Summer on Lovers' Island (33 page)

“I love you, Dave.” In between contractions now, Charlie's voice softened and Dave touched his lips to hers. Josh needed to listen to the baby, but Lizzie could tell that he didn't want to interrupt the moment.

Another contraction built and Charlie leaned her head forward, holding Dave's hand, breathing in rhythm until Lizzie realized they were all matching her breath for breath.

Josh moved in and had a listen as Charlie rested for the short time between contractions. He met Lizzie's gaze and frowned. “The heart rate's a little slow.”

“She's progressing well, though.” Unease began to trickle through Lizzie at the suggestion that something might not be 100 percent right. “Do you want me to try to move things along?”

“What's the heart rate?” Charlie asked, still slightly out of breath.

Josh put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Not low enough for you to worry about. You put on your mom hat and leave the doctoring to us, okay? We just need you to do your job, which is going to be to push. Very soon, I hope.” Josh looked down at Charlie. “We got this, Charlie. I promise.”

Again with the skitter down Lizzie's spine.

Outside, the hurricane raged, shaking the cottage with its fury, whipping branches off trees and churning the ocean into a dark-gray froth. But inside they were only focused on Charlie and her labor. During the next contraction her water broke, and Lizzie and Josh worked to take away the wet towels and replace them with new, soft ones. At the next check Lizzie gave Charlie the all clear. “If you feel like pushing, go ahead. Just let your body do the work, okay, honey?”

Dave uttered words of encouragement, but it was four more contractions before the urge to push overtook her.

“She's crowning!” Lizzie exclaimed, beaming at Charlie. Lizzie focused on the baby, on Charlie, tried to ignore the small voice in her head that told her not to get too comfortable. Not to miss anything. The last baby she'd delivered—

No, she couldn't think like that. That was an entirely different situation with an accident and a preemie and—

“Lizzie,” Josh's voice interrupted her thoughts. “Hey.”

She looked up, dazed. And she could tell Josh knew where her thoughts had gone.

“I'm fine. I've got it.”

The baby crowned. Josh was at Lizzie's shoulder, Dave was at Charlie's head, stroking her hair, and things were heating up.

And then Lizzie saw the cord and her heart stopped a little.

The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. In her head, Lizzie knew this wasn't a big deal. It was common enough. But that, with the decreased heart rate earlier and her general sense of unease, made Lizzie freeze. What if she was missing something?

“You've got this,” Josh said in her ear.

She swallowed. “Charlie honey, don't push for a minute, okay?”

“Easy for you to say!” Charlie grunted and bore down.

“Don't push!” Lizzie commanded, trying not to panic. It was just a cord.

Josh put his hand on her shoulder. “I can step in, but you need to do this. You
can
do it. Just ease the cord over the baby's head.” His voice was warm and low so as not to alarm Charlie any further.

Lizzie's eyes blurred with tears and Josh came around, wiped them with his thumbs, and kissed her forehead. “You've got this,” he repeated. “Nice and easy, loosen the cord and slip it over. It's only wrapped around once.”

With his voice soft and encouraging in her ear, she loosened the cord. The baby turned a little, in preparation for birthing the shoulders, and Lizzie let out a breath.

“Okay, Charlie. Next contraction you give 'em hell.”

There was a groan and a yell, and then the baby slid into Lizzie's waiting hands. Josh was there with a pink towel and Lizzie laughed with joy as the baby's first cries filled the room. They bundled her as best they could with the cord still attached and placed her on Charlie's tummy.

“Congratulations, Mom and Dad,” Lizzie said, weeping now. “A beautiful, healthy baby girl.”

Josh's hands squeezed Lizzie's shoulders. “Told you so,” he said in her ear.

“Yes, you did,” she replied, tilting her head to rest on his hand for a second. “Thank you, Josh.”

He gave her a final squeeze, then took over clamping and helping Dave cut the cord. Lizzie attended to Charlie, and Dave took over the task of a first bath with some of the water he'd heated when Lizzie and Josh had arrived. When both mom and baby were cleaned up, Lizzie helped Charlie settle the baby at her breast.

