by Kari Lemor
The door squeaked open, and Elle stood there, her eyes narrowed at him. “How did I know it was you? Oh, yeah. Everyone else calls first.”
“Can I come in? Please?” Better use his best manners. He threw her a charming grin for good measure.
Sighing, she opened the door wide and stepped back. When he lifted the container, her mouth twisted to the side. “What is that?”
He set the box down in the middle of her living room and perched on the couch. “Maternity clothes from Tessa. She figured you might need some.”
“Is she done having kids?”
“No idea. That’s not the kind of conversation I have with my sister-in-law, but I’m guessing she doesn’t need them now or she wouldn’t have loaned them to you.”
“A loan, huh? Okay, I guess I can look through them. Thanks for bringing them over.”
“Um…why don’t you see if there’s something in there to wear today?” Let’s see if he could pull this off. Subterfuge was not his strong suit.
“Why? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing now?”
Oh, God. How did he answer this diplomatically? Her gray sweatpants and hoodie looked adorable on her, but doubtful she’d want it at Alex’s.
“You look great. But I want to take you somewhere for your birthday.”
Her face softened, and Luke felt like he’d won a big race.
“How did you know it was my birthday?”
How had he known? “I don’t know. I guess I remembered it was right after Valentine’s Day and before we had our February vacation from school. I had that big indoor track meet. You were there when I won in all my races, and it was your birthday. You turned fourteen, I think.” And she’d still been way too young for him at the time.
Elle lowered herself to the couch next to him and tugged on the cover. Over the next ten minutes, she withdrew and held up a variety of clothes, some of them he remembered Tessa wearing.
“That one would look great on you.” He pointed to a winter sweatery-type dress in a navy color. “Try it on.”
“You want a fashion show?”
“I want to take you out, so you should get dressed.”
Holding the dress against her, she glanced down, then stuck out her leg. “Hmm. It is cute. I bet Tessa looked great in it.”
“You will, too. Go put it on.” He’d given himself plenty of time to get her back to Alex’s, but who knew how long she’d take to get ready.
Several minutes later, she strutted out of her bedroom in the dress. It did look great with its deep V neckline and top that hugged her figure. Then, it flared out to end just above her knees. She’d put on a pair of black leather knee high boots.
“Wow.” He rose and took her hands, holding them out to her sides. “Absolutely gorgeous.” The fact her growing belly carried his baby inside made it even more incredible.
Elle rolled her eyes and shook her head. What did he need to do to make her understand she was beautiful in his eyes?
“Are you ready to go?”
“Where are you taking me? Isn’t this a little fancy for lunch at a diner?”
“Maybe I want to take you somewhere nice.”
“Not the Bayside again. Not if you were serious about buying Gina’s house.”
“I am serious about buying the house. We already agreed on a price. Would you come with me to see it again today?”
Cocking her head, she said, “Sure. But can we eat first? I’m hungry. You have perfect timing. I was just about to open up a can of soup.”
“Yes, food first.”
She pointed to the bedroom. “Let me just brush my hair and grab a coat.”
Soon, they were driving along the road and pulling into the town of Squamscott Falls. As they passed the town common with the large gazebo in the middle, Elle twisted toward him.
“Where are we going to eat? The Loaf and Ladle is great, but you take Main Street for that.”
“This place has much better food. Just like mama used to make.” Precisely like his mother used to make. And still did.
As they turned onto his street, Elle’s brows slid closer. “I thought we were eating before seeing the house?”
“Uh, we are. Just so happens Alex made enough food for a small army. I promised I’d help him eat it.”
“I thought Sunday was the day you all got together. It’s Saturday.”
Luke parked as close to the house as he could, then ran around to help her out. The past couple of days had warmed up to almost forty, and most of the ice had melted. There was still a foot of snow in the yard.
Standing behind Elle as they walked in the house and through the front hallway, he rubbed her back. Then, felt it stiffen as people shouted from the living room.
