Page 47 of Delivery After Dark (Gansett Island #28)

“ T hat was brutal,” Dan said to Kendall as they walked to their cars.

“Unbearable. What do you think they thought of what Jared offered?”

“They’d be smart to consider it. Their son has no time for a child, and from what I read about them, they don’t either. They know Jared meant it when he said they’re in for a protracted court battle if they try to take her away from Jared and Lizzie.”

“It’s not like Jared to throw his money around like that.”

“I know. I thought the same thing. I’m going to head home. Let me know when you hear from them.”

“I will. Thanks again for being here. Your presence sent a big message.”

“I wish we could do more.”

“It was what we needed, so thanks for taking time away from your family, especially right now.”

“It was no problem at all. I want to get this resolved for them as soon as possible.” He glanced at the house. “I can’t imagine what they’re going through. Even more so after a few days of being a dad myself.”

“Me either. It’s horrible. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thanks—and thank you for covering for me so I can take some time off.”

“Happy to do it. Enjoy every moment with your little one. She’ll be talking back to you before you know what hit you.”

“I’m looking forward to all of it, even the sass, which will be world-class with Kara as her mom.” He got into his Porsche and waved to Kendall as he drove off, eager to get home to his girls.

Two hours away from home had felt endless, which had him thinking again of Jared and Lizzie and what they were dealing with.

What a gut punch. He drove a little faster than he should have as he navigated the curving island roads that led to home.

When he pulled into the driveway, he brought the car to a skidding stop.

He jumped out and jogged to the door, pulling off his tie as he went.

Bertha had left the day before, after four days with them, to get back to lobstering in Maine, and he already missed her as much as Kara did.

They’d declared a draw for their bet on how long she’d stay.

“Tell me everything that’s happened since I left,” he said when he burst through the door.

“Shhh, she’s sleeping. Finally.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Dan went over to sit next to Kara on the sofa, gazing at the perfect face of his daughter as she slept on her mother’s chest, her tiny lips making a sweet kiss shape. “Good Lord, but she’s beautiful.”

“I can’t stop staring at her.”

“We make very pretty babies. We should do it again soon.”

Kara groaned. “Easy, cowboy. It still hurts to pee.”

“You want more, right?”

“Yes, give me a year or two.”

“I’m getting old, babe,” he said without taking his gaze off the baby, not wanting to miss a single one of the myriad expressions she made while sleeping.

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me.”

“I can’t believe you actually admitted that.”

“Well, the truth hurts, and it’s true that I’m getting old. I don’t want to be sending kids to college when I’m eighty.”

“You’re not going to be eighty,” she said with a snort of laughter. “I thought you were supposed to be so smart, and you can’t do basic math. Forty plus eighteen equals fifty-eight. Does that make you feel better?”

“I thought it equaled eighty.”

She rolled her eyes, which she did so often with him, it was a wonder she didn’t sprain something. “You’re a spring chicken, and we have plenty of time to have more kids. Don’t rush me.”

“Thank you for my sweet, beautiful Dylan.”

“Thank you for her.”

“I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to work when there’s so much fun to be had right here.”

“I feel the same way. I can’t imagine leaving her for a single minute.”

“We can spend most of our time with her. I’ll work from home. You’ll find someone to manage the launches.”

“Is it that simple?”

“Why can’t it be? We’ve worked our asses off so we can set things up the way they work for us.”

“Well, you’ve worked your ass off.”

“We have. You’ve got that business in the Salt Pond running seamlessly. You did that. Now you can settle into motherhood and not worry about anything else, if that’s what you want.”

“I might want to work a little bit here and there.”

“Then that’s what you should do.”

“My mom is asking when we can bring Dylan home to Maine to meet everyone.”

“We’ll do that. In a couple of months, when she’s more portable. In the meantime, invite them to come here.”

“I already did. It’s nice to be on better terms with them and to know they’ll be part of Dylan’s life.”

“And how are Keith and Kirby doing?”

