Summer on Lovers' Island (32 page)

His lips had dropped open. “You're not going back to Springfield?”

She shook her head. “I don't fit there anymore. I need to find my own place and make my own way rather than trying to be Dr. Howard Junior. Does that make sense?”

“Yes,” he said, “it does. I'm sorry I bit your head off.”

“I wanted to tell you, but you didn't want to hear it. And you wouldn't have believed me. I understand why, Josh. I know you came second with Erin and how that made you feel. I know that sometimes I remind you of her and that hurts.”

“You were honest with me, Liz. Always, even when I didn't want to hear it.”

She was so relieved they were talking again. She'd missed that so much. “Josh, you deserve to be first in someone's life. And that won't happen until you believe that it can be true. I don't know how you're going to find your way to trusting again, but I hope you do.”

“I know you're right. I knew it the other night, too. I felt so shitty about how I treated you that I figured I'd fix everything with some rye and Coke. And then a few more and the next thing I knew I was cursing all women and they called Bryce to come get me and take me home.”

Her heart softened even more. “I'll stay until you can find someone else. I want to spend some time with Charlie anyway. And if we can find a way to getting along, to … being friends, maybe, I could stay until the maternity leave is over. I need to figure out what to do next anyway. Where I want to work, and if that means being close to my mom or moving her somewhere else to be near me. I don't like being hours away from her now. I need her close by. And she needs me for whatever time she has left.”

“Stay,” he said softly. “We'll make it work.”

And then their gazes held and that damnable chemistry flared to life again. Only it was something more. Not just attraction but something bigger. Fuller. Something scary and amazing and it didn't take words or actions. It was just there between them, holding them both captive. It wasn't staying because they could be civil. It was
stay. With me
. She didn't need to hear the words to know it was true.

She'd gone and fallen for him. It had happened by degrees all summer, she admitted to herself, with first the stargazing, then crying on his shoulder, the kisses, swimming, making love … all of it. But the thing that toppled her over the edge was right now, sitting in the middle of a hurricane, Mother Nature throwing a tantrum outside while inside he quietly apologized and asked Lizzie to forgive him.

“Josh,” she whispered, twisting her fingers together. “I need to apologize, too. For those stupid rules I asked you to agree to, for being so difficult and sending so many mixed signals.”

“It's okay. I knew all along you were going through a lot.”

“I was lying to myself, acting like we didn't matter. That it was just a fling. What you said on the island that day wasn't just about you. You said you weren't built to do friends with benefits. And the thing is, I am. Or rather, I was. It never presented a big problem, until this summer. Until you, Josh. I couldn't separate my feelings anymore, and that scared me to death. So I kept putting up walls. Making rules. And then I kept breaking them.”

“Scared,” he repeated, and she nodded slowly.

“Scared. Of my feelings for you. Of falling for you when doing so would mess up all my careful plans. Scared of letting you in and then—”

She looked down as her eyes suddenly began to sting. “Scared of letting myself love you only to lose you later. I don't know how much more loss I can stand this year. I lost my confidence, and I lost my dad, and I'm losing my mom by degrees. My heart is not an infinite resource, you know?”

She blinked hard, willing the stinging to go away.

And then he put a finger beneath her chin, raising it so she was looking at him again.

“You used the word ‘love.'”

“I know. And it scares me shitless.”

He laughed suddenly, an emotion-packed sound that reached in and grabbed her heart.

“If it helps, I'm as scared as you are.”

She smiled at him. “It does, actually.”

“Then will you come over here and kiss me?”

She slid across the sofa until she was next to him. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears, and her stomach was a mess of nerves, but the most delicious kind. She raised her hand, placed it along his cheek, feeling the rough stubble there. He closed his eyes as she moved her fingertips, and she traced a fingernail over his bottom lip.

It was soft and she rose up on her knee and leaned in the last bit of the way to put her mouth on his.

The kiss was tender, sweet, unrushed. It was a get-to-know-you kiss and a welcome-back kiss and a starting-over kiss all wrapped up in one. Josh lifted his arm and circled it around her, pulling her down against his chest, and she lay on top of him, feeling like they had all the time in the world.

