and rehabilitating unwanted animals had become her mother’s great passion after Lainey’s father died. Lainey knew that would be the hardest part of the stroke, putting her work on hold until Vera regained her strength—if she ever did.
They sat in silence as Vera petted Pita. Her voice seemed stronger when she finally spoke, although her speech was still halted. “Good you’re here. Need you.”
Lainey squeezed her mother’s hand. “I’ll work on arrangements for your therapy, call the insurance—”
“Adoption fair …”
A trickle of dread rolled down Lainey’s spine at the mention of the marquee event the animal shelter hosted each year. “What?”
“So much to do.” Vera’s eyes fluttered shut and her breath came out in shallow gasps. “I can’t …”
Pita whined and Lainey sat up straight. “Mom, calm down. The adoption weekend will be fine. Julia can take over—”
“No.” Vera smacked her good hand on the mattress. “Can’t do it … baby … need you …”
Lainey reached for the nurse’s call button the same moment the door flew open and her sister ran to the far side of the bed. “What did you do?”
“Nothing.” Lainey backed up several steps. “She started talking about the adoption fair and went crazy.”
Vera prided herself on her “steel magnolia” persona. Her display of fierce emotion complicated things—made her mother seem human. Made Lainey feel responsible.
Julia ran a hand along Vera’s arm. “It’s okay, Mama. Relax now. I’ll explain to her.”
Vera’s gaze traveled between her two daughters, but Lainey couldn’t stop staring at Julia.
Her mouth went dry.
Julia shot her a tentative smile. “You made good time.”
“You’re pregnant.” Lainey’s voice came out a frog’s croak.
Julia pressed a hand to the mound under her floral sundress. “About seven months now.”
“Baby,” Vera repeated. “Need you, Lainey.”
It was too much. The last time Lainey had been in this hospital, she’d been the pregnant one. Only one floor up was the room where she’d lost her baby. Ethan’s baby. Where complications from the miscarriage had changed her life forever. Lainey forced her gaze back to her mother. “What is it you want, Mom?”
Vera looked at Julia, who nodded and turned to Lainey. “Most of the plans for ‘Paws for the Cause’ are in place. Loose ends need to be tied up, sponsor and press stuff, getting the site ready. I can help, but I’m having issues with preterm labor. If I don’t take it easy I’ll be on bed rest.”
Lainey’s mind raced as she tried to absorb Julia’s exact meaning. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant? Did you think I wouldn’t come?”
Julia shook her head. “It wasn’t like that. When I called about Mom it had been ages since we’d spoken.”
“Ten years.” Not long enough to make this reunion any easier.
“Right. So it didn’t seem like the best time to fill you in on my life, you know?”
Lainey did know, but that didn’t lessen her shock. “The shelter event is when?” she asked, trying to focus on the topic at hand.
“September 15.”
“That’s over a month from now.” She paced the room. “I can’t stay for six weeks. I have an assignment at the end of the month.” The thought of being in one place—in this place—for the entire summer had her stomach clenching.
“I need you,” Vera repeated. “We all need you.”
Lainey focused her attention on Pita, still resting next to her mother. The dog met her gaze and cocked its head as if to say, “If you bolt, I’m coming, too.”
Julia leaned forward across the bed. “Are you okay?”
Lainey was many things, but “okay” didn’t top the list. “You were trying for a baby? Mom never said …”
“I wasn’t.” A tiny crease marred Julia’s smooth brow. “Not exactly. I’m kind of putting the cart before the horse, but Jeff and I will get married as soon as his work settles down.”
She’d never met Julia’s anthropology professor boyfriend, but the reports Vera had insisted on giving her over the past three years hadn’t been positive. She knew it wasn’t right to pick a fight just so she could channel her mixed-up emotions, but it didn’t stop her. “Too busy for a wedding,” she answered slowly. “Sure, I get it.”
Julia’s shoulders stiffened, but to Lainey’s shock she didn’t come out swinging. “The baby is a surprise, but a welcome one. It just sort of … happened.”
Right. Just happened. Since childhood, everything in life had come easy for her sister—friends, grades, their parents’ approval. Ethan Daniels falling in love with Julia as Lainey, nursing a wicked crush on him, watched from the shadows. Why should a baby be different?
“I can’t blow off my assignment …” she began.
Vera shook her head, the movement jerky. “You stay here. This is for Dad, his memory. Need you, Melanie.”
Lainey stared at her mother, wondering how she knew the exact thing to say to cut into Lainey’s well-guarded heart. A million excuses ran through her mind. A thousand rationales why she should walk out and not look back.
She knew what it meant to take this on but understood the shame of leaving even better. The last time she’d left Brevia had been her wedding day. When she couldn’t bear the thought of marrying a man she knew didn’t love her. Of never being able to have the family she’d craved since childhood. Yes, Lainey had run away once. Made a career of circling the globe in search of the perfect photo, the constant travel required of her job helping her to pretend her life had purpose.
Her mother met her gaze. The silence stretched so long Julia finally broke it. “If you can’t get the time off, I’m sure I’ll be able to—”
“I’ll stay.”
Lainey wondered what this decision would cost her emotionally. How long it would take her to get her life back on track. But she couldn’t say no to Vera. Lainey’s relationship with Ethan had torn her family apart, and this might be her only chance to mend fences. She had no choice but to try.
A lopsided smile stretched across her mother’s face. She reached out and placed her hand on top of Lainey’s. Here comes the emotion, the gratitude. She would stay, but she wouldn’t let herself get emotionally involved. This was a final payment for past mistakes, she told herself. Nothing more. Lainey ratcheted up her mental defenses at the same time the little girl inside her waited anxiously.
“Get coffee,” her mother said. “You look tired. Lots of work now.”
