A Baby On The Way

by Laura Marie Altom

  He released her hands to place an adorably gaudy little girl’s sapphire ring on her ring finger. “I’m saying that I want you with me. Forever. I love you. Yes, we’ll no doubt have some growing pains, but what couple doesn’t? Marry me.”

  “But my job?” India said, mouth dry. “The lease on my new house. There’s so much I still have to do. I refuse to let this child grow up the way I did, without a sense of family or purpose or—”

  “Stop,” Graydon said with a quick yet fervent kiss. “Listen to yourself. You’re sounding as uptight as me about the whole parenting gig. First off, yes, I want you to quit your job. Come with me to Lake Placid, where, if you like, I’ll help find you a new job at another great hotel. Or you can tour with me. Jake, too. If you want, there are probably some great jobs within the U. S. Snowboarding Association. As for your lease, Margaret will understand.”

  Sighing, hands to her temples, India felt her mind racing as fast as her heart. “I love you, but I had everything planned. The baby and I were going to live here in Silver Cliff. I have this great job, but somehow, even a position as fulfilling as this feels dull compared with the thrill of being with you. And now you throw this great offer on the table. Zack—he…” Her eyes pooled. “He wanted nothing to do with me. How come you’re just the opposite? How do I know that when the going gets rough, you won’t leave me, too?”

  “How do you know?” he asked, snagging her waist. “Because I promise to always be a great husband to you, and father to your son or daughter.”

  “But you once made that same promise to Tiffany.”

  “Get this straight,” Graydon said. “She left me. And Jake. I was willing to make things work. She wasn’t.”

  “Then you still love her?”

  He sighed. “What do I have to say to convince you this is right?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, fingers at her suddenly throbbing temples. Everything in her heart screamed to take Graydon up on his offer. Together, they’d lead an amazing life. “I just don’t know. How will I fit in with your friends? I’ve never fit in anywhere. I’ve always been the outsider.”

  “Did you feel part of things Saturday night?”

  “Yes, but only because you made people be nice to me.”

  “Are you nuts? Look how quickly everyone here at the hotel has fallen for you. Margaret and Stephie and Joanie. That has nothing to do with me and everything to do with you. You’re a sweet, smart, beautiful, amazing woman. Or, in classic boarding terminology, your worries are bogus. The fact that up until now you’ve led an unconventional existence is part of what makes us a perfect match. Admittedly you’ve had a rocky life. Please now allow me the privilege of being you and your baby’s soft place to fall.”

  Laughing, crying, India wholeheartedly agreed.

  A REUNION ROMANCE

  Ann Roth

  Dear Reader, In a short story there’s not much time to start a romance! In telling Holly and Brady’s story I had to cut straight to the chase. What better way than to reunite them at a high school reunion? And what better place and time than Silver Cliff, Colorado, on the Fourth of July?

  But that’s not all. You’ll meet Holly’s cute daughter, her mother and a host of other characters who keep this novella hopping.

  I hope you enjoy reading about Holly and Brady, and the other two stories in this anthology, too.

  Happy summer and happy reading!

  Ann Roth

  To Rachael, Stephanie and Katie—the most wonderful daughters a mother could want. I am so proud of each of you.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter One

  “What a perfect day for a birthday!” As Holly Stevens spread a paper tablecloth over her end of the concrete picnic table at Silver Cliff Park, she smiled at her beaming daughter. “Happy birthday, Alix.”

  “Happy birthday,” echoed Holly’s mom while she covered the other end of the table.

  Holly’s best friend, Aileen, Aileen’s husband, Bill, and their son and daughter added their best wishes.

  “Thanks, everybody!” Unable to sit still, Alix flashed her dimples and twirled around, the skirt of her pink cotton dress billowing around her.

  Holly had wanted her to wear pants, but Alix had insisted on the dress. True, it was summer and, with the bright sun and deep blue sky, already hot. But living in the mountains of Colorado, you never knew what might happen weatherwise. The temperature could drop precipitously within minutes.

  “And happy birthday, ’merica,” Alix added, twirling again.

