When They Weren't Looking: Wardham Book #3 (17 page)

“Take the truck across the road and grab the fertilizer I’ve got stored in Claire’s barn. We’ll need it later this week.” Ted jerked his head in the direction of Evening Lane Farm.

“How about I go muck out some stalls or something, and you do that?” He’d thought about going to see Claire. He wasn’t insane enough to actually do it.

“How about you man up and go see your future mother-in-law about whatever has you looking at your phone every five minutes?”

“If she was actually my future mother-in-law, I’d have no problem manning up.” Liam scrubbed his face with one hand. “Evie’s not talking to me. We sort of had a fight.”

“Sort of? Had?” Ted laughed. “Boy, if your woman is mad at you, you’re definitely having a fight. Present tense.”

“She thinks I’m going to tire of Wardham, of her, and be lured back to the big city by the fancy galas and buckets of money.”

“Won’t you?”

Liam jerked back, as if his uncle had punched him. “No. Hell, no. My baby’s here, I’m here.”

“Babies turn into kids, and kids can be annoying.”

“I’m never leaving her.”

“You having a baby girl?”

“What?”

“You just said you’re never leaving
her
.” Ted leaned back against the tractor and crossed his arms, a lazy grin crawling across his face. “That’s a hell of a trick, eh?”

“Shut up, old man.” But Liam grinned right back. “You want me to take the truck across the road?”

He should have known Claire would be waiting. He parked in front of her house and hopped out.

“Liam, nice of you to stop by.”

“Mrs. Calhoun.” He dipped his head. “Is there any fertilizer to pick up, or has my uncle sent me here strictly for a talking to?”

She laughed. “Come inside. Coffee?”

He puffed out his cheeks and followed her in to the large farmhouse kitchen. He accepted a steaming mug from her, and waited until she sat before he took his own seat at the table.

“So, Ted says you’ve been miserable for a couple days.”

He furrowed his brow. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“No, you wouldn’t complain.” She pursed her lips. “I’m not sure that’s as noble a trait as you think it is.”

“I really haven’t been—”

“Something you should know about my daughter,” Claire continued blithely, as if he hadn’t responded. “Is that she’s got her own set of ignoble traits. She’s quick-tempered and tends toward self-doubt.”

“I don’t care about the former, and I’m working on the latter.” Liam set his mug down and leaned forward. “We’ve gone about this in a strange way, Evie and I, but you need to know that I have no reservations about her. I’m in, all the way. She just doesn’t believe it yet.”

“I know. But you’re going about it the wrong way.” She smiled a secret smile as Liam blinked at her, processing what she’d just said.

“You know?”

“Oh, honey, it’s all over your face. If you were teenagers, I’d be afraid you were going to do something stupid and knock her up, but since that’s already happened, I think it’s safe to say that’s not just lust.” He winced, unable to help his childish reaction to Claire talking about him and Evie and sex, and she laughed. “I’m sorry. That’s Laney’s influence on me. My younger daughter has been burning up the phone lines, filling me in on everything that Evie’s trying to keep to herself.”

He cleared his throat. “With all due respect, and I promise you I know it’s a lot…have you considered letting her have her privacy through this?”

Claire made a humming noise in the back of her throat as she looked him up and down. “You might care greatly for Evie, but you still don’t know her as well as I do. I made a mistake with her last relationship, letting her suffer in silence for far too long. And she will, you know. She’ll suffer.”

The thought of Evie struggling on her own pained him more than he realized was possible. He clenched his fist and rocked his knuckles back and forth slowly on the tabletop. “So what do I do?”

“Be there for her. Go to her. Let her push you away, but always go back. Become a constant she can depend on.”

He looked up and held the gaze of his future mother-in-law with firm conviction. “I am, you know.”

“I know.” She smiled. “Give her some space, but not too much. It’s a tough balance, but I have no doubt you’ll find it.”

He had enough doubt for both of them.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Another week went by. Another Wednesday dinner, but this time, Liam didn’t stay long. His offer on the fourplex had been accepted, and he was working around the clock to have reno plans in place for when he took possession. Evie couldn’t decide how she felt about that. Of course, it was a good thing that Liam was making noises about ties to the community, and the property had so much potential. But renovating it was going to be a ton of work. And Liam thought he could do a lot of it himself.

Earlier in the summer, she would have worried about him getting in over his head. Now that she knew—or thought she knew, she corrected herself—that he had substantial means. Well, if he decided he didn’t like playing Bob the Builder, he could always hire a contractor. But what if he didn’t like being a landlord? What if this all proved less fun and more work than he expected?

They hadn’t had a chance to talk further. She’d had the boys all weekend, and Ted had him busy at the farm whenever he was available. Maybe this coming weekend, if he could get away. Or on the drive to the ultrasound week after next. She curved her hand over her belly as the baby fluttered around inside. No, she should invite him over sooner than that. To feel the miracle inside her, if nothing else. Baby hadn’t been active at all when he’d been over for dinner, but started a marching band impersonation as soon as Liam left.

“Making life difficult for your daddy already, eh?” she whispered, but not quietly enough that Max didn’t hear. He looked up from his video game and rolled his eyes at her, as only a seven-year-old can. “Mom, I don’t think the baby can hear you.”

She grinned at him. “Oh yeah, smarty pants? How do you know?”

“Because he’s floating around in a lot of liquid, right? And when I’m in the bath, and you yell at me to get out, I can’t hear you.”

She rolled to her side, reaching down off the couch to tickle his side. “Then how do you know that I’m yelling at you, huh?”

He laughed, gently at first, then more hysterically as her fingers found the right spot on his ribs and wiggled back and forth. “Your face and the sound of your voice, Mommy. No! Don’t! Ahhhh! Connor, help me! HELP ME!”

