Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1) (18 page)

Holly started up the stairs with Noelle. “Well, I’m done here. I’ll make Tyler carry everything later.”

“I’ll do it,” Evan offered, which made Jenny laugh harder. Things had gotten a lot merrier since Holly and Noelle arrived.

* * * *

Tyler came home from school Friday with a huge grin. Evan let him in. “Hey, kid, how was school?”

“I aced my spelling test, but I got a B on my math quiz.”

“Hmm. I’m not much help with math. You need Holly or Jenny.”

Tyler grinned. “One more week and we’re out for Christmas break.”

Evan stared out the door, noticing for the first time all of the decorations sparkling on houses and lawns up and down the street. There were two weeks until Christmas? He recalled Holly mentioning it, but it hadn’t sunk in at the time. “We need decorations and a tree.”

Tyler grinned. “You are so right. I was beginning to wonder when anyone around here besides me would notice.”

“Notice what?” Holly asked as she walked down the hallway from the kitchen. She was in the middle of cooking Evan’s going-away dinner. Jenny had stopped by earlier and told him she’d take the stitches out in a few more days, but didn’t see any reason why he couldn’t go back home. Holly smiled as she sat nearby cuddling Noelle. Jenny kept coming by on the pretext of seeing the baby, but Holly was positive there was more going on. Something had passed between Evan and Jenny, easing the hostilities. In fact, Jenny had agreed to return for dinner after she finished evening rounds.

Holly touched Noelle’s cheek. Yes, everyone deserved a little holiday magic. Noelle opened her eyes and Holly could almost swear the baby winked.

“It’s two weeks till Christmas, Holly. We don’t have any decorations. Neither does Evan. I’m tight with the two biggest scrooges in town.”

Evan laughed. “But we have Christmas decorations. We have Holly and Noelle.”

Tyler rolled his eyes and Holly sighed. “Like I haven’t heard those jokes my entire life, Evan. Changing diapers has blunted your wit. Where is that rapier-edged tongue I first met?”

Evan placed his hand over his heart. “I have fallen in love with your squirming bundle of blankets, and it’s changed my life. I’m a reformed cynic, a recovering curmudgeon, a…”

“Seriously sentimental softy who we all love?” Holly finished.

Evan blinked. “You do?”

Holly smacked him with her towel. “Not like that, silly. You just can’t compete with Jake as far as I’m concerned, but you’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“Thanks, Holly. It’s mutual.” Evan’s natural austerity vanished.

“Eww!” Tyler groaned. “This is gettin’ all gooey. Is that what adults are like all the time? ’Cause if it is, I do not want to grow up. Oh! I have an idea. Since we’re celebrating Evan going home—not that we don’t want you here—why don’t we go get Christmas decorations and trees? Then we won’t look like we belong on another planet.”

“How about after dinner?” Holly suggested, a sparkle lighting her green eyes. “All of us. Like a big party.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Please tell me this doesn’t mean we’ll be descending en masse on Walmart?”

Holly grinned. “Think how it would boost your image.” She held up a hand like she was reading from a banner. “Evan Richardson, commonwealth’s attorney, relates to the common man.”

“And I am accomplishing this by buying Christmas decorations at the local discount giant?”

“Well yes,” Holly deadpanned, “but we’ll help you and Jake’s image by buying trees at different places—one from the Presbyterian church’s Boy Scout Troop lot, and one from the Mission Outreach lot the Baptist church is sponsoring.”

Evan tilted his head and stared at Holly, “Are you sure you’re an accountant? Is there a minor in marketing in there somewhere?”

Holly laughed. “No, but I am catching on to how this small-town thing works.”

* * * *

Jenny closed her office door and laid her head against it. She had just explained to an elderly woman that her husband of more than fifty years was unlikely to recover. The stroke he’d suffered had left him in a vegetative state. Jenny had called the woman’s son and daughter so they could be with their mother and help her make the necessary decisions about their father. His living will requested nothing be done to prolong his life, so Jenny was sure they would ask that life support be removed.

She hated this part of her job. She’d pursued medicine to save lives, not end them. She clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut. Each loss was a reminder of her failure to heal herself. Oh physically, she was fine. Emotionally she’d never been the same after she lost her baby, then lost Evan.

