Читать книгу Unexpected Gifts - Holly Jacobs - Страница 10

“Discovering you’re pregnant means things will change, but different isn’t always worse…”

—Pregnancy, Childbirth and Parenting for

Teens, by Mary Jeanne Lorei

“MS. CARTWRIGHT, ARE YOU OKAY?” Ariel asked the next day after class.

Eli had thought she was doing an admirable job hiding her sleepless night and inner turmoil, but obviously, she was wrong.

She redoubled her efforts and pasted her best I’m-okay smile on and nodded. “I’m fine, thanks.”

“I promised we’d finish our discussion. I wrote the note and will give it to Mrs. Brown this afternoon.”

“Good. That’s a great start.” At the word start, the girl’s smile faded.

“You said we’d talk about what else I need to do? I’ve been trying to think of what else could fix this, but other than taking an F on that test, I can’t think of anything.”

“Actually, Mrs. Brown and I talked about that. Rather than fail you, we’ve agreed that you’ll retake the test. And then she’ll deduct ten percent from whatever you get as a penalty.”

“Thank you. I assumed I’d get an F and that would drop my GPA.”

Eli smiled. Despite her own mind, she’d given Ariel’s situation some thought. To be honest, thinking about Ariel was so much easier than thinking about herself.

“I have an idea,” she told the girl. “After my meeting this afternoon, I’ll fill you in.”

Ariel looked nervous.

“It’s not bad,” Eli assured her. “As a matter of fact, I think this might work out to be a very, very good thing for you.”

Suddenly Ariel’s expression changed to a look children had worn on Christmas Eve for centuries. “Ms. Cartwright, do you want to give me a hint?”

Eli chuckled. “No. But come see me after school.”

“You’re sure?”

“Go. I don’t want you being late for your next class.”

When Ariel left, Eli went back to crunching figures and making sure her facts were in order. She wished she could find the enthusiasm for this meeting she once had. Today everything felt muted. Dampened. As if she were viewing the world through cotton gauze.

She kept eying the clock.

Finally.

Lunchtime.

She stood and smoothed her skirt, then without realizing it, her hand brushed her stomach, as if to make sure her baby was all right.

Baby.

Her baby.

It still felt so unreal. Part of her would have liked to deny the reality, but those six little sticks wouldn’t allow her to.

She had a standing dinner date with Arthur on Friday nights. So tomorrow, she’d tell him. She could almost imagine stoic, dependable Arthur’s reaction. He would probably be as shocked as she was, but he’d be supportive. He’d understand her mixed emotions over this unplanned, life-altering event.

Together, they’d work it out.

Right now, she needed to put all that aside and get going or she’d be late for this meeting.

She stopped at the main office and checked out with the school secretary. “Doris, I’m not sure when I’ll be back. If anyone needs me, I’ll have my cell. Marion’s covering my one o’clock class.”

“Good luck. I know how important this meeting is to you, to the new program.”

“Thanks. I’m pretty sure he’s on board. Today we’re supposed to finalize everything and decide on our test-student.”

“You’ll do fine. Just give me a holler when you get back in.” Doris had been with the school longer than Eli. Longer than most of the staff. She was an icon. She ran the main office with a fluid efficiency and had an aura of everyone’s favorite grandmother about her.

Her confidence in Eli’s ability to make this work helped bolster her own flagging belief in herself.

She drove across Whedon, wishing that this meeting was in an office. She felt at home in that setting or in a classroom. But a local restaurant had sounded convenient when she’d agreed to it. Instead she now worried the location would detract from the business Zac needed to accomplish.

“Eli,” he called, waving.

Despite the craziness since her doctor’s appointment, seeing him made her smile. There was something engaging about Zac Keller. He was a nice-looking man who was defined by what he wasn’t. He wasn’t tall, wasn’t short—maybe about five-ten. He wasn’t fat, wasn’t skinny, wasn’t a bodybuilder, wasn’t scrawny. He had average brown hair and a medium complexion.

But once someone met Zac, he stood out. Maybe it was the devilish look in his brown eyes—a look that said life was a joy and there was always mischief to be made.

“Hi,” she said as she took the seat across from him.

