California Dreaming: Four Contemporary Romances (74 page)

The truth was she was caught between her mind and her heart and she didn’t know which one would triumph.

She squared her shoulders and steeled herself against her growing attraction to Hunter. “Did you find a spot for all the furniture?”

“Yes.” Hunter was concentrating on the road, the mid-afternoon traffic snarl already beginning. Even with erratic traffic and cars cutting in and out to gain a three foot advantage, his hands were relaxed and steady on the wheel.

She forced herself not to compare Hunter’s driving style with Rick’s.

“We bought enough for the two guest rooms,” she said, “so you and Mandy should be set.”

Maybe Hunter and Mandy would fall in love with each other and take temptation from her path.

But Mandy was all goo-goo eyes over Paul.

“Looks like it,” Hunter said. “Mandy told me she’d pull together something for dinner tonight. She’s getting a tray for you so you can eat in bed.”

“I’m not eating in bed.”

“Yes, you are. The doc said ‘bed rest’.”

“But it doesn’t have to be on the bed. It could be on the settee I bought yesterday.”

He glanced at her. “Bed’d be more comfortable.”

He had a point. The settee was an ornate Victorian couch — beautiful to look at, but not designed for lounging.

“Well, we’re going to have to think of something. I’m not going to be banished to my bedroom for the next three months.”

Hunter drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he made the exit off the freeway to the inn. “We could move the bed to the living room.”

“Good grief, no!”

He laughed. “I didn’t think you’d go for that.” He concentrated on driving up the winding road. “Maybe a lawn chair with a cushion.”

The idea sounded almost as horrible as a bed in the living room, but had some merit. “That might work. I could sit up a little bit and still be following the doctor’s orders.”

“Okay. I’ll get you settled and run over to Orchard Hardware.”

“I have some cash left over from the auction.”

He nodded and pulled into the inn’s driveway.

Fifteen minutes later, she was settled in her bed, looking out her window at the breeze blowing stalks of forgotten vegetation through tendrils of fog.

For the first time in days, Sarah was alone. Hunter had gone to the hardware store and Mandy had left a note saying she’d gone to work her shift and she’d be home in time to make dinner.

Daisy couldn’t compensate for the lack of human companionship.

The phone rang. She answered it without looking at the display and immediately wished she hadn’t.

“Why does your mother always have to be the one to tell me what’s going on?” Rick complained.

Great.

“I’ve been a little busy. They did a bunch of tests in the hospital and I had to make arrangements and now I’m home.”

“What do you mean, ‘arrangements’?”

How am I going to explain this without making him angry?

“I can’t stay by myself. I need lots of bed rest.”

“Well, I can’t come stay. What about your mother?”

“Don’t you think it would be nice if you asked how I was? Or the baby?”

“Oh. Sorry. But your mom told me everything was fine.”

The wind picked up and the fog turned to rain. “Well, we are, for now. Mandy’s going to stay with me.”

“I can come down every weekend to help you get the inn open, but you’ll have to delay your start date.”

“I’m going to hire some people to help out.”

“Some people” was going to be Hunter, but Rick didn’t need to know that. “I promised Annie the inn for her wedding. She’s not planning it until late June, after school’s out, and I should be on my feet by then. I’ve hired a gardener, so the yard should show beautifully.”

Rick sighed. “Sounds like you have it all together, but then you always do. I’m glad. Although I’d be happy to come down every weekend, it would be a hardship. Classes are difficult right now. We’re doing sauces and I’m having a tough time getting the hang of some of them. You remember how my gravy was always too lumpy — same thing.”

She’d never realized that the person first in Rick’s mind was … Rick.

“I’ll be fine,” she said.

“I’ll bring you some books and practice on you next time I come. I’ll be there about ten on Saturday. Sound good? I miss you, Sarah.”

“Sounds good.” Did she miss him? Would he notice the lack of a return sentiment?

“Sarah?” Her mother’s voice wafted in from the hall. “You really shouldn’t leave the door open.”

“My mother’s here,” Sarah said. “Got to go. See you Saturday.”

“Love you.” Rick’s voice had a hopeful note in it.

“Yeah.” She clicked the phone off, her stomach churning with conflicting emotions — guilt, unease, and a desire to be done with Rick.

But she never would be. Even if they didn’t get back together, they’d have a child forever.