“Surprise! Happy Birthday!”
She pivoted in his arms, her eyes filled with tears.
Luke stepped backwards into the foyer, taking her with him. “Are you all right? I’m sorry. I didn’t know if you liked surprise parties or not.” After helping her out of her coat, he tossed it on the hook by the door.
She tipped her head up, and a tiny smile crossed her face. “I don’t know. I’ve never had one. I’m not sure if I should be angry that you didn’t tell me or thrilled. This is the first time anyone’s ever thought to give me a party.”
“You should be thrilled. Really. I wanted to show you how special you are to me.”
Her lips tightened. “Because I’m the mother of your baby.”
Touching his forehead to hers, he stroked her cheek. “Because you’re the woman I couldn’t stop thinking about for six very long months.”
A few tears fell, and Luke quickly swept them away. Elle wasn’t the type of person who’d want anyone to see her cry. After shucking his own coat, he escorted her into the front living room.
“How many people did you invite?” Elle whispered, clinging to his arm.
“Just my immediate family and yours. I know you’re not big on crowds.”
Freezing, she whipped her head toward him. “My family?”
“Happy Birthday, Elle.” Sharon Langdon sauntered through the room, her arms stretched wide. Luke had a feeling this was all for show.
“Aunt Sharon. Uncle Doug. What a surprise.”
Sharon kissed Elle’s cheek, and Doug gave her a brief hug, then peeked over his shoulder. “Your cousins are here, too.”
Elle’s cousin, Jenny, wished her a happy birthday, then Nicole and Brad did the same.
“We didn’t realize you were involved with Luke,” Nicole said, indicating her cousin’s belly. “This must have happened around the time of our wedding.”
Elle’s eyes narrowed, and she forced a smile at her relatives. Shit. He hadn’t wanted her to feel terrible at her party. He’d invited her family so they could see how much his family accepted her.
Circling his arms around Elle from behind, he rubbed her stomach. “Best present I could have come home to. But I’ve got to feed the two of them, so if you’ll excuse us.”
After guiding Elle into the kitchen, he went about filling a plate for her. She kept glancing through the dining room into the front rooms where her relatives were.
“Should I not have invited them?”
A real smile touched her face. “No, it was sweet of you to think of them. They’ve got to get used to you around, anyway.”
“Because I’m not going anywhere. You know that.”
Her shoulders eased back down and her grin grew bigger, showcasing her dimples. Between hers and his, this kid most likely would have them, too.
As Elle nibbled at the food on her plate, Sara strolled into the kitchen and gave her a one-armed hug. “I love when you’re here, Ellie. It’s nice having another hormonal maniac around.”
“Oh, um…it just dawned on me. Tessa gave me all those maternity clothes. She should have given them to you.”
Sara shook her head. “I’m a little taller than Tessa, so any of the pants would be too short. Besides, considering who my husband is, I’m n
ot too worried about buying new clothes.”
“Your husband? TJ? Doesn’t he own a bookstore?”
Sara laughed. “Well, yeah, but he also writes award-winning songs under the name James True. You haven’t seen any of the local articles they wrote about us?”
Elle looked confused. “No, I don’t read that stuff.”
Sara leaned in close. “His parents are Celia Muñez and Abe Bannister. Money isn’t an issue.”
Celia Muñez and Abe Bannister were king and queen of the rock world. They were TJ’s parents? “I guess you don’t need hand-me-down maternity clothes then.”
Luke kissed Elle’s cheek and left her chatting with Sara and Gina, who had just pulled more food from the oven. He wanted her to get to know his family, especially the ladies. He loved how quickly Tessa, Gina, and Sara had bonded as sisters. He wanted that for Elle, too.
Angling around the island in the kitchen, Luke meandered down the hall to the front rooms. He wanted to speak with Elle’s family. As he approached the doorway, he heard Nicole complaining.
“I can’t believe she’s having a baby before me.”
