“LOOK AT HENRY, crawling so fast now.” Monique pinned up a section of Trisha’s hair. “Remember when he couldn’t figure out how to use his back legs?”
“He’d scoot backward until he got stuck partway under the sofa, remember? I must have a million photos of him with his legs under there, looking totally confused.” Trisha grinned, watching Henry do laps around her kitchen table. His little diapered buns waggled back and forth with every crawling step. She’d put him in pants that had a bear face on the seat, so the bear waggled, too. It had to be the cutest thing ever. Or maybe that was yesterday, when he was cuddling the stuffed horse Annie had given him. Or the day before when Trisha and Henry had stopped by Maya’s ranch. Caleb had set Henry up on his placid horse Newt’s back, then ducked down behind so Trisha could take a photo. It almost looked like Henry was riding by himself, if you discounted Caleb’s big hands holding him securely in place.
It was reassuring to remember all the good times. All the joyful moments since Henry had come into the world. Especially after last night, when everything changed forever.
“How was it, telling Liam?” Monique must have read her mind while she snipped away with her scissors.
Trisha watched her split ends fall to the floor. “Terrifying. Like I was throwing away the life I’ve built for Henry. I feel like I traded it in for the complete unknown.”
“I can understand that.” Monique put gentle fingers under Trisha’s jaw to angle her head just so. “Sometimes the right thing is the hardest thing to do. At least Liam seemed to take it okay. I think it’s a good sign that he wanted to meet his son right away.”
“He seemed like he was in a daze. Who wouldn’t be? One minute he was his usual carefree, Texas cowboy self, and the next, he was a father.”
“He’s tough—he can handle it.” Monique gave a soft huff of laughter. “Isn’t that a bit what getting pregnant is like? One minute you’re just you, like you’ve always been, then you look at that stick and realize you’re going to be a mom.”
“Yes, but we do get several months to prepare ourselves.”
“True.” Monique came around to the front and started rearranging Trisha’s hair. Her makeup was perfect as always, and Trisha admired the neat lines painted around her eyes, the shadow blended just right. She’d never been great at makeup, and since having Henry she didn’t even bother. Monique had finally insisted on coming by today to trim her hair, since Trisha hadn’t found time for the salon since Henry was born.
“I just hope he doesn’t get weird. I want him to be a good dad, but I don’t want him to try to change anything significant, you know?”
“And what about the fact that he lives in Texas?”
Trisha shuddered. “I can’t think about that. All I know is that Shelter Creek is Henry’s home.”
Monique’s expression became fierce. “No way is Henry-bug going anywhere. As his favorite auntie, I decree it.” Monique was closer to great-auntie age, but she’d never acknowledge the “great” part. “Still,” she went on, “you did the right thing, telling him. Keeping that secret any longer would have been cruel. And I trust it’s going to work out well. It’s a miracle that Liam ended up here in Shelter Creek. That has to mean something.”
“I hope so.” Trisha closed her eyes, trying to keep the confusion at bay. There was so much to think about. And worry about.
“Let’s have faith. And if anything goes wrong, we’ll stand together and make it right.” Monique pulled Trisha’s hair up straight off the top of her head and snipped some strands. “I’m giving you a few more layers around your face. Trust me—you’ll love it. And it’s time to end this parted-in-the-middle-straight-hair look. You’re a confident young mama. You should be rocking some cool hair.”
“Okay.” Trisha barely heard what Monique was saying. What if Liam was a terrible father?
“Can I say something that’s probably way too personal and might make you mad at me?”
Trisha glanced up to meet Monique’s kind gaze. “Isn’t that your specialty?”
Monique laughed—a low rich sound. “I guess it is. Look, you have to find your own way through this. You and Liam both. I’ve watched you in the last couple years. You were very quiet around town until you got involved with us Book Biddies. It almost seemed like you were trying to disappear, you know? Like you were apologizing for being here at all.”