  “That’s right,” Holly said. “Today is the Fourth of July. Aren’t you lucky to be born on such a special day?”

  Alix nodded, then stopped spinning and sobered. “Am I bigger now, Mommy?”

  Holly stroked her chin and pretended to study her daughter. “You certainly are. The girl who was three yesterday is long gone. You definitely look four. Everyone thinks so, right?”

  Vigorous nods and smiles around the table pleased Alix. Proud, head high, she took her place at the table.

  The park was packed for this year’s barbecue, the first event of a four-day weekend that started with the picnic and continued with fireworks. After that there were other events, including an all-years high-school reunion. Eighty-year-old Silver Cliff High School, Holly’s alma mater, soon would be converted into condos, with Bill’s company the architects. Some seventy years’ worth of graduates, scattered over the country and the world, had returned to Sliver Cliff and booked rooms for the last-ever reunion held in the building.

  Silver Cliff was packed with visitors—a boon for the tour business—but even with avid hikers and summer vacationers, summers generally were slower than the winter ski season. Not this weekend. For once even the Silver Cliff Lodge, where Holly’s gift shop was located, was full. The shop was sure to do a booming business. Which meant extra money. Life was good. For the moment.

  If only Mr. Webb wasn’t about to sell the lodge to the Treat Yourself Resort chain, also known as TYR. But he wanted to sell, and sometime in the next ten weeks he’d finalize the deal and sign the papers, a move that would put Holly and a good number of employees on the street.

  Holly knew her shop could survive if she moved it, but with the tourism businesses booming, there weren’t any retail vacancies in town. For anyone lucky enough to find space, the rent was sky-high. Holly had no idea how she’d find a new home for the shop, let alone afford the move or the rent.

  For a moment worry darkened her mood, but this was Alix’s birthday and the Fourth of July, and no time for low spirits. She forced a smile. “Before we open presents, I’d like to visit the ladies’ room. Anyone want to come along—Alix, Kirby, Kelly?”

  All three children shook their heads. Holly’s mom moved beside her. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Hurry back!” Alix said.

  “We will.”

  As they made their way past friends and families and called out greetings, Holly’s mother glanced at her. “In all the excitement I haven’t mentioned that you look very nice today. I love that new slacks outfit, and your haircut is wonderful.”

  “Thanks.” Holly touched her hair, highlighted and styled yesterday. “I’m glad you like it.”

  Given the fact that soon she’d be without a space for the gift shop, spending money at the hair salon and on the new outfit had strained her budget. But after finally shedding the last of the twenty pounds gained during her pregnancy, she’d deserved a reward.

  “I hope we’ll run into Brady Cornell,” Holly’s mother said with a canny expression. “How about you?”

  Holly rolled her eyes. “Puh-leese, Mother. Brady and I were over a long time ago.”

  She hadn’t even seen Brady, who lived in Denver, nearly two hundred miles away, since the ten-year reunion four years ago. At
the time she’d been nearly nine months pregnant and feeling like a lopsided beach ball. Brady, buff and as handsome as ever, had arrived with a glamorous blonde who couldn’t seem to take her claws off him. As if Holly were a threat. Which, since their relationship had ended the week before senior prom and they’d barely spoken since, was ridiculous.

  “Besides, he’s the one putting together the sale of the lodge to TYR.” Everyone in town knew that. “Thanks to him, I’ll soon be out on the street.”

  “That’s not his fault, honey. The lodge has been for sale a long time. If TYR hadn’t made an offer, the place would’ve shut down. Either way, you’d have to move the shop.”

  “Maybe so, but I’m still upset.” And scared. What if she couldn’t find another space?

  She needed to keep the shop running to support Alix and help her mom. They shared a sunny, château-style duplex that had once housed vacationing skiers, Holly and Alix in one two-bedroom unit, her mother in its mirror image next door. It was a symbiotic relationship—her mom babysat Alix while Holly worked, making child care worry free, and Holly paid her enough to help make ends meet.

