by Susan Hatler
Dave glanced at me, our eyes locking, and I wondered if he was thinking of Marian’s phone call, too. Fire burned in my chest. Was he as worried as I was that we’d made a terribly wrong decision about not adopting the baby?
“You’re welcome to look around as long as you like.” Clive waved his arm wide, gesturing for us to come all the way inside. “Deciding where to live is a big decision, so take your time. You’ll feel it in your heart if it’s the right decision.”
Chills vibrated through me at his words. Was I thinking too much with my head? Should we be making a decision from our hearts? After all, isn’t the heart where the treasured dreams were born in the first place?
Suddenly, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. What if Dave didn’t feeling the same way, though? What if having another baby was too much for him? My heart would break. Knowing this, how could I find the nerve to ask him? And where would we possibly put another baby in our tiny condo? So many questions, and I longed for answers to them.
“You ready to look around, my dear?” Esther patted my arm, then moved past Clive, stopping just inside the entryway. “This floor has the kitchen, dining room, living room, and two bedrooms. On the lower level, there are three more bedrooms, the laundry room, and a family room with a fireplace. There is a deck off the living room up here that has a wonderful view, and another deck that leads into the yard downstairs. Let us know if you have any questions,” she said, disappearing down the hall with her hubby.
“Five bedrooms for this price?” I whispered to Dave as my eyes widened. My mind kicked into high gear placing furniture around the large space, and thinking of ways to purchase furniture inexpensively for the extra space. Not only could Dave have a dedicated office of his own, but I could have a room for my business as well. I’d always loved beading jewelry, picturing frames, and similar items at the kitchen table, but if I were going to hire Autumn. . . .
Oh! I didn’t know if it was the warm energy in here or what, but somehow I’d just made the decision to hire Autumn. I felt completely ecstatic. Even in my sleep-deprived state, adrenaline started coursing through me.
I grabbed onto Dave’s arm, practically skipping through the open floor plan upstairs. My eyes bulged when we came to the kitchen, which had avocado green appliances and yellow-patterned linoleum floors that matched the laminate countertops.
“The lack of updates explains the reasonable price.” I turned to Dave, wondering what he thought of the charming upstairs. “The hardwood floors could use refinishing, but they’re beautiful. A light colored paint on the walls would really brighten up this place, too. Don’t you think?” I asked, biting my lip.
“I’ll leave the creative stuff up to you.” He winked, giving me the sign that he was onboard with this delightfully outdated rustic house in the woods. “Let’s check out the downstairs before this little guy wakes up.”
“What?” My heart rate suddenly sped and I immediately peeked in the sling to make sure little Joe was all right. His closed eyelids fluttered, and he was sleeping like an angel. I kissed his forehead. “I love you, precious boy.”
I straightened, and Dave tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Don’t worry about your boy. He’s in good hands with Daddy.”
“I know,” I said, and we exchanged a smile.
We descended the stairs, turning down the hall to the gigantic master bedroom with its attached bath. The pink bathtub was enough to stop me in my tracks. Dave nearly plowed into me, putting a protective arm in front of the baby.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I whispered, feeling a tug at my heart, and a baby girl popped into my mind. Marian hadn’t said the baby was a girl, so I didn’t know why I felt the baby was a girl. But the bottom line was that there was plenty of room in this house to have a second baby. And, really, when it came down to family, who cared about losing sleep?
I had to find some way to tell Dave I’d made a huge mistake. And I had to hope he felt the same way, too. Gulp.
We finished touring the downstairs with its wood-paneled walls and shag carpeting, then we went upstairs to check out the view from the deck. As soon as we walked outside, the Flathead Valley spread out before us, the vast mountain peaks providing a powerful backdrop to the tiny town nestled below. To our right, the blue water of Whitefish Lake shimmered against the radiant sun, and I knew we’d found our home.
Dave’s phone buzzed, and he excused himself to take the call. I was about to offer to take little Joe, but Dave had already stepped away. When he came back, the surprised look on his face gave me a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered, putting my hand on his muscular forearm.
