They’ve all been through so much. You’ll have to host them at the ranch for me. Take my place.”
He was supposed to head out to Oklahoma for an event in three days.
“Oh, wait.” His sister’s head fell back to the pillow. “You can’t stay. Your boss made you the team leader—”
“No, it’s fine.” He might not be able to stop her labor or promise her that the baby would be okay, but he could take this stress away from her. “I’ll stay. I can take over at the ranch for you.” Craig wouldn’t like it, but this was a family emergency. “You just focus on keeping that baby in place as long as you can.” He would take care of everything else.
Chapter Two
She should’ve never gone with the soufflé.
Thea Davis paced in front of her polished stainless steel double oven, resisting the urge to open the door so she could peek. She’d turned the oven off approximately eighteen minutes ago, and opening the oven door to let colder air in before the soufflé had set could result in a catastrophic collapse. Twenty to twenty-five minutes was the optimal time to wait before pulling the confection out of the oven, according to Fine Foods magazine. So she had at least two more long, painstaking minutes to see if this dessert she’d tackled for the group’s last meeting just before their Colorado retreat would totally bomb.
“Is someone giving birth in there or what?” At thirteen, her daughter, Olivia, had recently perfected the art of sarcasm. “You look like you’re waiting for bad news.” Olivia reached for the handle on the oven door.
“No!” Thea stepped in front of her. “We can’t open it yet. It’s not time.” They needed between one and five more minutes…
“Sheesh.” Her daughter walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a sparkling water. “You’d think the president was coming for dessert or something.”
“I want everything to be perfect.” She winced at the word. No matter how hard she tried, nothing ever seemed perfect enough. Her eyes focused in on a smudge on the oven’s sparkling stainless exterior. Don’t do it. Do not grab the rag…
Oh, who was she kidding? Thea snatched the cloth she’d used to polish the oven not thirty minutes ago and worked at blotting out the smudge while her daughter shook her head.
“This is an important night for our group.” She’d started volunteering for Project Sanctuary during Dylan’s first deployment. She knew the strain that army life put on a marriage firsthand, and she’d figured leading retreats for military families was one small way she could help. Most of the families they served were still intact—soldiers coming back from long deployments, doing their best to integrate back into their families, who had learned to function without them. Planning these retreats at Silverado Lake Ranch each year had been a highlight of her life. Even after losing Dylan.
“No one’s gonna care if the soufflé turns out more like fudge,” her wise daughter insisted. “Chocolate is chocolate.”
Thea had to smile at that. “Well, I’m glad you’ve listened to something I’ve taught you.” She walked over and ruffled her daughter’s gorgeous black hair. She looked so much like her dad. “But still. I want this dessert to come out perfect. You know me.”
“Yes. I know you.” Her daughter smirked while she sipped her bubbly water. “The hostess with the mostest.” She pulled out a stool and sat down. “Do I have to stay for the soirée? I was going to meet Dallas and Casey at the park.”
Don’t frown. Whatever you do, don’t frown. Dallas and Casey were most certainly not her favorite thirteen-year-old boys, but she couldn’t let Olivia know that, or all her daughter would want to do was hang out with them. As a social worker, she’d witnessed all too often how kids felt the need to rebel when their parents overreacted, but reining in her emotions was still a challenge when it came to her own kids. “I need you to stay, sweet pea.” Not only because Dallas and Casey were obnoxious and disrespectful toward most adults, but also because… “We’re going to be spending ten days with these families, and it would be good for you to meet them.” Though the adults had gathered twice a month for the last three months, none of their kids had met yet.
“I don’t see why we’re still doing this stupid retreat when Dad is dead.” Lately, her daughter had seemed to latch onto blunt statements. Thea wasn’t sure