Chapter 31
Harper’s first Christmas. Those words still seemed too strange to actually utter.
Adam came over early in the morning to unwrap presents with her although she didn’t seem to have a single idea what was actually going on. He’d outdone himself and part of me wondered if he hadn’t done it on purpose to avoid the risk of Nolan getting more gifts for her than he did. I tried to push that thought aside all morning, but it kept coming.
Once we’d opened all of Harper’s gifts for her and she seemed even more exhausted than we were, he left to get ready for his parent’s Christmas party later in the day. Mason and Cynthia stopped by with the gifts, as well as a surprise one from my dad.
It was a rocking horse, hand painted white and blue. I didn’t know how old Harper would be until she actually got any use out of it, but it was the thought that counted.
Nolan’s parents called from wherever in Europe they were staying around noon and I spent the time getting Harper and myself ready for the party. To say I was nervous was an understatement. The night before had gone surprisingly smoothly, but that was different. There would be people at the Montgomery’s that knew about Adam and my situation, maybe not the detail, but the current status. I wasn’t sure I was ready to deal with any of that just yet.
We arrived at the party at five o’clock on the dot, and were apparently late. There were already cars filling the driveway and street out front, and Nolan and I parked nearly a block away. The dread in my stomach worsened as we walked in the door. Nolan didn’t have the same problem as me, heading for the food table immediately.
“So this is Christmas in the Montgomery house, huh?” Nolan sounded impressed as he grabbed another bacon wrapped steak bite off one of the trays.
“You’ve never been over for Christmas?” I asked, surprised.
“Nope. Not really big on holidays. Except for when I get gifts, of course.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”
We walked to the side of the living room, leaning against the wall. It seemed even more crowded this year than last. Julia had taken Harper off of me the second we’d walked through the door and was busy introducing her to everyone. Not that I could blame her. My absence from the guest house had meant fewer visits between them.
“Did you hear from Hannah today?” I asked, having to nearly shout to be heard over the other conversations going on around us.
“Yeah, earlier. She said she got me a Christmas gift. I’m going to have to wait until she gets back to get it, though.” He grinned.
“I don’t want to know anymore,” I groaned, pretending to cover my ears with my hands. Hannah was coming back the day before New Year’s Eve. She’d originally planned on staying her entire Christmas break, but Nolan asked her to spend the last day of the year with him, to make up for last. She was too excited by the possibilities to turn him down.
Adam asked me to spend it with him, but I hadn’t given him an answer yet. Despite his insistence that we’d be a family again, I wasn’t convinced. I wasn’t even entirely sure it was what I wanted.
It was hard to believe that last Christmas, Adam and Greg had gotten into a fight in the middle of all the guests. Greg had been so unsupportive of the idea of Adam and I having a baby, I couldn’t help but wonder how he felt about it all now. In a way, he’d been proven right. We were too young and in the end we’d been unable to handle everything.
I spotted Greg talking to his dad but decided not to go up to him. We didn’t speak much on the rare occasions we saw each other. I was grateful for how he’d handled getting me to the birthing center, but that was about as far as our relationship went.
I’m never going to be his sister-in-law anyway
, I thought, a little sadly.
Julia found us again and I was able to get Harper back before she took off again. “Are you two having fun?” She asked cheerfully. “Hiding out in the corner and all?”
“I’m not one to like the center of all the action,” Nolan admitted with a wink. “I prefer to be an innocent bystander.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it more than once,” Julia scoffed, giving Nolan a hug. “I have to admit, I’m happy you’ve decided to stay in the area. Have you talked to your dad about getting a job within the company without a college degree?”
“He’s thinking about it,” Nolan said. “But I’m not worried. I’m his only son, it’s not like he can just hire someone and give them the Reeves’ name.”
Julia laughed. “That’s true, I suppose. Well, I hope it all works out for you. Lainey, can we speak for a few minutes?”
I hesitated before agreeing. Holding on tightly to Harper, I followed Julia into the empty den. She closed the door behind us and smiled.
