Not So New in Town (26 page)

“He has. It’s Julia I don’t trust.”

* * *

Brogan slammed his car door in Julia’s driveway and moved up the walkway to the front door. Wanda and Julia had promised Lucy would not be home and they’d help him formulate a plan, since he’d screwed up royally. He wouldn’t blame Lucy if she spit in his eye and told him to go screw himself. He deserved worse.

The door opened before he reached it, and Wanda stood there, wearing jeans, a red tunic with a plunging V-neck, and an impatient look on her face. “It’s about time. Get in here. We’ve got to fix this mess you made.”

“Good to see you too.”

“We don’t have time for pleasantries.” Raking her gaze over him, she said, “You’re gorgeous as always, but you already know that.”

Brogan chuckled as Wanda pulled him down the hallway and then pushed him down into the nauseating pink chair next to Julia’s bed. Brogan greeted Julia with a weak smile.

“Okay, let’s map out our plan.” Wanda handed him a pink pad and pen from Julia’s nightstand. “Take copious notes.”

“Are we planning another D-Day invasion?” He shot them both incredulous looks.

“We can’t rely on you not to screw this up,” Julia said, clearly exasperated with him.

Brogan shifted uncomfortably. “Okay. What should I do to reach Lucy without her running? I need help in setting that up.”

“You’re gonna need more than that,” Wanda mumbled under her breath.

“What?” Brogan couldn’t afford any more surprises; becoming a father was all the surprise he could handle at the moment.

Wanda shrugged and sat on the edge of Julia’s bed. “How you doing there, Little Mama? You don’t look so good.” She rubbed her leg.

Julia shifted with a slight groan. “I’m fine. Just tired of feeling like a water buffalo.”

“This won’t take long, and then you can rest,” Wanda said.

Brogan handed Julia her water. “I appreciate all your help, Julia.” His voice was low.

She squeezed his hand and smiled. “As long as you do right by Lucy, we won’t have any problems.” Brogan could read the threatening glint in her eyes, which said,
Don’t screw up, dumbass
. He nodded in agreement.

“So, Lucy plans to move away after the baby is born. Your job is to stop her and convince her to stay here.”

Paying attention, and suddenly starting to sweat, he asked, “Where is she moving?”

“She won’t say,” Julia said, sounding hurt.

“Let’s not dwell on that right now. It’s unimportant,” Wanda said.

Tapping down his panic at the thought of Lucy leaving town, Brogan swallowed. “All right. Tell me how to stay one step ahead of her. That’s what I need to know.”

“Write this down, Mr. Too Gorgeous to Live.” Wanda jabbed her finger at him. “You have a ring?”

“Ring? No. Why?” He held the pen poised as he questioned Wanda.

Both Wanda and Julia groaned together. “Because the only way you’re going to convince Lucy to stay is by giving her exactly what she wants. And for some strange reason, she wants
you
.” They both rolled their eyes at his wary expression. “Trust me. Do exactly as we say, and you’ll thank us later.”

He couldn’t control the smile spreading his lips. He was being shanghaied by the best in the business. Brogan got busy writing. “Number one: do exactly as manipulating, vicious meddlers direct. Number two…” He looked up, pen poised.

“Buy a ring!” they both chorused together.

“And not from Walmart or Cheap Diamonds by the Dozen. You march your tight butt into Bailey’s or Tiffany’s and buy the prettiest ring they have to offer.”

He smiled as he wrote. “Got it. What else?”

“Call the hospital,” Julia said.

“What does that have to do—
shit!
” Brogan jumped up. “Wanda, call the hospital and tell them we’re on our way, and bring some bath towels.” Shocked, Wanda darted her gaze from Julia to Brogan. “Julia’s water just broke.”

“I’m on it!” Wanda reached for the phone as she raced to the linen closet.

Brogan rummaged through a dresser drawer, pulling out a dry nightgown. He removed Julia’s covers and handed her the gown. “You want me to turn my back or something?” He was clueless on what to do next.

Julia grabbed her belly. “Get this wet thing off me, and let’s
go-o-o
,” she groaned in pain.

Shee-it.

“Wanda, hurry up and get in here. I need your help.” Full-blown panic had set in.

* * *

“Huh?” Lucy reread the urgent text from Wanda. “Oh, oh!” She gave the guy processing her car papers a look of panic. “Those better be ready in one minute, because my sister is having a baby, and I need to get to the hospital.” Five minutes later, Lucy was racing out of the dealership parking lot in a nice used black VW Tiguan. No more compacts, because she needed room for her baby.
Baby!
Please Lord, let me get there in time for Julia.
But first, she had to grab Parker from practice. Wanda had already texted him and told him to be ready.

