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“As in, thecorrectway,” my wife quips.
Alice is unfazed. “Looks like our Fireside Ladies came through for us again!”
So much for Ollie and me being heroes, but we don’t have time. The service is beginning, and Daisy grabs my wife’s arm, pulling her into the row.
“It’s starting,” she hisses, and I’m alarmed by the sheen on her upper lip.
“Are you okay?”
She gives me an impatient glare. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
I move into the seat not wanting to taunt her, and the organ launches into “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.” We go through several Christmas songs before taking our seats, and the pastor launches into the traditional sermon for the season.
My mind drifts as my eyes wander over the faces of our party. Oliver is beside his mother listening like a good little soldier. I don’t see Melody anywhere, which is probably for the best. She’d probably yell for the pastor to “go far” and lob her pink football at his crotch.
Scout’s sister-in-law bounces her bright little infant with whom my wife is so enamored, and I study her unsmiling father beside them. If I remember correctly, J.R. served some time in prison in California. Yet when the little girl reaches for him, he takes her with such gentle ease.
She places her head on his shoulder, and her fat fingers twist in the back of his hair as she sucks her thumb. She slowly fades to sleep, and my eyes slide to Joselyn beside me. Of course, her eyes are fixed on the scene, and I look down at my hands.
Daisy believes in me.
Oliver believes in me.
Ms. Nelly up at the organ believes in me.
The pastor is relating the story from the Bible. “Mary couldn’t believe she would be a mother. It was impossible...”
He continues with the story, but I’m stuck. I’m not a religious man, but I’m a man in love. I’m a man who believed my life was ordered, controlled, and going as I’d planned, until a fiery redhead stormed through my icy walls and burned it all down.
Her hand slides into mine, threading our fingers and pulling me out of my thoughts. I glance over at her bright ocean eyes, her auburn hair falling in waves around her fair cheeks. I’ll do it for her.
Everyone stands around us, and the organ launches into “The First Noel,” but I hold Joselyn beside me a moment, leaning closer.
Kissing her cheek, I slide my lips to speak in her ear. “If you’d like to try for a baby, I think that would be okay.”
What the hell?I sound like an idiot. I should’ve planned something better to say. What is it about this silly little town that makes me soft in the middle?
But Joselyn’s face melts into a smile, and she blinks several times. She leans forward, throwing her arms around my neck and hugging her mouthwatering body closer to mine.
“I can’t believe it.” She pulls back, and her eyes are misty with tears. “It’s like a Christmas miracle. I was so afraid to tell you. I didn’t know how you’d respond…”
“What?” The word slips from my lips as my stomach tightens, but a commotion breaks out on the other end of the pew.
“Mommy went potty!” There’s Melody.
“Daisy!” Alice cries out as a splashing noise fills the sanctuary. “Oh, quick—somebody get the car!”
Regina grabs Melody from Scout, and Alice carefully helps Daisy out of the pew and into the aisle. Ushers rush to hold her arms and another man dashes in with a towel.
Pandemonium surrounds us, but I’m sitting in a momentary daze. Was Joselyn about to say we’re going to have a baby?
CHAPTER4
ALL IS BRIGHT
JOSELYN
“Well, that’s one way to break up church,” Daisy jokes from where she’s resting in the hospital bed.
