Luck of the Draw (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 1)

by Cheri Allan

  “O-kaaay.” Doug gave Jim a look.

  Jim shrugged and opened the grill.

  “Don’t even ask,” Jim counseled.

  “I wasn’t planning on it.”

  The two men stood in silence, the smoky grill wafting downwind.

  “Kate seems nice,” said Doug.

  Jim transferred the hotdogs to the warming shelf while the burgers finished cooking. “Grams invited her.”

  “Is that why you two were rolling in the clover together?”

  “It wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “Ah. So you weren’t blushing like two kids caught necking behind the bleachers?”

  Jim moved the veggie burgers to a plate as a chuckle rose in his chest. “Doug, I love you like a brother, but if you give me any more grief I’ll personally disembowel you with these tongs.”

  “Huh. That would be too bad—my kid being born without a father and all.”

  It took him a minute to process, but as soon as it registered, Jim couldn’t suppress a grin. “No kidding?”

  Doug smiled a silly, happy grin of impending fatherhood. “No kidding.”

  “Congratulations.”

  Doug rocked on his heels, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Thanks. But don’t say anything yet. Rachel doesn’t want to make it general knowledge for a few more weeks. Just in case.”

  “Sure.” Jim opened the grill. “Though you might want to wipe that foolish grin off your face before you go back in or people might start asking questions.”

  “It’s hard not to smile. We’ve planned for this for so long.”

  Jim chuckled and shook his head. “You guys will make great parents.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jim opened the grill and squinted against the sting of smoke as the breeze shifted. He was happy for them. Truly. If anybody deserved to be happy, it was those two.

  After all, they’d done everything right.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ____________________

  “WHAT’S THIS?” JIM FINGERED the little seashell with his name on it.

  “A place card. So people know where to sit.” Grace rolled her eyes. “Grams’ idea.”

  Grams reached forward and repositioned the seashell labeled ‘Jim’ in front of his paper plate. “I thought it looked nice with all the decorations Kate set up for us. Besides, you boys always hole up together and get rowdy. I thought spreading you out would make things more pleasant.”

  “I’ve never been rowdy,” Jim protested. He grunted as Carter nudged him hard in the back.

  “Hey, Jim. Taken any more spills? Might want to get your balance checked. All that late night swimming must be playing havoc with your inner ear.”

  Jim narrowed his eyes at Alex who was across the deck corralling the twins at a neighboring table. There were absolutely no secrets anymore. Ignoring Carter’s teasing, Jim checked the names on the shells beside him. Rach was to his right and Alex was to his left. Fine. He could handle that. It would make it easier to silence Alex before he had a chance to run at the mouth again.

  Jim grabbed a fistful of chips. He watched Kate settle Liam next to Susan, his mom and the twins at the smaller table. Kate’s honey-blonde hair kept falling across her face, and he couldn’t help but remember how good it had smelled when she’d fallen in his lap. Christ. He glanced around, feeling like he was sixteen again and waiting outside his locker for the cute girl to notice him. He turned away and sat down.

  A moment later, Kate stood across the table from him, reading a little seashell and flashing those long smooth legs as she stepped over the bench to settle in the only seat left. Directly across from Jim. He popped a chip in his mouth and fought the urge to roll his eyes. Grams was anything but subtle.

  “Hi,” she said, as if she hadn’t just seen him five minutes ago. Or been sitting in his lap for that matter.

  “Hi,” he said. The potato chips were making his throat constrict. He stood up again. “I’m gonna get a drink,” he announced to no one in particular.

  “Grab me a water?” Grace asked.

  “Sure.” He wasn’t particularly thirsty, but he needed air. Or something.

  “I’d love a water, too. If you don’t mind,” Kate said.

  Jim nodded, scraped his chair back and ducked down the deck steps toward the breezeway. He grabbed two bottled waters from the case and a beer from the cooler.

  He slid back into his chair, nearly knocking over a mason jar jammed with wildflowers as he handed a water bottle to Kate.

