Sunrise Point (Virgin River #19)(75)

Maxie greeted them like old friends and took Berry right off Nora’s hands.

“I’ll take her around and wear her down,” she said.

“Would you rather stay here with Fay?” Nora asked. “Berry’s getting fast!”

“I think I can keep up for a little while,” she said, disappearing.

Tom gave a wave to a group of men who were standing around the grill. “I’ll be back,” Tom assured her.

“By all means, take your time. Visit with your friends—I’ll be fine.”

And Nora was not without friends of her own—her neighbor Leslie wandered over and sat on the blanket for a little while. Not long after, Martha joined them. Within an hour Maxie was back with Berry and other men and women Nora knew came visiting—Noah and Ellie Kincaid, Mel Sheridan and Paige Middleton, Becca Timm, the schoolteacher and soon-to-be Mrs. Cutler—she was marrying Denny, who was farmer Jill’s assistant. Kelly Holbrook introduced her fifteen-year-old daughter, Courtney, and Courtney’s best friend, Amber—the girls put in a pitch for babysitting and as a favor, loaded Fay into the stroller and took charge of her for a while.

From her place on her blanket, Nora kept catching sight of Tom, laughing and enjoying a beer with a group of guys, helping to haul big pumpkins to cars for women he knew, throwing a ball with some young men Nora hadn’t yet met.

Friends.

The trouble with women, she thought as she admired her handsome, sexy friend, is that when a guy kisses us, we think he loves us. Women think kisses make relationships when really, kisses make kisses. And besides, was there really room in her life for a relationship? Probably not, even though there was nothing about Tom to suggest he could be as thoughtless, irresponsible and cruel as Chad had been. Not only were there too many differences in their characters, she had to remember that back in the days of Chad, he was a traveling ballplayer. She rarely saw him and when she did, she was so overwhelmed with her crush, she gave in to him quickly, easily.

She saw Tom every day. She spent many an evening at his dinner table. She witnessed firsthand how he cared for his grandmother. The man was nearly a prince in her eyes.

So, what if they were friends for years? Friends who had the occasional dinner out or went to a town event here and there? And what if, as good friends, there was sometimes kissing? Only one really crucial factor could make that an unappealing idea—if it wasn’t good for her children. And right now everything about Tom and Maxie and the orchard had been wonderful for her children.

Of course, she couldn’t be kissing him if he was also kissing someone else. The disposition of his relationship with Darla hadn’t been talked about, except that she knew Darla was only supposed to be in California for two or three more weeks.

Tom brought her food—pumpkin bisque to try; pumpkin muffins and bread. A little later he brought her a soda and a couple of hot dogs—one dressed sloppy and one plain for Berry. A plate of potato salad, cole slaw, veggies and chips appeared. Then came cookies and fudge and pie.

“How’s the sugar intake working out here?” Maxie said during one of her appearances on the blanket, glancing at Berry who was lying down on the blanket with a book balanced above her face.

“Berry is vibrating,” Nora said. “I nearly had to tie her down. Detox tonight is going to suck.”

“Want me to give Fay a bottle, since I’m here?”

And Nora smiled—if she decided to move south, to live near her father and go to school, she would miss Maxie as much as Tom. “That would be nice. She’d be more than happy to give herself a bottle, but you’re only a baby once. I try to hold her whenever I can.”

Maxie settled in one of the chairs Tom had brought and pulled the baby onto her lap. “Brings back such sweet memories,” she said. “Nora, you remind me of a younger me. When Tom’s father was a baby, I worked all the time. I worked so hard on the orchard. I can’t even remember if I had to—there were Warren’s parents and hired hands. But I had that baby in a sling all day while I did chores. Even picking apples.”

“I think you come from a generation of hard workers,” Nora said. “My generation is one of techie obsession. I’m just doing what works.”

“And I was trying to justify my existence. I desperately wanted to prove that Warren hadn’t made a huge mistake, marrying me.”

“I can’t imagine anyone would think that!”

“Oh-ho.” Maxie laughed. “Warren’s father didn’t even want to hire me, and he was furious at the notion that Warren would marry me! I was pregnant!”

Nora frowned. “You and Warren met on the orchard, married and you got pregnant right away?” she asked.

“Oh, heavens, no! I showed up looking for work with what you young women now refer to as ‘the baby bump.’ I was destitute, stranded, pregnant and alone. I tried to conceal my pregnancy for as long as I could. Back in my day, you couldn’t get away with illegitimacy. Single, pregnant women were hidden away and their babies were given up or taken away. It was Warren’s mother who hired me.” She chuckled. “This was not funny at the time—it was terrifying—but Warren’s mother said to her husband, ‘I’ll throw you out before I’ll throw this poor girl out! Can’t you see she needs to support herself and her unborn child?’” Maxie shook her head, but she laughed.