“It doesn’t make sense. To leave school? Jesus, to leave Caroline?” He met Reese’s eyes, and his were filled with uncertainty. “You haven’t seen her. She’s got that look in her eyes like she had before Caroline settled her down. Like there was something broken inside of her.”

“You need to call her, then. Talk to her.”

“Yeah, I did great with that last time.” He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. “Jesus, why is it so hard to talk to your own kid?”

“Probably because she means so much to you.”

“I think about her being hurt, you know. And it makes me want to break things.” He looked away, embarrassed by the admission.

Reese thought about Tory being harmed. The pain was so intense it actually made her ill. “Yeah, I know.”

“You’ll probably know a lot better when you have a kid of your own,” he said gruffly.

“Probably.” Reese grinned.

He joined her at the rail, close to her side but still not quite touching. Together they faced the sea, and at length he asked, “How is that…situation…going?”

“It’s a little too soon to tell,” she replied carefully. She wasn’t totally comfortable talking about the baby thing…not because of embarrassment, but due to a lingering superstition. She just didn’t want anything to go wrong. They hadn’t talked about it, but she knew that Tory wasn’t exactly the ideal age to be getting pregnant. But Tory said it was safe. Promised Reese it was safe. “Sometimes, Tory says, you have to try more that once.”

“Huh. Doesn’t sound a whole lot different,” Nelson acknowledged, studiedly not looking at Reese. “Everybody thinks it’s easy the, you know, the…regular way. But it isn’t…not all the time.”

She waited.

“Brianna… it was a long time before her. We’d kind of given up.” His voice had gotten rougher, and he cleared his throat. “She was like a present, when she came along.”

“I can imagine that she was,” Reese said softly. “It’s kind of terrifying, isn’t it?”

“Damn right it is.” Nelson laughed. “And you haven’t even gotten started yet.”

“Look,” Reese offered. “I’ll give Bri a call.”

“Okay. Yeah. Thanks. You don’t need to say I was asking.”

“Nope, I won’t.” She clapped him on the shoulder and then tapped the brim of her cap. “I’m gonna take a ride through town before I hit the office.”

“Sure.” He watched her walk away and silently counted himself lucky that she was part of his daughter’s life.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and at seven p.m., Reese was standing outside the tiny airport watching the sky. Five minutes later, the twin engine, twelve-seater taxied to a stop a hundred feet away. Six people disembarked, one of them Victoria King. Reese walked out to meet her.

“How you doing?” Reese murmured as she took Tory’s hand and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I’m fine,” Tory said with a smile. “How was your day?”

“Not bad. Let me take your briefcase.”

Tory laughed. “I’ve got it. How about taking me out to dinner, though?”

Reese held opened the door to the one room terminal. “Sure. Any place special?”

“You pick,” Tory replied as she threaded her arm through her lover’s.

“Laverne’s is open. Feel like Mexican?” Reese opened the passenger door of her Blazer and waited while Tory climbed in.

“Perfect.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were settled in a booth in one of the few restaurants that was open year-round, perusing menus that they knew practically by heart. After they had ordered, Reese reached across the table and took Tory’s hand.

“You had a long day. Was it busy?”

“The usual,” Tory replied.

“How much longer are you planning on working three days a week over there?” Reese asked as she leaned back to allow the waitress to set appetizers in front of them. “The clinic’s starting to get busy, isn’t it?”

“It’s picked up.” Having heard the concern in the deep voice, Tory studied her lover across the candlelit table. “I was planning on another week or so. Why?”

Reese shrugged. “It’s a pretty hectic schedule.”

“Well, actually, I was going to tell them I wanted to cut back to half shifts in the ER.”

“Really?” Although the news was welcome, Reese was surprised. “How come?”

Reaching for a nacho, Tory said, “There’s a lot of work to be done at the clinic before the season starts. I need to inventory the supplies, set up schedules for the employees, and I still have another physician to interview for the interim position.”

“Makes sense,” Reese said with a wave of relief. She tried hard not to interfere with Tory’s work, but she couldn’t help but worry about her demanding schedule.

“Besides,” Tory added casually, “I’m pregnant.”

Reese dropped her fork. “Holy God.”

“Wendy confirmed it this afternoon.” Tory grinned. “We did it, honey.”

In the next instant, Reese was on her feet and moving around the side of the table. She took Tory’s face in both hands and kissed her thoroughly. Then, unmindful of the few patrons who watched and the waitress standing a few feet away with loaded plates balanced on one arm, she knelt on the floor by Tory’s side and took both her lover’s hands in hers.

“You know my heart is yours,” she said softly, running her finger over the scrolled gold band on Tory’s left hand. “But I want everyone else to know how very much I love you. Will you marry me?”

“In town…at the meeting house?” Tory murmured, forgetting that they had an audience.

“Yes, there or anywhere you want.”

Tory’s eyes welled with tears as she stared into the deep blue ones that gazed upon her with open devotion. “Oh my love, I would be so happy to.”

As Tory leaned over to kiss her kneeling partner, she heard the muted sound of clapping, and thought, not for the first time, how blessed she had been the day Reese walked into her life.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Reese couldn’t remember a thing about the rest of the meal or the drive home. It was just after ten when they started a fire in the bedroom fireplace and settled under the covers. She turned on her side, her head on the pillow a few inches from Tory’s.

“It’s going to take me a while to believe it,” she whispered.

“Are you okay with it?” Tory hoped her trepidation didn’t show in her voice. Despite the weeks they had spent talking and planning, she knew that oftentimes the reality threw couples into turmoil.

“Oh, yeah.” Reese caressed Tory’s cheek with her fingertips, her throat so tight she could hardly swallow. “I’m so high, I feel like I’m flying.”