Trisha winced. Was that how she’d come across? Sure, she’d been quiet, content with her work as a veterinary technician, spending her free time reading and taking walks. Or at least, that’s what she’d told herself.
“You’ve been coming out of your shell since you got involved with us Biddies, and Maya and the wildlife center. And Henry has been great for you, too. I guess what I’m saying is that all of these things were changes that you couldn’t foresee, and yet they were all really good for you. Maybe having Liam in your life is another good change.”
“Maybe. I hope so.” It was certainly possible. “So why do I feel so scared?”
“Because it’s normal. When you found out you were pregnant, I imagine that must have been scary, too, right? But look at you now, with this beautiful baby. And you’ve been making it work as a single mother.”
They both looked at Henry, who’d found his favorite cloth baby book. He’d opened it to the page with the mirror and was watching himself with a drooly smile on his face.
“I mean, look at that baby. He’s thriving. You’ve built a loving community around him. Even if Liam isn’t the perfect father, Henry will be fine. And you will be fine, too.”
“Thanks, Monique. You know you could change your salon to a therapist’s office and charge a lot more money.”
Monique smiled as she tugged at the hair on either side of Trisha’s face, running it through her fingers to make certain it was even. “Hair is way more fun than therapy. And if the cut is good, the results last longer, too.” She ruffled Trisha’s hair and removed the black poncho she’d put over her shoulders. “Go look in the mirror.”
“Keep an eye on Henry?”
“Absolutely. I’ll make sure he doesn’t actually eat that book.”
“He’s teething. If you look in the freezer, there’s one of those iced chewy things. Maybe he’d like it.” Trisha went to the bathroom, saw her reflection and froze. Monique had added layers from her jaw to the ends of her hair, which still fell well past her shoulders. Her normally stick-straight hair, which she usually kept back with a headband or ponytail, looked thicker. Flowing. More interesting.
“What do you think?” Monique called. “Do you look like a sophisticated mama?”
“I look like a grown-up,” Trisha marveled, turning her head to see the way she looked from the side.
“It’s about time.” Monique’s dry humor meant no insult and Trisha didn’t take it that way. Monique called her salon Monique’s Miracles and she’d certainly worked one today.
“Do you feel more confident?” Monique asked. “Ready to spend some time with the father of your baby?”
“I guess so.”
“I hope so, because he’s sitting in his truck outside.”
Trisha followed Monique to the front window and there was Liam, sitting on the tailgate of his truck, with Ranger at his side. He was rubbing the dog’s ears, staring absently into space.
“Girl, you sure do know how to pick a baby daddy. That is one handsome cowboy.”
Trisha smiled ruefully. “He is that. Good genes.”
“Any chance you’ll rekindle the fire that caused all this?”
“What? No! That was just too much alcohol. And he probably had his beer goggles on.” But she remembered what he’d said last night. That he liked her. Her skin felt warm every time she pondered those words.
“He looks lost, sitting out there.”
Trisha agreed. “Maybe I should go out and talk to him.”
“I’ll do it. I’ve got to get going anyway.” Monique bustled back to the table to collect her scissors and other supplies. “Let me talk a little sense into him on the way out?”
“Sure. Maybe he needs a little Monique therapy.”
“Oh, trust me, honey, everyone does.” Monique stooped down to kiss Henry on the head and then blew another kiss to Trisha. “You look gorgeous. Shoulders back, keep your confidence up—you’ve got this.” And then she was out the front door and gone.
Trisha watched by the window as Monique approached Liam at his truck. Liam scooted over as the hair-stylist-slash-therapist sat right down on the tailgate beside him. Trisha smiled. “Poor Liam won’t know what hit him,” she told Henry, and went to get the broom.
LIAM WAS PETTING Ranger’s head and pondering a tree when the unfamiliar woman sat herself right down on his tailgate.