His smile faded as he studied her a moment. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong?” she repeated dumbly.

“Wrong. Something’s wrong.”

First Ariel, now Zac.

Eli tried to school her expression and concentrate on the task at hand.

She passed a file to him. “Not wrong, exactly. Although…”

She jerked her head toward the file. He took the hint and opened it. “Ariel Mayor?”

She nodded. “I’d like her to be the first student we enroll in the program.”

“And this troubles you because…?”

“She’s having a hard time of it. To be honest, she’s the type of student the Community Action Teen-Parent Apprentice Project was designed for. She’s a senior who’s always been a straight A student, popular with her peers and teachers. If you’d asked me, asked any of her teachers, we’d have told you that she was one of those kids who are blessed. Yet when her parents found out she was pregnant, at the beginning of the school year, they kicked her out. I got involved and learned that Ariel’s home life was less than blessed. She’s staying at an aunt’s, working at a nearby restaurant, going to school, and other than one small incident, she’s done a good job balancing everything. She’s college material.”

Eli paused, needing to make this absolutely pitch perfect. Working for Zac instead, in the CATA Project, could make such a difference for this girl. “Zac, I think it would be a shame if she didn’t go to college because of the baby. She deserves to have the life she planned.”

“With a baby in the picture, even if she goes to college, it won’t be exactly as she planned,” he pointed out.

“No, not exactly. But what in life ever goes exactly how we plan?” Eli might have said those same words a few days ago. And she’d have believed them. But now, they rang truer.

As if he’d read her mind, Zac asked, “You didn’t plan to be here?”

Here? Pregnant? She almost snorted, but then Zac added, “Helping teen parents?”

Oh. Yes, of course, that’s what he meant. “No. Truth is, I never planned this to be my life’s work. I stumbled into it when a girl in my class became pregnant and asked for my help. When I looked for services in the district, I realized there was nothing.”

“So you helped her yourself?”

She laughed. “Don’t make it sound all noble. I liked her. Still do. Over the years, she’s become my best friend. I’m surrogate aunt to her son.”

“When the school district didn’t help, you stepped up and did it yourself. That’s not a question. I know you, Eli. You couldn’t stand by and not try to do something positive.”

He’d said things like that before and as always it made her uncomfortable. Not in a stalker sort of way, but this man saw her in a way no one else did, not even herself.

“Don’t glamorize it. I was in the right place at the right time and simply did what needed to be done. Anyone could have done it.”

He snorted. “I don’t want to argue with you, but you’re wrong.” As if sensing she was about to dispute it more, he picked the file back up. “So, Ariel’s going to be our guinea pig?”

“If you agree. I noted in the file that she’s never been in trouble, except for the recent incident. And I don’t believe that would have happened if she hadn’t been stretched so thin. That’s where you come in. No more late hours, time for homework…support.”

“Fine.” He tapped the file on the table. “Ariel Mayor is our inaugural student in the CATA Project.” He raised his water glass. “To many years of a successful partnership between us.”

She clinked her glass against his.

“Now, let’s order lunch and get down to the nitty-gritty of how we’re going to make this work.”

Eli had so much to do. So many things to think about. She knew she should excuse herself, instead, she found herself saying, “So, did you find out what the special is today?”

After they ordered, Zac asked, “So what else is new with you?”

If only she could tell him, but she wasn’t about to when her parents and Arthur still didn’t know, so she simply said, “Not much. You?”

“Well, I was in some little Podunk town and I…”

Eli listened to Zac’s story and soon forgot all her worries. Like Tucker had said, they’d be there tomorrow. Or rather tomorrow night when she went to see Arthur.

THE HOUR FLEW BY TOO FAST in Zac Keller’s opinion.

He always enjoyed Eli Cartwright’s company. There was something about her that touched him. Her enthusiasm for her work. The girls she taught were more than a job. He could see it in her expression as she talked about them. And this Ariel Mayor he’d just hired was obviously a favorite.

Eli’d talked of her boyfriend in the past, which was the only reason Zac hadn’t long since asked her out. Even if he couldn’t date her though, he could enjoy her company.

