Chapter Sixty-Two
Sixty-Two
Hunter wasn’t ready for motherhood. Not even Colleen’s motherhood.
She clenched the wheel of the Land Rover so hard her fingers ached. Traffic was heavy on MA-3 North, and the two-hour drive to Boston was going to take somewhere closer to three. She impatiently switched the Sirius station, pressing up up up until she reached the New Wave channel and the song “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat.
“This traffic is a nightmare,” Shelby said, propping her elbow on the passenger-side window and pressing her forehead into her palm. “Can we talk or something?” Shelby said. “I need to get my mind off what’s happening at the hospital.”
Hunter turned down the music. “Sure.” There was something she wanted to discuss, although maybe it wasn’t appropriate to talk about work at a time like this. But Shelby did say she wanted to get her mind off Colleen...
“I got the job offer from Paragon.” She wasn’t surprised when the call came. But was still ambivalent about it.
“Amazing!” Shelby said. “So happy for you. You’ll be great.”
Hunter shifted lanes, picking up speed after a lull and feeling a rush of adrenaline along with it. “Thanks. And on the subject of agents...when are you going to look for someone new? You’re officially done with Claudia, right?”
A text alert appeared on the car’s navigation screen. From Doug.
“Oh, my God!” they said in unison. Shelby grabbed her phone and read the text aloud: “Our twins are here! 5 lbs, 17. Mom is doing great.”
Shelby looked at Hunter, and they burst into tears.
Hunter peered at the babies through the glass window of the NICU. Madeline and Mathew MacDougal were in clear little bins. They looked fragile and the room was filled with whirring machines and apparatuses. But the twins were healthy.
Beside her, Doug stood with his eyes locked on his brand-new son and daughter.
“They’re just beautiful,” Shelby said.
Doug nodded. “I feel torn every second because I don’t want to leave them, but I also want to be with Colleen.”
Hunter understood how he felt, but she was impatient to see Mama. “I’ll go see Colleen now. Don’t rush, Doug. We’ll let you know if she needs anything.”
Shelby held up her index finger to signal she’d join her in one minute.
Hunter set off down the hall nervously. She felt the weight of the moment. Colleen was no longer just her friend. She wasn’t just Doug’s girlfriend. She was someone’s mother . Two people’s mother!
Colleen sat propped up on pillows in bed, hooked up to an IV. She was surrounded by bunches of helium balloons with colorful ribbons hanging nearly to the floor. Hunter bent over to give her a hug, but Colleen stopped her.
“I’m a little sore,” Colleen said.
“Oh! Of course. Sorry,” Hunter said, taking a step back.
She looked exhausted, her hair lank, the back of her hand bruised from the IV. But Colleen’s eyes were lit from within, and she was all smiles.
“Did you see them?” Colleen asked.
“I did. They’re incredible,” Hunter said, thinking of their little sparrow legs with a smile.
“You know, all summer I was so upset. Things were out of my control, and I was so certain that I knew how they were supposed to be. I was too much in my head instead of in my heart, you know? And it was all such a waste of time because now I can’t imagine my life without them.”
Hunter had a strange feeling in her chest. A tightness. She knew, as soon as she heard the words, that she was making the same mistake.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, leaning over to kiss Colleen on the cheek.
She slipped out of the room, following the narrow vestibule that led to a vending machine and a bench. She bought a pack of peanut M&Ms, sat down, and pulled out her phone. She tapped a message to Ezra.
I’m taking the job at Paragon. And u said to let u know if I changed my mind about relationships. I changed my mind.
Shelby followed Pam and Annie down the hall to Colleen’s room. Just outside the door, Pam turned to her and said, “Remind me to talk to you about one thing before you leave. Don’t forget.”
“Okay,” Shelby said, eager to see Colleen.
She sat propped up in bed, and Shelby leaned over the metal railing, and bent down to kiss the top of her head. She couldn’t believe she was a mother.
“Did you see them?” Colleen said, smiling with tired eyes.
Shelby nodded. “I did. They’re beautiful.”
“I can’t wait to hold them,” Colleen said.
“Oh, you’ll have plenty of that,” Annie said, pouring Colleen a fresh cup of water. “In a few months, you’ll be begging other people to take them off your hands.”
“I can’t imagine,” she said.
Shelby’s phone vibrated in her bag. She peeked at the screen to read a text from Justin: The vote is YES for Land’s End.
Shelby looked up. Pam was adjusting Collen’s hospital gown.
“More news,” Shelby said, getting their attention. “Because today hasn’t been exciting enough: Justin just texted that the trust wants to buy Land’s End!”
“They do? Still?” Colleen said, turning to look at Pam. “Didn’t you tell her?”
Pam and Annie glanced at each other, then uneasily at Shelby.
“Tell me what?” Shelby said, confused.
Pam stood up from the wooden chair she was sitting in against one wall. A balloon drifted in front of her, and she moved it aside. “I mentioned that I wanted to talk to you before you left. There’s a wrinkle in the plan.”
“Oh?”
Shelby had worried about this: the financial reality would hit them. They were taking a loss with the Community Trust offer. There had to be some way to get more for them. Maybe she could raise additional funds, pitch in, some of her own. Maybe the Dillworths would invest, though Hunter didn’t like asking them for anything.
“Shelby,” Colleen said, looking up with steady blue eyes. “I won’t be able to run the store. Not now.”
“Not right this minute , obviously,” Shelby said. “You can hire someone to manage temporarily—until you’re ready to get back to work. And Mia still wants to—”
“Shelby, I’m sorry. Everything’s different now.” Colleen’s tone was hard-edged: this was not open for discussion. “I know it’s hard to understand and I really appreciate what you did to save the store. The timing just isn’t right.” Shelby felt punched in the gut. She looked around for a chair and sank into one.
“I...don’t get it. So what’s going to happen?” she said.
“We’re going to accept the Hendriks’ offer,” Annie said.
Shelby looked at Colleen, trying to figure out if this was Pam and Annie’s idea. But the untroubled expression on Colleen’s face told her that it wasn’t. So she nodded with understanding, hiding her disappointment. She wasn’t even sure why she felt so crushed. It was Colleen’s store, so if she was prepared to let it go, why wasn’t Shelby?
“We were going to tell you this week, but then everything happened with Colleen and the babies. I’m sorry.” Pam looked uncomfortable.
“Did you talk to the Hendriks already?” Shelby asked. Pam shook her head. Okay. So there was still a chance. “Can I ask you a huge favor? Can you hold off on taking the Hendrik’s deal? Just for a few more days?”
Pam and Annie glanced at Colleen, who shifted her body to face Shelby more directly.
“It’s okay, Shelby. I’m fine with it. Thanks for everything you—”
“Just give me one more day,” Shelby said, standing.
“For what?” Colleen said.
Shelby wasn’t quite sure. She just wasn’t ready to give up yet.