LITMIR.BIZ

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twenty-five years ago, which hadn’t been all that great. But the music was loud, and the songs were the hits of their era, each one with memories attached.

      “Hey, come on, what are we sitting around for?” Melissa demanded. “Let’s dance!”

      Oh, sure, right. Everybody at the table was already paired up—except Natalie and Josh. She was going to kill Melissa when she got the chance.

      Josh started to his feet, but Natalie froze. Melissa grabbed her by the arm. “Come on! You love to dance!”

      “But—”

      “Stop being such a stick-in-the-mud,” Melissa said with a gleam in her eye. “Drink down that beer, then y’all get out here and dance.”

      Stick-in-the-mud. Melissa’s ultimate insult when she was trying to get someone to do something they shouldn’t. Natalie had fallen for it every time in high school, and to her surprise she wasn’t immune to it even now.

      Josh drained his beer, then gave Natalie a challenging look. “C’mon, Nat. It’s just dancing.”

      “Oh, all right.” If she didn’t agree, Melissa would bug her until she did. They would all be dancing in a big group anyway, like they used to, the girls dancing more for each other than for the guys, who always stood around like lumps and shuffled their feet.

      The dance floor was crowded. Melissa carved out a spot for their group, and pretty soon they were all dancing to songs made famous by Hall and Oates, Huey Lewis and John Cougar. The years fell away. They were all seventeen again—but no one had a curfew.

      Inevitably the band turned to country music, and almost without noticing, Natalie was in Josh’s arms for an easy two-step. By the time she realized where she was, it was too late to back out.

      Josh grinned at her. “It’s great to see you, Nat. I’ve missed you.”

      She swallowed, trying to relieve the dryness in her mouth. This would be easier if he weren’t so darned confident. She sought a subject of conversation, and decided something that reminded them both of the huge gulf between them would be welcome. “So, how are your boys?”

      His smile widened. “The boys are great. Sean’s going into his senior year—plays football and guitar. He has a girlfriend, too, which scares the hell out of me.”

      “Afraid he’ll run off and get married?” Which was exactly what Josh and Natalie had done, right after high school graduation.

      “Yeah. Or he’ll get the girl pregnant. They’re already, you know…sexual.”

      “Your son tells you?”

      “I pried it out of him. Wanted to make sure he was being responsible about it.”

      Natalie knew she would soon have those same kinds of worries. Her daughter, Mary, had turned sixteen just last month. She’d told Natalie she was still a virgin, and Natalie believed her. They were very close, and Mary knew Natalie would support her fully and love her unconditionally no matter what she did. But these days, Mary was looking more and more grown-up, and she seemed to be constantly on the phone with boys.

      It was only a matter of time.

      “So what about your younger son? Doug, right?”

      He arched one eyebrow at her in surprise.

      “Hey, I read our alumni newsletter.”

      “Ah. Doug is great. He’s the serious one—a little bit more like me when I was that age. Kind of shy, but he has lots of friends. And he’s a brainiac—straight A’s.”

      “I bet they’re both handsome.”

      “They take after their mother. Blond hair, blue eyes. And very handsome, even if I do say so myself.” He paused. “You have a daughter, I hear.”

      From Melissa, no doubt. Natalie was sure Josh didn’t approve of her decision to adopt without a husband. She smiled, ready to prove to him that she’d done an excellent job raising her daughter alone. “Yes. Mary’s sixteen and perfect in every way.”

      “That’s motherly love for you. No teenager is perfect.”

      “Well, maybe not perfect. But she’s my joy. Never gives me any trouble.”

      “My kids are great, too, but they keep me in a constant state of terror.”

      “There is that,” Natalie conceded. “I guess I do worry about Mary, though she’s never given me any real reason to.”

      “You wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t worry.”

      Well, that exhausted the subject of children. “Your parents? They doing okay?” Josh’s parents, who’d owned the Camden National Bank, had sold the bank and moved to a posh retirement community in Galveston a few years earlier. They’d never been overly fond of Natalie, but she still felt obliged to ask after them.

      “They’re great. They live right by the beach, and my father plays golf every day. I was sorry to hear about your mom. I wanted to come to the funeral but…”

      “I know. Melissa said you were worried about making me uncomfortable. The flowers you sent were beautiful, and I very much appreciated the donation you made in her name to the American Cancer Society.”

      “Your mom was always really cool.”

      Unlike his parents, who were tense and controlling. If his father played golf, he was probably competitive as hell.

      “Do you love being a lawyer?” she asked. Nice and safe.

      “I like it a lot, though I still have to work too many hours. Makes being a single parent something of a challenge.”

      “I know what you mean.”

      “You’re still doing the nurse thing?”

      “Loving every minute of it.”

      “Hey, if I were in the hospital, I’d want you as my nurse.”

      Good Lord, he was flirting with her. “You’re a little old.”

      “What?”

      “I’m a pediatric nurse. I work in the neonatal unit, so all of my patients are newborns.”

      Josh smiled again, a little sadly. “I can definitely see you doing that.”

      Of course he could. From the time she could walk and talk, she’d been fascinated with babies. How many times had Josh been forced to stand around while she oohed and aahed over some baby she’d spotted at the mall? She’d volunteered to take care of babies at the church nursery and she’d babysat every chance she got, looking forward to the day when she could hold her very own newborn in her arms.

      Only that day never came. She’d thrown away her birth control pills the day she’d gotten married, with Josh’s full blessing. Though they had no money and no plans, they knew they wanted kids.

      But the pregnancy never happened.

      They saw a fertility doctor. The problem was Natalie’s—she had under-functioning ovaries. If she ovulated at all, it had been extremely erratic. They’d tried fertility drugs, which hadn’t worked, and they simply hadn’t had the money to pursue the next step, which would have been in vitro fertilization.

      The constant efforts, continual worries and monthly disappointments when pregnancy tests came up negative combined to put stress on a marriage already overburdened with money problems. They’d both been going to college and holding down various jobs, all while navigating around the strident disapproval of Josh’s parents, who’d been horrified by the sudden marriage of their only son.

      Natalie hadn’t been willing to give up. She was going to get a baby, no matter what it took. She’d wanted to adopt, and she’d been ready to put them on a list, figuring that by the time a baby became available they would have the money for all the legal fees. But Josh drew the line. He’d

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