Saving Abby

by Steena Holmes

  With the cake cooling on the rack, Millie prepared the chicken all the while keeping an eye on her daughter. Claire had to be sleeping again. She hadn’t stirred for the past half hour in the hammock.

  Josh stopped in the kitchen doorway as he caught the aroma of freshly baked cake. “Something smells delicious.” Dropping his notebook on the counter, he said, “That’s not chocolate.” He crossed his arms and frowned.

  “No, it’s not.” Millie smiled to herself as she shook her head at him. Most men are like little kids when it came to their expectations. If they don’t get their way, they pout.

  “When you said cake, I assumed you meant chocolate.” His gaze narrowed as he scrutinized the kitchen, and then he went over to peer into the oven.

  “No, Josh, there isn’t another cake in there.” Millie chuckled. “The last cake I made was chocolate. Don’t you think it’s Claire’s turn this time?”

  His nose scrunched up. “Coconut cream?”

  She nodded.

  He sighed. “Next time you’ll make a cake I like, right? Please?”

  “Go on with you.” Millie swatted his arm. “I make you plenty of desserts your wife doesn’t eat. How about those chocolate peanut butter cupcakes I brought over last week? Or the key lime pie I made to welcome you home from your trip?”

  “True.” He sighed again, drooping his shoulders melodramatically. “Fine. Let my darling wife have her cake. She deserves it.” The moment he said the words, his eyes lit up.

  For a moment, Millie’s heart stopped. He almost said something. She could feel it.

  “On that note—I have something for my girl to read, so I’d better make sure she’s awake,” he said as he headed for the patio.

  Millie loved to watch the two together. Their love for one another was always sparkling between them, so alive. Seeing them—how good they were together, how in love even after everything they’d been through—gave Millie hope. Not hope for herself, she didn’t need that, but for her daughter. That she would always be loved and treasured.

  If anyone deserved it, it was Claire.

  Millie moved closer to the open kitchen window. She wasn’t one to consider eavesdropping beneath her, not when there was something for her to learn.

  “Hey, beautiful. I’ve got some pages for you to read.” Josh leaned over and gave Claire a lingering kiss.

  Her daughter murmured something before Josh pulled up a chair and raised his legs so his feet rested in the hammock.

  “What do you think of Alethea? We could call her Thea,” he said.

  Millie leaned closer.

  “We can add it to the list at least. Or Zane for a boy.” Josh pulled out a little notepad he had in his back pocket and wrote in it.

  Hmmm. Name hunting could mean one of two things. They were searching for names for a new character, something they normally let their followers on Facebook help with, or they were thinking of names for a baby.

  She prayed it was for a baby.

  After dinner and while they lingered over the coconut cream cake, Millie watched her daughter intently, catching the little hand movements toward her belly, the glances between Claire and Josh. They had a secret.

  She hated not knowing secrets.

  “Did you hear that Matt and Melissa are having another baby?” Millie leaned back in her chair and sipped at the coffee Josh had made.

  Claire’s hand stilled as she was about to take a bit of cake. “They are?”

  “This will be baby number four. I wonder what they’ll call this one.” She smiled at the thought. Matt and Melissa owned the local bookstore in town called Something Different. They tended to name their babies after famous authors.

  “I remember Matt telling me he always wanted to name a son Tennyson.” Josh winked at Claire before he smiled at Millie.

  Millie smiled back. “Who knows, maybe they’ll actually have a boy this time. Tennyson is a nice name.” She took another bite of her cake, keeping her gaze locked on the dessert plate in front of her. “I always thought Elliot would make a nice name for a boy or Avery for a girl.”

  “Avery”—Claire hesitated for only a second but one that felt like forever—“is a nice name. Maybe we can add it to our list, Josh?”

  Millie almost choked.

  “Avery is good. We could use it for either too.” There was hint of laughter in her son-in-law’s voice.

  Millie looked up, struggling very hard to keep the smile off her face. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” she asked.

  “Mom . . .”

