Kate Little - The Baby Plan

Julia looked over at Sam. “They might take a while out there,” he said quietly.

So he’d picked up on the same hints.

She glanced at him but didn’t know what to say. A seasoned saleswoman, she was rarely at a loss on how to start a conversation. She’d even taught classes on the topic, for goodness’ sake.

The polite thing to do would be to ask Sam what sort of work he did exactly, what had brought him down to Vermont from Boston. That sort of thing.

But some errant impulse caused her to start off on a completely different track.

“Did your father really tell you much about my mother? Or did you just say that to be polite?”

He looked surprised at her direct manner. But not at all offended. Maybe more like amused, she thought.

“The last few weeks, he hardly talked about anything else. It’s Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. Why do you ask?”

Julia shrugged. She picked a thread off her skirt. “I didn’t hear a word about your father until about fifteen minutes ago. Or maybe I did and I wasn’t paying attention…Does your father date very much?”

His eyes narrowed. Now he did look a bit offended. Or at least, taken aback by her question. “Are you suspicious of his intentions? He’s a very sincere person.”

“I’m sure he’s sincere. He’s seem very nice. Really,” she assured him. “My mother is very social. I just don’t want him to get…disappointed.”

She could tell he was definitely fighting a smile now. The corners of his mouth twitched and she nearly caught another glimpse of those devastating dimples. The entire gesture was utterly tantalizing.

“Don’t worry about my dad. He’s been out in the single scene a long time. He can take care of himself.”

Lester might think he was the James Bond of the AARP set. His son might think so, as well. But they had never encountered the likes of Lucy.

She glanced toward the kitchen. No sign of the lovebirds. After they’d first disappeared, she’d heard them talking back there, but now there was only silence.

Bad sign.

She turned back to Sam, leaning forward a bit in her chair. “Do you think this is serious?” she whispered.

“Excuse me?” He leaned toward her, trying to hear what she was saying. They were suddenly face-to-face, closer than she expected. The scent of his spicy cologne filled her senses. His cheeks were shadowed by a day’s growth of beard, lending a slightly scruffy and totally male edge to his handsome looks.

“I said…do you think it’s serious? Between our parents, I mean.”

“Looks pretty serious to me. They’re crazy about each other. Haven’t you noticed?” His deep, hushed tone was disturbingly intimate.

Julia leaned back and took a deep breath. She didn’t know if she was more disturbed by the message or the messenger.

Julia sighed. She swept her long hair to one side, back over her shoulder. Again, she found him watching her, his eyes following the movement.

“My mother’s been married…several times. Does your father know that?” she said finally, perhaps a bit sharper than she intended.

“He mentioned it. It doesn’t seem to bother him.”

“He’d be number five,” Julia persisted, whispering as she glanced over her shoulder again.

He finally showed some reaction. His eyes widened. “That’s quite a record. I’m not sure if he’s done the math.”

Now it was Julia’s turn to sound defensive. “There have been good reasons why her relationships didn’t work out. I mean, she was widowed twice. That certainly wasn’t her fault.”

“Of course not,” he agreed, yet still looked wary.

Before Julia could say anything more in Lucy’s defense, she heard the cooing twosome fluttering back into the room.

“So…you work in the restaurant business. Are you a cook or something?” she asked Sam in a loud, polite tone.

He looked straight into her eyes, signaling he was in sync with her cover-up. “Yes, I’m a chef. I’ve just left a position at a big restaurant so I could open my own place with a partner.”

The independent type. Julia thought she should have guessed that. He looked like someone who didn’t have the patience to take orders from a boss. From anyone, for that matter.

“That’s sounds exciting,” she said sincerely.

“It can be. Not always in a good way. My partner knows nothing about the business…except that he likes to eat out a lot. But I guess that’s the reason a lot of rich people want to invest in a restaurant.”

Sam smiled briefly, causing that curious buzz in her brain again. Julia valiantly shook it off.

She wondered how long he’d be in town visiting his father. But she didn’t want to ask and sound too…interested.

What did it matter to her? She just had to get through the evening.

As if on cue, the older couple returned. Her mother set down the dish of cheese and crackers on the coffee table. Lester followed with the bowl of dip. Then they stepped back and stood side by side, as if performing a rehearsed dance step.

Lester glanced shyly at Lucy and took her hand. Lucy blushed and looked down at the floor.

Julia sat forward in her seat, her tingling intuition lighting up like a pinball machine.

“Kids…we have something to tell you,” Lester began.

Julia cast a desperate look at her mother but couldn’t catch her eye. Her gaze darted over to Sam, but he was staring at his father.

“We were going to wait. But since we have both of you here with us tonight, Lucy and I decided…”

Lester swallowed a big lump in his throat, his old eyes misting over. Julia nearly jumped out of her seat and shook him.

“Say it already!” she wanted to scream.

Then he did. Julia held her breath and felt an urge to cover her eyes with her hands, as if she were watching a horror movie.

“This lovely lady at my side has agreed to be my wife.”

He turned to Lucy and planted a huge, wet, noisy kiss on her cheek. Lucy grinned, looking a bit tearful, too. She briefly hugged him. “Oh…Lester.”

Then she met Julia’s eye. Looking apologetic? More like a little kid who’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t, but didn’t want the teacher to be mad at them.

“Oh, Mom…you didn’t…” Julia sighed.

Lucy may have answered. Julia wasn’t sure. The image of her mother grew blurry…along with the rest of the room. She suddenly felt the room spinning and lifted her hand to her forehead, afraid she might faint.

She struggled to remain upright in her chair but felt herself losing control. Pitching forward.

Everyone in the room shouted at once. Though she couldn’t make out a word of it.

The last thing she remembered was her mother’s carefully polished coffee table, coming closer. And closer…

Then a strange but wonderful sensation as—instead of a crash-landing into solid oak—she felt her limp body being caught and cushioned in the strong embrace of Sam Baxter.

“Julia? Sweetheart? Are you okay?”

Floating back up to consciousness, Julia heard her mother’s voice. But saw only Sam’s gorgeous face, his concerned expression, hovering above.

She seemed to be lying flat out on the living-room floor. On her mother’s scratchy area rug. Sam was crouched on one side, her mother on the other.

“I’m all right,” she insisted.

She tried to sound normal, but her voice came out shaky. She started to sit up, but Sam rested one big hand firmly on her shoulder. “Not so fast. What’s the rush?”

She felt…mortified to have fainted dead away like that. She wished she could just crawl off into some convenient hole.

“I’d like to sit up now,” she insisted.

Finally, Sam leaned back and let her go. Julia stared down at herself, then hurried to straighten out her clothing. During her flight, the wrap-style sweater had gotten unwrapped, exposing most of her lace-trimmed bra, and her skirt had hiked up to midthigh. She hurriedly covered herself, glancing sideways at Sam as she fussed. A twitch in his stoic expression revealed that he hadn’t missed much.