Both she and Parker raced through the automatic doors of the hospital and took the elevator up to the maternity ward.

Lucy squeezed Parker’s cold hand. “Don’t worry, Parks. Your mom’s an old pro at this. She and the baby are going to be great,” she said, trying to convince both of them.

Parker swiped his arm across his sweaty brow. “It’s not even her due date. She had another week.”

“No worries. Sometimes babies come early. They’ll both be fine,” Lucy said, hoping she sounded confident, even though she shook like a baby bird on the inside.

They raced to the nurses’ station to inquire if Julia was in labor. The harried nurse behind the counter looked up at a dry-erase board and shook her head. “Not yet. She’s in room 3102.”

Lucy sucked in a deep breath as Parker tapped on Julia’s door. Wanda swung the door open. “About time.” She pulled them into the cramped room, where Julia was hooked up to monitors with an IV taped to her hand. The smell of baby lotion hit Lucy’s nose, and she noticed soft pink walls with bunny wallpaper border in green and white. Wanda handed a panting Julia some ice chips, Russell wiped her brow with a damp cloth, and Brogan held her hand, murmuring something low—
Brogan!
The room started to pitch, and the bunny border swirled dizzily around her head.

“Aunt Lucy? You okay?” sweet Parker, the only one to notice, asked.

She patted his arm, trying not to grip it for dear life. “Yeah. Just need some air. I’m gonna step out for a sec. Go kiss your mom, okay?”

Lucy stumbled from the room and sat in one of the metal chairs lining the hallway, with her head between her legs. “Miss? Are you okay?” a nurse asked, pressing her cool hand to Lucy’s shoulder.

Lucy nodded between her legs. “Just feeling a little faint—”

“Up.” The nurse grabbed her under the arm. “Lie down here.” She helped Lucy onto a gurney in the hallway and shoved a pillow under her feet. “How’s that?” she asked.

“Better, much better,” Lucy said with her eyes half-closed.

“Are you pregnant?”

Both eyes flew open. “Um, yeah.”
I’m carrying that toe jam, pond scum’s baby in there, holding another woman’s hand.

The nurse nodded. “It’s not uncommon, but if it persists, you need to see your doctor.”

“Sure. Will do.” Lucy started to feel better as anger fired up her blood.

Wanda came bursting through the door. “Lucy. This is no time for a nap. Julia’s about to give birth. Come on.”

Lucy rose slowly, checking for dizziness. At the sound of a loud, psycho scream, she slid off the gurney in complete fear. A doctor in scrubs blew past her, followed by the nice nurse, and disappeared into Julia’s room. Lucy froze, and her legs threatened to buckle. She couldn’t do this. She jumped at another roof-lifting screech.

“Lucy,
now
!” Wanda waved from the door.

Lucy picked up her cement blocks disguised as feet and moved toward the room. Once inside, she couldn’t see anything except the back of the doctor, sitting between Julia’s legs in stirrups, Wanda hugging a terrified Parker in the corner, Russell holding Julia’s hand, wearing a pained expression on his face, and…and Brogan, supporting Julia’s shoulders. At the doctor’s command to push, Brogan loaned Julia his strength as she screamed in agony and pushed.

“That’s it. One more big one. Come on, you can do it,” the doctor said. Lucy’s eyes stayed glued to Brogan, admiring his strength and resolve, and then moved to her sister, who showed the greatest courage of all as she pushed a human from her body. Only moments later, Lucy jumped at the sound of a small cry. She craned her neck, trying to see around the doctor and nurse.

“Congratulations. You and your husband have a beautiful baby girl.” Lucy jerked at the word
husband
at the same time her heart spasmed for joy over the baby. She watched as everyone congratulated Julia, and Brogan wiped her sweaty brow. Tears leaked from Lucy’s eyes. She’d witnessed the miracle of life, along with Julia’s tired smile, glowing face, and Brogan’s proud grin. Lucy slipped from the room and from their lives unnoticed. It was vital she get moving. She raced down the hall, swallowing her sobs. She missed hearing Julia call her name.

* * *

Lucy had left. More like bolted. For several days she’d outmaneuvered everyone and managed to avoid Brogan between getting Julia and the baby settled and instructing the baby nurse. It was entirely his fault, and all of Harmony was not about to let him forget it.