“That’s a pretty nice tree,” the bleached-blonde lady said as she sat down. “A coast live oak. I love their twisting silver trunks. This one must be a few hundred years old.”
Startled by her presence, Liam scooted over to make more space for her. “I was just thinking that. How much it’s seen. All the weather and people’s lives...” Liam realized he was revealing his inner thoughts to a total stranger. “I’m sorry, I guess you caught me in a strange mood. What can I do for you?”
“I’m Monique. A friend of Trisha’s. I was just leaving her house and I saw you sitting out here.”
Liam tipped his hat and turned his body to see her a little better. It was weird sitting in such close proximity to someone he didn’t know. “Nice to meet you, Monique.” His mama, rest her soul, would be proud that her boy was keeping up the manners he’d been taught, even when his mind was reeling.
“I’m sure it’s a shock to find out you have a child.” Monique’s voice was matter-of-fact, as if they were still chatting about the tree.
“Yes. No disrespect intended, ma’am, but that’s kind of personal.”
“I’m one of Henry’s honorary aunties, so it’s personal to me, too.”
“Ah. Okay.” This town had more meddling ladies per square foot than any place he’d ever been.
“I want Trisha and Henry to be happy. I want Henry to know his father. As long as his father is a good man.” She gave Liam a long, assessing glance. “You look like a good man.”
“Looks are deceptive.” As soon as he said it, he regretted it. What was it with this woman, getting him to be so honest? Maybe because she was so blunt, it made him that way, too.
“So that’s why you’re not inside with your son right now.”
“It might have something to do with it.” He’d woken up this morning thinking about his addiction. All that he’d done wrong as a result. What type of father did that make him?
“Did you kill anyone? Injure them? Commit any other major crimes?”
“Not really, no.”
“Are you a danger to women or children?”
“No!” This lady was one of a kind. Perfectly dressed and made up on a Sunday morning, like she was going to some fancy event, yet here she was, getting her white slacks dirty sitting on his tailgate, giving him the third degree.
“And clearly animals like you. That dog seems devoted and I even heard that a horse aptly named Wild Bill has taken a liking to you.”
“How do you know about that?” Liam had a weird feeling that Monique was some kind of fairy godmother, descending on him to put everything to rights.
“News travels fast in this town.”
“I guess so.”
“Anyway, Liam. You seem like a nice guy. I think you should go inside and share whatever is weighing on your mind with Trisha. She’s the mother of your child and a great one at that. She has the right to know your secrets. You two will figure it out from there.”
She slid off the tailgate and waited expectantly.
“You’re saying I should go in there right now.” It was hard to understand his own reluctance. His son was in there. He should be eager to go in. But to walk in that door was to assume a level of responsibility he hadn’t thought to take on for years. He wasn’t sure he was ready.
“No time like the present.” She smiled brightly.
Liam stood up and closed the tailgate behind him. “Stay,” he told Ranger. The good dog flopped down on the old horse blanket. Knowing Ranger, Liam figured he’d be snoozing in moments, oblivious to the life changes swirling around his owner.
“Thanks for the kick in the pants,” he told Monique.
“Anytime you need one, cowboy, you just stop by my salon. Monique’s Miracles. You’re always welcome.”
“I appreciate that.”
“She turned on her high heels and walked quickly toward her little red sports car. Her pants were covered with dust, but she didn’t seem to care one bit. She had class and guts, and she was demanding that he have that, too.
Brushing off the seat of his jeans, Liam squared his shoulders and walked toward Trisha’s neat Victorian cottage. It was painted pale blue with white trim. A porch ran along two sides, with old ornate carved columns and a bunch of decorative trim along the roofline. There were flowers in pots and one of those hanging wooden porch swings with lots of pillows. A great place for a nap, and boy could Liam use one. He’d been up most of the night, trying to take it all in.
But tired or not, he’d heard Monique loud and clear. It was time to step up to his new life. He was a dad, and everything was different now.