Ruth Herne - The Lawman's Yuletide Baby

“That’s a tough face to ignore,” noted Mack.

“And he knows it. But better safe than sorry.” He moved toward the cooler. “I’ll save him a hot dog. Tucker forgives anything if there’s a hot dog involved.”

“I wonder if there’s a similar system that works on kids,” Corinne mused. “It’s definitely cheaper than a cell phone, which is our current argument of the day.”

“Tee doesn’t let things go, does she?”

“No. And I hate being the bad guy 24/7, but that’s kind of how things shake down.”

Understanding marked his gaze. “My mom said that, too. She raised me on her own, and she always said the hardest part was being the tough one, all the time. No respite. But it worked out in the end.”

“That’s my hope and prayer, right there. That they grow up to have full and happy lives. Like you did.”

His face drew down slightly as he began laying the meat on the hot grill surface. She started to chat with Susie as the hamburgers, hot dogs and Italian sausage sent meat-scented smoke their way.

Corinne breathed deeply, loving the scents of a cookout on the lake. Susie turned a pale shade of gray-green and looked dreadful.

Pregnant.

Corinne had dealt with morning sickness both personally and on a professional level. She took Susie’s hand and led her toward the house. “I’m going to show Susie around inside. You guys okay?”

“Just fine.”

“Yup.” Mack lifted a cold bottle of iced tea their way. “See you in a few.”

She got Susie inside to the bathroom just in time, then gave her a cool, damp washcloth to lay across her forehead. “Sit down and breathe easy, and it will pass.”

“I’m so embarrassed.” Susie’s mouth scrunched up below the wet cloth. “Corinne, you don’t even know me.”

“No time like the present.” Corinne laughed. “But I’ve seen this particular malady often enough because I’m a nurse in the crisis pregnancy unit. How far along are you?”

“Eighteen weeks. But we’ve kept it pretty quiet because pregnancy hasn’t gone well with us.”

“Susie, I’m sorry.”

Susie shrugged beneath the cool cloth, but her chin quivered. “I’m with a new doctor and she’s determined. And I’ve never been sick like this before.”

“A well-set pregnancy makes its presence known.”

“Is that true?” Susie sat up and whisked the damp cloth from her forehead. “Because the doctor said that, too.”

“It is in my experience. And I’m putting you on my prayer list right now because this would be so exciting.” She reached over and pressed Susie’s hand lightly. “A new baby coming to visit the lake next spring.” A baby...so sweet, so special, such an amazing blessing. And so very difficult for some. She saw that on her hospital unit. She’d dealt with the mercurial highs and lows of crisis pregnancy.

She’d wanted a house full of kids. She’d wanted to chase babies and toddlers and push strollers long after Tee was running and climbing and shrugging off any offers of help. Her dream had been thwarted by a felon’s bullet, but she had two beautiful children, and that was something to be grateful for.

She spotted movement on the deck. “Susie, pretend you’re looking at something.”

“Which I am, of course.” Susie picked up a book from the table as Mack came to the sliding screen door separating them from the broad wooden deck.

“How we doing in there?”

“We’ve finished the grand tour and Susie’s checking out a book I recommended.”

“Great.” He smiled through the screen at his wife. “Gabe says we’ve got about five minutes until everything’s done.”

“I’ll bring out the rest of the stuff. Susie, feel free to borrow that and tell me what you think.”

“Thank you, Corinne.”

“Tee?” Corinne called upstairs from the first floor. “Can you help me with food?” Long seconds of silence ensued before she heard Tee’s footsteps on the floor above.

Shouts from up the beach indicated the boys’ return. Corinne carried a hot potato salad out to the deck. Tee followed with a cold pasta salad, and dragged her feet every inch of the way, right up until the boys made it to the deck.

Then everything changed.

Tee raised her chin.

Her eyes sparkled.

Shoulders back, she was the epitome of charm once the deck was filled with five young baseball players.

Corinne wanted to smack a hand to her head, because if Tee was crushing on one of Callan’s friends, the result could be gut-wrenching for brother and sister.

Callan loved Tee. He’d given her that name as a toddler. She was his “Tee-Tee,” and the name stuck.

But they were stepping into uncharted waters now.

And while Corinne didn’t have to do too many weekend shifts anymore, the idea of teens with too much time on their hands was worrisome. Time alone and internet access, texting, unlimited phone use...

She wanted normal for these two, but how could she strike that balance, keep them safe and allow them to grow in current times?

“She’s got a thing for Brandon.”

Gabe’s soft voice made her turn. “You think?” Brandon was the team’s center fielder.

“Oh, yeah. She’s being subtle around him and a little too loud with the other boys, as if trying to gain his attention. And he’s oblivious.”

Corinne glanced behind her and agreed. “Can I lock her away? At least until sophomore year of college?”

He laughed softly as he removed meat from the grill. “I think that’s an excellent idea. And this road is out of the way enough that the boys won’t be visiting down here, unless they’re coming to see Callan.”

“Which they do on a regular basis.”

He exaggerated a wince. “That means team dynamics are about to change. We’ll go from total dedication to the game to split attention because of G-I-R-L-S. There goes our guaranteed spot in the state playoffs.”

She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “We’re not that bad, are we?”

“At that age?” He raised the tongs and indicated the boys and one lovestruck tween. “No contest.”

He was right. There was nothing like the bittersweet moments of young romance to mess with a kid’s head.

She dreaded it, not because she didn’t want the kids to grow up. That was normal. But the older they got, the less she could fix for them, and affairs of the heart were not easily mended.

She sighed because she knew the truth in that. Broken romances were mended only by time, faith and experience. “No one asked my opinion on this particular timeline, but if asked, I’d have put it off another year. Or two.”

“And yet, no one offers options,” Mack said as he came up alongside them. “We deal with what comes our way, the good and the bad.”

Gabe’s jaw tightened. He stared down as he flipped the meat, then piled it all onto her large platter. “I’ll put the meat on the ledge.”

He didn’t look at Mack. He didn’t look at her. He crossed the open patio overlooking the water, set the tray down and walked to the water’s edge.

Mack scrubbed a hand to his jaw, watching Gabe. Then he sighed, turned and called out to the guys. “Food’s ready!”

“Great!”

“Awesome!”

“Thanks for doing this, Mrs. G.!”

The grown-ups waited while the boys filled their plates, and when they all gravitated toward the water—and their beloved coach—the adults had a quiet patio to themselves.

Gabe stayed by the water, talking with the boys. Should she go get him? Remind him that the food was getting cold? He’d been fine, working, cooking, talking, and then...not fine.

He started their way a few minutes later.

He didn’t look at her. Didn’t look at anyone, not really. If alone in a crowd had a face, it was Gabe Cutler’s expression, right now.