The Christmas Bouquet

“I’ll call you once I’ve seen them tomorrow and we can decide what’s best,” she promised. “Now tell me about what’s going on at the hospital. Did you work tonight?”

“I did, though my mind kept wandering. Jill called me on it. I was abrupt with poor Mr. Simpson,” he confessed. “He was just looking for more reassurance that he’d be okay and able to go back to work once the worst of his injuries from the accident heal, but I snapped at him.”

“I can’t believe you were short with anyone,” Cait said, sounding shocked. “You never lose your temper with the patients, no matter how many times they ask the same questions.”

“I apologized.” He recalled that uncomfortable conversation. It was one he hoped never to have to repeat. “Do you know what he told me?”

“What?”

“That for the first time it made him realize I was only human, too.”

Cait laughed. “Could be a lesson in there for all of us,” she said. “Not that I recommend losing your cool on a regular basis, but we need to remember we’re not gods and the patients need to know that, too. Aren’t you the one who’s always preached that we need to connect with them as real people?”

“And I do believe that,” Noah confirmed. “Tell me about Chesapeake Shores. What’s it like this time of year?”

“I was pretty distracted as I drove into town, but the weather’s nice. Mom and I took a walk along the bay after dinner, then went for coffee. Decaf,” she added quickly.

“Good for you. I know how you love your caffeine.”

“Way too much,” she conceded. “Maybe this is one sacrifice that will stick with me and I’ll stop craving it to get through those long days at work.”

“Describe the town for me again,” he said. He’d never tired of hearing about it. He’d grown up in the middle of a blighted urban area that had made him long for a more peaceful and serene setting.

“The daffodils are fading on the town green,” she reported. “But the tulips will be in full bloom soon. And the little patch of lily of the valley at the house smells wonderful. That was Grandma Megan’s favorite flower, so Mom and all of her siblings have planted it by their front walks. They say back then it reminded them of her when she was away for so long and they never want to forget how much they missed her and how grateful they’ve come to be that she’s back in their lives.”

Noah was familiar with the story of how her grandmother had walked out on her workaholic grandfather, a famed architect and urban planner. She’d left behind five children, convinced by Mick O’Brien they’d be better off growing up right in Chesapeake Shores, a town he and his brothers had built along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. While she’d left with the best of intentions for her family, it had caused a serious rift with her children that had only recently healed. Now Mick and Megan had patched up their differences, as well, and were far more happily remarried. It was proof, he thought, that with true love there was always reason to hope.

“I can’t wait to see this town that’s so special to you,” he told Cait. “And to meet your family.”

“You’re going to love it here,” she said. “It’s an idyllic setting and a great community.” She yawned sleepily. “I’m beat. You must be, too. I’ll give you a call tomorrow and we’ll decide on a plan for Sunday, okay?” She hesitated, then added, “Or I’ll warn you if it would be wise to leave the country.”

Noah laughed, though he could tell she wasn’t entirely kidding. “I’ll wait to hear from you,” he said. “I love you, Cait.”

“Love you, too. Good night, Noah.”

Even after she’d disconnected the call, he held tightly to the phone, reluctant to sever the connection himself. Cait had definitely sounded more upbeat than she had before heading home. He counted on that being a promising start for this new journey.

Maybe by Sunday they’d have a real strategy for the future that would work for both of them. He’d certainly been putting the pieces of his own plan together in his head ever since he’d discovered that Cait was pregnant. And once she’d calmed down, he knew she was more than likely to have her own very specific ideas. Somewhere in there, he hoped, was exactly the right compromise.

* * *

Caitlyn lingered at the kitchen table, pushing French toast around on her plate.

“You need to eat that,” her mother scolded.

“I know, but I can’t seem to swallow.” She met her mother’s worried gaze. “Thanks for making it, though.”

“Even I can dip bread into eggs and manage not to burn it,” Abby said. “Enough butter and maple syrup and nobody ever notices that’s all it is—bread, eggs and a little milk. Trace acts as if I’ve taken breakfast to a whole new level of culinary achievement.”

Caitlyn chuckled. “In his view, maybe you have. This is an improvement over cold cereal, frozen waffles or even scrambled eggs.”

“You and Carrie survived on that, didn’t you?” her mom retorted.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the extra effort that went into this.”

“If you appreciate it so much, finish it,” Abby prodded.

Caitlyn shook her head and pushed away the plate.

“Okay, then, you might as well get your big announcement over with. Trace is already in his office working. I can call Dad and get him over here, so you can speak to both of them at the same time.”

“It would be easier to break the news just one time,” Caitlyn agreed. “Maybe they can prop each other up as the shock settles in.”

“Or I can stand just outside the door with smelling salts,” her mom suggested.

Caitlyn laughed despite herself. “Probably an even better idea, especially for Grandpa Mick. Maybe you should ask Grandma Megan to come over here, too. She can usually calm him down.”

Abby gave her a wry look. “But it’s Nell who’s able to peel him off the ceiling when he’s about to lose it.”

Caitlyn thought of Nell’s soothing influence on all of them and nodded. “Fine. Call her, too. Though I hate to imagine what they’re going to think when you summon them over here first thing on a Saturday morning and they see me.”

“They’re going to be delighted to get a glimpse of you,” Abby assured her.

“That won’t last,” Caitlyn predicted. “I’d better go and pull myself together. Let me know when the cast has been assembled for the big reveal.”

Her mom gave her an amused look. “Your aunt Bree, the playwright, will be thrilled you’ve inherited her sense of drama.”

“Don’t even mention her to me. It’s that bouquet she made for Jenny’s wedding that I blame for all of this,” she said as she left the kitchen and headed to her room.

Far too quickly she heard a tap on her door and her mother announced that her grandparents and Nell were in Trace’s office. Abby walked downstairs with Caitlyn.

“Are you sure you don’t want me with you for moral support?” she asked.

Caitlyn shook her head. “Too bad I can’t drink. I could use a stiff shot of something about now.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Abby reassured her. “Just remember that they all love you. And once they’re past the shock, they’ll agree with me that this is great news. I’m counting on them to help me convince you that it doesn’t have to derail your life.”

Caitlyn opened the door to Trace’s spacious home office with its tall windows letting in lots of morning sunshine. When they’d all moved in years ago, she and Carrie had spent hours in this room playing as Trace worked. Taking a huge breath, she stepped inside.

“Well, look who’s here,” her grandfather boomed, enveloping her in an exuberant hug. “My favorite granddaughter.” Mick leaned close to whisper, “Don’t tell the others.”

It was a familiar refrain, one repeated with every single grandchild at one point or another. They were all Mick’s favorites to hear him tell it, and they grew up believing it and counting on that exuberant and unconditional love, even as they chafed at his well-meant interference in their lives.

Caitlyn crossed the room to kiss her grandmother, then sat down next to Nell and reached for her hand. That garden-roughened hand had soothed away many hurts over the years. It was a shock to realize how frail it felt in Caitlyn’s grasp.

“You okay?” Nell asked, regarding her with worry. “I know perfectly well we’re not here just so you can say hello.”

“If only that were the reason,” Caitlyn told her with a heartfelt sigh. She looked across the room at her stepfather. Trace had been such a powerful force in her life. He’d been present in ways her biological father never had been, not just physically present, but emotionally supportive, too. She could recall the candy he’d brought to her and Carrie from Ethel’s Emporium, the trips into town for ice cream and pizza as he’d wooed them as determinedly as he’d tried to win back her mother’s affections. Theirs was just one more story that proved true love really could have a second chance.