to get through what’s coming with your support. I don’t want her to suffer—I’d rather she pass. I guess it helps a little that we expect to lose our parents at some point. But I’m not sure my father will be able to bounce back.”
“We’ll be there for him as much as we can. Caden really likes him. I was shocked by how quickly they hit it off.”
He nuzzled her neck. “It was a good idea to have my folks over for dinner last weekend. Very nice of you.”
“It was cramped in my mother’s little house, but it was fun. For most of their lives, my kids have had only one grandparent. I think they like the idea of having an experience more like other kids.”
His smile broadened.
“What?” she prompted when the look on his face suggested he was holding something back.
“Nothing.”
“Say it.”
“It’ll sound too presumptuous.”
“Come on. You can tell me anything.”
He looked slightly abashed when he said, “Fine. I love thinking of my parents as Taylor and Caden’s grandparents. I guess, because your kids are almost adults, I haven’t held out much hope that they’d ever really accept me as a father. But when I saw the way Caden interacted with my dad on Sunday, as if he was so open to giving love and receiving love... I don’t know. It gave me hope.”
She caught his face in her hands. “It’s wonderful that my kids are important to you. Because you care so much, I know they’ll accept you—if not right away, with time. Who wouldn’t want a man like you as a father?”
“I hope you’re right.” He rested his forehead against hers. “Can you believe that we’ll soon be taking care of a baby? That blows my mind.” He lowered his voice. “Sometimes I’m so excited about it I can’t sleep.”
“I wasn’t looking forward to it at first, but thanks to you, I am now,” she admitted.
“I’ve waited a long time for this.”
“You got a raw deal with your first marriage.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore.” His hand moved to the buttons on her blouse. “Should we christen your new place?”
She closed her eyes as he unhooked her bra and his hand came around to cup her breast, but she still had the presence of mind to correct him. “Our place.”
“Not yet. I feel terrible that I can’t contribute.”
“You will. It’s fine.”
“My dad’s going to start paying me a salary, now that...now that there’s nothing more we can do for my mother. You’ll be putting up the down payment, so I’ll pay the mortgage until I catch up to you.”
“I’m not concerned about that. I’m just excited we’ll be together—and that we’ll be raising Taylor’s baby.”
He lifted her chin with one finger. “Autumn?”
“What?” she said, slightly breathless with anticipation.
“What do you think about...one day, and it doesn’t have to be soon...having my baby?”
She ran her thumb over his bottom lip before kissing him tenderly. “I think yes,” she said.
* * *
When Autumn took the kids over to The Daily Catch for dinner, she invited Mary to go along, but Mary declined. She was looking for some alone time. Ever since she’d decided to contact Tammy, she’d been waiting for the right moment—when she wasn’t working, when she wasn’t with Caden and Taylor, who had no idea of her background because she and Autumn had decided that it wouldn’t serve any good purpose to tell them, and when she wasn’t with Laurie, who was a loyal friend and great support but always had a strong opinion about everything.
Mary wanted to do this on her own, and tonight seemed like the perfect opportunity. She had the house to herself, could speak without fear of being overheard. And since everyone had just left, she knew it would be an hour or longer before they came back.
She carried Caden’s bedding—he was getting lax about moving it himself—into Taylor’s room. Then she sat on the couch and tried to calm her mind.
What had Tammy turned out like? Would she be happy to hear from Mary? Or would reaching out only bring back memories Tammy would rather forget?
Maybe Tammy wasn’t ready for this; maybe she’d never be ready for this.
But Mary wouldn’t know unless she tried...
Pulling out her phone, she scrolled through her contacts until she came to Tammy’s name. She’d stared at that number so often in the past two weeks that she had it memorized.
“Here we go,” she murmured and touched the link.
The phone rang five times before Tammy’s voice mail came on. “This