“Oh, God,” she said, “I should have looked in the mirror before we left.”
“She’s not going to care.”
Lucy stared at them both in the wavy reflection of the elevator walls. Their clothes were a hurried mess of rumpled wrinkles. As were their bodies, faces, and hair. “She’s going to take one look at us and know.”
The corner of Grady’s mouth curled. “Would that be such a bad thing? I’m pretty sure she’s going to be okay with this. In fact, it might be welcome news right now.”
The door slid open and they hurried down the ward, holding hands, teddy bear clutched under Lucy’s arm. They paused at the nurse’s station long enough to get the room number.
When they got there, Dave was just coming out. His face was a little pale, and his hair looked like he’d slept standing on his head. His smile was weary but heartfelt. “Hey, guys!”
“Hey, yourself,” Lucy said, hugging him. “Is she awake?”
Grady gave Dave the guy backslap hug. “How’re you holding up?”
“Well, I’ve managed to keep my family from boarding the next flight down, so that’s a major feat right there.”
Lucy breathed a sigh of silent relief. Dave’s family meant well, and they were a great bunch, but definitely not what Jana likely needed to deal with right now.
“The doctor says she should take it easy for a while, so we’re going to postpone the trip north until Christmas.” Dave favored Lucy with his famous snaggletoothed hockey grin. “Any chance we can con you into cooking turkey?” He nodded to the door. “She thinks she’s going to be up for that, but if we make plans—”
“You know, I can hear you scheming out there,” a voice called out from inside the room.
Lucy lit up and Dave nodded and opened the door. First she pecked Dave on the cheek. “I’ll take care of Turkey Day, no problem.”
“Thanks.”
Lucy promised herself no matter what she encountered, she was going to do it with a smile. Jana was in the second bed, the first one being mercifully empty. There were flowers already on the windowsill and nightstand. “Hey, we brought you something to keep you company,” she called out.
Jana was propped up in bed, looking paler than usual. Her freckles stood out in stark relief against her skin, her corkscrew curls frizzed beyond belief in a wild red halo around her head. “I told Dave not to call you,” she said, then lifted her arms out to Lucy. “But I’m glad he did.”
Lucy tucked the bear by Jana’s side, then bent to hug her. “Right. Like we were going to stay home.”
“Grady, too?” Jana smiled as she spied Grady behind Lucy. “Wow, is that what a girl has to do to get you guys to communicate? Land in the hospital?”
Lucy purposely didn’t look at Grady, already surprised there wasn’t a neon sign over her head proclaiming “We did it! We got naked together!”
“Hey, Sunshine,” Grady said, leaning down for his hug. “You doing all right? Not giving the nurses a hard time?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Chatting up the cute doctors?”
Jana smiled and seemed to perk up a little. “I do what I can,” she said.
Lucy perched carefully on the side of her bed and folded Jana’s hand in between her own. Jana immediately noticed the red knuckles and turned Lucy’s hand around to study it closer. “What the hell did you do to yourself?”
Lucy smiled. “I got in a fight.”
“I’m afraid to ask how the other guy looks.” She immediately glanced up at Grady. “Well, you look no worse for the wear. Thank God.” She looked back to Lucy. “Who’d you sock?”
“Well, this will perk you up,” Lucy said.
“Wait a minute. You were on a date last night with—” Her eyes widened and she gasped. “No!”
“It was that or let Grady beat him to a pulp.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized the gaffe.
“‘Grady’? What was he doing on your date?” She looked to Grady.
“Hey,” Lucy said desperately, tugging at her hand, trying to shift the topic, “we didn’t come here to talk about you know who.”
But Jana was still looking at Grady. She had that journalist thing going on with her narrowed eyes and forehead wrinkle. “So, I take it it’s over between you and—”
“Yeah, it is,” Lucy admitted. “But we’re here for you, so—”
Jana looked back at Lucy. “Well, you’ve already made my day. I’m so glad you came to your senses.” She was still sending the occasional glance at Grady. Who was looking far too nonchalant about this whole thing.
