“What?”
“I’m not sick. I’m pregnant.” Lisa lifted her hand and let it fall. “It’s only morning sickness, except I have it all day and sometimes all night. I can’t keep anything down.”
Maureen staggered backward and plopped into the chair Lisa had positioned beside a reading lamp. “Pregnant?” she asked. “I’m going to be a grandmother?”
* * *
LISA STARED AT MAUREEN, thinking that in order to be a grandmother, didn’t a person have to be a mother first? Or at least show up every once in a while and act like one? She didn’t say that, however. For all she knew, the craziness of the past ten minutes may have been Maureen’s way of acting like a mother. It was too overwhelming and confusing, and she couldn’t sort it out while she felt this lousy.
“I’m due in September,” was all she answered.
Moving cautiously, she sat up, gave her head a moment to clear, then scooted back. Before she could prop the pillows against her back, Maureen leaped up and did it for her, taking pains to adjust them just so.
When she was finally satisfied, she said, “There,” and tried to gently ease Lisa to rest her head against the headboard.
“I can do it,” Lisa protested, though her voice was weak. The wave of nausea had passed.
“Well, a baby. Th-that’s wonderful...” Maureen’s voice trailed off as she once again sat in the bedside chair.
Lisa didn’t respond, knowing from firsthand experience how hard it was to absorb this news. Once her stomach settled a little more, she swung her feet to the floor and got ready to stand.
Immediately, Maureen was beside her, taking her arm. “You need to stay in bed.”
“I can’t. I’ve got to get ready for a meeting tomorrow. Some investors from Oklahoma City are sending a representative to see property on Reston Lake. They’re considering building a resort there.”
“A resort?” Maureen asked. “In Reston?”
“That’s right.”
“Things really have changed.” She seemed taken aback for a moment but then focused once again on her daughter. “For right now, you need to let me help you. Where do you need to go? Back to the bathroom? Maybe we should keep a bucket and a bedside portable toilet here.”
“I’m not an invalid,” Lisa protested, horrified at the idea. “My doctor says this will pass and I’ll feel much better, but in the meantime he gave me something for the morning sickness. It’s in my purse.” She had picked up a prescription that Nathan said would help the nausea, and she was certainly ready to try it.
“I’ll get it.” Maureen pushed her back onto the bed, reached down to sweep her feet up, then dashed from the room.
Dismayed, Lisa stared after her. Even though she had lived with her grandparents, they’d had their own interests—obsessions, really—her grandfather with his collections and her grandmother with her books. Lisa had been left to her own devices, which was why Gemma’s and Carly’s families had been so precious to her. She wasn’t accustomed to having anyone fuss over her.
If Maureen stuck around, this was going to be a very long pregnancy.
CHAPTER FIVE
BEN PULLED HIS phone from his pocket and stared at the blank screen as he sat on his porch steps. He hadn’t heard from Lisa in the past week. Considering the way they’d parted at his ranch, he’d decided to let her cool down.
He also hadn’t heard from her attorney about arrangements regarding the baby, and he hadn’t contacted his own. That gave him hope that they could work this out without getting lawyers involved. A legal agreement might be best, but he didn’t want to be seen as someone who ducked his obligations.
Until they had matters settled, he wasn’t going to tell anyone about the baby. He dreaded telling his parents. They would be thrilled about the child, but he knew it would be a battle to make them understand that this wouldn’t change how much he would be around. As he’d told Lisa, he’d never intended to have children.
He had a number of important projects coming up, including plans for his lengthy stay in India. He had to go out of town to meet with the governing board for one of his charities, and he wanted this settled before any more time passed.
He was determined to try talking to her again. He punched in the cell phone number he had finagled out of Sandy Borden and when Lisa answered, he said, “Please don’t hang up, Lisa. It’s Ben, and we need to talk.”
“Ben.” Her voice went flat with surprise. “I didn’t expect to hear from you again.”
He held the phone away for a second, stared at it, then replaced it by his ear. Had she thought he was going to let this drop?
“If you want to get lawyers involved, we can do that, but I think if we meet and talk, we can work things out. Anyplace you want to meet, Lisa,” he said. “Anytime. I can come to your house or your office or—”
“No. We can meet on neutral ground, at the new little park by the post office. It’s a nice day and...we can sit on a bench.”
“All right, but why out in the open like that?”
“Everyone is going to find out about the baby soon, anyway. It’s not like it’s something I’ll be able to hide for much longer. Um, by the way, have you told your parents yet?”
“No. I’ll tell them when you’re ready for people to know. They’ve always wanted a grandchild but—”
“Not this way.”
“Honestly, I think they’ll be happy about the baby and they’ll want to be involved if that’s okay with you. But regarding...everything else, I don’t know how they’ll react.”
They agreed on a time and hung up, but Ben sat for long minutes, staring across his pastures to where Zach was doctoring a gash on the front leg of one of the mares.
His thoughts raced ahead to everything he had to accomplish in the next year, obligations he’d set up months ago with the help of an occasional assistant in Tulsa. He wondered briefly if he was committing to too many things, taking on too much. He liked having many interests, though. He became restless and bored if he didn’t keep busy.
