LITMIR.BIZ

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hair, stood at the bottom of the slide waiting for Emmie, her arms spread wide. Beside her, Olivia’s son Nick, who was seven, appeared ready to step in if anything went wrong.

      “Bounce? I wish we could convince Blossom of that,” Olivia said with a wry smile. Their other friend had crossed the park on the outskirts of Barren near the creek and was pushing her daughter in her elaborate carriage. Every time the baby let out a peep, Blossom instantly reacted.

      “First-time mother,” Shadow murmured.

      Olivia leaned on Annabelle’s shoulder. “I was just like her when Nick was small.”

      “You were Momzilla,” Shadow said with a grin. “Remember, Belle? She never let Nick out of her sight. She wrapped him in a cocoon. She—”

      Nick flew across the yard and barreled into them. “Mom! Emmie went down the slide all by herself!” He beamed at Annabelle. “Me and Ava taught her.”

      “Great job,” Annabelle said, smoothing his blond hair from his sweaty forehead. Then she waved at Emmie who didn’t wave back. She was climbing the slide again. “Do me a favor, though. Don’t show her how to use the jungle gym.”

      The old, sprawling wooden structure had a crow’s nest, a sagging cargo net, another long slide and a series of stairways that looked more treacherous than Annabelle had realized. She’d never thought that, like Olivia, she had a protective maternal bone in her body. For the moment, however, she was still in charge of Emmie. She’d been as taut as a wire for the past half hour, and watching Emmie dart from one dangerous-looking piece of equipment to another made her stomach tighten again.

      She looked up to find Olivia and Shadow staring at her.

      “What?”

      “For a minute, you sounded like one of us.” Shadow bumped her other shoulder. “A mom. You sure you don’t want to make this playdate a weekly thing to go with our Girls’ Night Out?” Their group had become a regular social event, though it was for adults only.

      “Annabelle won’t be around long enough,” Olivia pointed out.

      And she was right. Annabelle was very sure. She wouldn’t be here much longer...or so she hoped. Sierra’s condition troubled her. What if she didn’t get out of the hospital in time and Annabelle couldn’t leave for Denver? She should be home now beginning to pack, and the temporary situation of caring for Emmie only convinced her that her friends already had their lives in order. The prospect of being the group’s lone wolf forever didn’t appeal to Annabelle, but she knew they weren’t as excited as she was about her trip to Colorado.

      “I’ll hate leaving you all, but my parents’ house is the only house I’ve ever lived in, this town the only town, and Kansas the only state.” She waved a hand to include the playground. “The rest of you have seen places I’ve only dreamed about.”

      Olivia frowned a little. “We know how your parents treated you, Annabelle. But they’re gone now and, well—we’re here for you.”

      Annabelle couldn’t tell them that wasn’t enough. They meant well.

      “I love you guys but—”

      Shadow pointed. “Look at Emmie. She’s having the time of her life.”

      “As long as I’m nowhere near,” Annabelle said. “I’m worn out from our morning wrangles over breakfast. Never mind mentioning her afternoon nap, which is hard to come by when I have to take her to work with me. And unless she’s in my bed every night, no one gets any sleep.”

      “Par for the course,” Olivia said. “I don’t think I slept an hour straight until Nick turned four. I still have bags under my eyes to show for it.”

      “Where?” Shadow leaned around Annabelle to peer at Olivia. “You have perfect skin. You’re gorgeous, and with that glow today...but I agree, sleep can be hard to come by for the first few years. It doesn’t help to be overprotective, does it, Libby?”

      “Guilty as charged.” But Olivia’s face did indeed glow as if she’d had an expensive facial, and everyone noticed.

      “What’s this about, Mrs. Soon-to-be-McCord?” Shadow studied her again.

      “Um. I, uh, Sawyer and I...” Olivia stopped stammering and grinned. “We’re pregnant!”

      Shadow and Annabelle shrieked, forming a group hug and making the children’s heads turn toward them from the highest level of the jungle gym. Annabelle barely noticed that, despite her warning, Emmie had climbed with them. Even Blossom had stopped pushing her carriage, her coppery curls dancing as she trotted back toward them, a small frown on her face. Annabelle was glad her own first response was a happy scream not a frown. With Olivia’s announcement she felt even more like an outlier. Alone, as she’d been all her life.

      “We weren’t going to tell anyone yet,” Olivia said, “but you guys had to be observant.”

      A flurry of questions followed. How did Olivia feel? When was the baby due? Did this mean she and Sawyer would change their wedding plans?

      Finally, she held up a hand. “I have an appointment with Doc Baxter this afternoon. After that, we’ll make decisions. I feel great. I’m about two months along.”

      The baby carriage rolled up to the bench. “What did I miss?” Blossom asked.

      Olivia said, “You’re not the only one who will have a newborn soon.”

      Blossom’s brown eyes softened. “Eeekk!” Another round of delighted shouts ran through the group and Annabelle almost missed hearing Emmie’s cry from the jungle gym or, rather, the ground beneath it. To Annabelle’s horror she’d fallen from the top level!

      Annabelle jumped up from the bench and raced across the playground. Their faces white with shock, the other kids were looking down at Emmie from above. She scooped the little girl from the dirt and held her tightly to her chest, feeling her heart beat fast and hard. To Annabelle’s amazement Emmie buried her face in her shirt.

      “You shouldn’t move her, Belle.” Her phone in hand, Shadow dropped to her knees beside them. “I’m calling 911.”

      “I hurt,” Emmie whimpered.

      Nick had gotten down from the jungle gym. He laid a hand on Annabelle’s shoulder. “She’ll be okay. I fell from the hayloft at the ranch once—and I’m fine now.”

      Olivia drew him away. “Annabelle told you not to show Emmie that jungle gym.”

      “But she wanted to play in the cargo net and she’s fast.” His eyes, a deep blue, brimmed with tears. “We didn’t mean for her to get hurt, Mom.”

      “I know you didn’t.” Olivia sent him and Ava, who was standing there trembling, a comforting smile. “Nick, in our bag there are some juice boxes and granola bars. Sit with Ava on the bench with your snacks.” She watched them head across the yard before she turned to Annabelle. “How is she?”

      Emmie clung to Annabelle, and Shadow raised an eyebrow as if to say And you don’t think you’re a mother?

      Annabelle stroked Emmie’s damp hair, absorbing her tears in the cotton of her shirt. “She’s calming down. I think she’ll be okay.” She heard a siren in the distance, moving closer, and mouthed a quick prayer of thanks while Olivia, Shadow and Blossom looked on. She laid a hand next to Emmie’s head and felt her own heart, which was pumping way too fast. “My, that was a scare. I’d rather handle a kitchen fire at the diner.”

      Emmie raised her eyes to meet Annabelle’s. And she smiled.

      “I like the diner.”

      Annabelle couldn’t agree, but Emmie seemed to find comfort there, far more than at Annabelle’s house, and the staff tended to spoil her. At the moment she didn’t care. As long as Emmie was breathing, talking, able to move her arms and legs, Annabelle was good, too. Her tears were happy ones—if only

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