Lucy rubbed Jana’s hand. “You doing okay?” she asked gently.
Jana sighed a little and laid her free hand over her tummy. “Yeah. No. I don’t know.” Her eyes welled up an instant later, and Lucy immediately pulled her into an embrace.
“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry you had such a bad scare. I’m just glad you’re okay. That you’re both okay.” She leaned back, then yanked out a tissue and handed it to Jana.
“Might as well give me the whole box. I’m an emotional disaster lately.”
Lucy was undecided on how to approach the news Dave had shared with her on the phone. She decided the direct route was best. “You know this isn’t your fault. You know you couldn’t have prevented this.” She didn’t even know what had happened, but it didn’t matter. Jana might have been an emotional wreck over her pregnancy, but she’d taken very good care of herself and the baby.
“It’s like karma. Really bad karma.” She kept rubbing her stomach. “I was so uncertain about all this. About . . . him.” She gulped and let out another little sob.
Lucy just ripped more Kleenex out of the box, beginning to see why Dave was so at a loss. “You can’t make something like this happen because you’ve had a rough time emotionally. You know that, Jana. I know you do.”
Jana nodded, blew her nose noisily, then crumpled up the next wad of Kleenex Lucy pressed into her hand. “I think what scares me is that I almost lost him, and I never even fully appreciated him or what he will mean to us. I was just so stupidly selfish, you know? It was all about me and my life and my world and what I’ll have to sacrifice.” She looked at Lucy, her face all splotchy, eyes swollen from tears. “It wasn’t until I thought I was going to lose him that I realized how devastated I’d be if I did.” She hiccuped a little, and Lucy felt her own eyes watering.
“But he’s safe. And so are you.”
“It shouldn’t have taken this to shake me up, to wake me up.”
“It doesn’t matter, Jana. This was going to happen if it was going to happen. Look at it this way, for all the fear and terror, you also got a gift out of it. The gift of knowing you love your baby.”
Jana was nodding and crying and Lucy started crying. They were hugging each other and rocking.
There was a suspicious sniff behind them and they both paused, sniffling, and looked at Grady, who scowled. “Just toss me the damn box, okay?”
Lucy threw the tissue box to him, only she missed and it glanced off of some piece of medical equipment that was thankfully not hooked up to her best friend at the moment. “Oops.”
Grady just smiled at her in this amazingly affectionate way and picked up the box. His easy acceptance of her dorkiness, along with the knowledge of how they’d spent last night, made her forget for just a second that Jana was sitting right there. God-only-knows-what kind of goofy smile was plastered across her face.
“You know,” Jana said, wiping her eyes, then blowing her nose again, “I’m glad you guys are here. Because there’s something I wanted to talk to you two about, anyway.”
Lucy started a bit guiltily as she realized she and Grady were still staring at each other all moony-faced. “What? If it’s about Thanksgiving, then don’t even start. I’m cooking turkey.”
Grady snorted behind her.
“Okay, Grady’s actually cooking the turkey. No need to bring up the basting-fire incident again. It might upset the baby.”
Grady and Jana both groa
ned. “She’s actually using an unborn child as a defense now,” Jana said, shaking her head, but smiling.
“Not my fault. You drove me to it. Anyway, we’re cooking and you and Dave are going to come over. We’re going to watch football and parades and eat until we explode. And you are going to do nothing but put your feet up and relax.”
“You know, I’ve definitely not been playing this pregnancy thing for all it’s worth. But that’s going to change.” She leaned up and kissed Lucy’s cheek. “Thank you for the holiday hostessing. But that’s not what I was going to say.”
“Okay, what is it?”
She waved Grady closer and reached out her other hand to take his. “We’ve been friends forever, right?”
“Right,” Lucy said, wary now. She knew that intent look. Jana was up to something.
“Well, one thing I learned in the past twenty-four hours was to never take any relationship for granted.” She sniffled again and Grady immediately handed her the Kleenex.
They all laughed a little, but Jana just squeezed their hands more tightly. “I’ve watched the two of you for years.” She glanced at Grady. “I know you don’t want me to do this, but I think you’re making a mistake by not telling Lucy the whole reason behind your retreating of late.”