Leaning forward, he rested his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands loosely. He wasn’t ready to give up his busy lifestyle. There was no reason to, at least not yet. He would do the right thing by Lisa and the baby, but he saw no reason to change his life.
Satisfied with that conclusion, he went inside and got ready to meet Lisa.
* * *
THE SMALL PARK on the northwest corner of Main and Vogle had once been the site of a crumbling brick building that had, for many years, been a grocery store, then a Laundromat, then a garage. It had devolved into an abandoned eyesore when Lisa and some other citizens had convinced the mayor and city council to let them raise funds for a park.
As Lisa sat on the bench, made of heavy recycled plastic, and waited for Ben, she smoothed the full skirt of her navy blue dress and checked to make sure her beautiful Simon Love boots were still spotless.
She was glad she had chosen this outfit today. It was comfortable but completely professional. Of course, she hadn’t known she would be meeting Ben when she had dressed that morning, but she always made a point of dressing nicely and choosing exactly the right shoes from her extensive collection. Before long, her dresses wouldn’t fit and her swollen feet would lap over the sides of her shoes. No doubt, she would have to wear sneakers or flats every day.
To her horror, Gemma had told her that many women ended their pregnancies with bigger feet than when they had started. The muscles and bones in the feet relaxed to accommodate a pregnant woman’s gait and often didn’t return to their pre-pregnancy size. That meant none of her collection of beautiful footwear would fit.
Horrible. But for now she had something more important to focus on.
She made a few nervous pleats in her skirt before lacing her fingers together and sitting quietly.
It was a beautiful day, warm for early March, and she took a deep breath of fresh air to calm herself. She knew meeting with Ben was the right thing to do. A calm, rational meeting would benefit both of them, but she couldn’t seem to stop fretting over the outcome.
To ease her worries she proudly surveyed the park, which she’d chosen as a meeting spot because it was down the street from her office and she felt so proud when she saw it. The park included a small track around the perimeter for people who wanted to be off the street to take their morning walk, and a toddler play area with thick rubber mats beneath the swings and slides.
When she’d become involved in the project, it had been purely as a way to clean up a neglected lot and provide a bit of needed beauty to the area. It had never occurred to her that the generically named Main Street Park would one day be where she’d bring her own child to play.
Although she still didn’t feel well most days, thanks to taking Nathan’s prescription for the past week, she was no longer racked by overwhelming morning sickness. She was able to think ahead about her baby’s future. She was still terrified at the thought of being a mother, but she knew she had to pull herself together and focus on what needed to be settled right now. And that included Ben and whatever he had to say.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ben’s pickup pull into the parking lot that served both the park and most of the nearby businesses. As she watched, Ben stepped out, settled his cowboy hat on his head, slammed the door and started toward her. He was dressed in a dark red shirt beneath that buttery-soft leather jacket, crisp black jeans and black cowboy boots. Even though she knew the knee he’d injured probably gave him some pain, he didn’t let it show; he walked quickly, with purpose. She hoped he wasn’t in such a hurry so that he could check their business off and go on to the next thing on his agenda.
Before he reached her, he was stopped by two men who wanted to shake his hand and, no doubt, indulge in a lengthy talk about football. After a minute Ben extricated himself and continued toward her.
On the street, Deputy Sheriff Wayne Fedder, Jr., known as Junior Fedder to everyone in Reston County, honked and slowed down, calling out questions about their proposed fishing trip. Ben stopped to answer him while drivers lined up behind the deputy, waiting for him to move on and not daring to show their impatience.
Arrangements finally made, Junior went on his way, the line of cars began rolling, and Ben strolled toward her, waving and responding to people who called out to him.
“On second thought, maybe this wasn’t the wisest choice for a meeting place,” Lisa said with a rueful shake of her head. “Your adoring public doesn’t seem to want to leave you alone.”
“Ah, it’ll be all right,” he said. “I’ve been gone for a while. People are surprised to see me, that’s all.”
And soon he would be gone again, she thought. Might as well get this matter done and dusted.
As if he’d read her thoughts he said, “I’ll be away on business for several days, so I wanted to get this settled.”
“Of course.” That made perfect sense, Lisa thought, but it bothered her that he was so businesslike about it. She took a sheet of paper from her purse and spread it open on her lap. “I’ve been researching the costs of raising a child and trying to come up with what seems to be a fair calculation of shared costs. Eventually we’ll probably have to sign a legal agreement, but this seemed like a good place to start.”
Ben took the paper from her. “You researched it?”
“I research everything, especially if it’s important to me or to one of my clients. I don’t like financial surprises.”
“Well, no one does,” Ben said as he glanced at the spreadsheet she’d prepared. His eyes widened comically and his eyebrows shot up to the inner sweatband of his hat as he read the bottom line.
“This is how much it costs to raise a kid these days?”
Lisa could have sworn she saw his hand tremble as he pointed to the figures.
“Yes. Like I said, I’ve done a great deal of research and—”
“Oh, I believe you,” he said hastily. “But...wow.”
