Chapter Eighteen #2
“Chad is hovering over Britt, of course, worried about how the stress of the day might have affected their baby. And Linc is probably standing around with his arms crossed, still pissed off that he wasn’t allowed to have even one moment alone with Pearson after he was hauled out of that hole.”
“Oh.”
“This is what families do, sweetheart. They drop everything and show up when it counts the most.”
“Where are they? I’m done waiting!” Evelyn’s voice was easy to hear over the noise and chaos of the emergency room.
“Ready?” Zach asked.
Marit didn’t have a chance to respond before the curtain was once more shoved back and Evelyn stepped toward the bed. Thankfully she didn’t have the entire family with her. That would’ve probably been a bit much for the small emergency department.
“Are you all right, child?! I can’t believe what that boy did!
How dare he? But you’re here now. I’ve got some cream I can give you for that bruise on your neck.
It’ll make it fade right quick. What did the doctor say?
Can you leave yet? I think you and Zach should come home to Lobster Cove. Let me take care of you for a while.”
“We’re not going all the way out there, Mom,” Zach interjected. “I’m taking Marit back to our place.”
“But it’s so small!” Evelyn complained.
Marit couldn’t help but smile at the exchange between mother and son. She was still trying to get used to being treated as if she were one of Evelyn’s chicklets. It was a new feeling, but one that made her heart grow every time she was around the older woman.
“What did the doc say? Can you leave yet? Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” Marit confirmed. She still wasn’t sure how or when she should tell Evelyn about the baby. She was still processing it herself. But Zach took the decision out of her hands.
“Mom, you’re the first to know, other than me and Marit . . . she’s pregnant.”
It took a moment for the news to sink in, but the moment it did, a smile spread across Evelyn’s face and she actually clapped her hands gleefully. “You are? Oh my! That’s amazing news! Wait—you mean you were pregnant when you were kidnapped?”
“Well, it didn’t happen in the last hour, Mom,” Zach deadpanned.
“That little motherfucker!” Evelyn swore.
Marit was genuinely shocked to hear such language from the woman’s mouth, because if there was one thing she’d learned about Evelyn, she was strongly against swearing in general. Always, every time, she took her sons to task when they slipped and said a bad word in front of her.
“I can’t believe he did all those things to you while you were carrying my grandbaby! If he wasn’t already in jail, I’d do something drastic. I’m gonna make sure everyone around here knows how despicable he is. How he tried to murder a woman and a little baby!”
“Mom, relax,” Zach said, trying to soothe her, but Evelyn was having none of it.
“I’m serious! If he even thinks about trying to fish in these parts or so much as shop here, he’ll find not a single person will do business with him!
We all know he’s not going to be in jail nearly long enough—though if I had my way, he’d be in there forever.
But he won’t be settling around here. That’s for damn sure.
You two really do need to come back to Lobster Cove now.
Your studio apartment is no place for my grandbaby to recuperate. ”
“It’s fine,” Zach told her.
“Zachary Young,” Evelyn said sternly. “It’s not.
It’s ridiculously tiny. It’s no place to raise a family.
You need to find a new place. You know you can always come home and live with me.
The house is too empty, now that Britt and Chad have moved out.
Or . . . oh! I think the old Barber place is for sale!
I’ll call my Realtor and see what she says. ”
“You have a Realtor?” Zach asked.
“Yes. Your dad and I contemplated selling Lobster Cove at one point, but decided to hang on for a little longer. Now that Otis isn’t stealing us blind anymore, things don’t seem so dire. Besides, you and your brothers are back, so there’s no way I’d sell.”
“Thank you,” Marit said softly from the bed. “Seriously. Zach and I appreciate the offer to come stay at Lobster Cove with you, but we both need to be near town for our jobs.”
Evelyn’s eyes almost bugged out of her skull. “Don’t tell me you’re still going to go out lobstering?!”
“I am,” Marit said firmly. “I talked to the doctor, and he said as long as I was healthy and taking care of myself, he saw no reason why I couldn’t keep working, at least until I get too big to handle the pots safely.”
“Mom,” Zach started, trying to stave off the fit he could see his mom fixing to throw. “Marit’s healthy, strong, and smart. She’s not going to do anything to put our baby in danger.”
Marit reached a hand toward Evelyn. Zach’s mom took it and squeezed. “This baby was a surprise to both your son and me, but he or she is definitely wanted. Very much. I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize him or her, or myself.”
Evelyn nodded. Then surprisingly, her eyes filled with tears.
“My babies are having babies! It’s all Austin and I ever wanted.
To see our boys happy with women who cherish them, who they cherish just as much.
And to see them with families of their own.
To experience all the joys we did when you boys were growing up.
I’m proud of you, Zach. Of all you’ve done.
