1105 Yakima Street - Debbie Macomber [53]
Rachel didn’t doubt that was true—in Jolene’s mind, if not Bruce’s. Rachel responded with silence.
“Dad and I are as close as ever.”
Rachel decided to ignore that, too. “I wanted to tell you I felt the baby move today.”
For the first time since she’d picked up the phone, Jolene didn’t have anything derogatory to say.
Rachel continued. “The doctor says the baby—”
“Do you know yet if it’s a boy or girl?”
“Your father asked me the same thing. No, I didn’t want to be told. I’d rather be surprised.”
“Oh.” Jolene seemed disappointed.
“Do you want a baby brother?”
She hesitated. “I guess.”
“A sister would be nice, too,” Rachel said. “Someone you could be friends with later on. I always wanted a sister.”
“I did, too. When I was little.”
“Either way, this baby is going to be happy to have a big sister,” Rachel said. “It was nice chatting with you, Jolene. Maybe we can do it again, okay?”
“We can talk,” Jolene whispered, “as long as you don’t move back.”
Sixteen
“Oh, Mom,” Tanni whispered as she stepped into her mother’s bedroom. “You look so beautiful.”
Shirley blushed. “Oh, Tanni, do I?” She was about to be married and felt more unsettled than she could ever remember being.
A small wedding was what both she and Larry wanted. Just family and a few friends. Tanni had agreed to be her maid of honor and Miranda would serve as her one and only bridesmaid.
The wedding would take place in the small chapel at the Catholic church, with Father Donahue presiding. Larry and his children had flown in from California early that morning. They either had to get married in this two-day window or wait another three months until he returned from his travels.
To Larry, the three months seemed far too long, since they’d already made up their minds. Shirley had never intended to fall in love again; she’d certainly never expected to. Meeting Larry had overturned all her preconceived ideas about living the rest of her life as a widow.
As Larry said, they were meant to be together.
Together.
That was almost worthy of a laugh. With his lecture tour and painting schedule, they’d have this forty-eight-hour period, and then he was off to New York for two weeks, followed by a European tour. Naturally Larry wanted her to go with him, and she would’ve loved it.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t possible. Shirley couldn’t pull Tanni out of school or take off for weeks at a time. She wasn’t willing to leave her seventeen-year-old daughter to fend for herself. She also had several commissions she was working on and couldn’t abandon what she’d been contracted to complete. Above all, she was Tanni’s mother and Tanni needed her to be at home.
Losing her father had been a terrible blow to her teenage daughter, and Shirley wasn’t going to subject Tanni to another massive change, just when she was starting to cope.
The plan was that they’d have their wedding Friday afternoon, honeymoon for two days and then Larry would be gone for nearly eleven weeks.
The ceremony was lovely, and both families went to dinner afterward. She was relieved to see how well her children and Larry’s got along. They joked and teased as if they’d known one another all their lives.
Larry clasped her hand beneath the dinner table. “Are you ready to get out of here?” he said in a low voice.
“Now?” Shirley asked. She was enjoying the families’ interactions and hated to have everything end so soon.
“We can stay as long as you like, but we do have a three-hour drive ahead of us.”
This was news to Shirley. She’d planned the wedding, but had left the honeymoon to Larry.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I have good friends who own a summer home near Leavenworth, which they’ve lent us.”
The Bavarian-style village in the eastern part of the state was one of her favorite places. Since it was an artists’ community, she wasn’t surprised that Larry had friends living there.
Larry squeezed her fingers. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
Shirley squeezed back. “We can leave now.”
Except that it took at least half an hour to get away, since everyone wanted