Authors: Susan Mallery
“I am. I know you don't want to talk about it, but how are you doing?”
“Better. I'm sleeping. I'm desperately bored, which is probably a good sign. Now that I know people are mucking around in my office, I'm even more anxious to get back.” She lightly touched her stomach. “It's hard not to be scared about the two little ones still in there.”
“Not surprising. When's your next doctor's visit?”
“In a couple of days. I want her to tell me everything is going to be all right, and I know she can't make that promise.”
“She can get close,” Liz told her.
“I hope so. Right now I feel as if everything I do puts the babies at risk. Once they're born, I'll be able to relax.”
Liz raised her eyebrows. “Sorry to disillusion you, but no. In some ways it will be better, but in others, it will be worse. Every stage brings new joys and new traumas. It's amazing that any of us ever have kids, given all that can go wrong.”
“The need to procreate burns hot and bright.”
“Apparently. In the end, it's worth it though. You'll love those babies in a way you've never loved before. It's magical and you'll be so grateful to have them.”
“I look forward to that,” Pia admitted. “Losing one has brought me closer to the others. I'm thinking of them as tiny, little people inside of me. I want to see what they're going to look like and hold them and keep them safe.”
“Look at you. A few weeks ago, you didn't know why Crystal had left the embryos to you. Are you still asking yourself that question?”
“Less than I was.”
“So we're both happy,” Liz said. “Which is the way it's supposed to be. Have you and Raoul set a date for the wedding?”
“No.” Despite his proposal and the very impressive ring she wore, she couldn't imagine getting married. Visualizing the ceremony was beyond her. “One crisis at a time.”
“Ethan and I are thinking of doing something quiet over the Christmas holidays. Just friends and family. I told him the pressure is on, because I'm not marrying him until the house is finished. There's no way I'm starting my married life in the house where I grew up.”
Pia understood. Liz had never known her father, and her mother had been distant and an alcoholic. Men had come and gone with a frequency that had led many people to believe that Liz's mother was in it more for the money than the relationship. Liz had been emotionally and physically neglected, and sometimes there had been unexplained bruises.
“So Ethan is a motivated guy,” Pia teased. “That's very smart of you.”
“It's more desperation than intelligence. I keep telling myself that the house is great. It's all fixed up and there aren't any ghosts, but I'm looking forward to moving out.”
Pia leaned back against the sofa. “When did you realize you'd fallen back in love with him?”
“It was more finding out I'd never stopped loving him. That was a shock,” Liz admitted. “Time and distance had done nothing to kill my feelings. I guess it's sometimes like that. People can love for a lifetime. Why?”
“Just curious.” She held up a hand. “Don't read more than that into the conversation.”
“You're not falling for Raoul?” Liz asked cautiously.
“I don't think so.” Pia told herself it wasn't a lieâshe hadn't decided yet.
“If you are, maybe it's not a bad thing.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you're you and he'd be a fool not to love you back.”
Pia sighed. “If only,” she whispered.
* * *
D
R
. G
ALLOWAY HELPED
P
IA
into a sitting position, then settled on her stool.
“You're fine,” the doctor told her. “Everything looks just as it's supposed to. Both babies are growing very well. Developmentally, they are on target. Your blood work is good, you're healthy.”
Pia allowed herself to relax a little. “So they're going to be fine?”
“Sometimes babies don't make it, Pia, and we can't know why. Nature has her own way of solving problems. Although they check the embryos before implantation, science is not perfect. But there is no reason to think you'll have a difficult time from here on. Have you resumed your regular life?”
“Except for stairs. They scare me.”
“They are exercise and exercise is good. I'm not saying this is the time to take up a new sport, but do what you did before. Walk, talk, laugh, take the stairs.”
Pia drew in a deep breath. “All right. I will.”
“Good. Keep stress to a minimum, as much as you can. Get plenty of rest and enjoy that handsome man
of yours.” Dr. Galloway's expression turned stern. “Are you having sex with him?”
“What?” Pia felt herself blush. “No. Of course not.”
“Probably best for the first few days, but now, it's fine.”
Pia couldn't imagine ever doing that again. “Even with the babies in there?”
“It's not like they know what's happening. Nor can they see what you're doing. For them, it's a gentle ride and when Mom has an orgasm, then it's even more fun.”
Babies and sex didn't go together in Pia's mind. Besides, she was confused about her feelings for Raoul. Making love at this point would only complicate an already difficult situation.
“I'll think about it,” she said.
“I want more than thinking,” the doctor told her with a grin. “I want doing.” She rose. “Be happy, Pia. All is well.”
“Thank you.”
She waited until Dr. Galloway left before standing and reaching for her clothes.
The babies were okay. That was the main thing. Knowing that, she would try to relax. To, as Dr. Galloway had said, live her life.
One month down and only eight to go, she thought, wishing there was a way to hurry along the pregnancy. Or maybe not, she told herself, remembering the eighty-to-a-hundred-diapers-a-week statistic. Maybe it was better to let things happen in their own time.
* * *
“I
T'S MY JOB
,” P
IA SAID,
wondering if she hit Raoul with something really, really hard, she could make him
understand. Or knock him unconscious, which would allow her to do her job. At this point, either worked for her.
“You can't spend the day on your feet.”
“I won't. I have chairs set up all over the park, and several people who are going to make sure I sit.” Despite Dr. Galloway's all clear, she wasn't willing to take any risks. “I'll be fine.”
He moved close and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I worry about you.”
“I worry about me, too, but I have a job that I love and I need to get to it.”
He held her a second longer, his dark eyes gazing into hers.
In truth, she didn't want to move just yet. She loved being in his arms, feeling his body against hers. There was something so right about them being together. But there was a time and place for the mushy stuff, and this wasn't it.
