“Where have you been?” Allie accused. Lizzy braced herself. Allie never paused for breath when she got worked up. And sure enough…
“I’ve called a dozen times and we were ready to start up a search and rescue party to find you. Mama says you’ve been puttin’ in too many hours at the store. You’ve got to get out of this depression, Lizzy. Mitch isn’t worth it. He’s a sorry son of a bitch, but don’t let him ruin your life. It’s been over six months since that bastard left for Mexico. In fact, tomorrow is June first, and I declare it the day that you are moving forward with your life.” Allie paused to suck in some air and looked around at the other three people in the kitchen. “She’s here. Get out the ice cream, Mama, so we can tell y’all our news.”
Lizzy pulled out a kitchen chair and melted into it. Droplets of water still hung from Toby’s hair so he’d had time for a shower before he’d been dragged across the fence to Lizzy and her mother’s house. If she hadn’t had to run by her feed store for a late delivery, she might have already had time to clean up, too. But fate had not liked her in a very long time.
Her mother, Katy, dipped ice cream into five bowls. These days she was less stressed, now that Granny was in a care facility in Wichita Falls that specialized in treatment and care of folks with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Allie, looked like she was about to explode with some kind of fabulous news. Her husband, Blake Dawson, had one of those smiles on his face that a dose of alum couldn’t erase. And then there was Blake’s brother, Toby, leaning against the wall, his rock hard body sending waves of desire shooting through her body like blasts of lightning. It wasn’t fair that he could stand there all calm and collected while butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. Sweet Jesus! Why did he have to be right there in the room with her so soon after they’d gotten all slick with sweat on that twin-sized bed in the back room of her mama’s convenience store?
Allie and Katy carried the ice cream to the table and as luck would have it, Toby sat beside Lizzy around the table made for four people. His thigh pressed against hers and she had trouble concentrating on the ice cream, the excitement in her sister’s dark brown eyes, her brother-in-law’s grin, or anything else.
“We had the ultra sound done yesterday and it’s a girl…” Allie reached for Blake’s hand.
Katy’s spoon hit the table with a thud.
Toby jumped up and hugged his brother across the table.
Lizzy felt as if someone sucked all the oxygen from her lungs and left her to smother to death in a grove of mesquite trees. It was exactly the vision she’d had for herself before her fiancé had run off with another woman.
“Oh, Allie, th-that’s wonderful,” Lizzy stammered.
Tears filled Lizzy’s eyes. As happy as she was for her sister, she couldn’t help feeling a stab of jealousy that Allie now had everything Lizzy ever wanted. Then guilt set in and the tears flowed down her cheeks even worse. How could she ever be jealous of her sister who only wanted the same things that Lizzy did? Poor Allie’s ex-husband had lied to her and left her feeling like less of a woman because she couldn’t have children. It had taken years for her to get over it and now she’d finally found happiness with Blake in her life.
Lizzy pushed back her chair and rounded the table to hug her sister. “Have you thought of names?”
“We had three boy names picked out, but now we have to do some rethinking,” Allie smiled.
Blake kissed her on the cheek and beamed.
A loud sob turned all their attention in that direction.
“Mama? Are you all right?” Allie asked.
Katy wiped at the tears with a paper towel. “I’m going to be a grandmother, and it’s a girl. I wish your dad could have seen this day. He wanted grandchildren so badly.”
“Don’t cry, Mama. He knows and so does Granny even though her mind is gone. They both still know on some level.” Allie reached over and squeezed her mother’s hand. “I feel like I’ve been given miracles and magic. Blake and I are having a family and the doctor says there’s no reason we can’t have more children when we want them.”
Miracles and magic. Those two words played in a continuous loop through Lizzy’s mind as she dipped into her ice cream. That’s exactly what Lizzy wanted and she’d get neither if she kept fooling around with Toby Dawson.