The Best of Us (Sullivan's Crossing #4)(80)

Where was her resilience now? This issue was between Leigh and her baby’s father. Oh, if Leigh found some reason that life with Rob would be terrible, of course she’d be better off staying independent of him. But Helen was no fool. She couldn’t count the number of times in the past few months that Leigh had spent her lunch hour or evening with Rob and he left a glow on her cheeks that was unmistakable.

But Leigh’s expectations had crossed the line. Was she spoiled? Helen didn’t think so. That Johnny Holliday might’ve left a scar but Rob Shandon was such a cut above she was frankly surprised Leigh hadn’t run off and married him the instant she found out she was pregnant.

She had trouble believing that Leigh actually thought Helen would become her nanny!

Being a writer, working at home and often in her pajamas, Helen was accustomed to people thinking her work wasn’t real work. No matter how impressed they might be when Helen made the bestseller list or won an award, her casual nonwriting acquaintances seemed to think she could create a complex story in her spare time. But Leigh had never been that person. She’d been trained to understand how much discipline was required, how dedicated Helen had to be. And how hard the work could be. She’d seen Helen during those hair-pulling deadlines or those crazy revisions when she had to rip the book apart from page one and didn’t have a bloody clue how to fix the sow’s ear of a mess she was supposed to turn into a silk purse.

But here was her darling Leigh, pregnant with the child of a man she loved, and she was afraid to embrace him. Did she learn that from me, as well? Helen asked herself. Because Helen hadn’t found it easy to fall in love. Of course she was a little short on time, given all her jobs, commitments and bills to pay.

But then she met Sully. He was such a lovely surprise. An adorable, funny and wise man who lived simply and was honest to the bone. They had nothing in common yet had found an odd and special way to appreciate each other. Sully didn’t consider himself smart but he was. He was intuitive and wise. His humor was smart and dry and she lived for his jabs, like him telling her he liked that crazy hair she woke up with. She was a woman of a certain age. She’d rather have a compliment like that than a dozen roses. It meant he truly saw her as she was, didn’t have some unrealistic expectation of her.

How many years would they have together? Even if it was only a year, she was ready to sign on. She felt nurtured when she was with him and she could nurture in return. Some of her friends might think they were an odd pair. But she loved him. He was very easy to love.

But she had a niece—her child, really—in a fix. Helen didn’t know how to help her resolve her issues. Leigh needed a long-range view of what family life was supposed to be, a realistic view of what commitment should be. Helen was no expert but she thought a steady, dependable man, a good man with whom you had balance and tenderness, was a solid bet. And there was obviously chemistry! Those two could heat up a room when they were together. It had taken them about a week to make a baby. It gave her the shivers.

Was Leigh paying attention? He’d raised a couple of sons so fatherhood was no mystery to him. He was well-loved throughout town and beyond.

Helen lamented that she might not be the wisest or most experienced parent but she could think of only one approach. If it didn’t work, she’d likely be spending her twilight years changing diapers, supervising potty training and driving carpools.

She began folding her clothes. The sun was not yet up. She got one of her suitcases and opened it on the bed. It didn’t take long before Leigh was standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Oh, I hope I didn’t wake you. I’m packing up a few things.”

“Why?”

“Well, I think I should get out of your hair for a while. This business of how to take care of the baby isn’t between you and me. It’s between you and Rob. Do you find him trustworthy?”

“So far,” Leigh said. “I’m sure he’s a good man. It’s just that I thought Johnny was a good man...”

“You can let yourself off the hook for that, Leigh. He was the only boy you’d ever loved and you were so young. You idealized him. I think he showed his true colors soon after he left. I know you were devastated, but I always worried you would be. Let’s forget about him for the moment. I don’t know everything about your relationship with Rob but I know it’s a passionate one. I approve, by the way. A man and woman who are raising a family deserve passion. Love like that brings you together when times are hard and it’s inevitable there will be some hard times. Everyone has them. It appears he’s a very good father. Be sure you don’t ignore that fact. It’s critical.”

“Where are you going?” Leigh demanded.

“I’m going visiting, sweetheart. Probably to Maureen’s again, since she has that empty guesthouse. I was planning to talk to you about this but I was waiting until you got your situation settled. I didn’t want to abandon you, but I see I’d better. You’re depending on me to rescue you and I can’t. I’m sixty-two. I have a lot of energy still and I’d like to spend most of it on myself. Raising you was a great gift to me, but you’re a grown-up now and you have to make a grown-up decision about how you and Rob are going to move forward. Eventually I want to stay with Sully. It turns out we’re in love.”

“You’re what? But that’s crazy!”