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17
CHARLIE SHOOK HANDS with Mat while Bertis hugged Nealy and tweaked Button’s toes. Nealy still couldn’t believe they were here. “How did you know where to find us?”
“Didn’t Lucy tell you? She gave us the address just before you left. What a dickens that child is.”
Just seeing Bertis made Nealy feel better. Last night had turned her world upside down. She’d expected to enjoy making love with Mat, but she hadn’t expected that great rush of feeling to last.
It was hard to remind herself this was only a fling. If she was lucky, they would have another one or two nights together, but then it would end. Sometime in the distant future when it wouldn’t be so painful, she could see herself taking out the memories to examine while she was standing in a receiving line or listening to an overly long speech. The idea depressed her. Bertis and Charlie had arrived at a perfect time.
“Lucy’ll be thrilled to see you.” She shifted Button to her hip. “She’s working out back right now.”
“It’s good to keep them busy.” Bertis slipped on her reading glasses, peered at Button, and wiped a speck from the baby’s chin. “Since we were heading west anyway, we decided to stop by and check on you.”
Charlie stretched to ease a kink from his back. “We’re going to Yosemite, always wanted to see it. But we aren’t in any hurry, and Bertis was worried about Lucy.”
Bertis let her reading glasses fall back onto their chain. “We thought it might be
hard on her finally having to face her grandmother’s death.”
Mat’s eyes narrowed. “You knew about her grandmother?”
“Oh, she told us all about her.” She clucked her tongue in disapproval. “Imagine a fifty-three-year-old woman marrying one of her students. Of course, I didn’t say what I was thinking to Lucy.”
Mat’s jaw was starting to twitch. “You knew about Nico, too?”
“See, Charlie, I told you his name wasn’t Nick, but you always argue with me.”
Charlie scratched his head. “What kind of name is Nico?”
“That’s not the point. The point is that I was right and you were wrong.”
“Which is a good thing because if it ever turns out the other way around, I’ll probably have that heart attack you’re always warning me about.”
She gave his hand a fond pat, then turned to study Mat. “You and Nell sure have been busy these last few days.”
Mat smiled. “Things happen.”
Nealy couldn’t figure out why everybody was looking at her. “What?”
Mat regarded her with a combination of amusement and warning. “I think Bertis and Charlie have noticed your recent pregnancy.”
Nealy’s hand flew to her waist. She’d been so surprised by their appearance that she’d completely forgotten. Two days ago when they’d last seen the Waynes, her stomach had been flat. She regarded them with dismay. “Oh. I . . .”
“Why don’t you come inside?” Mat walked up the steps to the porch, not looking all that upset about having them around. “I’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee.”
“Good idea.” Bertis bustled after him. “Charlie, go get those Jiffy blueberry muffins I made this morning.” She regarded Nealy conspiratorially. “I fix them from scratch when I’m home, but there’s nothing like a Jiffy mix when you’re on the road. That’s one product they’ve been smart enough not to tinker with.”
Nealy had never heard of Jiffy mixes, and she tried to figure out how she was going to explain the pregnancy padding.
Mat’s hand settled warm and comforting against the small of her back. “Blueberry muffins sound great.”
As he fixed coffee, Bertis made no reference to Nealy’s phony pregnancy. Instead, she chatted about her own grandchildren, then put the muffins Charlie brought on a pottery plate Nell found in the cupboard. They carried everything out to the sunporch, then Bertis called out to Lucy, who was working around the rosebushes.
Her face lit up when she saw them, and she flew inside. “You came! Ohmygod, I can’t believe it!” She hugged them fiercely, then backed away and tried to act cool. “I mean, it would have been okay if you’d gone right to Yosemite. How long are you going to stay?” The shadow of anxiety appeared in her eyes. “You’re going to stay, aren’t you?”
“For a couple of days. There’s a real nice campground right outside town. As long as Nell and Mat don’t mind having us around, of course.”
Lucy turned to Mat, and all her cool faded as a pleading expression came over her. “They can stay, can’t they?”
