The Hero (Thunder Point #3)(64)

“I think I was deprived by not growing up on a beach like this one,” he said. “They have so much fun down there.” He grabbed her hand. “We’re a little crowded here, but I like the nights. Especially football nights.”

“I have almost as much trouble coming down after watching Landon play as he does,” she said.

“Let me get you a glass of wine,” he said, moving as if to get up.

“No, thanks.”

“Anything? I’m going to get a beer.”

She shrugged. “Water would be good.”

“You got it,” he said, going inside. He grabbed a beer and bottled water and was back on the deck before he began to wonder. He handed her the water. “No wine?”

She shook her head. Then she smiled.

“Are you already pregnant?”

“I think so,” she said. “I haven’t taken a test yet, but I think so. Boy, I give you a job to do and you don’t waste any time.” And she laughed.

He sat down beside her and just looked at her beautiful face. He was stunned. He reached a gentle hand to tenderly cup her cheek and jaw and she covered his hand with hers. “When will we know for sure?”

“I could try a pregnancy test now, but in several more days or even a week, the results will be more accurate. I’m barely late.”

“Are you okay with this?”

“It was my idea, remember.”

“God,” he said reverently. “I’ve never been a father this way.”

“Maybe I should ask if you’re okay with it,” she said.

“I must be,” he said. “I want to carry you upstairs and make love to you. Now. I want to, I really do.”

She laughed at him. “Cooper, does everything translate into sex for you?”

“Everything to do with you,” he admitted. “I can’t wait to tell my dad. And Mac—Mac is good for cigars. Landon’s going to get a kick out of this. And Rawley, who thinks I don’t know what I’m doing—”

“Let’s wait a little while,” she said. “Early pregnancy can be kind of iffy and I don’t want to get everyone all excited and then have to start over.”

“What’s a little while?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Three months?”

He sat back in his chair. “Sarah, I’ll never make it that long.”

She regarded him for a long moment. “I guess you won’t, will you?”

“Do you feel all right, baby?”

She grinned. “I feel very excited. Very happy. Thank you, Cooper, my love. You’re very efficient.”

“I am, huh? Come on, let’s go to bed. Just on the off chance I haven’t knocked you up yet, this would be a backup plan.”

* * *

Lou McCain had married on something of a whim. Once her nephew, Mac, had taken a wife, the woman he’d been in love with for years, Lou knew she was not quite so essential to his household. She’d spent ten years living with him and helping him raise his children, but now Gina was in residence. And everyone knew, one woman to a household was a rule worth paying attention to. So she gave in to Joe’s pleas to say I do. And she did.

Joe lived in a nice bedroom community between Thunder Point and Coquille in a house just right for a couple. It wasn’t fancy, but it was perfect with a master bedroom large enough to keep them from tripping over each other. It was a little on the masculine side with leather furniture, dark wood and bold colors like rusty red, dark blue and army-green. He offered her a free hand with decorating, but she liked that it looked perfect for him. Lou took over the second bathroom down the hall—she pointed out that she was too “mature” to be sharing bathroom space. Plus, they were on slightly different schedules—four days a week Joe would go to work at 2:00 p.m. and get home at midnight, sometimes later. And Lou worked five days a week in the Thunder Point middle school from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Joe was usually sleeping in while she was getting ready for work.

But the best part? He loved to cook. When they had their three evenings a week together, he was in the kitchen. Lou was capable of getting something on the table, but she’d just spent a decade working full-time, chasing kids, feeding her hulking nephew and his family. It had been the same dozen or so dinners for as long as she could remember, and she took every shortcut she could get away with, from spaghetti sauce in the jar to frozen pizzas.

She continued to spend a great deal of time in Thunder Point, helping Mac and Gina with the kids’ activities. She wouldn’t miss a high school football game for anything. And there were also her girlfriends, who she was enjoying even more lately because they envied her.

She met Carrie and Ray Anne for a glass of wine before meeting Mac, Gina and the kids at the game. They sat at the bar in Cliffhanger’s and Carrie asked her, “What’s the best part about marriage so far?”

“That none of the things I worried about are happening.”

“Like?” she pushed.

“I thought there might be big adjustments. I’m edging toward sixty-two and have never been married—I’ve never even lived with a man. I might’ve shared a house with Mac and the kids, but I had my own space and no one dared invade it. I thought Joe might get under my skin, being around a lot. I thought I might annoy him....”