She rubbed her temples with shaking hands.

When her office phone rang, Jenny slipped it from its cradle. “Dr. Owens.”

“Jenny, my dear,” the voice on the other end was as smooth and cool as a python wrapping around its victim, “you appear to need a reminder about our agreement.”

Jenny squeezed her eyes shut and her gut twisted. Hearing his voice was like being sucked back into hell. “Good evening, Senator Richardson.”

Several minutes later, Jenny disconnected the phone call and fought the urge to vomit. The urge to get in the shower and wash away the sleaze quickly followed. How could someone like Stoner Richardson be Evan’s father?

Stoner had made the warning clear enough. Stay away from his son or he would make sure Evan saw every one of the payments the senator had made to her over the years. Jenny shuddered. When had life become so sordid? When had it changed? But she knew the answer. After all, she’d seen the video.

Stoner possessed a video of her being gang-raped by several members of the high school basketball team, but thanks to clever editing and the drugs her own father had given her, it didn’t look like a rape. She appeared to be a willing, if not very active, participant. Worst of all, Jenny still couldn’t remember the event, only what she’d been shown.

She sat in the dark for another quarter hour. She had told Holly she’d be there by six-thirty, but it was six-thirty now. Evan would be there, an Evan already changed from just a few days ago. This Evan snuggled babies against his chest and volunteered to change diapers. But she recognized this Evan. She had attended high school with him and fallen in love with him all those years ago.

Her hands clenched into fists.

Jenny wanted that Evan back, but could she risk everything to get him? Could she go through that pain again? Stoner would show him everything and make it look like she was not only a tramp, but a cold, calculating mercenary bitch. At the time, Evan had believed what they’d wanted him to believe. If she risked it all again, would the result be any different?

Jenny shrugged off her white coat and grabbed her wool overcoat and purse. She had returned to Mountain Meadow because it was home, but also to lay ghosts to rest once and for all. Screw Stoner Richardson. She would lay it on the line, and if Evan didn’t want her… Well, she’d figure something out.

“Let’s wait a few more minutes,” Holly suggested. “Maybe a patient kept her late, and she hasn’t been able to call.” Evan knew she was trying to put a good light on it, but a bone-deep cynicism, planted twelve years ago, blossomed once more.

“Don’t, Evan,” Holly murmured. “Don’t be so hard on her, so hard on yourself. You have no idea how much you’ve both changed in just a few days.”

Jake stood right behind Holly. Evan saw her reach back to find his hand. He and Jenny weren’t the only ones who had changed.

Jake met his eyes. “The hospital has been busy the past few days.”

“Yeah.”

Evan stared once more out the window just as her car stopped at the curb.
She came
. She
was
just running late. He was embarrassed by the relief flooding through him. He swallowed to ease the tightness in his throat. “Jenny’s here,” he informed them. “I’ll get the door.”

Something was wrong. She looked…beaten. He couldn’t think of any other way to describe it as she grabbed her bag from the passenger side and trudged along the walk. He flung open the door, wanting to wrap her in his arms, and knowing it was a right he no longer had.

“Jenny?”

When she saw him, her entire demeanor changed. One soft smile and his world shifted. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

When she reached the top of the steps, he put his arm around her shoulder. “Tough day?”

“More than you can imagine.” She relaxed against him for just a moment, and he closed his eyes as he inhaled her familiar scent. Feeling the years slip away, he leaned back to grin at her. “We have a surprise for after dinner,” he told her, “but if you’re too tired once you hear what it is, we could volunteer to baby sit and stay behind.”

She shrugged as if to say it didn’t matter, making Evan wonder if there was more than work bothering her. Her expression was still wary. Jenny was subdued as they all sat to eat, but Holly and Jake’s happiness was catching, and she began to relax. As they finished the meal, Tyler told her his fears of being scrooged to death if they didn’t rectify the situation and decorate. When Holly explained the public-relations aspect to their proposed shopping trip, Jenny finally smiled.

“I like it, particularly since I heard through the grapevine Jake threatened to punch one of the church ladies in the nose.”

“Jake,” Holly said. “Can’t you go to hell for that?”

“It’s far more probable he’d be promoted to archangel, if you ask me,” Evan commented.

