She looked so cute with puffy eyes and sleep-tousled hair. I wanted to kiss her again. Instead I hugged her tight and whispered my thanks before heading out the door. She stood in the doorway watching me as I waited for the elevator.

"I'll miss you," Hailey called out softly, then closed the door before I could respond.

"Where were you last night?" Kalen asked after we'd taken off. "I called your house a half-dozen times before I tried your cell."In lieu of everything going on with Dad, I didn't want to argue about the events of the previous evening. "I stepped out to get something to eat."

"Alone?"

My right leg started bouncing, which was a cla.s.sic indicator that I was being intentionally misleading. My brain started screaming out in warning. Don't bounce, she'll be on to us in a heartbeat. I crossed my feet at the ankles to still it. "Don't you think it's odd that mom hasn't called us?"

Kalen shook her head. "She knew we were gonna catch the first flight. She probably didn't want to wake us up."

"How come Toad didn't come with us?"

"I told Todd," Kalen glared at me, "to wait and see what we found out." She adjusted her neck pillow. "He's been overloaded since we came back from vacation. I didn't want to make it any more difficult on him."

It only took a few minutes before Kalen was nestled against *my shoulder fast asleep. I figured that she'd been unable to sleep at all the night before. I stared out the window into the darkness and said a prayer for Dad, then my thoughts went to Hailey.

The women in past relationships grew on me over time, but I'd never met a woman who made me want her like Hailey did. I thought back to my brainstorming session with Fuzzy in the park.

Was it that I thought I could never have her and therein was the charm? I began to tick off in my mind what I found so alluring about her.

She was physically attractive, for sure. I enjoyed the way our bodies fit together as she snuggled against me the previous night and that morning when I hugged her. Her sense of humor was another factor. But aside from all that, I think the thing that struck me the most was the way I felt when we were together. Like she was the missing part that I'd been searching for.

4.

Chapter 14.

Secrets revealed.

Mom was asleep in the waiting room of the cardiac ICU when we arrived. Kalen and I left her to rest and sought out someone who could fill us in. "He's doing well," a male nurse said. "He's scheduled to have a stent put in around an hour from now." He rattled off more about a blockage, using medical jargon that no one outside of the medical field could understand. "I can tell you more after the procedure," he said, looking down at a chart. "He's awake right now. You can visit him for five minutes."

I found it unnerving to see Dad hooked up to so many wires and an IV when we walked in. We'd been blessed with healthy aging parents, and this was the first time that we'd ever seen one of them in the hospital for anything serious.

"Look, I'm bionic," Dad said, gesturing to the EKG leads.

"They're gonna make me stronger, faster, and better than I was before."

Kalen and I took turns planting kisses on his head.

"Is your mom sleeping?" he asked seriously.

"Yeah, she's out in the waiting room. We didn't want to disturb her," Kalen said.

"Make her go home and get some real rest. A woman her age does not need to be hanging around a place like this."

Kalen and I laughed. "She'll go home when she's ready, Dad.

There's nothing we can say to tear her away from here," I said.

Dad wasn't often serious. It was usually one quip after another with him, especially when he was nervous. He smoothed back his *thick gray hair. "Tell her there's a sale at Macy's, and there'll be nothing but a vapor trail."

"I a.s.sume they're going to put you on a special diet when you get out of here," Kalen said. "And you better follow it to the letter because I need my dad." Her voice quavered. "Especially now."

Like our mother, Kalen was usually stoic. Not much rattled her, so it surprised me when she got emotional. Dad and I exchanged odd glances.

"I'm pregnant, Daddy."

Dad and I expelled a shocked breath, and his heart rate sped up a bit on the monitor.

Kalen wiped at her face. "Probably not the best time to tell you, but if we aren't reason enough to live, then think of the grandbaby you have on the way."

Dad was grinning from ear to ear. "I wonder if ol' Todd put the stem on the apple."

"Well, we're not going to know that until he or she gets here because Todd and I agree we don't want to know the s.e.x beforehand." Kalen turned and looked at me. "Can you believe it? After all this time and trying for years, we'd given up, and at thirty-eight, I'm gonna be a momma."

I was crying like a baby when I pulled Kalen into my arms.

We were standing there blubbering when Mom walked into the room.

"Dear G.o.d, what is it?" she asked in alarm.

"Hot d.a.m.n!" Dad slapped the bed. "Kalen's got a bun in the oven."

This set off beeping sounds that brought two very concerned nurses into the room. We were allowed to give Dad a kiss and hug before we were all ejected into the hall. As we went, I could hear him asking if he'd be allowed to smoke a cigar nine months from now.

"How long have you known?" I asked as we went back to the waiting room.

"Four months." Kalen looked at us both sheepishly. "I wanted to make sure I made it through the first trimester before I told anyone.

I've been hiding the weight gain under baggy winter clothes."

*Mom and I nodded in understanding, neither of us wanting to mention the two miscarriages, as though it might jinx this one.

"I just can't believe I have a grandbaby on the way." Mom sank down into a chair. "Good G.o.d, what a night...and now a day. I've never been so scared and elated at the same time."

Her words sobered us.

I took a seat next to Mom and patted her arm. "He's gonna be okay. It's a smal blockage, and the stent thing is routine nowadays."

Mom smiled and nodded. "Look at you," she said, cupping my cheek. "I just saw you at Christmas, and you don't even look like the same woman."

"All of this," Kalen said gesturing at me, "occurred in the two weeks while I was gone. And she's got two women interested in her.""You're dating again?" Mom asked. "And two women at the same time?" Mom was practically giddy. "I may have more than one grandbaby to look forward to."

"You don't like my new look?" I asked, hoping to throw her off the trail.

She made a face that said, cut the s.h.i.t. "Love it."