Not that he was helping his cause. Brogan couldn’t eat or sleep and barely had a civil word for anyone in town. At the rate he was chewing people up, he’d killed all the goodwill Lucy had created with BetterBites. But he couldn’t help himself. He was going crazy. Lucy refused to answer his calls or his texts. Yeah, he deserved that. She still hadn’t given Julia her whereabouts, even though Lucy had reassured her she wasn’t moving very far.

But Brogan could read between the lines: Lucy couldn’t bear to face him and had run. Ten days had already passed since the frantic trip to the hospital. Julia and her baby girl were settled and flourishing. But Julia worried about Lucy almost more than he did, and it was starting to sour her milk.

“Brogan. Open up.” Wanda pounded on his front door. It was early Monday morning, and he was still nursing his first cup of coffee.

Brogan shuffled to the door, wearing only boxers, a three-day beard, and sleep-deprived eyes. “What?” he grumbled, pulling the door open.

“Whoa. Lookin’ mighty fine, Bro-man,” Wanda purred as her gaze made a slow trail up his body. “My heart’s all aflutter.”

Brogan scratched his bare chest. “Whatever.” Turning back to the kitchen, he left Wanda to her own devices.

Wanda poured herself a cup of coffee and leaned against the kitchen cabinets, surveying him as if he’d just been released from the psych ward. “Don’t you want to know why I’m here?”

“Unless you have news of Lucy, not particularly.” Wanda slapped a slip of paper on the island countertop. “What’s that?”

“Lucy’s address. She’s staying in her dad’s house in Blowing Rock.” Brogan snatched up the paper and stared at it, not believing his eyes. “She has appointments today and then visits her doctor this afternoon at four. His address is on there too.” Brogan gaped at Wanda, wondering if he was dreaming. “I suggest you get your fine butt in your car and head for the hills, er, mountains.”

Brogan had leaped up before she’d finished speaking and raced to his hall closet. Yanking the door open, he pulled out a pink and blue baby bag, covered in marching yellow ducks, stuffed to the brim. And then he opened his pantry and pulled out a shopper from the Toot-N-Tell crammed with Lucy’s favorite junk foods, including Cheerwine and Cheetos.

He’d grabbed his keys off the hook and shoved his feet inside loafers as he opened the door to the garage when Wanda said, “Hey, you might want to get dressed first.”

Huh? Brogan looked up and then down at his bare chest and legs. “Dammit. I don’t have time for this.” He shoved the bags at Wanda. “Put these in the backseat while I get dressed.”

He threw on a pair of jeans with a pink-and-white-striped dress shirt, splashed water on his face, brushed his teeth, and was pulling his car out of his garage in less than four minutes. Wanda stood with her hands on her hips, shaking her head. “Thanks, Wanda, you’re the best,” he said from the open window. “You mind locking up?”

“Sure. Don’t you dare come back here without her.”

His thoughts exactly. He would refuse to take no for an answer, and he wasn’t leaving the mountains without Lucy by his side.

“Wait!” Wanda yelled. Brogan stopped as she trotted up to his car. “You have the ring?”

Panic slammed into him like a twenty-foot wave until he remembered. “Yep. It’s tucked inside the baby bag.”

“Ooh, can I see it?”

“Hell no. Now, get out of my way before I run over your toes.”

* * *

Grinning like a clown, Lucy stared at her six-week-old blob on the sonogram photo. That was her little gray blob with its beating heart. She rested her hand over her belly on her navy knit skirt. No bulge yet. She placed the photo gently inside her brown leather handbag and shrugged into her navy-and-cream bouclé jacket. It was almost five o’clock, and she was dead on her feet. The doctor said the fatigue would ease up in the second trimester, but for now, she should grab those naps when she could.

Pushing open the glass office door, she stepped outside into the crisp, clean mountain air, which worked wonders in reviving her. Resting her plum-colored sunglasses on her nose, she smiled over her productive week. She’d already signed two new clients and had enough work to keep her busy for a while. A huge difference from where she’d stood a week ago. When she’d discovered Brogan had come home for Julia, she’d been devastated. All the time he’d been away, ignoring her calls and texts,
dumping
her…he’d been in contact with
Julia
, and even made it back in time for her delivery.

After that emotional realization, Lucy shed the Dunce Cap of Fools for good. She deserved better. She deserved someone to love her. Complete package without hesitation or doubts. No more lying, cheating sacks of lizard dung, and no more ex-crushes who broke hearts like hickory nuts and ran back to ex–prom queen girlfriends for another round. She’d find what she needed, and she’d accept nothing less.