His hand slid beneath her sweatshirt and grazed the soft skin of her waist, up over her ribs, making her arch toward him a little more, seeking his touch. But then it went away again and his hand curled around her neck, shifting her slightly until the kiss was broken and their foreheads were pressed together.

“Liz,” he said. “Are you saying that you want to stay in Jewell Cove?”

She swallowed. “I don't know. Let's just take one thing at a time, okay?” She smiled against his lips. “I've spent years planning every aspect of my career. I think I'd like to wing it for a while. Live in the moment. Enjoy what's right in front of me.”

They were kissing again when there was a sharp crack and a crash. They jumped off the couch, startled by the loud noise, and Lizzie rushed to the window to look outside.

“It's not out back,” she said. “And the grill is still on the deck.”

Josh went to the kitchen window. “It's out here!” he called to her. “One of the big pine trees at the end of the driveway.”

She went to his side and looked out. Sure enough, the howling wind had taken out an ancient pine, and the tree now blocked the end of the drive. Lizzie stared at the huge root system left behind and wondered at the amount of force it would take for such a thing to occur. It was awesome in the truest sense of the word.

Josh was thinking a bit differently. “Looks like I'm stranded right along with you,” he observed.

“I can think of worse fates,” she joked, putting her hand on his arm.

They were nearly in each other's arms again when Lizzie's phone buzzed.

“It's Charlie,” Lizzie said, opening the message. “Shit. She's in labor.” Josh's eyes met hers, clearly worried. “She says the road into town is closed because of trees down and they can't get through to the hospital.”

Lizzie bit her lip, her gaze turning to the window where the fallen tree was barely visible in the sheets of rain. Charlie needed a doctor, and as Lizzie looked at Josh she knew he understood exactly what she was thinking.

“I'll go,” he said. “I've got the slicker. It's only a mile or so.”

“It's closer to two miles, in one-hundred-mile-an-hour winds and this rain.” She ran her hand through her hair. “You're not going by yourself. I've got a raincoat somewhere. We'll go together.”

“You need to stay where it's safe.” He was already texting Charlie, but Lizzie shook her head. No way was he going alone. And if Charlie did end up delivering the baby at home, Lizzie needed to be there, especially if she was this close.

“I promised her I would be there for the birth of her baby. I'm going with you, Josh. Give me two minutes.”

Two minutes was all it took for her to grab a raincoat from her closet. She didn't have boots, so she put on sneakers—the best she could do under the circumstances. Josh was dressed and pulling his hood over his head, tying the strings tightly beneath his chin, and she did the same.

With a big breath, they opened the door, stepped out into the madness, and Lizzie shut it tight and locked it again.

The wind hit them hard, nearly knocking Lizzie off her feet as the rain bit at her face. “You sure you want to do this?” Josh called out.

“I'm sure!” she called back.

“Watch for trees,” he advised. “And let's do this as quickly as we can.”

Keeping up a fast pace was impossible as they got hit with gust after gust of wind. The sound was wild and eerie; there were no cars on the road or people anywhere. With the power outage the houses were all dark. It felt otherworldly, and Lizzie grabbed Josh's hand as they trudged along the road toward Charlie and Dave's house.

It took them almost forty minutes to make the trek through the storm. There were several trees down and the rain came in sheets, soaking through Lizzie's pants and shoes. When they reached the lane to the cottage, Lizzie let go of his hand and ran to the front door, her sneakers squidging all the way. Josh hustled up behind her just as she was pounding on the door.

Dave opened it, looking harried and very relieved.

“The cavalry's here!” Lizzie announced, stepping inside. Josh went in behind her, and they took off their shoes as Dave shut the door behind them. “Where is she, Dave?”

“In the living room, foolish girl. She was cold and wanted to be near the fireplace. God, it's good to see you guys. How the hell did you get here?”

Josh answered, “We walked from Lizzie's. There's a tree down at her place or else we would have brought the truck.”