Her brothers had been wrongly charged with murder last fall, and thanks to Dan and the team he put together in Maine, the charges had been eventually dropped. The time he and Kara had spent in Maine had helped to smooth things over between Kara and her enormous family.

“Kirby’s back to work and doing much better, and Keith decided to take some time off to get out of Maine for a while. He went right to work after high school and hadn’t traveled much, so I think it’ll be good for him.”

“I agree. How about we take a little nap while our little girl snoozes?”

“Yes, please. I’m exhausted.”

“Let’s go, my love.”

“What’s wrong?” Shane McCarthy asked Katie when he found her curled on her side in bed when she should’ve been getting ready for her shift at the clinic.

“I’m not sure.”

Alarmed, Shane sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. “Is it the baby?”

“Could be. I feel weird.”

“Let’s get you to the clinic to be checked.”

“I don’t want to be one of those pregnant ladies who runs to the doctor any time something feels slightly off.

“Why not? Who cares? No one is keeping track of how often you get checked. Let’s go.”

He helped her up and tried not to panic when she gasped and grabbed his arm. “What?”

“Dizzy.”

“Sit on the bed. I’ll get you some clothes.”

He helped her change into track pants and a sweatshirt and then walked her to the foyer to hold her winter coat for her, zipping it over the tiny hill that made up her pregnant belly. She’d been so excited to start showing. If she lost this baby, too…

That just couldn’t happen.

They made the short drive to the clinic in silence that was so unusual, it further rattled his nerves.

The two of them always had something to talk about.

That was one of the things he loved best about her—that they never ran out of subjects to discuss.

He was never bored with her or unsettled or unhappy, except for the time after their first pregnancy had ended in miscarriage.

Then he’d been heartbroken, but they’d gotten through that together and had been so excited for this second chance.

His heart was in his throat as he drove into the clinic parking lot and parked at the main doors to walk her in.

“Hey, guys,” Victoria Stevens said as she came toward the door, wearing her coat. “I’m going to get the good coffee.” To Katie, she said, “You want a decaf?”

“She needs to be seen,” Shane said. “She woke up feeling weird.”

Victoria was immediately in professional mode, ushering Katie through the waiting room and into an exam room in the back. She helped her change into a gown while Shane stood by, feeling helpless. He took a second to text Mac to tell him he might not make it into work.

Hope everything is okay, Mac replied.

Me, too.

He knew his cryptic message would put the whole family on notice that something was up right after they’d shared their news, but he couldn’t take the time to care about that when something might be wrong with his precious wife and/or their baby.

Victoria hooked Katie up to a monitor that had the baby’s strong heartbeat echoing through the room in a matter of minutes.

“Oh, there it is,” Katie said tearfully, holding a hand out to Shane.

“Your baby looks and sounds great,” Victoria said as she completed an ultrasound and wiped the gel from Katie’s belly. “We’ll run a few tests and see if we can figure out what’s making you feel off.”

“Thanks, Vic.”

“You got it.”

“That’s a relief, huh?” Katie said to Shane when he perched on the edge of her bed.

“Yeah, for sure.”

“Take a deep breath, Shane. The baby is okay.”

“I won’t take a breath until I know you are, too.”

They did a blood test and took a urine sample, and half an hour later, Victoria returned to the room, smiling. “You, my dear, have a UTI.”

“Translation, please,” Shane said.

“Urinary tract infection,” the two women said in stereo.

“Easily treated by antibiotics,” Victoria added.

“How did I not realize that?” Katie asked.

“As you know, they don’t always present with the usual symptoms,” Vic said.

“It’s safe to breathe, Shane,” Katie said. “Easily fixable problem, and the baby is fine.”

“Okay, I’m breathing again.”

“I know it’s so hard not to leap to the worst-case scenario when you’ve been through a miscarriage,” Victoria said, “but everything with the baby looks great. We’ll get you a script and send you home to get some rest.”

“That’s okay. I can work.”

“You’re not working today—or tomorrow. We can cover for you.”

“Are you sure? I hate to leave you shorthanded.”