  Grams made a little speech about patriotism and sacrifice, they had a moment’s silence and then little Alexis burped and announced her root beer needed refilling. Nice.

  Jim passed the tray of hamburgers.

  “So, Kate,” Grace began as other dishes made their way down the table, “do you enjoy swimming?”

  “Yes, but I haven’t been for quite a while.”

  Jim narrowed his eyes at Grace who focused intently on spooning out her potato salad.

  Carter leaned across his sister and grabbed the ketchup. “Now that you’re living next door to Jim, maybe you’ll get more opportunities to enjoy the water. He’s practically a fish, you know.”

  Kate looked at Jim. “Is he?”

  Jim tried to ignore the heat swirling in his gut as Kate’s gaze rested on him. He’d kill them all with his plastic butter knife if they brought up the skinny-dipping.

  “Oh, yeah. Swim team all through school.”

  “No kidding?” Kate’s eyes were bright with interest now.

  “It was no big deal,” Jim objected.

  “No big deal?” cut in his sister, Rachel. “You made it to the Championships senior year! Made front page of the local paper, too.”

  “He used to practice all the time, even at night,” his mother added loudly from the other table. “Why was that, anyway?”

  “It was cooler at night,” he said, glancing up long enough to catch a faint twist to Kate’s full lips. For some reason, knowing she was watching him, seeing the soft fullness of her lips as she fought a smile, brought a fullness to his groin that didn’t make sitting under the scrutiny of his entire family any more comfortable. He twisted in his seat and took another slug of beer. “Great potato salad, Grams.”

  “I seem to remember you swimming off the dock near our cottage,” his grandmother mused. “You’d go back and forth in the water for ages. Reminded me of myself at that age. You should have seen him, Kate. He was beautiful to watch.”

  Jim squirmed in his seat again as Kate choked on her bite of food. She quickly washed it down with a healthy drink of water. “Sorry,” she wheezed, her cheeks blazing, “went down the wrong way.”

  “Grams was just saying Jim swam over near your cottage all the time and he was beautiful to watch,” Grace helpfully repeated, forking potato salad into her mouth as she grinned at him innocently. The imp.

  All eyes focused on Kate. “I’m sure he was... beautiful, that is.”

  She glanced up at the same time as Jim, and just for a moment, their eyes met. He sucked in a breath at the unadulterated look of awareness that flashed in her eyes. But she said nothing as she ducked her head and took another drink. He licked his lips, wishing he were anywhere but sitting at this damn folding table with his family all around.

  “Jim’s right,” Susan commented from the kids’ table. “This is terrific potato salad, Mrs. Pearson.”

  I love you, Susan, even though your husband is a blabbermouth.

  “Thank you. The bacon bits are the key.”

  “There’s bacon in this?” cried Grace. “Does no one around here know what being vegetarian means?”

  “Just pick it out,” said Carter. “It’s easy to spot.”

  “Would you pick around a bunch of bugs in your food just because they were easy to spot? That’s disgusting!”

  “Extra protein,” Carter added.

  “I’ve lost my appetite.” Grace pushed her plate away.

  “Here,” Kate took the o
ffending plate piled with potato salad. “I’ll get you a garden burger.”

  “Thank you.” Grace waited for Kate to walk away then swung toward Jim. “She seems nice,” she said meaningfully. “Don’t you think?”

  “Yeah. Sure.” He waited for her to look away. She didn’t. “What?”

  “Well? Don’t you think maybe, you know, you might ask her out? She’s all alone. She’ll be here the whole summer... You broke up with Justine months ago…”

  “Oh, for cryin— ”

  “I made sure it hadn’t touched any of the other meats,” Kate announced as she approached the table. She set the garden burger in front of Grace.

  “I’m thinking after dinner Jim should show Kate some of his moves,” Carter suggested. Jim shot Carter the evil eye. “In the water, I mean.”

  “That’s an excellent idea!” Grams enthused from the end of the table. “I’d love a dip after this warm day. We can go right after the boat ride.”

  Jim stabbed another chunk of potato. “Kate might not be in the mood for a swim.”

  “Actually, I’d love to go,” she said.