“Why don’t we meet on Saturday morning? I’ll treat you to coffee at Tim Horton’s—the one next to Keller’s Market. Then we can both go over and meet your Ariel?”

“You want me there?”

“Not for future student hires, but for this first one, I thought it might be a good idea if we both followed Ariel’s progress closely. We can see what works, and where there’s room for improvement. I’d like CATA to become one of Keller’s pet projects, so I think it’s best to really concentrate on this first student and make sure everything runs smoothly.”

“I appreciate it, Zac. I don’t know if you understand what this program could offer to our girls.”

“I think I understand, at least as much as I can.”

Eli glanced at her watch. “I better get going.”

“See you Saturday, around nine, then? Tell Ariel to meet us at the market at nine-thirty?”

“Sounds good.”

She stood, and he immediately followed suit. She thrust out her hand and they shook. “Thanks again, Zac.”

“No problem. And Eli, I know we’re just business associates, but if you want to talk about whatever’s wrong, I’m here.” Before she could deny there was anything wrong, or laugh at the idea of her needing his help, he took the bill and headed for the register.

She followed him, and handed him a ten, then, before he could protest, dashed out. “See you Saturday,” she called over her shoulder.

Zac knew he should return to his office at the market, but he felt an uncharacteristic urge not to. So instead, he drove in the opposite direction toward his parents’ house, under the guise of talking to his father about the business.

The house on East Street was a rambling building. The original one-story heart of the house was built in 1898, and generations of owners had added a room here and a room there, leaving a building with unusual lines. His parents had purchased it forty years ago, a month before they married, determined to fill the seven bedrooms with children.

They’d waited.

And waited.

After waiting ten years, with only their master bedroom in use, they’d decided on adoption.

Zac was their first child.

He was only five but he could still remember his social worker, Mrs. Bowler, pulling up in front of the house, with its flower beds and porch swing. He’d been sure that there was a mistake, that the man and woman waiting on the steps had wanted one of the other boys in the group home. But then the woman had knelt down, held her arms wide and said, “Welcome home, Zac.” A feeling of disbelief and hope had filled him.

It was the same feeling he got whenever he pulled in to the driveway.

He hurried into the house. “Mom? Dad?”

He was already almost in the kitchen when his mother called, “In here, Zac.”

Deborah Keller was a petite, well-rounded woman, with salt-and-pepper hair she’d pulled loosely into some kind of bun thing, and a smile that lit up the room. She swept Zac into a hug.

He sniffed the sweet scented air. “Cookies? Cake?”

“Gingerbread, tateleh.” She glanced at the clock. “If you wait about ten minutes, you should be able to sample a piece and let me know if the new recipe is as good as the old one.”

“You could probably twist my arm into staying.” He pulled a stool up to the counter. “Cessy home yet?”

“Not for a while. If you have time to wait, I know she’d be thrilled to see you. The house is just too quiet since Layla went to college.” His mom grinned at him. “Of course, if our older children started marrying and gave me grandchildren…” She let the sentence hang there, since he’d heard the entire spiel more than once.

“Just so happens I had lunch with a lovely woman.”

“You did?”

His mom seemed so happy, he felt guilty about misleading her, and added, “Of course, she’s got a boyfriend.”

“A serious boyfriend, or just some man she’s seeing?”

He laughed. “I was only kidding, Mom. It’s serious between them, I guess. They’ve been together now for five years.” He’d collected a lot of Eli Cartwright trivia since he met her a few months back.

“Five years, and they’re still dating?” She shook her head. “That’s not serious, that’s going with the status quo. Why, your father saw me at the fair—”

“And knew I’d met the woman I was going to marry right then and there,” Abe Keller finished the sentence as he walked into the kitchen. He was a big man. He had a Grizzly Adams look about him. A bit wild. His hair was always unkempt and he went days on end without shaving now that he’d retired from Keller’s and left the business to Zac.

Zac watched his father walk over and simply place his hand on his mother’s shoulder—he’d noticed years ago that whenever they saw each other it was as if they needed to touch, to reconnect.

His hand still in place, his father continued the story. “And three months later, I married her. So, why are we trotting out that old story? Did your mom want to set you up?”

