those old yearnings had rushed through her, reminding her that once there had been a period of innocent belief that they could conquer anything.
As she walked back toward the house, she saw her mother emerging from a car along with Justin’s wife, Patsy, and her son, Billy. Billy went racing off on sturdy little legs to join the other children crowding around their great-grandfather on the patio. Laurie went to meet her mother.
“Hey, Mom, I’m glad you came.”
As Laurie linked arms with her mother, she smiled at Patsy, who appeared to be about fifteen months pregnant. “Thanks for bringing my mom out.” Gesturing toward Patsy’s huge belly, she asked, “When are you due?”
“Any day now, thank God. I’m not sure I’ll be able to haul myself up out of a chair if I get any bigger. Justin’s threatened to keep the town tow truck handy in case I get too big for him to manage.”
“You should have seen me at nine months,” Laurie said. “I felt like a blimp. I knew no baby on earth could weigh that much, which meant I was going to have a devil of a time losing the excess weight. Staying in seclusion meant I had way too much time on my hands to eat.”
Laurie’s mother interrupted. “I’m going to leave you two girls to talk about babies. I want to say hello to Harlan and Janet and thank them for including me.”
She left before Laurie could protest. She glanced at Patsy, who was studying her enviously. She expected some sort of remark about her choice to stay in seclusion to keep her pregnancy a secret from Harlan Patrick.
Instead, Patsy said, “Obviously you didn’t have any trouble with getting the weight off again. You’re gorgeous. Practically skinny, in fact. How’d you do it?”
“I brought in a personal trainer and set up a gym. The man had no mercy.”
Patsy sighed. “Well, I’m afraid a trainer’s out of the question on our budget. I guess I’ll have to get back in shape the old-fashioned way, by chasing after the kids and starving myself to death.”
Laurie decided then and there that she would send her trainer on an extended trip to Los Piños as her baby present to Patsy. The man could work miracles in a month. Faster if he hated being stuck in what he was likely to consider the middle of nowhere.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” she told Patsy, making a mental note to have Val call the trainer in the morning and make the arrangements. “You’ll do just fine. You did after Billy was born, didn’t you?”
“I never got this huge with Billy. Will wasn’t around the way Justin has been. Justin hovers. If I don’t have a glass of milk in my hand and snacks in front of me, he’s certain the baby will be undernourished. The man is driving me crazy.”
“Better you than me,” Laurie murmured.
Patsy grinned. “I heard that. Has he been giving you a rough time?”
“No more than anyone else around here. I can’t blame them, though. They just care about Harlan Patrick.”
“And about you and Amy Lynn,” Patsy insisted. “That’s the way this family is. They take everyone in if they know that a family member cares about them. They did with me.”
“But I’m not playing by the rules. I’m leaving again.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Patsy insisted. “You’re the mother of a great-grandbaby.” She gave Laurie’s hand a squeeze. “Around here that’s all that counts.”
“There you are,” Justin said, walking toward them with a plate of appetizers in his hand. Pretty much ignoring Laurie, he shoved the plate under his wife’s nose. “Try a little of this. It’s your favorite cheese.”
Patsy gave Laurie a weary grin. “See what I mean.” She ignored the plate and started away from him. “Justin, I’m not hungry. I’m saving room for steak.”
“One little bite,” he encouraged, trailing after her.
Laurie’s gaze followed them wistfully. She would have given anything to have had Harlan Patrick doting on her during her pregnancy.
But she had handled that time on her own, too. It had proved once and for all that she could cope with any curves life tossed her way, reassuring her that she would always be in control of her own destiny.
It was ironic, she supposed. She had proved to herself that she needed no one to survive, even to thrive, but rather than feeling triumphant, all she could think about these days was how very lonely she had been before Harlan Patrick had reappeared in that Montana nightclub.
Twelve
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