by Cora Seton
“Come on.” Jake jolted him from his reverie with an elbow to the side. “Cab and Rose are leaving in a minute.”
Luke followed the crowd to the front porch where Rose was just giving Mia a huge hug.
“Thank you. It was everything I’ve ever dreamed of,” Rose said.
“Thank you for being my first and best fan,” Mia said.
Luke felt a pang that he hadn’t been Mia’s first and best fan, and decided then and there that from now on he would be her most loyal one. He stood by her side as the crowd waved off Cab and Rose, who left in a limo for a quick drive to the airport, where they’d catch a flight to Italy and spend ten days on their honeymoon. Luke knew Rose was thrilled at the chance to see classical architecture and artwork—and that Cab was thrilled to get away with his new bride, no matter where they went. He had no doubt the couple would enjoy themselves immensely.
As the guests trailed back into the house, he sensed that more casual friends would soon leave, until only a core of those closest to the bride and groom remained. Before the music died down, he wanted one dance with Mia.
It took some persuasion, but some minutes later he was swaying to a slow song, Mia’s belly pressing into him.
“This is awkward,” Mia complained.
“It’s terrific.”
“Will you stay with me again tonight?”
“So I can read you to sleep again?”
“Yes.” She buried her face against his chest. “And so you can be there. So I don’t feel so alone.”
Luke stopped. “Do you feel alone?”
She looked up at him. “Sometimes. A lot of the time, I guess.”
“You’re not, you know. I’m always here, even if we aren’t together.”
She didn’t answer, just leaned against him as he began to sway to the music again. She didn’t have to speak, though. He understood what she was saying. She might not like to ask for help. She might not be ready to accept his offer of marriage. But she needed him.
The baby kicked against his stomach and he chuckled, sliding a hand down to rest on her belly. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, young’un.”
“She’s just saying hello.”
“Hello, baby,” Luke said back. “Can’t wait to see your beautiful face.” He heard Mia take a ragged breath. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know why you stick around when I’ve been such a—”
“Shh. I’ve been hard-headed, too,” he cut her off. “You know exactly why I stick around. I love you. I hope someday you’ll let me stick around permanently.”
She sighed. “Don’t you think we ought to date before we decide something like that?”
Luke knew he’d have to tread carefully through this conversation. “Haven’t we been dating?”
“Not really.” She pulled back. “We’ve been sleeping together.”
“I like sleeping with you.”
She smiled. “Yeah, it’s not bad. But that’s not dating.”
“So you want to be wined and dined, huh?”
“Something like that. I know one thing.” She pulled away from him and rubbed her back. “I don’t want to get engaged when I’m as big as a house.”
He bit back his disappointment. He’d take her at her word. At least she was talking about getting engaged. That was progress. He could understand why she’d want to put off big decisions until after she had her baby, although he wished they’d be married before the birth.
As much as he wanted to plead his case and push for a wedding sooner rather than later, he decided this wasn’t the time or the place. Mia was tired. She’d pulled off two major events in two days, with a third to come. He’d respect her wishes tonight, and think it over himself tomorrow.
“Well, I was wrong,” Lila said to Mia late in the day of the family reunion. “Everyone loves your tents. They’re exotic and beautiful all at once.”
As darkness fell, the fairy lights hanging around the tents made them seem like otherworldly halls. Children raced about playing tag and hide and go seek, slipping from shadow to light back to shadow again. Adults sat at tables and drank wine, laughing over shared remembrances and lingering over desserts. After sending Lila a set of questions, Mia had concocted a trivia game about the family and the questions and answers had set the whole crowd buzzing and laughing, and brought them all together.
“I’m glad you like them.” Mia patted Lila’s arm. “You have a wonderful family.”
“And so will you. Your children will be lucky to have a mom like you. I bet they’ll have birthday parties that will be the envy of all their friends.”
Mia smiled. “I like that idea.”
“I was just nervous—that’s why I gave you so much trouble, dear,” Lila confided. “But you kept me on the straight and narrow. You’re good at your job.”
“Does that mean you’ll write me a glowing recommendation?” Mia grinned.
“You bet I will. Oh—Roger’s just about to spill that juice all over Matthew.”
Mia rushed over to the two boys just in time to prevent the accident Lila had spotted, smiling ear-to-ear. If she’d impressed Lila White, she had to be good at her job.
She’d done it. Three events in three days. Surely that had to be a record.
“Another triumph.” Luke slipped up to Mia and kissed her neck.
“Hey, you’re still on the clock, you know.” Mia had gladly accepted Luke’s offer of an extra pair of hands today. Jake had taken over the chores at the Double-Bar-K, for which she was eternally grateful. Once again, Luke had proved willing to take orders and work hard during the set up process. Once the party was underway he’d been a godsend with some of the more troublesome kids. He’d invented games and races to keep them out of trouble while the parents socialized. Mia was so impressed she wished she could bring him to all her events.
“What do you think? Employee of the month?” He grinned at her.
“Damn straight, if you keep it up.” She kissed him on the cheek.
