LITMIR.BIZ

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seemed to be reading his mind. “That’s what we get for planning to surprise him,” Nate told him.

      “Sorry, man, but I never thought the day would come when I wouldn’t feel free to walk into the house where we were born and raised.”

      “You forget we grew up and went away. Isn’t there an old saying that you can never go home again?” Nate was still trying to process these painful new facts. “What’s she like?”

      “As different from Mom as you can get.”

      His eyes closed tightly. What had happened to love everlasting? “Go on. I’d rather hear it all now and get it over with.”

      “Pamela’s a petite brunette. She’s got that Texan drawl.” He shrugged. “She’s nice enough I suppose.”

      Anja Soderhelm Hawkins had been a tall, beautiful, athletic blonde. Sometimes when their dad had teased him or Rick because they hadn’t found the right women to marry yet, he’d comment that their mother was probably a difficult act to follow. They’d have to look long and hard to find anyone as perfect.

      Interesting how it had only taken him six months to find perfection again.

      Texans flocked to Colorado in the winter. When Nate and Rick were growing up, they’d always found a Texan accent amusing, especially on the women who seemed to stuff more words into one minute than any other female they’d encountered. Since neither of their parents were verbose people, Nate couldn’t imagine his dad with a fast-talking Texan.

      “Dad’s thinking of moving to the ranch with her, and leaving the house and business to us.”

      Nate hadn’t seen that blow coming. His eyes smarted with tears, and he realized that home as he’d known it no longer existed. It made the moment surreal.

      He darted Rick a searching glance. “How are you handling it?”

      “I’m not.”

      “Well, that makes two of us.”

      “Dad’s got to be out of his mind!”

      “Have they set a date?” Though it nearly killed him, Nate had to ask.

      “While they were in Denver, they talked about getting married in Las Vegas. That is, as soon as you and I give the okay. When I told him you were arriving tonight, Dad looked kind of relieved.”

      Nate could think of nothing to say.

      “Dad said he would’ve told us about Pamela sooner,” Rick went on, “but he’s been putting it off, since he knew our feelings must be pretty raw because of Mom.”

      “He’s right about that. Good grief—she has to have some kind of hold over him. We left him alone too long after Mom died. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s had a nervous breakdown and this woman’s taking advantage of his vulnerability.”

      After a few moments’ silence, Rick eventually spoke. “As I see it, there’s only one reason Dad would want to act this fast.”

      Nate’s thought had been the same. “No matter what, we’re not going to let him run off to Nevada because he’s afraid she might already be pregnant,” he said. “None of our family’s friends or acquaintances would understand. Dad will have to arrange to be married here.”

      “Just not at our house,” Rick whispered. This time there were tears in his voice.

      “No,” Nate concurred. Not at the home where their close-knit family had once known happiness. “There’s always Vale or Breckenridge.”

      Rick cleared his throat. “You know something? Seeing them in the kitchen where he and Mo—”

      “Don’t say it.” Nate couldn’t imagine what that must’ve been like for Rick.

      His brother pounded his fist against the steering wheel. “I saw Dad’s car out in front. I had no idea what I was walking in on when I let myself into the house.”

      “Neither of us could have foreseen this.”

      “I don’t know about you, but suddenly I feel…old.”

      “I know what you mean.”

      “LAUREL? Phone’s for you.”

      Laurel Pierce was lying on the couch in the den with her legs propped up. She put down the baby magazine she’d been reading. “I hope it’s Mom.” She mouthed the words as her sister walked into the room and passed her the cordless.

      Julie shook her head. “Scott’s mom,” she mouthed back.

      Laurel groaned.

      “You can’t keep ignoring her. Just talk to her for a minute and get it over with,” her sister whispered.

      Julie was right, of course. For the last half year, Laurel had asked her sister to screen her calls and make excuses when she couldn’t face talking to certain people on the phone. It had become a habit and it wasn’t fair to Julie.

      She put the phone to her ear. “Hi, Reba.”

      “Laurel, dear. Finally! I’ve made several attempts to call you, but it seems like you’re never there. We haven’t heard from you in over a week!”

      “I know. I’m sorry. It’s been busy around here with the kids coming and going to music classes and ski lessons. Didn’t Mom tell you everything was fine at my last appointment with the obstetrician?”

      “Yes, but it’s not the same as hearing the details from you,” Reba said in a hurt voice. “Have you changed your mind about not wanting to know if you’re having a boy or girl?”

      “No. I’d rather be surprised.”

      “That’s too bad. It limits the choice of colors for baby gifts. We’re planning a big shower for you, but we can’t mail the invitations without a date. How soon are you leaving Denver to come home?”

      Guilt weighed Laurel down. How many times had she heard that question over the last few months? She flashed her sister a look of distress.

      Philadelphia was the city where she’d been born and raised, where she’d gone to high school and met Scott. But being married to an Air Force man for ten years had taken her to so many places around the globe, no one spot felt like home anymore—Philadelphia least of all, now that Scott was dead.

      More than eleven months had passed since the last time she’d curled up in his arms. Little had she known that after he’d left the next morning for a long deployment with NATO forces, those arms would never hold her again….

      Thank heaven she’d been able to get through to him before the air show and tell him the implant had worked. They were expecting.

      The joy in his voice was her final remembrance of him before word came that he’d crashed. If she could be thankful for one thing, it was that he went to his death knowing she was pregnant with his baby.

      She hadn’t wanted to adopt until they’d tried every other option, including fertility drugs. In vitro fertilization had been their last resort. The doctors had made several attempts to fertilize her eggs using his frozen sperm; finally an embryo had been implanted and the procedure was successful.

      It helped her more than anyone could know that their final communication over the phone had brought them closer than they’d been in a long time. They’d expressed their love and had talked about a future that included this unborn child. The three of them would be a family, and Scott would become a father, as he’d always wanted.

      She had military friends who’d lost husbands or wives during difficult periods in their marriages. Some still grieved because their last words to each other had been said in anger.

      When all was said and done, Laurel felt very blessed. Although the demands of Scott’s career had taken him away a lot, the times they’d spent together she would cherish forever. It was

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