and her wedding dress.”
Angela laughed. “Sounds to me like you might have a few mommy dreams going on of your own. So, did something happen out there in the woods you want to tell me about?”
“Nothing that matters,” Dinah said, trying to sound less wistful than she felt. “It was…difficult.”
“The rescue, or what came after?”
“Both. Eric and I, we…we got closer, I think. But it scares me. I know I trust him, with all my heart. But I get too emotional, make bad decisions…”
“And you think Eric might be a bad decision?”
“No. But I think he might be a wrong decision, at least right now. He’s still got…”
“Patricia?”
Dinah nodded. “And it feels like I’m pushing him away from her.”
“Is he ready to be pushed?”
“That’s the thing. He might be. But maybe he’s just responding to, well…you know.”
Angela grinned. “So it was a nice night in the forest after all?”
Dinah grinned back. “It was, and that’s what scared me. I think we should have waited. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that he took off his wedding ring, and now…” She shrugged. “I don’t want to make a mess of this, and I don’t want to hurt him. But I think I’m doing both.”
“Then maybe he’s the one you should be talking to.”
Sighing, Dinah pulled another pine needle from her hair. “Maybe I will. Anyway, let’s talk about you now. Like, if Brad’s mother is here, what about Brad? Have you talked to him?”
“Briefly. Nothing’s changed. He didn’t even want to know if I had a boy or girl. But his mother and sister have had it with Brad, and they want to be part of Sarah’s life. Begged me to let them be a part of it.”
“Are you going to let them?”
“How can I not? They love her. What Brad’s done is his choice, but I’m not going to punish the people in his family who love Sarah because he doesn’t.”
“It’s his loss, and he doesn’t even know it.” Dinah smiled at her younger sister. “You’re going to be a fantastic mom, you know that?”
“I’d be even better if you’d consider settling down here in White Elk with Sarah and me. Give it some serious thought, Dinah. I know this situation with Eric is up in the air, but you don’t have a real home. Mom travels all the time so it wouldn’t make sense to live near her since she’s never in the same place more than a month or two. Which leaves your favorite sister and your favorite niece, both of whom really want you here. I intend on raising my daughter right here, and I really, really want you to be part of o
ur lives. Janice was telling me how good you’ve been with Eric’s daughters, and I want that for my daughter…from her aunt.”
Settling down… It sounded so good. Sounded good when Angela initially asked, and sounded good an hour later, as Dinah was letting the warm spray from the shower slide down her tired, aching body. It still sounded good thirty minutes after that, on her way back to the hospital to cover half a shift.
But sounding good didn’t mean it was going to be simple. And what she and Eric had started…that didn’t make it any easier.
Had they really started something? She wondered. Pondered. Remembered. Fantasized. She was trying not to feel so contented about it, but she was contented. There was no denying it. She was totally contented and it scared her to death because she still didn’t believe that the kind of contentment she was feeling could come without pitfalls. She wanted to believe, and Eric made her come close to believing, but she was still on the edge of that ledge, looking down, not sure whether to take the leap or not. And this time she didn’t have Eric there to encourage her. It was her leap to take on her own. Probably the biggest leap she would ever take in her life. If she took it at all.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I WANT those!” Pippa squealed as the three of them passed the lodge’s gift shop. This was girls’ day out for Paige, Pippa and Dinah, and right now Pippa was practically jumping up and down over the prospect of buying pink shoelaces. Shoelaces like the ones Dinah had used to leave a trail for Eric.
“Did your daddy tell you about the shoelaces?” Dinah asked, wondering how much Eric had said about their rescue. Or, specifically, about her.
“He said you acted like a girl,” Paige volunteered.
“And what’s wrong with acting like a girl?” Dinah asked, smiling. “Did your daddy tell you what’s wrong with acting like a girl?”
“He said it’s very good, that he likes it. Did you and Daddy have a picnic? Is that why you were in the woods?” Paige asked.
Picnic wasn’t quite the word to describe what they’d had. In fact, there wasn’t a word to describe it. Wasn’t a word to describe the way she was feeling because of it either. Happy. Excited. Scared. It was a jumble of mixed emotions, and she was a jumble of mixed confusions because there’d been no aftermath. No mention. No overtures. No nothing.
Two days later, it was like nothing had happened between them. They’d worked a couple of shifts together at the hospital, stayed strictly professional about it, and…nothing. Eric had gone his way, she’d gone hers. No knowing winks. No suggestive smiles. Cordial nods, for heaven’s sake! “Yes, we definitely had a picnic,” she explained, trying to shake off the gloomy mood trying to slip down over her, trying to remind herself that Eric’s feelings toward his wife most likely had everything to do with what was happening between them now. She understood it, sympathized. Told herself it was for the best since she wasn’t looking for any kind of a real commitment. Of course, for just a little while…a moment in time, she’d thought that maybe…“So, are you two ladies ready for high tea?”
Pippa looked longingly at the pink shoelaces in the gift-shop window as Dinah hurried the girls off to the conservatory and left them there for a few minutes in Redmond’s capable hands while she went to the kitchen to check on the progress of the evening meal prep. As it turned out, everything was under control. Her staff was busy chopping, dicing, slicing…Unfortunately, knowing she supervised a well-run kitchen didn’t give her the feeling of accomplishment she longed for. In fact, she wondered why she was still in White Elk. Angela was surrounded by women fussing over her and the baby, the kitchen was well managed by Angela’s support staff and the ambitious, if not ubiquitous Oswaldo. All in all, her presence in White Elk was almost superfluous. She’d come because she’d been needed but, as it had turned out, nobody here really needed her.