“I know,” she answered in a quiet tone. “I was shocked, too.” She watched as Ben’s gaze started at the top of the page again and ran down to the bottom. “Sandy mentioned that as kids get bigger, their clothes get more expensive. You wouldn’t believe how much Derek’s sneakers cost now that he wears a size thirteen.” She glanced at Ben’s hand-tooled boots. “Well, maybe you would.”
Ben barely seemed to be listening as he examined the figures she’d come up with.
“And that’s really only an estimate,” she added. “But it does factor in a college fund.”
“Unless he can get a football scholarship,” Ben murmured, obviously thinking of his own method of getting to the university.
“He?”
Ben glanced up. “Um, sorry. I guess it could be a girl.”
Lisa gave him an amused look. “Well, apparently we’ve got a fifty-fifty chance.”
“Ah, Ben, there you are,” Harley Morton called out as he dashed across the street from the Main Street Diner. His face was red and he was sweating profusely. “I need to talk to you again.” He glanced over. “Hey, Lisa...” He paused to catch his breath. “How...how are you?”
“I’m fine, Harley,” she answered, then scooted over quickly to make room for him on the bench as she saw him stagger slightly. Ben made a grab for his arm. “Here, sit down. Are you okay?”
The mayor sat, but waved away her concern as he mopped his face with his jacket sleeve and said, “Fine, fine, just...fine. Little touch of indigestion, is all. Probably should have skipped the coconut cake I had for dessert.”
“Um, yes.” Lisa and Ben exchanged alarmed looks as more sweat popped out on Harley’s forehead and he breathed hard for a few seconds.
“I’m okay.” He turned to Ben with a smile that looked ghastly in his suddenly pale face. “So, Ben, I was thinking we need to rename this park in your honor. Ben McAdams Park. How does that sound?”
In one of the typically expansive moves Lisa had seen him make a thousand times, he lifted his hand to encompass the park but instead, suddenly, clutched his side.
“I don’t...I don’t feel so—” He slumped against Ben, his head lolling.
Horrified, Lisa made a grab for him as he fell into unconsciousness.
“Lisa, call 911,” Ben said as he lifted Harley away from her and swung him around so his feet were on the bench. Bending, he checked the mayor’s pulse and began pressing rhythmically on his chest.
A crowd quickly gathered, with others stepping in to take over the chest compressions from Ben. The paramedics arrived within minutes to whisk Harley to the Reston County Hospital that had reopened only months before.
Shaken, Lisa watched the ambulance pull away, carrying the unconscious mayor, the one who could be counted on to be everywhere and involved in everything.
With unsteady hands, she called Gemma at the Sunshine Birthing Center so she could alert Harley’s wife. Brenda could probably meet the ambulance when it arrived. The Sunshine was right next to the hospital.
“He’ll be okay, Lisa,” Ben assured her when she disconnected, though he didn’t sound quite convinced. “Maybe we’d better go to the hospital, see how he is.”
“Yes. We might be needed.”
They hurried to Ben’s truck and drove the ten blocks to the hospital. Inside the waiting room, Brenda Morton sat weeping, with Gemma holding her hand.
Lisa rushed over and sat beside them.
Brenda clutched at her, saying in distress, “They think it’s a heart attack. He’s only fifty-five! Gemma says you were there. What happened?”
Lisa reported Harley’s actions just before he collapsed.
“Of course, he would be taking care of town busines
s,” Brenda said, wiping her eyes with a tissue. “He can’t stop, or let anything go, or delegate what needs to be done. Won’t take more than the weekend off. We haven’t had a real vacation since he was first elected mayor. And every day he’s got some new idea that has to be taken care of today if not sooner.”
“He’ll be fine,” Lisa said, knowing it sounded lame and looking at Gemma, who gave a tiny shrug.
“With Jay going off to college in the fall, we’ll finally be empty nesters,” Brenda said. “He promised he wouldn’t run in the next election. That he’d take it easier, visit our kids more often.”
Harley had been mayor for twelve years and had been responsible for bringing new businesses and developments into town. Lisa knew the city would be very different without him at the helm, even though she nurtured her own dream of being mayor.
“I’m sure you’ll still be able to do those things, Brenda,” Gemma assured her. “Let’s just wait and see what Nathan and the other doctors have to say.”
The Mortons’ son, Jay, rushed in with his girlfriend, Sheena. Brenda immediately folded them into her arms.
Lisa and Gemma stood and moved away so the family could be together.
Right behind Jay came the deputy mayor and all three members of the city council. The four spoke briefly to Brenda and Jay, then huddled in a corner.
Lisa and Gemma exchanged an apprehensive look at the four men, which Ben must have noticed because he whispered, “What’s going on?”
“The deputy mayor and the city council members can’t get along for more than five minutes. They’re like horses pulling in all directions of the compass. Harley always acts as mediator in order to get anything done,” Lisa told him.
“Which probably only adds to his stress.”
“No doubt,” Gemma said. “I’m going to go see if Nathan has anything to report.” She disappeared down the hallway.
Ben leaned up against the wall and crossed his feet at the ankles. He frowned as he looked at the city officials. “I wonder why they’re here.”
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