And will do. You too, Marit. I’m probably going to be overbearing, and nosy, and way too interested in your body and what’s happening inside it for the next several months.
But it’s just because I’m so happy and excited for you both. For you three.”
“I can live with that,” Marit told her.
Evelyn squeezed Marit’s hand once more, then turned to Zach, propping her hands on her hips. “You’re going to make an honest woman out of Marit, right, son?”
“That’s such an antiquated term, Mom,” he said with a shake of his head. “And sexist. Why wouldn’t you ask Marit if she’s going to make an honest man out of me?”
“Fine. Marit, when are you going to make an honest man out of my son?”
Marit chuckled. “We haven’t talked about that at all,” she admitted.
“Kids these days,” Evelyn huffed with a shake of her head.
“Got your discharge papers,” a nurse said as she entered the cubicle, holding them aloft and waving them around.
“Thank goodness,” Zach said under his breath.
“I’ll go tell Knox to bring your Explorer around front,” Evelyn said, as she turned to leave.
But she stopped before stepping out of their little space, looking back toward the bed.
“I’m glad you’re all right. That you outsmarted that jerk.
That you’re stronger than your size would suggest. People always underestimate us small-statured women.
Welcome to the family, Marit. We’re all better for knowing you. ”
Before Marit could thank her, or burst into tears, Evelyn was gone.
But everyone in the emergency department heard her exclaim as she walked back toward the waiting area, “I’m gonna be a grandma again!”
“So much for telling everyone individually, on our own time,” Zach said with an exasperated sigh.
“I’m actually glad. Makes it easier,” Marit said, with a little smile and shrug.
“If you want to get dressed, I’ll be back with a wheelchair. I know you probably don’t want or need it, but rules are rules. Be right back,” the nurse said with a huge smile on her face. She’d obviously heard Evelyn’s announcement as well.
The second they were alone again, Zach leaned down and kissed Marit. His lips were warm, and the excited little tingles she got whenever he touched her sparked once more. It was no wonder she was pregnant, considering they couldn’t keep their hands, or other body parts, off one another.
“Will you marry me, Marit Phillips? Will you join my crazy family, protect me from my mom’s shenanigans, continue to help make The Lobster Buoy successful, let me cook for you, take care of you, put up with my overbearing and overprotective ways, and allow me to be your biggest cheerleader for the rest of our days? ”
Marit stared at him with her mouth open.
“It’s not a fancy proposal like Chad had for Britt, but it comes from the heart.
My heart. You own it, Marit. It’s yours.
And I’m handing it over gladly. If this is all too fast, we can wait as long as you want to actually get married.
And before you ask, I’m not proposing because you’re pregnant.
If marriage isn’t something you want, we can simply be partners for the next hundred years or so. ”
Marit swallowed, ignoring the pain in her throat. “Of course I will,” she told him. “Marry you. You are literally everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a husband.”
Zach beamed down at her. “I forgot to ask the doctor when you might be cleared to make love.”
“I didn’t. He said as long as I’m not hurting, there’s nothing preventing us from being together,” Marit told him with a huge grin.
“Awesome. But not tonight. Tonight, I need to get you home, pamper you, feed you, hold you, and simply revel in the fact that you’re okay. That you and our little babe are both okay.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Tomorrow though . . .” Zach said with a glint in his eye.
Marit chuckled again. “Are we telling your mom we’re engaged, so she can let the rest of the family know in an inappropriate way in a very public ER waiting room?”
“Hell no. She can wait. I need to find the perfect ring for you first. One that’s not too big, that you can wear while you’re lobstering. Maybe one with inset diamonds so it won’t catch on your gloves or something.”
This man really was perfect for her. Some men would probably demand she quit.
Insist that lobstering wasn’t safe for her or their baby.
Or maybe want to get her a huge-ass ring to make some sort of “claim” on her.
But Zach wasn’t like that. He was happy if she was happy, and he understood that she was happiest when she was on the water.
“I love you,” she said, feeling more content than she’d felt in a very long time. Maybe ever.
“And I love you back,” he replied.
“You said Britt picked up Ruckus Donuts? You think she has them with her now?”
Zach chuckled. “You and your donuts. Yes, she has the box with her now. The owner threw in an extra half dozen because he knows you so well and was horrified about what happened.”
“Awesome,” Marit breathed.
“Yeah.”
“Here we are!” the nurse said cheerfully as she wheeled the chair into the room. “Your ride out of here.”
“I’ve got her,” Zach said, as he stood and held out a hand to Marit. “Let’s go home.”
“Home,” Marit repeated. Anywhere this man was felt like home to her, but she couldn’t wait to see the four walls of his tiny little studio. She already had such great memories there. Evelyn was right, eventually they’d need to find a bigger space . . . but for now, Zach’s place was just perfect.