“No. I don’t set my children up. I trust them to find their own dates. Zac was just telling me he had lunch with a woman who’s been dating a man for five years. That’s not a relationship.”

“Now, Deborah, we can’t measure other’s relationships by ours. If it works for them.” His father shrugged.

But Zac could, and always would, measure every relationship against his parents’. This is what he wanted. Someone who needed to touch him, even if they’d only been a room away for a few minutes.

“She’s not the one for me, Mom,” Zac admitted with regret. “But when I find a woman as good as you are, one who’s not dating someone else, you can be sure I’ll whisk her off her feet as quickly as I can.”

The timer buzzed. His mom busied herself with the gingerbread and his father took the stool opposite him. “So, if you didn’t come to get set up…?”

“Thought I’d fill you in on the store.”

The next forty-five minutes passed quickly as he and his dad talked business and his mother bustled around the kitchen starting dinner.

Then he heard someone enter before any of them saw her. “Zac.” Cessy ran into the room at full speed, still wearing her coat and bookbag, and threw herself full force at him, trusting he’d catch her.

He stood and did. He hugged his fifteen-year-old sister, Cessy, with her mass of curly brown hair, and her honey-toned skin. She backed up. He was five-ten, and she was almost as tall as he was now. “Stop growing, already, would you?”

“Poor little Zac, intimidated by a tall, strong woman?” she teased.

“If I see one of those, I’ll let you know if I’m intimidated.”

“Hey, you coming to my game on Sunday afternoon?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Good, ’cause May, Dom and Layla aren’t coming in from Pittsburgh. And Seth—” Cessy stopped short and looked at him. No one talked about Seth, who couldn’t forgive their parents for not being enthusiastic about him marrying Allie right out of high school. They’d loved her. The whole family loved her. Still, their parents had wanted them to wait, but Seth and Allie wouldn’t. When she got pregnant, they’d started to mend the rift, but when Allie died…Zac wasn’t sure what it would take for his parents and Seth to fix their relationship. Seth hadn’t cut them off completely, but he’d erected a wall that their parents couldn’t breach.

He knew Cessy was thinking the same thing as she glanced at their mother, and added, “So, it’ll be you, Mom and Dad cheering me on.”

“I’m pretty sure your brother can make enough noise that you’ll never notice the rest are missing,” his mom said.

Zac looked at Cessy’s face and knew she’d notice. Cessy, more than the rest of them, needed her family around. Zac would rearrange his Sunday. He’d call Dom and May. Granted, they were in their mid-twenties, and busy with their own lives, but if he told them Cessy wanted them at the game, they’d find a way to be there. Layla would fuss about school work, but if Dom or May did the driving, she’d have a little less than two hours in the car each way to study.

And Seth? Well, he’d try. That’s all he could do.

Seth had never gotten over his parents not supporting his marriage to Allie, and since her death, he’d been ever more distant. But for Cessy, he might show up.

Zac would do all he could to get his whole family to the game because it was obviously important to Cessy.

That’s what family did—supported each other when it was important.

And the Kellers knew that better than most.

FRIDAY PASSED QUICKLY.

Eli set things up with Ariel for Saturday morning. She smiled as she remembered the girl’s excitement about the job. But that smile quickly faded as the reality of talking to Arthur that night hit her for the umpteenth time.

Eli had never thought of herself as a coward, but right now, she wanted nothing more than to call and cancel her date with Arthur.

Instead, she called Tucker, hoping her friend would tell her to suck it up and just get on with it. That was Tucker’s normal attitude. Face whatever scared you. And yet ever since she’d told Tucker she was pregnant, her friend had continually surprised her. Instead of giving her a kick in the butt, she assured Eli that avoiding Arthur wasn’t cowardly at all, that it would give Eli time to get her feet back on solid ground.

Eli had used similar phrases to girls entering the program. She’d meant them to be as comforting as she was sure Tucker intended hers to be, but until now Eli’d never realized how hollow they sounded.

She knew her feet weren’t going to be on solid ground or anywhere other than limbo until she talked to Arthur and her parents. She wasn’t sure how long it was going to take her to adjust to the turn her life had taken, and she couldn’t wait any longer. She was pregnant and Arthur deserved to know he was going to be a father.

