Chapter 5

Jane Behr paced in the kitchen, waiting for her lunch to finish reheating in the microwave. Molly had made a sausage ziti bake over the weekend, and she'd sent a bunch home with Cord and Jane.

She had work to do at the shop that afternoon, and she planned to stop and get Cord a bag of his favorite fast food on her way in to work. She sometimes went to work with him in the morning and put in a full day, but she'd wanted to go Christmas shopping with Molly and Opal that morning, and her stomach had been sick when they'd decided to go to lunch.

So she'd come home, but as the microwave beeped and she smelled the marinara and spicy sausage, her gut did another lurch that had her nearly running for the bathroom. Instead, she leaned against the kitchen counter and pressed a hand to her stomach. "What is wrong with me?"

She'd been sleeping a lot lately too, and she did wake up with an ache in her belly almost every morning. It had started about Thanksgiving, so less than two weeks ago, and she'd thought she'd eaten a bad batch of stuffing. Maybe undercooked or something.

She hadn't said anything to Molly, who had cooked their holiday meal, but now she wondered if it was something else.

You have a pregnancy test in your bathroom, she thought. And that single thought propelled her out of the kitchen and down the hall to the master suite. She'd bought the tests a couple of months ago when she'd been late on her period, but it had come before she could use one.

Now, she got the job done, and she paced in the bedroom for a whole new reason. "What if I'm pregnant?" she asked herself. Hope and apprehension filled her in equal measure, causing tears to come to her eyes. She and Cord hadn't exactly been trying for a baby, but they hadn't exactly not been either.

He was eleven years older than her, already in his forties, and he wanted kids. Plural. But they'd only been married for nine months, and neither of them had started to get too desperate yet. How would she tell him? Her parents? When would she be due? What a Christmas miracle! she thought.

Jane sat down on the bed, completely overwhelmed with her thoughts. "Heavenly Father," she prayed. "I really want a baby." She covered her stomach with both arms protectively. "We would love them so, so much."

It had to have been long enough for the test to tell her if she and Cord would be parents, and she steeled herself and got up. In the bathroom, she peered at the test, then swiped it off the countertop and into her fist.

She didn't let go of it for a single second as she drove over to Cord's mechanic shop. It took about a half-hour to get there from their house, and they'd both agreed to start looking for something a little closer. This house had belonged to Hunter and Molly, and they'd lived in it while he'd worked in the city.

But Cord's shop was out in Cherry Creek, a neighboring town to Ivory Peaks, and they both wanted to be closer. Jane wanted to build, because she thought they'd get more of what they wanted that way, as there weren't many houses for sale in these small outlying towns surrounding the city.

At least not many houses where Jane wanted to raise her family. And now she and Cord were going to have a family.

Tears filled her eyes, and Jane allowed herself to weep for the last couple of miles to the shop. She was pregnant with her first baby, and she was allowed to cry about it. She suddenly had so much to do—find a doctor and make an appointment, start getting a nursery ready, making a list of names for boys or girls.

Her thoughts once again overwhelmed her, and she very nearly drove right past the shop. She jammed on the brakes and made the right turn far too fast. If Cord happened to look up and see her do that, he'd know immediately that something was wrong.

"The tears will do that, Jane," she told herself. Oh, and she'd forgotten his lunch. He'd know the moment he saw her something was wrong.

Except nothing was wrong.

Jane pulled up to the customer entrance of the shop, where she didn't usually park. But no one else had parked there, which meant Cord worked alone in the shop. A lucky break—or a gift from God.

She got out and started into the shop, ignoring the office where she usually put her purse and coat. She hadn't even put a coat on before leaving the house, a fact she only just now realized.

A bell would ring if someone came into the office, but nothing happened when Jane pushed open the door to the bays. She wanted to call for Cord, but she couldn't get her voice to work. In fact, she sniffled, her emotions all over the place.

She moved toward the second bay, where a light gray truck had been lifted up so Cord could work underneath it. He came around the front of it, a blue rag in his hands. He saw her, and his face brightened. "Hey, sugar."

As soon as he'd spoken, his face fell. "What's wrong?" He tossed away the cloth and came toward her quickly. "Your parents? An uncle?"

She shook her head, her tears thick now. "Cord." She reached him and grabbed onto him. He easily folded her into his arms, the strength she found there beyond measure.

"Talk to me," he said.

"A baby," she whispered through a too-tight throat. "I'm going to have a baby."

Cord held very still; he didn't even seem to be breathing. "Did I hear you right? Because it sounded like you said you were going to have a baby."

She pulled back and grinned at him. She nodded, and his face broke from the stoic mask she knew so well to one of pure joy. He started to laugh, and oh, how she loved that sound. "Janey," he said, and that was all he needed to say.

He said her name like that when he was happy, like he was now. When he had something serious to talk about. When he wanted her opinion. When he was worried and needed her reassurance. When he needed her to know he loved her. For everything.

"You're in your head," he said next.

Jane blinked and looked at him. "I'm having a lot of thoughts," she admitted.

"Yeah, you've stopped talking." He grinned at her. "Let's go to lunch."

"I forgot to stop for lunch. I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"Nothing sounds good," she said as he led her toward the big sink at the back of the shop. He started to wash up. "Everything makes me sick."

"Everything?"

"All the smells," she said.

"Here in the shop?"

"Food smells," she said. "I was just going to get you some hamburgers and fries."

"And that doesn't sound good? You love French fries."

"I can try them," she said. "I've been like this since Thanksgiving. Remember I thought the stuffing was undercooked?"

"Yeah." He grabbed a couple of paper towels and dried his hands. He faced her again, pure radiance pouring from him. "Janey, I can't believe you're gonna have my baby." He brought her close again and swayed with her. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." She touched her lips to his. "I hope it's a boy, and we can raise him to be a cowboy mechanic just like you."

"I hope it's a girl and that she looks exactly like you," he whispered back. "You're my everything, Janey."

"And you're mine," she said. "Let's go to lunch, and I want to talk about building a house."

He stepped back and lifted his eyebrows. He didn't have to say anything for her to know what ran through his head.

"For real, Cord-baby," she said, threading her fingers through his. "I know you've just glossed over it, but there's nothing in Cherry Creek or Ivory Peaks that we want. And if we build, then there will be exactly what we want."

"You never get exactly what you want," Cord said.

Jane grinned at him as they left the shop, and he turned back to lock the door. "You're wrong about that, baby. I got you, and we're having a baby."