Home to Laura

chapter NINETEEN



NICK FOUND LAURA sitting on the bed trying to put her socks on.

“If you dare laugh,” she said, the strain in her voice so dark it swallowed sunlight, “I will personally eviscerate you, slowly and painfully.”

Nick hid a smile and got down on his knees to put her shoes on for her. His humor disappeared when he saw how swollen her ankles were. He rubbed her instep gently with his thumb.

“On the other hand,” she said, sounding infinitely better because of that simple touch, “if you keep that up, I’ll bake a cake for you, a chocolate layer cake with the best chocolate icing on earth. Not too sweet. Light as a feather. The whole thing just for you.”

Her eyes were closed and her head was hanging back. Lord, she was a sensual creature.

He smiled and put her shoes on. He would give her a massage when they got home. To her apartment, that was.

He helped her up her back stairs. She’d put on a lot of weight, the baby weight spreading across her hips more than it had on Tammy.

“No comments about how big my behind is, no thoughts about how big it is, or that chocolate cake never gets made.”

Upstairs, she went straight to an armchair and sat down. She looked tired. They’d stopped at the pharmacy to fill her two prescriptions.

“Here,” he said, handing her a glass of water and today’s pills.

Under her sink in the kitchen, he found a bucket with two compartments, obviously for washing the floor, with one side for soapy water and the other clear for rinsing. It would be perfect for soaking Laura’s feet.

He filled it with cool water and found bath oil in the washroom that smelled like incense. No wonder Laura always smelled so sexy.

In the living room, he set it down in front of her feet.

He searched through her CDs and put on Joni Mitchell’s Mingus.

“Close your eyes,” he said.

He took her shoes and socks off then lifted her poor swollen feet into the cool water.

She sighed.

“I’m going out for food. Stay put, okay?”

She nodded.

“I mean it. Don’t get up for anything. I won’t be gone long.”

“Oh, don’t worry. This feels heavenly. I’m not moving.” A smile hovered on her lips.

He shopped at the organic market down the street, returned and loaded everything into the fridge.

Then he ran downstairs and looked in on the shop. It was busy. He went around behind the counter.

Two of the farm women Laura had hired in the summer were cleaning up the kitchen.

They looked up when he entered.

“Hello, Nick,” they both said, and Nick was embarrassed that he didn’t remember their names. Man, he had to get his head out of his rear end and start paying attention to those around him.

“Is there any chance I could hire you two to come up to Laura’s apartment after you finish here today to cook her some meals and freeze them.”

“Of course. How is she doing?” Wanda—or was it Norma?— asked.

“It was premature labor. The doctors have stabilized her and she’s on bed rest.”

“Poor thing.”

“I picked up groceries.”

He named everything he’d picked up. “Should I have got anything else?”

“It sounds like you bought out the store. We should be able to manage.”

“I’ll leave Laura’s back door unlocked and tell her to expect you. Thank you, ladies.” He pulled a couple of hundreds out of his wallet and handed them to the women. “Will that cover your labor?”

“It will do.” They both grinned.

Okay, that was taken care of.

He slipped across the street to the B and B. He found Kristi in her office.

“Kristi, I’m going to be eating with Laura for the next few days.” He’d already explained the situation to her when he’d checked in. “You have this pudding, though, that’s really good. Some kind of custard with rice in it.”

“It’s rice pudding, Nick. Simple rice pudding.”

There was nothing simple about it. It had wild rice and golden raisins in thick creamy custard.

“Do you have any?”

“How much do you want?”

“Four servings?”

“You got it. Want it packaged up now or do you want me to deliver it to Laura later?”

“Can you bring it over when you have a minute?”

“That would be after tea and before I start on dinner service.”

“You’re busy. I’ll come back over and get it from you if you can have it boxed up by then.”

He had this weird nurturing thing going on all of a sudden. He wanted Laura happy and taken care of.

Next, he went into the second storefront Laura had bought to see what needed to be done before the opening.

The interior took his breath away, just as the bakery had on his first day in town with Emily in the spring.

Except for that one brick wall on the far side, the colors Laura had chosen for the walls were deep and rich and stunning.

Paintings lined the wall, resting on the floor and still wrapped in brown paper to protect them.

He introduced himself to the contractor, who showed him around the kitchen. Once that dividing wall came down, it would be a baker’s dream kitchen.

In a little more than a dozen years or so, Laura had taken a small normal bakery and had baked her way to success, living with odd, long hours and hard work, and this was what it had all led to. The woman was brilliant. He didn’t know of many small businesses that were such a success.

“When is the wall coming down?”

“Laura’s giving us three days in December—Sunday through Tuesday—to bring it down and then scour the place. She’s hiring someone else to come in with the tables and chairs.”

“Why do you need three days to knock out one wall?”

“It’s a supporting wall, so we’ll need to use supporting beams and then camouflage them so they go with the rest of the decor.”

