Cart Before The Horse (21 page)

“Take your mother, and I’ll
meet you back home. I can’t wait for you to meet my family.” His voice was light, but it

dragged dread right into her gut. She wasn’t sure if it was the thought of meeting his mother or taking hers to the doctor
with her.

“We’ll be fine.
I’ll keep you updated on what the doctor says. But just so you know, I’m fine.”

“I know you are.
You’re being a real trooper about it all.”

“That’s me, Trooper Holly.
Besides, everyone has decided that I need new things and they want to buy them.” She glanced over at her mother, who dug through the many shopping bags as though she were hiding the contents from her. “I’m being spoiled, and I did nothing to deserve it.”

“You’re you, Holly.
That’s reason alone. I have to go. I
love you.”

“I love you. Goodbye.”
She hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket. With Gabe not going, it was a perfect time to cancel the appointment. Holly looked at her mother, still digging around in the many bags she’d accumulated. It was a moment Holly never thought she’d share with her mother, but as she watched the joy in her mother’s eyes as she hid the gifts within the bag, she knew inviting her to the appointment would be a turning point in their relationship. The thought scared the hell out of her. But it needed to happen. Holly was about to become a mother. How could she love a life so much, as she loved her child, if she didn’t move forward with the very woman who’d given her life? “He can’t make it to the doctor appointment with me. He thought you should go.”

Trudy snapped up her head, and Holly was sure she saw tears forming in her eyes.
“That would be an honor.”

It was done.
Holly and her mother seemed to be moving forward in an adult relationship. And who would have thought it would start out with backward steps on Holly’s part.

Holly’s mother had dropped her by the burnt-out shell of a building, which had once been Holly’s home, and she was able to retrieve her car. Thank goodness someone had parked in her

space in the garage, forcing her to park on the street. The only thing she had left of material value was her car.

She parked out back behind the restaurant and gathered the many shopping bags her mother had left her with from the pa
ssenger seat. Gabe’s car was parked between hers and a minivan with car seats, which she assumed was a rental car of one of
his sisters.

With her arms loaded down, she managed through the busy kitchen and up the stairs to the apartment, where she could hear the roar of laughter and voices carrying multiple conversations.
But one stood out. Gabe. She smiled.

His serious tone made her stop. “She scared me to death.
When I started driving, I could see the smoke billowing over the buildings. It’s been a long time since my heart beat so hard I didn’t think I would survive.”

“She’s doing okay, right?” The voice was a woman’s, one Holly didn’t recognize.

“She’s fine. She called and said the baby is fine too. I, however, am still a wreck.” His voice cracked.

Holly swallowed.
How would she make it up to him? She took another step toward the door and stopped again.

“I had a nightmare last night.
I don’t think she heard me, but, Mom, it was so real.”

“You have to push the accident out of your mind.”

“I thought I had. I even talked to Jasmine, and she told me to move on. But this dream was different. This time it was Holly in the car.” His voice cracked again, and he cleared his throat. “I swear, Mom, I woke up and thought I was having a heart attack. It was horrible.” The tone of his voice had dropped to a strained whisper as though he could hardly speak at all.

The bags slipped from Holly’s hands and tumbled down the stairs.
She let out a curse.

The door to the apartment flew open, and a wide-eyed Gabe rushed out to her.
“Holly, what happened?” He reached for her, grabbing her shoulder and looking her over just as he

had the night before.

“My mother bought so many things.
I guess there was just too much to carry. It’s all clothes. Nothing that would break.” She turned to pick up a bag.

“I’ll get them.”
He loosened his grip on her shoulders and reached for her hand. “First I want you to meet my mother.”

A woman peeked her head out the door and then stepped into the hall.
Holly recognized her warm, proud smile from the pictures on his mantel.

“Mrs. Maguire,” she said, reaching her hand toward her.
“It’s very nice to meet you.”

“It’s Gladys, and I can’t tell you how happy I am to meet you.”
She pulled Holly into a hard embrace and held her tight. “Gabe has been talking about you for months. I feel like I know you already.”

She released Holly, but held her arms to look her over.
“Oh, look at this little thing.” Gladys laid her hand on Holly’s stomach, and the baby moved as though responding to his grandmother’s touch.

Holly sucked in a breath.
The baby’s response had caused a stir of emotions inside of her. There was joy, fear, and tears from both that threatened to break free. Her own mother hadn’t touched her or felt the baby, but the baby knew when a loved one was there. He’d moved at the doctor’s office and now, under the loving hands of his grandmother, he assured them both he was okay.

Gladys tilted her head and let out a sigh. “I am so happy for you both.”

Gabe retrieved the bags from the steps below her. “C’mon. Come meet some more family.”

Holly stepped into the small apartment.
There were wall-to-wall people, and they all had their eyes on her. She smiled broadly and tried to keep her nerves from surfacing. She’d faced a roomful of strangers before and turned on her charm to win them over. But this was different. This wasn’t about a pay

check, this was about making sure Gabe’s family loved her. There was much more at stake.

Gabe set the bags at the door and reached for her hand.
She grabbed hold, letting him steady her as she tried to calm herself.

Gabe pointed across the room.
“Well, starting over there is my father, Paul, and my uncle George.” Both men waved. “Meghan and Jeff and their boys, Todd and Conner.” Gabe introduced her to twelve more relatives, all of which had flown from the East Coast to spend Thanksgiving with them and share their wedding day.