“I just wanted to thank you for coming today. I know you aren’t really obligated to, considering everything that’s happened.”
“You’re always going to be Harper’s family,” I said quickly. “I know if she could speak she’d tell me she wanted to be here.”
“I hope so. But Lainey, please remember that you’re family too. I told you before, regardless of whatever happens between you and Adam, you’ll always be our family. We love you.”
“I love you too,” I said, feeling tears fill my eyes.
“Oh honey,” she said, moving closer to me and wrapping me in a warm embrace. “Please don’t cry. I just wanted to make that clear to you. And you’re more than welcome to move back into here or take over the guest house, if you want. I can kick Adam out.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Thanks, but that isn’t necessary. I know I can’t stay with Nolan forever, so I’ve been seriously considering moving back to Bella Vista.”
“Are things with your dad better?” She asked, looking surprised.
“No,” I admitted. “But Mason and Cynthia might be moving in permanently until they can find a place of their own, and Nora is gone. Besides, Hannah is moving to South Carolina soon, maybe before the end of the school year. I’m thinking about just taking back our old bedroom for me and Harper. She’s getting a little better at sleeping through the night, so she should be fine by the time they start getting guests again.”
“Wow Lainey, I have to admit I’m surprised. I didn’t think there was anything that would convince you to move back in with your father.”
“It isn’t for him,” I said. “Mason really wants me to. He thinks it would be better and less confusing for all of us, then with me living here or with Nolan. And besides, I could probably work something out with my dad to work at Bella Vista for a few hours a week and maybe some extra money. I don’t want to ask Adam for a lot in child support.”
“There will be no child support,” Julia insisted. “Our agreement still stands. You work on taking care of this baby and getting through school. Adam, Ned and I will make sure she has everything she needs, and everything you need. Don’t worry about making money, Lainey.”
“Thanks,” I said, even though I knew I wasn’t going to hold her to that. Adam and I were over and while I’d accept whatever help he wanted to give Harper, I wasn’t going to expect him or his family to continue taking care of me. They’d already done enough; more than I could have ever hoped for.
Nothing left to say, we embraced again and went back to the party. Julia was quickly taken away by some of her friends and I went on a search for Nolan, only to find Adam instead.
“You look like you hate this Christmas party about as much as you did last year,” I remarked.
He made a face and took Harper from my arms. “Probably more,” he admitted.
“It’s not so bad.”
“People are nosy, Lainey. They keep asking how the job’s going, how Harper is, why you moved out and if we’re planning on getting married still.”
“That’s silly,” I remarked. “If I moved out, why on each would we still get married?”
He frowned at me. “I haven’t ruled it out yet.”
“Adam,” I sighed, but Nolan appeared before I could say anything else, an entire tray of bacon wrapped steak in his hands.
“What on earth –”
“Get me to an empty room before someone discovers what I’ve found!” He said desperately, and I had no choice but to lead him off to the den, which was fortunately still empty. I turned around to see if Adam was following us, but he wasn’t.
“Nolan, what are you doing with all that?”
“They’re so good, Lainey. Try one.”
“I don’t eat red meat.”
“It’s Christmas. Do it anyway.”
“Nolan –”
I was silenced as he popped one into my mouth. I made a disgusted face but chewed it anyway. It wasn’t really all that bad, actually. If you didn’t mind how much you had to chew it before it would go down.
“Told you,” he said smugly, even though I hadn’t commented on the taste. I laughed despite myself.
“You’re too much, Nolan Reeves,” I said.
“Yeah, I’ve been told that more times than you even know,” he agreed. “But that’s why you love me, isn’t it?”
I smiled. “Yes, that’s why I love you.”
He kissed my temple. “I love you, too. Even if you have terrible taste in men. I mean, really, you should have just gone after me in the first place. Harper would have been a blonde.”
“I don’t think it works that way.”
“Oh, it does. At the rate I was going back then, someone would have wound up pregnant eventually. I would have preferred it to be you.”