Connor came running, about to take a flying leap onto Evie, but then froze just before he would have launched himself into the air. She took a deep breath and pushed herself back up to a seated position. “It’s okay, Con. You can play wrestle with me still.”

He looked uncomfortable. “I don’t want to hurt the baby.”

They’d been so good after she told them. Hard to believe they shared the same DNA as Dale, except that they looked just like him. Big, strong, blond. Connor had her more delicate features, but Max was a clone of his father. Neither, though, had inherited or learned his brusque behaviour. They were silly and boisterous, but also thoughtful and considerate beyond their young years. They’d continued to have questions, Connor more than his younger brother, and they had a new suspicion of Liam which she hoped wouldn’t linger. But their new normal was better than she had expected.

“How about I make us some popcorn and we watch part of a movie before bedtime?” She pushed to a stand, pausing to give her first born a quick hug on her way to the kitchen. The sounds of tussling resumed as she found a bowl and set the air popper up on the counter. Before long, both boys had joined her in the kitchen, Connor helping himself to a handful of still hot popcorn, Max carefully getting a glass from the cupboard and pouring himself a glass of water.

“You thirsty, kiddo?” He’d had a big glass of water before sitting down to play his video game.

“Mmm-hmmm. Wrestling is hard work.” She watched as he chugged the refreshing liquid. He was tall and sturdy, not as lean as his brother, but no longer a little kid, either. All muscle. God, they were both going to be heartbreakers in a few short years.

They piled onto the couch, Evie in the middle. She’d like to think it was because they both wanted to cuddle with her, but she was more of a Swiss neutral ground in their constant good-natured battling. If she didn’t sit between them, they wouldn’t watch much of the movie, because one poke would be responded to with another, then a smelly foot would get shoved in someone’s face, followed by a few well-aimed punches before it devolved into a brawl that would most definitely result in popcorn flying all over her living room. As they were both trying hard to be nice to her, they took up positions on either side of their mother.

Whatever, she’d take what she could get. She wound her arms around her boys, her baby bopping away inside her, and gave a silent word of thanks for the little moments.

The next morning, Max was hard to wake up. He stood at the toilet for a while, still half asleep, before Connor jostled him and he pulled down his pajama pants and took the world’s longest pee.

“Come on, boys,” she gently encouraged them from the doorway. “Remember, your dad is picking you up from school today, it’s his weekend.”

A chorus of affirmative noises echoed off the tiles, and she scurried off to make them breakfast.

“Mom, can I have some juice with my oatmeal?” Max propped one elbow on the table and started playing with the autumnal bowl of decorations her mom had brought over a few days earlier. He had faint dark circles under his eyes, and normally she’d say no, but maybe he was coming down with something.

“Sure, honey.” She poured him a glass of mango juice and slid it across to him. Again, she watched him down it in unusual speed. “Max, are you feeling okay? Do you have a sore throat?”

“Nope. Just thirsty.” He yawned.

“Okay.”

Backpacks, light fall jackets, and a bottle of water for Max, by request, and they were ready to head out the door. She had an appointment at the bank before her first class, so she was heading out for the day as well, instead of coming home after school drop off. All of it made her glad that at least they wouldn’t have much winter left when the baby arrived. An infant car seat would add yet another layer to the juggling act, that was for sure.

Before she forgot, she pulled out her phone and sent Dale a brief text message letting him know Max might be coming down with something.

Laney had made her promise to call after the meeting at the bank, so she did.

“They’ll give me a small line of credit, so I can pay off my credit card balance, and have some wiggle room for bills if I need to cut back on classes for a while.”

“I could have done the same thing for you, you know.” She did, and she appreciated the offer, but… “You really want to do this on your own terms?”

“I do. Is that stupid?”

“No. A bit more expensive, maybe. Did they give you a good interest rate?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, then. How’s the baby? How are my nephews?”

Evie grinned. “Baby’s good. Moving around more. The boys are…well, you know. They’re amazing. I think Max is coming down with something, though.”

“‘Tis the season for colds, etc. Back to school, back to sharing germs.”

“Hmmm, maybe. He says he doesn’t feel sick, but he’s drinking a crap ton of water, and he’s been really tired lately.”

“Yeah? What do you mean by lately?”

Evie barely heard the shift in tone, might not have noticed it if they weren’t sisters. But Laney had just put on her doctor voice. “Uhm, I’m not sure. Why? What are you thinking?”

“Might be nothing. Remember that I’m a surgeon, and it’s been seven years since I spent any time on a medicine rotation, but I think you should take him to see a doctor.”

“Okay, I’ll make an appointment with the clinic for early next week.”

Laney hesitated for a beat. “Look, I don’t want to alarm you, but I think you should see if you could get him in this afternoon. Or take him to urgent care tonight.”

Evie’s heartrate picked up. “Stop beating around the bush, Laney. What could this be?”

“Increased thirst and fatigue are two signs of juvenile diabetes, honey.”

Heat flooded Evie’s arms and legs, and she sank to the floor. “Seriously?”

“It’s something that needs to be ruled out, yeah.”

“Dale has them this weekend. He’s going to think I’m overreacting if I ask him to take Max to urgent care.” She swallowed hard. Oh god. Why couldn’t she remember when he’d started sleeping more? He’d always been a tired kid, not a morning person like his brother. Hot tears slipped down her cheeks. She hadn’t been paying close attention. Wouldn’t have thought anything about it at all if Laney hadn’t picked up on a careless, off-hand comment. Her poor baby.

“It might be nothing. Could be a growth spurt.” Laney’s voice droned on in her ear, debating the merits of taking him straight into Windsor, or going to see the doctor in Wardham instead, if she could squeeze into their afternoon schedule.

“Laney? I’ll call you back, okay?” She hung up without waiting for a response, and dialed Dale.