Another Man's Wife

by Rebecca Winters

  Rick cleared his throat. “You know something? Seeing them in the kitchen where he and Mo—”

  “Don’t say it.” Nate couldn’t imagine what that must’ve been like for Rick.

  His brother pounded his fist against the steering wheel. “I saw Dad’s car out in front. I had no idea what I was walking in on when I let myself into the house.”

  “Neither of us could have foreseen this.”

  “I don’t know about you, but suddenly I feel…old.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “LAUREL? Phone’s for you.”

  Laurel Pierce was lying on the couch in the den with her legs propped up. She put down the baby magazine she’d been reading. “I hope it’s Mom.” She mouthed the words as her sister walked into the room and passed her the cordless.

  Julie shook her head. “Scott’s mom,” she mouthed back.

  Laurel groaned.

  “You can’t keep ignoring her. Just talk to her for a minute and get it over with,” her sister whispered.

  Julie was right, of course. For the last half year, Laurel had asked her sister to screen her calls and make excuses when she couldn’t face talking to certain people on the phone. It had become a habit and it wasn’t fair to Julie.

  She put the phone to her ear. “Hi, Reba.”

  “Laurel, dear. Finally! I’ve made several attempts to call you, but it seems like you’re never there. We haven’t heard from you in over a week!”

  “I know. I’m sorry. It’s been busy around here with the kids coming and going to music classes and ski lessons. Didn’t Mom tell you everything was fine at my last appointment with the obstetrician?”

  “Yes, but it’s not the same as hearing the details from you,” Reba said in a hurt voice. “Have you changed your mind about not wanting to know if you’re having a boy or girl?”

  “No. I’d rather be surprised.”

  “That’s too bad. It limits the choice of colors for baby gifts. We’re planning a big shower for you, but we can’t mail the invitations without a date. How soon are you leaving Denver to come home?”

  Guilt weighed Laurel down. How many times had she heard that question over the last few months? She flashed her sister a look of distress.

  Philadelphia was the city where she’d been born and raised, where she’d gone to high school and met Scott. But being married to an Air Force man for ten years had taken her to so many places around the globe, no one spot felt like home anymore—Philadelphia least of all, now that Scott was dead.

  More than eleven months had passed since the last time she’d curled up in his arms. Little had she known that after he’d left the next morning for a long deployment with NATO forces, those arms would never hold her again….

  Thank heaven she’d been able to get through to him before the air show and tell him the implant had worked. They were expecting.

  The joy in his voice was her final remembrance of him before word came that he’d crashed. If she could be thankful for one thing, it was that he went to his death knowing she was pregnant with his baby.

  She hadn’t wanted to adopt until they’d tried every other option, including fertility drugs. In vitro fertilization had been their last resort. The doctors had made several attempts to fertilize her eggs using his frozen sperm; finally an embryo had been implanted and the procedure was successful.

  It helped her more than anyone could know that their final communication over the phone had brought them closer than they’d been in a long time. They’d expressed their love and had talked about a future that included this unborn child. The three of them would be a family, and Scott would become a father, as he’d always wanted.

  She had military friends who’d lost husbands or wives during difficult periods in their marriages. Some still grieved because their last words to each other had been said in anger.

  When all was said and done, Laurel felt very blessed. Although the demands of Scott’s career had taken him away a lot, the times they’d spent together she would cherish forever. It was true that if she’d had a child, the periods when he was gone wouldn’t have felt so long and lonely. But all of that was in the past now.

  “Laurel?”

  “Yes?”

  “Why didn’t you answer my question? You only have four weeks left. Scotty arrived ten days early.”

  I know. I know it all.

  “That doesn’t leave much room for a party, dear.”

  The time had come to drop her bombshell. Her gaze clung to Julie’s for moral support.

  “You’re right, Reba, but my doctor says it’s too late to fly anywhere now.”

  Her sister broke into a smile and gave her a thumbs-up. Before her mother-in-law could react, Laurel decided to get it all said. It was long past time.

  “Realistically speaking, I won’t be able to travel anywhere until after my delivery. Why don’t we plan on a shower once I’ve had my six week checkup in May? I’ll fly out with the baby and take turns staying with you and Mom.”

  “But that’s months away! I don’t understand you, Laurel. You’ve changed since the funeral. Have you stopped loving us?”

  She closed her eyes tightly. “Of course not, Reba. I’ll always love you and Wendell. You’re my baby’s grandparents.”

  “But you don’t want to be around us.” Underlying her mother-in-law’s accusation, Laurel felt her pain.

  She put her feet to the floor and sat up. “It isn’t that. But I’ve had to face the fact that Scott’s never coming back.”

  Those words needed to be said. She’d heard other pilots’ widows say them after the healing process had begun. Now she was able to say them herself.

  “I’ve found that being away from reminders of him has made this period easier to bear. Being with Julie and her family in new surroundings—knowing my baby is almost here—everything’s helped me get over the worst of my grief.”

  It was true. Six months ago she hadn’t thought it possible.

  Julie’s eyes turned suspiciously bright.

  “What about our family’s pain? Did you ever consider how much we’ve needed you?”