She clutched the bags with the Chinese takeout as she got out of the car. She’d decided a private dinner was better than a public one for this news.

She stood outside his Brent Hollow condo. The development was for people over fifty. No one younger than that could buy a home here. And no children were permitted.

She was going to have to give up her MINI Cooper and buy a more sensible car and she hated the thought, but she was pretty sure Arthur was going to hate giving up his condo more.

She rang the doorbell and part of her wanted to bolt before he came to the door, but she held her ground.

Arthur opened the door. “Hi, honey.” He kissed her cheek lightly.

He’d given her a key two years into the relationship. She’d felt it necessary to reciprocate. Neither of them used the keys often, though. They were still on doorbell-ringing status.

“Come in.” He took one of the bags. “How’s the pilot program going?”

He led her into the living room and set the bag on the table. They’d shared many meals here, sitting on the floor, in front of a fire during the colder months. He already had the wine open, two glasses waiting.

She sat down across from him, the familiar scene feeling comfortable. “Eli?”

She realized he’d asked about CATA.

“It’s going well. Zac’s agreed to my suggestion for our first student.”

Arthur nodded absently. He didn’t ask anything else about the program.

“So how was your week?” she asked, stalling, needing to catch her breath and find a way to gently break the news to him.

Arthur poured their wine, and Eli took up the glass and raised it to her lips, before it occurred to her that she couldn’t drink it. She set the glass down and tried to gather her wits as she listened to Arthur go on about the students in his class as he dished up his dinner.

He didn’t seem to notice she didn’t follow suit.

“Arthur—” She got as far as his name and couldn’t think of a way to finish the sentence.

I’m knocked up.

Knock, knock, guess who’s knocked up?

What are your plans six or seven months from now?

You know the tour of Europe we’ve been talking about? What about a tour of local hospital maternity wards instead?

Arthur, I love you and we’re going to have a baby.

Hey, Arthur, I’m pregnant. And do you know what irony is? I teach girls who experience unplanned pregnancies, and here I am. I wonder if I can write it off as educational expenses?

“Elinore, are you listening to me?”

She gritted her teeth at the use of her given name. Elinore was a name for someone older, more mature than she was. She was going to have a baby, for goodness sakes, she couldn’t be an Elinore yet.

She’d always hated it when he called her that, but today it grated more than it usually did.

“Eli,” she snapped.

His fork full of General Tso’s chicken froze midway between the plate and his mouth. “What is wrong?”

“I could give you a list, a long, long list of things, but topping it would be the fact I’m pregnant.”

Arthur dropped the fork, and the bright red sauce splashed onto his shirt, but he didn’t make a move to clean it off. He didn’t say a word, but the wave of paleness that moved from the top of his head downward said it all.

Great. Just great. That was slick. What a gentle breaking of unexpected news.

Eli didn’t say anything for a few minutes, letting him adjust to the shock.

When a bit of color seemed to seep back into his face, she said, “I know we didn’t plan this. It’s unexpected. When the doctor told me I didn’t believe him. I thought I was entering menopause. I went to the pharmacy and bought one of each brand of pregnancy test there was and the results were all the same. I’m pregnant.”

She waited for him to smile at her reaction.

Still nothing.

“I go for a second visit on Monday to have a sonogram, but the doctor thinks I’m either entering, or barely into my second trimester.”

“Is it mine?”

Of all the responses she’d imagined, this hadn’t even made the list of possibilities. “Is it yours?”

He nodded.

“Of course it’s yours. I didn’t cheat on you.”

“I wish you would have.” Arthur gave his head a small shake. “I can’t have a baby. We can’t have a…We talked about this up front. I’m almost ready to retire, and you have a busy and satisfying career. We have plans. I want to write my book, we’re going to travel. We can’t have this…”

“Baby, Arthur. It’s a baby. Our baby. I know we didn’t plan it, but it’s here, a reality we’re going to have to cope with. It means adjusting some of our plans, but we can make it work.”

He frowned. “Don’t you see? I don’t want to make it work. And there’s nothing to say we have to. That you have to go through with the pregnancy.”