The sight was so emotional that Lizzie escaped to the kitchen, giving Charlie and Dave some privacy. Josh went with her, and when they were around the corner he simply took her in his arms and held her tight.

She put her arms around his back and held on.

“Josh?”

“Hmmm?”

She tilted her head up to look at him. “I think I love you, Josh.”

“Just think?”

“It's a big step for me.” She smiled, somehow both tired and energized.

“In that case, I think I love you, too.”

She wouldn't weep again. She wouldn't. But the words made her want to.

“For a while I was so afraid. And then you were there and I knew you trusted me.”

“I knew what you were thinking. But we all make mistakes, Charlie. And we can't let those mistakes freeze us up and make us afraid to try again.”

“You're not just talking about the baby.”

“Smart girl. The truth is, if Erin hadn't died, we would have divorced. Our marriage wasn't meant to be. And if that's true, surely that means there's someone else out there for me who is the right one. I can't let myself be afraid and miss the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“You're saying that the problem isn't trust but loving the wrong person all along?”

“Maybe. Or maybe the point is, it doesn't matter. Trust, faith … it all means something intangible. It's based on something more than hard evidence. And maybe what it is for me is love. Either way, I'm ready to try again.”

“Me, too,” she whispered. “Except…”

He pulled away a bit. “Except what?”

She wanted to do this right. Be sure, not screw it up. “Josh, I've always planned my career step-by-step. And then I let my impulsive side take over my personal life to make up for it. Both crashed and burned. I went looking for adventure, but what I really wanted was something to make me feel alive. You do that for me, Josh. When I look at you. When I touch you. I don't want to ruin that. I just … I need you to agree to one more rule.”

“Oh great. Another one of Lizzie's rules.” His tone was joking, but she could see the shadow of worry in his eyes. “What is it?”

“Be patient with me. I want to do things right. Just be patient with me and be beside me as I figure that out, okay?”

“That's it?”

“That's it.”

“I think you'll find I can be very patient … about some things,” Josh said. Then he dipped his head and kissed her. Hard. Possessively. So passionately that it curled her purple-covered toes.

“Are they kissing?” came a yell from the living room, and Lizzie and Josh broke apart. Josh's face flamed red as they saw Dave standing in the doorway with a smirk on his face.

“Oh yeah!” he called back. “Big-time.”

“Woo hoo!”

Lizzie laughed. And then Josh pulled her close and she knew somehow they'd figure it all out.

 

C
HAPTER
22

Two months later

Lizzie huddled into her thick sweater, watching as Josh zipped his fleece up to the top, guarding against the bitter wind off the ocean. The boat ride to Lovers' Island had been a cold one, and in early November the beach felt barren and wild. They'd spent an hour scouring the peak of the island where they'd found the leather pouch but had come up empty. Not that they'd really expected to find anything. Still, Josh's eyes lit up when the mythical treasure was mentioned, even though he hadn't kept a bit of the initial find to himself. The historical society was benefiting greatly from the coins. The rest of the treasure, if there was any, remained a mystery.

Josh and Lizzie both wanted to go to the beach before heading back to Jewell Cove, though. Lizzie stopped, spread her arms wide as if to embrace the wind, and closed her eyes. She was 100 percent enjoying her new adventure—being head over heels in love with the man beside her.

Her eyes were still closed when she felt him there, his body blocking the wind, his lips on hers as his arms pulled her against him. She responded by looping her arms around his neck and kissing him back until they were both out of breath.

“Remember our first trip here?” he asked, his lips close to her ear.

“Of course.” She grinned up at him, remembering the day very clearly. “You were very naughty.”

“I was falling in love with you even then,” he answered, taking her gloved hand in his.

“Me, too.” She'd been too afraid, too stubborn, to admit it.