  “Yes, Claire?”

  “There’s something we want to share with you.” Claire reached over and grabbed Josh’s hand. “I meant to tell you earlier, but . . .”

  “It’s okay, honey.” Her daughter didn’t need to apologize for needing to bring up the past. No doubt it was very much present in her life right now.

  “Mom, I’m pregnant.” Claire laughed as she made her announcement.

  Millie shrieked, jumped up, and hugged her own baby, unable to contain her excitement any longer.

  “I knew it!” She danced on the spot. “I’m so happy for you, for you both.” She reached for Josh’s hand and then realized that wasn’t enough. She skipped her way over to him, squeezing tight as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

  “So you’re okay with being a grandma?” Josh asked, laughing at her.

  He could laugh all he wanted. She didn’t care. This was a dream come true.

  “Well, I’m not sure about the whole Grandma part. We’ll need to come up with a name that doesn’t make me feel old. But having a baby to love, absolutely.”

  She went over to hug her daughter again. “I’m so happy for you, honey. You will be an amazing mom, full of love and laughter. This little one is a gift. One that will always be cherished. Always.”

  “You knew, didn’t you?” Claire asked, her face beaming.

  Millie nodded. “A mother always knows, sweetheart.”

  “What about Xavier?” Josh tossed the name out of nowhere.

  “As in X-Men Xavier, the one who could read minds?” Millie asked. She knew her son-in-law was a comic book junkie, but wasn’t that pushing it too far?

  “What’s wrong with naming our child after a man with superpowers?” Josh sat down and leaned back, entwining his hands behind his neck and looking content.

  “You’re not adding that one to the list,” Claire said.

  Josh’s brows rose as his arms slowly came down, and he pulled out a notebook from his back pocket.

  “Wanna bet? We made the deal that any name could go on the list. No name was a bad name. Remember?”

  “Xavier is a bad name.” Claire shook her head.

  “Is not.”

  “Is too.”

  Millie laughed.

  “Have you told anyone yet?” Millie asked. She was ready to announce it to the world, but knowing her daughter, Claire would likely prefer to keep it close for a little while longer.

  “Just Abby. And Dr. Shuman since he was there too.” Claire wiped tears from her eyes. “I kind of want to keep it quiet, just for a little bit. We’ve waited so long for this . . .”

  “Well, if I had my way, I’d be throwing you a big party.” She watched for her daughter’s reaction, but all she did was smile. “Can I?” She clapped her hands together in excitement. There was nothing she liked better than celebrating something, and what better reason than a grandchild?

  “No, Mom. You can’t. I want to let it soak in first. Okay? They say the first trimester—”

  “You just stop it right there.” Millie cut her daughter off. “Nothing is going to happen to this baby, do you hear me? Nothing.”

  TEN

  CLAIRE

  Present day

  Claire sent Abby a quick text to see if she had a free moment.

  Bring me a cupcake and I’m all yours. Come to the back, Abby had replied. So, armed with a cupcake from the Sweet Bites Bakery, Claire met Abby at the back door of t
he clinic. They meandered over to a picnic table in the grassy area behind the building.

  “You are my hero.” Abby sat down at the table and swept her finger through the icing of the cupcake. “This is so much better than the ham and Swiss I packed for my lunch.”

  “Don’t ever lecture me on healthy eating again,” Claire said with a laugh. The look of pure ecstasy on Abby’s face almost made Claire wish she’d bought herself a cupcake. But then, the thought of actually eating it made her stomach a little queasy.

  “Where’s that too-good-to-be-true hubby of yours?” Abby wiped the crumbs from the corner of her mouth, having inhaled more than half the cupcake.

  “Over at the bookstore. And he’s not ‘too good to be true.’ What’s up with that?” Abby had made a couple of comments along that line about Josh, and she didn’t like it.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you two fight. Like, actually fight—you know, yell and scream at one another. That’s not normal. You know that, right?”

  “I didn’t realize yelling and screaming at one another was a requirement for marriage.”

