17
The renewed energy Harper had enjoyed for the last few weeks seemed to have disappeared with the Firefly Festival. As her pregnancy progressed, she was in tune with the baby’s every move and keenly aware of every change in her body. Lately her belly itched day and night. She craved olives, which she’d always hated before. Most strangely, she’d started to dream of baby animals; kittens and puppies, baby rabbits, and lambs. Were these things normal? She lay in bed at night wondering and worrying. It was in those moments that she missed her mother the most. She needed her mother’s gentle reassurance. She needed the Aunt Clara that used to bandage her scrapes and offer wise encouragement when she felt fearful. Neither woman was accessible to her anymore and she was thankful that at least she had Morgan to talk things over with.
She’d feel better after her upcoming ultrasound, but like it or not, she would have to slow down a bit. There was little on her calendar until the Chamber of Commerce event in late September. Maybe that was a good thing after all.
The profits from the festivals would keep her bank account solidly in the black and even after she paid Nicky and Finley, she still had plenty of money left to buy a few things for the baby. She smiled. Dalton had made the nursery lovely beyond her dreams. In a week’s time he’d managed to empty it of years’ worth of clutter. He’d repaired the holes in the walls and painted. And that Aunt Clara had remembered Harper’s cross-stitched sampler, that she’d actually saved it for her, brought her to tears. Dalton had repaired it and hung it in the space where the changing table would be. These were the things that melted her heart. These small thoughtful gestures were just a few of the reasons she loved him.
That morning they’d gone to the baby store in the plaza to shop for furniture.
“I love the white crib,” she told him now, as they headed home. “And I loved the mermaid layette. And the mermaid curtains. I think I’d like to go with that for a motif. What do you think?”
“I’m OK with mermaids.” He smiled and squeezed her hand. “Then again, what do I know about a baby layette?”
“I hope the crib we picked out won’t be too big for the room. We’ll also have to fit a changing table and a small dresser in there. Although the room is bigger than I remembered it being. Of course, I haven’t seen it empty in years. I’ve got to hand it to you, Dalton. I don’t know how you sweet-talked Aunt Clara into parting with all that old junk.”
“The Art of Persuasion,” he said with a wink. “Law school 101.” He pulled into the driveway. “I’ll drop you off here. I need to run a quick errand.”
Inside, she retrieved the measuring tape from the kitchen junk drawer and headed upstairs to the nursery.
Nicky intercepted her in the hallway. “What are you doing with the tape measure?”
“I think I’ve decided on a crib. I just want to measure the room and double check that it will fit where I want it.”
He stepped in front of the door. “Harp, before you go in…I should warn you; Aunt Clara bought some things.”
“What do you mean? What kinds of things?”
“Ahh…not sure.”
Waving him away from the door, she opened it and stared with dismay at the shipping boxes piled to the ceiling, all of them from an online party boutique and all of them addressed to Clara.
“Good grief. What is all this stuff?”
“I don’t know. The delivery truck brought it earlier today, but Clara didn’t want me to open it. She says it’s top-secret party stuff.”
“How did she even manage to order these things?”
“Well, the thing is…” Nicky stared at his shoes. “Last week she asked me for help with the laptop, so I showed her a website for a party center. She said she just wanted to get some ideas. I didn’t know she would order half the store.”
Harper drew in a breath. Be calm…
“I was thinking along the lines of a small gathering, a few friends from church. How many people is Aunt Clara planning to invite?”
“A lot. She had me take her to the post office to mail out the invitations this morning.”
“Oh, Nicky,” she wailed. “I wish you had told me before you took her. I would have liked to have looked over the guest list.”
“I’m sorry, Harp. She was set on it being some big surprise.”
“It’s all right,” she assured him, though secretly she had her doubts that it was. With a few more deep breaths to calm herself she went to the living room to talk to Clara. She found her aunt scrolling on the laptop.
“Did you know you can send people letters on this thing? With no stamps? They call it email.”
“Yes, I did know that,” she said, striving for a cheerful tone, “So, tell me, whatever is in all of those boxes you ordered, Aunt Clara?”
Clara wagged her finger, a mischievous grin on her face. “Never you mind, my dear.”
Later that evening, after admonishing Nicky to hide the laptop, Harper and Dalton went out for a ride.
“Where to?” he asked.
“I’m so stressed out over this party. I need ice cream. Chocolate ice cream. And some black olives.”
“Done.”
They drove to the ice cream stand on Main Street and ordered cones, then carried them to a picnic table. “So much for Aunt Clara forgetting about the party,” she said, licking her dripping cone. “What all do you suppose she bought?”
Dalton swallowed a generous mound of chocolate ice cream. “Hard to say. But she sure does seem happy lately.”
“Yes, she does.” She sighed. “I just wonder what she’s planning on having me prepare to feed all of these people.”
“It’ll be all right. This party of hers has given her something to focus on, a sense of purpose. Let’s let her have some fun. If worse comes to worst, we’ll order sheet pizzas.”
“You’re right. I’m being selfish. This is the happiest I’ve seen Aunt Clara in a long time.”
“You’re not selfish, Harper. You’re tired. But please don’t let it stress you out. Whatever she’s got cooked up, I’m here to help you deal with it, OK?”
“Thank you.”
“Let’s walk. I want to show you something.”
They strolled down Main Street, turned the corner at Broadway and stopped in front of a two-story brick building, its once vibrant rose paint now faded to dusty pink. A sun-baked sign stood in the window, barely legible: Building for Sale or Rent.
“What do you think of this place?” he asked.
“I’ve always loved this building. It used to be a bakery. Aunt Clara worked here for years as a pastry chef. Even after she retired, they’d hire her when they got an order for a complicated wedding cake. There’s an apartment upstairs. Mrs. Gentry, the old lady who lived up there, used to watch me and Nicky after school on the days Clara made the cakes. Her apartment always smelled like doughnuts.”
“Clara told me about that.”
“Wait, you were here with Aunt Clara?”
“I brought her with me when I came to look at it on Friday.” He peered in the dusty windows. “I put down a deposit on it this afternoon.”
She gaped at him. “That was the errand you had to run? You’re buying the old bakery?”
“I’m just renting it. For now.”
“But why?”
“I’ve been thinking I might want to open a law office in Redford’s Crossing. Plus, I need a place to live. I can’t camp out in your back yard forever.”
“No, of course you can’t. But this building might be a little big for a law office.”
He shrugged. “Who knows, maybe someday I’ll want to open a restaurant. If I can find a partner.”
She stood in stunned silence as what he was proposing slowly sank in. Was he offering to buy her a restaurant? Make her lifelong dream a reality? A thrill went through her heart, and she smiled.
“Maybe someday I’ll want to be your partner.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
She looked into his eyes. She would never love any man as much as she loved Dalton Kingston at that moment. That was for certain. Just weeks ago, her life had felt hopeless. Now it was filled with so many possibilities, so many beautiful dreams that seemed like they might come true.
Someday…