“Is that all I get? I want a plaque.”
“We’ll see about the plaque. For now my only goal is living through the next few hours.”
“You sure about this?” Carl said as he made out a check to Luke.
Luke sighed. “Yeah, I’m sure. If you’re going to be a real rancher this time, you’ve got to have a real truck, not one of your namby-pamby foreign excuses.” They stood in front of Linda’s Diner, where Luke had asked the other man to meet him for a cup of coffee. They’d talked business and finances, and then Luke had mentioned he wanted to sell his truck.
“I guess you’re right.” Carl scrawled his signature and tore off the check. “For what it’s worth, I think this is a good start. Cash in the bank is a solid foundation for any venture.”
“I don’t really need all the bells and whistles this baby has.” Luke considered the vehicle. It stung a little to let it go, but not nearly as much as losing Mia would have. He could pick up a perfectly good used truck at half a dozen dealerships around town for a fraction of the price Carl had just paid for this one. Carl had been more than fair in the deal, paying nearly as much as Luke had when he bought it new, when everyone knew that when you drove a truck off the lot it immediately lost value.
“Guess I’ll see you around,” Carl said.
“Guess you will. You found the property you want yet?” At Carl’s surprised expression, he added, “Mia said you two met in a realtor’s office. She said you were looking to buy a house.”
“I haven’t found anything I like yet, so I’ve decided to rent for a bit. I’d hoped I could buy my old house back from the Mortimers, but they didn’t even get back to me about my offer.”
“The Mortimers? Wait a minute.” Luke thought back to Ned’s wedding. “Did you make them an offer face-to-face, or did you send it to them?”
“I dropped it off in their mailbox the first morning I was in town.” Carl smiled deprecatingly. “I was a little on fire to get the deal done. Too on fir
e, I guess.”
Luke rubbed a hand over his mouth, covering a laugh. “Well, that explains that.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what? It wouldn’t make any sense if I tried to tell you now. Give me a day or two and I’ll fill you in.”
“Okay.”
Luke tipped his hat and turned around. He was supposed to meet Jake at Fila’s in fifteen minutes to go truck hunting. He wondered what Jake would think of what he’d just learned.
He wondered what everyone else would think when they knew, too.
“No spelling errors,” Autumn exclaimed when she looked over Mia’s shoulder at the latest handwritten note she’d received in the mail.
“You’re right. Do you think the sender is taking lessons?”
“Maybe he’s foreign.” They’d long ago decided it was a man because of the strong, blocky handwriting.
“Maybe.” Mia read it over again.
Enough already.
“Enough what?”
“Enough torturing Luke?” Autumn guessed. “Whoever it is seems to want you two together.”
“I’m not torturing Luke.”
Autumn shot her a look. “Really?”
“Not anymore. Not since he’s decided my wedding planning business isn’t such a harebrained scheme after all. Now I’m just waiting for the right time.”
“To propose to him?” Autumn chuckled.
“To be proposed to. After the baby’s born.”
Autumn went to the kitchen, cut a slice of the quiche she’d recently taken from the oven and set it down in front of Mia. They were having lunch together since it was one of Mia’s days off. “Why after?”
“Because I want to be pretty when he proposes. I don’t want to look like this.” She patted her belly, which felt like it had grown several inches in the last week.
“What…beautiful? Glowing? Goddess-like?”
“Hardly goddess-like. You know what I mean.”
“I do,” Autumn said gently, “but don’t you think Luke would like to be engaged before the baby is born—maybe even married—so he feels he’s a part of the family?”
Mia, about to take a bite of her quiche, lowered her fork. “You think so?”
Autumn nodded. “You have to see it from his point of view.”
“I guess so. I guess I keep wanting a picture-perfect proposal. I want a picture-perfect wedding, too.”
“Doesn’t every bride? But you know what? Life keeps happening whether we’re ready for it or not and sometimes you just have to grab hold of it and go on the ride, whether or not it’s perfect. Think about it. I have a feeling it would mean a lot to Luke.”
Of course it would, Mia realized, no longer hungry. He’d been consistent on that point since the first time he proposed. He wanted to marry her. He wanted to be her baby’s father.
Wasn’t it time to pledge to him that he could do just that? Maybe she’d been too hard on Luke. After all, he’d simply tried to be the best man he could be. With Holt as a father, it was a miracle that a little hardheadedness was his only vice. Maybe she could trust that he wasn’t trying to undercut her when he tried to help. Maybe she could trust that he truly loved her. At his most aggravating, he’d always been trying to protect her.
Well, she needed a little protection now. She’d received another e-mail from Inez, letting her know they’d need to meet with the police in just a few days’ time. She’d decided to go through with it, but she was nervous. She wondered what Warner would do.
For once she wouldn’t mind if Luke took the lead and kept her safe. She pulled out her phone. She’d call him right now.