  She intended to tell Brady this, and ask him to do something, anything, to help her and the other people working at the lodge. That was why she wanted to see him. And also to show him how good she looked. She wasn’t sure why that mattered, but it did.

  Would he be here today, or show up tomorrow? Though his family no longer lived in town—his parents had moved to Phoenix and his sister lived with her husband and kids in Alaska—he had plenty of friends here to visit. Holly wanted to search for him, but not with her mother scrutinizing her every move.

  She nodded at the sparsely crowded food tent, where local restaurants sold fried chicken, barbecue pork, coleslaw, potato salad and soft drinks every Fourth of July. “We should think about lunch soon, before the line starts.”

  “It’s way too early,” her mom said. “Let’s wait till after Alix opens her presents. You used to love celebrating your birthday with your dad and me, remember?”

  Holly’s father, a newspaper reporter, had died of a heart attack when she was fifteen, and she and her mother still missed him. She nodded. “He made my birthday and the holidays such fun.”

  “Didn’t he?” Her mother sighed. “Poor Alix is missing out. She needs a father. Wouldn’t it be nice if you and Brady—”

  “No, it would not.” Holly strode into the park restroom, wrinkling her nose at the disinfectant smell.

  While she agreed with her mother, Brady Cornell was not the male she envisioned in the daddy role. She wanted someone ready for a lifetime commitment to her and Alix, not a man others referred to as a babe magnet. A man whose hotel chain gobbled up other hotels, then laid off employees and refused to renew the leases of shop owners who rented space. Those kept on the payroll earned among the lowest pay and benefits in the industry.

  No, Brady wasn’t for her. Yet she couldn’t help wondering what striking woman he’d bring to this year’s reunion.

  “Well, I always liked Brady,” her mother continued as they washed their hands. “He was such a nice boy, and you two were so perfect together. Do you think he’s gotten fat now that he’s out of pro football?” she asked over the hiss of the water.

  “He only played the one year, remember?” Straight out of college, with his attractive then wife to keep him company. “He wasn’t heavy four years ago,” Holly added. Not at all. He’d been as fit and handsome as ever. “So I doubt—”

  “Holly, hello!” said a women she didn’t recognize. “Regina Forbes Chase, Class of ’90.”

  Happy for the interruption, Holly exchanged greetings with the woman. Then she and her mother left, the subject of Brady Cornell forgotten.

  *

  AS HOLLY AND her mother headed for the picnic table she caught sight of Brady. At six foot five, he was easy to spot. He was with Mickey Rennant and Mickey’s wife and kids, who lived in town, and they were headed for a table on the other side of the park. Dressed in snug jeans, a chambray shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, the sun on his face and a breeze ruffling his dark, longish hair, he was as hunky and sexy as… Sin.

  “There’s Brady,” her mother said, nodding at him.

  “Oh?” Heart thudding, Holly feigned nonchalance.

  Suddenly, as if he felt their stares, he glanced over his shoulder. Elbowed Mickey, stopped and pivoted. His gaze hooked Holly’s, penetrating enough to still a woman’s thoughts. She forgot that she should look away. Her body began to hum.

  “He’s as attractive as ever, isn’t he? And he appears to be alone. He’s staring at you!”

  “Yes,” she replied dreamily. Then caught herself. “But I’m not interested. At all. So don’t go getting ideas.”

  “Of course not.”

  Her mom gave a knowing smile, which Holly ignored. She nodded at Brady, who nodded back. She would talk to him about the lodge. But not today.

  They were about fifty feet from their table when Alix raced toward them, pigtails flying.

  “Hurry up, Mommy and Nana,” she called, nimbly weaving around adults and children. “It’s time to open my presents!”

  “All right!” Laughing, Holly pushed Brady from her thoughts.

  *

  “HOLLY LOOKS GOOD,” Mickey said.

  “She sure does.” Hot, Brady thought as he watched her hurry toward her picnic table. But then, she always had, even nine months pregnant. He glanced at her mom, who wasn’t bad, either—Holly was going to age well—and then at her daughter, a cute little imp who couldn’t take a step without dancing. The girl’s father, who sounded like a real jerk, wanted nothing to do with her.