Jenny squeezed his arm. “I would write him a recommendation letter if he took on the church ladies.” She laughed. Her eyes met Evan’s for just a moment, and he smiled at her.

While Holly nursed, Evan and Jake cleared the table, and Jenny loaded the dishwasher. Tyler was assigned the job of clearing out the back of Jake’s truck so they’d have a place for their purchases.

* * * *

Jake glanced from Evan to Jenny, his hands in his pockets. While he wrapped his right hand around the ring box nestled there, he cleared his throat. “Um. If you’ll excuse me for just a minute, I’m going to check on Holly.” When they just grinned at him, he beat a hasty retreat and padded up the stairs.

Holly was just switching Noelle to her other breast, so Jake lounged in the doorway.

“I will never tire of watching you with her. You’re a wonderful mother.”

“You’re prejudiced.”

Now was his opening. Jake swallowed, crossed the room, and knelt in front of her. His heart beat so hard he was afraid he might choke. He could do this.

“I look at you and I see the mother of my child. That’s how I see Noelle. I helped bring her into this world. But I see more…a strong woman who refused to let circumstances beat her. I see a woman who’s brought laughter and joy to me and my friends.”

He stopped for a moment and swallowed. When his eyes met hers, Holly’s lips parted. He wanted to hold onto her and never let her go. He wanted her to stay with him forever.

“A week, Holly,” he whispered, “and I feel like we’ve already experienced a lifetime. I want a lifetime with you.”

“Jake?” Holly’s voice shook.

He dug in his pocket and brought out the small velvet box. Her eyes widened. Noelle had finished nursing, so Jake took her while Holly readjusted her clothing. He put the baby to his shoulder and burped her before settling her in her crib so he could finish what he’d started. When he turned, Holly still held the closed box in her hand. God, he’d never been this nervous in his entire life.

“Open it,” he urged. “It was my grandmother’s.”

She flicked the lid back to reveal the sparkle of an emerald ring surrounded by small diamond chips. “It’s beautiful.”

He brushed her cheek with his fingers. “I could give you candlelight and music at some restaurant. We’ve never even been on a date. But these moments here with you, Noelle, and me will be so fleeting, and they’re so precious. I love you, Holly. I want to marry you just as soon as you say you will.”

His last words were hoarse, so he cleared his throat, his heart hammering as he waited for her answer. When chagrin flitted over her expression, his breath caught. She was going to say no. And how the hell would he deal with that? He needed to say something. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but I don’t think that will change a thing.”

“Oh, Jake. I love you. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t want to…but I do. I would marry you tomorrow, but we can’t…you know.”

He laughed in utter relief. Sex. She was worried about when they could have sex. “How long will it be before we can…?”

“I’ll have to ask Jenny.”

Jake’s breath came out on a small, embarrassed huff. “Wow. That is one disadvantage of small-town life. It’s a little awkward to think we have to ask one of my best high school friends when we can make love.”

Holly giggled. “Put the ring on my finger. Jenny’s a smart woman. She might figure it out if she sees it, so neither one of us will actually have to ask.”

Jake, not much on long, personal conversations to begin with, grinned. “What a great idea. That’s why I love you.”

* * * *

Jenny’s gaze zeroed in on the ring as soon as they came downstairs with Noelle. She caught Jake’s eye, and he couldn’t help the grin on his face, then she spoke to Holly. “The first time you walked into my office Holly, I took one look at you and knew you were perfect for him. And I’m so glad I was right.” She kissed Holly on the cheek then hugged him.

Jake set her away from him suspiciously. “So the box of food…”

Jenny blushed. “Was just a way to throw you together.” She grinned at Tyler. “Little did I know Tyler had already accomplished that.”

The boy grinned and ran forward to hug Jake. “Cool! Does this mean you’ll be my big brother?”

Jake returned his hug. God, he already loved this kid like the little brother he would soon be. “Yeah.”

Evan stepped forward, kissed Holly’s cheek and clapped Jake on the back. “Fast work, bro. Didn’t know you had it in you. But you’ve got yourself one fine woman. You’ll have to be sure to tell Sam.”

Jake met his friend’s gaze and arched one brow. “Am I the only one who’ll have to confess something to Sam?” he inquired.