  He glanced up. She gave him a shy smile, her eyes crinkling softly at the corners.

  Ah, hell.

  AFTER DINNER, JIM’S PARENTS shooed Kate away and told her to run and get her swimsuit. Assured Liam was happily playing with his new friends, Kate made the short drive around the lake to the cottage.

  Was it foolhardy to entertain the excited butterflies in her belly at the thought of swimming? She couldn’t help herself. The Pearsons were loud, chaotic, unpredictable, and unapologetically themselves. With her own parents too enmeshed in their isolated social circle to do much more than “give her space” and a grandmother who thought giving advice was a full contact sport, she found the Pearsons’ light-hearted family dynamic refreshing.

  Kate parked and walked to the door, her feet feeling unusually light. It was odd not having Liam in tow. Odd not having him chattering at her elbow or pulling on her arm.

  Kate hurried to her room and laid out the swimsuits she’d packed on the bed. There was the navy tankini—practical for nursing when Liam was an infant, but showing its age. A little stretched out. A lot faded. Kate fingered her coral print bikini and wondered if she could still get away with baring her stomach. She hadn’t expected anyone to see her other than Liam, so it hadn’t seemed practical to buy something new. On the plus side, she hadn’t been eating well the last couple months and had dropped a few pounds. She’d have to change that, of course, but for now... heck, she’d bring both and decide when she got there.

  When she arrived back at the house, Kate followed the sound of voices to the dock. Liam sat perched next to Mr. Pearson at the Captain’s seat of a large pontoon ‘party’ boat. The rear canopy shaded Jim’s mom and grandmother, his friends, Susan and Alex, and their twins. At the front sat Rachel, her husband, Grace, Ian and Carter. “Sorry I kept you waiting.” Kate stepped onto the softly swaying boat and slid onto the seat next to Rachel. She looked around. “Jim’s not coming?”

  “He didn’t think there’d be room,” Rachel said. “He said he’d sit this one out.”

  “Oh.” Kate’s disappointment seemed disproportionate even to her. But, as they got underway, a cool breeze refreshed her heated skin, and she gave herself over to the relaxing movement of the boat and golden sun on the water.

  “Liam seems to be enjoying himself.” Rachel pointed as Liam grinned ear to ear with the opportunity to ‘steer’ the boat.

  Kate nodded. “He’s really taken to your dad.”

  “Dad’s great with kids. He’ll be great when he has grandkids. I think they invite Alex and Susan every year as much because they’re good friends as to see the twins.”

  Kate’s heart felt tight as she watched the happy interplay. “Liam doesn’t have a lot of contact with his real grandfathers.”

  “Do they live far away?”

  Kate shrugged. “My dad is busy with his business and... other things.” Like the golf game that kept him from attending his only grandson’s birthday party.

  “What about your late husband’s father?”

  Kate watched a pair of kayakers on the far shore as they bobbed like orange and yellow buoys in the water. “He isn’t in the best of health.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It is what it is.” Kate glanced again at Liam, honking the boat’s horn and waving exuberantly as they passed a family barbecuing on shore. Isn’t this the kind of experience every kid should have?

  Why had she let Randy talk her into moving to southern Connecticut anyway? Sure, they were near pools and gyms and lots of conveniences, but there weren’t big sloping lawns that rambled into lakes or quiet, peaceful back roads that went on for miles.

  But Randy had jumped at the chance to move into Nana’s house. We’ll never be able to afford to move there otherwise, Kate...and you know that’s where all the good customers are. Just think! If I get a job at a Lexus or Jaguar dealership... do you know what the commissions are on those babies? Do you have any idea? With my sales skills, we’ll have it made!

  “Are you okay?” Rachel peered at Kate, concern creasing her brow.

  “Just thinking.” The wind blew soft on her face, the hum of the pontoon’s motor washing over the murmur of other conversation. Kate gave herself a mental shake and forced a wry smile. “I suppose it’s finally occurring to me that for the first time in my life my future is entirely up to me.”

