He looked straight at her that time. “I didn’t want to rush things with you. I tried to let you know how I felt, but I guess I did a lousy job. My bad. But I’ve been away three months. Itnever occurred to me you might find someone else—or even want to. My bad again. I’m sorry. And I only said I’m happy for you because I figured it was what I was supposed to say.” He closed his eyes again. “Thanks for stopping by to tell me. Now, would you mind asking my sister and Kevin to come back tomorrow? Say I’m tired and sore from PT and I need to sleep.”
Maddie grabbed his hand, dropped her forehead onto the mattress, and let out a soft groan. Then she raised her head and said, “I love you to pieces, Rex Winsted. But sometimes you can be a dumb-ass.” She didn’t think she’d ever said that word before, and because she had, she found it rather amusing. “Don’t worry. I’ll clean up my language before our baby’s born … which will be somewhere around July twelfth. About nine months from the day after Cranberry Day.”
He stared at her. He didn’t move, not that moving was something he was able to do very well right then, anyway.
“Maddie?” he asked with his gentle smile.
“Yes?”
“You’re not kidding, are you?”
She let go of his hand and stood up. Then she opened her cape and cupped her hands around her belly. “If we weren’t in a public place, I’d be happy to lower my pants and open my shirt so you can see firsthand.”
“It’s true? You and I? A baby?”
She nodded several times in rapid succession.
He put his hands to his face and the big lug started to cry. He reached out for her hand, and she took it in hers, and she sat down again, and they cried together.
Chapter 28
“So,” Rex said as he rubbed his hand—the one not attached to the IV drip—over his bald head, “what do you think? Do you want to get married?”
She supposed the question was inevitable.
“What I want is to not rush into anything.” Her voice stayed steady, her conviction strong. Because she was being truthful. “Especially now, with the baby coming, and with our even more immediate priority being for you to get well.” She paused. “Okay?”
“Okay. But for the record, I think marrying you would be great.”
She knew if she spoke then, her voice would waver. So she closed her eyes and rested her head on his hand. It wasn’t the right time to tell him she’d already thought about it; it wasn’t the right time to remind him that she was about to open a business, and that he would soon have to catch up with his. It wasn’t the right time to talk about logistics, like where they should live. It wasn’t the right time to talk about marriage. He needed to let the news sink in. Until then, he was home, and that was what mattered. For now.
“You’re okay with waiting to decide?” she finally asked.
“I’m okay with whatever you’re okay with. But beware … the patience I’m showing right now might only be the pain meds talking.” He laughed and squeezed her hand. “I love you, Maddie Clarke.”
She thought about the card she’d found in his chest of drawers; she gulped. “And I love you, Rex Winsted.”
“And I love that we’re having a baby together.”
“Me, too. Very much.”
Upon hearing that, he fell asleep, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile.
“Your mother would be so happy,” Grandma said, as she dished up their dinner—a thick stew made with locally raised chicken and a mix of root vegetables harvested last autumn that she and Maddie had canned. And more of Grandma’s rosemary bread.
Maddie ate everything because it tasted so good, but, in truth, she was exhausted and would have preferred going straight to bed. She’d stayed at the hospital all day, dozing while Rex napped, only leaving his bedside in late afternoon to pick up an “on-the-go” sandwich at the Black Dog Bakery down the street because the hospital café had closed at two o’clock. She was tired then, too, and only had eaten half of the sandwich.
Her visit had been interrupted intermittently by nurses checking Rex’s vitals while others brought IV fluids and the pain meds he’d referred to. Also, Francine stuck her head in quickly “just to make sure,” she said, that he was in one piece; an aide stopped by with a message that Kevin and Taylor would return that evening.
In spite of the busyness of the place, the people closest to Rex had given them privacy, for which Maddie was grateful. She knew that would change once the news of the baby became public, because many others would want to join in theirfun. Life would be hectic, but it would be wonderful, because their baby would come to know love before she (or he) was even born.
“Tomorrow, Joe’s going to bring me to see Rex,” Grandma announced now, her voice startling Maddie, who was so tired she’d been eating in silence. “And, by the way,” Grandma went on, “I hope you don’t mind, but I told Joe about the baby. I thought he should hear it from one of us rather than at the post office or the dump.”
Maddie swallowed.
“Did you hear me?” Grandma asked.
“Sorry, Grandma. It was a long day. But, yes, I heard you. You’re going to see Rex tomorrow. And Joe knows I’m pregnant. It’s fine. I told Rex.”