He brought the man up-to-date on Laura’s medical issues. “If you need any questions answered, bring them to me. I’ll either be upstairs at Laura’s or across the street at the B and B.”

“You got it. I won’t bother Laura.”

Nick returned upstairs to see how Laura was doing. Her feet must be prunes by now.

She was asleep, her feet still in the bucket.

He got a towel from the bathroom, knelt in front of her, lifted her feet out of the water and dried them.

She roused. “Oh, that was amazing.”

“You need to get into bed.”

“I can’t. I have so much to do.”

“Doctor’s orders. Remember?”

She nodded. “This is going to be hard, Nick. I’m used to giving orders, not taking them. Doing, not sitting back and watching others work.”

“I saw the renovations on the extension.”

She perked up. “What do you think?”

“They’re brilliant. It’s warm and inviting. It’s going to be the busiest place in town.” A thought struck him. “Who did last night’s baking?”

“Norma and Gayle came in early and followed some of my recipes.”

Nick whistled. “Wow, two women doing what you usually do on your own.”

“If they’re any good, I’ll keep them on as bakers. I’ve been working too hard for too many years. Maybe that’s why I’m so tired with this pregnancy. I don’t know.”

Another thought struck. “They’re going to be tired. I asked them to come up here and cook a bunch of meals for you when they finish downstairs. I didn’t know they’d been up since the middle of the night.”

He took her hand, helping her out of the armchair and leading her to the bedroom.

“You don’t have to do so much, you know. I’m not an invalid.”

“Change into something comfortable to sleep in while I rinse out the bucket.”

He washed the bath oil out with soapy water then returned to the bedroom. Laura was already in bed.

Nick glanced up. He missed the colorful, beautiful, inspired gauze. “Why did you take it all down?”

“I was angry with my impulsive nature.”

“With your passion?”

She nodded.

“That represented your passion?”

“Yes.”

“Might as well try to deny that you need to breathe to live. You’re a passionate woman, Laura.”

“I know and look at the trouble it got me into.” She raised her head to look at him at the end of the bed. “What are you doing?”

“Massaging your feet.”

She moaned.

He moved up to her calves and then the backs of her knees.

She yelped.

“Sensitive spot?” He grinned.

“Yes. That felt good on my calves. They ache sometimes with the extra weight I’m carrying.”

He skimmed his hands back down and massaged them some more.

“I have to get back to the B and B. I have work to do. If you don’t mind, I’ll join you for dinner. The ladies will come in at some point to cook, but they won’t disturb you.”

Her eyes drifted shut.

The baby took a lot out of her, or was it the medication she was on that made her so sleepy? He didn’t have a clue, but it looked as though sleep was exactly what she needed.

His fingers grew itchy and he couldn’t help himself. He touched her belly. A tiny appendage grazed his palm.

Daddy, play!

Dear Lord, what a miracle. He left before he started to blubber all over Laura like a great big baby.

* * *

HE CAME BACK at five with rice pudding and a briefcase full of work in case Laura was still asleep.

As he walked down the hall to the living room, he noticed what he hadn’t before. Laura had turned a small bedroom into a baby’s room, with a crib and pale yellow walls and ducks that waddled along a white border. A white rocking chair sat in the corner, presumably for breast-feeding, Nick thought, but what did he know?

She was up and sitting in the armchair reading a book.

“Did you get enough sleep?” If his tone sounded censorious, too bad. She needed to take care of herself and the baby.

“If I nap any more, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

“What did the ladies cook for you?”

“I don’t know. I was still in bed. The place smelled amazing, though.”

He checked out the casserole dishes in the freezer. They were all clearly labeled. They’d made and individually portioned lasagna. There were also containers of macaroni and cheese.

“I take it pasta is good for babies?”

“The calcium in the cheese is.”

He checked out the fridge.

“We have fried chicken and potato salad for dinner.”

“Sounds great. Can we eat now? I could eat a horse.”

Nick laughed. “Sure.”

He laid out dinner on the small dining table and set out glasses of decaf iced tea.

“I brought over dessert from Kristi.”

Laura stilled. “What?”

“Rice pudding.”

“Oh my God, I love you. I’m making you two chocolate cakes after I deliver the baby.” She sobered. “How am I going to spend the next month in bed? I’ll go stir-crazy.”

After they ate, Nick washed the dishes and worked on contracts while Laura read, then went home to his own bed in the B and B.

He called Emily to tell her good-night, but she was blue, grumpy.

“Honey, don’t waste this time we have together now. Let’s talk. Tell me about your day.”

She mumbled a bit about classes then perked up when she shared the latest tidbits of school gossip. “I talked with Ruby today on Skype. She’s going to see her dad in Accord for Christmas.”

“Sounds great.”

“Can we have Christmas there, too?”

