“I know. But isn’t it exciting?” A slow grin spread across Allison’s face.
Now threaded alongside her nerves was excitement. The possibility for failure hovered, but she would reach for success, both personally and professionally. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
They entered the café side by side. Two customers stood at the counter ordering coffee, while a carload of four more people in office attire piled inside, their chattering filling the space.
The next eight hours went by at warp speed. When two o’clock rolled around, Harper flipped the sign to Closed and pulled the shade on the front door. Until the shop got its footing and she could hire and train more wives from the base, they would close after lunch.
It was another two hours before she and Joyce had balanced the register and cleaned up, readying everything for the next morning. They’d had more customers than she’d anticipated, which was good, but Joyce needed to up their order for bakery items the next morning.
“I’m exhausted.” Harper stretched her back as they stepped out into the hot pre-summer sun.
“You stop at a pharmacy, and I’ll head home and order pizza.” Allison gave her a pointed look.
Harper did as she was told, then drove to Allison’s, glancing periodically at the small box on her passenger seat like it was an unexploded bomb.
It was like an evil witch’s curse had been lifted off Allison and Darren’s house. Sophie and Libby were playing dress up and chasing each other up and down the stairs. Darren was in the backyard throwing soft underhanded pitches to Ryan, their laughter carrying through the screen door to the back patio. Allison flipped the pizza box open and glanced over her shoulder as Harper walked in.
“Go take it before the kids descend on the kitchen like locusts.”
Harper slipped into the powder room and ripped the package open. Peeing on the stick was an uncomfortable, messy affair. She capped it and washed her hands, staring at the little window. Her future might change in a matter of minutes.
The seconds ticked off. Light blue appeared. She picked up the stick and blinked. A plus. She was pregnant. Not surprising, but shocking nonetheless. Her already-complicated life was about to get more tangled.
She walked out of the bathroom and held up the stick for Allison to see the result.
“Oh my god, you’re pregnant!” Allison gave a whoop.
Harper burst into tears.
“Are you upset?” Allison rubbed her back.
Harper couldn’t get a word past the hiccups.
“That was a dumb thing to ask. Obviously, you’re upset. Are you worried about what Bennett will say?”
“B-Bennett. The café. Ben.”
Allison’s mouth formed an O. “I get it. It’s complicated, but all the kinks will work themselves out. As far as the coffee shop, you could offer Madeline and Joyce bigger stakes in the company. Take some of the responsibility off you.”
“I need to call Bennett.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until you”—Allison waved a hand over Harper—“get yourself together?”
The need to talk to him, share her burden, even though it would become his burden soon enough, was overwhelming. Without becoming aware, he’d become her partner, and she hoped he would continue to be her partner into this brave new world.
She tapped his name and waited through three rings.
“How did the first day go?” The deep rumble of his voice, even through the distance, was like a lifeline.
Tears clogged her throat and all that emerged were a few stuttered words.
“I can’t understand you, sweetheart. Can you take a deep breath and tell me what happened?” Love and worry transmitted behind his words.
She took one deep, shuddery breath. “Our first day was a smashing success. More customers than we anticipated. We sold out of muffins and cookies and bagged, roasted beans.”
“That’s amazing. I’m so proud of you.”
A sob slipped out of her.
“What the hell is wrong? Is it Ben? Allison or Darren? The kids?” An urgency thrummed like he wanted to bust through the line and tackle the problems.
“No. Everyone here is good. Great, in fact. It’s … it’s me. And, well … I’ve been feeling sick this week. I threw up this morning.”
“Stress is a killer. You’ll feel better now the shop is open.”
“Nope. I don’t think I’ll feel better for like seven months. Maybe seven and a half.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m pregnant.”
A thud sounded on the other end followed by heavy breathing.
“Bennett? Are you still there?”
“Sorry, I dropped the phone. I’m here and shocked. How? When?”
“I’m pretty sure you know how. You’re pretty amazing at the how part. As far as when, I think it was that time in your truck. We took a chance, remember?”
A long spate of silence. “Are you happy about this?” His voice was soft.
She took inventory. Fear was there in spades, but also satisfaction and, yes, happiness. A second chance at love had snuck up on her. She’d assumed her one shot had died with Noah.
“Yeah, I am happy.” She inhaled sharply as the truth arrowed through her.
“Now will you marry me?”
Her head swam and she sank down on the edge of the couch and folded over her knees. “What about Ben? Where will we live? And, what about—”
“We’ll figure it out. Together.”
The surety of his words and voice sloughed away her panic. The alternative to not figuring it out wasn’t an option. Their history wound through the years, their connection fated.
“Unless you don’t want to get married?” Uncertainty crept across the line in his voice.
She wanted to teleport into his arms to offer reassurances, but she had to content herself with words. “You’re not getting off that easy, Mr. Caldwell. I’m going to marry you and make you the happiest man alive.”
“Too late for that. I’m already the happiest man alive.”
Epilogue
Harper’s eyes popped open. A dull pain rippled through her belly. She was a week overdue, so going into labor wasn’t a surprise. In fact, she’d been scheduled for an induction that afternoon. It seemed the baby wasn’t going to wait. The tightness and pain eased.
She and Bennett and Ben were living at her mom’s house in Nags Head, waiting for the contractors to finish the house they’d had built outside of Virginia Beach, close to Bennett’s business. Of course, it was supposed to be done a month ago with plenty of time to get moved in and settled before the baby came, but a rainy summer had delayed the work.
Harper wasn’t upset, though. Honestly, being home with her mom was comforting, and she had desperately wanted Adele to deliver her baby. She heaved herself off the bed and stumbled toward the window, her balance compromised and her back aching.
The rising sun streaked the sky with pinks and oranges. It was December. Another winter had come. The leaves had dropped and been swept away by the wind, leaving the grass barren and the beaches lonely.
Yet her familiar melancholy had stayed at bay. She and Bennett had walked down to the dock the night before, the air crisp and her mood high. The site of their first kiss. In spite of her stomach making things difficult, they had re-created the moment.
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. Bennett was a massive lump under the covers, only his arm visible where it lay in the spot she’d left as if seeking her.
The last months had brought enormous change. Ben had been ecstatic at the news of the baby and the fact that he was gaining Bennett as a stepfather. But his enthusiasm had waned when he’d discovered he would have to change schools and leave Yaya’s house.
Bennett’s loft above the shop was perfect for one but not a sudden family of four. And it made sense for them to move to Virginia Beach. She was already working remotely, running the internet sales side of the café and planning for their expansion, but Bennett needed to be on-site to run his business.