Pregnancy Countdown

WHO KNEW?

Nora felt her pulse rate start to speed up as sultry images again invaded her mind.

Mark’s family liked to tease him that he never moved any faster than he had to. Last night, Nora had learned that was very true. The man knew how to draw lovemaking out until she’d been gasping and crying out for him to put her out of her misery. He had ignored her pleas, and when he finally did release her, she felt as if she’d been shot out into space among the stars.

She was positive she still hadn’t come down.

Nora concentrated on putting last night in a logical perspective. It wasn’t working. She didn’t want to call last night a mistake, but the word was blinking in bold red letters inside her head. She feared making love with Mark was the first step down a path she didn’t dare travel. She told herself she could make it easy. She could blame the event on unsettled emotions. She’d been grappling with mind-numbing grief that had evolved into the need to connect with another living being. Mark holding her last night had fed that need.

She tried to tell herself that it could have happened with whomever had been holding her last night, but Nora had never been a good liar.

Come on, Nora, call it what it was. A one-night stand.

Sure it was. The earth spun around, the stars fell down around us. I’m still in shock.

Making love was different with Mark. They shared a past, even if that past hadn’t included their being lovers. After they broke up, she’d told herself it was easier because they hadn’t been lovers. That had been because she wasn’t completely sure of Mark. For a man who’d been given more than the usual allotment of charm, he’d never provided her with any reason to distrust him. But she had always felt it could happen at any time. Mark had only to flash one of those devastating smiles of his and women fell all over him. Literally.

Nora never stopped to think that it was her own insecurity that pushed her away from Mark. That what her father had done to the family had remained in the back of her mind and affected any chance of Nora finding love because she was afraid she would be left behind the way her mother had been. She never stopped to think that the breakup might have been her fault, not Mark’s. Nora couldn’t live with the fear that one day, Mark might be tempted to leave.

“Something smells good.”

She whipped around so fast the small pitcher she was holding slipped from her fingers. Only Mark’s quick reflexes kept it from shattering on the floor. He set the jug on the counter.

“Pancakes?” He eyed the golden-brown circles on the hot griddle.

“Sourdough pancakes,” she explained, picking up a plate. “What with my being gone a while, I didn’t have too many supplies in the house, but I did have my sourdough starter and I had some freeze-dried eggs to use along with some sausage from the freezer. I’m surprised I had as much in there as I did.” She nodded toward the coffee pot. “There’s juice in the refrigerator if you want any. Glasses are in the cabinet.”

“Want some?”

Been there, done that.

She banished her mocking private voice to the far reaches of her brain. The man was merely inquiring if she wanted orange juice.

“Yes, thank you.” She slowly poured more of the pancake batter onto the griddle. At least she could hold on to her composure on the outside.

It wasn’t the first time a man had spent the night in her bed. Although, for many months, the only male who had been there was Brumby, her beloved bulldog.

A few minutes later she handed Mark a plate heaped high with pancakes, sausage and a couple of scrambled eggs. The look of bliss on his face rivaled Brumby’s when he was given a beef bone.

“Tell me about the wedding,” she requested when she sat down across from him.

“The usual. Everyone was dressed up like grown-ups, Zach looked as if he was ready to pass out at any moment, Ginna looked gorgeous,” Mark replied. “The only hitch was the nephew-to-be, Trey, taking his ring-bearer duties too seriously. When big brother Jeff untied the ribbons to give the rings to Zach, the little guy pretty much threw a fit. He said loud and clear that he was to protect the rings and Jeff couldn’t have them. Trey’s sister, Emma, told him to shut up and stop acting like a baby. That broke up any solemnity the service had.”

Nora smiled at the idea of Zach’s twins adding a few surprises to the ceremony. “Who caught the bouquet?”

“Our aunt Minnie pretty much trampled the competition,” he replied. “Six marriages and she’s still hopeful she’ll eventually get it right. I give her credit for perseverance.”

“And the garter?” She referred to the custom of the groom tossing the bride’s garter over his shoulder toward the single men. A custom that revealed who the next groom would be.

Mark studied his pancakes as if they held the secrets of the universe. “No one interesting, although Aunt Minnie wanted to participate. Dad and Gramps told her no way.”

Nora arched an eyebrow. Her smile grew in proportion with her glee as she easily figured out who the lucky recipient was.

“You caught the garter?”

“It was a conspiracy. I had no plans on standing out there with the other idiots,” he said. “At the last minute, Jeff and Brian pushed me out into the front of the group, and just like the Red Sea the group parted so the garter was literally thrown in my face.” His expression boded ill for his two older brothers.

“You should have known you’d be the next target. Your dad said he hopes Nikki waits until she’s forty before she gets married,” Nora reminded him, speaking of his youngest sister.

“Nikki has no desire to get married until she’s out of medical school. It’s Aunt Minnie who needs watching. The reception had barely started before she had husband number seven narrowed down to three victims.” He leaned back in his chair and spoke, emphasizing his words with eloquent gestures.

Nora’s smile widened into a genuine one as she listened to Mark’s stories about friends and relatives celebrating his sister’s special day. He described each incident so well that she felt as if she were right there with him.

But she also knew she had to consider last night a one-night stand even though that kind of experience wasn’t her style. The last thing she needed was to get caught up with Mark Walker again. It hurt too much when she’d broken up with him. After making love, she feared that not only her heart, but her soul, wouldn’t recover if she got involved with him a second time.

She’d put all the blame on herself for last night. She was hurting and vulnerable and he was there.

There was no reason for it to happen again, no matter how much her tingling body argued with her at just the memory of what had flared up between them.

No reason at all.

Chapter Two

“I really appreciate you fitting me in, Nora,” Lucie Donner said, settling back in the soft-cushioned salon chair.

“You sounded so urgent on the phone I was afraid you were going to walk in here with purple hair.” Nora smiled at Ginna’s new sister-in-law.

“After everything that’s gone on, that would be a plus,” Lucie laughed.

“That’s right, you lost part of your house. What’s happening with that?” She ran a brush through Lucie’s hair then ran her fingers through the shoulder-length strands.

“You haven’t lived until you come home and discover an airplane engine has dropped into your home office at ten o’clock in the morning,” she confided. “Talk about a shock.”

“And?” she prodded.

“And I realized that ordinarily I would have been sitting in there, except I had a parent-teacher conference with Nick’s teachers that morning. I’ve decided it’s time to make some changes. I sold the house.”

“You’re moving? I thought it was being rebuilt for you after the accident.”

“Accident is an understatement,” Lucie chuckled. “Almost half my house was flattened after that jet engine fell through the roof. I didn’t even want to consider going back there. I’d mentioned selling it to a neighbor and he wanted to buy it for his son and daughter-in-law and rebuild the house to his own specs. He offered me a great price and I took it. I’m hoping that moving to a new area will give Nick a new chance. I swear, it was getting to the point where I thought I’d have to seduce a judge just to keep my baby boy out of jail,” she said.

“I thought he was doing much better.” Nora mentally cataloged highlight shades and which ones would do best for Lucie.

“Oh, he is. I haven’t received a call from the school for almost three weeks. That’s pretty much a record for him. But I never drop my guard,” she chuckled, half turning. She froze. “Ohmigod!” She grasped Nora’s arm. “Is that who I think it is?”

Nora smiled. She easily guessed which client Lucie was staring at. She pressed her hands on Lucie’s shoulders, keeping her turned to the mirror. “Yes, it is. Try not to drool.”

“Drool would be the least of my problems. I once seriously thought about moving to Australia because of that man. Look at his smile!”