“I’ll see whether Ty is okay with that. Tammy lives in the house now with the baby so I don’t know whether he has room. I’ll find out.”

“How is the baby?”

“She moved against my hand again today.” He didn’t bother to hold back his excitement since she’d asked about the baby.

She was quiet for so long he knew he’d said something wrong.

“What?” he asked.

“I meant Tammy’s baby, Rebecca.”

“Oh.” He’d screwed up. “She’s great. Pretty. You know, for a baby.”

The call ended awkwardly. He’d spent so much time spring and summer and thus far into the fall building a relationship with his daughter, but tonight, it felt as though he was back to square one.

* * *

THE NEXT COUPLE of days settled quickly into a routine.

Early mornings, he worked on contracts then had breakfast downstairs.

Then he visited Laura and cooked her breakfast, made sure she had everything she needed then stopped in at the bakery to get the latest updates from Tilly and the Gems. He dropped in to the adjacent storefront to check on renovations then brought all of the news up to Laura.

He picked up lunch for her from one of the local restaurants, went back to the B and B while she napped and got as much work done as he could. He made necessary phone calls. He conferred with Mort. He had Rachel send more work.

Late afternoon, he returned to Laura’s to warm dinner for both of them. He spent a couple of hours with her because he knew she was going stir-crazy. At about nine, he went back to his hotel room and called Emily.

Tonight he had good news for her. “Grandpa Mort’s flying here with you tomorrow morning. I’ll pick you up at the airport in Denver. We’re having Thanksgiving at Ty’s.”

Emily squealed. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Go pack. Grandpa’s driving the two of you to the airport at noon. Don’t keep him waiting. Okay?”

The call ended on a happy note and some of Nick’s tension eased.

He worked until well after midnight then fell into bed.

The following afternoon, he left Laura sleeping soundly and drove to Denver to pick up his daughter and Mort.

When she saw him waiting at the gate, she flew into his arms. “Daddy!”

So now he was Daddy again. He twirled her around. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too.”

Nick shook Mort’s hand. “Let’s go.”

They drove to Ty’s house because Emily wanted to see Rebecca.

Tammy greeted them and Emily was all over the baby. “Can I hold her? Show me how.”

Tammy had her sit on the sofa and then settled the baby onto Emily’s lap, showing her how to support Rebecca’s neck and head.

She looked so happy that he asked Tammy, “Is it okay if I leave Emily here for a couple of hours?”

Emily’s gaze shot to his. “Why, Dad?”

Dad again.

“I need to check up on Laura and warm some dinner for her, then I’ll come back.”

“No! I don’t want you to go.”

“Come with me, then.”

“I don’t want to see that woman. She tricked you into having a baby.”

“Actually, Emily, she didn’t. To be honest, we both screwed up.”

Sensing how deep the tension was between them, Tammy said, “I know Laura well. She isn’t devious. Why don’t you go with your dad and get to know her a little better.”

Emily looked panicked. “I don’t want to get to know her better. I don’t want my dad to, either.”

“Then just go so you can spend more time with him. He’s made this commitment to help a friend. Keep him company while he runs this errand and then both of you come back here for supper.”

“Okay.” Tammy took the baby back from Emily.

Over his daughter’s head, just before he stepped out of the house, Nick mouthed, “Thank you.”

Tammy nodded and closed the door behind them.

In Accord, they dropped Emily’s bag at the B and B and then Nick ordered three portions of the rice pudding.

He led Emily up the back stairs to Laura’s apartment and entered without knocking.

Laura was reading by the window.

“Hey,” she said, smiling. Then she saw Emily. Her “hi” sounded less certain.

Emily stared at her without speaking.

“How’s your back?” Nick asked Laura.

“Good.”

“Your feet?”

“A bit swollen. My calves are aching.”

“I’ll heat supper for you. Emily and I are eating at Ty’s.”

“How’s Rebecca?”

Nick shrugged. “A baby. They don’t do much at that stage.”

“She’s beautiful,” Emily said, her tone strident. “The most beautiful baby ever.” She stared at Laura. “Tammy didn’t get fat when she was pregnant.”

“Cool it,” Nick snapped.

“It’s true.”

“If you can’t behave then wait outside.”

Emily flounced to the door and slammed it behind her.

When Nick finished preparing Laura’s dinner he left to find Emily sitting on the top step waiting for him.

“Why can’t you be polite? Laura is Tammy’s friend. She told you Laura didn’t get pregnant on purpose.”

“I don’t care. I hate her.”

Nick’s patience was strained. He was tired and overworked and trying his best to juggle too many balls. He scooted past her and rushed down the stairs.

“Grow up, Emily.”

He waited for her in the car. She got in quietly and remained that way throughout dinner, with him at any rate. She loved her uncle Ty, she loved Tammy and she loved Rebecca, and she loved her grandpa Mort, but she was angry with her father and Nick didn’t have a clue how to change that.