“Nothing, really,” he said, running his hand over the sling to cradle little Joe closer to him. “That was Marian. She needs to drop something off for another project she wants me to work on for her. She insisted coming in person right now, but I told her we out for a bit. She said she’d just leave the papers on the front porch if she missed us.”
“That’s odd that she made it so urgent,” I said, turning away to see a bright red leaf flutter down onto the deck in front of us. I gasped at its vibrancy, a warm feeling rushing through me as I leaned down to pick it up.
When I held the leaf in my hand I noticed there were actually two leaves intertwined. My muse immediately pictured the matching bracelets Dave, little Joe, and I wore on our wrists. The three bracelets I’d made us contained each of our birthstones, but now my mind pictured a fourth birthstone on every bracelet, sealed on both ends with two intertwined leaves. Four leaves total.
Inspiration was how my muse worked. It was the sign I’d been waiting for . . . and this time the sign had come directly from my heart. Now, there was no denying how desperately I wanted the other baby. I wasn’t sure what Dave would say, though, and that caused a deep ache inside me. For all his practicality and reliability, I knew he also had a soft spot for our family, so I had to hope he’d want the baby as badly as I did. I just needed to find a way to ask him.
Sunlight glinted off the lake, and a lone bald eagle swooped over the water. Be brave, Holly . . ., the bird seemed to whisper. I needed to go with my heart.
Dave slid an arm around me, resting his chin on top of my head. “This is the house for us, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I said, firmly, unable to meet his eyes with what I’d need to ask next. So I held my breath, and decided to wait for the perfect moment.
We said goodbye to Clive and Esther, promising to send over a full-price offer—no way we were messing around with a house we loved this much—and Clive assured us if all was in order with the offer, then the house would be ours.
All I could think about right now was whether or not Marian would still be at the condo when we got back. We’d found our home, the place we would raise our family. Now we just needed to make our family complete. As we strode down the path toward the condo, I knew I had to open my heart and tell my husband how I felt.
“It feels like a miracle that we found this place and that nobody else was here at the open house,” I said, tingles running down my spine, as I built up the courage to say what I needed to say. I inhaled deeply. “Dave, I think—”
“Wait.” He held his hand up, then swiveled to face me. He ran a hand through his hair, and his deep blue eyes landed on mine. “This is going to sound crazy, but that house was made for a family of four,” he blurted out. “I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Is there anyway you’d be willing to reconsider adopting the baby?”
“Yes!” I shouted, tears burning my eyes, as I gripped both of his arms. “Oh, Dave. I’ve regretted our decision since the moment we made it, but I’ve been too scared to admit how much I do want this other baby. But now that you’ve said it . . . ”
His facial expression changed, and his eyes watered. “I’ve been afraid to talk to you, too. I feel in my soul we’re supposed to have that baby. If Marian is still at the house, we could talk to her, no beg her to
give us another chance.”
“How will we do this?”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I’ll cut back on work. We’ll figure it out. I know it will be challenging, but couples have twins all the time. So this shouldn’t be any different, right?”
“Right,” I agreed, my heart pounding against my ribcage as my fingers dug into his arms. “What if Marian already called the other couple, though?”
“I’ll call her.” He whipped out his cell phone, pulling me along as he dialed with a shaky hand. Finally, he put the phone to his ear, then shook his head. “Voicemail.”
“We need to hurry home,” I said, moving faster than I had in weeks. “Our best chance will be to get there before she leaves. Convince her in person we made a huge, terrible mistake, and we want that precious little baby.”
We practically jogged the rest of the way along the path, with Dave taking great care with little Joe, who slept soundly, having no idea how we might’ve blown giving him his sibling. My heart hammered as we hurried home, and I held my breath as we rounded the last corner and the secluded condo complex came into view. . . .
A white sedan was a car parked in front of our condo. An older woman with red hair stood on the front porch. Marian. Dave made it up the steps first, and I followed as fast as I could behind him.
“We’re glad we caught you,” Dave said, his face turning pale.
“Dave . . .?” Marian held a small stack of papers in one hand, her other hand gripped the porch rail, and she gave him a concerned look. Then her gaze dropped to me as I approached the steps. “Holly . . .?”
