Legend of the Sorcerer (39 page)

Two years later …

Jordy stood and stretched, rubbing her lower back. She swore she was carrying this baby between her knees. She smiled at the piece she’d just finished. The bronze patina was perfect. Her agent, Leonore, was going to flip when she saw it. It would be the centerpiece of the show. But it wouldn’t be for sale. This one was personal. This one was for Cai.

She rubbed her tummy and swallowed her trepidation. Her first New York show was still four months away, but with the baby due any day, she hadn’t thought she’d finish in time. Eileen had picked a winner with Leonore. And this time, Jordy kept her hands in all avenues of her career and was enjoying it. But with the baby coming, she’d begun to worry how she’d handle it all. Her agent had been great, telling her to relax and enjoy nesting, that the pieces already done were enough.

“But wait until she sees you.”

Just then a tight pain wrapped the muscles in her lower belly into a fist. She clutched the table for support. “What timing.” She waited until it passed, trying to breathe like she and Cai had learned in class. Breathing, hell, this hurt.

Cai chose that moment to knock on the door. “Is it safe?”

She’d been snarling at him for weeks to keep out until she was finished. She couldn’t believe she’d kept it a surprise, but she had. She straightened and took a deep breath. Her lower back still ached, but she pasted on a smile. “It’s safe.”

He walked in, then stopped dead. He stared, open-mouthed at the figure of a man astride a great winged horse. “It’s incredible.”

She walked over to him and slid her arms around his waist. “It’s from a drawing I did of you right after we met. I think I knew even then that you would dominate my thoughts for the rest of my life. It’s yours.”

He took her face and kissed her hard. “I—I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you won’t mind if I let Leonore use it as a centerpiece for the New York show. It won’t be for sale.”

“Done.” He kissed her again, then looked back at the finished piece. “Is that how you saw me?”

She smiled. “It’s how I still see you.”

He smiled, but his brows furrowed. Then he snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot why I came out here. I just had a call from Dilys.”

Jordy’s smile grew wide and real. “Finally. I’d hoped to hear from her before the baby came.”

“She’s coming back. To help us.”

Jordy’s eyes widened. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Oh. I wasn’t sure if we should jump for joy, or run screaming for the hills.”

Jordy laughed and rubbed her tummy as the news sunk in. “I’m glad.” And she was. “I’ll be glad for the help and the company.” Dilys had stayed in Wales as Cai had predicted. She’d come back for their wedding, then returned to her friends there. Jordy and Cai had traveled over to see
her on the anniversary of Alfred’s death. They’d all paid their respects. Then Cai had surprised Jordy with a visit to Alfred’s artist friend Mara. She and Jordy had struck up a long-distance friendship and Mara planned to attend Jordy’s opening in June. Cai and Jordy both ventured into the world a bit more these days. Cai even did book tours, more to demystify the man behind the books than because he truly enjoyed them. They both agreed that while they enjoyed their growing circle of friends, they mostly enjoyed being alone together on Crystal Key.

They had both found their balance.

Cai came over to her. “Are you really okay with it?” He rubbed her tummy and her lower back, as always knowing just where she needed his touch.

She leaned back into him, thinking how rich and full their lives had become. “Yeah, I am.” She looked up. “You?”

He smiled dryly. “I think so.”

Jordy wondered what else was going on behind those eyes of his. “You know, with Dilys coming back, maybe it’s time we talked about … you know … it.”

When Jordy had told Cai he was to become a father, they’d both sat in stunned silence for a time, each knowing what the other had immediately thought about. Jordy was intrigued by the possibilities. Unlike Cai, she often thought about the Dark Pearl and all of Alfred’s stories. She’d taken to sitting in his office in the late afternoons and reading his books. She felt closer to him now than ever before. And she still missed him fiercely.

Cai had chosen to go on with his life, remembering Alfred in his own quiet ways. He was uncomfortable with that segment in their past and Jordy let him handle it his own way, as long as he didn’t mind that she handled it her own way. Now Dilys was coming back … and the baby was on its way.

When he said nothing, she rubbed his hand reassuringly. “Maybe it will be a girl.” But she knew differently. She’d had no tests run, but she knew. She suspected Cai did as well.

The next contraction hit before he could comment. She gripped a nearby table with one hand and Cai’s hand with the other. “Maybe it’s time to call the doctor.”

Cai went pale. “It’s time? Why didn’t you tell me?”

She gritted her teeth through the contraction, then burst out in a laugh when it subsided. “I didn’t think I was going to have to. He’s going to tell you himself.” She looked up at him and held on to this sober gaze. “He’s going to be okay, Cai. We’re going to love him so thoroughly and well, he’ll be the best loved baby on the planet.”

Cai’s expression was fierce and his eyes glassed over. “Damn straight.”

“And I’m glad Dilys is coming. Just in case.”

Cai pulled her into his arms and hugged her as tightly as her swollen belly and aching back would allow. “I just want you happy. And I want a healthy baby. That’s all.”

“Then get the boat ready, or you’re going to be greeting him on the floor on my studio.”

Jordan Alfred L’Baan didn’t greet the world for another fourteen hours and seventeen minutes. Both mother and father were sweaty, exhausted, and exultant.

The doctor laid him on Jordy’s stomach, swaddled in a blanket. Cai touched his fingers, Jordy trembled with overwhelming emotions. “Hello there, Mr. L’Baan. Open your eyes. Your mom wants to meet you.”

“And your dad.”

Cai had done extensive research when he’d learned he was to become a father and Jordy had read everything he’d
found. She knew that babies’ eyes were always dark blue and the true color came out over time.

So the nurses gasped, along with Mom and Dad, when Jordan finally opened his eyes. Two bright turquoise orbs stared back at them. Alfred’s eyes.

We knew the moment we looked in his eyes
.

Jordy hadn’t forgotten Alfred’s comment about his son’s birth.

Cai gripped her hand hard. “Do you think it’s really true?” he asked in hushed awe.

Jordan stared silently up at his parents.

His mother smiled. “I think we’re going to find out.”

Nationally bestselling author Donna Kauffman believes in keeping her feet on the ground, in touch with the tangible, the real. However, the endless possibilities of romance spark all sorts of intriguing ideas. She enjoys following those flights of fancy … even if they have her feet lifting off the terra firma every so often. In love, anything is possible.

Donna currently lives in Virginia with her husband and young sons. Her two Australian Terrors … er, Terriers, are also doing fine. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted via her website at
www.donnakauffman.com