Lucy and Grady looked at each other, and there was no way to cover the guilt coloring their expressions.
“Um,” Jana said, looking between the two of them. “Is there something else I don’t know about?” A smile began to play around her mouth, and her eyes lit up a little. “Would it perhaps have something to do with why Grady was trying to flatten Jason Prescott?” She looked at Grady. “And nice job, by the way. Wish I was there so I could have helped.”
Grady smiled. “No need. Slugger here took him out with one punch, direct hit right to the schnoz. Prescott might not be so pretty anymore.”
Lucy snorted. “Who are you kidding? I’m betting he had the best plastic surgeon in the country on the phone before he hit the lobby of my apartment building.”
“‘Lobby’? Your building?” Jana looked at Grady. “And you were there?”
Grady came to sit on the other side of the bed. “Yeah. I was there. I, uh, well, remember you told me about the date?”
Jana nodded.
“I guess something just snapped inside me.” His smile was wry. “Might have had something to do with that visual image you planted in my brain.”
“What ‘visual image’?” Lucy asked.
Jana smiled smugly. “You. And Jason Prescott. Doing the—”
“Please,” Grady said. “Once was enough.”
“Apparently it was enough,” Jana said, her voice taking on a note of wonder. “So . . .” She trailed off encouragingly.
Grady reached across the bed and took Lucy’s hand. “So I stayed. And we talked.”
Jana looked from one to the other.
Lucy knew her hot cheeks were a dead giveaway.
“‘Talked,’ huh?”
“Lots of talking,” Lucy said.
“So when Dave called you this morning—”
“I answered the phone,” Grady said.
“Hot damn!” Jana hollered, which brought Dave crashing into the room.
“What? Are you okay?” He looked wildly around the room. “I didn’t want to intrude, but—”
“They did it!” Jana said, then hooted again.
“‘Did’ what?” Dave said, calming down now that he realized her scream was for an apparent good thing.
“It!”
Dave looked at the joined hands, apparently added two and two and an early phone call, and went, “Ohhhh. It!” A big gap-toothed grin split his face and he strode over to Grady and clapped him on the back so hard it almost sent him sprawling. “All right!”
Lucy and Jana looked at each other. “What is it about guys and sexual prowess, anyway?” Lucy asked.
“Hey, at least he’s not rubbing your belly and getting that smug ‘Look what I did’ smile on his face.”
Lucy went a bit pale. The other three laughed.
“We’ll have to work up to that,” Grady said.
Jana grinned and patted Lucy’s shoulder. “Well, when the time comes, I have a stack of books for you.”
Lucy just swallowed hard.
“God, I love you guys,” Jana said, pulling them both in for a clumsy group hug. “Thanks for being there for me through all this. Before and what’s yet to come.”
“Of course,” they both mumbled as she squeezed them tightly. After letting them go, she suddenly yawned hugely. “God, I’m whacked.”
Lucy and Grady immediately got off the bed. “You should get your rest,” Lucy said. “We can come back later.”
Jana settled back among her pillows, the teddy bear hooked in one arm, and her other hand on her tummy. Her eyes were already drooping, but her smile was pure Jana sass. “Yeah, sure. You’re going to go have hours of fantastic hot sex and I’ll be here eating hospital gelatin.”
“Probably not ‘hours,’” Lucy said.
Grady nudged her, and she nudged him back.
“You know,” Jana said, yawning again, “I might live to regret hooking the two of you up.”
“She’s already taking all the credit,” Grady said.
“You bet,” Jana said. “Never argue with a pregnant woman.”
“Yeah, you’ve got about six months to exploit that rule.”
Dave fussed with his wife’s blanket and moved the rolling tray down to the foot of her bed. “She’ll just have a new rule when the baby gets here,” he said.
“True,” Lucy said with a laugh.
Grady slipped his hand in hers as Dave leaned down over his wife and kissed her cheek. She was out before he straightened. He mouthed “Thank you” to the two of them, then settled in the chair beside her bed.