“Oh, here you are!” Elizabeth entered her bedroom, a stack of romance novels in her hands.

Sarah groaned. She didn’t need to be reading about someone else’s happily ever after.

“Why did you call Rick?” Sarah asked her mother.

“He had a right to know.”

“You don’t get to make that decision.” Sarah glared at Elizabeth.

Her mother gripped the novels tighter. “I brought these for you.” She waved them around before setting them on the bureau. Glancing around the room, Elizabeth said, “The furniture looks great. Good thing you were able to get it before … before — ”

“I had to stay in bed.”

“I’m really messing this up, aren’t I?” Elizabeth said.

“Uh-huh.”

Elizabeth sat on the edge of the bed. “I only want the best for you and for the child.”

“And you think Rick is the best.”

“You don’t?” Elizabeth looked at her in surprise.

Sarah looked down at the quilt covering her bed. “I don’t know. I’m all mixed up. I think Rick
should
be the one; it’s his baby. But then I remember how he didn’t want the baby — told me to get an abortion.”

“I thought he apologized for that.”

“He did. But when he talks, he talks about his future and what he wants, not what we’re going to do together as a family.”

“He could be insecure.”

Sarah looked up at her mother. “That doesn’t make him good father material.”

“It doesn’t make him bad father material, either. Just immature.”

Hunter wasn’t immature.

Her mother must have known what she was thinking. “Isn’t it going to be awkward having Hunter around?”

“He won’t be here when Rick comes.”

“But Rick will know. Men always do.”

“Not unless you
tell
him, Mother.”

“I won’t have to. He’ll know.”

Elizabeth was probably right, but Sarah didn’t want to deal with it right now. She needed Hunter as an electrician, plumber, and muscle. “I need someone with a strong back. Rick’s not around.”

“So hire someone. He doesn’t have to live here.”

“Mom.” Sarah leaned forward. “Hunter saved the baby. He’s a vet. Can we cut him some slack?”

“I can. I’m just not sure Rick can.”

“He’s going to have to get over it.”

“I don’t — ”

“Stay out of it, Mom. I’m warning you!” The blood pumped faster through Sarah’s veins and her face burned.

Elizabeth stood up. “Okay. Okay. You need to stay calm, Sarah. I’ll do what you want.”

“Promise?”

Elizabeth kissed her on the forehead. “Promise.”

The front door swung open with a thud. “Who’s here?” Hunter called out.

“My mom,” Sarah called out at the same time her mother said, “Elizabeth, Sarah’s mom!”

Clunking came from the living room.

“What’s he doing?” Elizabeth asked.

“Lawn furniture. I refuse to spend the next three months in here. Can you go see what he’s got? With my luck he’s gotten that ugly white plastic stuff.”

A few minutes later, Elizabeth was back with a smile on her face. “He’s got taste. It will go well in the garden when you’re done with it.”

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.

Sarah looked up from her improvised bed at the faces gathered around the kitchen table — Mandy, Elizabeth, and Hunter. The house was beginning to feel like an inn, good food and conversation warming the walls. She smiled and ate another bite of Mandy’s macaroni and cheese. Sheer bliss in a casserole dish.

“So what do you think?” Mandy asked her.

“I think you’re hired.”

“I second that notion,” Hunter chimed in with a smile, raising his soda glass in a mock gesture.

“Why aren’t you drinking wine?” Sarah asked.

“You can’t.”

“Yes,” Mandy chimed in. “We all agreed we’d hold the beer and wine until you could join us. However,” she leaned toward Sarah, “as far as coffee is concerned, you’re on your own. I need my caffeine.”

“I know the feeling,” Elizabeth added.

Laughter bubbled from those around the table, infecting Sarah until she joined in. This was family — sharing joy and burdens. How much had Mandy and Hunter brought into her life in a short time? Measureless.

She caught her mother studying her. Elizabeth immediately looked away, but Sarah could tell there was something on her mind.

By the time Sarah went to bed that night, all misgivings were banished by contentment. Unlike some nights, tonight the sandman stayed with her and she woke refreshed the next morning.

Sarah spent most of the day going over the kitchen needs with Mandy. “I’m so frustrated I can’t go to that auction.”

