Everybody laughed and Bart slid his arm around Jaci’s shoulder and kissed the side of her head.
This is the way it’s supposed to be.
Even as a child, Kyndal had loved being at Jaci’s house. Betty and Paul were crazy about each other, and their home had a warm, cozy atmosphere that made everyone feel welcomed. The holidays were a time of good-natured ribbing closely followed by a hug.
Kyndal discreetly patted her tummy. Someday, precious one, we’ll have a family like this.
Last night’s horrible scene with Chance flashed in her mind causing her hand to tremble. What if that wasn’t true? What if she and the baby didn’t ever have this? She and her mom had never had this, but she’d always dreamed it would be different when she had a child.
She passed the apple dumplings on to Paul, and for a second, her eyes locked with Stuart’s before his darted away. He laughed with everybody else when Betty slapped Paul’s hand away from the serving spoon, but Kyndal recognized the hollow ring in his laugh.
In that moment of brief connection, she read something in his eyes…something she remembered seeing in the eyes of so many others. How had she missed it completely nine years ago with Chance? Had she simply chosen to ignore it because she was afraid to admit the truth?
Come Christmas, she’d be surprised if Julia and Stuart were still together.
No doubt about it, Stuart Reinholt was about to bolt.
* * *
“ALEX DONOVAN AND I are going to meet about Rick Warren next week.” Bill Brennan swiped a hot roll from the basket his wife held and dropped it onto his bread plate. “You ought to join us.”
“How is the good senator?” Chance took a roll, also. “Thanks, Mom.”
She patted his shoulder and sat the basket near him and out of his dad’s reach, one of her little ways of trying to keep the elder Brennan’s weight down.
“He’s fine,” his dad answered. “Impressed with what he’s seen of Warren and about to come on board with my proposal, I think.”
“That’s great.” Chance tried to gather some enthusiasm for the subject, but the other news he carried weighed it down. “I can’t wish Rick enough good fortune. He deserves everything he gets.”
“Damn straight. Saved your life. The guy’s got my support forever.”
“Are you feeling sick, sweetheart? You’ve only had one helping of candied sweet potatoes, and you hardly touched your green beans.”
The worried look in his mom’s eyes made Chance rethink his decision to wait until after dinner to break the news.
Maybe if he got this over with, he could at least enjoy a piece of pecan pie.
“Actually, I’ve got something I want to talk to both of you about, so I might as well get it over with. Kyndal’s pregnant.”
His mom’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth. “But you’re not seeing Kyndal, right? So that bothers you because…?”
“The baby’s mine.”
His dad’s fork clattered onto his plate. “What in the hell, Chance? How could this happen?”
“Seriously, Dad? You want specifics? Kyndal’s pregnant with my child.”
“Oh, Chance…” His mother slumped back in her chair.
Bill Brennan wiped his mouth and threw his napkin down in his lap. “I mean, how could you let this happen?”
He’d asked himself that same thing hundreds of times since last night. Chance took a sip of wine before answering. His dad would remain combative, but he hoped to make his mom understand. “It happened in the cave. We were afraid and we let our emotions run away with us.”
His dad grabbed the fork again, thrusting it to punctuate his words. “Well don’t let her hornswoggle you into marriage, you hear me? That’d be kissing those dreams of yours goodbye. You can afford to pay child support. Plenty of it.”
“She turned down my marriage proposal.” The words stuck in his craw and burned all the way down to the pit of his stomach.
“Well, hallelujah!” His dad sawed at a piece of turkey as if it were leather. “At least one of you has some sense.”
“What’s sensible about a woman trying to raise a child alone when the job she has will barely allow her to take care of herself?” Chance pushed his plate away, confident he wouldn’t be able to eat another bite.
His mom cleared her throat. “What’s she doing now?”
Chance felt the heat rush into his face. “Well, she’s moved back here into her mother’s house. Tomorrow, she starts at Pet Me, working on a…um—” how could he make this sound less awful?