Finding Perfect (Page 31)

Instead she thought about what Denise had told her. Denise’s observation that it was amazing that the babies had gotten this far was the most help. Maybe it was okay that she hadn’t totally absorbed the idea of being pregnant. Maybe all that would change with time.

She opened her eyes and saw Raoul close the door. He glanced back at her.

“Why don’t you try to rest,” he suggested.

She nodded because it was easier than admitting she couldn’t sleep. She closed her eyes and tried to think about nothing at all. That seemed safest.

But she found herself remembering his story about his first wife. How Caro had betrayed him. There was no excuse for what she’d done. Pia couldn’t imagine lying to the one person you were supposed to love more than anyone. Not like that. If she hadn’t wanted to have children, she should have told him and gone on the Pill or something.

But the most difficult part of what he’d told her had been the realization that he’d loved Caro. The truth had been in the way he’d spoken about her, in the emotion in his eyes. He’d met her, dated her, fallen in love with her and proposed. Just like it was supposed to be.

She wasn’t going to get that. She wasn’t going to have the kind of love Hawk and Nicole shared, or that Denise had had with her late husband. There might be respect and a growing affection, there might be a shared goal of raising the twins and perhaps having more children, but there wasn’t a heart-pounding, hair-raising, oh-my-God kind of falling in love.

The knowledge hurt more than she would have expected. It made her want to curl up and give in to tears. Some for what she’d lost, but also for the realization of how much she’d wanted that in her life. She’d wanted her happy ending.

With Raoul.

She sat up straight and opened her eyes. After checking to make sure he wasn’t in the room, she turned the thought over in her mind. With Raoul? As in… What? She was falling for him?

A dangerous place to go, she told herself. It was insane to fall for a guy who’d made it clear he didn’t want his heart to get involved.

She reminded herself she’d always been practical. This was completely the wrong time to be thinking with her heart.

“MY HANDS STILL SMELL FUNNY,” Peter said with a laugh, holding one up for her to inspect. “And I washed ’em like five times.”

“Garlic’s tricky that way,” Pia told him, enjoying having the boy to talk to. It was difficult to stay depressed in the presence of a happy ten-year-old.

“Raoul said a bad word when he dropped the spaghetti in the boiling water,” Peter said in a whisper. “It was funny.”

“I’m sure it was.”

Despite her misgivings about moving in with Raoul, practicality and her fear of stairs had won. He’d packed up her stuff and carried her down two flights of stairs—a testament to his workout commitment. Now she was settled in his guest room.

He’d called Peter’s foster parents and asked if the boy could join them for dinner. Pia appreciated having someone else there that first night. It made her feel less weird about being in Raoul’s house.

He appeared in the doorway, a dish towel over his shoulder. “I drain the meat before putting in the sauce, right?”

“Yes. But don’t put the grease down the drain.”

“Cooking is complicated.”

She laughed. “I told you not to start with making spaghetti. You could have heated up one of the casseroles. That would have been easier.”

“But I love a good challenge.”

“Typical man.”

He chuckled and left.

Peter sat down next to her on the sofa. “Raoul said you were sick and you have to be careful.” He held out his arm which now sported a green cast. “Is it like my arm?”

“A little like that. You still have to be careful about not getting it wet, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“But it will get better.”

“Like you?” Peter asked, leaning against her.

She put her arm around him. “Like me,” she said, and hoped she was telling the truth.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LIZ STRETCHED OUT ON THE other sofa in Raoul’s living room. “Seriously,” she said. “You have to be bored.”

“I’m getting there,” Pia admitted. This was day four and her last day of resting. “I keep thinking about everything that has to be done and how behind I’m going to be.”

Liz winced. “Yes, well, about that. Montana organized a work party.”

Pia straightened. “Do not tell me she let people into my office.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

“Are you kidding? They were touching my files?”

Liz laughed. “It’s not like they were feeling up your underwear drawer. It’s just files.”

Pia groaned. “They’re my files. I have a system. What if they messed it up?”

“What if they were just trying to help because they care about you?”

“Helping is nice,” Pia said. “But not if it makes more work for me.”

“Someone needs her attitude adjusted. You should be grateful we all care about you. This town takes care of its own.”

Pia narrowed her gaze. “You weren’t so happy with all the meddling when you first moved back to town. If I remember correctly, you wanted to leave and never come back.”

“That was different.”

“Why?”

“It was happening to me.”

Pia relaxed back on the sofa and laughed. “Typical. We’re all so self-absorbed.”

“Speak for yourself.” Liz’s humor faded. “How are you doing?”

“No. I’m tired of talking about myself. How are you doing? How is life with three kids and a fiancé?”

Pia giggled. “Newman?”

“Can you believe it?”

At the beginning of summer, Liz had discovered she had two nieces she hadn’t known about. The oldest, a fourteen-year-old, had contacted her through Liz’s Web site, admitting their father was in prison and their stepmother had taken off, leaving them on their own. Liz had packed up her son and her computer and driven to Fool’s Gold to rescue the girls.

The difficult situation had been complicated by the fact that Ethan, the oldest of the Hendrix children, had been the father of Liz’s ten-year-old son. Through a series of miscommunications, Liz thought he knew about Tyler, but he hadn’t been told. After a very rocky few months, they’d realized they were still madly in love. Now Ethan was building them a house, they were engaged and Liz had custody of her two nieces. And Newman.