"Hey, don't forget the bloated pregnant chick over here."

Kalen jerked a thumb at her chest. "And somebody needs to feed this baby before it starves me to death. It's sucking me dry, and it's not even here yet."

The topic turned to food after that, but I knew Mom would eventually pull me aside and grill me about everything I'd done since the holidays.

Dad's stent procedure happened without incident. He would be discharged after a day and night of observation. Mom finally relented and agreed to go home with us. I doubt she would've left his side if it hadn't been for Kalen, who raided the vending machines every half hour, then slept in a chair between snacks.

We picked up KFC on the way home for dinner since Mom would undoubtedly have to endure Dad's diet along with him. She'd always been a healthy eater anyway, but every now and then, she liked her fried chicken.

*"I suppose that we'll all be eating differently from now on,"

Mom said with a smile as we sat around the table on their screened patio.

"True, but I'll start that tomorrow," Kalen said. She'd removed all the skin from her chicken before she ate. And instead of fried potato wedges, she opted for the mashed potatoes. She made up for her healthy choices by topping her dinner with a Snickers bar she had stashed in her purse. "I guess I should enjoy sleeping as much as I can now because that's all going to come to an end."

"Trust me, it'll all be worth it. It certainly was with you two,"

Mom said with a tired smile. "I had you a year apart. I don't think me or your dad really slept until you moved out of the house."

I excused myself and went into the bathroom. I sent Hailey a text and told her that Dad was doing fine. She sent one right back and said she was relieved to hear from me and that everything sounded like it was going well.

I leaned against the sink and thought back to the kiss that we'd shared the night before. Those same lips had told me that she could only offer friendship, but when they met mine, they conveyed an entirely different message. One that said behind the guise of friendship burned a pa.s.sion that would burn us both to embers if unleashed.

I cleaned up after dinner. It took an argument to get Mom and Kalen to go sit down and leave me to it. I figured they needed time to relax, and I just wanted time alone to wonder what Hailey would tell me when I returned home. Would she give us a chance, or would she keep me at arm's length again?

Kalen was the first to go to bed. Mom had showered and found me in the den flipping through the channels. "Tell me about these two women Kalen mentioned," she said as she took a seat next to me.

"Actually, it's just one woman. I'm not going to see the other one anymore."

"Was that your choice?"

I nodded. "I didn't think it was right to lead Marci on because Hailey is the one I really want to get to know." I looked into Mom's *dark eyes. It surprised me how much she and Kalen had begun to look alike. Her dark and wavy hair damp from her shower was pulled back away from her face, and though she was tired, she still looked a lot younger than her sixty-three years.

She rested the side of her head on the back of the sofa and looked at me. "Your sister would've dated them both until she made up her mind," Mom said with a grin. "How did you meet Hailey?"

"She moved into my building. There's just something about her-a connection that I can't explain."

Mom gave my arm a squeeze. "I look forward to meeting her.""I hope it'll go that far."

Mom touched her finger to my nose. "I'm happy that you've found someone that makes your eyes sparkle the way they are now.""I'm sparkling?"

"Yes, and your sister is glowing." Mom yawned. "It means so much to me to have you girls here now."

"Dad scared you half to death, didn't he?"

"He sure did. There are days that he's a complete pain in my a.s.s, but I can't imagine life without him. When you find the right one, there's a bond that makes you feel whole. I know that one day you'll understand exactly what I mean."

I thought I was beginning to.

"I have The Gla.s.s Bottom Boat in the DVD player in my room. Want to curl up like we did in the old days and watch it until we fall asleep?" Mom asked.

I managed to make it to my favorite part when the vacuum cleaner ate Doris Day's slipper. Mom had long been asleep when I switched the movie off. I put my phone on to charge and sent Hailey a message telling her good night and thanked her again for taking care of me. Her response was, Anytime and sweet dreams.

I lay down then and studied my mother's face as she slept.

I wondered what she was seeing behind her closed eyes. What *made her brow furrow even in slumber? I remembered a time long ago, the first time we watched movies in bed together and seeing her face look the same way.

I think I was around six when my parents had a party. Kalen and I were tucked into bed, but I could hear the laughter coming from the patio and couldn't sleep. I slipped out of bed and watched the grown-ups through our window, drinking their drinks and talking in groups around the yard. I wanted to be grown, too, and drink the drinks they were mixing in the blender.

I remembered that there was a big tray in the kitchen loaded with sandwiches with the crusts cut off just like I liked them. I sneaked out of the room and moved quietly down the hall. I was about to make my move for the tray when I heard a woman's voice coming from the den.

"Roger, it's too risky."

And then I heard my father's voice whispering something I couldn't make out. The woman laughed. It wasn't my mother's laugh, so I leaned around as far as I could. She was facing Dad, but I could see his hand on the small of her back, and they were kissing just like my mom and dad did.

I shrank back against the wall when I heard the kitchen door open. Uncle Jimmy was muttering something about ice.

"What are you doing up?" my mom whispered behind me. She glanced into the den and put her finger to her lips as she took me by the hand and led me back down the hall to her bedroom. She picked me up and sat me on the bed and knelt in front of me. I'll never forget the look in her eyes. Though I didn't understand it then, there was pain. "What are you doing out of bed, Shannon?"

"I wanted a sandwich with no crust." As if it would make it better, I held up my stuffed cat. "Scratchy wants one, too, he's very hungry."

Mom's eyes watered when she smiled. "I'll get you and Scratchy a sandwich, stay right here."

"Mommy, who was that lady kissing daddy?" I asked as she stood to go.

She knelt down again and patted Scratchy on the head.

100.

*"That's your daddy's special friend. It's a secret, and only me and you know about it. Can we keep it that way?"