  “No need to get snarky. I was just making a comment.” Abby held her hands up in surrender. “Sorry, I obviously hit a nerve.”

  “There’s no nerve.” Claire shook her head, and then said, “Other than something’s going on between you and Derek, and you’re pushing it onto me. What gives?”

  Abby turned on the bench. She splayed her arms across the top of the table and kicked her legs out beneath it. “My husband is a jerk, that’s all. Sorry. You’re right. Josh is amazing, and I’m just letting my jealousy show.”

  Claire moved to sit beside her. “All men can be jerks at one time or another.”

  Abby snorted. “Give me an example of Josh being a jerk in the past week or so. I bet you can’t.”

  Claire took a moment to think about that and realized Abby was right. She couldn’t. He might be overbearing and a little too concerned about her health, but that wasn’t jerkish behavior—that was just Josh being Josh.

  “You can’t, can you? I think the last time you really complained about him to me was when you argued over a plot line in one of your books.”

  Claire winced. “No marriage is perfect, Abby. Not even ours.” And yet, she really had nothing to complain about. Right now, they were in sync with one another, and it was amazing. Josh was the perfect partner for her. Did they yell and fight often? No. But they certainly disagreed, and things did get heated.

  “Sometimes I wonder.” Abby smiled sadly. “I look at you and Josh, and I wish I had a marriage like yours. With someone who was a partner, a real partner. All Derek and I seem to do lately is fight, and it’s over stupid things. I’m just so . . . tired of arguing with him, you know?” She shook her head before giving Claire a forced smile.

  “What’s going on? Really going on?” Claire pressed. This wasn’t the first time her friend had alluded to deeper issues in her marriage.

  “No one ever really prepares you for what marriage is like. Not really. They don’t tell you about the compromises you need to make, or the things you have to deal with. Sometimes,” Abby said with a sigh. “Sometimes, I wonder if things wouldn’t be easier being single.”

  “You don’t believe that.”

  “Again, not everyone has the type of relationship you and Josh have. I hate to repeat myself, but . . .” Abby leaned her head back and stared up at the sky. “I love you, Claire, I really do. But sometimes I hate how easy things are for you.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She did not just say that.

  “I’m serious. I know, I know. You’ve had your own stuff to deal with, but look at you now? You’re thriving in a career you love, you’ve got a husband who would do anything for you, and now you’re having that baby you’ve always dreamed of.”

  Claire stifled a snort with a deep frown. “So you don’t have a career you love? You don’t have a husband who loves you? You’re not following your dreams? Come on, Abby. What is actually going on here?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’m looking for something that isn’t there. Things just . . . don’t seem right, you know?” Abby turned sideways on the bench and rested her elbows on her knees.

  “Should you go back to that marriage counselor? It helped last time, right?” Claire massaged the back of her neck, kneading deep into the muscle.

  “Is that where you normally get your headaches?”

  “Josh thinks I should get a massage, that it might help.” Claire slowly rolled her neck, stretching to relieve some of the tightness.

  “It might. That man loves you—it’s so obvious.”

  “Derek loves you too, Abigail. I think you’re just going through a rough patch right now. We all have those.” Claire really didn’t know what to say. While it wasn’t the first time Abigail had mentioned issues with Derek, she’d never gotten a sense of what was beneath the vague complaints her friend made.

  “We’ll be fine. It is what it is.” She checked her watch. “I need to get back inside. Thanks for the cupcake. It was exactly what I needed.”

  “How about you and Derek come join us for a barbecue soon?” Claire said as she lightly rubbed her belly. “We can celebrate you being the godparents of our little one.” She dropped the news and watched for Abby’s reaction.

  “Sure. We can do that.” She turned to walk away. “Wait—did you just say what I thought you said?”

  Claire grinned and nodded, too excited for words.

  Abby rushed toward her with her arms out for a hug. “Godparents? Really?” The elation in her voice was so apparent there was no mistaking how much this meant to her.

