The Best of June (22 page)

“A lot of work.”

“Yup. But good work, Stays. Like all business, though, we have to have the right papers on file. Time consuming.”

“I hate paperwork too. But there is one thing that I really like—” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed Henry on the mouth. “You. I missed you so much.”

“Missed you too.”

The moment Henry returned her kiss, her heart sang.

Chapter Fifteen

June dipped the slice of banana into the batter. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Almost eleven at night. Henry hadn’t come home last night and it looked like he would be staying out again tonight. A cold knot formed in her stomach. She’d stayed awake all night waiting for him. All kinds of negative thoughts swam in her mind, including so many visions of Henry and Stacey in bed together that she’d found it difficult to breathe. Why she’d even entertained the thought, she didn’t know.

At six this morning, she’d finally fallen asleep, but had woken up again to pee at eight. She decided to get up and called her parents, Vivienne then Craig. Vivienne made sure Henry wasn’t home before she’d agreed to come over. Her parents came and asked about Henry, wondering why he wasn’t home. She’d explained that he’d had to leave to go to his meeting. No one asked any more questions about him, but she could tell they didn’t believe her. It had been so awkward having her friends and parents over with an unspoken question hovering around. But everything had turned out okay and Henry’s absence had been forgotten when they started opening the presents. Time had flown by after that. When everyone had left, she’d felt loneliness settle in, but it had gone away when she thought about the advantages of having her own home.

All her life, she’d never been alone. It felt kind of weird, but it was nice to have time for herself. She could scream all she wanted and nobody would bug her about the whys. She could make decisions and no one was there to contradict her. She could cook late too. Tomorrow, she’d work in the nursery. That would be fun.

Excited, she dropped a batter-coated banana into the frying pan. She watched it sizzle, wondering if Henry would be interested in helping her decide on a name for the baby. If they had a boy, would he want to name him junior? She imagined a little blue-eyed boy with a mischievous grin like his dad, running around the house chasing a golden retriever, barefoot, tracking dirt everywhere. Oh, he’d be wonderful. Her little Henry. But if they had a girl, she’d be a spoiled little princess. She would give her granddaddy grief for sure.

June sighed then touched her stomach. “We’ll have fun, little one. No matter what. Can’t wait to meet you.”

Henry may not want this baby, but she had a feeling he’d learn to love him or her nonetheless. But where would she be when the baby started teething or walking or babbled his first words? Would she still be around?

“Hello.”

June jumped. “Eepp!” She turned around, surprised to see her husband standing there with his hands in his pockets. “Good Lord. You scared me.”

“Sorry. Are you always jumpy?”

“Only when someone sneaks behind me. Jiminy, you know I have a pot of boiling oil here.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. Sheez, she must look a fright with a sweaty and shiny face, hair sticking out everywhere, no lip gloss or mascara. Thank God her armpits were dry.

“I didn’t know. What’s cooking?”

“Fried bananas.”

“Cooking at eleven o’clock at night?”

“Can’t sleep. I’m craving fried bananas. Have you had these?”

“No.”

“Sit. These are ready in one minute.”

She didn’t expect Henry to sit, but he did. June glanced at him. Freshly showered at eleven o’clock at night. He wore different clothes, his hair was still wet and looked to be finger combed. She wanted to ask where he’d spent his day and night. She didn’t. It wouldn’t do any good to ask. What if he told her he’d been with Stacey? What was she going to do about it? She’d promised herself to give Henry a welcoming home. And that’s what she’d do. He could come in and out anytime and she wouldn’t nag him. “Did you eat dinner? I can fix you something.”

“Real dinner?”

“Uhm, yes. You know, chopped onions, zucchini, mushrooms. Fresh veggies and jumbo shrimp stir-fried in a pan.”

“Sounds good.”

“Heck, it tastes good too.”

His mouth curved into an unconscious smile. “All right. It looks like we’re having a late dinner. Did you eat?”

“I’ve been eating non-stop. So don’t be surprised if you come home one day and see a cow walking in here. It’s just me.”

Henry laughed. “Thanks for the warning. What happened to the presents?”

