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Randy woke up Tuesday morning with a smile on her face for the first time in three days. She’d spent the drive home the night before arguing with herself, finally coming to the conclusion that Mrs. Pugston was right. A quitter she wasn’t. And God? Well, she wasn’t sure what His plan was in all of this but He seemed to have one and Randy needed to give Him some time.
She refused to let her mother’s shortcomings decide the path for her own life for one more day. She wouldn’t bail on Eli when he needed her the most. To do that would put her in an equal category with Celeste, and Randy was made of sterner stuff.
She had no reason to share her past with Eli or her friends. To do that would generate pity and no solutions. Randy’d pulled herself up by her shoelaces before, and she’d do so now. Inexperienced young women managed their lives with babies every day. How could she write it off as impossible...write Eli out of her life...without giving it a try?
The phone on her nightstand hummed with an incoming call. Eli. She swiped it open. “Hey.”
“Hey right back.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I’ve been so preoccupied over the last few days.”
“It’s OK.”
“No, it isn’t. I’m missing your beautiful face.”
Randy let the pleasure of his voice roll over her. “And I need your arms around me real bad.”
“I think I can fix that. Have lunch with me today?”
“I can’t even tell you how perfect that sounds. Can you pick me up at eleven-thirty?”
“I will. I love you.”
Randy drew the words into her heart. How could she have even considered letting him go? “I love you too. See you in a few hours.”
She took extra care with her hair and makeup and spent longer than normal pawing through her closet for something to wear. After two days, Randy wanted to take Eli’s breath away. Her hand lingered over the dress discarded from Saturday night’s failed outing. Why not? It wasn’t overly dressy and inappropriate for the bank, just extremely flattering. Randy pulled it free and slipped it over her head. She straightened her hair, added a gold chain and hoop earrings, and stared at her reflection. The color of the dress made her eyes greener and the red of her hair more dramatic. She moistened her lips and bet herself a dollar that Eli would have serious issues focusing on his midday meal with her across the table. Full of yourself much? She stuck her tongue out at her image. Silliness aside, Randy hoped Eli was as eager to spend a quiet hour with her as she was to have some uninterrupted time with him.
The morning passed in a blur as she sat in on one meeting after another and tried to work her way through the stack of folders on her desk in between. Work kept her so distracted that she jumped when her phone vibrated across her desk. Randy looked at the clock as she snatched it up. 11:35? She swiped open the call.
“Eli.”
“Are you standing me up?”
“Not on your life. I lost track of the time. Are you out front?”
“Yes, and dying to see the woman I love.”
The words warmed her. She turned and caught her reflection in the sleeping computer monitor. The morning had taken its toll. “Give me two minutes?”
“Don’t keep us waiting, babe. I miss your face.”
Randy put the phone down and dug a small makeup bag out of her desk. She freshened her lipstick and blush, fluffed her hair back to its pre-meeting style, and paused at Sydney’s desk on her way out.
“What’s on my calendar after lunch?”
Sydney consulted her computer. “You’re free until two.”
“Good. I may be a little late coming back.”
“Hot date?”
“I hope so.” Randy wiggled her fingers in farewell and pushed out the front door. She crossed to Eli’s car, reached for the handle, and froze. Astor bounced excitedly in the back seat.
Don’t keep us waiting. How had she missed the telltale pronoun? Disappointment froze her hand on the handle. They hadn’t seen each other for two days, and...All of her resolutions regarding the situation flooded her memory. I can do this! She pasted on a smile and opened the door.
“Hi...guys. Sorry I’m late.”
Eli leaned across the console and brushed her lips with a quick kiss. “Not a problem.” He sat back, and Randy enjoyed a moment of satisfaction when his gaze traveled from her head to the spiky heels on her feet.
Randy settled in her seat, gratified when his eyes heated with all the emotions she’d anticipated. She pulled the seat belt across her lap and snapped it into place.
Eli cleared his throat. “You’re looking incredibly beautiful today. New dress?”