Just when she’d thought she might stay, it seemed like it could be time to go. Because certainly, she couldn’t face Eric day after day, if she caused him any discomfort. He had his life here, his work, his family. She had…a few hopes, maybe the makings of a dream.
“How do we look?” Pippa and Paige asked in unison as Dinah entered the conservatory a few minutes later. They were in pink floral dresses, identical, and one of the servers had given them matching hats. Grinning, giggling, blowing kisses into the air, they were capturing the attention of all the people there to partake of high tea.
“Fabulous,” she said, responding with a curtsey to each girl. If she did leave White Elk, saying goodbye to these girls would be one of the hardest things she’d have to do. It was amazing how much she’d come to love them in such a short time. “Absolutely stunning and beautiful.”
The girls grinned from ear to ear then Pippa stepped forward and motioned for Dinah to bend down. “We can have finger sandwiches or ladyfingers with our tea,” she whispered, “but we don’t want fingers.” She held up her hand and wiggled her own fingers for Dinah to see. “Can we go somewhere else and have ice cream?”
“You know you’re not supposed to ask,” Paige reminded her. “Daddy said so. It’s not polite.”
“But how are you supposed to get what you want if you don’t ask for it?” Pippa argued. “And I want ice cream, not fingers. That’s why I asked.”
Sound reasoning in a five-year-old’s mind, Dinah thought, but the differences in their personalities were coming out in a big way, and it was interesting to see. Pippa had absolutely no trouble going after what she wanted, while Paige was more thoughtful about it, trying to abide by the rules more than her sister did. Even if those rules did stipulate they had to eat fingers.
Eric was going to have himself a handful in the years to come. Lucky man because his girls adored him. And lucky girls because they were adored by their father. “I’ll talk to Estelle, the woman in charge of the tea, and I think she can probably find you ice cream. But so you’ll know, finger sandwiches don’t have real fingers in them. Usually, it’s something like a cream cheese spread or cucumber. And lady fingers are simply cakes. They’re called fingers because they’re about the size of a finger.”
The girls regarded each other for a moment, settling on an unspoken agreement. “Ice cream,” they both said. Something in their expressions said they were staying on the safe side.
Tea was nice. They talked, the girls chattered on and on about the things they liked to do—swimming, playing video games, watching movies, going for walks. They wanted riding lessons, wanted ballet lessons, wanted new bicycles…all normal things. And it was so fun being involved in all that. As the hour progressed, they made plans for more shopping trips, another high tea and a talk with White Elk’s resident ballet teacher…although Dinah did tell them it was all subject to their father’s approval.
She liked their inquisitiveness. Hoped that if she ever had children of her own they’d be just like these two. Children of her own…a thought that had come to mind so much lately. Especially when she held her brand-new niece, Sarah. Foolish thought for someone who seemed to be heading toward the exit.
Trying to wipe out all thoughts of the things that weren’t happening in her life, like babies and twin daughters and relationships, Dinah took each girl by the hand after tea was over and led them down the hall to the gift shop, then bought them pink shoelaces. Why not? It was fun indulging them, and for all their exuberance, and their long wish list, these little girls were not spoiled. They were a delight, two people she loved spending time with. Two girls so much alike they were practically the same, except they weren’t. She could see the differences more and more all the time—differences that would be more noticeable to a woman…to their mother.
There were times, like today at high tea, watching Pippa and Paige charm every last person in the conservatory, that she could see herself being their mother. It wasn’t a fantasy, wasn’t even a fond wish, because with that wish, by necessity, would come Eric. Yet if a woman were afforded the opportunity to hand-pick the children she’d want to have as daughters, she couldn
’t see herself picking children other than Pippa and Paige. They were well adjusted, well behaved, smart. A true extension of their father.
And of their mother. That was something she couldn’t forget because that, she feared, was the final stumbling block to any kind of relationship she and Eric might have had. Maybe, just maybe he couldn’t see her as mother to his children. Good as their playmate or babysitter, but not their mother.
Too emotional to be a good nurse, according to Charles. Too emotional to be a good mother, according to Eric?
Or maybe just not the right mother…She sighed on that discouraging note. If he was finally getting past Patricia as his wife, but not her as the girls’ mother…well, that was something no one could deal with. Not her. Not even Eric.
“You look rested,” Eric commented. Offhand comment, one he’d make to anyone, in a tone of voice he’d use on anyone.
“I’m fine,” she said, shutting his office door. “Look, Eric, we need to talk.”
He set aside the patient chart he’d been reading. “About the girls?”
“The girls are wonderful. We had a lovely time at high tea this afternoon, and unless you don’t want me involved with them, we’ve made plans for a few more outings while I’m still here.”
“Still here?”
“In White Elk. I just tendered my resignation here at the hospital. Pending finding someone to replace me. I won’t leave you in a bind.”
“Where the hell did this come from?” he snapped.
“I’d never planned on staying. I was here to help my sister, and she’s being overrun with help with the baby now, her kitchen’s in good order, and there’s no reason for me to stay. I’ve been thinking about going to Costa Rica for a while…I know someone there who operates a small resort and there’s an opening in the kitchen for a sous chef.”
“A sous chef?”
He was being too calm. She could see the explosion about to erupt. His mouth was drawn into a thin line, his eyes narrowing. The thing was, she couldn’t interpret his anger. And maybe she didn’t want to. “It’s a good job, nice area. I’ll have my own little cottage…”
