The Promise (Thunder Point #5)(25)

Peyton looked around. “It’s wonderful! There’s not so much left to do. It’s bare, but ready.”

“Painting, papering, a wall unit to be installed for the TV, games, books and things, carpeting, all the final touches. Furnishing. We’re waiting for a couple of built-in desks for the kids’ rooms. Between us we had just enough to furnish most of the upstairs, so we’ve had to order furniture. But we’re almost there. We’ll be done before football practice starts,” Devon said.

When they went upstairs, Jenny and Will were gone. Devon put her hands on her hips. “Now where are they? I can’t seem to keep track of anyone!” She walked out on the deck to look down toward the dock to see if they might all be out there with Rawley or Landon, fishing. Instead, she saw everyone next door on Cooper’s deck.

Spencer waved to her, signaling for her to come over.

Devon’s eyes lit up. “I think Summer is outside. Wait till you see her.”

“Oh,” Peyton said. “I’ll just...”

“You’ll just come with me!” Devon grabbed her hand and pulled her back inside and out the front door, right next door and into Cooper and Sarah’s front door. Everyone was out on the deck. Cooper and Spencer were laughing about something, Austin was hanging out with them. The baby was in a big Cadillac of a stroller with a Great Dane standing guard and three little faces peering into it. Sarah was relaxing on a lounge.

“How are you feeling?” Devon asked, going to her and giving her cheek a buss.

“Like I never had a baby,” she said. “Until I look in the mirror.”

“You look wonderful! How’s she doing?”

But rather than answering, Sarah smiled and said, “Well, hello, Peyton! Nice to see you again!”

“I hope I’m not intruding,” she said. “I came home with Devon to see her new house.”

“Of course not. We’ve had quite a few drop-ins. And we’re all feeling fine,” she said. “A miracle, because I think I had the longest labor in the history of the world!”

“How long?” Peyton asked.

“Like twelve hours or something! It was brutal!”

Peyton and Devon exchanged glances and smiles.

“Oh, what? I suppose that’s considered average or something! Well, I was not impressed. And I’ll have you know that I’ve been trained by the Coast Guard. I am fit, strong and—”

“It wasn’t quite twelve hours,” Cooper said.

“Yes, it was,” she replied. “What was it, then?”

“Slightly less, like six. But it looked pretty awful at times,” he said. “I could tell you weren’t having fun. But then, when it was over—it was just over. Wow. I’ve never seen anything like that! Nothing but smiles and giggles. Just like that.”

“I should have let you do it,” she said.

Devon shooed the kids away from the stroller, so Peyton could get a better look. There in the stroller bed, fast asleep with her little hands balled up, wearing a pink onesie, was Summer Cooper. She had a cap of dark brown hair, her mother’s color. Her cheeks were rosy with health, her little mouth bright pink and heart-shaped.

Peyton smiled at Sarah. “It was worth it—the labor. She’s absolutely beautiful.”

Sarah glowed. “She is, isn’t she?”

“Wait till you see these,” Cooper said proudly. He pulled apart the receiving blanket and showed off her feet. “Have you ever seen feet that big on a baby?”

“They’re pretty remarkable,” Peyton said.

Hamlet, the Great Dane, moaned. Then he moaned again and nosed the stroller.

“All right, all right,” Cooper said. He rewrapped the baby, gently picked her up and held her at Ham’s level. Ham gently sniffed her, then he looked up at Cooper. His tail wagged. “That’s going to have to hold you for a while,” Cooper said. And the dog visibly relaxed as Cooper moved to put Summer back in the bed of the stroller. “Ham hasn’t left her side since she came home. He can barely manage enough time to relieve himself.”

“Cooper, may I?” Peyton asked.

“Sure, of course,” he said. “She’s very nice to hold. Sarah says we probably hold her too much.”

Peyton reached for the baby. “There’s no such thing.” She brought the baby against her and instinctively her lips and nose went against that little cap of brown hair.

“You’re awfully good at that,” Sarah said.

“I’m a professional,” Peyton said. “I have seven siblings. I held my first baby when I was two. Very big extended family. There have been many since.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have one of your own,” someone said.

She laughed. “Maybe that’s why I don’t....”

But her heart gave a tug. She hadn’t been in a hurry to have children, but now she was starting to feel something was missing from her life. Lots of things were missing. She began to hum to the baby without even realizing it. She swayed with little two-week-old Summer in her arms. She wanted more. She wanted a good, strong, faithful man, a child of her own, a family, a future, a life beyond her life. It almost caused her eyes to tear. She kissed the baby’s head, and when she looked up, everyone was staring at her. She laughed uncomfortably. “Sorry. I got a little lost there for a second.”