“No! Want Mama.”
Chelsea forced out a smile. Hopefully it wouldn’t scare the tyke. She was never at her best first thing in the morning. What time was it? A hint of daylight lightened the darkness beyond the windows. That made it too early to be awake, no matter what time it actually was. She squinted at the clock. Six forty-five? Ouch.
“Want a snuggle?”
The toddler set her little jaw and crossed her arms.
Chelsea needed a cup of Earl Grey and a shower before she’d be able to cope. Guess that wasn’t going to happen. What was Maddie’s morning routine? It was too early to take her down to the house. She’d wake up Claire and Noel, and for what? Because Chelsea couldn’t cope? Yeah, she’d muddle through. One way or the other.
“Well, Auntie Chelsea needs to go potty.” Chelsea came back out a minute later, having also splashed water on her face and run a pick through her hair. Spying her scarf, she tied her hair back.
“Okay, let’s see what’s for breakfast.” Jo didn’t always bring Maddie down, so it stood to reason there’d be food somewhere. She opened the small fridge. “Want an egg?”
“And bacon.”
Whew. If the little one was going to cooperate, life would be much easier. “Scrambled?” She lifted Maddie to the counter and turned on the kettle before getting the ingredients out. That somehow reminded her of Keanan making tea for her last night. Everything flooded back. She shoved the memories into the dark recesses of her mind. No time for that now.
Her phone beeped with an incoming text, and she surged for it. Zach?
No, Allison. Saw yr light on. Baby?
Haven’t heard. Maddie woke me up.
Keep in touch. :)
Will do.
“Who talking to?” Maddie peered at the phone.
“Auntie Allison.”
“Play Finnley?”
“Maybe after breakfast.” Chelsea turned on the element farthest from Maddie and laid two pieces of bacon in a skillet. She wasn’t particularly hungry herself this early, but who knew how the morning would go? Lord, watch over Jo and Zach.
As if in answer, her phone beeped again. She glanced over to see a message from Zach.
It’s a boy! Is Maddie up?
Congrats!!! We’re up! Phone?
Soon.
Chelsea whisked a couple of eggs with a slosh of milk and a dash of salt and pepper then poured the mixture across the skillet from the bacon. A couple of minutes later she settled Maddie at the table with her plate and a glass of milk.
Why didn’t Zach call? Probably too busy phoning the world. Was she supposed to tell Maddie? No. Better if her daddy did.
She texted Allison. Boy. No details.
Yay!
Chelsea picked at her egg while Maddie all but inhaled hers. The phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hey, Chelsea. Can you put us on speaker? Is this an okay time?”
“It’s great. Just a sec.” She pressed the button and laid the cell on the table. “Look, Maddie, your daddy is calling.”
“Daddy?”
“Hi, kiddo. Are you being a good girl for Auntie Chelsea?”
Maddie nodded. “Where Mama?”
“Right here, baby.”
“Maddie want Mama.” Her lip protruded.
Zach spoke again. “Maddie, Daddy will come get you in a little while, and you can meet your baby brother, okay?”
Chelsea couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s his name?”
“John Steven.”
The Steven was likely for Zach’s dad. But John?
“John was both our grandfathers’ name, Jo’s and mine. We thought it was fitting.”
“Well, congratulations! When was he born? Did everything go all right? How much did he weigh?”
Jo laughed. “He was born just after four o’clock. Seven pounds two ounces. Remember he’s a couple of weeks early. And yeah, we’re all good.”
Chelsea had rarely heard Jo’s voice so emotional. So... soft.
“That’s great. Do you want me to bring Maddie there, Zach? She’s eating breakfast now.”
Actually, Maddie had cleaned off her plate during the call. She might miss her mama, but food came first. Good to know.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll have a quick shower while I’m there and then bring her back here with me.”
“When are you coming home, Jo? When do the rest of us get to meet John?” Johnny sounded more like a baby’s name. They’d trimmed Madelynn to Maddie. Surely they’d call the baby Johnny.