  “I couldn’t think of anyone else I would want in my child’s life more than you. Derek just gets to come along for the ride.” Claire felt her heart filling with joy, and laughter bubbled out of her.

  “You just made my day. My month. My year. Oh my goodness, Claire. Yes. Yes, of course, I’ll be in your child’s life.” Abby let out a little squeal and jumped up and down.

  “Good, because I wasn’t asking.” Clair tried to smile but winced instead. Keeping her head still as the ache intensified, she closed her eyes and willed herself to ignore the pain, to breathe through it.

  “Come inside for a moment. I have something that will help get rid of the pain,” Abby said.

  Claire grimaced. She wasn’t sure anything would get rid of the pain.

  ELEVEN

  JOSH

  Present day

  For the umpteenth time, Josh glanced at the bedroom window and frowned. He’d kept the window open in hopes that the sound of the lawn mower as he cut the grass in the backyard would wake Claire up, but so far, nothing. Normally after her nap, she would come to wherever he was, in search of a hug. So he could only take that to mean she hadn’t woken up, which was odd.

  He’d cut the grass, cleaned up the yard, and decided to call Derek.

  “Come over for an early dinner. I’ll get the steaks out. You bring the beer,” Josh said once Derek answered the call.

  “Deal. I thought we were coming over anyways. The girls set this up before you left for Toronto.”

  Interesting. Claire must have forgotten to mention it.

  “Good to know. Well then . . . come early anyways and bring your beautiful wife with you.”

  “Like I’d come alone.” Derek laughed. “Is everything okay with Claire? Give me a heads up, man, ’cause you know Abby is going to want to know how Claire is feeling.”

  Josh poured fresh coffee into his mug and took a sip.

  “I’m not sure. She’s sleeping again. She’s gotten worse since we came back from visiting Sami. Constant headaches, increased exhaustion.” He rubbed his face. “I had to carry her down the stairs today because she was so tired she couldn’t walk.” He hated seeing her so weak. He wanted to be able to help her, to protect her.

  “That can’t be good. I’ll mention it to Abby. See you later this afternoon then. I’ll bring the beer. Abby
will bring the wine. Just try not to burn the steaks this time.”

  “Ooh, ouch.” Josh shook his head at the memory of their last barbecue. “Hey, at least my steaks aren’t still kicking and mooing once I’ve cooked them.” After delivering his parting shot, he rang off. He was still chuckling to himself as he headed outside to the patio, where he had been working earlier.

  He had enjoyed the trip to Europe, but he’d missed his backyard. He liked to sit on the patio to work. Claire, on the other hand, liked to work on her illustrations upstairs, staring out the large bay window into their yard, where their garden beds flourished thanks to Claire’s mom’s faithful tending and where deer liked to nibble on the long, sweet grasses at their back fence.

  Claire had sketches of those deer all over her desk.

  He picked up the last page he’d been working on and thought about Claire’s comments about them . . . something to do with the daffodils. He’d been struggling with the scene, which is why he’d asked Claire to read it over.

  Jack was in Bruges, Belgium, not Amsterdam where the fields of tulips thrived. Maybe that was his problem.

  Josh looked over his notes and Claire’s chicken scratches in the margins and reread her ideas. Chocolate shops, water canals, convent grounds full of flowers. She’d seen a dog limping down a narrow street one day. In the notes, she had written the words wounded dog and underlined them three times.

  A scene played out in Josh’s mind: Jack, their little boy with an overactive imagination, let go of his mother’s hand in the crowded square to follow a dog he’d noticed limping alongside the street. He could hear Jack’s mom sighing as she followed her son, never wanting to hold him back, always giving in to his adventures, and always ensuring he was okay.

  Except, he’d already planned a scene like that for Paris. He needed something else in Bruges.

  Their goal with the stories was to teach children to explore, to discover, to let their imaginations run wild. Claire was the one who insisted Jack’s mother always be there in the background, watching over her son. After all, what mother in her right mind would let her child wander off in a strange country?