breezed through the doorway. She was a vibrant sixty-seven-year-old widow of ten years with a great laugh and a big heart. The McCoy children had been raised to know unconditional love—and little privacy, which some of her children handled better than others.
“I saw your car out front,” she said to her oldest son, passing him a plastic container. “Apple turnovers.”
“I was coming to see you next,” Jake said honestly, giving her a hug.
“Isn’t this a rare treat, having all my boys here at the same time.” She accepted the mug of coffee Donovan handed her. “I expect you’ll be gone soon, though, hm, Donny?”
He shrugged. “I’m thinking I’ll hang around a while longer, if Joe doesn’t mind. Or maybe I’m cramping your style?”
Joe looked over the rim of his mug at Donovan. “Nana Mae’s going to need some help now that Keri has moved out.”
Jake laughed. He’d missed this, being with his family, the comfort of familiarity, even as he didn’t know them as well as he used to or should.
“Didn’t you hear?” Aggie said. “Dixie’s moved in with Mama to help.”
All eyes turned to Joe. Jake wondered why his youngest brother and the love of his life, Dixie, hadn’t managed to find their way back to each other this time. They’d never stayed apart more than a month before, and this made six months.
“Good of her.” Joe turned away as he spoke. He rinsed out his mug and set it in the sink, the motion deliberate. “Well, some of us have to work.” He kissed his mother’s cheek and grabbed a turnover from the container Jake opened and held out to him. “See you all later.”
Donovan excused himself, as well, after also snagging a turnover. Jake set the container on the counter. He didn’t think his stomach was ready for the high-fat, high-sugar treat. “Do you want to go into the living room?” he asked his mother.
“Sure. Bring those things along. You need to eat, Mr. Skin and Bones.”
He guided her out of the kitchen. “Not now, Mom. I appreciate your making my favorite, though. I’ll take them home with me.” They sat on the sofa. He saw the unspoken maternal concern in her eyes. “You look like you’ve dropped a few pounds, too.”
“Not too much room for food in a stomach when it’s full of worry.”
He took her hand. “I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve gotten word to you.”
“Where were you, son?”
He debated how much to say. “Helping take down a kidnapping ring.”
Her face paled but her gaze held steady. She wasn’t one to crumble. “One you infiltrated, I suppose. I’ve seen enough movies and TV shows about that kind of thing.”
“Then you have an idea.” Although she really couldn’t. No one could imagine what went on unless they lived through it.
“And that you probably can’t say more than that,” she added authoritatively.
“You got it.”
“We kept your Christmas presents,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “I figure we can have a Christmas-in-May party.”
He smiled at that. “Give me time to shop first.”
She squeezed his hand. “Your being home is gift enough. And the new grandbaby you’re giving me.” She settled herself in the sofa cushions. “How’d it feel seeing Keri? I’ll bet you were surprised at how big she is.”
The understatement of the year. “Yes.”
“We think the world of her, you know.”
“She told me you all adopted her. I appreciate everything you did.”
“She’s a sweetheart. And so brave.”
Those particular traits of hers, along with extreme stubbornness, were what had led to their capture. “You’ll get no argument from me.”
“So when’s the wedding?” Aggie asked, lifting her mug.
Wedding? “Uh, we haven’t talked about it yet.”
“Don’t you think you need to get to it? She could pop any second. She’s already had two false labors.”
“She has?” He didn’t know exactly what that entailed.
“A real trouper, that one.” Her eyes, deep blue and direct, took aim at his. “We’ve had a few ‘early’ babies in our family, but none as close to the wire as this one.”
And no divorces. Jake didn’t say the words out loud, but they clanged in his head like the bell at Notre Dame, reverberating, deafening. “When Keri and I decide what we’re going to do, you’ll be the first to know.”
Aggie pursed her lips. “I don’t see how there could be any hesitation—or doubt.”
“Just give me a chance to breathe, okay?” His jaw hurt, his hands clenched.
After a long silence, Aggie said, “How is Keri feeling this morning?”
“I don’t know. I left before she woke up.” He could see her debating what to say. He was, after all, one of her children who ignored what she called her “mother’s right to know,” as all eight siblings had been told forever. To forestall any unwanted advice or recrimination, he stood. “I’ll go home right now and check.”
“Would you like to come to dinner?”
He forced himself to keep his voice level, reminding himself that she didn’t understand all he’d been through and that he needed time and space—something Keri had recognized. Score one for her. “Not tonight, okay, Mom? I’ll talk to you later.”
Jake scooped up the container of turnovers, then went out to his car. He headed up the winding road, again with no particular destination in mind, only a need for his previously unappreciated freedom, and solitude of his own choosing.
And yet ten minutes later he found himself pulling into his own driveway.
He had responsibilities he couldn’t ignore now, no matter what else was on his mind.
He could almost see his mother’s approving nod and feel his late father’s pat on the back, the weight of his responsibilities made even heavier by parental expectations—and those of his grandmother, who hadn’t yet had her say.
Chapter Four
He hadn’t even left a note.
Keri kicked a pebble and watched it tumble down the slope behind Jake’s cabin. He’d taken off this morning without extending even the most basic courtesy of telling her he was leaving, and also stranding her without a car.
She toed another pebble loose then kicked it, not giving it her all. The baby