“We’ll be home in a few hours, I think,” said Zach. “We’ll stop by my parents’ place on our way by. Then we can have a meet-and-greet at Green Acres, but I count on you to help me keep it short, Chelsea. We didn’t get any sleep last night.”
“If you let me know when you’re coming, stop by the big house and we can have a little welcome home party there. I’ll get everyone together.” Her mind already churned planning the details. “Then it will be easier for you guys to break away and come up to your place when you’re ready. Easier than kicking everyone out of the cabin, I mean.”
“Good idea.” Jo sounded like she was fading. “We’ll give you a heads-up. Maddie, are you being a good girl for Auntie Chelsea?”
“Maddie good girl.”
“Okay, kiddo. Daddy will see you soon.” Jo made a kissy noise.
Maddie puckered her lips.
“Bye for now.” Zach disconnected the call.
Chelsea ate the last few bites of her breakfast. “Come on, Maddie. Let’s go see Auntie Allison.”
* * *
“Congratulations!” Keanan opened the truck door for Jo. He’d been on his way to the big house when they drove in.
Jo smiled up at him, pale but relaxed. “Thanks.”
Zach opened the back door, released Maddie from her car seat, and came around the vehicle.
Keanan thumped him on the back. “Happy for you both.”
“Uncle Keanan!”
Madelynn attacked his leg, and he swung her up. “Madelynn! Are you a big sister now?”
She nodded, pointing at the truck. “John brother.”
Zach chuckled as he pulled the baby’s car seat out of the back then held out his hand to Jo. “Ready, love?” He glanced at Keanan. “The troops are assembled?”
“I assume so. I was only just arriving, myself.” He shut the truck doors and glanced at the seat swinging from Zach’s hand. A fluffy blanket covered the baby’s head. All in good time. He’d catch a glimpse in a minute, probably after the women had passed the little guy around. He swung Madelynn in circles as he followed them into the house.
Chelsea only had eyes for the baby as Allison unbuckled the harness and lifted out the newborn. Claire reached over and touched his tiny cheek.
“That Maddie brother,” Madelynn informed Keanan, one little hand pressed to each of his cheeks as she got in front of his eyes. “Brother little.”
“Yes, he is very little. But he will grow.”
Finnley crowded close to Allison, and she lowered the baby for him to see. Madelynn squirmed out of Keanan’s arms and ran to join them. “That brother,” she told Finnley.
Jo lowered herself to an armchair gingerly, wincing as she settled. She caught Keanan watching and shook her head with a little grin. “Might be a few days before I can sit like a normal person.”
“Then lie down.” He pointed at the love seat. “No one will argue with your right to take up more space than usual.”
“If I lie down, I’ll fall asleep. I’ll be okay for a bit here.”
“Can I get you a coffee? Tea?”
“You’re so thoughtful, Keanan. If there’s apple juice in the fridge, I’d really like some.”
“You, Zach?”
His friend scrubbed his hand through his hair. “Coffee. Black.”
Keanan nodded and strode toward the kitchen, passing the women and baby. His step faltered. Chelsea cradled the little one, her curly head bent low. Keanan’s heart squeezed and his
mind took a leap into the future. Would she ever hold his child? Their child?
Right. His mission. He poured juice over a few ice cubes in a tall glass then turned to the coffee urn and poured two cups. Something smelled good in here. Beef soup simmered on the stovetop, but a sweet aroma surfaced.
He turned as Chelsea opened one of the oven doors. Keanan let his gaze linger. “Can I help?”
“No, I’ve got it.” She lifted out a pan and set it on the island.
“What did you make?” He’d noticed she was often in on the kitchen action. More than Allison or Jo, for sure.
“Plum upside-down cake.” She didn’t look at him. “It’s one of Jo’s favorites. We’ll serve it after lunch.”
“It’s one of my favorites, too.”
She glanced at him, her expression unreadable. “Good to know.”
“Can I help you serve lunch?”
“Looks like you’re busy. Besides, Claire said she would.” She looked across the peninsula.
Noel cradled the baby in one arm while the other tucked Claire close. The three heads were mere inches apart.
