Reflection Point: An Eternity Springs Novel (41 page)

“She’s well. Busy, but then, aren’t we all?”

“Is she still traveling quite a bit?”

“Constantly. As a result, we don’t have the opportunity to see each other as often as we’d like. I’m trying to convince her to visit Eternity Springs sometime soon. She asked me to tell you hello and to blame her for my being tardy, but we’re both to blame. It was downright rude of me to ask for a ride to the baby shower and then not be ready on time. Please forgive me.”

“Don’t be silly, Celeste. We have plenty of time. Besides, your front desk worker gave me a cup of spectacular coffee and I used the time to my benefit and looked over some of the paperwork Principal Geary gave me this morning.” Hope picked up her purse and slipped the strap over her shoulder. “Can I help you carry anything?”

“Thank you. I have a few gifts in the kitchen.”

Celeste led Hope down the hallway toward the kitchen. Upon entering the cheery room, Hope stopped and laughed. The kitchen table was covered with gaily wrapped and ribboned packages and bags, all in nursery themes in shades of a beautiful baby blue. “A few bags?”

“It’s the latent grandmother in me, I fear. I just love buying for little ones.”

Hope’s smile grew bittersweet. “I do, too.”

They loaded the gifts into Hope’s crossover SUV, chatting about the presents they’d chosen. Hope was excited about the baby shower. This would be her first visit to Jack and Cat Davenport’s mountain
estate, Eagle’s Way, and she looked forward to seeing it. She’d heard it was fabulous.

They picked up two more passengers for the drive, Maggie Romano and her daughter, Gabi. An attractive widow in her early fifties, Maggie was the newest full-time resident of Eternity Springs, having moved here at the beginning of the summer to be nearer to two of her adult children. Gabi was the town’s deputy sheriff, though with her long legs, high cheekbones, and her mother’s beautiful blue eyes, she could have been a model if she’d wanted. Hope was in the early stages of friendship with the Romano women. She liked them both very much but, considering her history, she was cautious about letting anyone get too close.

Celeste Blessing had been the lone exception. Being around Celeste was like slipping into Angel’s Rest’s inviting hot springs pools—sans the sulphur smell—on a cold winter’s night. She simply made Hope feel better. She’d planted the seed about moving to Eternity Springs during those beach house days, then nurtured the notion with phone calls. Once Hope expressed real interest in making the change, Celeste had championed her to the principal and the school board.

The four women made small talk as their trip commenced. Gabi began relaying a story about the sheriff’s office dispatcher’s unfortunate experience with online dating, and with the laughter the story elicited, the melancholy that had lingered within
Hope after the unfortunate lesson-planner incident began to dissolve. She turned onto the road that climbed out of the valley, and her spirits rose along with it.

They were halfway up the ridge when Maggie observed, “I’ve not been up this road before. What a spectacular view!”

“Isn’t it lovely?” In the front passenger seat, Celeste twisted around to speak with Maggie directly. “This is one of my favorite Gold Wing rides. Up here I sometimes feel like I can reach into the sky and touch heaven.”

“Maybe I’ll have to get a motorcycle,” Maggie mused. “We could form a gang, Celeste.”

Gabi let out a groan and buried her head in her hands as Celeste laughed out loud.

It was a beautiful, late-summer afternoon. Temperatures hovered in the mid-seventies. Snow-capped peaks climbed up to a sapphire sky dotted with puffy white clouds. The road wound around a mountainside to reveal an alpine meadow carpeted with wildflowers. “Oh, how gorgeous,” Hope observed. “What are those purple-blue wildflowers called?”

“Gentians. They’re one of my favorites,” Celeste said. “Up near Heartache Falls they … Oh dear.”

Hope braked to a stop as they came upon a small herd of bighorn sheep congregated on the road in front of them. Celeste clucked her tongue. “These animals are becoming my nemesis. This is the third
time they’ve delayed me this month. Sarah Murphy will have my guts for garters if we’re late to the shower.”

“We have plenty of time,” Hope assured her.

“Yes, but Sarah is not her usual cheery self these days. I need a distraction. What’s the latest on your project, Maggie?”

Gabi rolled her big blue eyes and groaned for a second time. Her mother sniffed with disdain, then beamed at Celeste. “Actually, I have exciting news. Jim Sutton has accepted my offer for his great-grandmother’s Victorian on Aspen Street. With a little renovation, it will make a perfect B&B.”

“That
is
exciting news,” Celeste said.