Sharon snorted. “Hardly doing it the right way. Sins of the mother, you know. The fact it’s Luke Storm’s baby is surprising. I didn’t think she was quite in his class.”
“Please, mom,” Jenny said. “Luke has slept with every girl this side of the Merrimack River. I’ll bet he’s pissed that Elle wasn’t careful and got pregnant.”
The heat in the room went past boiling. Luke clenched his fists and took a deep breath. It wouldn’t do to yell at the only family Elle had, no matter how awful they were. He wondered if his buddy, Brad, was aware of the cattiness of his bride. He and Doug were across the room in a conversation with Alex and their dad.
Backing up a few steps, Luke stomped his way down the hallway again, making his presence known. The women whirled around at his arrival.
“Thanks for coming, Mrs. Langdon. Nicole, Jenny. I really appreciate all of you making it for this last minute get together.”
“Oh, please, call me Sharon. We were a bit stunned when you called.”
“I’m sure you were, but I wanted to make sure Ellie had a wonderful birthday. I also wanted to apologize that I wasn’t around to support her during these past six months. I’m glad the deployment didn’t last any longer. I would have hated to miss the birth of our child. Isn’t it exciting? My mom is over the moon with two new grandbabies coming so close together. She’s always had a soft spot for Ellie.”
Nicole canted her hip and frowned. “Had you been seeing Elle? She never mentioned it at any of the wedding events, and you didn’t come with her.”
“Well, she was a bridesmaid, so we didn’t want to mess any of that up. But we reconnected at the Fourth of July town event and, you know, all those old emotions came back.”
Sharon narrowed her eyes. “She never told us who the father was. We had no idea.”
Luke patted her shoulder. Not what he wanted to do, but he could play this game. He’d seen his mother and aunts do it often. Kill ‘em with kindness.
“Ellie’s so sweet. She wanted me to know before anyone else.”
Nicole’s eyes got wide. “So you didn’t even know?”
“I was in a dangerous situation, and Ellie didn’t want to distract me from my job. I appreciate her discretion. She knew I’d want to come home immediately. Ellie has always held a special place in my heart.”
“You never had thoughts like that in high school,” Sharon said.
Luke chuckled when he felt like screaming. “Well, Ellie was only fourteen when I was eighteen. It might have caused quite a scandal if I’d expressed how I felt. I had to wait for her to grow up.” Saying this, he realized he had been waiting. Elle had always been special in his life.
Sharon crossed her arms over her chest. “And you sowed a few wild oats while you waited.”
Nicole and Jenny wore identical expressions of distaste. Would he never live down his reputation?
“I guess I did. But after seeing how Alex and Erik have settled down, I started thinking about it before I left. I’m buying Gina’s house next door, so our child will have family nearby.”
Digging his phone from his pocket, Luke scrolled to the pictures of Elle. “She’s all I could think of while I was deployed. This got me through many a hard day.”
Jenny hummed. “I had wondered where she’d gotten off to later in the day.”
Staring at the picture, Luke sighed. “We needed time to say goodbye to each other. I left a few days later.”
“You stared at those pictures for hours at the hospital.” His mom popped up behind him, her gaze on his phone, also. When she peered up, she explained, “Pete had a heart attack. I’m sure you heard. He’s so much better now, but Luke felt terrible he’d left Ellie at the wedding.”
“I’m happy to hear he’s doing so well,” Sharon replied, her expression suddenly more animated. His mom had magical powers.
“Thank you. Even better now with the excitement of the baby. We all felt it was better to surprise Luke once he got home. Have you gotten any of the lasagna Gina made? It’s her grandmother’s recipe and is to die for. You should get some.”
Sharon and her daughters nodded and wandered into the kitchen. Luke slowly rotated to face his mother.
“You didn’t know about the baby until last week.”
Mom smiled in the shrewd way she did when she was pleased with herself. “No, but she doesn’t need to know that. Let her think we’ve been aware all along.”