She ran her hand over the soft fabric. “Um-hm. What’s for lunch?”
“Lizzies OK with you?”
“Sure.” Randy turned and directed a glance toward the backseat. “No luck with the day care thing?”
Eli put the car in gear and pulled from the curb. “She starts at Tiny Tikes on Monday.”
“Not ‘til then?”
“I went ahead and took the rest of the week off. There are things I need to do around the house, and I thought we could use the extra time to get into some sort of routine. It’s been a long time since I had a little one in the house full-time.”
Randy remained silent as she digested that information. She twisted in her seat. “But, what about our trip? You’ve been saving vacation days for months.”
Eli rested a hand on Randy’s knee. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I have no intention of messing up our honeymoon.” He threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed. “Trust me, I’ve waited too long to have you all to myself.”
She returned the pressure, reassured by the longing she heard in his voice. They’d been so careful over the last few months. Their shared Christian beliefs placed physical intimacy before marriage out of the question, but they were healthy adults, and their love and desire for each other tested that mutual abstinence every time they were alone together. To say they were both looking forward to their wedding night was an understatement.
He swung the car into a parking spot and cut the engine. “Can you grab Astor while I get her bag?”
“Sure.” Randy let herself out, opened the back door, and studied the complicated harness securing Astor into the car seat. Her fingers traced the straps, looking for the combination that would free the child. She flinched when tiny fingers locked around a healthy hunk of her hair and yanked. “Ouch!”
Eli chuckled from the other side of the back seat. “You have to be quicker than that.” He reached across and untangled Astor’s fingers. “I think she likes your hair as much as I do. Here.” He tapped the straps. “Release these buckles and then depress this button.”
Randy followed his instructions, but the button wouldn’t give way. She pressed harder and jerked her hand back with a second painful exclamation.
“Randy?”
She stared at the ragged edges of a broken fingernail. Great. Randy shook off the small sting of pain, set her mouth, and reached back inside the car, determined to figure it out. Astor had both hands in her hair before the button released. Randy pulled herself free, tucked both the baby’s hands in hers, and delivered a firm, “No.”
Astor’s bottom lip trembled at the rebuke, but her expression went sunny when Eli nudged Randy aside and scooped the kid from the seat.
“You’ll get used to it.”
Randy trailed them to the door of the diner, manicure ruined, hair beyond mussed. Eli was probably right, she would get used to it. But is that a good thing?
* * *
ELI PAUSED JUST INSIDE the door. Garfield diners packed the small restaurant to the walls. He draped an arm around Randy’s shoulder and turned her toward the back wall. “There’s an empty booth.” He shifted Astor into Randy’s arms. “Go grab it while I scare up a highchair.”
Randy walked away and Eli took a second to admire the way the clingy material of Randy’s dress hugged her curves in all the right places. Mmm...mmm...mmm. No one needed to tell him how lucky he was. He found a highchair, lifted it high over his head, and carried it to the booth just as Randy slid into the empty seat. Lizzie, the ancient owner of the establishment, followed on his heels and slapped menus on the table.
“What are you guys having today?” She asked without preamble. Lizzie served the best lunch in Garfield, but she wasn’t big on small talk.
Eli looked up from securing Astor into the chair. “Salad?” he asked Randy.
She nodded and Eli placed their order. “The grilled chicken salad for Randy. I’ll have a cheeseburger and fries, and we’ll need a corndog.” He waggled a finger between them. “Iced tea for both of us.”
Lizzie nodded and hurried away.
Astor bounced in the highchair. “Pa...bites...bites.”
“Just a couple of minutes, baby.”
Astor’s bottom lip stuck out, and Eli looked around for something to avert the coming storm. It was past her lunch time, and her good humor only went so far when she was hungry. He reached across the table and retrieved two packages of saltines from a basket at the back of the table. He ripped one open with his teeth and gave Astor a cracker. “Here you go.”