Mandy stopped writing on her list and looked up at Sarah. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“No, I mean really trust me. If you’re anything like your mother, giving up control doesn’t come easily.”

Sarah laughed. “You have a point there. But what choice do I have?”

“There’s always a choice. You can wait.”

“Not likely.”

Mandy shrugged. “Well, then.”

Sarah took a deep breath. Maybe she’d trusted easily once, but she couldn’t remember when that had been. Time to take the plunge. It was only a kitchen.

And she didn’t cook, as everyone kept reminding her.

“I trust you.” She smiled.

“See, that wasn’t that hard.” Mandy rose from the table and started pulling things from the refrigerator and cabinets. Somehow the kitchen was coming together. In addition to a blender Mandy had gotten on sale at a big box store, she’d managed to score a cappuccino maker and a slow cooker at garage sales. “I’m going to start a Crockpot stew for dinner before I go to work. That way there’ll be something for you and Hunter even if I’m not here.”

“You really don’t have to go through all this trouble.”

Mandy pointed a sharp knife at Sarah. “That was the deal. I cook. You supply a room and buy half the groceries. Don’t overstep your boundaries.”

Sarah laughed again, propped up her laptop, and went back to work on the inn’s website.

Mandy wheeled her chaise lounge back into the living room before she left and Sarah settled in for the day. Desperation made her pick up one of the romance novels her mother had left.

Within a few pages she’d drifted off to sleep.

A knock at the door awoke her. “Come in.” Elizabeth may not like the unlocked door, but there didn’t seem to be any way around it.

She was surprised when her seventeen-year-old half-sister, Alicia, walked in, her pregnant stomach leading the way. Since she’d moved home, Sarah had avoided her mother’s spa, not willing to spend time with her father’s daughter. Nothing Elizabeth could say would change her mind.

Sarah didn’t understand how Elizabeth could accept her husband’s disloyalty and its evidence on a daily basis. “Oh. Hi.”

Alicia had a pink Gayle’s box in her hands. “Your mother has sent me with a peace offering,” she said. “Shall I put it in the kitchen, or do you want me to serve some now?”

“What did she send?” The conversation couldn’t get any more awkward if Sarah tried.

Alicia smiled, the grin lighting her face and reminding Sarah of her father. Her heart ached with the betrayal.

“She sent bear claws and some mini-Danish. Smells great.” Alicia waved the box under Sarah’s nose.”

Sarah’s stomach obediently grumbled and she had to chuckle. “Sounds like now would be good. Why don’t you join me? I think the plates are in the cupboard on the far wall. There’s still coffee in the machine. Help yourself.”

“Do you want any?”

Sarah shook her head. “It’s caffeinated. I’ll take a glass of water if you don’t mind.”

The thick walls masked whatever noise Alicia was making in the kitchen. Sarah stared at the ceiling, trying to think of safe topics of conversation. The dark wood wainscoting and emerald wallpaper didn’t reveal any secrets for success.

“How much longer?” Sarah gestured to Alicia’s round belly when she returned with the food.

“About six more weeks. I can’t wait.” Alicia lowered herself into one of the armchairs. “I’m sorry you have to have bed rest. That would have driven me crazy. I like to be moving all the time.”

The silence lengthened as they took the first bites of the pastries.

After taking a sip of coffee, Alicia put her hands on her knees and gazed steadily at Sarah. “Look, I know I make you uncomfortable and I’m sorry for that. But it’s not my fault.”

“I know that.”

Alicia licked her lips. “You sound so cold when you say that Sarah. We are sisters. In my culture, family is important and you are my family, no matter that we’re from different sides of the sheet.” She gestured at the chaise. “This can be frustrating. Some of my cousins have had to do this. I would like to help if I could.” She smiled. “I’m good at making things pretty. I could help you decorate the rooms with knickknacks, flowers, maybe even some painted flowers on the upper walls.” She stood and began to walk around the room.

“I really can help you. We can find style you want on the web and then I can make it happen.” She crossed to Sarah. “Please. I want to be closer to you.” She gestured to their stomachs. “Our babies will be close in age — cousins. We must make our peace so they can know their whole family.”

Sarah looked away from the young woman’s earnestness. “I’ll need to think about this.” She turned back and smiled at Alicia. “Thank you for the offer. Really. I appreciate it. I’m … I’m not sure I’m ready.”