“Do you know how they treat Ellie?” He hadn’t said anything to his family, figuring it wasn’t his secret to tell.
“I’m not aware of everything, but I’ve lived in this town all my life, Luke. I know what happened with Ellie’s parents, and the fact Sharon was never quite as generous with her niece as she is with her daughters.”
Luke enfolded his mom into a hug. “They’re all rethinking Ellie’s worth. Apparently, the Storm family has clout in this town.”
“Mmhmm. I know that, too.” Mom grinned. “They had it long before I met your father. I moved up a few steps in people’s eyes when I married Pete Storm.”
Her gaze crossed the room and landed on her husband. “Why do you think Anna, Luci, and I are on so many committees? We can get things done that others can’t.”
Luke chuckled and hugged her tighter. “Oh, Mom, I’m so glad you’ve been using your powers for good and not evil.”
Elle surveyed the large living room, her heart beating rapidly at the dozens of flowers sitting in vases all over the picture windows and tables. Luke had brought her over to look at Gina’s house again after the party had finished.
“Luke? What is all this?”
“They’re flowers.” His casual tone spurred a glare from her.
“Yes, I’m aware they’re flowers. Why are they all over Gina’s house?”
“They’re for you. Come on. There are more of them.”
Luke tugged on her hand and led her through the downstairs rooms. What in the world had he done? The upstairs rooms had equally as many flowers.
“Did you buy out the entire florist shop?”
“Not the entire shop, no. Let’s say they were pretty happy when I left.”
Sticking her head into the smaller bedroom near the back stairway, she found balloons tied to the closet door. “Run out of flowers?”
Luke smirked. “I thought balloons would be more appropriate for the baby’s room.”
“This is the room you’ll put Junior in when he’s here?” The thought of her child not being with her made her heart ache.
“You don’t think this is a good room for a baby.”
She checked out the closet and the view from the window. It was right next to the main bedroom with the attached bath. It made sense.
“Thank you for the birthday flowers. You shouldn’t have. The party was more than enough.”
Her family had seemed nicer to her today, and she had
a feeling it was because of the Storms. Molly and Pete were so lovely and welcoming to her. Alex and Erik and their wives made her feel like one of them already. Sara had been so sweet, chatting about babies and pregnancy and how excited she was that her child would have a cousin the same age. Her husband, TJ, had made sure to spend time with her, chatting about his famous parents, even though Sara said their relationship was often a bit rocky. Jenny and Nicole, on the other hand, had paid more than their share of attention to him and tried to make it seem like they were extremely close to Elle. Like a sister, they’d said.
“Oh, the flowers aren’t for your birthday.”
Spinning around, she tipped her head at Luke. “What are they for?”
Luke took her hand and got down on one knee. Oh, shit. Why was he doing this to her?
“Please, Ellie, will you marry me? Let’s raise our baby together, here in this house.”
There was nothing she’d like better than to be Mrs. Lukas Storm. It would only end in heartbreak.
“Luke, you don’t want to marry me. You don’t want to marry anyone.”
“I just asked you, didn’t I?”
Finding her way to the window seat, she installed herself there and Luke followed. “Admit it. Until you found out I was pregnant, you had no plans to get married to anyone. Did you?”
“Not right away, no. But I’ve been thinking about it since all my siblings have gotten married.”
Patting his shoulder, she said, “That’s a bad reason to get married. There’s no way I’m going to tie you down and then have you hate me for the rest of our lives.”
His eyes bore into her. “I wouldn’t do that. I care for you, Ellie.”
Possibly, he did. To a certain degree. It wasn’t in the way a man should love his wife.
“I won’t keep you from seeing your child, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
“Except you will. Don’t you see? Not on purpose, but we’ll be living in different houses, and especially if you’re nursing the baby, he’ll need to stay with you all the time. If we live in the same house, I’ll get to see my child every day. It’s breaking my heart to think I’ll need to make an appointment to see my own child and then it’ll just be an hour here or there.”