Her hand immediately moved to her stomach, as if to protect their baby from the harshness of his suggestion. “Arthur, that’s not an option.”

“It is. I’d go with you, support you through the whole thing.”

“I know it’s a surprise, and I wouldn’t condemn someone for making that kind of decision, but it’s not for me. I couldn’t terminate this pregnancy.”

“And I can’t be a father.”

“Oh.” Eli didn’t know what to say to that. She’d expected him to be as taken aback at the news as she was, but she’d also expected him to hug her, to say he’d be there for her, that everything would be all right.

She hadn’t realized how much she’d been counting on that.

“Arthur, we’ll talk to someone and find a way to work this out.”

He shook his head and his shaggy brown hair tumbled over his eyes. Normally, she’d reach over and push it back into place, but tonight she simply gripped her hands on her lap. “What do you suggest then?”

“If you go through with this, I can’t be a part of it. I want nothing to do with the baby. Nothing.”

There was a finality in his tone that cut straight through her. It was almost a physical pain. But Eli wouldn’t give in to it. She sat up straighter. “Fine. You’ll have to see a lawyer, have him draw up papers terminating your parental rights because I won’t have you playing on-again, off-again father.”

“That’s not a worry because I have no wish to be anyone’s father. I’ll see my lawyer, have the papers drawn up. I’ll open a college fund for the baby, in lieu of paying child support, if that works for you.”

She wanted to tell him to keep his money, that they wouldn’t need it, but a practical side of her knew that someday the baby would need substantial financial help with college.

“Fine.” Somehow she found the strength to stand. “Goodbye, Arthur.”

He stood as well, and moved next to her. “I didn’t want things to end like this.”

“I didn’t, either.” She’d barely begun to adjust to the idea of a baby, but when she’d pictured what it would be like to be a mother, she’d imagined Arthur by her side, learning to be a father. It was another future she’d have to let go of.

“Keep in touch.” He moved toward her, as if to hug her.

Eli took a quick step backward. She didn’t want to touch Arthur Stone. Didn’t want the pity she saw in his eyes. She shook her head. “I don’t think so. If we’re going to make a break, let’s make it clean. Call me when you’ve got the papers, and that will be the last you’ll hear from me.”

“Elinore—”

“Eli.” And with all the dignity she could muster, she held her head high and walked out of Arthur’s condo.

She got into her MINI and sat a moment, her hand pressed to her stomach. “Looks like it’s just you and me, kid,” she whispered.

Despite what she’d said to Arthur, she wasn’t sure she could handle this. Wasn’t sure at all. Unlike Arthur, though, she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t walk away.

She snapped her seat belt into place, put her key in the ignition, then the car in Drive and left.

Left Arthur, and left the life she’d thought she’d have.

For the first time in years, Eli Cartwright was driving without a map. It was disconcerting. It was terrifying.

Underneath all that, there was also just the tiniest bit of exhilaration. There was suddenly a potential that hadn’t been there before.

Rather than driving home, Eli headed toward Tucker’s, knowing her friend would be a hundred percent on her side.

But half an hour later, when Eli finished telling Tucker about her meeting with Arthur, her friend’s reaction was far more vehement than Eli had imagined.

Tucker paced back and forth in her living room. “Penis. Goat-boffing, self-important eunuch of a man.”

“Tucker, sit down next to me.” Eli patted the empty couch cushion. “I feel I have to point out Arthur couldn’t boff goats if he was a eunuch.”

Tucker didn’t stop pacing. Instead, she kicked the ottoman. “He could try. I hope—”

“Stop right there,” Eli warned. “You’re not going to tempt the fates by wishing any plagues—”

“I was going for some penis-eating venereal disease, but a plague would work.”

Eli laughed. Tucker’s reaction was almost a balm to her wounded pride. “How could I have wasted five years of my life on someone who could desert a child?”

Tucker finally sat, but remained resolutely silent.

“You tried to tell me, and I appreciate your not saying ‘I told you so,’ but I’ll say it for you—you told me so.”

“I never in a million years would have expected him to just walk away from this. Oh, I thought he was a boring, pontificating prig—”

“Prig?”