“Don’t you have to go on a book tour soon?” Pia asked.

Liz was a bestselling mystery author.

“Next week,” Liz said with a sigh. “Denise is moving in for the duration. I’ve warned her it’s not going to be the big party she’s expecting. The good news is Newman is about ninety percent on knowing where to pee.”

“Meaning not in the house?”

“Exactly. I finally have a chore list for the kids that seems workable, and everyone is doing their own laundry. It means that Tyler sometimes has pink socks, but he’s learning to deal with that.” Liz shook her head. “I’m normally gone about three weeks, but under the circumstances my publisher very graciously agreed that ten days was better. Honestly, I’m looking forward to being alone in a hotel room. No loud music or TV, no fighting over the Wii control, no yells asking what time is dinner.”

“No Ethan.”

“That’s the downside, but I’ll survive. Actually, he’s a big help with the kids. The girls adore him. He’s helping Abby with her pitching. There’s a softball team in middle school and she wants to get on it.”

“You’ve settled in to living here. For a while I didn’t think that was going to happen.”

“Me, either,” Liz admitted. “It was tough at first, because of my past, but eventually the town and I made peace with each other.”

Pia studied her friend. She considered it a sign of her good character that she didn’t mind that Liz was beautiful, with shiny red hair and a perfect body.

“You look happy,” Pia said.

“I am. I know you don’t want to talk about it, but how are you doing?”

“Better. I’m sleeping. I’m desperately bored, which is probably a good sign. Now that I know people are mucking around in my office, I’m even more anxious to get back.” She lightly touched her stomach. “It’s hard not to be scared about the two little ones still in there.”

“Not surprising. When’s your next doctor’s visit?”

“In a couple of days. I want her to tell me everything is going to be all right, and I know she can’t make that promise.”

“She can get close,” Liz told her.

“I hope so. Right now I feel as if everything I do puts the babies at risk. Once they’re born, I’ll be able to relax.”

Liz raised her eyebrows. “Sorry to disillusion you, but no. In some ways it will be better, but in others, it will be worse. Every stage brings new joys and new traumas. It’s amazing that any of us ever have kids, given all that can go wrong.”

“The need to procreate burns hot and bright.”

“Apparently. In the end, it’s worth it though. You’ll love those babies in a way you’ve never loved before. It’s magical and you’ll be so grateful to have them.”

“I look forward to that,” Pia admitted. “Losing one has brought me closer to the others. I’m thinking of them as tiny, little people inside of me. I want to see what they’re going to look like and hold them and keep them safe.”

“Look at you. A few weeks ago, you didn’t know why Crystal had left the embryos to you. Are you still asking yourself that question?”

“Less than I was.”

“So we’re both happy,” Liz said. “Which is the way it’s supposed to be. Have you and Raoul set a date for the wedding?”

“No.” Despite his proposal and the very impressive ring she wore, she couldn’t imagine getting married. Visualizing the ceremony was beyond her. “One crisis at a time.”

“Ethan and I are thinking of doing something quiet over the Christmas holidays. Just friends and family. I told him the pressure is on, because I’m not marrying him until the house is finished. There’s no way I’m starting my married life in the house where I grew up.”

Pia understood. Liz had never known her father, and her mother had been distant and an alcoholic. Men had come and gone with a frequency that had led many people to believe that Liz’s mother was in it more for the money than the relationship. Liz had been emotionally and physically neglected, and sometimes there had been unexplained bruises.

“So Ethan is a motivated guy,” Pia teased. “That’s very smart of you.”

“It’s more desperation than intelligence. I keep telling myself that the house is great. It’s all fixed up and there aren’t any ghosts, but I’m looking forward to moving out.”

Pia leaned back against the sofa. “When did you realize you’d fallen back in love with him?”

“It was more finding out I’d never stopped loving him. That was a shock,” Liz admitted. “Time and distance had done nothing to kill my feelings. I guess it’s sometimes like that. People can love for a lifetime. Why?”

“Just curious.” She held up a hand. “Don’t read more than that into the conversation.”

“You’re not falling for Raoul?” Liz asked cautiously.

“I don’t think so.” Pia told herself it wasn’t a lie—she hadn’t decided yet.

“If you are, maybe it’s not a bad thing.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you’re you and he’d be a fool not to love you back.”

Pia sighed. “If only,” she whispered.

DR. GALLOWAY HELPED PIA into a sitting position, then settled on her stool.

“You’re fine,” the doctor told her. “Everything looks just as it’s supposed to. Both babies are growing very well. Developmentally, they are on target. Your blood work is good, you’re healthy.”

Pia allowed herself to relax a little. “So they’re going to be fine?”

“Sometimes babies don’t make it, Pia, and we can’t know why. Nature has her own way of solving problems. Although they check the embryos before implantation, science is not perfect. But there is no reason to think you’ll have a difficult time from here on. Have you resumed your regular life?”

“Except for stairs. They scare me.”

“They are exercise and exercise is good. I’m not saying this is the time to take up a new sport, but do what you did before. Walk, talk, laugh, take the stairs.”

Pia drew in a deep breath. “All right. I will.”

“Good. Keep stress to a minimum, as much as you can. Get plenty of rest and enjoy that handsome man of yours.” Dr. Galloway’s expression turned stern. “Are you ha**g s*x with him?”

“What?” Pia felt herself blush. “No. Of course not.”

“Probably best for the first few days, but now, it’s fine.”