Pregnancy Countdown. Linda Wisdom Randall

there, done that.

      She banished her mocking private voice to the far reaches of her brain. The man was merely inquiring if she wanted orange juice.

      “Yes, thank you.” She slowly poured more of the pancake batter onto the griddle. At least she could hold on to her composure on the outside.

      It wasn’t the first time a man had spent the night in her bed. Although, for many months, the only male who had been there was Brumby, her beloved bulldog.

      A few minutes later she handed Mark a plate heaped high with pancakes, sausage and a couple of scrambled eggs. The look of bliss on his face rivaled Brumby’s when he was given a beef bone.

      “Tell me about the wedding,” she requested when she sat down across from him.

      “The usual. Everyone was dressed up like grown-ups, Zach looked as if he was ready to pass out at any moment, Ginna looked gorgeous,” Mark replied. “The only hitch was the nephew-to-be, Trey, taking his ring-bearer duties too seriously. When big brother Jeff untied the ribbons to give the rings to Zach, the little guy pretty much threw a fit. He said loud and clear that he was to protect the rings and Jeff couldn’t have them. Trey’s sister, Emma, told him to shut up and stop acting like a baby. That broke up any solemnity the service had.”

      Nora smiled at the idea of Zach’s twins adding a few surprises to the ceremony. “Who caught the bouquet?”

      “Our aunt Minnie pretty much trampled the competition,” he replied. “Six marriages and she’s still hopeful she’ll eventually get it right. I give her credit for perseverance.”

      “And the garter?” She referred to the custom of the groom tossing the bride’s garter over his shoulder toward the single men. A custom that revealed who the next groom would be.

      Mark studied his pancakes as if they held the secrets of the universe. “No one interesting, although Aunt Minnie wanted to participate. Dad and Gramps told her no way.”

      Nora arched an eyebrow. Her smile grew in proportion with her glee as she easily figured out who the lucky recipient was.

      “You caught the garter?”

      “It was a conspiracy. I had no plans on standing out there with the other idiots,” he said. “At the last minute, Jeff and Brian pushed me out into the front of the group, and just like the Red Sea the group parted so the garter was literally thrown in my face.” His expression boded ill for his two older brothers.

      “You should have known you’d be the next target. Your dad said he hopes Nikki waits until she’s forty before she gets married,” Nora reminded him, speaking of his youngest sister.

      “Nikki has no desire to get married until she’s out of medical school. It’s Aunt Minnie who needs watching. The reception had barely started before she had husband number seven narrowed down to three victims.” He leaned back in his chair and spoke, emphasizing his words with eloquent gestures.

      Nora’s smile widened into a genuine one as she listened to Mark’s stories about friends and relatives celebrating his sister’s special day. He described each incident so well that she felt as if she were right there with him.

      But she also knew she had to consider last night a one-night stand even though that kind of experience wasn’t her style. The last thing she needed was to get caught up with Mark Walker again. It hurt too much when she’d broken up with him. After making love, she feared that not only her heart, but her soul, wouldn’t recover if she got involved with him a second time.

      She’d put all the blame on herself for last night. She was hurting and vulnerable and he was there.

      There was no reason for it to happen again, no matter how much her tingling body argued with her at just the memory of what had flared up between them.

      No reason at all.

      Chapter Two

      “I really appreciate you fitting me in, Nora,” Lucie Donner said, settling back in the soft-cushioned salon chair.

      “You sounded so urgent on the phone I was afraid you were going to walk in here with purple hair.” Nora smiled at Ginna’s new sister-in-law.

      “After everything that’s gone on, that would be a plus,” Lucie laughed.

      “That’s right, you lost part of your house. What’s happening with that?” She ran a brush through Lucie’s hair then ran her fingers through the shoulder-length strands.

      “You haven’t lived until you come home and discover an airplane engine has dropped into your home office at ten o’clock in the morning,” she confided. “Talk about a shock.”

      “And?” she prodded.

      “And I realized that ordinarily I would have been sitting in there, except I had a parent-teacher conference with Nick’s teachers that morning. I’ve decided it’s time to make some changes. I sold the house.”

      “You’re moving? I thought it was being rebuilt for you after the accident.”

      “Accident is an understatement,” Lucie chuckled. “Almost half my house was flattened after that jet engine fell through the roof. I didn’t even want to consider going back there. I’d mentioned selling it to a neighbor and he wanted to buy it for his son and daughter-in-law and rebuild the house to his own specs. He offered me a great price and I took it. I’m hoping that moving to a new area will give Nick a new chance. I swear, it was getting to the point where I thought I’d have to seduce a judge just to keep my baby boy out of jail,” she said.

      “I thought he was doing much better.” Nora mentally cataloged highlight shades and which ones would do best for Lucie.

      “Oh, he is. I haven’t received a call from the school for almost three weeks. That’s pretty much a record for him. But I never drop my guard,” she chuckled, half turning. She froze. “Ohmigod!” She grasped Nora’s arm. “Is that who I think it is?”

      Nora smiled. She easily guessed which client Lucie was staring at. She pressed her hands on Lucie’s shoulders, keeping her turned to the mirror. “Yes, it is. Try not to drool.”

      “Drool would be the least of my problems. I once seriously thought about moving to Australia because of that man. Look at his smile!”

      Nora chuckled as the object of their conversation turned toward them, smiled and winked.

      “Now I can die happy,” Lucie sighed. “Right after you turn me into a blonde.”

      “And we want this because…?”

      Lucie’s smile dimmed. “We want this because I’ve come to realize life is much too short. Just the idea of having that engine come so close to wiping me out started me thinking about my priorities. I realized a majority of my outside contacts consist of being the helper mom at Nick’s school, chaperoning his class’s field trips, and being a voice over the phone when someone is booking a trip. Other than occasional recharge days here at the spa, I haven’t done much for myself. I don’t mean that I hate being known as Nick’s mother or Zach’s sister or even so-and-so’s travel agent. But, there are days when I’d like someone to think of me as Lucie, Wild Woman.”

      “Well, Wild Woman, you don’t have to be blond to change your life. Besides, going totally blond wouldn’t suit your coloring,” Nora explained. “What if we intensify your highlights? That won’t be as drastic.”

      Lucie stared in the mirror at her reflection. “Whatever you think best.”

      “Carte blanche. I love it.” Nora combed her fingers through the other woman’s hair. “Don’t worry. You’ll look great when I finish.”

      She brightened. “Maybe the new me will tempt the sexy Australian.”

      Nora chuckled. “Oh, honey, stand in line.”