“Congratulations.” Hope’s brows knit as she tried to place the house. “On Aspen, you say? Which house is it?”

“The yellow one between Fifth and Sixth.”

Maggie must be referring to the dilapidated three-story whose faded, flaking paint sometimes floated on the air like dandruff. Hope pictured an overgrown yard, broken shutters, rotted gingerbread trim, and plywood-covered windows.

“It needs a little work,” Maggie added as if reading Hope’s mind.

“And Murphy Mountain is a little hill,” Gabi drawled.

“Now, honey …”

Gabi slipped on a pair of designer sunglasses.
“Zach is quaking in his hiking boots. I heard him tell Savannah to be quick and hide his tool belt.”

“I promised I wouldn’t ask your brother to help,” her mother protested. “He’s the sheriff, for heaven’s sake. He doesn’t have time to be my handyman.”

“I’m the sheriff’s deputy,” Gabi whined. “Why am I instructed to report for cleaning duty first thing Saturday morning?”

“Zach gets newlywed dispensation.”

“He’s your favorite.”

“Right now, yes.”

The exchange surprised Hope. In her experience, mothers denied the existence of a favored child even if the charge was true. Taking her attention off the bleating roadblock that was finally beginning to move, she glanced into the rearview mirror to observe the Romano women.

Gabi caught her look and flashed a grin. “It’s okay, Hope. He’s due for it.”

She wanted to ask why, but she wasn’t that nosy. Celeste obviously didn’t share her concerns. “Being a newcomer to town, Hope probably doesn’t know your family history. Tell her about Zach, Maggie. She loves happy endings as much as I do.”

“It is a happy ending, isn’t it?” Maggie sighed with pleasure, then explained. “I’ll share the short version, Hope. Our family is dealing with a rather unique situation. I got pregnant with Zach when I was fifteen and I gave him up for adoption. Gabi
and her brothers tracked him down and we’ve been reunited in the past year, so I have a lot of pent-up love to shower upon him.”

Oh. A lost child, found
. Hope’s throat grew tight.

“Mom has always been a big proponent of sibling equality when it comes to parental favoritism, so my sibs and I understand it’s Zach’s turn,” Gabi added. “That doesn’t mean the rest of us won’t complain about it. Especially under current circumstances. I can’t be your handyman, either, Mom. It’s too big a job. You need a contractor—shoot, you need a miracle worker—if you’re going to turn that broken down behemoth into a bed-and-breakfast.”

“I know, Gabriella. I actually have something different in mind. Someone different. I know a man who is good with his hands who desperately needs a project. A worker who needs a miracle.”

“A miracle? Who do you know who needs … Oh. Lucca.”

“He’s one of your twins, isn’t he?” Celeste asked Maggie. “The one who coaches for Colorado?”

“No. That’s Anthony. Lucca took the Landry University Wildcats to the Sweet Sixteen last March. Then he … well …”

“He wigged out,” Gabi said, a bite of temper in her voice. “He quit his job and took off, didn’t tell the family where he’d gone. He acted like a total jerk and it hurt us. I’m warning you, Mom. It’s going to take some time for me to forgive him. And
what makes you think he’ll come here anyway? According to Max and Anthony and Zach, he’s perfectly happy lounging in his Mexican beach chair and getting drunk on tequila and he has absolutely no intention of ever coming back.”

Maggie squared her shoulders. “He’s my son. I have not begun to utilize all the weapons in my arsenal. He will come.”

Hope followed college sports, so she’d picked up the connection between her new friends and the well-known collegiate basketball coaches early on. She admitted to Googling for more information. What Lucca Romano had done was publicly crash and burn and alienate the power brokers in his professional field.

Hope recognized that he’d suffered a tragedy. She sympathized with his pain. She didn’t respect the way he’d chosen to deal with it. Quit everything, quit on everyone, and run off to become a drunken beach bum? It demonstrated a distinct lack of character as far as she was concerned. His mother must be so disappointed in him.

“I hope you’re right, Mom,” Gabi said. “But I’m afraid you’re going to be hurt.”

“He’ll come. Now, look at that beautiful iron sculpture up on our right. It’s an eagle in flight. How graceful.”

“That’s our Sage’s work, a gift to Jack.”

“So this is Eagle’s Way?” Hope asked. “We’re here?”

“Yes. With three minutes to spare, thank the dear Lord.”