  “Yes.” She swallowed hard. “The only thing that’s helped me in that regard was knowing you and Wendell still have each other and your other children and grandchildren for comfort.”

  “So you’re cutting us out of your life. Is that it?”

  “You know that’s not true! I told you I’ll come for a visit in May.”

  “And then what?”

  That was a good question, one for which Laurel had no answer.

  “I don’t know yet.” She eyed her sister once more. “In the meantime, I’m in the happiest place I could be while I wait for this baby.”

  It was Julie and her husband, Brent, who’d understood Laurel’s need for space—and for different surroundings—while she grieved.

  Of her three married sisters, Julie, the oldest, was the one with whom Laurel had always felt a special bond. Over the years they’d kept in almost constant touch through phone calls, e-mails and the occasional visit when she and Scott were stationed in Okinawa and in Spain.

  To her undying gratitude, they’d told her they were taking her back to Colorado with them where Brent worked for a nationwide telecommunications company. Their two-story colonial house in Aurora had more than enough room for her and their boys.

  Coming on the heels of Scott’s funeral, their offer had rescued Laurel from the Pierces, whose well-meaning attention was suffocating her. She didn’t think she would have survived otherwise.

  “Please try to understand, Reba. Please be happy that you’re going to be grandparents again very soon. Scott would want it this way.”

  “Our son would be shocked to know his wife has purposely stayed away from us.”

  It was no use. Laurel couldn’t make her understand that it was too soon to be around his family with all the attendant memories.

  “I’m sorry you feel hurt. That’s not my intent.”

  She
heard Reba gearing up for the next volley. “When you’re a mother, maybe then you’ll begin to understand. I think it might be better if we don’t talk for a few days.”

  “I’ll call you soon. I promise.”

  “I don’t think you realize how much you’ve changed, Laurel. You’re not the same girl our son fell in love with.” There was a click.

  I’m not a teenager anymore, Reba.

  Laurel had married Scott as soon as she’d graduated from high school. Her plans to become an elementary school teacher had to be put on hold to accommodate his career. She’d been a very young bride, too young to recognize what life in the military really meant. Scott never gave it a thought. Being a top gun provided him with the continual thrills and excitement he craved.

  He’d been the youngest of five children, all of whom were now married and living in or near Philadelphia. With hindsight, Laurel could see that his parents had never gotten over losing him to the Air Force.

  It was a case of arrested development on their part, she decided. They were the proud parents of an outstanding son who’d left home too soon. They were stuck in the past.

  Laurel couldn’t help them with that.

  It was the reason she didn’t want to live around them on a permanent basis. Nothing was going to restore Scott to life. She refused to let her child become the focus of their unassuaged longing to have their son back.

  Primarily because of that, she hadn’t let the ultrasound technician tell her the sex of her baby.

  Secretly she was praying for a girl. A sweet little girl who wouldn’t be the embodiment of the son they’d doted on before Scott left home.

  Scotty, their thrill-seeking, daredevil son. Scotty, who’d taken Laurel’s heart on a roller-coaster ride around the world before it all came to a screeching halt decades sooner than they’d expected.

  “Laurel?” her sister said. “Are you all right?”

  Suddenly back in the present, she turned off the phone and stood up. “No,” she said in a quiet voice. “It was awful. I hated hurting her.”

  “But you had to do it.” Julie hugged her as best she could, considering Laurel’s pregnancy. “I’m proud of you.”

  “I’m pretty proud of myself. When I first met Scott’s mother, I couldn’t imagine ever talking to her the way I just did. I love his parents a lot, but they have this way of taking over, you know?”

  Her sister winked. “That’s probably why Scott went into the Air Force.”

  “You mean to get away from them?” Soon after she’d married Scott, the same thought had crossed Laurel’s mind, but she would never have voiced it aloud.

  “Maybe. If you’ve noticed, the rest of their children haven’t been as courageous.”

  “That’s because they didn’t inherit Scott’s genes.”

  “Nope. He came into this world with attitude.”

  In spades.

  That was probably why the guys in his squadron had nicknamed him Spade. When he walked into a room, he energized it. According to his parents he’d always been that way. They would never overcome their loss.

  She bit her lip. “Julie—I know I’ve been a burden to you and Brent. Maybe—”

  “Oh, no, you don’t!” her sister cut in before she could walk out of the room. “Reba’s made you feel guilty again. I’m not listening to any of this,” she called over her shoulder.

  Laurel had to hurry to catch up with her. She followed her through the door to the kitchen. Brent was just coming in the back door from doing errands. Julie ran to give her attractive, sandy-haired husband an enthusiastic kiss.

  “Now that you’re here, will you please tell my sister she’s not a burden? A few minutes ago her mother-in-law laid an enormous guilt trip on her. That was after Laurel told her she wouldn’t be returning to Philadelphia until May for a visit.”

  “Well, what do you know? You did it!” Brent grinned. “You want me to phone and tell her you’re the best baby-sitter we ever had? Julie and I get a honeymoon weekend whenever we want. And—” he made an expansive gesture “—because of you, Julie’s been able to take a part-time job so we can build our dream home that much sooner. I’d say we’ve been taking advantage of you.”