Keanan had never expected to feel this left out. He glanced at Chelsea, who bit her lip, watching them, too. “I’ll help you,” he said softly. “Be right back.” He gathered the juice and a coffee and carried them out to Jo and Zach then returned.
Chelsea sliced a long loaf of French bread, glancing up when he lifted a stack of bowls from the shelf above the peninsula.
Everything was such a jumble. What could he say to her after last night? So many subjects seemed taboo. Even talking about that baby could quickly lead to an impenetrable wall. “Did Madelynn sleep well?” Hopefully that was safe enough.
“She slept through until six forty-five.”
“And you?”
She grinned, a bit lopsided. “So did I.”
“The sofa was comfortable?”
“Not particularly.”
They’d exhausted the only topic he’d come up with. Now what? Keanan ladled soup into bowls and set them on the peninsula. Wait a minute. He looked more carefully around the great room. “Are Gabe and Sierra coming for lunch?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
Keanan swung to meet Chelsea’s gaze.
“Sierra’s finding this all difficult. It’s not just that Jo and Zach are on their second, but finding out Claire’s expecting hit her really hard. She wants a baby so badly.”
“But keeping apart from the group won’t make it easier.”
“I know that. You know that.” Chelsea hesitated. “I think Sierra knows, too. But it’s still hard.”
He nodded slowly. Such varied emotions in their group to the birth of one small child. Allison probably looked forward to having a child of her own. Her marriage to Brent was mere weeks away. Watching them interact with Finnley proved the good parents they would be.
“I’d like to have children one day.” How had those words come from his mouth? But he couldn’t take them back.
Chelsea’s eyes flared behind her glasses before she looked down at the bread. “Me, too.”
The words were so quiet, he wasn’t sure he’d heard them or dreamed them. Lord, please work a miracle.
“Keanan?”
He turned to Noel’s voice, but his gaze fixed on the babe in his friend’s outstretched hands.
“Here. Your turn to hold the little guy. I’ll finish with lunch.”
His throat closed. “Me?”
“Sure, why not? They tell me he’s not fragile.” Noel grinned and laid the bundle in Keanan’s hands. “Hey, man. Looks good on you.”
Keanan drew the baby closer to his chest. Brown fuzz crowned the little head. A teensy yawn split his face, and a tiny fist waved. Keanan couldn’t take his gaze off the miracle in his hands as a sensation of fierce longing swept through him.
He’d never thought to fall in love. Marry. Have a family. But meeting Chelsea had tipped his world upside down. The ordinary things of life — the things most people took for granted — shone with a new light, beckoning him in.
He looked up and met Chelsea’s eyes. For the first time in days — weeks, perhaps — she didn’t turn away immediately.
Keanan couldn’t hold back the emotion that surfaced from touching this baby. He blinked back moisture in his eyes, and sucked in his lips.
Chelsea’s gaze dropped to his mouth for an instant then back up. Something passed between them. What, exactly, Keanan couldn’t say.
“Soup’s on!” called Noel.
The baby startled and gave a thin wail.
The moment was broken, but something new had happened.
Chapter 17
Chelsea checked over the numbers from the caterer then approved the file before forwarding it to Greta, her liaison at the church in Portland. It would be good to be home for a few weeks.
She rotated her shoulders. Hadn’t she come to think of Idaho as home even after ten weeks? Apparently she still had one foot in Oregon. The duplex felt like a rental, not like her own nest. Not that different from living in her parents’ basement suite, especially with Sierra and Gabe in the other half.
They’d dropped by the house the other day just as Jo and Zach prepared to leave for the cabin. Whispered congratulations and a pat on the baby’s head were as far as Sierra seemed able to get. She’d even turned down a piece of plum upside-down cake.
Upside down. Just like life. Had Chelsea made a mistake coming to Green Acres? She’d jumped from one safe place to another. It might’ve been better to get an apartment in Portland.
Keanan would say she should stop playing safe and go to Africa but, even now, her insides cringed at the thought. Not everyone was adventurous like he was. Many countries weren’t safe for a woman traveling alone.
That word again. But wouldn’t she be safe at his side? He was so big. Surely not many bad guys would mess with him.