She was absolutely sure she wouldn’t remember any of their names.

“Grandma Gertie couldn’t make it.” His face softened
with sadness.

She squeezed his hand.
He was obviously disappointed at her absence. “She’s not ill, is she?”

“Not a day in her life.” The smile on his lips was back.
“She’s eighty-nine and afraid to fly. So her request is that we Skype her on the computer so she can watch the ceremony. Do you have any objections to that?”

Holly laughed.
“None.”

She was glad that her mother hadn’t returned to Gabe’s place with her.
She was already enjoying his family immensely, and she knew she wouldn’t have been as open if her own parents were there. The families would meld on Thursday over Thanksgiving dinner. Then, she was sure, she would become fully aware of how different their lives had been growing up.

The room was loud and laughter filled it, but when the door opened again and Chandra walked through, the noise le
vel rose. She was greeted with hugs and kisses. The children ran to her, and she smothered them all with smooches and tickles.

Holly eventually made her way to each person in the room.
They shook hands, touched her stomach, hugged her until she thought the breath had been squeezed from her body. And each time she looked around the room, Gabe’s eyes were on her, and

his smile was grand. He was happy having his family together.

Holly eventually headed to the bedroom.
She was tired and just needed a moment to sit and relax without anyone hurrying to take care of her. Gabe had laid the bags on the bed, and for the first time she realized just how much her mother
had bought.

Gabe pushed open the door and stuck his head through. “Are you trying to escape?”

“No. Just needed a second to catch my breath and kick my feet up.”

He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
“It gets a little loud with everyone.”

Holly puckered her lips and did the calculation in her head of how many people she’d met. “I think I met twenty people, and we’re missing some, right?”

“A lot of them.” He gave a nod to the bed. “Your mom promised to spoil you and she did, huh?”

“She did.
But I got her back.” Holly thought of her mother’s smile when they’d been at the doctor’s office. “I spoiled her. I asked them to show us the baby again and she got to see him.”

“Her.”

“Hmm.” Holly shook her head laughing at how he always made sure to call the baby her. “Anyway.” She turned to her purse, which lay in the center of the bed. “I got this.” She pulled the black-and-white photo of the ultrasound from her wallet and handed it to him. “This is for you. Your first picture of your baby.”

He reached for the picture and his hands shook. He looked down at the image. “Our baby.”

Pride swelled in her chest. “Our baby.”

Gabe studied the photo, and his lips curled into that smile that melted her heart each time.
“Thank you.”

“I’m going to change and then I’ll be back out.”

“Dad wants to take us all to dinner.” He slipped the picture into his shirt pocket and placed his hand over it as though he

were protecting the baby.

“All of us?
That will be very expensive.”

“Don’t worry.
I’ll get everyone rounded up and down the stairs. Take your time. And Holly,” he said as he opened the door and turned back to her, his eyes hazed over with a desire even deeper than the lust that had led them to that moment in the first place. “I love you.”

Holly dropped down onto the bed, surrounded by the many bags of clothes her mother had bought for her—not from a desire to control her, but from love and excitement about the baby.
She was truly blessed.

As the sounds of laughter and love and family faded from the apartment, she thought about the morning she’d cursed the pregnancy stick and how she was sure her life had been ruined by the one night of pleasure with a stranger.
Instead, it had been a blessing. A blessing in a very strange disguise. She chuckled to herself. In nearly five very short months, she’d gained a new start, an open-eyed look at a new life, a fiancé, a new family, and a relationship with her mother. Furthermore, soon there would be a new life that wouldn’t judge her by her IQ or her age. This new life would love her simply because she loved him or her back. There was already an unconditional love, and it was so fulfilling that she thought she’d burst.

Holly changed her clothes and ran a brush through her hair.
She thought her eyes looked dark from lack of sleep, but she’d been given time off from work, so she’d take a nap tomorrow.

She walked through the empty apartment and noticed the picture of Jasmine again.
She wondered if the damn thing would haunt her forever. Only this time it was on the table facing away from the room. It had been pushed back, displaced by a glass of water and the television remote.

Holly straightened it so that the smiling faces were looking out into the room again.
And she thought of the conversation Gabe was having with his mother when she’d walked up the stairs. He was right. She hadn’t noticed that he’d had a
 

nightmare, only that he’d held her tightly all night.
Was that why? Had he been that scared by the fire? To her, now that it was over, it seemed trivial, but to him it was life or death of the woman he loved, again.

She rested her hands on the small rise of her belly.
“We have to take it easy on your daddy,” she said softly. “Let’s agree to make the next few months worry free. No drama, okay?”

She smiled, realizing that although the room was empty, she wasn’t alone.
What a wonderful feeling. She was certainly starting to enjoy being pregnant and being in love.

While she dined with the Maguires, more and more of them arrived. By the end of the night, when she crawled into bed exhausted, she’d met all four of his sisters and their families. Aunt Anne had arrived as well. During dinner, Gladys had called Grandma Gertie, and the phone was passed around the room. When it had come to her, the room had grown silent. Holly smiled as she adjusted the pillow beneath her head. Grandma Gertie had personally invited her to have tea with her in Boston for her birthday, which, she also mentioned, would be before the baby was born so she’d have no excuses.