  Without hesitation Laurel crossed the room and hugged both of them. “I love you guys. You’ll never know how much.”

  “We love you, too,” he said. “In fact, I’d like to show our appreciation for all the help you’ve given us. Since I have to drive up to Breckenridge to pick up the kids, why don’t we all go?”

  “I’d love it!” Laurel blurted. After the difficult session with her mother-in-law, she needed something to wipe that depressing conversation from her mind.

  Julie frowned. “I don’t know. Three hours up and back in the car might be a little much for you at this stage.”

  “Not if we spend the night to break it up,” Brent reasoned.

  “That’s a terrific idea! Now we don’t even have to fix dinner.” Julie smiled and nudged her sister.

  “The boys are going to be as excited as I am,” Laurel responded, smiling too. What a nice way to end their week at ski camp.”

  “Good. I’ll call the Rustler Lodge and make reservations for a suite.”

  “It’s Saturday, my love. With Snowfest on, I’ll bet there won’t be any rooms available.”

  “Oh, yes, there will, my love. Harry Wilke’s daughter runs the desk.”

  “You’re kidding! Isn’t he your regional supervisor?”

  “That’s right. Getting that last account put me on his good side. He told me she’d do us a favor anytime.”

  Brent grabbed the phone directory from the drawer and reached for the cordless Julie had brought back to the kitchen.

  “Come on, Laurel. Let’s get packed. We’ll have to throw in some extra clothes for Mike and Joey.”

  “I’ll do it,” she offered as they hurried through the house to the stairs. Since her arrival, one of her self-appointed jobs besides chief cook on the days Julie went to work was to do the wash and fold clothes. She knew exactly where to find everything the boys would want.

  It didn’t take long for the three of them to get ready.

  When Laurel walked through the back door to the garage with Julie, Brent was putting their skis on the rack. He glanced up, then whistled.

  “Hey, people are going to be jealous when they see me with two beautiful raven-haired women.”

  Laurel burst into laughter. “Thanks for making this ten-ton-Tessie feel so good. I was just telling your wife how terrific she looks in the red sweater you bought her for Christmas.”

  “I appreciate it,” Julie said, “but my husband’s right. In that black sweater coat, you look wonderful.”

  “Thanks, Julie.”

  Laurel was still smiling as he packed their overnight bags and snow gear in the trunk. Soon he’d reversed the car out of the garage and they were off.

  Laurel hadn’t left the house all day. It felt liberating—exciting—to be going on a brief vacation. She was looking forward to the drive and to seeing the boys. At eight and ten years of age, they were still delightful. Laurel adored her nephews.

  Two hours later, she had to ask Brent to pull in to the nearest gas station at Copper Mountain. “Sorry, guys. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to make a rest room stop, but I’m afraid we do.”

  “No problem.”

  After a few minutes, they were on the road again. Within another half hour they’d reached the Rustler Lodge in Breckenridge. Brent drove up to the waiting area in front of the entrance, then turned to his wife.

  “Tell you what. I’ll grab a couple of bags and take Laurel inside so she can stretch. Then I’ll come back and we’ll find the boys over at the lift. We’ve timed this just right. It ought to be closing in about ten minutes.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  “Let’s go register.” Brent got out of the car and collected some of the luggage, then walked her into the lodge.

  Before long, one of the people at
the desk had checked them in. Brent handed Laurel a key card and kept the other for himself. They strolled down the hall to the elevator.

  They had to hurry to reach the next one going up; there was just enough room for the two of them to slip inside before the door closed. At the dinner hour, it was filled with people wearing everything from ski outfits to formal evening dress.

  “It’s all settled, Brent. The kids will sleep with me tonight. The girl in reception said there was a sofa with a hide-a-bed in my room.”

  “You’re sure you don’t mind?” Brent sounded so thrilled at the thought of being alone with his wife, she couldn’t wait to tell her sister.

  “How can you even ask me that?” She kissed his chin rather than his cheek because it was as far as she could reach with her baby protruding. He gave her an affectionate hug before the door opened to the third floor.

  “This is where we get off. After you.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  DURING THE SHORT RIDE to the third floor, Nate’s eyes had been drawn to the chin-length, wavy black hair on the woman dressed in the black sweater. She was standing at the front of the crowded elevator.

  He had to cock his head to the side, the better to examine its glistening quality brought out by the ceiling light. In Europe he’d only seen hair with that high a gloss on a few Italian and Spanish women.

  When she turned to kiss her companion, Nate caught sight of her attractive profile, the contrast of sooty black lashes against ivory skin. In that moment he had the strongest impression he’d seen her before.

  As the man put his arm around her and ushered her into the hall, Nate saw that she was pregnant. Then she was gone.

  The elevator continued on to the dining room atop the Rustler Lodge. The door opened and everyone exited. Everyone except Nate…

  He was supposed to be joining the private wedding party of twenty for dinner. A live band was playing, and all the elements were in place to make it a festive occasion.

  After driving the newlyweds from the little white chapel a few streets over, he’d parked the car while Rick accompanied their father and the second Mrs. Hawkins into the lodge.