Tory ran her fingers through Reese’s hair and moved closer, until their bodies touched all along their length. “You never let me down, you know?”

“I’ll try not to, ever,” Reese murmured. She stroked her palm over Tory’s shoulder and down her arm to her hand, squeezing her fingers briefly. Then, she rested her hand on the arch of her lover’s hip, making slow, gentle circles with her fingertips. “I love you, Tor.”

“Mmm.” Tory leaned nearer still and brushed her lips over Reese’s. “Me, too.”

Tory kissed her again, enjoying the gentleness of her lover’s mouth as her fingers played over the hard muscles of Reese’s chest and shoulders. Reese was such a wonderful contradiction of strength and secret softness, and touching her never failed to stir Tory’s desire. Tonight, she wanted, needed, to be as close to her as possible. When she felt Reese’s tongue slide smoothly across her own, she moaned. She edged her thigh between Reese’s legs, her stomach clenching briefly as the smooth, warm skin pressed to her own heated center. She knew she was wet, and she rocked her hips gently to increase the contact. “God, I could come doing this.”

“Go ahead,” Reese urged gently, her voice a register lower then normal. She slid a hand between their bodies and cupped Tory’s breast, finding her nipple and squeezing gently to the cadence of her lover’s surging hips. “I love it when you do that.”

“Maybe later,” Tory managed, struggling not to lose control. “I want you to make me come the first time.”

Reese groaned and pressed her forehead to Tory’s. The throaty sound of Tory’s need sent of pulse of excitement streaking through her depths. Her clitoris twitched madly in response. “Jesus.”

Tory’s only response was a faint whimper as she caught the fingers sweetly torturing her breast and drew Reese’s hand down along her stomach toward the space between her legs. When Reese gently brushed the damp curls at the base of her belly, she arched her back and pressed against her lover’s palm. When fingers gently fondled the stiff bundle of nerves, she moaned, “Oh, honey…that’s so nice.”

“You’re so beautiful,” Reese murmured, moving her lips along the edge of Tory’s jaw. Her neck was arched, exposing her throat, a pulse beating wildly at the base of her throat. Reese pressed her lips to that point, marveling at the thrill of life and passion beneath the skin. Her own heart beat furiously, her stomach tight with wonder, as she slowly massaged Tory’s clitoris.

When she couldn’t stand the pleasure any longer, Tory grasped Reese’s wrist and pressed her lover’s hand further between her legs. “I’m…going to come. I want you…inside.”

“Tory,” Reese gasped. “Is it…okay?”

Whimpering, beginning to crest, Tory didn’t answer, but guided her lover where she needed her. Before Reese was fully inside of her, her muscles clenched forcefully and she climaxed. She clutched Reese’s shoulders, growing rigid with the first forceful contraction and then shuddering with each wave of aftershock.

Reese closed her eyes, forgetting to breathe as Tory trembled in her arms. They must have drifted together in the twilight of passion, because the fire had nearly burned down when she opened her eyes again. Tory’s cheek was pressed to her breast, and her fingers were still between Tory’s thighs. Carefully, she withdrew.

“That was wonderful,” Tory mumbled.

“Yeah, it was.” Reese kissed the top of her head. “Are you warm enough?”

“Mm hmm.”

“I should set the alarm.”

Tory tilted her head and kissed the tip of Reese’s chin. “In a minute. How you doing?”

“Great.”

“Just great?” Tory ran a finger down the center of Reese’s belly and didn’t stop until she found the answer to her question. Reese stiffened as if she had been electrified.

“Jesus, Tor.” She gasped as Tory flicked her finger teasingly against the base of her clitoris. “Do that a few more times and I’ll… oh…”

“I know exactly what you’ll do,” Tory said with a satisfied smile, never letting up on the steady rhythm. “And… I… know… when.”

Reese’s hips jerked once, hard, and she shouted as the orgasm crashed through her. Distantly, she heard Tory’s joyful laughter.

“Are you sure,” Reese asked breathlessly as the last surge of pleasure rolled through her, “that this is okay?”

“Okay?” Tory asked, vaguely remembering that Reese had asked something similar sometime earlier. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You know,” Reese said weakly, trying to gather her wits when her brain had just been turned to mush. “The baby.”

“The baby?” Tory leaned on one elbow and stared at her lover. “What about…oh! Sex and the baby.”

“Yeah.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t think it would be very good for the baby if I lost my mind while pregnant.” She kissed her slightly befuddled lover soundly on the mouth. “Which is exactly what would happen if we stopped making love. Don’t worry, this is just with the doctor ordered.”

“Oh, good,” Reese murmured as she wrapped her arms around her lover and closed her eyes.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Reese was awakened what seemed like five minutes later by an insistent pounding on their front door. Jed, fast asleep at the foot of their bed, snored peacefully. She rolled over and peered at the bedside clock. 5:43 a.m.

“Holy hell,” she muttered under her breath, trying to ease out of bed without awakening Tory.

“Reese?” Tory mumbled as she stretched out her hand and found the vacant space where Reese had just been. Instantly alert, she sat up on, holding the sheet against her body with one arm. “Honey, what is it?”

“Don’t know.” Reese hastily pulled on a pair of jeans and searched a nearby chair for a T-shirt. As she pulled one over her head, she added, “I’ll go check. You don’t need to get up, love.”

Turning on lights as she passed through the living room, Reese reached the front door and looked through the beveled glass window to the front deck. There was just enough light to make out the features of the two people peering back at her. She pulled the door open hastily. “Mom? Jean?”

Kate Mahoney and her lover, Jean Purdy, swept past Reese and into the living room. Kate made a bee-line for Tory, who was just coming down the stairs from the second floor wearing one of Reese’s uniform shirts and a baggy pair of sweatpants.