True to his word, Josh had been patient with her while she sorted out what she wanted to do. He'd been free with his affection but reserved in his demands, and she loved him all the more for it. Never in her life had anyone accepted her in this way. The freedom of it had made her decisions easier in the end. She'd waited until today to tell him, hoping he'd be happy with her choices. She'd made them for herself, but also with her and Josh's relationship in mind, and she was quite excited.

“Let's sit over here,” she suggested, pointing to a spot where the sand met rock. They found a natural seat in the granite and perched on it, sheltered a little from the cold wind.

“You're a little crazy for wanting to come out here this time of year,” Josh teased. “It's freezing. And I'm sure you don't want to strip to your underwear and go for a dip.”

“I'm not into hypothermia,” she replied. “But I did want to come here for a reason, Josh. I have news.”

“Good news?” His eyebrows went up, and she saw a shadow of apprehension. Bless him, he had given her so much freedom, but she knew he had insecurities.

“I think it's good news. I hope you will, too.” She spun on the rock so that her legs were over his and his arm was around her. “I've been offered a job in Brunswick, in the emergency room there.”

Josh's face lightened. “But that's so close! Commutable distance for sure.”

She nodded. “And my hours wouldn't be heavy, either. No more sixty-hour weeks for this chick.” She leaned against his shoulder. “I love emergency medicine, but I thought it was time I had a life, too.”

“I like that idea,” Josh replied.

“Me, too. Since the best parts of my life right now happen to be in Jewell Cove, it made sense to look for something nearby.”

“Congratulations,” he said, squeezing her close and giving her a kiss. “I'm happy for you. For us, too.”

“So you're okay with it? I haven't accepted yet.”

“It's your decision, Liz. But yeah, it's incredibly workable. I'm more than okay with it.”

“I was thinking, too,” she said, “that it would be nice to have my mom closer. I found a few living facilities in the area that specialize in memory loss patients.” She met his gaze. “I was wondering if you'd go with me and check a few of them out.”

“Of course I will,” he said warmly. “I'd be honored, honey.”

She'd taken him to meet her mom a few weeks earlier, and it had been a good day for Rosemary. She'd taken to Josh right away, calling him a “handsome young man” and telling him stories of Lizzie when she was a girl. It had been so lovely and yet bittersweet. It always amazed Lizzie how her mom could remember things from the past like that but forget something that had happened only minutes before. Still, it had been important to have her approval.

And for the first time Lizzie had included someone else in her decisions, and that felt good. Like.… a partnership. Entirely new but wonderful just the same.

“Thank you, Josh. For being patient with me while I decided what I wanted my life to look like.”

“It's the first of your rules that was easy to follow. At least until now.” He grinned and touched the tip of her nose with a finger. “There was one thing I wondered, though, Lizzie. And I don't mean to rush you, but—”

He reached into his pocket. “I want to give you this. But only if you're ready for it.”

He held out a key.

“To my house, to use as you wish. As often as you wish. And when you're ready, to use every day.”

“You're asking me to move in with you?”

He nodded. “But only when you're ready. In the meantime, you can come and go.” He smiled at her. “Hell, you already have a toothbrush in my bathroom.”

She did, because she'd been spending more and more nights there lately. The cottage was great, but it had always been a temporary spot for her. If she was truly going to settle in Jewell Cove, she needed to have a home.

A physical home. Because she'd already found a home for her heart.

“I know you don't like to overly plan your personal life, but I thought I'd put it out there anyway.” Josh put the key in her palm and closed her fingers over it. It was warm from his jacket pocket.

“I find I'm not so scared of planning these days,” she mused, squeezing the key tightly. Josh was inviting her into his life. Perhaps it was time she really invited him into hers.

She shifted so that she was sitting on his lap, her arm around his shoulders and her temple against his cheek. “I love you, Josh. And I'd be happy to accept your key, on one condition.”

“Oh God. You and your conditions…” But there was no apprehension in his voice this time, and she smiled to herself. He trusted her, she realized. Trust that had been so hard for him to give, but he'd given it to her along with the key. What an incredible gift.