They drove through an open gate and along a road that wound through a meadow painted with wildflowers. The large, sprawling house was built in the traditional mountain log home style, with windows facing what had to be one of the best views in Colorado. “Wow,” Hope said.

“Wait until you see the inside,” Celeste said. “And the patio and pool area. Gabe Callahan is a landscape architect, and what he created is perfect for such a heavenly spot.”

Jack Davenport stood on the front steps, and he waved at Hope to pull her car onto a circular driveway where Cam Murphy, Gabe Callahan, and Colt Rafferty stood acting as valets. “Hello, dears,” Celeste said, climbing from the car. “I’m surprised to see you here. I thought the girls decided they wanted a traditional females-only baby shower.”

“We’re just here to provide muscle,” Jack said. “As soon as everyone arrives and all the loot is hauled inside, we have a date with fishing rods and the creek.”

“You have a lovely home,” Hope told him.

“Thanks. We do love it.”

Just then the front door opened and Nic Callahan called, “Thank goodness you are here! Sarah and Cat are ready to get this party started.”

“Are we the last to arrive?”

“Rose is running late, but she had a patient. She’s asked us to start without her.”

Hope stepped into the great room and her gaze was torn among three gorgeous sites: snowcapped mountains displayed like a fine-art painting through the wall of windows; a glowing Cat Davenport holding her sleeping four-month-old son, Johnny, in her arms; and Sarah Murphy, sprawled in an overstuffed easy chair, her feet propped up on an ottoman, a grumpy scowl on her face and a baby belly so big that Hope wondered if she might be having a litter rather than a single baby boy.

“Sarah, you look beautiful,” Hope told her.

“You are a liar, Hope Montgomery, but I appreciate the effort.”

“How do you feel, darling?” Celeste asked.

“Fat. Grouchy. Ugly. Fat. My back hurts. I haven’t seen my feet in weeks. My former neonatologist so-called friend tells me I could go another week, curse her black heart.”

The physician in question, Sage Rafferty, rolled her eyes. “I’m not your doctor, Sarah. I gave you my personal opinion, not my professional one.”

Sarah pouted then turned to Nic. “Sage is right. I should have asked you instead of her. You’re a vet. I’m a cow. When should I head for the barn and lie down on the straw? Or would I stand up? Do cows have their babies lying down or standing up?”

“Mother,” Lori Murphy chastised, her expression
long-suffering. “Just stop it. The baby is healthy and you are healthy and you look lovely.”

“Your father called me a whale!”

As one, the women in the room gasped.

“No he didn’t, Mother.” Lori explained to the others, “He called her a great white because she’d just bitten his head off for accidentally sloshing coffee onto the kitchen floor.”

“It was clean. I want a clean house when I go into labor. But I shouldn’t have snapped at him, and he spoke the truth. Big fish, big bovine … what’s the difference? I’m fat! Why couldn’t I have a little bump like Cat had? I’m bigger than Nic was and she had twins! I’m a blimp and I’m ugly and I’m too old to be doing this. What woman has her first and second children more than twenty years apart? I can’t do this!”

“Sure you can.” Nic Callahan crossed the room to sit on the arm of Sarah’s chair. “And I thought this was supposed to be a baby shower, not a pity party.”

Sarah’s lips quirked. “Can’t it be both? I’m one-hundred-and-twelve months pregnant.”

“I’ll bet you didn’t sleep last night, did you?”

“Not much. Between the heartburn and his constant kicking and the fact that he has his butt right on top of my bladder …”

“You’ve never done well when you’re short on sleep.”

“Newborns don’t sleep. I’m going to be a terrible mother.”

“You’re a wonderful mother,” Lori protested. “The best. And this time, Cam will be around to help.”

Sarah sniffed. “I love you, Lori. And I love your father and my friends. I have a wonderful life. I don’t know why I’m being such a witch.”

“It’s the late-pregnancy hormones,” Sage said.

“I hope it
is
hormones and not the new me. But my emotions are a mess. I’m happy and excited, but I’m also anxious and nervous and worried. Frankly, I’m scared to death.”

“Of course you are,” Nic said. “That’s normal.”

“She’s right,” Ali Timberlake chimed in. “Every mother-to-be is a little bit afraid.”

You should be afraid
, Hope thought, though she wouldn’t dream of speaking the warning aloud.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Sarah.” Cat took a seat in a wooden rocking chair, then shifted her infant son to lie against her shoulder. “What you have to remember is that the risk and worry are worth it because the reward is so great.”