Tears pricked behind my eyes, and I somehow knew in my gut we were too late. We’d blown our chance by making a decision quickly on the phone, without even taking a moment to think everything over. We’d said no too fast and that would cost us deep in our hearts forever.
“We made a huge mistake,” I told her, my throat tightening as my hand covered my mouth. I choked on a sob, unable to speak.
“We want to adopt the baby,” Dave said, putting one hand on my shoulder to comfort me, before he turned back to Marian’s surprised face. “We’re sorry we said no earlier, because we hadn’t thought our options over. We’d just gotten home from the hospital with little Joe, we hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours, and we made a terrible decision about the baby, who we want more than anything else in this world.”
I’d never loved my husband more for getting those words out, which were so deeply embedded in my heart that I felt like I’d lose a piece of me if Marian opened her mouth and confirmed we were too late. I stared at Marian, then saw tears fill her eyes. A breeze blew by, rustling those autumn leaves, and the whole world stood still, as I waited to hear if the unexpected baby would be ours. Or not.
“I only used the paperwork as a ruse,” Marian admitted, waving her hand in the air. “Though, I do want you to do a new project for me, Dave. I just thought that if you got to see baby girl in person, then you’d realize she’s meant for you. Just like I always knew.”
“You mean . . .?” I gripped my husband’s hand, realizing what she was saying, and that I was right about our little baby girl. “When can we meet her?”
“Holly, look,” Dave said softly, gesturing to our porch swing. My heart soared as I saw the car seat sitting there, holding a precious bundle, wrapped in pink.
“Thank you, Marian,” Dave said, choking on his words. I wasn’t able to speak, just yet. My throat constricted around a lump of unshed tears of happiness.
“I’m glad she’s going to a loving home, just like she was always meant to.” She smiled, then pointed to a small bag. “Her bottle and things are in the diaper bag. How about if I run some errands, while you get to know her?” she suggested.
“Yes.” I managed to nod, then walked on numb legs toward the car seat, undid the buckle, and lifted my little girl into my arms. “Hello, sweetheart. It’s Mommy,” I said, smiling through the tears streaming down my face.
Dave came up beside me, staring lovingly at her as I cradled her in my arms. I stroked her soft hair that curled slightly around her ears. She was smaller than little Joe, delicate where he was robust. My heart caught in my chest, and I never wanted to let go of our little darling.
“This is your sister,” Dave said, lifting little Joe out of the sling as we sat together on the porch swing. Then he pressed a long, soft kiss to my cheek and smiled. “Our family.”
“Our family,” I repeated, smiling back at him.
My mind flashed to the lavender boxes with the pink bows, and to the matching baby girl bracelet I’d start on later today at the kitchen table with my view of the mountains.
My heart filled with love and magic, as we rocked back and forth, together, in the most beautiful place in the world, with our most treasured creations in our arms.
THE END
About the author:
SUSAN HATLER is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, who writes humorous and emotional contemporary romance and young adult novels. Many of Susan's books have been translated into German, Spanish, French and Italian. A natural optimist, she believes life is amazing, people are fascinating, and imagination is endless. She loves spending time with her characters and hopes you do, too.
You can reach Susan here:
Facebook: facebook.com/authorsusanhatler
Twitter: twitter.com/susanhatler
Website: www.susanhatler.com
Blog: susanhatler.com/category/susans-blog
Titles by Susan Hatler
Treasured Dreams Series
An Unexpected Date
An Unexpected Kiss
An Unexpected Love
An Unexpected Proposal
An Unexpected Wedding
An Unexpected Joy
An Unexpected Baby
Kissed by the Bay Series
Every Little Kiss
The Perfect Kiss
Just One Kiss
The Sweetest Kiss
Better Date than Never Series
Love at First Date
Truth or Date
My Last Blind Date
Save the Date
A Twist of Date
License to Date
Driven to Date
Up to Date
Déjà Date
Date and Dash
Young Adult Novels
Shaken
See Me
The Crush Dilemma
Table of Contents
Titles by Susan Hatler
An Unexpected Baby
About the author