The real question was, was God safe? A line from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe came to mind from when the beaver spoke of Aslan. Safe? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king.
The phone rang, and she picked it up.
“Chelsea, I’m sorry but I won’t be able to work the kitchen tonight at Alpha,” said Rosemary. “Steve is really not feeling well today, and I hate to leave him.”
Chelsea gripped the phone. “That’s okay. I can do it.” She’d bailed for two weeks, trying to avoid Keanan. He’d even ridden in with Rosemary once, but she could be a big girl and do the duty she’d agreed on. “I’m sorry about Steve, though. Tell him he’s in my prayers.” Fat lot of good that did, but hey. It was the right thing to say. Lord, please heal Steve. See? She hadn’t lied.
“Thank you, Chelsea. That’s so sweet of you. You are in our prayers, too.”
Uh oh. What did it seem she needed prayer for? “Thank you.”
“I will have a pot of chili ready to send in with you, if you want to stop by for it.”
Back on solid ground. “That’s perfect. Jean said she’d bring one as well. And Barb Smith. Three should be enough.”
“Okay, well, I’ll let you get back to it.”
Get back to it. She glanced at the clock. That probably meant heading over to the commercial kitchen and putting on a triple batch of cornbread for the Alpha supper. She hadn’t found a volunteer for that part and, really, once she was in the mode, it wasn’t any harder to make three pans than one.
She clicked out of her email program and closed the laptop. If she were going to pray about anything, it should be about how to handle this annoying awareness of Keanan Welsh. Seeing his humungous hands holding that baby the other day, seeing that goofy grin on his face as little John squirmed, seeing the intensity in his eyes when he caught her watching... talk about overload. Way too much.
So many things lately — no, she wasn’t going there. She grabbed a jacket, slid into a pair of shoes, and headed across the yard. This first week of November was bringing in an icy wind. Win
ter on the way. Portland was sounding better and better.
* * *
“It’s good to have you back.” Keanan glanced across at Chelsea in the driver’s seat of her car.
“Rosemary says Steve isn’t feeling well.”
Keanan released a long breath. “I know. It’s hard to see him in so much pain. It’s like all his nerve endings are on overload.”
She flicked him a look. “You still go over there a lot?”
“At least twice a week.” How was Steve going to manage when Keanan left for Africa in little over a month? Rosemary couldn’t do all the things Keanan had been doing. She simply wasn’t strong enough. Zach was busy with a veterinary practice and a young family, and his parents didn’t want to bother him. Keanan figured Zach ought to know, but it wasn’t any of his business to do the telling. Not yet, anyway. That might soon change.
“They’ll miss you when you’re gone.”
He angled his whole body toward her, hard to do in the confines of the small car. “Will you?”
The question hung in the air, nearly visible, for a long moment.
“I’m going back to Portland.”
The words hit him like a sucker punch. “You don’t need to. I’ll stay away if I make you that uncomfortable.” Could he give up everything?
“I didn’t mean permanently.”
He dared to breathe.
She glanced his way, shaking her head. “This is confidential, by the way, but I’m still getting requests to coordinate events in the city, and it seems there’s not much I can do here, after all. Getting people to volunteer a few meals for Alpha doesn’t count.”
“Why doesn’t it count?”
She shrugged. “Anyone could do that. It’s a pity assignment.”
Keanan swallowed the growl that wanted out. “Do you have any idea what we really do at Alpha?”
Her eyebrows angled up as she looked at him.
She couldn’t still be on that Tracy thing after all this. “Do you know that Wesley is this close to making a decision for Jesus?” He pressed his thumb and forefinger together. “Maybe tonight will be the night. Do you know that Tracy’s two friends are asking deep questions about faith? That they’re grappling with Scripture and who God is and why Jesus died? Do you know that in the Graysens’ group, two people have committed their lives to Jesus in the past week? Coordinating meals for Alpha is not a pity job, Chelsea. A lot of important bonding takes place over food. You’re helping to make a real difference in people’s eternal destinies.”
Plum Upside Down (A Farm Fresh Romance Book 5) Page 12