“Nolan, stop!” I said, laughing so hard my stomach started to hurt. He grinned and his shoulders began to shake in silent laughter.
We stayed that way for at least an entire hour, talking as the steak disappeared from the tray. By the time it was gone my stomach ached from laughter and Nolan’s from too much red meat consumption.
Outside, the first snow flake had fallen. It was the start of the first snow storm to hit Haven in more than a decade.
Chapter 32
By the next day Haven was covered with snow. It calmed down a little in the early afternoon, enough for me to bundle Harper up and take her for her first walk in it. We’d been slacking on the night time walks so I considered this to be the best way to make it up to her.
She didn’t agree. Five minutes into the walk she was screaming and I had no choice but to head back to the apartment.
“I’m heading out,” Nolan said when I’d gotten Harper dressed back into regular clothes. I glanced up at him.
“What? Why? Where?”
“You forgot who, when, and how.”
“Okay then answer all of them, and fast,” I said with a smile.
“Alright but it’s top secret information, okay?”
“Okey doke.”
He raised his eyebrows, but continued nonetheless. “I got Hannah a present. Like, a Christmas present mixed with an I’m-sorry-I-was-an-ass-and-made-you-dump-me present.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded, looking serious. “Oh, yeah. It’s pretty great and it has to be done today.”
“Why don’t you wait until the storm is over?”
“It is over. It hasn’t snowed in almost an hour.”
I glanced out the window apprehensively. I wasn’t used to seeing so much white. “But the weather guy –”
“The weather guy likes to get everyone all worked up over nothing. It makes him feel better about himself. Besides, it’ll only take me a few minutes.”
“Why can’t you just wait until tomorrow?” I asked. “Just to be on the safe side.”
“Nolan Reeves doesn’t believe in the safe side,” he replied. “That’s why.” He kissed my forehead and Harper’s and headed towards the door. “I’ll be back before you even notice I’m gone!” He called before he closed the door.
“Be careful!” I called back, but doubted he heard me.
I spent the next hour going through all of Harper’s new gifts, taking the ones I thought she’d appreciate most out of their packages and packing the rest away for later. It was her first Christmas and if it formed an example for the ones to come, she’d be a pretty happy little girl. Not to mention I’d need to find a way to buy a much bigger house to fit everything.
I knew I’d gone a little too far this Christmas. My savings was more than halfway gone but I’d talked to Mason about the possibility of convincing my dad to pay me for a few hours’ work at Bella Vista, and he seemed to think it was likely. Nora was always against hiring a housekeeper and so far Mason had been in charge of that responsibility. Once the guests started coming in more frequently, he’d need to manage the office and reservations. My dad was focusing on upkeep, since he tended to be able to focus on things that were broken more so than everyday tasks. They needed to hire a new chef so a housekeeper wasn’t really in the budget.
It will be good
, I told myself, even though I wasn’t completely sure I believed it. I still didn’t feel all that great about moving back into Bella Vista but I knew I couldn’t stay here with Nolan forever and moving in with Julia and Ned just seemed wrong. The guest house still felt a little tempting. As small as it was it felt more like home than anywhere else I’d ever lived, but I couldn’t kick Adam out. As angry as I still was with him, I wasn’t spiteful enough to do that.
When an hour and a half passed and Nolan wasn’t back, I called him. He answered on the third ring.
“Heller,” he said and I couldn’t help but laugh. Partially due to amusement, mostly due to pure relief. It was snowing again, though not as hard as it had been the night before and earlier that morning.
“Where are you?”
“Got held up,” he explained. “Hey hold on, I have a call coming in.”
I waited patiently while Nolan took the other call and a few minutes later he was back. “That was Adam,” he said, his voice not portraying any emotion.
“What? What did he want?” I felt my heart speed up. Adam had been behaving himself lately as far as Nolan was concerned, but I didn’t trust him completely to continue with that.
“His car broke down.”
“Where?”
“In the driveway.”
“How? It’s not even that old.”
“No idea but he went out and tried to start it and it wasn’t happening. He wants me to give him a ride into town.”