“I'll go to Charlie. Dave, I'm soaked from the waist down. Do you think you could find me a pair of Charlie's sweats or scrubs and some thick socks?”

“Of course.”

A moan came from the living room and Lizzie rushed away.

She found Charlie sitting on one of the loungers from the deck, and Lizzie started laughing. “Oh my God, this is perfect!”

Charlie's forehead glistened with sweat and some of her hair stuck to her face, but she was sitting up just as she would be in a hospital bed. “Glad you find it funny. I wanted to have my baby in a nice comfortable maternity ward, with, you know, electricity and stuff.”

“I've got the generator running, baby,” Dave said, coming into the room with the wad of clothes in his hands.

“Oh, thank you,” Lizzie said, taking the clothes. Her sweatshirt was still dry, but her pants and feet were soaked through. “Charlie, you breathe through the contraction. Josh, maybe you can get Charlie's bag from Dave and take some vitals while I change. Then we'll get down to business.”

Dave and Josh disappeared into the bedroom while Lizzie stripped down to her panties and pulled on soft, warm sweatpants and some sort of fuzzy purple socks that were ugly as sin but blessedly warm.

“That feels good. It's wicked nasty out there,” Lizzie said, tossing her wet clothes on the small hearth in front of the fireplace.

“You sound like a real Mainer,” Charlie gasped.

“What can I say, this place grows on you.” Lizzie pulled up a kitchen chair and sat next to Charlie, noting the time on her watch. “Breathe, honey. Nice big breaths. Have you been timing your contractions?”

Charlie sent Lizzie a dark look as she breathed out. “Of course I've been timing them.”

“How far apart?”

“Four minutes. Give or take. Though that one felt closer.”

Lizzie glanced at her watch again.

“I'm going to have to check you, okay?”

Charlie's face was red and damp with a sheen of sweat as she recovered from the contraction. “Okay. I'd rather it was you than Josh.”

Lizzie laughed again. “I bet. Listen, don't worry about a thing, okay? One little baby and three doctors? This is going to be smooth sailing.”

Josh and Dave returned, but Lizzie didn't think about seniority or anything else. She just took charge. “Dave, you find a way to boil some water or dig out some alcohol so we can sterilize those scissors, and Josh, you find something we can use for a clamp for the cord, okay? And I'm going to need some towels. Has your water broken yet, Charlie?”

“Not yet,” she answered.

“Okay then. I want a garbage bag, too, Dave, and a pile of towels.”

Lizzie rooted around in Charlie's bag and found a pair of sterile gloves. “Okay, Charlie. Let's see how far along you are.”

Another contraction came, though, and Lizzie glanced at her watch. Barely two and a half minutes and things were speeding up. The contractions were getting closer together, and as Charlie breathed Lizzie could tell that her friend couldn't speak through the pain. She was still panting when Dave returned with a bag and towels, and when Charlie saw him she shot him a glare. “This is all your fault,” she groaned, leaning back and closing her eyes.

He drew back as if burned.

“Don't worry,” Josh said, coming into the room with a basin and a bottle of alcohol. “She's just in transition.”

“Just in transition?
Just
in transition?” Charlie growled, opening her eyes to include him in her wrath.

“And this is why men don't have babies,” Lizzie soothed. “Okay, guys, you stay up there for a moment while I have a look.”

She knelt in front of the lounger and eased the garbage bag under Charlie's bottom, then layered a couple of soft towels before pulling the sheet down. “There. Now let's get your underwear off, sweetie.” Charlie was already covered with a light blanket—apparently the feeling cold bit was true.

Lizzie's exam was brief and she was glad she and Josh hadn't taken any longer arriving. “This isn't going to be long at all. Are you ready to be a mom? You're doing so great.” She pulled down the blanket and looked at her best friend. “You can do this. You're nearly there.”

Dave sat on the chair Lizzie had abandoned and took Charlie's hand. “I'm here, honey. I'm so proud of you.”

Lizzie looked up at Josh, who was taking the stethoscope out of Charlie's bag.