Blossom Street Brides (Blossom Street #10)(6)

She loved this colonial-style home with the green shutters and the spacious rooms. It was much too large for her now, but she couldn’t bring herself to sell it. After Grant moved out, she’d struggled to hold on to the house. At the time it had seemed an impossibility, but she couldn’t let it go. Her children had already lost their father, and she was determined they wouldn’t lose the only home they had ever known. It wasn’t their fault their father couldn’t keep his pants zipped. Bethanne was proud that she’d survived those first torturous months following her divorce. At the same time, she realized she’d never have been able to do it without the encouragement and emotional support she got from her friends.

Once inside the kitchen, she put on water for tea. She’d found that she enjoyed a few minutes’ respite at the end of the day. The house was quiet, and she turned on the television for the early news broadcast simply for the noise. When Andrew and Annie, her children, had lived at home, they seemed to be constantly coming and going, music blaring, cellphones ringing. These days there was silence. It was more peaceful, but she missed the chatter of her children. Within a few months she would again hear the noise, only this time it would be from a newborn.

A baby.

It’d been a lot of years since this house had heard a baby’s cry. A lump filled her throat as she carried her tea to her preferred spot in the family room off the kitchen. Her favorite chair sat close to the fireplace, and a container with her knitting rested on the Oriental rug next to the overstuffed chair and ottoman. She automatically reached for it. While she currently had two or three projects going, she would put them all aside and immediately start the baby blanket once the yarn arrived.

She hadn’t taken more than a sip of tea when her cell rang. Seeing that it was Max, she eagerly grabbed the phone. She’d left a message with Rooster, Max’s friend and business partner, for Max to call her as soon as he was available.

“Honey, what is it?”

“Andrew called me this afternoon, and Courtney’s pregnant,” she blurted out in one quick breath.

“She’s pregnant? Well, congratulations to Andrew and Courtney. I imagine you’re walking on cloud nine.”

“That doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. When I heard the news I wanted to laugh, and at the same time I had to hold back tears. It’s been so long since there was a baby in the family.”

“You’re gonna be one sexy grandma.”

“I knew you’d say that.” A warm, happy feeling stole over her. “I wish you were here right now.”

“So do I.” His voice dipped low. “This makes the decision all the more difficult for you, doesn’t it?”

Bethanne didn’t need clarification. They’d gone round and round about her selling her party business so she could move to California. Over the years it had grown and prospered. Bethanne had a huge emotional investment in it. Still, it went without saying that it would be far easier for her to sell her company than for Max to move his wine-export business to Washington State.

While Washington was the second-largest wine-producing state in the country behind California, it wasn’t anywhere close to competing.

“I … I don’t know.” The thought of selling her business was one thing, but to move away from a grandchild was something else entirely.

“Do you regret marrying me?” her husband asked.

“Max! How can you even ask that?”

“You’re right. It’s a ridiculous question. We belong together. I knew it the minute you climbed on the back of my motorcycle and held on to me so tightly you nearly crushed my ribs.

“You’re smiling.”

“How can you tell?”

“I know you, my love. You’re thinking about the two of us riding down that road in Nevada shortly after we met.”

Bethanne laughed, remembering all too well being stuck in the middle of the Nevada desert with a broken-down car.

“I can still see the look on Annie’s face when we saw you and Rooster. Both of you in leather vests with tanned muscular arms, looking for all intents and purposes as though Rooster would have liked nothing better than to do away with the lot of us.”

“Rooster has that way about him.”

“That he does,” Bethanne agreed. She’d come to admire and appreciate Max’s closest friend. It’d been Rooster who’d held the company together after Max’s wife and daughter died. Without him, Max would have lost everything.

Suddenly, the front door flew open and Grant let himself into the house. “Bethanne,” he all but shouted her name.

“Hold on a minute, Max,” she said.

Wearing a huge grin, Grant came toward her. “I just heard the news.”

Bethanne set her cell aside and stood. Grant wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her off the ground, and swung her around.

Bethanne let out a squeal and, laughing, demanded, “Grant, Grant, put me down this minute.”

“We’re going to be grandparents.”

“Yes, I know. Andrew phoned me this afternoon.”

“We need to celebrate.”

“Grant, hold on.” She reached for her cell. “Max, Grant is here. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

“What does he mean you need to celebrate?”