“Most of them are stored in the garage. By the way…” She took a notepad from the drawer and put it on the counter. “We have five woks, six crockpots, a dozen bed sets, twenty-two bathroom sets… I didn’t write the number of utensil and awesome-looking paintings. Some are already hanging on the walls. Money, gift cards, trips here and there, baby clothes in different sizes and three cribs. One is in my room, the other in the nursery, the third is in the living room.” June flipped the paper. “And more stuff. I listed all of them if you want to see.”

“You opened all of the presents?”

“With help. Mom and Dad, Vi and Craig all came.”

Henry looked at her belly then nodded. “Craig was here too, huh?”

“Yeah. He wouldn’t miss the gift-opening for the world.”

“You and Craig are real tight.”

“Yup. He’s such a dear. Although, sometimes he can be so annoying.”

“How?”

“Like today, he called me at least five times asking how I’m doing. He’s like a mother hen, except he’s a guy.” June scooped the fried banana onto a plate lined with brown paper then placed it on the counter.

“He told me he would have married you if you’d asked him. Why didn’t you?”

June snorted. “He’d be miserable married to me. Believe me.”

“But you’d be married to someone who loves you and you love in return.”

“He’s a friend, Henry—an awesome one at that. I’m sure he would marry me, but…”

“But?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure it would be fine if I ended up with him…”

“Another but?”

June shook her head. She opened the drawer and took out a fork and a knife. Without looking at Henry, she placed the utensils in front of him.

“Looks like he wishes you’d picked him. Maybe he thinks he’d be a better husband than me.”

“Maybe. But not in the true sense of the word. He’d take care of me because he’s a friend. By the way, I told Dad and Craig to leave the last crib for you. I thought maybe you’d want to assemble it yourself. We can leave it in the living room, so we can have the baby down here too. Oh and three baby swings. We have those too.”

“The big box in the living room is a crib?”

“Yes. The garage is full of stuff. It looks like a mini department store in there. I don’t even remember signing up for a bridal registry.”

“I’m sure Mom took care of that.”

“Probably. So, how was your night?” The moment the question came out of her mouth, she realized her mistake. Damn it. Why did she have to ask?

“Got a few things done. John and I are acquiring three ships.”

“Wow. You’ve been wanting to own a ship, now you’re buying three. Wishes do come true.” She placed the plate on the counter.

“Life is full of surprises.” Henry picked up his fork then speared a banana to put on his plate. “Looks good.”

“Bananas are hot. Don’t burn your mouth.” She took the sugar shaker and gave it a good shake. “Tell me when.” The bananas were practically covered in white powder before Henry told her to stop. She laughed. “You’re worse than my dad.” She was about to turn off the burner when a sharp pain from her lower abdomen made her stop. “Oh, God. Ow.”

Henry left his chair in a hurry. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Goddamn it, June. Sit. Were you on your feet all day?”

“No. Mom would have had a cow if I had been. I’ll be fine in a few minutes. This happens.” Sweat began to drip down her back. She lowered her head and wished for the pain to go away.
Oh, please. Stop.
Maybe her pain was normal for a pregnant woman. Still. She needed to see her doctor soon. Tomorrow she’d call Doctor Sanders.

“June, maybe you should go to bed.” Henry helped her to a chair.

“I’m fine. By the way, I moved your things in to the blue room. I thought you might like that one.” She quickly changed the topic, away from her condition.

“What about you?”

“I’m occupying the one facing east.

“Is that the arrangement you decided on?”

She didn’t really know what to say. Did she want to share a bed with him? “I assumed that’s what you wanted.”

“Maybe it’s for the best—for now.”

June nodded. “Yeah.”

“Did your parents ask why we’re going to sleep in separate beds?”

“They don’t know. I readied your room after they’d left.”

Henry nodded. “I like your parents.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. They adore you.”

“True. Sometimes, though, they smother me with their love.”

“I wouldn’t know what it’s like to be smothered by love.”

“I’m sorry.”

Henry shrugged then went on to slice the banana. “You’re such a good cook.”

“Thank you, but my expertise is not above par for restaurants. Imagine cooking for people. Aside from making and selling awesome food, you get to eat it too.”

“True. Hmm…man, this is good. Who would have thought fried bananas could make you forget just about anything,” he said with a full mouth.