Lucy and Grady took their cue and ducked out of the room.
“So,” Grady said, as they wandered back down the hall toward the elevator, “where to?”
“Is this the ‘Your place or mine’ question?”
“Might be.”
“For how long?”
Grady smiled, then surprised her by ducking inside a door marked LINENS. “How long do you have?”
“Grady!” Lucy hissed. “We’re in a hospital ward!”
“Yeah, but I learned something back there in Jana’s room.”
She arched an eyebrow.
Grady scowled. “You know, that plucked-eyebrow thing is like a weapon. Like it’s got a personality all its own.”
Lucy grinned. “Yeah, I’m learning I have a lot of weapons I didn’t know about. First thing Monday, I’m planning on calling the tanning salon and buying a lifetime membership.”
Grady laughed, then tugged her tightly into his arms. “Speaking of lifetimes . . .” And he bent his head and kissed her.
When he finally lifted his head, they were both a little breathless.
“Wow,” Lucy said.
“That’s what I figured out in Jana’s room. That it’s going to take at least a lifetime to do all of that I want.”
Lucy wove her hands around his neck. “A lifetime. Hmm.”
Grady’s expression turned serious. “I love you, Lucy Harper. You’ve always been the most beautiful woman in the world to me. Inside and out.”
Lucy actually felt her heart swell. “I love you, too, Grady Matthews.” Saying it, meaning it the way she did now, wasn’t nearly as scary as she’d thought it would be. In fact, it felt just right. “Vivian was right. It’s all about finding the perfect inner balance. You’ve always been that balance for me, steadying me, being there for me. My sounding board, my friend, my ally, my staunchest supporter.” She grinned. “And now all that and benefits, too!”
He laughed, smoothed the hair from her face. “You do know you’re all those same things for me, don’t you?”
“I do now. Maybe if I’d understood that sooner.” She smiled up at him. “Or maybe I needed to learn about mysel
f first. Things happen when they do for a reason. For Jana. For us.” She tugged his head closer. “And I’m thinking a lifetime sounds just about right.” She kissed him deeply, then sighed as he held her close. “Remind me to send Vivian a thank-you note.”
“Sure,” Grady said, walking her back up against a shelving unit full of towels. “Just as soon as I can stand taking my hands off of you.”
Lucy was the one who flipped the lock on the door. “Vivian would be the first one to approve that sentiment.” Then she ripped his shirt off.
“God bless fairy godmothers everywhere,” Grady said, groaning in pleasure.
Epilogue
Later that evening, after a lovely call from Lucy, Vivian sat on the lanai behind Glass Slipper, Inc., and raised her glass in a silent toast. She was quite satisfied with how everything had turned out. Dessora Claudette would be proud of her most successful assistant.
Vivian downed the shot in one fiery gulp, then smiled with intense satisfaction. Another job well done, yes. But this one was the most satisfying she’d been involved in, in a very long time.
In fact, she felt so invigorated by her success that she decided she deserved a little reward. Her smile was a wicked one. So maybe it wasn’t going to be that little. She deserved that, too. She rose from her quiet spot and went off in search of that gorgeous limo driver. The ever delicious and quite talented Paul. Ah yes, just the way to celebrate a success. The only way, if they asked her. And they often did.
The night was young. And so, at heart—and with the help of a very nice plastic surgeon, a number of other body parts—was she.
And so it came to pass that the knight known as Grady, his heart steadfast and true, swept his lady love Lucy off her feet (and frankly, those four-inch spikes were killing her anyway) and carried her into the sunset of their everlasting love (which looked a lot like his apartment in Alexandria).
Jana and her true love, the valiant (and virile) Dave, became the parents of a bouncing baby boy (and future goalie for the Capitals) known as Benjamin Ross, who was followed two years later by his younger sister (Olympic volleyball hopeful Sasha Lynn), and three years beyond that, by the twins, Drew and Adria. (Who, between them, won a Pulitzer, a Peabody, and an Oscar. But couldn’t sink a foul shot if their collective lives depended on it.)
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