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“You’re pregnant – aren’t you?”
Rose blinked. “How did you know?”
“It’s written all over your face,” Kinley admitted, reaching over and pulling her into her arms. “I’ve seen my share of pregnancies in my day since my dad was an obstetrician.”
Rose reached for Kinley’s hand as they pulled apart. “I have such an amazing life, but I still think of my birth parents all the time.”
“Yes. The holidays can be pretty rough,” Kinley confessed. “I can’t believe it’s been ten years now since my mom and dad were killed in that plane crash right before Christmas.”
Rose was misty eyed. “At the time I lost my parents, I was too young to realize how lucky I was to be adopted by Emily and Tim. Especially considering my disability. That’s something I’m worried about, you know. Even though the blindness was initially caused by the car accident, apparently, there’s a good chance that it was going to happen anyway because I was predisposed genetically. And now there’s my baby…”
“Don’t worry, Rose. Think about how many advances have been made in the optometry field. Look how well that corrective operation worked for you? It’s been what? Nearly ten years, you said?”
Rose looked thoughtful. “Yes. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. Although, there’s a chance that the results aren’t permanent. But even though my vision has never been one hundred percent, I haven’t noticed any loss, and neither have the doctors.”
“Well, there you go,” Kinley murmured. “I have a feeling the only thing you and Ben will have to worry about is the amount of talent your kid will inherit from the two of you.”
Rose pursed her lips. “It was kind of funny how I ended up as a vocalist when I didn’t even know I could carry a tune until I was adopted.”
“You have the voice of an angel,” Kinley said dryly. “And I croak like a frog.”
Even Rose’s laughter was lyrical, Kinley thought to herself. Rose had been like a breath of fresh air for Ben Michaelson, a former rock star who’d enlisted and had come home critically injured. Despite their eight-year age gap, Rose and Ben were perfect together, both onstage and off. In fact, Rose had admitted she’d had a crush on Ben as a teenager when he’d been a star. Although, he’d been completely full of himself as well as a womanizer before he’d suddenly enlisted and had seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. Rose and Ben had met again, falling for each other hard when he’d returned to Crystal Rock to make a comeback after surviving the loss of his leg in combat overseas.
“What does Ben think about becoming a father?”
Rose grimaced. “Would you believe he doesn’t know? That’s why he’s still on the road. I told him I wasn’t feeling well, because actually, I wasn’t. He sent me home to rest up. I didn’t find out I was pregnant until Mom suggested it and I took a couple pregnancy tests and saw the doctor. Anyway, that’s why we’re spending the next week together alone in one of the cabins at Dragonfly Pointe. I wanted it to be special when I finally told Ben.”
Kinley smiled. “That sounds perfect.”
Rose continued, “Don’t worry about the fact that Ben and I are having a second honeymoon. I forgot to tell you earlier that Dad’s recruited some extra help for you. He’ll be here for at least a week or possibly two. He’s on leave from the Air Force, but there’s a chance he could be deployed at any time. If that happens, I’ll come in if you need me. But apparently, he has some experience training service dogs.”
“Really?” Kinley pursed her lips. “It would be nice to have some input about our new wounded warrior dog training program from someone who’s actually worked with the animals.”
“That’s exactly what I thought too,” Rose admitted. “Especially since we’re supposed to begin in the summer. But supposedly, he’ll be here tomorrow sometime. I’m sorry that I forgot to ask Dad his name. Dad’s going to be letting him stay in one of the rental cabins that they use for the kids who attend Mom’s music camp though.”
“Okay. I’ll remember that,” Kinley responded. “I can see all the rental cabins from mine, so if the lights go on in one, I won’t be worried.”
“I can’t wait to see the inside of your cabin,” Rose murmured. “Dad said it’s really impressive.”
“You’ll have to come by sometime. Maybe I’ll have a little get together before Christmas when I’m more settled in.” Kinley smiled widely. “I’m really looking forward to Christmas this year since I’ve had the cabin built. I decided to put aside the past because that’s what my parents would want. It will be the first time I’ve celebrated the holidays since they’ve passed away.”
“I can’t believe how quickly you decided to build a house,” Rose said. “I think that Ben wants us to have our own home instead of living in Mom and Dad’s guest house. It’s worked out well when we’ve been touring, but we may want to stick closer to home because of the baby, so I can see Ben’s point about having more privacy, especially when music camp is in session. My brothers and sisters are older now too, so they can more or less take care of themselves.”
“I think you should probably have a home of your own. Babies can be tough, even though you have a lot of family to babysit, there are going to be times you two will need to escape from the madness.” For a moment, Kinley felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness. Christmastime was not only difficult because of the loss of her parents, but because of some other personal circumstances as well. Namely, breaking off the relationship with her boyfriend last year right before Thanksgiving.
But Kinley had discovered she was much better off without Brent Phillips.
Rose gave her an impish grin. “I hear you. So, tell me how you ended up deciding to settle down in Crystal Rock, when you only intended to stick around for a year or two? The last time I saw you this summer, I was dropping you off at your apartment after Anna and Neil’s wedding reception. When I came home last week, I was never more surprised to learn you’d purchased the cabin that was being built on the ridge overlooking the river along Crystal Rock Lake. Dad said that you’d had them completely revamp the original plans because you wanted a much larger, pet friendly home.”
“It was after I was asked to be in charge of the service animal program. Your dad has done so much good with these no kill shelters which he’s continued to set up throughout the country. And since this is going to be a pilot program, I decided that if I was going to do it, I was going to give it my best shot. Besides, this is the first place I’ve lived since growing up in Alabama that has felt like home.”
“There was a man in Montgomery, wasn’t there?”
Kinley blinked. “I guess I haven’t exactly made it a secret.”
Rose studied her for a long hard moment. “I have a feeling there’s more to it than that, but I can understand if you’re not ready to talk about it.”
“Yes,” Kinley admitted. “I’m still a little raw.”