“Good enough to make you forget what I’ve done?”

Henry stopped chewing and stared at her. Dear, oh dear. Why did she have to ask that question and ruin the mood? “Sorry I asked. I know there is nothing I could do to make you forgive me.”

Henry sighed, left his chair then stood in front of her. “You didn’t ruin anything, but you definitely changed my course. Here.” He cupped her chin with his fingers. “You may be an awesome cook, but a messy one. Are you planning on frying your ear too?”

“Why?” she asked breathlessly.

“You have batter on your temple and right ear.”

“Oh, I didn’t know.” She tried to back away.

“Hold still.” He used the napkin to wipe off the batter.

Good Lord. She wanted to touch him back, but balled her fists at her sides instead. Henry, however, wasn’t making the situation easier. He was staring at her the way he had that night at the marina, as if he wanted to kiss her. Then he blinked and the short magical moment disappeared.

“Right now, I don’t want to think about anything that has caused us to be married. Even in war, there is a time when both warring parties take a break. How about we just pretend nothing happened and enjoy your cooking?”

June nodded. “Okay. White rice is done. If you want I can make—” Sharp, shooting pain from her lower back forced her to wince.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just the usual pregnancy discomfort. Fried rice.” Sometimes her pain would only last a few seconds. Right now, though. It felt like her lower back was about to split in half. Oh, no. She didn’t want Henry to see her like this.

“You sure? We don’t—”

“Fried rice. If it’s okay, you can help prepare what we need for fried rice.”

“Sure.”

As soon as the pain eased, she opened the refrigerator and took out everything that she needed. “When you’re done with your bananas, cut these, please. Here’s the knife. I think you know how to use one.”

“Hell, I’m good with knives.” True to his words, Henry smiled and played with the knife by tossing it in the air and catching it by the handle. “See that?”

“If you drop that, make sure it hits your shoes and not the pretty marble floor.”

“What?” he asked then pretended to drop the knife, making June scream. “Sheez, you scream like an angel.”

“Don’t do that again!” She pinched him on his side.

“Ouch, woman. Damn it. That hurts.”

“Serves you right.” June laughed. “Don’t cut your fingers, please. I don’t want bloodstains on the floor or on this counter,” she teased.

“The floor is more important than my finger? Wow. That’s cold.”

“You’ll heal. The floor is hard to clean. Now, start chopping.”

“Yes, ma’am. Should I cut this whole thing?”

“Sure. I’ll put the rest in the Ziploc bag. That way it’s already chopped if I need some for later.”

It took only a minute before Henry started sniffing and he used his sleeve to wipe his eyes. “Damn. My eyes…”

“Give up the onions and cut the mushrooms. Easier.”

“Gads, you waited until I suffered before telling me that?”

“I’ll work on the veggies.”

She made short work of the fried rice while oil heated in another frying pan for the stir fry. The entire time, she was aware of Henry’s presence in the kitchen, how his arm muscles bulged, and she definitely felt the power that coiled within him as he moved. When he wasn’t glowering at her, his sunny nature was as attractive as his looks. It could be just her imagination, but the kitchen seemed warmer with him in it. She wanted to stand close to him. Sighing, she dropped her ingredients into the frying pan.

“Smells so good.”

“It’s just garlic, onions and bell peppers sautéed in sesame oil.”

“I like to cook also.”

“I know. Chicken alfredo, right?”

“Making fun of my alfredo?”

June laughed. “No. You make really good alfredo. You proved it to me three days in a row.”

Henry narrowed his eyes. “You witch! You pretended you liked my alfredo.”

“What? I said I like your alfredo.”

“Three days in a row? You were probably sick of it, huh?”

“Nope.”

“Whatever. You hurt my feelings already.”

“Sorry.” She wished they could be like this all the time. “Finish your banana while it’s still hot.”

Henry speared half of the fried banana then popped it in his mouth. “Tastes like heaven. Have you had any?”

“Not yet. Later. I’ll enjoy them when I’m sitting down with my feet up.”

“Here, eat one.”

“I don’t want—”

Henry surprised her by feeding her the slice.

“’Hank you. Shhtttill hot.”