“I’ll teach you to play,” she promised Chandler softly. Then she frowned as Kyle’s words whispered through her mind. He’d learned the notes, but he’d known the true heart of the music wasn’t there for him. “You’ll feel the music, too, pumpkin. Whether it’s piano or something else, we’ll share that joy. I know it.”
The afternoon was passing when she again heard feet on the steps outside. This time, however, she was expecting visitors, and she went to the door, smiling at the two women coming up. She’d met Taylor Fletcher and Megan Malone at the Buttonwood Baby Clinic when they’d all been taking the same childbirth classes. Except Megan was Megan Macgregor now, thoroughly adored by her new husband, Mac.
Megan had her baby, Tyler, in her arms and led the way up the stairs, while Taylor, enormously pregnant, followed more slowly.
Once they reached the top, Emma held open the door. “We should have met at the diner or something, Taylor. I just didn’t think about you having to climb the stairs.”
Taylor rolled her eyes and awkwardly settled on the couch, folding her arms across her belly. “Which is worse?” she asked breathlessly. “Me climbing stairs at this stage or you climbing stairs immediately after having a baby?” She looked over at the bassinet. “But you can bring Master Valentine over to see me, if you don’t mind, because I think I’m stuck here on the couch for the duration.”
Megan settled on the couch, too, resting Tyler on her lap. “Yup. Bring him over here, Emma. Let’s compare birthing horror stories and scare Taylor silly.”
Taylor snorted softly and Emma shook her head at the two women. She rolled the bassinet toward them, trying to jostle it as little as possible. Then she handed out glasses of lemonade and set a tray of cookies from one of the foil packages of Millie’s on the metal footlocker and sat down to catch up with her friends.
“So what’s with the floral display?” Taylor finally asked when all the gossip was expended. “It looks like you received flowers from every customer who has ever gone into Mom & Pop’s.”
“Kyle Montgomery,” Emma answered without thinking.
Megan’s eyebrows shot up. “As in Kyle Montgomery, head of ChandlerAIR? I read an article recently about him. He’s—”
“I know.” Emma folded her arms over the edge of the bassinet and gently smoothed Chandler’s hair.
“How did you meet him? I thought you were totally off men after what Jeremy St. James did.” Taylor tried to sit forward to reach the cookies, but couldn’t. Emma leaned over and handed her two.
“I am not off men,” Emma defended. “I just don’t need or want one, that’s all.”
“Famous last words,” Megan quipped.
“Besides,” Emma continued, ignoring Megan’s comment, “he’s not interested in me. Well, not that way.”
“Oh, now this is sounding really interesting,” Taylor said lightly. “Come on, Emma, tell me. Then I can live vicariously on the excitement in your life.”
“I wouldn’t call it exciting to have yet another man try to buy me off.”
Both her friends’ faces sobered.
“Oh, that’s not exactly right,” Emma admitted, feeling frustration well up all over again. “He visited me yesterday morning with the most outrageous proposition.” She told them the bare bones of Kyle’s suggestion. “I told him no, of course.”
“No!” Megan stared at her, dismayed. “But Emma, think of what a man like Kyle Montgomery can offer in return for your help.”
Taylor was nodding, too.
“It doesn’t matter,” Emma insisted. “I’ll manage just fine with Chandler.”
“How?” Taylor asked bluntly. “By selling your television set next? By taking on a third job? Emma, you’re barely scraping by, and only a week ago you told me your latest fantasy was buying health insurance.”
She’d expected her friends’ support. She stood up and began pacing. Among the flowers, she fancied that the memory of Kyle’s aftershave still lingered. “He’s just another rich man thinking he can buy his way through life. I don’t want any part of it. It’s dishonest.”
Megan rose too, cradling her baby in one arm and catching Emma’s hand with her other. “Emma, I know how hard this must be for you. But Chandler is here. You have to think about him. What’s best for him. Maybe taking this offer is something you should seriously consider.”
Emma looked away from her friend’s warm hazel eyes. “You agree with her, don’t you, Taylor?”
The younger woman nodded. “That’s what a good mother does,” she murmured. “Thinks of her child first.”
Emma felt her eyes burn. Taylor had already decided to give up her child for adoption to a family who could provide for her baby in a way she herself couldn’t. She was younger than both Megan and Emma, yet Emma felt that Taylor was quite possibly the bravest woman she’d ever met.
She dashed her hands across her eyes, then propped them on her hips, sniffing hugely. “Shoot-fire,” she said in her best Southern drawl. “This afternoon wasn’t supposed to be a weepy wallow. I’ve told the man no, so that’s all there is to it. He’s probably findin’ himself another young bride as we speak.” Then she focused on Megan. “And speaking of brides, how is married life treating you, Mrs. Macgregor?”
Megan smiled and said that married life was terrific, but her gaze met Emma’s meaningfully. Fortunately, however, she didn’t return to the subject of Kyle, and soon Taylor asked Emma if the labor and delivery was really just a matter of “discomfort” as the leaders of the childbirth class kept telling them.
Emma snorted and Megan laughed. Taylor blew out a huge breath and moaned. “That’s what I was afraid of.” She struggled to her feet to go to the bathroom.
“You’re still planning to return to work next week?” Megan asked Emma.
“To Benderhoff,” Emma said. “Their summer session begins and I’ll be teaching two afternoon classes there.” She’d always enjoyed the classes she taught part-time at the private school. But she was willing to teach this session specifically for the money it would bring. Money that would eventually pay the hospital bill. “Millie says that if I set foot in the diner before two weeks are up, she’ll shoot me with that shotgun she keeps in the back. If she had her way, I’d take off three times that long.”
“What about your fall semester?” Megan asked quietly. “How can you fit in your own classes?”
Emma swallowed, then managed a bright smile she knew didn’t fool her friend. “I’m going to take off next semester. It’ll be a nice break.” She just hoped the one semester didn’t stretch into two. Or three. She’d already spent so long working toward her degree that every delay was frustrating. Even this one.
Taylor came out then, pressing her hands to her back. Emma hugged her friends, thanked them for the baby outfits they’d brought for Chandler and watched them carefully descend the steps before climbing into Megan’s vehicle.
She stood on the landing for a few minutes, breathing in the crisp clear air. Someone was barbecuing nearby. She could smell the distinctive delectable scent of sizzling steak. A dog barked, and someone was mowing a lawn.
It was a beautiful summer evening. She had her health and a perfect child. There was no reason to feel the panic welling in her chest. No reason at all.
She went inside and picked up Chandler, rocking him in her arms as she paced her small living room. She didn’t look at Kyle’s card, which she’d left on the dining table. But she was painfully aware of it sitting there between a bouquet of bright orange day-lilies and a yellow balloon that had lost some of its helium and was hovering