  Rachel gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “That’s not a bad thing, is it? Think of the possibilities.”

  “I am, and it frightens the hell out of me.”

  Rachel laughed, and Kate clasped her hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry! That just came out!”

  “It’s okay!” Rachel brushed the hair from her face. “I feel exactly the same way!” She leaned close and smiled—a warm, friendly grin. “I like your honesty. It’s very refreshing.

  “You know, I know you’re only here for the summer, but Doug will be interviewing in the area over the next few weeks—we’re hoping to move closer to Sugar Falls—and I was thinking it’d be fun to get together now and again. We can hang out. Grace. Susan. Whomever’s around. Just us girls. What do you say?”

  Kate paused. She didn’t know what to say.

  Oh, sure, she’d been social enough these last few years. She’d gotten together with neighbors… coworkers… people who invited her to their Martha Stewart-inspired Fourth of July barbecues and wine and cheese buffets. But, since having Liam and moving to southern Connecticut, she’d lost touch with all her old friends. Nowadays, get-togethers seemed less about enjoying herself and more about making an impression on someone for her parents’ sake or for Randy’s.

  Rachel’s relaxed invitation to ‘just hang out’ was a breath of fresh air in a life that was closing in on her.

  Just us girls.

  Kate grinned. “I’d like that very much.”

  AFTER THE BOAT RIDE, SUSAN TOOK the three kids to make s’mores, and Kate followed Grace and Rachel to the house to change. She tried to duck into the hallway bathroom, but it was occupied.

  Grace held open the door of the spare bedroom. “Aren’t you coming?”

  Kate hesitated for a moment before following Grace into the bedroom. Grace shut the door. As the two cousins chatted and stripped to their underwear, Kate slid her shorts and tee off and dug in her tote for her things. Not having grown up with sisters, she felt the old disquiet of the high school locker room, wondering what the others would think of her plain, practical briefs and tired old bra. She really needed some new things.

  “You’re not wearing that, are you?” Kate glanced up and was relieved Grace was speaking to Rachel, clad in a sporty maillot, and not about her underwear.

  “What’s wrong with it?” Rachel countered.

  “It’s navy.”

  “So?”

  Grace glanced around and leaned toward her cousin, “It just seems… Oh, Rach, I hate to think...
you’re giving up. There’s always hope...”

  Kate pretended to look for something in her tote as Rachel stared at her cousin.

  “Giving up?” Rachel asked, but then her face broke into a coy grin. “It just so happens, Doug loves this suit on me. And for the record, it hasn’t hurt my fertility either.”

  Kate held her breath as she watched the cousins from across the bed.

  Grace’s eyes widened. “No!”

  “Yes!” Rachel beamed.

  “Oh. My. God!” Grace blinked then turned and yanked a fistful of tissues out of a box before flinging herself bodily at her cousin. “I’m so relieved! I thought there was something awful happening. You weren’t talking to me... Then Jim made this stupid comment—” She blew her nose heartily, still clenching her cousin tightly to her. “Pregnant? Really?”

  Kate’s hand went to her own stomach.

  “I know!” Rachel beamed. “I’ve been popping with the news all night, but I wasn’t sure how to tell you. If you’d be okay with it…”

  “Are you crazy? I’m so happy for you!”

  “No one else knows,” she said. She turned to include Kate. “And I don’t want to make it public until I’m further along, so if you guys could just keep it between us?”

  Grace pretended to zip her lips and drop the key. “I can’t believe it!” she burst out in a whisper. “When?”

  “February, we think, but I totally stopped charting in December because it was stressing me out, so we’re a little sketchy on the date of conception. It’s ballpark until I go for my ultrasound next week.”

  “An ultrasound!” Grace enthused.

  Kate dropped her hand and eyed Rachel in her swimsuit, her blonde hair and petite figure set off beautifully by the classic lines and deep color. Kate looked at her own tankini, as the cousins quietly chatted about the good news, and quickly stuffed it back in her tote. Baby belly or not, there was no way she was wearing a stretched-out runner-up of a navy swimsuit. Rachel was glowing.