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Publisher: Mira (Harlequin)
Date of publication: February 24, 2015
Excerpt # 16:
“How’s Rob doing?” she
asked.
Rob, Hayley’s husband,
worked two jobs to help pay for the various fertility treatments Hayley wanted
them to try. He was a good guy and Pam knew he worried about his wife.
“Good,” Hayley said
brightly. “Excited I’m pregnant again.”
Pam nodded without
speaking. She would bet Rob was a whole lot more worried than excited. She knew
he wanted Hayley to stop trying. To give her body a rest. Not that Hayley
listened.
Pam poured boiling water
into two mugs and passed one to Hayley, along with the tea bag and spoon. She
dropped a bag of Earl Grey into her mug just as John strolled into the kitchen.
“Hey,” he said as he
walked around to Hayley and gave her a quick hug. “How’s my favorite
secretary?”
“Good.”
“I see you brought
cookies. I’ve always liked you. Remind me to give you a raise on Monday.”
Hayley grinned. “I
will.”
John winked at Pam, took
a couple of cookies from the plate and headed for the garage. Lulu, sensing the
possibility of a snack, followed her dad.
“John is about the
nicest man I know,” Hayley said when the door had closed. “Everybody at work
loves him.”
“I was lucky to find
him,” Pam said, knowing that nice was more important than exciting and after
thirty years anyone—even George Clooney—could seem less thrilling. It was
simply how life worked.
Hayley mentioned
something about the hotel project the company was working on. Pam mostly
listened. The light had shifted and she noticed a subtle glow to her friend’s
skin.
Hayley was what? Thirty?
Thirty-one. She had a firm jaw and no wrinkles at all. Her hands and arms were
so smooth. Pam drew in a breath as she realized that except for John, she was
nearly always the oldest person in the room. And while she should probably be
happy that so many young people wanted to hang out with her, she would rather
it was because she was young, too.
She mentally gave
herself a firm shake. She had to stop thinking about herself all the time. She
was becoming obsessed and tedious.
She tuned back in to
Hayley’s conversation and laughed over a comment about a client.
“I should head home,”
Hayley said, coming to her feet. “Thanks for the tea and the company.”
“When does Rob come
back?” One of Rob’s two jobs involved business travel.
“In a few days.”
“If you need anything or
get scared, just grab your pillow and come over,” Pam told her. “You’re always
welcome. We have that guestroom sitting empty.”
Hayley nodded, then
hugged her. “Thanks. It helps to know you’re right across the street.”
“And down two houses.
You go across the street, you’ll find yourself at the Logans’ and they have
those really mean cats.”
Hayley laughed. “Good
point.”
Pam walked her out. When
she turned to go back to the kitchen, she saw John and Lulu walking toward her.
“Everything okay with
her?” he asked.
“So far.” She drew in a
breath. “I don’t want to send a message to the universe or anything, but I have
a bad feeling about this. Why can’t the doctors figure out the problem? And
when are they going to tell her that all these miscarriages are a bad idea?”
She’d bled a lot with
the last one and Pam had ended up insisting she go to emergency.
John put his arm around
her. “She really wants a baby.”
“And I want her to have
one. Just not like this.”
Her husband squeezed,
then released her. “Jen texted me. She and Kirk are coming over an hour early.
They want to talk.”
Pam pressed her lips
together. “Why didn’t she text me?”
“Probably because she
knew you would ask questions.”
“Didn’t you? Is
something wrong?” A thousand possibilities, all of them horrible, flashed
through her mind. “You don’t think one of them is sick, do you? Or maybe Kirk
shot someone and is going to be indicted for murder.” She pressed a hand to her
chest as her breathing hitched. “Oh, God. What if they’re getting a divorce?”
Her husband chuckled. “I
have to admire your ability to see disaster in every situation. You think
they’d tell us that together, before Sunday dinner?”
“Probably not.”
“Then maybe stay calm
until we hear what it’s about. For all we know, they want to move in with us to
save money.”
Pam rolled her eyes.
“Don’t even joke about that.” Her mind stopped swirling with disastrous
possibilities and she tried to think of good ones. “I wonder if they’re getting
that puppy they’ve been talking about. Jen called me last week to ask about how
long it took to house train Lulu. A puppy would be nice.”
“I’m sure they’re
getting a puppy.”
“I don’t know if that’s
a great idea. They both work, so they’re gone all day.”
John kissed the top of
her head. “You are the queen of finding the cloud in every silver lining.”
She smiled. “Okay. Point
taken. I’m going to get the roast ready.”
“Need any help?”
“No, thanks.”
She returned to the
kitchen, Lulu walking beside her. The dog curled up in her kitchen bed while
Pam set the roast on the counter. She would let it warm up for about an hour
before popping it in the oven. In the meantime she could peel the four hundred
pounds of potatoes they would be eating tonight. Unlike a lot of their friends,
she and John saw their grown kids a lot. They’d stayed close geographically and
seemed to like hanging out with their parents.
So far they’d been
blessed with their children. Jen, their oldest, had been sweet and funny.
Steven had been a typical boy—always getting into trouble. But he had a good
heart and lots of friends. Brandon, their youngest, had been more difficult.
He’d been moody and attracted to trouble. High school had been hell. He’d
skipped class, hung out with horrible kids and discovered he liked to party.
The summer he turned seventeen, he’d wrapped his car around a tree.
Angels had been with
him, Pam thought, as she peeled her potatoes. The crash should have killed him,
yet he’d walked away with nothing more than some bruises and a broken arm.
She and John hadn’t
known what to do, so they’d erred on the side of tough love. They’d sent him to
rehab for six weeks. Not one of those touchy-feely kinds with meetings where
you shared and did crafts, but one with a boot-camp philosophy and lots of
lectures from people in recovery. Brandon had quickly realized he was far from
the biggest, baddest dog in the pack. He’d come home older, wiser and most
importantly sober.
He’d completed his
senior year with a 4.0 GPA and had made what had seemed like the impossible
decision to be a doctor. But he’d stuck with it and was now in his second year
of medical school.
“My son, the doctor,”
Pam murmured.
They were all in a good
place right now. She would be grateful and not borrow trouble. Although she did
think that Jen and Kirk might not be ready for a puppy.
Text Copyright © 2015 by Susan Macias Redmond
Permission to reproduce
text granted by Harlequin Books S.A.
About the author:
New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery
has won the hearts of millions of readers around the world with books described
as “immensely entertaining, intensely emotional” (RT Book Reviews),
“hilarious” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram), and “heartwarming” (Publishers
Weekly). One major retailer recently described her as “the queen of romantic
fiction.” While she deeply appreciates the accolades of critics and
booksellers, Mallery is even more honored by the enthusiasm of her readers and
the word-of-mouth that catapults her toward the top of the bestsellers lists
time and again.
Mallery lives in not-so-sunny Seattle with her husband and a
toy poodle who makes her laugh every day and who’s not even a little bit
impressed by her growing fame.
Connect with Susan
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