Reflection Point - By Emily March Page 0,123

tragedy. She sympathized with his pain. She didn’t respect the way he’d chosen to deal with it. Quit everything, quit on everyone, and run off to become a drunken beach bum? It demonstrated a distinct lack of character as far as she was concerned. His mother must be so disappointed in him.

“I hope you’re right, Mom,” Gabi said. “But I’m afraid you’re going to be hurt.”

“He’ll come. Now, look at that beautiful iron sculpture up on our right. It’s an eagle in flight. How graceful.”

“That’s our Sage’s work, a gift to Jack.”

“So this is Eagle’s Way?” Hope asked. “We’re here?”

“Yes. With three minutes to spare, thank the dear Lord.”

They drove through an open gate and along a road that wound through a meadow painted with wildflowers. The large, sprawling house was built in the traditional mountain log home style, with windows facing what had to be one of the best views in Colorado. “Wow,” Hope said.

“Wait until you see the inside,” Celeste said. “And the patio and pool area. Gabe Callahan is a landscape architect, and what he created is perfect for such a heavenly spot.”

Jack Davenport stood on the front steps, and he waved at Hope to pull her car onto a circular driveway where Cam Murphy, Gabe Callahan, and Colt Rafferty stood acting as valets. “Hello, dears,” Celeste said, climbing from the car. “I’m surprised to see you here. I thought the girls decided they wanted a traditional females-only baby shower.”

“We’re just here to provide muscle,” Jack said. “As soon as everyone arrives and all the loot is hauled inside, we have a date with fishing rods and the creek.”

“You have a lovely home,” Hope told him.

“Thanks. We do love it.”

Just then the front door opened and Nic Callahan called, “Thank goodness you are here! Sarah and Cat are ready to get this party started.”

“Are we the last to arrive?”

“Rose is running late, but she had a patient. She’s asked us to start without her.”

Hope stepped into the great room and her gaze was torn among three gorgeous sites: snowcapped mountains displayed like a fine-art painting through the wall of windows; a glowing Cat Davenport holding her sleeping four-month-old son, Johnny, in her arms; and Sarah Murphy, sprawled in an overstuffed easy chair, her feet propped up on an ottoman, a grumpy scowl on her face and a baby belly so big that Hope wondered if she might be having a litter rather than a single baby boy.

“Sarah, you look beautiful,” Hope told her.

“You are a liar, Hope Montgomery, but I appreciate the effort.”

“How do you feel, darling?” Celeste asked.

“Fat. Grouchy. Ugly. Fat. My back hurts. I haven’t seen my feet in weeks. My former neonatologist so-called friend tells me I could go another week, curse her black heart.”

The physician in question, Sage Rafferty, rolled her eyes. “I’m not your doctor, Sarah. I gave you my personal opinion, not my professional one.”

Sarah pouted then turned to Nic. “Sage is right. I should have asked you instead of her. You’re a vet. I’m a cow. When should I head for the barn and lie down on the straw? Or would I stand up? Do cows have their babies lying down or standing up?”

“Mother,” Lori Murphy chastised, her expression long-suffering. “Just stop it. The baby is healthy and you are healthy and you look lovely.”

“Your father called me a whale!”

As one, the women in the room gasped.

“No he didn’t, Mother.” Lori explained to the others, “He called her a great white because she’d just bitten his head off for accidentally sloshing coffee onto the kitchen floor.”

“It was clean. I want a clean house when I go into labor. But I shouldn’t have snapped at him, and he spoke the truth. Big fish, big bovine … what’s the difference? I’m fat! Why couldn’t I have a little bump like Cat had? I’m bigger than Nic was and she had twins! I’m a blimp and I’m ugly and I’m too old to be doing this. What woman has her first and second children more than twenty years apart? I can’t do this!”

“Sure you can.” Nic Callahan crossed the room to sit on the arm of Sarah’s chair. “And I thought this was supposed to be a baby shower, not a pity party.”

Sarah’s lips quirked. “Can’t it be both? I’m one-hundred-and-twelve months pregnant.”

“I’ll bet you didn’t sleep last night, did you?”

“Not much. Between the heartburn and his constant kicking and the fact that he has his butt right on top of my bladder …”

“You’ve never done well when you’re short on sleep.”

“Newborns don’t sleep. I’m going to be a terrible mother.”

“You’re a wonderful mother,” Lori protested. “The best. And this time, Cam will be around to help.”

Sarah sniffed. “I love you, Lori. And I love your father and my friends. I have a wonderful life. I don’t know why I’m being such a witch.”

“It’s the late-pregnancy hormones,” Sage said.

“I hope it is hormones and not the new me. But my emotions are a mess. I’m happy and excited, but I’m also anxious and nervous and worried. Frankly, I’m scared to death.”

“Of course you are,” Nic said. “That’s normal.”

“She’s right,” Ali Timberlake chimed in. “Every mother-to-be is a little bit afraid.”

You should be afraid, Hope thought, though she wouldn’t dream of speaking the warning aloud.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Sarah.” Cat took a seat in a wooden rocking chair, then shifted her infant son to lie against her shoulder. “What you have to remember is that the risk and worry are worth it because the reward is so great.”

“Excellent advice,” Sage Rafferty said. “On that note, I say we get down to business.” With a flourish, she gestured toward a table piled high with gifts. “Presents!”

Sarah’s eyes went misty. “There’s a mountain of them. You guys went crazy.”

“A little,” Celeste admitted. “But it’s so much fun to buy for babies.”

“At the rate we’re reproducing, someone should open a children’s store in town,” Nic observed.

“Is that an announcement?” Gabi asked.

“Bite your tongue,” Nic responded as Ali handed Sarah the first gift to open.

Hope enjoyed the afternoon. She liked these women, and she appreciated the way they welcomed newcomers into their circle of friendship with such genuine pleasure. She didn’t know if it was a small-town thing or particular to Eternity Springs, but either way, she felt as if she had found the people who were meant to be in her life and the home she was meant to have.

She’d found a new life—a good life—to replace the one that had been stolen from her.

And when she watched Sarah Murphy ooh and ahh over three-month-sized overalls and took her turn cuddling little Johnny Davenport, she reminded herself to be thankful for what she had. Positive thinking took work, but Hope knew that it was work worth doing. Negative thoughts could be dangerous and destructive and lead a person to consider dangerous, destructive acts.

She remembered that bleak afternoon when she’d thought about taking her own life. She’d wanted to die. She’d felt like she deserved to die. But after giving the idea serious consideration, she’d realized that she couldn’t do it. Because somewhere deep inside herself and against all odds, Hope still harbored hope.

Sometimes dreams came true.

Sometimes an infertile couple gets their little Johnny, she thought as she gazed down into the precious face of the cooing baby in her arms. When Sarah opened a hand-knitted baby blanket and burst into tears, it proved that sometimes long-lost lovers return to create the family that was meant to be.

So why couldn’t it happen to her? She couldn’t live her life in a constant state of waiting. That way lay misery, depression, and wicked thoughts. But if she kept her thoughts positive, continued to put one foot in front of the other and move forward on this road of life, well, then, who was to say she couldn’t have her own miracle someday?

Jack and Cat Davenport had their new son. Cam and Sarah Murphy were married and awaiting their second child. Maybe someday she would get her miracle, too. Maybe someday, Holly would come home to her.

Sometimes kidnapped children were found. Sometimes miracles did happen.

BY EMILY MARCH

Angel’s Rest

Hummingbird Lake

Heartache Falls

Mistletoe Mine

Lover’s Leap

Nightingale Way

Reflection Point

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Excerpt from Miracle Road

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