The Family Gathering (Sullivan's Crossing #3)(52)

Lisa had been packing up Sam’s things all morning—there was little enough to get ready. There were still some things at Mrs. Jergens’s house but much of it was secondhand, from thrift shops or hand-me-downs, and Rachel hadn’t been well stocked, the baby being so young. One thing for which everyone gave grateful thanks—she had not scrimped on the car seat. It had been high quality and saved his life.

When they walked into the Vadas home, the whole family was there. Sam was in the high chair being fed lunch—cereal, vegetables and strained fruit. It was not only all over his face but when he saw the spoon coming his mouth opened wide and he lunged toward it. When he saw Sierra and Connie, he grinned his most handsome toothless grin.

“Oh, my heart,” Sierra said in a breath.

“We’re all so relieved Sam isn’t going far,” Lisa said. “This time we won’t have a hard time letting him go.”

Sierra pulled a chair out from the table and sat beside Lisa. “We’re a little bit scared. What if something goes wrong and we can’t adopt him?”

“I understand completely,” Lisa said. “But there’s nothing to suggest that will happen. After just a few days, you’ll relax and enjoy him.”

“You’ll be exhausted and forget to worry,” Rafe yelled from the living room.

“As soon as he’s had his lunch, why don’t you give him his bottle. He’ll probably nap for a while and be fresh and happy for his party. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“We’re ready. Molly is home, guarding the slow cooker.”

“Do you think your family will be at all surprised?”

“Well, they don’t know we’ve been stocking up on baby things,” Sierra said. “But they do know we’ve been visiting Sam every day. I tried to be secretive but it just wasn’t in me. I talk about him all the time.”

“How have you kept them away from your house and the blossoming nursery?”

“That was easy. We checked in at the Crossing often, dropped in on Maggie and Cal regularly. Dakota has a girlfriend and Sedona has gone home. No one bothers us.”

“Oh, they’re going to be so surprised!” Lisa said. “And the diner?”

“We had long talks about it and I’m going to continue to work two days a week. I’ll work on Connie’s days off. It was his suggestion. He thinks if I give up the diner and all the people I’m used to seeing in town, I might get lonely and bored. I’m going along with this for now and we’ll see what happens. I think I’m a little too busy with Sully and the rest of the family to get lonely, but...” She shrugged.

“He has a point,” Lisa said. “Anything that gets you out of mommy mode on a regular basis helps keep you in balance, especially if you feel like you’re contributing. Everyone should feel they’re contributing—the guys, the kids, the moms. That’s my philosophy.”

“That’s her philosophy!” her oldest child said.

“Two days at the diner isn’t going to contribute much,” Sierra said with a laugh.

“Just be careful that you don’t find yourself feeling lonely and unappreciated because you’re trapped at home with the kids and the only thing you do is take care of other people and collect complaints from them.”

“Gotcha,” she said.

“It’s easy to ignore your own confidence and self-esteem when everyone seems to need something. All. The. Time.”

“We should probably have this conversation in a few months,” Sierra said. “Right now I just want to hold Sam and love him.”

Lisa wiped off his face and dropped a kiss onto his head. “He is the sweetest baby we’ve ever had.”

“I don’t have any trouble believing that. Would you like to join us for dinner?” Sierra asked.

“We’re going to have lots of dinners together,” Lisa said. “Today is for you and your family, a little time to get to know Sam. They’re going to be so happy. Lucky Elizabeth! A cousin!”

A few hours later, amid tears and laughter, little Sam was passed from person to person, cuddled and petted, tossed up in the air, bounced on knees, and he treated them all to the most handsome toothless grins. Sully had more turns with the baby than Sierra expected. As he held him and jiggled him, he said, “Yeah, I guess you’re a keeper. Best-lookin’ guy at the party.”





   That best portion of a good man’s life,

his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.

   —WILLIAM WORDSWORTH





11

SEDONA HAD NOT gone home at all, as she requested Dakota and Sierra be told. Instead, she had agreed to an inpatient mental health facility. That took some doing—at first she had resisted the very idea. Checking into a hospital, even if it was as plush as any resort, had not been part of her plan. Her plan had been to continue to cope by controlling her environment and keeping secret her greatest fear—that she would soon be as out of reality as her father had been since before she was born.

She had gone with Maggie to Denver, stayed with Maggie in her house and kept a few appointments with a psychiatrist by the name of Nan Tayama, a gentle woman of Burmese decent. “I’ve known Nan for years,” Maggie said. “She is the smartest woman in the world, I think. And probably the kindest. But if you don’t connect with her, I know others we can try.”