“I’ve been reading historical romances again, and it’s a good descriptive word. And though I thought it would describe Arthur, I still would never have guessed he’d abandon you. To be honest, I can’t imagine him not having opinions—many, many opinions—on how a child of his should be raised.”

“Actually, he doesn’t want it to be raised. He wanted me to go for an abortion.”

“Rat bastard.”

Bart stuck his head in the doorway. “Mom, phone. It’s a guy, some Tyler Martinez.” He spotted Eli and waved. “Hey, Aunt Eli.” He ducked back out again.

“Speaking of rat bastards,” Tucker murmured more to herself than to Eli. She got up and took the phone.

“Yes?”

She listened and was soon scowling. “Are you crazy? No.” And without saying anything further, she hung up.

“Problems with a customer?” Eli asked.

Tucker shook her head and plopped back onto the couch. “Nothing you need to worry about. The way I see it, you’ve got more than enough on your plate.”

“Maybe whatever’s going on with you would distract me? And I so need to be distracted.”

“Nothing’s going on, really. Just a man asking for a date.”

Tucker hadn’t dated often over the years. Not that she wasn’t asked out, but more often than not, she declined. Eli worried about her. Tucker was still young. She should go out and have a good time on occasion. “Is this guy a troll?”

“No. He’s gorgeous, actually, in a sleek, magazine-ad way.” Tucker’s scowl made the idea of a gorgeous man seem less appealing than dental surgery.

“So he’s boorish?”

“Not exactly. Despite his prissy way, he gets along great with Dad and the other guys in the garage.”

“A prig like Arthur then?” She smiled as she used the word.

Tucker shook her head.

“Married? Twelve kids?”

Another no.

“Okay, so a gorgeous, interesting, unattached man who gets along with your father called to ask you out and you say no why?”

“I say no every time he asks.”

“He’s asked more than once?” This was the first Eli had heard about this Tyler Martinez, and she couldn’t help but wonder if there were other men who’d asked Tucker out that she hadn’t mentioned.

“He’s asked me out a few times,” Tucker admitted.

“What am I missing?”

“Some brain cells if you can’t figure it out. I mean, I’m pretty sure his suits are designer—not that I know designer clothes. I mean, there’s Jacqueline Smith stuff at Kmart, but otherwise?” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure that’s what his stuff is, and he’s certainly got money to burn.”

Eli shook her head, genuinely confused. “Still not getting it.”

“Look at me, do I look like the type of woman a man like that would be interested in?”

Eli did look. Tucker was wearing a holey pair of jeans, some steel-toed work boots and a T-shirt that proudly proclaimed It’s NASCAR or Nothin’. The T-shirt was worn thin from too many washings, and hugged Tucker’s body in such a way that no man could miss that despite the work clothes, Tucker was all woman. “I don’t see why he wouldn’t be interested, Tuck. I mean, if I were a man, I’d try to date you.”

Her outrageous comment had the desired effect. Tucker laughed. “If you were a man I’d probably say yes. But he’s different. Too different.”

“Tucker, this Tyler, or any man, would be all kind of lucky to have a woman like you.”

Tucker pulled back, not physically, but emotionally. Eli could talk herself blue in the face, but Tucker would never believe that she was beautiful. It had nothing to do with designer clothes, and everything to do with the kind of woman Tucker was.

And part of what made Tucker Tucker was her complete and annoying stubbornness, which reared its head now. “Let’s change the subject back to you. What are you going to do now?”

“I made plans for dinner with my parents tomorrow night. I expect it’s going to go about as well, or even worse, than how it went telling Arthur.” She loved her parents, saw them at least once a week when they were in town, and talked to them frequently when they wintered in Florida each year. The fact that she would be an unwed mother was not going to impress them. She was forty-four, but obviously the desire to please a parent didn’t go away with age. It might even have gotten stronger.

“I think you’re wrong. They might not be happy, but they’ll stand by you. I have no doubt of that.”

“You’re right. It still won’t be pretty.”

“Maybe you’re wrong.”

“Yeah, maybe. And maybe the earth is going to start rotating backward, and all the bad guys will suddenly become good guys forever and ever.”

She snorted. “And maybe prigs will fly.”

Maybe.

But Eli wasn’t betting on any of it.