was, and the need to talk to somebody besides Bart was strong. Jaci’s breath caught in her chest. “I’m afraid, Kyn, of being a mother and of not being a mother. I think about all the things that can happen to a child, and I feel so…so inept.” The words poured out. “I keep thinking that maybe the miscarriage was nature’s way of telling me I’m not mom material.”
“That’s hogwash.”
Hardly the sympathetic response she’d expected. “Huh?”
“Giving birth doesn’t make you mom material.” Kyndal’s mouth pressed into a hard line. “Look at my mom.”
“Good point,” Jaci admitted.
“You can’t drive yourself crazy with worry. Life’s unpredictable.” Kyndal’s frown dissolved as she rubbed her tummy. “I’m living proof of that. Bad things happen and good things happen, and you face them because that’s life. You don’t control it. You just do the best you can with whatever resources you have.”
Kyndal refused to relinquish the floor, even when Jaci tried to cut in. “I’m not done, Eight Ball. You’re the one who always says things happen for a reason. Those kittens didn’t show up on your deck by accident. That mother cat brought them to you. She chose you.”
“Kittens are hardly babies.”
“But they’re a commitment, and you made it, and you’ve done an amazing job seeing it through. Let me tell you, there are mothers everywhere who would consider themselves blessed if their child could be cared for by someone like you.”
“Are you saying we should consider adoption?” She and Bart had never discussed that option, but she knew him well enough to know he’d be open to it.
“Maybe…or maybe animal rescue. Whatever works for the two of you.” Kyndal dabbed a tissue under Jaci’s eyes. “I just know that I’ve been on the receiving end of your nurturing for years, and you’re a natural.”
Jaci’s brain whirled with the potential. “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
Kyndal gave her hand a motherly pat. “You’re definitely mom material, and there’s a world of possibilities out there. Motherhood comes in a lot of different forms.”
Jaci took a deep breath, and it felt like the first one to reach all the way to the bottom of her lungs since Kyndal and Chance had gone missing.
* * *
CHANCE WOKE UP ON THE EDGE of the couch with Chesney behind him, snoring in his ear. The blazing fireplace had made the room warmer than was comfortable. So hot he was sweating. He sat up and rubbed his tired eyes. No, it wasn’t the heat. He’d been having another erotic dream about Kyndal.
He’d awakened from a similar dream around two-thirty, just as he had the night before. Unable to get back to sleep, he’d come downstairs and read until almost four. Now it was five-fifteen. He was facing one of the biggest David-and-Goliath days in his career with only eight hours of sleep in two nights.
Wharton Barge Lines was a huge corporation, which could well afford to pay Harry Holloway fair compensation rather than the paltry sum they’d first offered. Thank God, Harry had the sense to seek legal advice. The man had lost an arm when he fell between the barges. He could’ve lost his life.
Harry Holloway needed a hero today, but the hero he was depending on had his head stuck so far up his own ass he couldn’t see the light of day. All because of a woman named Kyndal Rawlings, who kissed him with the heat of a thousand suns one minute and turned down a date with frosty nonchalance the next.
Chance roamed around the house, straightening things that didn’t need to be straightened, running a load of laundry for two towels, waiting for dawn when he could go for a jog and out-distance his thoughts for a while.
He hadn’t been to the cave all week, and Chesney could use some exercise. So at first light, he called her and grabbed her leash.
The morning breeze off Kentucky Lake held the first strong acknowledgment of winter, and he found it invigorating. The jog became a run and then a race with him and Chesney neck and neck at the bend.
Evidently the colder weather had put a stop to the partying at the cave, too. The alarm hadn’t sounded and he’d been home fairly early all week. By spring, the new system would be in place.
As they neared the cave, he spotted a long rope dangling from a tree, a large loop at one end, the other thrown over a sturdy limb. Someone had been here. The