“For what?” I could feel my anxiety starting in my stomach and struggled to keep it down.
“I didn’t ask. But I’m in town already and it’s not so bad, so I told him I would.”
“Nolan –”
“Lainey, it’s okay. Did it not ever snow in Oregon? You’re acting like we’re having a blizzard or something.”
“No, it never snowed when I lived in Oregon,” I said with a frown. “And I know this isn’t a blizzard but there’s still a lot of snow, especially for someone who isn’t used to driving in it.”
“I’m being careful, I promise. And I’ll be even more careful with Adam in the car. Do you want me to bring him back to the apartment with me?”
“No,” I said without thinking first. Things had been a little awkward between us at the party yesterday. We hadn’t talked after I went to the den with Nolan except to say goodbye. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to face him again just yet. He seemed determined to get our relationship back and I just wasn’t convinced yet.
“Okay, I get it. I’ve got to go though, okay? I’m actually driving right now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” I demanded. “I never would have stayed on the phone in the first place.”
He laughed. “That’s exactly why,” he said. “Do you need anything while I’m out? I have a feeling you’ll be hiding my keys when I get home so you might as well make a request while you can.”
I smiled at the fact that he knew me well enough already to know I’d already been planning to do just that. “Actually, can you stop somewhere and get some infant cold medicine? Harper’s been coughing a little bit and I want to try to get some in her system before it turns into anything more.”
“She seemed fine this morning,” Nolan pointed out.
“I know but she’s been sniffling and I don’t want it to get worse,” I insisted. Harper hadn’t really gotten an actual cold yet and I wasn’t ready for that to change.
I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”
“Okay. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
He laughed. “I don’t mind, Lainey. Someone once told me that when you love someone enough, you’ll do anything for them; even if that means driving through a storm to get medicine for a baby that probably isn’t even really sick.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“No problem. See you soon.” He hung up and I slid my phone into the pocket of my jeans.
Harper was getting fussy so I took her into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. Climbing in beside her, I decided it might be a good idea for both of us to get a nap. The Christmas rush was finally over; my very first Christmas as a mother. I took my phone out of my pocket and placed it on the night stand.
We snuggled up under the covers and fell asleep. It felt like mere minutes before I heard my phone ringing.
Nolan
, I thought, bringing myself from my sleep-filled haze and rolling over so I could reach my phone. He’s probably calling to say he couldn’t find make it to the store. Or to say he was on his way.
I answered without checking the Caller ID. “Hello?” I said sleepily.
“Lainey? Are you awake?” It was a man’s voice, but not Nolan’s.
“No. Who is this?”
“It’s Ned, Lainey. Wake up.”
“I’m awake,” I said, shaking my head. I glanced over at Harper, who remained fast asleep.
“Okay, good. Now listen to me carefully. I’m leaving the house as we speak and I’m going to be there within a few minutes or as fast as I can, okay?”
“Um, okay. But why?” I had no idea why Ned was calling me, let alone coming over. We’d talked briefly at the Christmas party and he didn’t seem like he had much to say then. Still half asleep, I wondered if maybe he’d sent Hannah to the wrong David Johnson. Maybe this David Johnson was actually a serial killer and she was in immediate danger.
“Lainey, there’s been an accident.”
“An accident?” I repeated, still thinking of Hannah and her serial killer father. “How? Who?”
“Adam and Nolan. I don’t have many details right now but we need to get to the hospital. Julia’s already on her way over, Greg drove her. I wanted them to get there as soon as possible to find out the details, so that’s why I’m coming to get you now. Do you want to try and drop Harper off with Mason first?”
He lost me after he said their names. An accident? How was that possible? I stood up and walked to the window and nearly collapsed when I saw outside. The snow had almost doubled since before I fell asleep. I looked at the clock; it had been more than two hours since I’d last talked to Nolan.
“Lainey?” Ned’s voice brought me back to reality. “Are you listening to me? I’m leaving now. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Okay,” I choked out and dropped the phone. Harper woke up and began
to cry.