Caroline smiled down at her phone as Belle drove them all to church. “Oh, he’s the sweetest baby in the whole world,” she murmured to herself. She still marveled that Dawson’s friends had accepted her into their group so readily. But they had, as this text had come from Finn Ackerman himself.
He hadn’t only texted it to Dawson and expected him to forward it along. No, she’d become part of their group simply because she was with Dawson.
And as she gazed at the beautiful fair baby boy on the screen, Caroline’s heart squeezed at her.
She wanted children. She’d always known she wanted to be a mother someday, but she’d spent a great deal of time thanking God that she had not had any children with Joe. She’d have been tied to him forever thatway, and God had been merciful by not giving her children in her first marriage.
“They named him Theodore Baxter Ackerman,” she said, reading aloud from the text. “I guess Baxter is Edith’s maiden name.” She looked up and away from the precious infant. “They were fun. I hope we get to hang out with them again.”
Belle said nothing, and Caroline looked over to her to find her fingers gripping the wheel tightly. She quickly put her phone in her purse. “Sorry,” she said, as Belle had been able to get pregnant with Judy fairly quickly into her marriage, but she’d never been able to have a second child.
She’d just started to explore possible reasons why when she’d discovered her husband’s infidelity.
The rest of the ride to the little white church building with the big stained glass window happened accompanied by tension and silence. It wasn’t until Caroline opened her door that the mood broke, and all the difficult things that had accumulated in the car simply got whisked away by the wind.
Judy didn’t seem to notice the way Caroline’s lungs clenched around the oxygen, and she skipped ahead of her and toward the steps of the church.
“I’m sorry,” Caroline said again as she joined Belle at the front of the car.
“It’s not your fault,” Belle said with a sigh. “I should be happy for people who get to have babies.”
“You have a beautiful daughter,” Caroline said, smiling ahead to Judy. She didn’t say it was more than she had, because they both knew it to be true.
“Howdy, ladies,” a cowboy drawled, and everything inside Caroline lit up. She turned toward her handsome boyfriend, hoping Dawson’s appearance wouldn’t further upset Belle.
“Hey,” she said as she moved to the right toward him. He took her easily under one arm, quickly swiping his lips along her cheek. She did the same to him, feeling the weight of his hand on her hip and the zing of pleasure from his touch. “Did you get the picture of Theodore?”
“Sure did.”
“Isn’t he the cutest?” She deliberately held back while Belle went ahead, collected Judy from where she’d crouched to look at something, and started up the stairs. Only then did Caroline link her arm through Dawson’s and take the first step to follow her sister.
“Do you want children, Dawson?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I think that would be real nice.”
“You’re good with kids,” she said.
“So are you.”
They started up the steps too. “For a while there, I didn’t think I had the patience for children,” she said. “But I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve really enjoyed having Judy living with me.”
Dawson simply switched his hand to her lower back as she preceded him into the church, and he leaned in close to ask, “Can I sit with you and Belle today?”
Caroline’s heartbeat bumped erratically through her veins. “I think maybe just you and I should sit together.”
“Is Belle okay?”
“She’s….” Caroline searched for the right word. “Grieving.”
Dawson’s jaw jumped, but Caroline had chosen the right word. It was hard to believe she had one life, only to find out she didn’t. Had never had what she thought she’d had.
“Let’s just sit over here.” She led the way into the chapel and to one of the shorter pews on the left. Dawson filed in dutifully behind her, and she sat down. He didn’t get too close, so Caroline closed the distance between them, really snuggling into his chest as he lifted his arm and put it around her.
“I love your hair clipped back like that,” he whispered. “I love your shoes and how white they are, and Iadorethat we get to sit together at church today.”
She smiled at the charge in his voice, and she took his hand in both of hers. “It’s the first time.”
“Is it significant for you?” he asked.