Lizzie zipped by their table and left their drinks without a word.
Eli sat back and studied the woman seated across from him. He wasn’t oblivious to the extra care she’d taken with her appearance today. His gaze grew more intense as she stirred sweetener into her glass. Neither was he oblivious to the dark circles under her eyes. He guessed they’d both lost some sleep over the last couple of days. He glanced back to Astor. How could such a little scrap of a girl cause such a disruption in both of their lives?
Randy looked up and caught his stare. “What?”
He reached across and took her hand. “You are a cool glass of water, Miranda, and I’ve been in the desert too long.” He rubbed a thumb over her knuckles. “Thank you for being patient while I work through some of this.”
“I don’t know that I’d go so far as patient.” She lifted a shoulder. “You’re doing what you have to do. It isn’t your fault.”
Eli mulled her comment while their lunch was delivered. He gave Astor another cracker, removed the stick from the hot dog, and sliced it up into small pieces. He still thought he’d been right to talk Celeste out of adoption, but maybe he’d been wrong.
“Celeste would disagree with you.”
Randy drizzled dressing over her salad. “What do you mean?”
“She blames me.”
Randy looked at him, eyebrows raised.
Eli looked at the far wall. “My little sister, Susan, got pregnant when she was sixteen. She determined, from the beginning, that she wasn’t going to keep the baby. She signed her rights away the day her son was born. Never held him...never touched him. I’ve watched her grieve that decision for more than thirty years, always wondering where he is, what he might look like, what her life would have been like if she’d made another choice.”
A frustrated cry from Astor drew him out of his musing. Eli touched the corndog, found the temperature satisfactory, and placed the plate in front of Astor. “Here you go, sweetheart. Be a big girl and eat it up, OK?”
Astor picked up a piece and popped it in her mouth with a smile.
He met Randy’s eyes. “That’s all I could think of when Celeste told me she was pregnant. She was determined to give the baby up, and it felt like history repeating itself. Obviously, the idea of never knowing my grandchild killed me. That was bad enough, but looking down the road ten, fifteen years, seeing Celeste in the same place as Susan... I couldn’t let her do that to herself. I launched an all-out campaign to get her to change her mind.” He paused. “You came into the picture about then.”
“Yeah, I guess I did. I remember you telling me that you were going to be a grandpa.”
“And I only started sharing the news once Celeste had agreed to keep the baby. I was so relieved. It’s a difficult spot to be in, loving two people, trying to make the best decisions for everyone, knowing no matter what you do, somebody could get hurt.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Sort of like now.” He reached across the table and took Randy’s hand. “Babe, I know this is hard for you. It’s not the way I saw things going for us, but...”
“About that.” She looked at Astor and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve acted over the last couple of days. You’re right, this is unexpected. And scary.”
He laced their fingers together, encouraging her to continue.
“Thank you for understanding that. I understand that you’re doing what you have to do.” She squeezed his hand, looked back at Astor, and squared her shoulders. “I love you, Eli. I knew when I said yes to your proposal that I’d need to be a grandma on occasion.”
Randy bit her lip, and her green eyes brightened with moisture. “When it comes to babies, I’m probably the most inexperienced woman you’ll ever meet, but if you guys will give me a chance, I’d like to try.”
The weight of the world lifted from Eli’s shoulders. He raised Randy’s hand and leaned over to brush her knuckles with a kiss. “Are you sure?”
“I’m scared spitless,” she admitted. “But if you’re both patient with me, I know I can figure this out.”
“You just made me the happiest man in the world, for the second time. And your timing couldn’t be more perfect.”
“How’s that?”
“I have an appointment with a lawyer in the morning. I need to know what my rights are. I’m hoping he can also give me some advice about tracking down my daughter. I’m determined to find her and get some answers.” He locked his gaze on Randy. “And when that meeting is finished, if Celeste intends to stay gone”—he sucked in a deep breath and studied Randy’s face—“I intend to start adoption proceedings. I want us to be a family.”