“I’m positive. Let me get that script for you.”

Shane held out his arms to Katie, needing a hug from her in the worst possible way. “Vic is right. You need to get some rest until you feel better.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know it was a UTI.”

“Even a super nurse like you can’t know everything.”

“I can’t?”

He smiled for the first time in an hour. “Nope.”

Victoria returned to tell them the prescription had been called into Ryan’s pharmacy, and she handed Katie some discharge instructions. “Nothing you don’t know.”

Katie hugged her colleague and friend. “Thanks again, Vic.”

“Glad it was something easy.”

“Me, too.”

Shane kept his arm around Katie as they walked to his truck. Once they were inside, he wasn’t surprised to see texts from his father and sister, asking if everything was okay.

He sent a text to update them and another to Mac, letting him know Katie and the baby were okay, but he’d be out of work for the day.

Glad to hear all is well, Mac replied. Take whatever time you need.

I’ll bring you dinner, Laura said.

“Laura’s bringing dinner over,” he told Katie.

“She doesn’t have to do that. It’s a simple UTI.”

“Are you going to tell her not to?” he asked.

“Why don’t you do that?”

“No, thanks.”

They laughed at how his big sister still thought she was the boss of him—and Katie by extension. Because she was the most loving, generous big sister ever, they let her get away with her bossiness.

“It’s not like she doesn’t have enough to do running a hotel and chasing three kids,” Katie said.

“She wants to do it, and we have to let her.”

“Okay, then.”

Shane dropped her off at home and then ran to the pharmacy to pick up her prescription.

“I put a rush on it,” Grace said as she handled the checkout.

“Thank you so much.”

“I hope Katie feels much better very soon.”

“I do, too.”

“Are you okay, Shane?”

“I’m better now that we know it’s something treatable and the baby is fine.”

“Huge relief.”

“You said it.”

“Let me know if I can do anything for either of you.”

“Thanks, Grace. This island…”

“It’s a nice place to be when things go sideways.”

“Yeah,” he said over the lump in his throat. “For sure.”

On the way home, he thought about how many times things had gone “sideways” with his first wife and how he’d kept their struggles to himself. Here, it was impossible to do that, surrounded as they were by both their large families, who were always there with love, support or a hot meal when needed.

In the past, he would’ve said he didn’t want everyone up in his business. Now, he couldn’t imagine living without the tremendous support system that made life so much easier and sweeter, no matter what was happening.

And of course, everything was better with Katie by his side.

Being with her made him happier than he’d ever been.

It was weird to think that if things had worked out with Courtney, he might have kids in school by now.

His time with her seemed like a million years ago now that he was happily settled with Katie, yet he still thought of her often and mourned her passing far too young.

He pulled into the driveway of the house they’d bought last year and had made into a home he looked forward to getting back to after every long day at work. Inside, he found Katie sleeping on the sofa. When he touched her face, he was alarmed by how warm she was.

Her eyes fluttered open. “Oh hey, you’re back.”

“I’m back, and you need to take your medicine. You’re burning up.”

She sat up and took the pills and glass of water from him. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Grace said to tell you she hopes you feel better soon.”

“I will,” she said as she settled back against the pillow. “In a day or two, I’ll be fine, so don’t worry.”

“What? Me worry?”

“I can tell just by looking at you that you’re all wound up.”

“I’m fine if you’re fine.”

She took his hand and held on tight. “I have a good feeling about this baby. He or she is meant to be, while our first one wasn’t. This pregnancy feels different. It has from the start, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to jinx us.”

“I’m glad to hear you say this one feels different.”

“I can’t say for sure that everything will be all right, but if mother’s intuition counts for anything, this one is for keeps.”

“Mother’s intuition counts for a lot.” Shane bent to kiss her. “Get some rest while you can. I’ll be here if you need anything.”

“I’m totally fine if you want to go to work. I know how busy you guys are.”

“I’m all yours for the day.”

“Then let’s go to bed so we can snuggle while I rest.”

“That sounds like the perfect winter day off to me.”