“I don’t think I’m going to get my trip to Paris,” Lisa said when Luke stopped by the main house that afternoon. He was having trouble keeping a smile off of his face. He’d just gotten a text from Mia asking for his help in a few days. She hadn’t said what for—but she’d asked him to come by that evening to talk it over. Things were looking up.
“Dad hasn’t screwed up yet, huh?”
“Well, has he?”
“No.” And it was uncanny that his father had kept so much to himself, except for that conversation they’d had about the pageants. He’d have figured Holt would either be working to block the wedding, or working to promote it.
Instead, the old man was tied up in his building project. Luke hoped like hell he hadn’t decided to break up the ranch and sell off a piece.
“Has Dad explained what he’s doing yet?”
“No, but did you see the house? It’s as cute as a bug. Going up fast, too. They’ll have it done in no time.”
“You don’t know who it’s for?”
“Not a clue. I guess he’ll explain in his own sweet time. How about you and Mia? You two seem to be getting along now. Do you think there’s a chance things will work out?”
Luke leaned against the kitchen counter. “Yeah, I do. But not until after the baby is born.” He tried to keep his disappointment out of his voice, but didn’t think he was successful.
His mother confirmed it when she said, “I’m sorry, honey. But I still think you’ll make a good father for that baby girl.”
“I wanted her to have my name.” There. He’d said it aloud.
“She still can. You’ll see. Mia can’t be with a man as solid and steady as you and not grow to see how lucky she is.”
Her praise made him uncomfortable. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Okay. Just remember—you’re a fine catch for any girl.”
He escaped while he could.
‡
Chapter Twenty-One
“Of course I’ll go with you,” Luke said when Mia explained the situation with Fred Warner that night.
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“I heard a little about what happened,” he admitted. “Rose told me a little. Dad told me more.”
“Your dad knew about Warner?” Mia was surprised.
“Turns out he helped run him out of town six years ago.”
“Really?” Holt always surprised her. “Good for him.”
“He didn’t run him far enough away.” Luke took her hand. “I hope you won’t have to see him again.”
“I might at the trial if I’m called to testify, but someone has to stop him. Who knows how many other girls he’s molested.”
“I wish I could put him out of business for good.”
“But you can’t.” Mia was firm. “Not like that. We have to live within the law.”
“I’ll do what you want me to do.” He pulled her close and kissed her head. “And I’ll be there every moment. You will never be alone with him, I promise.”
She nodded and snuggled into his arms. She could get used to this kind of support.
“How’s Morgan doing?” Mia called out several days later, as she rushed into the waiting room at the Chance Creek Hospital. She’d gotten the call from Rose that Morgan had gone into labor and come as fast as she could. She had to work in a couple of hours, but she’d stay as long as possible to offer support.
“She’s doing great,” Rose said. “Her contractions are really close now—barely a minute apart. Rob says the doctor thinks she’ll be pushing any minute.”
“When did her labor start?”
“Just after midnight,” Hannah said. “No crazy thirty minute deliveries for her.” She grinned at Autumn, who was nursing Arianna in one of the fabric-covered waiting room chairs.
Autumn smiled back. “Arianna can’t help it that she was excited to see me.”
Mia settled into the chair next to her, her toe tapping with excitement. In just four weeks it would be her in one of these rooms, getting ready to meet her own little one. She couldn’t wait.
They conversed in fits and starts, all of them too anxious about Morgan to be distracted for too long from the reason they were there. A bustle in the hallway had them all on their feet, as Rob burst into the room.
“It’s a boy! We have a boy! Seven pounds, six ou
nces!”
“How’s Morgan?” Rose cried.
“She’s doing great. Just great. She was amazing!”
Mia sent up a prayer of thanks that Morgan and her baby were both fine. The pride in Rob’s voice made her heart squeeze with love for both her friends. She wanted Luke to be proud of her like that.
She wanted Luke, period.
As the women rushed to hug Rob and offer their congratulations, Mia hung back knowing clearly for the first time she didn’t want to face her baby’s birth alone. She didn’t want to go another day without telling Luke how much she loved him—and needed him, too.
And she knew what she had to do. Let Luke know she was ready to throw all in with him.
To let him know she was ready to say yes.
Six hours later, Mia pushed the door open and entered the diner, spotting Carl immediately. She slowed down when she saw the cupcake with a lit birthday candle sticking out of it at her place.
As she slid awkwardly into her seat, she asked, “What’s this for?”
“Graduation day.”
“Graduation from what?”
“Business school. You’ve learned all you need to know.”
“I’m no millionaire,” she grumbled as she began to peel the paper away from the bottom of the cupcake.
“No, but you have a successful business with customers clamoring for your service. Everyone’s talking about your events. You have a unique set of skills that you’ve put to use to create your brand. You’ve made connections all over town that will help build your business for you. You’ve set goals and you achieved them.” He put out his hand and shook hers. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Mia beamed back at him. She straightened her shoulders. “I feel good about what I’ve done.”
“You should. Next, you’ll have to figure out how to balance your work with raising that baby.”
“I’m beginning to feel good about that too,” she said. “I’ve made my mind up about something.”