  Through the grapevine Brady knew Holly was looking to get married. He’d tried that once, right after graduating from college and signing a pro-football contract. The marriage had lasted as long as his career, about a year.

  Holly hadn’t smiled, only nodded, but with TYR about to buy the lodge, she probably didn’t want much to do with him. Brady wasn’t thrilled about the lodge situation, either, but his company had decided on the property, and since he was the acquisitions guy…. Once he completed this sale his boss had promised him a big promotion, which would put him in line as the next CEO. Sometime in the next five to seven years, the job was his.

  Brady wanted that. He wanted his own chain of hotels, and as CEO he’d have it. For now, like it or not, his job was to close the deal on the lodge. He would explain everything to Holly and make her understand. But not today and not this weekend. After the reunion.

  “You gonna talk to her?” Mickey asked.

  He ought to say hello. “Yeah. You go on. I’ll find you.”

  As he headed toward Holly, a female hand grasped his biceps, stopping him.

  “There you are,” purred a voice near his ear. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  Brady turned to see Monica Combs. They’d been in the same homeroom all through school. He hadn’t liked her then and wasn’t interested now. Big breasts aside, she was needy and clingy, and wore too much perfume. Stifling a grimace, he peeled her fingers off his arm. “Hey, Monica. What have you been up to?”

  “I’m a Realtor now,” she said. “Business is booming, but you already know that. If you ever decide to move back to town, I’m your girl.” She winked. “I can even presell you a condo in our old school. They’re gonna be beautiful. Here, I’ll give you my card.” She fished into her purse and pulled one out. “I’ll jot down my private number on the back,” she murmured, fluttering her lashes. “In case you need to reach me.”

  Brady knew exactly what she wanted, and it was more than a real-estate sale. No, thanks. A dozen yards away Mickey and his family had found a table. Brady gestured at them. “Mickey’s waiting for me. Catch you later, huh?”

  Monica pulled her lips into a pout. “I hope so.”

  When Brady glanced at where Holly and her mom had been, they were gone.

  Chapter Two

  Two hours la
ter, after Alix had opened her presents and the kids had raced around the playground at the edge of the park, Holly, her family and friends were ready to eat.

  Aileen squinted toward the lines snaking from the crowded food tent. “We shouldn’t have waited so long.”

  Holly shot her mother an I-told-you-so look. She shrugged. “Maybe we should hold off on food till the entertainment starts.”

  Every Fourth of July, local theater groups and schoolkids entertained townspeople with songs and theatrical skits. Holly had done that herself, and someday Alix would, too.

  “But I’m hungry now, Mommy,” Alix said.

  “Me, too—” “Uh-huh—” Bill and Aileen’s kids chimed in.

  “I don’t mind the crowds,” Bill said. “I was a waiter in college. I can handle a few plates. I’ll get the food.”

  Aileen smiled at her man. “Isn’t he a gem?”

  As much as Holly loved Aileen and liked Bill, she couldn’t stifle a pang of envy. Oh, to have a man in her life who loved her and Alix as much as Bill loved Aileen and their kids. He must be out there someplace, but so far, she hadn’t found him.

  “Former waiter or not, Bill can’t juggle seven plates.” She arched her brows at her mother. “If you watch Alix, I’ll help.”

  “I’ll watch all three children,” her mother offered. “You big kids go on.”

  Holly, Aileen and Bill headed off, passing families sprawled on blankets or seated at picnic tables. They waved at some, and Bill and Aileen stopped to chat with others. Intent on feeding her hungry daughter, Holly continued alone, all the while studiously avoiding a glance across the park to where Brady was. By the time she took her place in the food line she’d lost sight of Bill and Aileen. She’d have to juggle the plates for her mother, Alix and herself without help.

  As the line inched forward, she couldn’t help thinking about Brady. She really ought to say hello and get it over with. Just a casual “It’s been a long time, and we need to talk later about the pending sale between TYR and the lodge.” Then they’d go their separate ways and—