She stepped back. “I have to get going.”
“I'll see you tonight.”
“Yes, you will.”
She grabbed her purse and left. On the way to the park, she found herself thinking about Raoul instead of the impending event. Not a good thing. Thinking about him was dangerous to her heart. Work was safe.
She walked the few blocks to the park and found the setup had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Booths lined the walkway and vendors were already putting out their goods. The smell of barbecue mingled with the sweet scent of melting caramel.
The Fall Festival was one of her favorites. Sure the days were getting shorter and the first snow was right
around the corner, but she loved the changing colors, the promised quiet of winter, the scent of a wood fire.
Each festival had its own personality. This one was going to be a little different because of all the men in town. She'd added extra games to keep them happy and a second beer vendor. To counteract the latter, there were also extra police on patrol.
A heavyset man in a Fool's Gold safety vest walked up to her. “Pia, we're five portable toilets short. The guy's lost.”
“Not for long,” Pia said. “Have someone get his cell number, then call him and talk him in. We need the extra bathrooms.”
An electrician needed to be dispatched to fix a faulty outlet, the shift in the wind meant smoke from the meat smoker was choking the jewelry vendors and someone had forgotten to put up the no-parking cones to reserve spots for the fire truck.
Pia handled each crisis quickly and easily, as she had for years. She turned to take a quick tour, only to find Denise Hendrix walking toward her, a folding chair under one arm.
“I have the first shift,” Denise said cheerfully. “It is now eight-thirty. You are to sit until nine.”
“But I have to go check on the setup.”
“No, you don't. And you're not going to.” Denise batted her eyelashes. “Don't make me use my bad-mom voice, because you won't like it.”
“Yes, ma'am,” Pia said meekly and sank onto the chair.
Denise saw Montana and waved her over.
“Hi, Mom,” Montana said, then grinned at Pia. “I
have the eleven-thirty-to-twelve shift and then I'm on again this afternoon. Bossing you around is fun.”
“Gee, thanks.” She was being forced to sit for thirty minutes of every hour. “Can you go talk to the vendors and make sure they have everything they need? Also, there's water for them in the back of Jo's pickup. Find her and make sure it's put somewhere the vendors can find. And if you see a guy driving around with portable toilets on the back of a truck, let me know.”
Montana stared at her. “You expect me to do all that?”
Pia flashed her clipboard. “That's not even all of page one.”
“Jeez, I wouldn't want your job,” Montana grumbled. “Mom, if you see Nevada, tell her to come help me.”
“Of course, dear.”
Montana left.
“Impressive,” Denise told Pia. “You're resting
and
getting your work done.”
“I'm an expert multitasker.”
Denise stared after her daughter. “Montana seems excited about her new job.”
“She does. I admire herâshe gives her all to whatever she does.”
“I know she's worried about finding the right kind of work. Not that she won't but that it's taking too long. I keep telling her that everyone finds his or her own path in his or her own time, but she won't listen. One of the thrills of being a mother.” Denise smiled. “Wait until your little ones are teenagers.”
“At this point I simply want them to be bigger than a rice grain.”
“That will happen, too.”
The sound of a large truck caused them both to turn. Denise shaded her eyes with her hand, then turned to Pia.
“That's interesting. Were you expecting elephants?”
* * *
R
AOUL WALKED WITH
P
ETER
through the crowded park. Fool's Gold was holding yet another of its many festivals. Knowing Pia was going to be working, he'd arranged to take Peter for the afternoon. The Folios didn't seem to mind him spending time with the kid, which was good. While the couple seemed pleasant enough, Raoul was still concerned about their caretaking abilities.
He and Peter had already checked on Pia, who was being confined to a lawn chair until the top of the hour. She swore she wasn't the least bit tired and that she'd never had so many assistants or done so little work at any festival.
“Want to get ice cream?” he asked, pointing to a stand.
“Sure!”
Peter led the way. They both got two scoops, then went over to a bench.
“This is so cool,” Peter said between licks. “I like how there are different festivals at different times of the year. It's really fun. My parents used to bring me all the time.”
“You grew up in Fool's Gold?”
“Sort of. My dad worked at one of the wineries and we lived out of town. But I went to school here.” His smile faded. “After they died, I was in a group home for a while. I didn't like that. It was really hard because the other kids made fun of me when I cried.”
Raoul felt his pain. “It's okay to feel stuff and be sad.”
“Boys don't cry.”
“Plenty of boys cry.” Raoul hesitated, knowing there was a fine line between saying what was healthy and the reality of being tortured by peers. “Losing your parents is a big deal.”
“I know.” Peter licked his cone. “I still miss them.”
“That's good. You loved them. You're supposed to miss people you love.”
“Mrs. Dawson says they're watching me from heaven, but I don't know if that's true.”
“Every time you remember them, you know how much they loved you. That's what's important.”
Peter took a few more licks, then held up his cast. “I get this off in a couple of weeks. The doctor says I'm healing really fast.”
The advantage of youth, Raoul thought, remembering feeling like roadkill the morning after his last few games. There was nothing like being trampled by a few three-hundred-pound guys to make a man feel humble.
“Wait until you see your arm,” Raoul told him. “It's going to look weird from being in the cast.”
“Cool! I wish I could see it now.” He raised his arm and turned it back and forth, as if trying to see inside the cast. Then he turned to Raoul. “You know there's a school carnival next week, right? We're gonna have games and stuff. It won't be as big as this, but it will still be fun.”
While the boy went on about the different events at the school, Raoul was aware of three women standing on the path a few feet away. He'd never seen them before,
so he guessed they were tourists, in town for the festival, or possibly the influx of men. They were in their midthirties, talking to each other and pointing at him. The tall brunette raised her camera and took a picture.